michael-dean-k/

Played video games with my wife tonight. First we played Mario Kart on Switch (and tied). Then we opened the SuperNES emulator and it was really nostalgic. The original Kart (1993?) was nauseating, but also, harder, and more challenging. Feels like they've really simplified games so that young kids are never confused, which sort of takes the fun out of it. Then I played Donkey Kong Country (1994?) from Rareware, and remembered playing the game with my neighbor, JA, back when we were kids. Felt like a solid game, challenging, beat a few levels, and could imagine myself trying to beat it as an adult; though the concept of dedicating any attention to video games (new or old) seems off. Then we played a full game of tennis, and she won. Similar experience (awkward, but hard and challenging). Closed with Yoshi's Island, which is an example of how a game can be explicitly about babies, and yet still have an art style that is beautiful to an adult. After this experience, I guess my sense is that modern Switch games have turned to a kind of brain rot, and abandoning of art/soul for bright colors and attention catching? Can't say for sure. Maybe I'm just an old crank now. In any case, wondering if there's anything I'd gain through returning to old Nintendo games as leisure.

The Darth Vader x hip hop crossover is a good example of fan-led genre breeding that’s about to explode. Something like Star Wars can be bred with, effectively, anything: baseball, jam bands, New York City, whatever. The question is which hybrids can sustain an audience for more than a single short? Will someone build an empire off of an unexpected but perfect hybrid? (I think there’s potential in GTA meets Mario)