Starmen.Net

I’m thankful for Steam, allowing me to get ridiculous deals on games I’ll never end up playing.

• Kind of looking at this from the opposite side of Lauramw’s post, I am thankful for the dev team and their contributions to Story of a Lost Sky. Without their hard work, I would have never gotten to this stage, having worked on Story of a Lost Sky for three years now. We’ve gone from this to this to our current version.

• I am thankful for the constant stream of creativity coming out of the Touhou fan community. This was recently released at Comiket 80 and serves as a source of inspiration that fans can do amazing things.

• I am thankful for everyone who has played and given us feedback on our project. That constant feedback cycle has allowed us to improve the game and address problems we’ve never forseen.

• Lastly, since anime has been discussed many times on this podcast. I am thankful that this year, the Standing Committee for Coordinated Simultaneous Anime Viewing (SCCSAV) started. It was really Vucub who spearheaded the effort, so I want acknowledge his contribution. SCCSAV was a way to bring people together from the online anime community to watch episodes together synchronized over VOIP software like Skype. I run three viewings with a handful of people from Fangamer’s community including the Iyashikei Mondays viewings. While I’ve usually watched on my own, the social aspect of watching anime together has added a lot of fun to the activity.

I am most thankful for the Fangamer podcast, but, that is probably not what you were looking for.

I am thankful for trophies. (I use a ps3) Trophies make me feel like the time I spent playing a game accomplished something. I was just listening to podcast #21 about aging and gaming, and it is true that as I grow older my time seems more and more valuable- so much so that I often spend a good deal of time just thinking about how I should spend my time!

I am thankful for easily accessible and affordable downloadable games. I’m thinking about the $10 range and indy developers, like the game Flower, where you can try something new and just have fun. Also the ability to buy games like FF Tactics on the ps3. (though if we had a wishlist thread it would be for more universal backwards compatibility)

I am thankful for my SNES holding up after all these years. It was my first major Christmas present that I had to share with my little brother, even though he could barely hold a controller. Now, at age 30 I still pop in Earthbound or Zelda or Actraisers or Super Metroid and feel instantly relieved of all my grown-up stress. The fact that I can just blow on the cartridge and everything will work is so simple and nostalgic.

You hear the stories of kids who were “raised by wolves” but I was raised by videogames like Earthbound. The camaraderie and warmth I feel from this community of gamers is something like a role model for me, and for that I am truly grateful.

ETA- I totally agree with ChaoticLemming on used games and soundtracks! Those are really good points!

Thank you Pokemon for still being my friends.

In the end, I’m just thankful to have video games be my favorite hobby. It has the ability to bring others together as well as provide me a portal to another world for me to explore. To be privileged enough to enjoy this is pretty good stuff. So, thanks gaming for giving me all the hours of entertainment you have given me over the years and will continue to in the future.

There is one thing I’m thankful for this year: Super Metroid Game Club

Never has a game gone from unknown in my rader to a top 5 favourite in the “games Jovis likes” list, and is already the game that I’ve completed more times over than any other. Everything about it is just so good, and even after I had disregarded the Metroid series as “alright” from playing Prime: Echoes. So big ups to the quality of the game, and to the quality of the debate that went on for that game (which has remained consistant following).

Expanded love for Super Metroid found here

Stick with me on this one. I’m (kindof) thankful that Nintendo is struggling right now. Don’t misunderstand what I mean here. Nintendo has a special place in my heart and I’m 100% confident they will recover with flying colors. I’ve been a Nintendo fan all of my life and want them to succeed because they have made and continue to make games and systems that I enjoy. However, Nintendo has the frustrating history of innovating with some amazing cutting edge tech, while still being woefully behind on others. They make incredible games while still leaving out important elements that are basically industry standards. (ie. no online for Star Fox 64 3D) They have always operated on a “we do what we want to” attitude, and it would be nice to add to that “we do what gamers and fans want as well.” (ie. Earthbound on VC or a single unified profile for Nintendo systems like Xbox LIVE)

I’m only thankful for their struggles right now, because I’m hopeful they will learn some valuable lessons that will improve their products in the future.

And here is a link to the podcast recording for this show

We were going to do a live stream but my Soundflower doesn’t like me or my computer anymore so we couldn’t make it happen.