Perhaps it's time for a vaporwave eulogy; I think it's fair to say it fizzled out. Overall, a small selection of the music that came from it was genuinely good as hell and I think that while a lot of the art is really formulaic it was a fun scene. I'm happy that more people took an interest in digital collage art and plunderphonics, especially during a time when copyright laws are so overbearing.

What's the new aesthetic-of-the-month in vogue for the 2020s? That's right, it's cottagecore: an escapist fantasy for the modern, hyper-connected era, the unholy matrimony of Instagram photography and Thomas Kinkade.







Surely such a wholesome, romanticized version of last-century Western agricultural life won't be appealing to, or immediately co-opted by, reactionary white supremacists whose ideal women are subhuman sex and housework machines- hold on, I'm being handed a note here...


Jokes aside, I think cottagecore is pretty cute - who doesn't enjoy a good floral sundress once in a while? Looks very cozy. I'm not sure why the internet makes it so easy for microcultures to form around an aesthetic, but it's cool! Anyone else got a favorite aesthetic microculture?

I guess his ever-increasing handsomeness got the best of him and he was swarmed by hordes of admirers... thoughts and prayers as he recovers...

I don't despise Sonic CD or anything but the level design feels like one of those indie games that uses procgen very badly and the whole thing feels like a jumbled thoughtless mess. I dunno, I just don't think mazelike momentum puzzles are the "perfect Sonic level design" you hear folks talking about with CD.

I'll start Sonic 3 over with Knuckles locked-on and get back to you. Sounds a little overwhelming with 16 zones and all the emerald stuff going on, but maybe I just need to adjust.

So, I only remember reading about this in 90s Nintendo Power, could've been an unsubstantiated rumor but they tended to get their facts right. Apparently there is a fairly simple cheat code you enter (I think at the title screen) which enables two-controller mode on N64 (each stick corresponds to each engine, I think the Z triggers are separate airbrakes as well). You might need to research this a bit to get it to work, but I'm pretty sure a buddy of mine actually did it back in elementary school, so I believe it's possible.

I found a copy of Bleem at the thrift store when I was little! Being a bit younger than you the concept of a commercially available emulator available on a physical disc was totally baffling (I spent most of my free time as a child downloading Nintendo emulators and ROMs at the library to play on my virus infested family computer, and posting on here of course). Ended up researching it a bunch, really strange moment in gaming history for sure. Imagine playing MGS1 on your Dreamcast back in the day... must have been weird.

That sounds like a lot of fun, I'll check it out. Ty for the rec!

Pat you're the only person I've ever met who's into these anime soccer games. What is the draw exactly?

ARMS was underrated as hell. Could do with a Splatoon 2 style do-over.