Good advice

For sure. And youtube is going to be on the winning side of that equation in terms of developing a fondness for specific channels and the individuals who run them.

With TV there were only so many channels, but with Internet distribution the limits have been blown away on how many shows can be produced and available at once. There’s more content now than ever before, and the way people consume that content has changed, too.

Streaming incentivises a model where new content is pushed at you constantly to keep you watching and “engaged” (because engagement = ads = money) and so the most important metric is quantity of shows, not quality.

I’ve watched shows I enjoyed that six months later I couldn’t even tell you the name of, because it’s a once-and-done watch, and then I’m onto the next thing.

With such high volumes of new content there’s no opportunity to get bored anymore, and that has consequences for how much old content gets revisited.

In the 2000s we’d all have some series or other on DVD, and when there was nothing good on TV that night we’d go back and re-watch it. And that re-watch process built up both your own personal fondness for the show, and the staying power of that show in the shared cultural consciousness. Plus you could probably speak with your friends about shows because chances were pretty good they’d seen it too, which only boosts it more.

When we’re all just watching things once and never again, and often not even the same things as each other, there’s no staying power.

I also believe - my personal opinion - that this quantity problem is why right now there are SO MANY remakes, reboots, spin-offs, and live-action versions of existing movies. Even the big players are finding it very hard to launch new things that reach the audience they want because the market is so absolutely saturated with “content”. And so they have to fall back on franchises that are already recognised and popular across a wide cultural gamut, things that cemented their popularity at a time before the quantity problem really set in.

It’s strange times.

These people shit on accessibility because they see it as something that other people need, not them. The attitude is that if you aren’t good at a game you simply shouldn’t play. It’s fundamentally a lack of empathy.

My go-to argument when people take that stance is to ask “Do you think you’ll still be playing games when you’re 50? When you’re 60? When you’re 70?”

Their answer of course is invariably yes, they will, and so my follow on question is “Will you still have the same lighning reflexes then, that you do now?”

That usually gets the point across.

Right now they can look down smugly from their pedestal, but some day there will come a time when their own body fails them and they can’t make it through Dark Souls 12 anymore, no matter how much they enjoy it and want to finish. And when they complain on Steam all the kids will say “just git gud lol”

Who’s the one crying then?

Accessibility options are important for all of us, no matter the reason. We should all get to choose.

Half the reason I like sci-fi so much is that it’s the genre which most often avoids pointless interpersonal drama.

I like to watch shows that are about things happening and how the characters deal with those things, not just jealous relationship fighting and people who can’t even decide whose side they’re on.

Don’t get me wrong - character conflict is necessary for any good show, regardless of the genre, but I don’t want the entire show to be that.

I agree with you, it’s insidious.

Given you’ve got a Pixel phone, you can save at least yourself from this problem by running Graphene or Calyx on it.

For me it’s the privacy angle that matters.

All these restaurant apps being pushed like “it’s cheaper on the app!” and “you can get a free side on the app!”

And I’m almost tempted to install it, but then I remember by doing so I’m giving the company a wealth of data to slurp on me, letting them bombard me with notifications, and giving their logo a shining advertisement spot in my app drawer so every time I’m hungry I see it, and want it.

When I think about the higher non-app price in those terms, as a “privacy tax” to keep my data and my dignity, then I’m happy to pay it.

Just channeling their inner goat

I haven’t! I may give it a shot :)

You should definitely go back, it’s so fun to learn about the inscrutable manual pages.

Rather than feeling like I was four, my experience was more like as if I was a kid in the 90s and my Dad was a businessman who brought home Zelda from Japan but it was all in Japanese and I didn’t know Japanese lol.

One thing to note about Tunic is that it has really good accessibility options. You can go in and give yourself extra hearts, or you can even turn on invincibility if you are really struggling and need to.get past a tough part sonyou can continue with the.story :)

I have a soft spot for Myst too, so I totally understand this. I own the “big box” PC versions of all the Myst games up until V (Revelations) which are the only big box games I still kept. It was magical to me at the time, Riven especially which I used to play together with my mother so there’s fond memories there.

When the textures are high-res but the model is low-res

I would dare say you are right

What a twist :) I like it when games subvert your expectations

Yay <3

It’s great that you can trace your love of music back to that specific game. Go ahead and share! I’m not really a musical person myself and only just started learning piano as my first ever instrument. That’s one childhood regret I’m working on fixing :)

I think as adults we’re still looking for a game that recaptures that childhood wonder.

One game that comes very close is Tunic, which is a zeldalike with a lot of spirit. I won’t spoil it for you or anyone else who may not have played, but it’s brilliant and I highly recommend it.

Best enjoyed on a lazy Saturday morning snuggled in a blanket pretending you’re nine years old again.

I love how you didn’t mean to read the whole book but totally got captured haha. Definitely a formative experience :)