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

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

Smash Bros. Creator Moves Finger, Makes Headlines

Another day, another dollar


Always money in the Kirby stand *makes
clicking noise with mouth*

Sleep is important, apparently, and a fact I’m surprised I so lamentably dismiss as a relevant notion on a regular basis. With that in mind, I peeled myself off of my bed with extraordinary prejudice just to get myself geared up to squeeze out the most minor of updates before being reclaimed by the sandman himself. Within that notion, I saw gamers absolutely losing their biscuits over a seemingly innocuous social media post earlier today, and I could do nothing but chuckle as the gears of the online machine started to inevitably move thusly. This instance, when viewed solely in a vacuum, would usually be nothing of note, but one that assessed in a much more macro sense, carries exciting implications.

I speak of course of this tweet, that Smash Bros. creator and beloved father of Kirby sent out earlier tonight in regards to an upcoming Nintendo Direct.


Smash Bros. for the Switch 2 launch CONFIMED?!?

I typed out that caption of course with nothing short of the loudest sigh imaginable shaking my head, as I merely echo the ridiculous sentiments of overly eager gossipers in the online spaces, because Smash Bros. fans are in-fucking-sane individuals who, based on their maniacal online machinations, would lead me to believe they may huff gasoline every single time before posting online, so consider your sources of information.

While I have no doubts Masahiro Sakurai will somehow be involved with the Nintendo Direct that will shed light on some of Ninty’s upcoming projects, the great cynic in me mostly certainly has extreme reservations in justifiably believing the next Smash Bros. game is involved. Sakurai, as previously mentioned, is also the creator of the Kirby series, which makes regular rounds on what seems like a yearly basis as a breadwinner for Nintendo, and most certainly a likely candidate to be apart of the reveal. Others were quick to latch onto the notion that the rumors involving a Kid-Icarus remaster was in the cards, and other obtuse jokers of the most rhetorical variety are crossing their fingers for a follow up to the puzzle action title Meteos 2. The man does seem to have quite a creative touch when approaching any project, so for him to perhaps step away from the Smash series after a quarter century of working on it to act as a mere consultant on the next game, while having the freedom to create a new IP of his own liking, would be a delightful enough prospect for me.

Whatever Sakurai’s involvement with the upcoming Nintendo direct, I’m sure fans will be in for a treat for the upcoming previews of the Big N’s projects.

~Pashford

Gaming Review: Rapid Fire

Don’t forget to slow down and smell the flowers.


Unless it’s this one. Run far away from this one.

Cannibalistic horticulture aside, my sentiment remains true, in encouraging individuals to slow down, take some time, and enjoy some self-reflection when one can. With that said, I’ve reached the end of another work week, and as always, I’m positively pooped. In pushing myself to rise to the occasion to meet the “quotas” set forth by creative challenges (I.E. write everyday consecutively for a month), I do tend to wear myself thin, but it is in response to feeling as if I’m simply not doing enough. The downside to this is that I rarely can find the time to do more long winded articles…or really anything aside from quick posits of wisdom or straight forward news poats, which is at least still affording me some practice in the realm of creative consistency. To wit; one of the ideas I’ve had kicking around in my head to break up some of the monotony of posting such straight forward affairs is to try my hand at a new feature called Rapid Fire, where I look back on the last week of articles, and insert a quick aside or addendum on my thoughts involving the games I’ve keyed about recently, and possibly add a little more context that I may have missed the first time around.


Context is key when discussing emotional reactions,
as sometimes you’ll be lucky enough to live in ignorance

With that said, let’s get to rapid fire:

-My write up Pokémon Disaster is a perfect distillation of what happens more often then not here on Active Time Event: working with what you got in the time you have. The initial idea was to finally sit down and watch the Pokémon Presents video Nintendo posted nearly a month ago, and dictate upon it. Mind you, the video is only twenty minutes long, and I still haven’t found the time to sit down and watch the fucking thing through to generate ideas from with which to coax an article out of…but I still wanted to write about Pokémon and didn’t have much time to do so, ergo, the Pokémon disaster occured.


Not that one

– My Words of Wisdom: Non-Simulated Thinking is another feature I came up with to have my cake and eat it too. I wanted to mostly relax on my first “weekend” day, but I still wanted to keep up with a writing schedule, so some quick posit was the way to go. I still try not to skimp on quality of course, so the idea always has to have a strong premise. I think I could have perhaps added more reference points involving how to go about engaging with tech via video games through the use of critical thinking, or wax philosophical about how mindfulness is the way to help cut through the bullshit of algorithmic tendencies, but all things in hindsight…life remains something that can only be understood backwards but lived forwards.

– The Casual Delirium of Video Games: Tuesday Edition ended up being a Frankenstein post, as I had a bunch of disparate ideas, but once again, not enough time to really dive into them all, so a monster was thusly born. Todd Howard’s thoughts on Doom and Mario’s impact on games is on point, and having even met the game in real life, he is a delightful individual with excellent insights into the industry, it’s just a shame he has helped to make himself into a meme with all of his wildly over promising ideas regarding Bethesda games.


Depending on who you talk to, of course

–Video Game Workers Unite! was a rare moment of positivity on ATE, which is a currency I don’t often trade in, but the gaming industry has been in a rough spot for a hot minute, so giving credit where credit is due for those who make the magic is definitely worth any amount of time. Writing about a more relatively important topic of note within the standards of the industry, especially involving the importance of unionizing and workers rights in general, also yields to the notion of more authentic journalistic integrity, a reality of which both gaming journalists and freelance writers don’t get a chance to experience in liu of just needing to act the role of hype man while drowning in a sea of enthusiast press that is not totally dissimilar to just straight up hawking products or being low key advertisers. A cold hard fact that I’m guessing many companies take advantage of with glee, in seeing the rise of influencers amidst the journalists and freelancers, the former of which regularly showcase they have absolutely no scruples whoring themselves out for a cheap, greasy paycheck while happily dropping any pretense they have standards or integrity whatsoever.

–Doom & Animal Crossing 4Evaz!!1<3, most definitely feels like the likeliest candidate for softball article if there was one this week, but I am madly endeared to both series, and it was a unique dual double-birthday, so worthy of the amorous celebration I showered both with. I also very likely could have easily made the article four times the length and not broken a sweat in the matter, but time was once again, not on my side. There’s actually been a shit ton of news about Doom: The Dark Ages I likely will follow up on, and I am guessing Nintendo’s Switch 2 first look on April 2nd has a great chance of showcasing more about the next Animal Crossing, so expect ample fixation on both series moving forward.


Always a feel good blast with these two

–The Last Laugh is more well deserved credit, by citing Balatro’s success at the 2025 GDCA, which continues to be representative of the notion I still give time to games that I’m not even a massive fan of. Even though I’m still playing Balatro, to attempt to understand the title as much as I can before moving on, one has to realize that even with ultra-eclectic tastes, one is just not going to like every experience under the sun. Balatro continues to remind me that I do ironically spend more time with games I don’t enjoy that much or perhaps don’t fully understand, just to get a better grasp on just why that is before just shrugging my shoulders and giving up, so there’s something admirable left to speak to, at least.

–Individualistic Collectivism was yesterdays post about the Katamari creators (Keita Takahashi) new game, To a T. There was a lot more to the interview that Game*Spark hosted and Automaton translated that I didn’t get to, one point of which involved the game’s narrative having roots in the realities of bullying, which was Takahashi’s way of attempting to humanize the story, and find connective issue of storytelling with a gaming public at large, and a topic that is taken as so mundane and everyday, most games would happily brush over it in favor for some epic cosmic battle. Nice to see in a space that continues to need to push itself to be relatable, and or at least one that still needs to strive to find a more humanistic approach, To A T is dojng so, and is not just lazily crutching on low-brow horndog schlock being shit out by a machine that regularly reguritqtes B-movie grade wank material for 16 year old minded boys.

–Gaming Review: Rapid Fire is a current work in progress. Fingers crossed it turns out well.

As always, time is against me, but it’s been fun keeping it real. That’s all…go forth and rock.

~Pashford

Doom & Animal Crossing 4Evaz!!1<3

Happy 5th Anniversary you two. Cheers to many more celebrations including both your series.


A rare moment where Isabelle gets a breather from
her hellish schedule to hang with Doomguy. He loves
shooting the shit

Ass-slappingly un-fucking-real that it’s already been five years since these two games launched in what’s felt like a blink of an eye. Even more wild when you consider these games not only launched on this very day five years ago, but it was right about that time in the U.S that the lockdown was announced due to Covid-19. In the before times…the long long ago.


Everyone had to be socially distanced more than
six pixels apart back then

Definitely in large part due to the pandemic, but not solely so, these games thrived. Mind you, many (including myself) have been humble fans of both since there relative inceptions (decades for either at this point), but when one has little else to do but fear the plague, sitting down to find some peace and quiet with a little bit of cozy comfort gaming is always an easy call.


Pictured: A piece of quiet(ening)

Even though I moved on from Doom: Eternal sooner than New Horizons, I still play both series as a duology back to back daily, having just finished doing so in the last ten minutes. There is technically still stuff for me to do in AC, even after five years (see the egregiously paced Nook Miles goals as to why), and there are nearly endless number of Doom WADs in the original games to enjoy at this point (custom level packs made by fans), so that I technically *still* have something new to look forward to, which is super groovy. One wouldn’t necessarily think that these two series would have forged such an unlikely bond between fandoms, but I think it is a rare moment that highlights how multi-layered gamers can be. There are many out there who love to get down on both the cozy and the chaotic, and once they’re done mowing down hordes of the demonic, enjoy hosing down and tending to some relaxing horticulture in their well kept gardens.


What most peoples Animal Crossing islands look
like when they finally log back in after time away

Both are games that share an under representation here on ATE, though they find themselves within a grouping of titles I so regularly and often play, alongside Smash Bros, Mario Kart, Elden Ring, that I’m not sure if I avoid talking about them due to the notion they feel so familiar and therefore so inane in consideration, or that everyone and their mother discusses them due to their popularity, and I feel as if I just truly have nothing to add to that conversation. I guess at least in terms of Animal Crossing, there has been no new news on the game or a follow up in some time. Nintendo is set to go into greater detail about the Switch 2 come April 2nd, and I’ll be amazed if they don’t showcase something from the next AC, and especially given the turn around time they’ve had on the last title, I’ll be even more amazed if they don’t announce an end of year release date.


Come on Nintendo, let’s both enjoy the sweet sound
of “bells” ringing come the holiday season…

There’s always news on the Doom front of course, as the original game continues to be ported to nearly every conceivable platform and device known to man, though I’m sure most are deadlocked on the release date for Doom: The Dark Ages, which is the direct sequel to Doom: Eternal, and set to launch on May 15th. Thinking about it, I’m a bit dumbfounded at myself for not having discussed the fairly constant stream of news regarding the title on ATE as of late, but the schedule has jammed up on my end by an almost complete lack of free time. C’est la vie. I’m going to pretend for a second that my schedule is somehow magically going to open up at some point in the next 24 hours, where then I will be struck by both a creative fervor, and somehow (insanely so) stumble onto a bunch of free time into which I may do a more in-depth follow up post of some kind detailing what I love about both series, and or even bring more focus unto the news and or culture involving both magnificent stable of games…but the devils in the details, and if we’re going by the mess left by Doomguy on a regular basis, those details have been blasted all over the god damned walls of the underworld.



What the devil must look like every time he gets
the news Doomguy has breached the walls of Hell

~Pashford

Pokémon Disaster

Gotta catch em all…after beating them mercilessly into submission of course!


If only this kid lived in the world where Big Boss
exists, he could have a whole different set of issues
with this kind of enthusiasm

Writing dark deconstructions involving the Pokémon series never gets old, and quite frankly is a seemingly endless treasure trove from which to mine from. Which is a good thing, too, as I’m not always immersed balls deep into any one game in the series, in spite of multiple titles usually coming out during any given year, though my amorous tendencies for the series remains unabated. As I’ve briefly mentioned before on ATE, I have had a tenuous relationship at best with Scarlet and Violet, as the games just represent what I deem as an excessive low point for the series, which makes it a serious difficulty in swallowing the dreck that represents Pokémania in any tolerable fashion. Even the thought of booting Scarlet up at the current moment makes me shudder, as the title is such a trial in patience on every conceivable level.


What Pokémon Scarlet and Violet should have been called

Though the titles have shaped up a bit through patches and post launch content, it’s a day late and a dollar short, quite honestly. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: just because a game has an awesome approach to game design, doesn’t mean everyone needs to ape it. I know it’s inevitable, and especially in a day and age where the triple A gaming industry is always looking for a sure fire hit, you’ll bet your ass that anyone who’s anyone is going to crib notes from something as prolific as Breath of the Wild without batting an eye, but carbon copying the experience while losing the series DNA in the process does active damage to the brand, and nothing positive for anyone in the long run.


How I imagine most conversations go during
Pokémon developer brainstorming sessions

I guess since the publisher is at least shared in this case, one developer publishing under the Nintendo banner borrowing from another developer could *at least* be somewhat justified as colleagues of sorts sharing notes, but Pokémon never needed to go full open world in the first place, at least not the mainline titles. It was an experiment better saved for a side project, and to be left at that, as it makes Scarlet feel far too aimless in it’s scope when you really pair down the entire experience. The industry goes through ebbs and flows with this kind of thing all the time, as you’ll see something like Street Fighter II, Mario 64, GTA III, Halo, WoW, Minecraft, or Fortnite touch down like a mother fucking meteor on the face of the gaming planet, and everyone wants to make the same colossal impact, sometimes spawning entire sub-genres of *insert game killer here*, and thus the new trend will be born.


Sometimes the comparisons of quality work as
intended if not quite literally, though not all are so lucky***

And while I iterate now for the sake of transparent acknowledgement, Scarlet and Violet were obviously never billed as a Zelda Killer, but the lengths of effort in which the devs themselves went to compromise the very foundation of the Pokémon design ethic ended up coming off as a net-negative, and upon reflection, just completely sabotaged the whole notion of quality therein.

Being inspired is one thing, but make sure not to lose your own identity in the process.

~Pashford

(***EDIT: Dark Cloud rules, by the way.)

Pashford Posits: True Wealth is Enjoyment

There’s a fine line between love and hate.


A tale as old as time

Ultimately, when I attempt to come up with an idea for ATE, the genesis of the interest is indeed genuine intent to entertain and inform, though I often find myself at odds with a struggle involving content, delivery, and presentation, though I’m always of the mind an authentically good idea or grandiose spirit imbued within a concept is worth sharing. I abhor fanboyism and fandom in general, even though I know what good can come of community, and that it will always be the individual that helps make up the bottom line at the end of the day.

I think the notion of blind fanaticism sickens me deeply, the same goes for shallow attempts at shilling product, which is why I got out of doing paid gigs in this line of work awhile ago. Puts me in a properly fucking weird place though, as most people don’t know how to make heads or tails of someone engaging in an activity if not for the sake of money in this day and age. There’s hobbyism, sure, though I’m tempted to posit the notion pure hobbyism has an inherently hedonistic bent, where one is indulging in their fancy of choice willy-nilly, even throwing caution to the wind and without a greater cause in mind for the sake of basic self-gratification. I don’t know if something like a publicly facing writing project (I.E a blog) or something of a similar variety can truly be classified in the same manner, with both the want to fulfill others curious moments with pleasure and wisdom likely not up for consideration as a truly selfish endeavor by definition, though the simple idea of gratifying others through sacrifice and devotion would qualify as one hell of a queer kink.


Though the competition is stiff in that regard

I think both the abstract nature of creation, play, imagination, and whimsy remain powerful agents of change for the everyday, and perhaps the greater the disparity between distinct lines drawn to fit an entire medium, or even art-form, if you’re feeling generous in the moment, is likely for the best, as everyone’s interpretation in regards to the perception of the matter helps to color the tapestry of possibility involved. As with most modern day conveniences, the erosion of quality is usually directly tied to the financial machinations of whomever is in charge, so my only plea of consideration is to prioritize the premise of quality of life first and foremost for the individual, and hopefully any profit there after is not just one of monetary consideration, but the truly virtuous benefit of enjoyment for the the majority whole at large.

Happy gaming.

~Pashford