The Greasy Reality of Mario Kart World

These days, I feel quite off when I’m not framing my gaming articles through the lens of philosophy.


Almost as if my mention of philosophy in tandem with gaming
has become not unlike Marvel editors’ desire to inject doom
where no doom previously existed

To that point (somehow), here on ATE, self-identity is a big focus. I’m supposing one of the pivotal factors as to why is due to the inherently philosophical bent I imbue most of my writing with. Whether or not one thinks video games are worthy of such an ardent endeavor is a no-nothing-never mind to me, the proposed premise set forth is accepting from moment one that they possess the means to be philosophically imbued, and thusly proving with every passing day and each article hence forth that the notion will be ratified as true here after. There is reasonable meaning hidden in plain sight among that gibberish, I assure you, and my efforts lead me to believe there is a symbiotic relationship involving self-identity going on to help frame my axiom.

To explicate more directly to my notion of self-identity, I’m never quite sure what ATE is going to be. My current fathoming, as it were, places my distance from ATE as if some kind of metaphysical moment where I look at the thing and liken it to a child playing with a doll and wondering aloud: Is this my doll? One of those weird moments in youth that happens that acts as both a moment of simultaneous theorizing and therapy that helps to put into a frame of reference what I am, what the doll may be, and how we relate to each other. I don’t know for a fact if that’s what’s actually happening in those moments, I never claimed to be a child psychologist, that just rings true on some level. Though, much like my bemusement of that comparison, the uncertainty of what one “is” more safely resides beyond a more static mode of being, how “one” perhaps can be many things at once, never just one thing at a given moment, and never the same thing for too long on any spectrum of time. In this instance, comparing the act of writing as therapy, akin to a child talking to their doll while brushing its hair, leads me to believe the process of self-identity is indeed just that, a process, a never ending one, and why at this given moment of curiosity, I question both myself and this site thoroughly as I look at ATE and wonder: is this my doll?


The answer to this question sometimes a bit more
horrifyingly concluded than one would likely have hoped

Which kind of leads into my random purging of recent thoughts I had about gaming, which took the form of a follow up to my initial sentiments involving Mario Kart. My last write up was kind of a more abstracted distillation of analysis breaking down the essence of not just what Mario Kart “is”, so to speak, but what the conceptual nature of the launch of the Switch 2 launch title represents, using the tongue and cheek roughshod metaphoricity of virtual experience vs lived perspective, and the distance therein. It’s a bit of a queer approach, I concede, but as per the beginning of this article, I think there exists a much greater wellspring of possibility involved with gaming as a focus than just the drab confines that a console war helps to define, though finance remains the sadly domineering Sword of Damocles that swings over our sweating brows and wearied heads.


US tariffs are going to make things get a lot worse
before they return to just regular kinds of shitty

Quite the long winded and twisting way of saying Nintendo has a sacred cow, and they know how to milk it of its raw divinity. Normally the notion of milking is associated with a more negative connotation, which is not the quality I wish to impart the mention here with, as I believe it’s the poetic prose I profusely fancy, in which I reference MK’s utilization more than the absence of an abusive, metaphoric act Nintendo is putting one of it’s famously prized livestock through by any sane realistic consideration. I suppose The Big N having the wise temperance to release only a single MK on a platform every cycle shows how mindful they are in treating, arguably, one of their most important flagships with the well needed respect it deserves, lest it go the way of the creed. 


Seen here: the end of yearly fun

My enjoyment of writing about Mario Kart and Nintendos’ success through the franchise with a philosophical approach per my last article was a delight, though it left a little bit to be desired in terms of a more practical approach to what the game has to offer or where the series seems to be moving. These relevant critiques slipped through the cracks in a mixed moment of rushed sentiment, feeling both satisfied in what I had conjured on the screen, and the abhorrent lack of minutes I had left to elaborate any more thoroughly upon the many magical mysteries that await Mario Karters the world over come June 5th.  


The magic of fast food, it would turn out.
My goodness, the optics involved….

Not that the MK munchies on wheels being the equivalent of a happy meal to go was the crux of Nintendo’s extended preview, but I’m sure on some level someone involved in the incorporation of fast food as an ingame pick me up thought to themselves “boy I wish we had McDonalds numbers.” Which really, when one starts to peel away any deeper philosophical levels of meaning video games may have, one must confront the stark reality of just how much of a cheap and greasy by the numbers trashfest of a consumer industry gaming has begun to devolve into. I have no doubts many of the larger companies at play would delight at being able to concoct a product as mind-numbingly addictive as a big mac is, or why the comparative idea of the product being boiled down into something so easily scoffed down and throwaway in repeatable value when distilled into a dollar amount would get any number of CEO’s jizzing in their buster blues in a New York Minute.


What the faces of Nintendo’s
stock holders look like when they
think about what it would feel like
if the Big N could turn quarterly profits
like McDonalds did

The more fetching concept to me, not being a Nintendo stock holder mind you, is what Mario Kart World seems to be aiming for, by fashioning a structured foundation betwixt the entities of must have platformer and launch racer à la mode by combining the two worlds into one grand amalgamation of gratuity. At least, in theory, as Nintendo seems to be having their cake and eating it too with Mario Kart World, as the games charge jump mechanic seems to make the title a hybrid of sorts, as it essentially transforms the game into a racing/platforming hybrid with the versatility of traversal it allows the player to enjoy, even beyond what the now cultivated sense of free roaming geography services. Why have simply just another Mario platformer or bog standard Kart racer most would dismiss as too familiar, when you can upend both notions at the same time and make a hybridized title, very much akin to what the Switch 2 has to offer as a hybridized system. A ridiculously scrumptious offering, like combining your two favorite things.

Like eating on a roller coaster, Nintendo does translate
to “leave luck to heaven”, and I think we finally understand
why together

Though it remains to be seen, aside from the deconstruction with what constitutes “filler” and “AAA” gameplay moments involved with what a launch platformer and a must have racer would independently entail (another article entirely), we shall see what worth Mario Kart World has to offer, when Charge Jumping is finally fondled by the greasy masses at large, and exploits the hell out of the mechanic in possibly the most delicious ways imaginable. The gratification there after will matter more than any ace in the hole the charge jumping represents, though we will get a glimpse in the same moments as to what constitutes the cheap thrills of a happy meal toy and the inflated sensibilities of fine dining, what marks the satisfying difference between the two, and whether or not the sense of shame of binge eating either has a distinguished distinction of disgust that seperates them.

These feelings of repulsive contentment will help to officiate whether or not gamers want a five-course meal instead of a fast food hamburger, or whether or not it’s that they just don’t want to feel like they’re paying for a five-course meal when all they are in fact getting is a fast food hamburger.

I’m guessing it’s going to be gratuitously greasy indulgence either way.

~Pashford

Mario Kart World: At the Starting Line

Where was I?


Ah yes…Nintendo having a cow (man).

At least, doing a dressing down of Mario Kart World for the Switch 2 is of a severe interest to me, but I’m sometimes guilty of needing to warm up a bit first before I can get directly to the matter at hand. I’ve had “business down south” as of late, which is more or less my unnecessarily cryptic way in referring to an extended gaming sabbatical, as it were. Not a break away from gaming, mind you, but a break from writing about gaming, which you’d think were not entirely separated modes of being, though I take the time now to reexamine the notion as to why. I think the very essence of play is vital to the grandeur of human endeavor, and has a deep relevancy in filling this abstract void within the self, rejuvenating an individual in ways hard to describe without sounding like a completely pretentious wanker without doing so, but here we are. I think it’s important to display humility and ratify a sense of humor in any matter as much as it is worthwhile to take serious what we often don’t consider thoroughly enough, hence my address of the realities involving the different modes of play and engaging with gaming in a myriad of ways.


Some ways of engaging more compelling than others

To wit; I also think one of the difficulties of writing about games is that it changes the frame of reference of how one plays them, which is a radical notion to me when I really stop to consider the details involved in any in-depth degree. I don’t think it’s a dubious claim to suggest writers need to frame their efforts in scribing the world through some kind of pre-established narrative, at this moment now considering what an authentically “anarchist” way of writing would even look like…if such a thing were even possible. In the case of Mario Kart World, which when boiled down to its finer elements, would be considered a sports related title, it still brings forth the notion that even in competitive sports reporting, or maybe very much so in a credit to competitive sports reporting, one is always attempting to magnify or articulate a narrative when sharing the content through their own perception to the crowd at large. A purely mathematical pretense in describing the events would come off as psychotic, I would speculate, and would rob the players and their spectators of the very humanity that makes the game even function on a basic social level.


Truth is relative: there is no race without the non-racers

Which ties nicely into my trepidation in writing about Mario Kart World, even though my lack of writing about games has really only been a few weeks. For anyone who’s followed me for long enough, thats a pittance to the sometimes months and even years away from the keyboard I’ve taken in terms of just thinking, playing, and being away from the keyboard. I’ve continued to consider both a contextual narrative for gaming and writing about play itself, and discussing the metaphysical realities therein and relationally speaking to things even as silly as a cow grinding on a rail with a kart, or about the notions involved with the humanity at play in something that seems as by the numbers and basic as Mario Kart tends to be. Seeing elements within the gameplay footage of MKW, like the open world geography, brings forth the essence of Nintendo doing the complete opposite of what they pulled off with Mario Kart Tour, in that instead of distilling the MK experience into the smallest idea possible, they wanted to really open the premise up and go as broad as imaginable, continuing to borrow from the hyped zeitgiest that has permeated their brand as a knock on effect from the lingering excitements that the Breath of the Wild strategem has provided for their catalog since the calamity occurred.


Life changing, to say the least

Which may sound quite disjointed to some, referencing events hither and thither that carry referential rapport, and conjuring thematics of possible revelatory status to the subject at hand, one that within its code and most reductionist sense of self, begets the notion of humanity thriving through the essence of a bloviating bovine, and all the anthropomorphizing that goes on there after, but a kart race is more than the sum of its parts, and therefore possesses a deeper dimensionality just as much as a cow is more than simply the context of its moo, transformed by both its surroundings, its observers, its relevancy to the structure of the function of the race, the avatar of the player, the controller of a kart, and the competitor in an event. The cow becomes the conduit through which we experience the simulacrum of Nintendo’s hegemony, all of which we become apart of through the mere spectacle of commerce distilled, the witnessed and the testified all benchmarks of the race won before even the starting line was crossed.

~Pashford

Mario Kart World Enough To Drive Switch 2 Sales?

Sometimes, it feels like Nintendo is really milking their franchises for all their worth…


…and sometimes the involvement of a cow is more
literal than metaphorical, thankfully

With gamers still reeling from the Switch 2 reveal, and Nintendo doing their Treehouse Livestream showcasing some of the new software, a lot of sentiments that are the loudest and clearest clogged up the comments section and made people’s opinions abundantly clear.


…something something customer always
right?

A perspective I was guessing would be one of the most commanding after I read about the price following the reveal yesterday, and I can understand why. Living ain’t cheap, and affording anything that isn’t essential right now is a challenging prospect. The US usually lucks out with cheaper prices (relatively speaking) with electronics compared to some other unlucky territories due to regulations, and the $450 USD price tag for the launch day of the Switch 2 on June 5th is still a hard pill to swallow for most, not to mention the reality of the games being more expensive as well, with Donkey Kong Bananza being priced at $69.99 and Mario Kart World at $79.99, respectively.


Truly prophetic words from a woman
ahead of her time

Not that anyone with half a brain didn’t see this coming, especially with global economics being impacted with US tariffs involving materials utilized in hardware components, thus making electronics having prices that have soared sky high recently, and it is not hard for one to imagine Nintendo’s new console was bound to be a pricier affair right from the start. With all things considered, I’m guessing the Switch 2 is barely being sold at a profit, which is slightly off baseline for Nintendo, generally opting for weaker hardware overall for a better profit margin, but they likely knew where they would be standing with the ever increasing prices for hardware specs and the realities of costly materials needed for the hardware production to follow suit. The big N usually has a software ace up their sleeve, but one of the only big titles that will be available on launch day will be Mario Kart World, which admittedly, looks great from early gameplay footage, but does leave that all important question hanging in the air…


Is Mario Kart World enough to drive sales?

I think this is a moment where you have one of those weird forgone conclusions. A lot of people clearly want the Switch 2 to be cheaper, but that was likely to be true no matter what the price point could have been. While I agree that Mario Kart World doesn’t necessarily come off as a bombshell of a launch title per say (real earth shattering stuff, I mean) , based on tried and true gameplay of a tested and vetted series with historical sales data to prove what a power house it is, the series is absolutely a system seller, awesome new open world approach involved or not. The price for the system isn’t going to be a problem for diehards when preorders go up April 9th, and if history repeats itself as I predict it will, the system is likely to be sold out and hard to find for the remainder of the year if trends hold true, which means Nintendo is playing their cards just right.


Seen here: the playing card umbrella Nintendo
will undoubtedly use to shield themselves from all
the money raining down upon them when the Switch
2 launches

The irony for me definitely remains intact that as it stands currently, I have neither the time nor money to really invest in gaming as a hobby on a regular basis, so footage involving a new Nintendo console almost just acts as a quaint distraction. It does feel a bit queer to me that where once upon a time I was always a day one kind of guy, no matter what was going on, I’ve been regulated to the sidelines for the last couple of console launches (PS5 and Series X), and it doesn’t look to be much different with the Switch 2. Tech and video game hobbiysm definitely seems to be a sub-culture ruled by the D.I.N.Ks of the world currently, and they will celebrate mightily come June 5th.

~Pashford

Bait and Switch (2)

There is truth in advertising, they say.


There can also be some underhanded, limp dick
cryptic ass bullshit involved in advertising, as well

Not so much so was the case with Nintendo’s reveal of the Switch 2 earlier today, as they went on at lengths about their new console…and now that Nintendo has done their first in-depth look at the Switch 2, and featured a huge information blow out involving their next console in all of it’s tantalizing glory, I delightfully take a satisfying moment in providing a huge breakdown of just what Nintendo showcased about the Switch 2, in all of it’s delightful glory.

…is what I’d love to be saying. Very unfortunately, due to how my schedule ended up playing out today, I have nearly no time to do any kind of deep dive whatsoever on what Nintendo did showcase today about their next console, the Switch 2, but I can mention a couple of quick details considering the magnitude level of news the event represents.

The two big details, being release date and price, are June 5th respectively, and the price tag, which interestingly enough, was not even showcased during the reveal itself but only after the fact, is looking to be about $450 USD, which I think ended up being the mid point sweet spot between the optimistic low-ballers and the cynical doubters of what the price point of the console was likely to be. Which, to that point, I think Nintendo probably opted not to advertise front and center what the price point would be, due to the number not exactly screaming “good value” within the earshot to the casual audience, while maintaining a relatively consistent historical precedent of Nintendo holding firm on not selling consoles at a major loss. This is all the while dealing with the fallout of very unfortunate but seriously relevant real world economic issues that many tech companies will be facing the rambunctiously negative ramifications of the foreseeable future, with no one who has any real idea of just how positively likely that financial situation will buff out in an agreeable way down the road.


Anyone? Bueller?

One more damning aspect of the whole package is that Nintendo didn’t even flash a quick blurb of official tech specs during the reveal, and I read after the fact they didn’t want to go with the name “Super Nintendo Switch”, so as to not draw attention to the hardware standard involved. I think combined with what could be considered an underwhelming showing of new first party Nintendo titles from the get go, with only Mario Kart World (more of an open world Forza: Horizon take on the MK formula) and Donkey Kong Bonanza (think Red Faction meets Super Mario Odyssey) having substantial footage, and you get kind of a whelmed sense of delivery about the whole thing, albeit one with a glimmer of potential energy about it.

The Joycons being able to be utilized as if a mouse for a keyboard certainly opens up the door of awesome port ideas for not just FPS games, but PC titles in general, and presents excellent opportunity for game design ideas across the board, especially with the amount of third party support Nintendo already has on board in releasing software for their console.

While perhaps not one of the most face-meltingly awesome hardware reveal in Nintendo’s history certainly an interesting one I’m looking forward to exploring in the coming days.

~Pashford

Words of Wisdom: Mind to the Grind

Adversity is often key in cultivating a sense of who we truly are.


The great educator that is death…just look at how
many lessons I learned

Not to say that we don’t deserve a break every now and again, but the struggle of the everyday and how we decide to build ourselves in the face of difficulty is integral to the growth process. Whether it be something as simple as playing a video game, or something as grand as confronting our own existential value in the face of the seemingly infinite expanse of the entire universe in our waking hours, every moment is instrument in building us up into the kind of person we will become. I think that’s why it’s important to not just throw ourselves into the grind without purpose or thought relentlessly, but be mindful about how we do so. When we put our mind to the grind as well as our bodies, we can not only test ourselves in a number of ways, but we can also be mindful while we do it. I think there’s a lot of worth in the phrase work smarter not harder, and applying our experience, wisdom, and insight into how we are able to process the harsh realities of life, to better prepare for even more in the future, and the best ways to cultivate ourselves in the process, will not only temper us into improved versions of ourselves, but with mindfulness, the most ideal person we want to be will come out on the other end.

Take care of yourself, and others.

~Pashford

Behind the Games: Alien Signifiers

In a world that often defies the concepts of what constitutes normalcy, one is then tasked with the notion of approaching the everyday with a paranormal thought process.


Let’s get real spooky with it

Something I think about a lot that maybe doesn’t become more radically apparent to the readers eyes is more about the ideas behind the games themselves then just what the games “have to offer”. I’m sure I’ve stopped to consider before how others view or interpret gaming, though I find it’s always worth sharing just how deeply I’ve dug into the consideration of what those realities entail. I believe this thought has come to mind with my small article involving the Metroid Prime 4 reveal, and my approach in briefly covering “what it is” vs “what it isn’t”, or at the very least in a more paired down exposition of the matter, the information people wanted from the piece (or said trailer the piece was about, more so). I kind of alluded to some of what I’m speaking to right now with my mention of another article involving just what makes a “REAL” Zelda game, in fact a “REAL” Zelda game, and obviously, opinion’s will vary.


Worth it to mention for our younger readers, that
the trailer for Wind Waker on Gamecube, which debuted
more than twenty years ago, had initial push back from
a bunch of “hardcore” fans for not being a “REAL” Zelda game

One word I didn’t use at all in my original decontructionism involved with “The Abstract Limitations of Wisdom”, and it’s address of what entailed the “-ishness” of gaming in general was in reference to “signifiers”, which reappropriates a word from philosophy to better understand gaming through a similar lens, and helps to highlight my points in both frame of reference for how I view games, and the relative value of how others view games, among a myriad of aspects involving the “play” process. For example, with Metroid prime 4, I didn’t feel the need to focus on any lore indicators and or implications about the MP4 trailer, even the name of the planet, let alone the fact that Samus got “psychic abilities” to operate mechanisms within the games context. Some of this does boil down to priorities, as others may be more invested in the world of Metroid more than me, but the relative “signifiers” for what was present seemed on brand with MP4, which was the priority implicit with the presence of the “signifiers”, more so in the general vibe of what people would come to expect within the series defaults, more or less.

More to a specific mention, moments involving a new ability are relevant, yes, like Samus’ new “psychic abilities”. Though relevant, these abilities do represent just another “signifier” so to speak, and brings to light the idea of properties possessing propositions, that familiar which belongs to them, these elements they guarantee as “signifiers” and that one can effectively blend or utilize appropriately. Whether the utilization is through fantasy, sci-fi, or a hybridization process thereafter, the “signifiers” embody the rationalization of the entity, and thusly dictated and vindicated through the property possession proposition of said entity to predicated the “signifier”. One quick example that springs to me in reminding me of some of the “high” tech stuff that might pass off as a hybridization process thereafter (I.E. MAGIC) for such in the gaming realm is Metal Gear Solid, which more or less kind of comes off as purely magical in some respect, but still as a series, has a very strong identity, with effective “signifiers” for what gives Metal Gear Solid it’s “-ishness”, so to speak.


Pictured: “the unseen”, aka, nanomachines, son

With all that in focus, but shifting perspective a little bit, I think reassessing the priorities of the collective represents a good relative observation as well, as gaming possesses several interpretations, depending on who you speak to. I think, in maybe the most reductionist of approaches, reducing gaming to a consumer product…which it is, if we take away the magic of marketing and the beautifully blinding effects of nostalgia for just a moment, then we beging to see the justification process involving the relatively straight forward yet bizarrely abstract evaluation methodology of what the game worthy or unworthy, as it were


A set of signifiers, as it were, which sometimes entails
Captain’s America’s buttcheeks

Within an even greater narrowing of this perspective, or to help dismistify the trascendence process of worth to a zero sum total, Nintendo is essentially selling the player on this new game with signifiers, and in that context, you have to look at Samus’s new suit, the new abilities, and even in more obtuse ways, see “the unseeable”, to deduce whether or not both what you have been shown and from a marketing standpoint of excitement, what has not been shown, in order to justify to yourself whether or not these new signifiers represent a successful rationalization process to spend sixty dollars. I think to many, that would almost be a spoiled deconstructionism of what has occurred, with so many excitable hobbyists defending brand names or delusional fanboys already sold on the name Metroid Prime through a process of self-identifying through brand name and consumer product alone, the unseen of the trailer is the blind loyalism that follows a branding of signifiers that concludes an already spent sixty dollars, outside of further context.


Basically what anyone thinks when they start reading any philosophy

I had a lot more to say, which would have continued to dive into the notions of the metaphysical realities that follow suit in the observance of the nature of gaming and how those abstractions further and perhaps even more importantly cement the notion of valuable signifiers within the realm of gaming and the unseen, as it were, but we’ll have to leave it there for now. I am left with the notion that I have long agreed, as an aside, with the old observance that gaming is a business that art sometimes escapes through, though that’s another conversation upon itself as well, and yet one more point of interest that will also have to wait patiently in the wings until it’s more timely debut is to be center stage within the theatrics of the gaming world.

~Pashford

Space Truckin’: Metroid Prime 4 Trailer

Steady is the hand that sets the world aflame


Being a momma’s boy while doing so: totally optional

A whole lot of gaming news to discuss and yet not a ton of time in which to yield to the exciting premises thereafter. A Nintendo direct did happen recently, and one of which I’ve only caught bits of, the most eye catching of which was most certainly Metroid Prime 4, slated for a 2025 release date. Though this Nintendo direct is going to be followed by another dominated and fixated by the Switch 2, Metroid Prime 4 got revealed beforehand, possibly suggesting it will be a multi-platform release, on both the Switch and it’s successor. Nintendo sometimes likes to do late comer releases on current gen tech, and then do a near simultaneous releases for their upcoming next gen console historically, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond may see a similar treatment, with a possibility of a Swtich 2 upgrade available for the game, which is currently slated for a Switch release in 2025.


Maybe the game will finally answer the age old
question of “y can’t metroid crawl?”

The trailer is both exciting and formulaic at the same time, with the game very much holding no big surprises for those familiar with the pedigree, a reliably impressive caliber following suit. Both atmospheric and immersive with cryptically dense but eye-popping backdrops, expect both exploration and combat to follow the successful template set down by the original trilogy. I’ve written before about the notion involving abstract limitations of wisdom, in just how different a game can be before it loses it’s own identity, and the question deserves investigation, though I don think there is a satisfying answer. As with most of life, let alone gaming, it’s all context, and the truth behind the curiosity is always enlightened by context. In the sake of an annual or semi-regular release, reinvention may be key in keeping the masses satisfied, as curveball novelty, tawdry quirks, or token eccentricities may rule the day to break up the inanity of the everyday monotony. If your series hasn’t seen an entry proper in almost twenty years however, one could venture a safe guess that you’re probably not going to have to worry about reinventing the wheel to get things rolling again…

…for that, you will likely only need one tried and true morph-ball power up. Trailer Below:

~Pashford

inZOI: A Life Sim Run By Kitties

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.


Mario obviously being a big fan of Shakespeare in
predicating his life on the bards perspective

Yesterday I mused about the absurdity of the internet making a big deal out of nothing, which was in and of itself, me operating under the absurdity on the internet making a big deal about nothing, by absurdly making a big deal out of the nothingness on the internet. So it goes, as Vonnegut would posit, and perhaps just the natural way of how this silly farce of a series of tubes often plays itself. In any case, the Nintendo Direct Sakurai tweeted about came and went, and certainly no Smash related news sprang from the event, though there is another Nintendo Direct coming up on April 2nd that is solely Switch 2 related, so Sakurai may yet have a hand in a grand reveal of some sort on the horizon, though I remain dubious it is of the Smash persuasion. In other non-Nintendo related news, a new life-sim game called inZOI is launching on Steam Early Access as we speak (article going up late 3/27), so barring any unforseen technological snafu’s, many should be enjoying their new slice of life simulator in full splendorous glory for the better part of tonight.


Expecting a lot of cat girls to be popping up…

Being in Early Access, the game will be weathering a storm in terms of a playtesting phase of sorts, and continuing to iron our a lot of bugs, glitches, and performance issues players will no doubtedly discover upon their early interactions with the game, but this is to be expected. The title will cost as much as a Sims expansion (reminder that the two only share genre DNA and are not in fact related) at $39.99, but any updates and content drops will belong to the players for good, even when the game moves out of Early Access. I think one of the things that struck me about inZOI upon reading about the title (from multiple huge outlets, mind you), is the palpable excitement for the title from the gaming industry at large. I’ve gone on recently about how gamers are a bit more multi-dimensional than they’re given credit for, with my musings on how many players are both interested in the quiet calmness of an Animal Crossing outing after pray and spraying down hordes of demons in Doom, and I think many’s collective giddiness about inZoi helps to hit that point home in how excited they are to play it.


…and recreate Billie Eilish in the hyper realistic character
creator, which is apparently a thing a lot of people like to do

Not only did the title become the most wishlisted title on Steam, but massive outlets have been serious about covering the experience, with PC Gamer even giving it a dedicated cover story for the May issue. I’m hoping to get my hands on inZoi to give it a test run if possible, as one of the big features of the game involves a more seamless open world approach to the sim experience, with three huge maps for you to choose from where a much larger collection of “Zois” will interact in more organic ways than the smaller bubbles Sims players have been accustomed to. Mix that in with what sounds like a super in-depth character and a focus on more AI fueled activities for the Zois themselves, and it sounds like there will be a lot to explore from the get go when inZOI launches.


Including cats! Who are the ones running the show
in-game. Be sure to pay tribute to your new cat overlords
with lots of snacks and scritches

Good thing inZoi is giving us a shot at creating a meow interesting every day in simulated format, because the real one we are all suffering right now just ain’t scratching that itch. Hope to be able to bring back some updates for you in the near future…maybe after a nice catnap or two.

~Pashford

GOAT Goat

Sometimes, you just got to kick back and relax.


Some of us need it a lot more than others

Not much today from me, as both my mood and the weather are in a quaint state of idyllic contentment right about now, so relaxing seems to be my imminent concern. Though my gaming usually takes the bent of challenging, hyperactive, intense etc…there is still plenty of titles one can be positively silly engaging with on more lackadaisical days like the one I am experiencing at the moment. Such was the reminder when I saw this little nugget pop up on my feed, and gave me a giggle something fierce as I was reminded of the awesome reality that is Goat Simulator. The “Goat Direct” as it were, obviously aiming not to be upstaged by Nintendo’s Switch 2 first look the following day, and while having a go at the reality of April 1st being a prime-time hotspot for a fake news fiasco, no doubt comes draped in ridiculous seriousness in it’s intent and approach, in helping to pull back the curtain on not just some of the upcoming updates for Goat Simulator 3 by developer Coffee Stain North, but other goat like oddities they’ve been cooking up recently.


Explosive goat news impending, if I had to use my
decades of refined gaming expertise to broadcast an
educated guess

The Goat Simulator series helps to remind us that gaming has truly evolved over the years, and that the industry is not just for the AAA behemoths and budget breaking game development cycles plagued by crunch with 1000 person teams it is known for, but has plenty of room for both the smaller teams with a simple mission statement: absurdist, lighthearted fun. The event also reminds me how long I’ve been covering the gaming news, as I remember writing an article covering the inevitable launch of Goat Simulator 1 set to launch on April 1st about 11 years ago around this time when I had a gig as an editor-in-chief for commercial site way back when, sporting a similarly goofy grin covering the event more than a decade ago.

Time really flies when you’re kidding around.
~Pashford

Words of Wisdom: Self-Discovery

Finding out who we are is a lifelong process


Unless you’re Face McShooty…then you’re kind of fucked on the
whole “self discovery front”

That’s why I find games are a truly unique technological treasure in our modern age, as we can use them for more than just passive fun or as idle time killers. Video games represent one of the most inventive mediums of the 20th century, and as tech continues to evolve in the 21st, so do we, whether it be our individual tastes, preferences, or curiosities. Humanity is an endless wellspring of possibility, and our potentials are as boundless as our options, but sometimes, we just don’t know it yet. That’s why something as simple as a video game can reveal our true selves, as they allow us to explore not only our hidden desires, but our most intimate dreams and deepest desires of who we are now, or who we think we want to be through experimentation and exploration. Maybe next time when you boot up a game, stop and really think to yourself: how do I want to play this? Or who am I really? And then go find out what makes you trule happy through the act of play.

Make sure to take care of yourself, and others.
~Pashford