yes... it truly is.

i don't know if you frequent Twitter or anything, but the one thing that i have NOT been able to escape lately is its plethora of Tomodachi Life - Living the Dream demo screenshots. now, i've been a fan of this franchise for a minute. i got my copy at Toys "R" Us for my birthday one year, lol. side note, have you seen how much that cartridge goes for now?! my jaw fell when i saw. i should have invested in more DS games while GameStop still had them pre-owned...

i'm not going to lie: i was not interested in playing this game by a longshot when it was announced. in fact, i was planning to sell my Switch since i hadn't used it in over 3 years - recently, however, everyone had been hyping up the demo on my timeline and i figured it might actually be worth it to try it out.

...can i just say, i am SO glad i didn't sell my Switch?!

there's a reason why people (me) have been trying so desperately to drag their trial version out for as long as possible - it's THAT good. the "face paint" editor is no Miitopia; that is to say, i wish the face paint worked when your Mii made expressions... but it's still good, and the amount of new content that the overall editor has genuinely makes up for it. there's plenty you can do without drawing features onto your Mii.
secondly, the crush mechanics have me screaming and crying, they're so cute!! i took so many screenshots of the cutscenes and little things that a crushing Mii will do, but trying to make two Miis have a mutual crush on each other is like trying to perform a root canal on a rabid animal. everyone's been proving that it's possible, but i have yet to make it happen... even on a second save file. sigh... (update 4/4: i did get it to work! the demo only allots two possiblities and you HAVE to take both, one for each Mii, or you're cooked haha)

anyway, all this is to say that i cannot wait for the full game, and i will be purchasing. for a literal demo to make me return to feverishly using - let alone spending money on - a console i haven't touched since early 2023, it had to be real good... and good it was. excellent, even. hooooly crap.

-mako

(which stands for "got me effed up", by the way).

i found out about the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct an hour after it was done and reacted like a sloth. the only thing that really caught my eye was that FF7 Remake Intergrade is getting a port to the new console, which i find really exciting!!! this'll be the first time that a FF7R game title isn't PlayStation-exclusive. and no, PC doesn't count.

i was busy riding the happiness wave, as well as the "oh-shit-i-am-totally-gonna-buy-this-console" wave, until i saw the pricing. how do i word this? you'd have to grab me and hold me 2 inches away from a garbage compactor to convince me to pay for the stuff Nintendo expects you to buy.
you wanna use Internet in-game? the Internet you already pay bills for? sorry man, gotta pay a monthly fee on top of that. you wanna figure out how to USE the damn console? ooh, tough luck. the tech demo costs money too. and if you're broke, might as well quit while you're ahead.
so you're saying i gotta pay $500, then an extra whatever-it-costs a month just to even access predownloaded stuff? like hell i'm doing that.
not to mention some games will come with a physical box but no cartridge inside- just a lousy game code. even PlayStation hasn't gotten to this level of greed yet. hell, at least their tech demo was free. ...but i digress.

tbh, even though i'm talking all of this mess, a part of me will always (unfortunately) be loyal to Nintendo. the same Wii my family got 16 years ago is still being used and abused by me. to my Wii, love you, and sorry for almost destroying you that one time.
well, whatever you think about this capitalist hellhole that is a new game console, piracy is always an option. just sayin'.

-mako

hey! hope you're doing well!

i'm gonna preface this with an apology for being so inactive. i've been focusing on myself more and feel a lot better than i did during the winter. every time i wanted to code, i realized i had something else that was objectively more important to do. i know i promised to update my site in February but it just never happened, so i opted for a much more extravagant update than i had planned last month for March's update. i am aware it's the 31st- just bear with me here lol.

ALSO! have you *seen* the new Ever Crisis key art? OMG. i don't even like this game and would NOT suggest it to people who enjoy saving time and money, but i'm locked in for this.

i'm so obsessed with this "anime school alternate universe" take on FF7, you have no idea. it's kind of obvious that this is an April Fools' joke (seeing as it's the 1st in Japan) but the official website teased that there'll be a trailer for it, so you know what? i'm okay with it.
a part of me is reeeeallly reeeeeallllyyyy hoping that Rufus has something to do with this whole alternate universe. let me live in my delusion, OK? he got his first in-game wallpaper last night. i'm still riding that wave.

anyway, hope to code more often. even though it's my least favorite season, summer is coming which means i'll have more time to focus on my hobbies

-mako