i mean it was probably purely up to chance that i ran into stuff like that as opposed to more celebratory acts, raocow etc. but i feel like largely the lolcow attitude is gone barring the edgier crowds and active bigotry, maybe because there are more lauded/successful indie games in public perception but i think there’s also a learning now that it’s at least kind of rude to dunk on something that’s clearly been worked hard on, even if you can laugh at jankier stuff. i think maybe one way of phrasing it is that the ‘general audience’ crowd have learned not to point and stare too long. and yeah i think it really doesn’t “stick” in the end at least for those who are actively paying attention. and the kids definitely do get into games still, like the weird moment last year where mighty jill off had a ‘fandom’, which just seemed like a totally alien way to enjoy an indie game to me
i am honestly a bit curious what your introductory games list is here. i’m wondering if that derision can be harnessed a bit as an onboarding strategy, like sure there are important games or historical ones, but a lot of flash-era higher concept stuff also knew how to laugh at itself a bit and was edgier in that humor. struggling to come up on the spot with an actually good suggestion that could be used academically. something like ‘Karoshi’ but less… yknow
glad Consume Me doin well since that was one of the standouts to me, some good ones in the nuovo category (some call it, “god’s category”…), a little surprised UFO50 didn’t see more attention, balatro is in there in design (you could place a bear trap outside an elementary school and game developers would look at it and go well regardless of what they’re going for, it’s very elegantly designed), glad caves of qud got a narrative nod as well.
i just want a new 3d mario. that’s all i want. no zelda. no metroid. no famicom detective club. just a thousand moons or stars that i have to pick up in various biomes.
Nintendo lets the eshop get infested with games like Anime Girls Natty New Year only to introduce a massive blacklist deep within the Switch 2 firmware, blocking them from being booted
