Blog Post: Games of 2021

It's the future and some how I'm still sitting here playing Nintendo games. I only played 4 games which were released this year, and three of them were by Nintendo. 2021 has been a bit of a weird year in terms of what I wanted to play, and I really haven't felt that compelled by most of the other games released in 2021.

Everything I played this year was "good," they're all solid games you might enjoy, but none of them have really impacted me that much.

The Good

New Pokémon Snap

I don't have a huge nostalgia for the original Pokémon Snap. I enjoyed the new one, it's certainly pretty. I *may* have not figured how how to play it to advance properly, so it felt a little flat to me. Overall, I did enjoy the safari model of travelling through environments and seeing "genuine" Pokémon interactions.

Mini Motorway

I liked Mini Metro, where you have to plan out routes for a metro system and try to keep up with demand as long as you can. Mini Motorways is a nice follow up, it's prettier and the way you eventually fail feels a lot more manageable. It really runs up against the part of me that loves city building and so after a little bit of playing I'm kinda frustrated that some idiot built their house right *there*.

Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury

I only touched the 3D World remake. It's still pretty good, but it really doesn't compare to Super Mario Odyssey. Bowser's Fury was good, it has a real lightness of movement and interesting level design. I also like the idea of Nintendo turning out light weight, smaller games more regularly, so if I could play a new Bowser's Fury sized game every year I'd be delighted. Otherwise Mario games are pretty good if you like Mario Games and Bowser's Fury is a good Mario Game. 

Mario Golf: Super Rush

I think I've said it a ton, but Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour on the Gamecube is one of my favourite games. I spent a lot of time playing it dreaming of how awesome it would be if it was built out to be a fuller, flashier game. Super Rush is *not* the game I dreamed of,  but it is pretty good. It's a well built golf game with fun courses. If that sounds like your jam then you'll probably like it. It has a single player "RPG" mode which I found to be underwhelming and the online modes are okay.

I appreciate the DLC support they've given the game. The big drawback to the game is they introduced a their speed golf mechanic where you sprint after your ball to hit it again as fast as possible. Even when you're not playing that mode, it still dominates the design in a way that's not bad, but a little awkward.

Administrativa: Feedburner Feed Broken

 Just a quick note that Feedburner seems to have stopped working with the blog, so I've turned it off. Possibly "for now" or possibly "for ever". You will need to readjust your RSS reader (assuming you have such a device).

You can find the feed for all posts at the bottom of every page, or through this link.

Blog Post: Books Read in 2021

Anxiety. Whales. Joy.

Blog Post: Looking Back at 2021's New Year Resolutions

I'm not sure how to think about 2021. I started a new position as a Learning Technology Specialist and that's forced me to think about my identity as an academic and a creator. The pandemic has also gone on and on and while that's profoundly wearing, it has also offered me a lot to be thankful for. My life is good and getting better, but it's not the easiest time.

Naively, I wrote some resolutions last year and I have a tradition of checking in on them the following year, so I guess it's time to do that:

1. Relax - Uh... fuck. The entirety of the year didn't lead towards relaxing. I certainly struggled both with the pandemic and personally to really get to a place I felt good. I think I'm starting to build some resilience in my mind now, but it's been a journey to get here.
2. Go on More Adventures - Uh... double fuck. Truth be told I did choose not to adventure as much as I could have, but still this year was not conducive to seeing new things.
3. Read More - Ok, something positive! I read a lot more and I read more broadly (certainly a lot more mystery). After several years of trying to read more I finally feel like I've shifted the reading bar in my head.
4. Write More - I didn't do nearly as much of this as I wanted to, but I did write more than I have in the past. I think I've found a direction and a way I want to go forward with my rather eclectic creative work, so I'm happy. I'm also more focused on the blog than I have been in a long time and that's making me feel good. The future feels bright.
5. Do More - I certainly found my way towards getting things done by small steps. As I said, I've found a way forward, in just prioritizing what I want to have done. I think I can still do better here at finding ways to do things, but *generally* I'm happy.

I'll be honest, 2021 kicked me in the ass in a lot of ways. I feel disconnected from myself in the past and I find it a bit hard to keep a thread constant through my life for more than a few months. There are touch-points of happiness and I think, if nothing else coming out of the darkness I felt a few months ago, I'm much readier to take an active role in my life going forward.

The best light in what's been my 2020 view.