Wyatt and I watched a good chunk of the Super Mario Maker 2 Direct the other night. He was super impressed with Cat Mario and the ability to create levels cooperatively. Nintendo, ya’ll really need to bring Super Mario 3D World onto the Switch. Please!
video games
Final Fantasy VII Remake Trailer
StandardYou can tell I’ve been on vacation by not posting this sooner. All I can say is HECK YEAH!
Thomas Wasn’t Alone – A 2015 Flashback
StandardI came across this piece the other day and still felt it was relevant. At this point, Thomas Was Alone is available on pretty much everything (even your iPad). Give the game a chance if you haven’t happened to play. Never know what life lessons you can learn from colorful shapes. – Bryan
We are not meant to go at this life alone.
Thomas Was Alone drives home the point that we are meant to live in community with others. As the levels in Thomas progress, the game reinforces that red rectangle Thomas needs others to move from one point to another. Thomas cannot move through the game world alone.
My son graduated from kindergarten today (5/29/2015). I’m not sure how I feel about that. Sitting there in the auditorium, I was reminded of what big personals events were like growing up. I remember having the biggest cheering section out of anyone. My parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins were always there to cheer me on. I wasn’t alone.
Thomas Was Alone combines minimalist design and expert narration to introduce characters one cares for. Take Claire for instance. Claire is a large blue square. Even though she cannot jump high, Claire dreams of becoming a superhero. Thomas and his friends need Claire. She is the only one that can float across the toxic waters that would kill anyone else in an instant.
The Bible talks about the human body having many parts, each with it’s own task, function, and purpose. The Bible likens the human body to the body of Christ. In that we are meant to live in community.
I teach a group of men on Wednesday nights. We’ve been going through some difficult material. Peeling back masks and becoming real with one another, I have learned that we all have a need for friendship. Most of us feel as if we do not have anyone to walk in life with. We feel alone. Sometimes lost. Isolated within our families, running the race of life. The guys and I discussed how we can move beyond our personal islands:
- Reaching out, in person, on the phone, even a simple text
- Having a bigger focus than just ourselves
- Being legacy minded
God lives in community with the Holy Spirit and Christ. If He is our example. . . it may be time to pick up a phone, knock on a door, and connect.
On My Radar – BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL!
StandardPicked up BOXBOY! + BOXGIRL! over the weekend. Tried the co-op out with Wyatt. Gameplay is tight AND requires a bit of communication (re: patience). 😛
Looking forward to trying out the single-player.
From Across the Net – “How Fortnite’s success led to months of intense crunch at Epic Games”
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I’m not saying that this is right… but I think businesses are managed like this far more than we think. This scatterbrained approach to management, constantly shifting to put out the biggest fire, leads to worker frustration as nothing is ever getting done. Good management respects its greatest resource, time.
“If a build went out into the wild and there was a negative reaction, then someone at the top would say, ‘We need to change that,’” one source said, “and everyone would be pulled in from what they were doing, and people were told to cancel their plans, because they were going to crunch until this was done. It was never-ending. It’s great for supporting the community and for the public. But that comes at a cost.”
You can read more of Polygon’s article titled “How Fortnite’s success led to months of intense crunch at Epic Games“.
Grasping at Something Tangible
StandardThis is one of those days where I know I need to post because it is New Post Thursday; one of those days where I’m not sure what to share.
Have been dealing with the thoughts and emotions of the new adventure my family is on. Trying to grasp what the unknown looks like. Wondering how it impacts my family and what life will be like afterwards. This is one of those deals where I have peace, deep down, over the “adventure”. But I think I’m trying to control all the details, trying to grasp at something tangible.
Little things, such as someone asking me to do something, feels overwhelming. I don’t like that.
I am grinding my teeth at night.
I am dreaming crazy dreams… when I can actually sleep.
God is teaching me that I have to push through being overwhelmed by that “one more thing” feeling. That I have to learn to deal with stress differently. He has also been reminding me of who I have been blessed with, my family, and what makes us unique.
I am thankful for how God prepares us for things; thankful that this new “adventure” will take time. His time.
How do you deal with stress?
Let me know in the comments below.
From Across the Net – “My Frustrating Journey to Find a Perfect Pair of Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons”
StandardI was finally progressing through Hollow Knight when one of the Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers decided to disconnect. I paused the game and fought with the controller, trying desperately to get back to my game. After a few moments, I succeeded in pairing the controller with the system. Success! Only to have the controller disconnect again minutes later.
Matt Kim, with USgamer, wrote about this last week in an article titled “My Frustrating Journey to Find a Perfect Pair of Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons“.
The Nintendo Switch came out in March 2017, and though the console was a huge hit critically and commercially, the launch wasn’t entirely pristine. Key issues have to do with the Joy-Cons disconnecting from the console, and “drifting,” meaning the reticle would move further away from the center, even if the thumb stick wasn’t being moved.
These two problems are largely separate from one another, but there are several articles from March 2017 from news outlets, YouTube channels, and tech forums about the left Joy-Con disconnecting issue, and how to fix it. Various technical breakdowns showed that the reason the left Joy-Con disconnected so often was because of the way the antenna was designed in the first place.
I am upset to find out that this is still a widespread issue. Nintendo and quality hardware go hand-n-hand in my mind. Nintendo, you need to make this right. I shouldn’t have to worry about controllers not working after owning a console for a year.
