A huge part of my therapy lately has been trying to remove self guilt and creating false external pressures to push forward. If you've struggled with this before, what do you think were the best ways to help adapt your motivation?

Pachio-kun spread its wings to other communities lol. One day we will all know and love PC-FX Pachinko.

Who better to discuss the current pushback against NSFW content than a plucky doujin group making an R18 Breakout clone starring an anthro computer? @john.gamesline.net spoke to Demuresoft about their work ethic and why they continue to create in today's climate. gamesline.net/demure-douji...

It only took 10 years

As much as I try to numb it, it's so hard to push through the endless rejection letters. I appreciate getting any response at all, but it's also deflating.

A friend linked me this because of how I look at games. and I kind of felt like "that's about right," and moved on. What I overlooked in that process was that this perspective may not be as apparent to others. So I wanted to share it to help if you struggle to resonate with this view.

I'm starting to get texts about this now so I guess I need to say something: There is a fundraiser going around about a "preservation disaster" raising money right now that I highly advise you to stay very far away from. A particular British tabloid is running with it unquestioningly. Thread:

I hate that I've started to think of writing as a thing I should be "saving" for video essays, so I'm making an effort to do more blogging over on the Patreon... starting with these musings on a couple of upcoming games! (New X in 10 just dropped today too!!) patreon.com/pitohui

Does anyone have any recommendations on platforms for building a Wiki? Was considering making a PC-FX-specific one for the PC-FX Fan Club.

Looking to buy some sealed PC-FX games? @profbloom.bsky.social brought to our attention that Playasia still has PC-FX stock available to purchase (picture courtesy of Prof. Bloom) You can find the full list of available titles here: www.play-asia.com/games/retro_...

An inspirational message from the ending of Pachio-kun FX.

TL:DR I'm moving away from schedule monthly podcasts to give myself flexibility and trying avoid mental health problems I've had in the past. Content will likely still be very similar in topic and presentation. youtu.be/nrk4jQ4UfBE

Found out about an official FFXI Net Cafe lol

If you ever wanted to know about the core appeal of, especially, modern FFXI, Alex does a great job breaking it down. I haven't played recent FFXI in forever, but a lot of these points I think grab onto what I feel like I've seen there.

I'm not sure if this Tanuki wants to be here or is trapped in a Pachinko prison, forced to consume metal balls.

New Hot Pot Gaming Episode up, featuring Mr. Jakes from @basementbrothers.bsky.social! We discuss why he believes CRTs are overrated and the value of original hardware. YouTube: youtu.be/sOwmAbxO4dQ Podcast Platforms: creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...

No one knows how stepping up works in White Knight Chronicles.

I love just how long you're inactionable in this game after getting knocked down.

We yelled Pipo's name all the time as kid lol. I named my cat Pipo as well, but the vet calls him "Pee-Poo" which is embarrassing to hear lol.

Since I've been getting an influx of new followers (thanks for sticking around!), I just wanted to say real quick that if you're interested in studying retro galge and are at least somewhat literate in Japanese, I have a whole list of recommendations to check out. dateemups.com/recommendati...

Very Kamen Rider-y lol

Serious thought I had this week "I wonder if drinking while playing Final Fantasy XIV would make it easier." I think the thought process was it'd be easier to turn off my brain and just consume it lol. Alcohol is probably never the answer to any problem lol.

I'm almost certain Cosplay Kagura is using some song from a random music pack, but I really dig the title screen theme. I also like that the character seemingly peeks out from under the viewport of headset a bit, since that's kind of a regular occurrence in VR lol. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6IK...

Just wanna say I have a ton of respect for Final Fantasy Grand Masters. I only played at launch, but I think it really took a lot of the surface-level elements of FFXI and made them work in a mobile game online RPG space. Wish my account didn't get banned lol.

I've been complaining a lot last few weeks, watch me enjoy things instead: youtu.be/6olBuVa_-EI

That's enough for now. On paper, things didn't go well. I can't help but feel deeply unsatisfied with the answers people keep giving me about the game. But I think sometime next month I'll resub and see if some extended time helps.

Have you ever had fun playing FFXIV's gameplay before the endgame? And what was important to you in that experience?

Video games

I thought I'd try XIV again after the free log-in campaign, but it's not a month-long free period. It's a whole month to activate a 4-day playtime period, which is pretty lame. Apparently, it begins when you log into the launcher, which I've already done.

The one consistent character is your childhood friend, who provides advice to help you get closer to others. I haven't played it too much, but it sounds like part of the game is also managing your relationship with her, and as she gets older, she starts to get jealous.

The characters you can fall in love with change as your classmates change, but each seems to also include a novelty crush with someone older than you, like your elementary school teacher.

Zoku Hatsukoi Monogatari: Shūgaku Ryokō is about re-experiencing the feeling of your first love. You can start as an elementary, middle, or high school student, with each story taking place on a school trip. In the final chapter, you're a university student.

Despite everything, video games are still pretty good.

I love him just twirling around in the background lol

If you ever want to see a man verbally fight himself over a game he doesn't like for some weird, unexplained reason, that's what this month's episode mostly is. Also, I sing at the start of this episode. YouTube: youtu.be/P_nx7HpGBlc Podcast Platforms: creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...

Weirdly enough despite being not as emphasized as the other girls, her art has the most dynamic poses. But I think she's suppose to come off as more cool and competent so might have made more sense to give her some strong poses. archive.org/details/Ojou...

I've been playing Pachio-kun recently and while Dream Fantasy is probably the most produced board, a lot of others has some nice art. I wanted to share some of the boards idle animations. This board has you shooting balls in the demon zone to wake up the angel to start scoring.

I found the portal to anime

I'd love to give this more time, but for about $5 per play, that's really rough, especially compared to the typical 100 yen cost of card games in Japan. I just don't know how to reconcile that value equation in my head.

New video up! Ben made a calendar of game releases on the PC-FX to better visualize the year-by-year trends of the system. youtu.be/i2tTYYtiYjQ

I was digging around an old Japanese PC-FX fan site and this one has cute little icons to represent the genres of each game. www2s.biglobe.ne.jp/tetuya/FXHP/...

Things get a little bit more all over the place later so its a bit harder to line things up. But they do represent the general direction that the OVA takes.

Ojousama Sousamou has a bonus gallery with various pieces of art. The content doesn't relate to the game as much as the OVA released that same year. While no particular piece lines up exactly, each one seems to connect with various scenes, like each girl's introduction below.

The PC-FX port of the PC98 Oh My Goddess! game has some nice full-color art in the manual. I'm not familiar with the show to say if this is all unique art, but it doesn't appear in the PC98 manual. archive.org/details/Ah_M...

What is my cat planning on doing?

Found a neato Doujin game when looking through @oculin.bsky.social 's comiket junk. Can't find any mention of it online anywhere, so here's a casual play. Very charming, i like the pacing a lot. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mL4n...

this is that interview I mentioned the other month, I think it turned out pretty well

New Hot Pot Gaming up! I talk with and @ouren.bsky.social of @poppy.works about their game Slave Zero X and how they built a challenging 2D action beat 'em up out of a dormant 3rd person shooter franchise. YouTube: youtu.be/Za__bTkrHLk Podcast Platforms: creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/...