Sludge Life seems quite interesting; I've noted it for when I'm ready for such an experience.
Seeing the space deer's snout pressed into the camera as they take the photo is adorable! The comic prompted a few thoughts from me:
The photos... they can never objectively convey my experience to others, but they bring *me* back to my memories.
I do love to enjoy the current moment as if it's already a memory. I imagine, "this is the kind of thing I look back on positively," and that helps me be present. My last memory like that was last summer, out on a picnic bench with my brother, playing with graphics APIs on a laptop.
I've actually noticed I feel some sort of "hyper nostalgia" where I become very fond of things very quickly, as if they've been there all my life. In the past months I've realized I can close myself off from that if I am unhappy, and it's not as fun to be closed off.
Lmk if you ever get around to playing it. Would be curious to hear how you take it.
I love drawing Space Deer’s snout! 🐽
That sounds like a lovely memory and it’s also such a peculiar location for playing with graphics APIs.
I’ve also found myself in situations sometimes I realize that I’m right in something that I know will become a good memory. Which means I can picture myself in the future thinking of the me in the moment. Silly but nice.
Thanks for the spoiler warning. I stopped reading immediately and purchased it on sale on the eShop with some of my Gold Points. Not sure when I will get to it; at the moment, I'm slowly playing through Alan Wake (1) on the Switch and Samus Returns on the New 3DS XL (for the 3rd time, 'cause I love Metroid). It's good to have something interesting for a rainy day though.
I'm also somewhat avoiding spoilers for Surmount, btw.
That's a beautiful Space Deer strip :) It's completely aligned with the different ways our brain hemispheres tend to "see" the world, btw - speaking of that Iain McGilchrist book: one is a flat and lifeless but manageable representation of the real thing and the other is the real thing, here and now, in all its depth, context, whole and beauty... Something like that.
Nice! I like to have games lined up waiting to be played in my library like that too. I played a bit of Alan Wake 1 a few years ago on Xbox360 and remember it being pretty neat. No idea why I didn't finish it though...
And I've also been playing a Metroid game on my 3DS, it's a Game Boy Advance one, can't remember the name of it but I dig it.
Good call dodging the Surmount spoilers hehe. I don't think I will reveal any significant story things about it anytime soon (especially not without spoiler warnings).
Maybe that thing about brain hemispheres is the inner conflict I often struggle with when it comes to justifying taking pics of things with my phone? The phone is just a flat logical thing and one half of my brain is emotional and knows that picture doesn't feel the same...
That will be Metroid Fusion via the 3DS "Ambassador Program", I think. I also got those games :)
Metroid is an interesting series. The story carries over from game to game, which is kind of unlike Nintendo. "Fusion" is Metroid 4 and back then rumors and hints started popping up about the next game, called "Metroid Dread" - this was back in 2005 or something. Metroid Dread became like an urban legend and it was generally thought that Nintendo wasn't gonna give 2D Metroid games another chance. But, then they quietly released the game I'm playing right now which is a remake of Metroid 2 for the original Gameboy, and a couple of years ago they released Metroid Dread for Switch - and the most surprising thing of all is that it somehow lived up to the crazy hype.
I'm just speaking as a Metroid fan here but I have to recommend Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) for your consideration. Maybe the "space shooter" aesthetic seems off-putting, but as Nintendo put it themselves, this is not a First-Person Shooter but a "First-Person Adventure". It is one of the highest rated games ever for a reason.
Alright, sorry about that - lol.
Don't worry too much about posting Surmount spoilers or not. Just wanted to let you know that this is one of the games I'm looking forward to playing!
It seems like your intuition is aware of something regarding taking pictures. I don't take pictures in important or beautiful moments, personally. It's a personal choice. What matters to me is that I get to live that beautiful moment - and if it really is that beautiful then I should have no problem remembering it :) And like you write, the picture doesn't feel the same. I even read somewhere that people actually tend to "forget" moments easier when they take pictures; almost like something inside is like "Oh well, there it is, right there on the screen. No need to keep remembering it then, since the picture is already doing it for me..." . Anyway, yeah, I'd be very surprised if what you're experiencing isn't some form of conflict with the way the two hemispheres tend to perceive things.
That sounds correct! It’s through that program. I kinda wish I had a more time appropriate screen to play it on though, the pixel art must be so pretty on a crusty GBA screen. It’s so blurry on the 3DS.
I didn’t realize the story carries over between games, maybe Metroid is the least Nintendo Nintendo-game. It doesn’t exactly look like a kid’s game either.
I already had the Metroid Prime remaster on my wishlist, now I’m even more convinced that I will like it. Now it’s just a matter of time until I get it.
No need to be sorry!
There’s something about what you said that planted a seed for another strip featuring the camera…
Maybe it’s an argument? Cause I agree with you very much but looking through the photos on my phone I’m sometimes surprised that I forgot something. I have no idea if I would remember some of those things so it’s nice to get that window.
It's dangerous to get me started on Metroid. I won't shut up. It is my favorite game series ever.
Fusion is a good game but it is not my favorite. It's a breath of fresh air in the series though and a great and important part of the story. It is a famously linear Metroid game and the art style is really interesting - almost bordering the expressionistic, at times.
The Metroid Prime trilogy takes place between Metroid 1 and 2 and is kind of its own "side saga". The visor system from that series is possibly my favorite game mechanic ever. Metroid Prime is actually developed by a studio in Texas (the same team that did the recent Donkey Kong games) along with Nintendo. One time early in development, Miyamoto was looking at the game and said, "what if you could switch heads?". Everyone was very puzzled. He added, "like instead of a human head, she could switch it with the head of a bug or something". It took them a while to understand that what he meant was that, what if you could alter your way of perceiving the world as a whole? The games do some interesting things with it but I still feel like there is so much untapped potential in that game idea. It is one of the big reasons I'm looking forward to Metroid Prime 4.
Regarding the photos, that's true. There are probably other aspects to it worth considering. I'm looking forward to more Space Deer!
I didn't realize that Fusion was an odd-ball in the series (since you called it a breath of fresh air). Might be good to keep in mind so I don't judge the series wrong based on that game. I was quite struck by how linear it felt compared to Hollow Knight and Guaccamelee, which are the only other metroidvanias I've played.
I thought the helmet just seemed like a cool detail, I got the feeling that it's supposed to feel like you've really got your head stuck inside that helmet.
Also, the vagueness of Miyamoto is funny ahah. I wonder if it's because of language barrier or he's just messy.
The visor system is only in the Prime games, which are first-person.
In the 2D series of games I think it adds to the feeling of isolation, which is at the heart of the series, and it is also an expression of the importance of the suit; Samus, the main character, has a kind of mysterious biological connection to her suit.
The most iconic use of the helmet was in the first game from 1986. When reaching the end of that game, most players simply assumed that they had been playing as some stereotypical tough dude, but in the end credits Samus removed her helmet and was then revealed to be a woman. Kind of cool :)
Sludge Life seems quite interesting; I've noted it for when I'm ready for such an experience.
Seeing the space deer's snout pressed into the camera as they take the photo is adorable! The comic prompted a few thoughts from me:
The photos... they can never objectively convey my experience to others, but they bring *me* back to my memories.
I do love to enjoy the current moment as if it's already a memory. I imagine, "this is the kind of thing I look back on positively," and that helps me be present. My last memory like that was last summer, out on a picnic bench with my brother, playing with graphics APIs on a laptop.
I've actually noticed I feel some sort of "hyper nostalgia" where I become very fond of things very quickly, as if they've been there all my life. In the past months I've realized I can close myself off from that if I am unhappy, and it's not as fun to be closed off.
Have a good week!
Lmk if you ever get around to playing it. Would be curious to hear how you take it.
I love drawing Space Deer’s snout! 🐽
That sounds like a lovely memory and it’s also such a peculiar location for playing with graphics APIs.
I’ve also found myself in situations sometimes I realize that I’m right in something that I know will become a good memory. Which means I can picture myself in the future thinking of the me in the moment. Silly but nice.
Thanks Ash!
:) very fun
Thanks for the spoiler warning. I stopped reading immediately and purchased it on sale on the eShop with some of my Gold Points. Not sure when I will get to it; at the moment, I'm slowly playing through Alan Wake (1) on the Switch and Samus Returns on the New 3DS XL (for the 3rd time, 'cause I love Metroid). It's good to have something interesting for a rainy day though.
I'm also somewhat avoiding spoilers for Surmount, btw.
That's a beautiful Space Deer strip :) It's completely aligned with the different ways our brain hemispheres tend to "see" the world, btw - speaking of that Iain McGilchrist book: one is a flat and lifeless but manageable representation of the real thing and the other is the real thing, here and now, in all its depth, context, whole and beauty... Something like that.
Nice! I like to have games lined up waiting to be played in my library like that too. I played a bit of Alan Wake 1 a few years ago on Xbox360 and remember it being pretty neat. No idea why I didn't finish it though...
And I've also been playing a Metroid game on my 3DS, it's a Game Boy Advance one, can't remember the name of it but I dig it.
Good call dodging the Surmount spoilers hehe. I don't think I will reveal any significant story things about it anytime soon (especially not without spoiler warnings).
Maybe that thing about brain hemispheres is the inner conflict I often struggle with when it comes to justifying taking pics of things with my phone? The phone is just a flat logical thing and one half of my brain is emotional and knows that picture doesn't feel the same...
That will be Metroid Fusion via the 3DS "Ambassador Program", I think. I also got those games :)
Metroid is an interesting series. The story carries over from game to game, which is kind of unlike Nintendo. "Fusion" is Metroid 4 and back then rumors and hints started popping up about the next game, called "Metroid Dread" - this was back in 2005 or something. Metroid Dread became like an urban legend and it was generally thought that Nintendo wasn't gonna give 2D Metroid games another chance. But, then they quietly released the game I'm playing right now which is a remake of Metroid 2 for the original Gameboy, and a couple of years ago they released Metroid Dread for Switch - and the most surprising thing of all is that it somehow lived up to the crazy hype.
I'm just speaking as a Metroid fan here but I have to recommend Metroid Prime Remastered (Switch) for your consideration. Maybe the "space shooter" aesthetic seems off-putting, but as Nintendo put it themselves, this is not a First-Person Shooter but a "First-Person Adventure". It is one of the highest rated games ever for a reason.
Alright, sorry about that - lol.
Don't worry too much about posting Surmount spoilers or not. Just wanted to let you know that this is one of the games I'm looking forward to playing!
It seems like your intuition is aware of something regarding taking pictures. I don't take pictures in important or beautiful moments, personally. It's a personal choice. What matters to me is that I get to live that beautiful moment - and if it really is that beautiful then I should have no problem remembering it :) And like you write, the picture doesn't feel the same. I even read somewhere that people actually tend to "forget" moments easier when they take pictures; almost like something inside is like "Oh well, there it is, right there on the screen. No need to keep remembering it then, since the picture is already doing it for me..." . Anyway, yeah, I'd be very surprised if what you're experiencing isn't some form of conflict with the way the two hemispheres tend to perceive things.
That sounds correct! It’s through that program. I kinda wish I had a more time appropriate screen to play it on though, the pixel art must be so pretty on a crusty GBA screen. It’s so blurry on the 3DS.
I didn’t realize the story carries over between games, maybe Metroid is the least Nintendo Nintendo-game. It doesn’t exactly look like a kid’s game either.
I already had the Metroid Prime remaster on my wishlist, now I’m even more convinced that I will like it. Now it’s just a matter of time until I get it.
No need to be sorry!
There’s something about what you said that planted a seed for another strip featuring the camera…
Maybe it’s an argument? Cause I agree with you very much but looking through the photos on my phone I’m sometimes surprised that I forgot something. I have no idea if I would remember some of those things so it’s nice to get that window.
It's dangerous to get me started on Metroid. I won't shut up. It is my favorite game series ever.
Fusion is a good game but it is not my favorite. It's a breath of fresh air in the series though and a great and important part of the story. It is a famously linear Metroid game and the art style is really interesting - almost bordering the expressionistic, at times.
The Metroid Prime trilogy takes place between Metroid 1 and 2 and is kind of its own "side saga". The visor system from that series is possibly my favorite game mechanic ever. Metroid Prime is actually developed by a studio in Texas (the same team that did the recent Donkey Kong games) along with Nintendo. One time early in development, Miyamoto was looking at the game and said, "what if you could switch heads?". Everyone was very puzzled. He added, "like instead of a human head, she could switch it with the head of a bug or something". It took them a while to understand that what he meant was that, what if you could alter your way of perceiving the world as a whole? The games do some interesting things with it but I still feel like there is so much untapped potential in that game idea. It is one of the big reasons I'm looking forward to Metroid Prime 4.
Regarding the photos, that's true. There are probably other aspects to it worth considering. I'm looking forward to more Space Deer!
I like your self-awareness ahaha
I didn't realize that Fusion was an odd-ball in the series (since you called it a breath of fresh air). Might be good to keep in mind so I don't judge the series wrong based on that game. I was quite struck by how linear it felt compared to Hollow Knight and Guaccamelee, which are the only other metroidvanias I've played.
I thought the helmet just seemed like a cool detail, I got the feeling that it's supposed to feel like you've really got your head stuck inside that helmet.
Also, the vagueness of Miyamoto is funny ahah. I wonder if it's because of language barrier or he's just messy.
The visor system is only in the Prime games, which are first-person.
In the 2D series of games I think it adds to the feeling of isolation, which is at the heart of the series, and it is also an expression of the importance of the suit; Samus, the main character, has a kind of mysterious biological connection to her suit.
The most iconic use of the helmet was in the first game from 1986. When reaching the end of that game, most players simply assumed that they had been playing as some stereotypical tough dude, but in the end credits Samus removed her helmet and was then revealed to be a woman. Kind of cool :)