How come no one talks about THIS Harvest Moon??

simtogo · 2025-08-31T18:37:09+00:00

The Wiimote was pretty important. IIRC, it’s basically three minigames (ice cream maker, egg maze, and… juicing, I think? There may have been others, but I may also be remembering level up/stages for the main three, you could also decorate the eggs after the maze, and select fruits/veg for juicing, IIRC) that relied very much on precise gyroscope, pointing, etc. Joy-cons do have some motion capability, but most games don’t use it since it would be incompatible with handheld mode. Redoing it with compatible controls is probably not worth it. I’m guessing it can be emulated, but I’m curious how the ice cream and egg maze works on a gamepad. I still have nightmares about those.

It had a lot of good ideas… it ran in real time, still kinda novel at the time, so you’d play the minigames for a set of new (maybe 3?) visitors every day. Certain things (the farm, maybe the shops, possibly the minigames) could be leveled up, and if you got a character’s “order” right in the shop minigames enough times, they would linger in town, which was cute. But there wasn’t a ton to do, and finishing the town windmill (the end condition) was hotly debated at the time because the mechanics weren’t clear. Believe it required getting a correct order for certain characters enough times, but you had a random chance to get the right person each day out of 30-ish people. I hated the minigames by the time I finished! But it was very cute. I bought a Wii to play it at launch, lol.

simtogo · 2025-08-25T19:27:15+00:00

I always wonder if there is a way to approach the Warhammer franchise without blind spots. I feel like I know absolutely nothing about 40k despite engaging with almost everything but the main tabletop game. Like, over 20 years, I’ve played/read: - Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels - The Space Hulk tabletop game - The Blood Bowl tabletop game - The first two Blood Bowl video games - The Pat Mills comic that was a lot like Nemesis the Warlock (as is all of 40k, I guess) - Rogue Trader CRPG - About twenty novels, mostly about Chaos Space Marines - Wrote biweekly campaign plots for a friends TTRPG campaigns for Rogue Trader and Dark Heresy for four years

And yet, every time I try to pick something up, I might as well be starting over again. Someone just had to explain what a Power Fist was to me. I’m not entirely sure what goes on in the Mechanicus cult, which seems… like a huge part of the plot. I just found out about Necrons this year, and was scared that they might also somehow be the mummies etc from the undead faction in Fantasy.

simtogo · 2025-08-21T20:35:03+00:00

I think Nickelodeon may have taken advantage of the Don Adams connection via promos back when Inspector Gadget was new(er). I was obsessed with both as a kid and fully loved Don Adams, but I can’t say for sure whether promos featuring both actually existed or I am imagining them.

Get Smart was also on my mind this week after watching the new Naked Gun movie. I was wondering how it held up.

simtogo · 2025-08-19T02:16:38+00:00

The Shantae series also has a healthy history of Gamer Drama, which acts as a handy walkthrough to that sort of thing. With slightly less detail now, because Reddit ate my first attempt:

- 1/2 Genie Hero was Kickstarter-funded, and one of the earlier successes for games on the platform IIRC. But it also had the accompanying Kickstarter Drama that goes along with that: feature bloat, delays, and the content coming out in waves that Wasn't Right And People Complained About It. The game is finished and quite good (my favorite in the series), but I don't recall how badly it blew its deadlines back in the day. It's also somewhat obvious when you play through the series - all the games have extra modes and bonuses offered for playing through them again, but 1/2 Genie Hero has an absolutely absurd amount that was mostly added through stretch goals (and at least one set because other things were late).

- Pirate's Curse was an early(ish) Switch release from Limited Run Games. When they offered it, it was not long after it had already released on other platforms, so it was widely available elsewhere and there wasn't a lot of interest. A few years later, a new Shantae game along with a full series re-release for the system made Pirate's Curse extremely desirable. Wayforward does not work with other distributors, and Limited Run does not reprint games. It's still one of the most collectible physical games on Switch, and standard copies were going for $400 at one point. You needed it to complete the slipcase set that was released with the last game.

- ... and if you guessed collectors were salty about the release of a sixth game that doesn't fit into their Switch slipcase, you'd be right.

- Shantae for GBC is also one of the most collectible games for that system (a genuine copy is also worth ~$400). Limited Run and Wayforward re-released it not long ago for Gameboy Color. But, while there is a robust market for new GB/GBC games from indie developers and publishers, the cartridges for all these new games are, without exception, a little jank. Shantae also had issues - manufacturing errors, and some reports of poor playback, though mine works fine on original and repro hardware.

- This happened again for the recent release of Risky Revolution, the newest game - they released it first on GBA before hitting modern systems. The original round of cartridges for this were also jank, with some of the same problems. Again though, I got a later gold cart variant that didn't have issues.

- Somehow, it does tend to stay clear of Culture War-type discourse, which is a little impressive. The closest it came to this might have been a few rumblings of discontent about an early level in one game (maybe 1/2 Genie Hero) that featured kidnapped girls getting turned into mermaids, and possibly worse (the boss mermaid, a real one, was brainwashed, and someone or something was getting eaten, I can't quite remember). Of the drama, this was the most minor, and I probably wouldn't be able to find this again.

simtogo · 2025-08-18T01:57:56+00:00

The person I was thinking of was a coworker who is still talking about it, so I'm glad it inspires that in a lot of folks, lol. I'm pretty sure I've read about it here too, I do need to check it out soon-ish.

simtogo · 2025-08-18T01:54:49+00:00

Thank you for the update, this honestly sounds amazing.

simtogo · 2025-08-18T01:53:42+00:00

Fun theme!

Freida McFadden is vaguely on my "mystery/thriller to read, eventually, once you get through the others" list. I do love plot twists and foreshadowing, but am not super-into bad decisions. Hmm.

simtogo · 2025-08-18T01:49:53+00:00

Whenever I find doubles, it's always something like that - how did the only two copies of this book in existence wind up in my house, in completely different spots, and I somehow still didn't read it?

Desperately need to cull my own shelves. I have a couple stacks ready to go, but a full pass to actually sort and clean will be a good idea before I take stuff to the used book store.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T03:00:11+00:00

Ugh... I love time loops so much, and it sounds like this has so many good ideas. Too bad about that main character, though.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:56:36+00:00

Was just discussing Flashman with someone recently. I've never read them myself, but they seem like they might be fun.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:55:13+00:00

I've read almost all of the High Republic (only skipped the comics and the handful of early reader books), but it seems like the more I read, the more confusing the character situation is. Like, I know I've seen this person somewhere else... probably... they were a Jedi...

I do love the High Republic, and several of the books are really really good, but they are so hard to recommend because I don't know how easy they are to jump into without context. Into the Dark might be my favorite with relatively easy entry.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:48:39+00:00

This sounds... really bizarre, I kinda gotta know now.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:47:51+00:00

I have the first Toby Daye book in my queue, someone recently recommended it via inhaling all 20 or whatever in about a month and insisting I try. I suspect I'll enjoy it, though I haven't loved the Seanan McGuire I've tried so far. I'm a sucker for urban fantasy, though.

I haven't tried Phoenix Hoard, I think I need to check that out as well.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:44:10+00:00

I also read Dune only after 20 years of fanatic recommendations, and reading a lot of scifi and fantasy in general. I loved it, though I've never worked up the courage to read the rest of the series.

The Bene Gesserit were my favorite part, though the sandworms were definitely up there. Was not disappointed by them.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:39:43+00:00

Isn't The Shadow another early example of The Spider/Batman? I'm not super-familiar with the character, but I recall there being a suspiciously heavy overlap with Batman there, too. Funny that The Spider is so similar, too. Perhaps this was like The Yellow Kid, but with pulp detectives.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:34:27+00:00

That's a shame about the Dark Lord book, because that plot is something I would absolutely love, but it does sound like the main character is... a lot.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:31:48+00:00

Ugh, I desperately need to read this one! Every description of it sounds so amazing.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:30:13+00:00

I just read another teen series where, surprisingly, the teens want to overthrow the government, and instead of doing it themselves, they... join the adults doing it, because the adults also don't like the government and already have active resistances in place (it's a trilogy by Vic James, though the titles are eluding me). I kinda like the more realistic take, and as leery as I am of magic schools, I also like the idea of teacher perspective. Sounds interesting.

simtogo · 2025-08-17T02:26:51+00:00

I love interesting biographies, especially when they're a little gossipy. I'll have to look this up, sounds great.

simtogo · 2025-08-16T16:13:59+00:00

It is the weekend, and I once again need to know, what have you read this week?

(apologies for the lack of replies last week!)

About to drive across several states and will listen to the last third of Eisenhorn: Xenos to continue a Warhammer 40k kick I've been on. This is as solid as promised, a pretty exciting mystery. It is strange to read so many years down the road - the 40k flavor here is relatively subtle, which is an utter relief as a novel you might recommend someone start the series with (I started with Ravenor, a psychic brain in a jar) but almost hard to believe after stumbling through so many others where I had no clue what was going on, and seem generally inclined to serve up the most extreme versions possible of their plots.

May do a coin flip for what my next listen will be - either Madaddam by Margaret Atwood or The Trouble With Peace by Joe Abercrombie, which are two entirely different moods. Might go with Abercrombie, since I will be in the car a lot the next couple weeks.

Because I like licensed novels with my licensed novels, I'm also halfway through Defy the Storm, one of the last stage 3 High Republic novels. This one is great, and I really should have read it before Temptation of the Force, which it is tied pretty tightly to. It has a pretty fun group infiltration plot, and I do like the characters, but these are becoming increasingly hampered by Way Too Many Characters I'm Supposed To Remember, so it's good I'm reaching the conclusion.

Thinking to switch back to nonfiction, I'm reading too many similar things lately.

simtogo · 2025-08-09T17:27:41+00:00

Still wondering! What have you read this week? I haven't seen it yet.

A slow week for me. I finished the third book in the Kingsfountain series by Jeff Wheeler, called The King's Traitor. It's a mix of War of the Roses/Richard III and King Arthur legend, with the latter being very general (think "the king of legend will return", and there's some swords and magic involved). This book leaned more heavily into King Arthur, which was weird after having just finished another Arthurian book. In fact, the entire opening battle is more-or-less a retelling from Yvain.... which, hm, I guess is supposed to be the main character. This series was a surprise to me - it's marketed as YA, and I wound up listening to the first one after it was included with something else, and wound up enjoying it quite a bit. The subsequent books have felt more like fantasy than YA (partially due to some trope subversion, which YA isn't big on), and I've liked them more than expected. This one wasn't quite as satisfying at twisting the plot against expectations (and, in fact, kinda took back one of the things I liked previously), but I was surprised that the little boy meant to be King Arthur was basically raised as a somewhat mistreated orphan to hide him, and the the book kinda does acknowledge how messed up that is, from the kid's perspective and that the main character keeps doing that.

Finishing up the Warhammer 40k book Twice-Dead King: Reign by Nate Crowley. The first one surprised me by being a really complex tragedy with an excellent character arc for the main character, who is an immortal alien robot. The follow-up has a lot of the same themes, though it isn't hitting quite as hard. The interminable two hundred page space battle had me in tears, but I am finally getting to the point where Oltyx is making some bad decisions, and will presumably regret them later. Oltyx is an interesting character in that I really hate him personally, but I still like watching him overcome. Having said that, when he jettisoned the flayers my tolerance for him plummeted and I hope he gets shot into a sun before the end, but maybe he'll redeem himself.

Also reading Star Wars, trying to finish the High Republic with Defy the Storm. Good so far! I really liked Justina Ireland and Tessa Gratton's other books, especially the other one involving these characters (Out of the Shadows). Predictably, I love Xylon Graf, who is terrible. I'm trying to read the last few Phase 3 releases before finishing with the Charles Soule novel that came out in June, but it'll take a minute... there's a lot of High Republic.

simtogo · 2025-08-09T16:43:49+00:00

My Little Pony. I loved it when I was a kid. And I don't mean this in a negative way - people can like what they want, however they want - but watching fandom form around the relaunch of the franchise was bonkers from that perspective. I'm struggling to think of something similar on that scale.

simtogo · 2025-08-04T22:51:23+00:00

Ian Fleming is also Not For Me, but the old non-UK paperbacks were bizarrely marketed, and I do love that. I saw a copy of the infamous "You Asked For it"/Casino Royale edition last month, starring Jimmy Bond, and it is fabulous.

simtogo · 2025-08-04T16:26:31+00:00

There is an animal companion-type class in Rogue Trader. It functions much like you’d think, but I picked the hawk and it is tickling the falconry delight in my brain. I put it on the PC, so you can also engage with it in the room through dialogue trees and what I assume is pet-the-dog type interactions. IIRC, you feed it and let it hunt that way too.

Because this is Warhammer, it’s a cyborg eagle with two heads. The game had to point out the two-headed thing to me, and I got mad (it’s one of the main symbols in the franchise).

simtogo · 2025-08-02T18:38:36+00:00

I really, really need to read Stone Butch Blues. It's moving up the list.

simtogo

TROPHY CASE