I've seen Astalon: Tears Of The Earth (PS4) flutter by, but apart from looking like a run-of-the-mill 8-bit platformer, it didn't really caught my attention. Then someone else uttered the magic word 'metroidvania' in relation to this title and presto, I immediately installed it.

And oh boy, is it good. Underneath those sharp 8-bit contours lies indeed a metroidvania, or rather, a roguelite. You get three characters you can swap out at save points, each with their own abilities. This alone can lead to some puzzling in how to get one character obviously suited to tackle an obstacle, to said obstacle in the first place, which is clearly marked to be reached by another character.

On top of that, there are crystal orbs to be gathered and exchanged in-between death for ability and stat boosts via an eldritch god. Gosh, I really hope that's not facilitated through a Faustian bargain of any kind. So far so roguelite, but these mechanics are than layered on top of level design which bears an eerie kinship with La-Mulana and its ilk. Actually, there are many elements that take me back to that trap-infested hell-of-a-good-time.

The one thing it differes from in relation to La-Mulana, is that it is a tad easier. The challenges are better pitched for a larger audience and the bosses may seem difficult, but have nicely exploitable patterns to deal with. it's not git gud difficult, but it will keep you on your toes.

And that in short, is why this just clicks. It's pitch perfect. That said, the 8-bit graphics might work to its detriment, as not everyone will be charmed by them and personally the anime stylings of the main characters are a bit too much. Heartily recommended though!

Another classic-style-wrapped modern game I played is Vengeful Guardian: MoonriderM (PS5). This one looks like Hagane and the like and... pretty much plays like it as well.

Large sprites, small environments, slightly stocky animations, yet fluid controls. It embodies all the good and the bad from the 16-bit action game era. However, it does feel very old. Which is something that Cyber-Shadow managed to avoid. That game recreated the nostalgia for an older generation action game, and replaced its sensibilities with that of a modern generation.

So far, Moonrider seems mighty content on being just a 16-bit throwback. We'll see how it develops as I pour some more time in it.

Despite the stinginess of the OGL, it provided legal certainty that many individuals and small game publishers used to make new games and new material for Dungeons and Dragons. Some of these product lines have been around for decades and developed their own following. One of the neat things about a cultural commons is that people can find something they kind of like and then tweak it to be just right for them, rather than settling for a one-size-fits-all approach. House rules and variants had always been a part of roleplaying game culture, and D&D culture specifically, and now the practice had official permission (even if it never needed permission in the first place as a legal matter).

The Electronic Frontier Foundation provides a neat overview of how Dungeons & Dragons seems to change in the future. As quoted, the open gaming license (OGL) used to be a promise that while the core of D&D remained in the hands of Wizards, you could extent it to you heart's content without legal issues.

The leaked changes to the OGL would remove this feature (which already had strings attached) and turns it into something more akin paying the App Store tax on iOS apps, but then for published modules that are compatible with D&D. In itself, not entirely unexpected, but the crux is that in doing so, Wizards might actually revoke the old license, leaving a lot of creators exposed and cut loose.

The OGL does not say that it is irrevocable, unfortunately. It’s possible that Wizards of the Coast made other promises or statements that will let the beneficiaries of the license argue that they can’t revoke it, but on its face it seems that they can.

I think we're just seeing the first step in the extended monetisation Hasbro and Wizards are looking at, making every interaction with the brand somehow generate an income. That in itself does not bode well for D&D Beyond, the franchise, the hobby, and the community behind it.

• ↩️ Electronic Frontier Foundation

The inclusion of its soundtrack in our latest Dungeons & Dragons session was responsible for putting Blasphemous (PS4) back on the menu. I still had some DLC to mull through after all.

The most fun realisation for this play-through is that I am a whole lot better at the game then during my initial encounter with it. Blocking and parrying is more engrained making it easier to encounter most enemies. Bosses especially feel a bit defanged, experience giving me more space and reaction time to deal with them.

It's either that, or the latest update has drastically lowered the general difficulty.

The game is still marvellous in painting a setting with both graphics, music, and theming. The Christian overtones are apparent, but the religion at display here is still very different. Sin and guilt manifest themselves in wondrous physical ways which is called the Miracle and the weight this brings to the world is both oppressive and beautiful.

In terms of gameplay this is neatly slotting in next to Metroid Zero Mission and Hollow Knight as one of my comfort games. It’s just so nice to be replaying this title and the new DLC-additions are the icing on the cake.

Tojo: I came 1971 to Vancouver. That time, no sushi restaurant. Canadian people no eat raw fish. Sometimes they like to say, "I'd like to try same thing that Japanese people eat. OK, but I cannot eat the seaweed." They afraid. "No, no, no, no." OK, if you don't like the seaweed, that's fine. Then I did it inside out.

For those people that think the California Roll is not Japanese; it is, but not in the way you might expect.

• ↩️ Insider

In 2016 Microsoft bought all of Minecraft. Well, not entirely… A particular little part of it called the ending wasn't.

Background/Recap: Eleven years ago, I wrote the ending to Minecraft. I never signed a contract, so I retained copyright. Then Microsoft bought Minecraft for 2.3 billion dollars, I was put under pressure to sign a contract giving them my copyright, I refused, and things got messy.

Julian Gough – the author of the ending poem of Minecraft – wrote a short thread on Twitter highlighting what happens when you don't sell your creation off to the highest bidder and instead set it free, want to tell the world about it, and then Microsoft gets involved…

The not-so-nice-story that acts as the prequel is also an interesting read about indie development, contracts, production, and work-for-hire.

I wrote a story for a friend. But in the end, he didn’t treat me like a friend. And I’m hurt.

That’s the core of what I want to say. But because the story I wrote was the ending to a game that has sold two hundred and thirty-eight million copies, and affected a lot of lives… I need to say a little more.

• ↩️ The Egg And the Rock

However it appears that several cases have shown that the PS5’s “seal” between the APU and its cooler can sometimes move or be damaged. When that is the case, if your PS5 sits horizontally, the liquid metal will stay flat and keep most of its thermal properties to help cool the PS5. But if your PS5 is vertical and “something” bad happens to the seal, then there is a risk the liquid metal will progressively fall down, becoming uneven, impacting its cooling ability and possibly reach components it shouldn’t.

Apparently it's safer to put your PS5 down horizontally, before it puts itself down permanently. That's a bit of a bummer. No idea how widespread this issue is, but it's hard to argue with gravity.

• ↩️ wololo.net

[update 20230111] Seems the whole thing is a tad overblown.

The report claimed that unopened consoles, originally interpreted as unopened, in-box consoles, left in vertical orientation for too long, could potentially see the liquid metal drip down the side of the motherboard and permanently damage the console.

It was also suggested that the same could happen to those consoles in use in the vertical orientation. However it’s beginning to look like the original reports aren’t as dire as they once seemed.

Firstly, Wololo.net has published an update on their report, clarifying that the PS5’s in question were not unopened in the sense that they had yet to be taken out of the box.

They were only unopened in regards to the console itself not having been opened by other repair stores or the owners themselves.

• ↩️ PlayStation Universe

You thought the first page of Google was bunk before? You haven't seen Google where SEO optimizer bros pump out billions of perfectly coherent but predictably dull informational articles for every longtail keyword combination under the sun.

Maggie Appleton gives a quick rundown of the issues with generative AI, like ChatGPT, DALL-E, and the like. The idea that part of the Internet is already a dark forest (like the one from the Remembrance of Earth's Past series), will only get worse as the majority of the web will be pumped full of generated stuff to attain higher engagement rates. Worth a read. If only to look at the accompanying illustration.

• ↩️ maggieappleton.com