Josh

> dumb post going around about how "Nintendo has lost its soul" since Iwata passed > dumb posts dunking on it by saying actually Iwata's reign was when Nintendo lost its soul because (gorgeous screenshots of excellent Wii U/3DS era games)

I think I'm seeing the warfare between those who were angsty teens during the Wii U and are relieved Nintendo moved away from all that, now threatened by a rising tide of those who were idealistic children during that same time and think that everything since has been downhill.

I don't think so. But in terms of tone, voice acting, characterization, aesthetics, and what it's actually TRYING to be, probably? It's complicated. Frontiers is also just WAY too long and I feel like I may be burnt out on it forever, whereas I could boot up Forces right now and find something fun.

> why do you actually think classic sonic is a better design than modern sonic? I just do.

Case in point, I'm glad I wasn't the only person who saw this and my immediate first thought was, "absolutely none of those were from the early 2000s though, Numa Numa is the oldest thing there and it was 2004; Heck, Overly Attached Girlfriend was 2012!" "Also hot DAMN Tay Zonday looks good."

I think "CHRONOLOGY" (for lack of a better term???) is one of my Special Interests, so this sort of thing never feels weird to me, but I've definitely noticed other, less-weird-in-my-specific-way people being really caught off-guard by it.

My mom had lots of PC games. And sometimes I would just pick one up and put it in the drive and try it. Once I did that with a Jeopardy game. And during the player setup, it said something like SEX? [M or F]: ☐ Obviously I had no idea what any of that meant, I was like 4 years old or something.

I remember going out to the garage one weekend and finding my ancient Super Nintendo, replaying DKC2 for the first time since I was a boy, and realizing that it was even better than I remembered, and even more special to me than I knew. It was the year 2000. I first played it just 4 years earlier.

Yup. I had a Fun Conversation with a family member a while back: FAM: Do you think /MEN/ should be allowed to play in women's sports? ME: ...of course I don't think that. FAM: Well at least you've got that right! ME: ...but trans women aren't men.

So, you're not the only person to mention the green energy crystals, but to Madd and anyone else who HAS mentioned it, I want to dig in on that more. What made it so rough for you guys? I'm someone who normally despises stuff like that, but it didn't really bother me this time???

I've replayed the game a few times now, and what I've consistently found is that as long as I'm smashing the crystals I see as I go through the desert normally, I always have ALMOST enough to push me over the line by the time I get to the point that I have to have them.

So! A few random thoughts on the state of YouTube and the channel. Things have been going downhill for years, which has been negatively impacting my output, and in 2026 I feel like they're finally hitting a breaking point. Individual videos lack STAYING POWER, and something has got to give.

At this point, I see two paths forward: - Do what YouTube seems to want and shift to largely being a commentary channel covering recent news and releases who can put out videos every single week and who depends on Nintendo Directs happening to pay the bills, or

So! A few random thoughts on the state of YouTube and the channel. Things have been going downhill for years, which has been negatively impacting my output, and in 2026 I feel like they're finally hitting a breaking point. Individual videos lack STAYING POWER, and something has got to give.

And this leads to SO much more burnout, because it makes sustainability feel impossible. I spent most of 2023 working on that Metroid season, then unexpectedly my car exploded, and we had to use EVERYTHING to cover it. What I made when it came out was largely all I'd ever make from it.

So! A few random thoughts on the state of YouTube and the channel. Things have been going downhill for years, which has been negatively impacting my output, and in 2026 I feel like they're finally hitting a breaking point. Individual videos lack STAYING POWER, and something has got to give.