Living in the gray.
I’m still surprised in 2023 that Nintendo is still releasing amiibo for some of the biggest games, and that every Super Smash Bros. character will have an amiibo as well. They may not have much functionality these days (never forget Mario Maker for the Wii U), but they sure are neat.
I just wanted to post real quick about what’s going on with Reddit. You can catchup here: API pricing protests caused Reddit to crash for 3 hours | Ars Technica
For all the faults of Reddit and there are quite a few1, Reddit was one of the first places I discovered where my weird brain wasn’t unique. It would go on to be a place I would read about weird encounters, stories behind the news, and where some app developers would use to cultivate a community.
One example that I will always remember is the subreddit “misreadsprites” (I’m not going to link you in support of the protest). It is a subreddit about pixel art in older games and how it basically was up to some level of interpretation by the viewer2 and could be misinterpreted. And there was one post in particular that I was like, wait… I’m not the only one out there. It’s was reassuring in the weirdest way I don’t think I can express.
Beyond this, I think Reddit is one of the places where anonymity worked for the most part depending on the community/subreddit.
I am disappointed that Reddit seems to be going the route of Twitter. Oddly enough I’ve paid for Reddit and I will be discontinuing my subscription if they disable third party apps. Apollo in particular made using that site much more palatable than any native app or website. I understand they need to be profitable, but I suppose the exodus of Twitter has prepared me for the inevitable. Interoperability and the open web are ideals to be sought after now because in a decade or so, they will probably be no longer a concept.
With Twitter’s possible inevitable collapse, I find myself wanting to go back to the blog. You know, before the whole microblog.
Twitter was never perfect and maybe it can and will be better. Time will only tell. RSS never died. Podcasting and feed readers still power the truly democratized web envisioned decades ago. Newsletters are also a thing still?
Also spoiler alert for those who gave up on RSS the day Google Reader died… there are a ton of options now and they’re all pretty good. Even local options that don’t require a platform. But the social options aren’t there in most cases, but that’s okay. You can just share what you find on Twit…. your blog.
It’s been a while since I just did a normal blog post. My Roundup fame has taken me to new heights of internet content producing. I have moved the roundups to their own section with the intent that this may encourage me to post other types of things. Such as more frequent smaller things like using the aside post format in WordPress, which I feel was the original intent.
I recently got the Playdate from Panic and have really enjoyed just looking at it. It’s the perfect desk companion. I can’t wait for the dock.
I have 98% written a review of a few games I’ve completed recently. So I may post that here soon.
Man, a lot of people use Spotify. Until they allow me to upload my own music (like Apple Music does) it’s never meant to be. You can’t play the Donkey Kong Land soundtrack on Spotify.
(And before someone busts in here telling me about the local files option… yeah I know, it’s dumb. I’m talkin’ cloud music library baby.)
My top albums/artists/songs for 2020 include:
You guys are sleeping on that Donkey Kong Land soundtrack… just sayin’
Autumn is generally not one of my favorite seasons. But I’ll have to say with everything going on in 2020, I am welcoming it with open arms with its cool nights, and beautiful colors. I should probably go somewhere this weekend to capture the peak colors before they are gone.
These were originally released in 2014 as paid downloads for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. I of course bought them on both platforms. This was after Pikmin 3 launched on the Wii U. I love these shorts. They were storyboarded by Miyamoto and made me really wonder why Nintendo hasn’t pursued using their characters in any form of independent animation. These are what I’d call Pixar quality both in animation quality and charm. I’m glad they published these SIX YEARS later on Youtube.