Selling Out and Going Indie

The crux of this post is going to depend on whether or not you consider Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night to be an indie game.  I do, basically, since Kickstarter helped it exist (resoundingly), and it’s not as if it’s the product of one of the big companies like EA or Activision.  I mean, it’s here specifically because a well-known company in the industry (Konami) either would have rejected it preemptively, or actively resented its potential existence to the point where the heads -- in their unfathomable wisdom -- let Castlevania mastermind Koji Igarashi escape from their employ.

Mostly, I just want to call it an indie game because it’d give me the chance to lump it together with some of the other games I’ve been playing (not named Smash Bros. Ultimate).  Namely, Katana Zero and VA-11 HALL-A.  Also, it’ll be easier for me to use it as a paddle with which to whoop the backside of the modern, big-budget, AAA game industry.  As if they weren’t whooping themselves already.

Mortal Kombat 11: A Very Special Post

So I haven’t touched Mortal Kombat 11 in a solid month, and I think I know why.

Well, besides me constantly seeking power and/or revenge in online matches of Smash Ultimate.  One day I’ll get someone into Elite Smash.

The 6th Anniversary Post: Do Stories Matter Anymore?

So is this just gonna be a thing now?  Me wanting to write about Kamen Rider, but getting waylaid by cultural juggernauts and entertainment industry shifts of infinitely greater weight?  Probably, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be salty about it.  How can I get people to like the things I like if I can’t shill the things I like?

…I mean, granted, the next post on Ex-Aid would inevitably have me tearing it several new ones.  But it was gonna be so much fun.  Alas, now I have to do this first.  Just as well, though; it’s the blog’s sixth anniversary, so I should write something special instead of the same old, same old.

Blame the Porgs.

What Should We Do About EA?

Well, I was going to do another post on Sonic the Hedgehog, but it feels like that’s slightly inappropriate right now.  I appreciate the irony of the situation, though; who would have guessed that the company with exclusive rights to the Star Wars franchise (for now) would willingly and eagerly become the villainous empire the canon’s heroes have clashed with for decades? 

I mean, besides everyone.  Because this is EA we’re talking about.  But at least now, it seems like every gamer on the planet is giving Electronic Arts -- an increasingly ill-fitting name -- dirty looks and glares fierce enough to pierce through a steel wall.

So.  Let’s talk about EA.  And not Sonic, unfortunately.

So How Good Are Microtransactions, Really?

I feel like I should start by apologizing for the title, because that would imply that microtransactions -- the scourge of gamers everywhere -- can actually be good.  And I should apologize even more, because there’s a part of me deep down that thinks they actually can be good.

Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, DEEP down -- but it’s there.  So let’s talk about microtransactions for a bit, and ignore the fact that Word refuses to recognize the term as legitimate.  I, uh, can’t say I blame it.