Wandering Adventure Party

Creatures of Ava is the most unique girly game I’ve ever played. This a compliment, by the way. Being a father to a daughter, I’m always on the lookout for good girly games. And if my wife likes it too, that’s a bonus! Now what makes it unique? Imagine a combination of Pokemon Snap, Grand Theft Auto, and Breath of the Wild. Yes, that’s right! All three at once! You’re Vic, a girl tasked with rescuing creatures on Ava, a dying planet. You walk around, snap pictures of wildlife, entrance them with a flute, move them over to a robot that abducts them into space. But also, when you entrance them with your flute-playing skills, you can take control of them and use their powers—kind of like taking over the vehicles in Grand Theft Auto. Even more great, you’re in this rich, lush world where you use your trusty staff to battle enemies. But you don’t kill them. You re-claim them from “The Withering”—a corruption that’s destroying the planet of Ava. Girls will love this. Not only do you get to play a badass female protagonist, the aesthetics are full of bright and cheerful colours that practically glitter on screen. All the creatures are delightful and cute. You even have an option to pet them. But don’t mistake this for an “easy” game. The adventuring is glorious. The puzzles are challenging. And there’s a great story about what it means to have good intentions. Just because you mean well, does that mean your course of action is right?

Too many people confuse collectivity with quality. Is a Virtual Boy collectible? Absolutely. It was Nintendo’s biggest disaster and only sold 770K units. Owning one makes for a great story. If it’s on your shelf, you can say, “Let me regale you with the story of this train wreck…” It also looks distinctive. Who can ever forget a red headset, perched on a tripod? Plus, the strange controller that has two D-pads? But that doesn’t mean playing that damn thing is good. Even if you believe every game is a hidden gem, an unheralded classic, you still have to stare at bright red lines that induce dizziness and headaches.

This is an actual conversation I’m having: ME: Virtual Boy is the most overrated console of all time. FANBOY: Did you actually play any of the games? ME: Yep, only 24 games were made. The only good game is Wario Land. Everything else is average or terrible. FANBOY: Well, that’s just your opinion. At least Virtual Boy had exclusives. ME: But Virtual Boy doesn’t have exclusives. All those games are available on PC through emulation. And at least on PC, you have filters, upscaling, button mapping, rewind, save states, etc. All without the punishment of eye strain. FANBOY: Way to move goal posts. ME: But I’m not moving goal posts. I’m saying in the event you really do believe every Virtual Boy game is an absolute banger—which I don’t, but whatever—they’re not exclusive anymore. You can save yourself the pain of a migraine and emulate them on PC. FANBOY: At least Nintendo is providing an official avenue to preserve those games, though. ME: Yeah, if you subscribe to NSO. And only for as long as Nintendo makes them available. Once Nintendo makes them unavailable, they’re no longer preserved. Meanwhile, the “unofficial” method of emulating Virtual Boy on PC doesn’t depend on a subscription and is therefore better at preserving them.

My wife believes the Virtual Boy re-release is Nintendo’s hare-brained scheme to warm fans up to the idea of them releasing a real VR headset. I asked her why Nintendo doesn’t just release a headset. And she thinks it’s because fans need to be reminded that Nintendo pioneered VR so that a new headset can be legitimized. I don’t get it but it’s a theory.

Only 5 of the 21 most popular games on Steam use hardware-accelerated ray-tracing. Which confirms what I’ve been saying: modern games are still using the PS4 as a baseline. This, plus the limitations of old displays, is why most people are not seeing advances in graphics.

I just gave away 52 Steam game keys! Happy that all these great titles found a happy home.

@Irongeek Correct! You would control everything with the pinwheel. Worked really well with Peggle. Was actually playable with Sonic because you'd use the centre button to jump.

@KitsuneVixi@sakurajima.social That may be true, but I can only hope.

@loke@functional.cafe @gunther@wetdry.world I guess I understand from the perspective that this was Nintendo’s biggest hardware failure. But personally, here’s a 90s era VR experience I want more: Forte VFX1. I specifically want this because there’s an FPS called MadSpace, developed in Russia, that uses non-Euclidian geometry. Levels use impossible geometry. Rooms can be “bigger on the inside.” Layouts may shift or loop in ways that break normal spatial logic. What more, the game alternates between on-foot FPS sections and spaceflight segments. You can fly or move through areas where gravity behaves differently. Plus, there’s a jet pack for vertical exploration. MadSpace was compatible with the Forte VFX1. To experience that environment in VR would absolutely break my brain.

I can’t believe the Virtual Boy is being resurrected by Nintendo! As someone who used one upon its release—they were demoed at Toys R’ Us—let me tell you, it’s nowhere near as good as VR games made today. But nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Anyone believing the stereotype that Canadians are always nice—particularly in sports—has never been to a Canadian hockey or lacrosse or football game. We absolutely can get nasty, and we have.

The sheer nerve of USA Today writing this when everyone can see—plain as day—the corruption that happens in the USA every damn day. And using curling as equivalence to something as monumental as the Epstein files—that’s really something else. https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2026/02/16/canada-olympic-cheating-accusations-curling-soccer/88704048007/

Everyone who likes this post will get a free Steam game—until I run out of them. I will DM you the Steam key. What games are they? You’ll have to find out. EDIT: Giveaway is closed. All keys have been sent!

We are watching a parody boy band become an actual real boy band. Also, Howie Mandel staring at them in the background is hilarious. https://youtu.be/8b34FBcrV90

@alisonw@hachyderm.io So many possible jokes, but I will behave myself.

It’s crazy how people often pick romantic partners based on how others perceive them instead of their own personal attraction. And now I realize this is essentially the plot of every Hallmark movie. Woman dates a high value CEO everyone thinks is awesome, but she’s not attracted to him. Then she goes to a small town, meets a humble farmer—sparks fly. So she ditches the high value man for the farmer. How many people are stuck with CEOs and never meet their farmer?

@ang6666 I know.

Just revisited Justice Chronicles after several years away from it. Still enjoyable.

@ambientspace I use Akkoma which supports Markdown.

Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Transinium Challenge. Released in 1989, this is the first TNG game ever made. It’s similar to a TNG episode but with a point-and-click interface. Per the description: You are Commander William T. Riker of the Federation Starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). When the allied Aquila station comes under attack by unknown aliens, it’s up to you and the crew of the Enterprise to solve the mystery, by exploring a historic ruined civilization, navigating your way through space, consulting the ship’s experts (real Star Trek actors in digitized form), conversing with various aliens, and beaming down to various planets. This is quite an expensive game. It generally sells for $275 on eBay.