This Week’s Topics:
- Rundown Preamble Ramble: I Want to Leave America, But Not My Home
- Should I Run Ads on Natalie.TF? (Strictly for Tax Purposes!)
- Donkey Kong Bananza Direct (As Expected, It Looks Great!)
- Natalie Tries to Figure Out What Dating Sims Are (And the Gap in Western Romance Games)
- Switch 2 Did Not Save Gamindustri… (BIG SHOCK!!!)
Rundown Preamble Ramble:
I Want to Leave America, But Not My Home
Ever since inauguration day— really, ever since the election, there has been a persistent narrative surrounding the state of America. That America is doomed, has fallen, is not a ‘real country,’ and everybody with the means to leave should do so promptly, and those who cannot will only suffer. A difficult to gauge niche call for a mass exodus of Americans as they populate a scattering of countries with open visa programs and where American citizens can apply for citizenship after a few years. All of which is often paired with a belief that America’s problems are objectively irreparable, meaning they cannot every be changed, for at least a thousand years. And that there exists places that are friendly to American citizens and allow American citizens to maintain a better quality of life than what they currently have.
The last one would warrant many a snarky response regarding healthcare, public transit, car-centric infrastructure and other things that America is objectively bad at. But it is overlooking things like the multicultural communities littered across the country. The large apartment and home sizes. The ready access to cheap consumer goods. Prevalent air conditioning infrastructure. Generally pleasant climates to be found, along with robust seasons, something I consider to be a plus. And being a place where the de facto language is English.
There are countless issues that have cropped up across America over the past few months. Institutions are being stripped as staff are being illegally fired. The meaning and purpose of legality is being thrown into question as the de facto king refuses to acknowledge the rules he claims to uphold. Oligarchs are abusing their power to form fiefdoms to further their own power so they can earn a place in history as 21st Century kings. The civil rights for trans people are being threatened. The justification to leave is real, tempting, and something I could realistically do.
I have the savings necessary to easily move to a different country while preserving enough funds to keep me going for several months. I work a remote job where I am able to work, theoretically, anywhere with a good internet connection. I am a very material-lite person, without much in the way of physical media or possessions beyond stuff like a desk, a computer, printer, bed, clothes, exercise bike, etc. I could probably fit all my travel-friendly belongings in two suitcases and a backpack, with the exception of my computer. But I now that I have a laptop, and a small server, a passport, and all my updated documentation, I could just pluck out big 4 TB NVMe drive from my home computer and make things work somewhere else.
If I was so inclined, I could realistically leave the country within two weeks, and not need to look back. …Except for the fact that I own a home that I bought 1.5 years ago, and I am paying it off via a 30 year— now 19 year— mortgage, and this is eating up most of my income. I do not have enough money to pay off this mortgage— even using my retirement, I’m like $40,000 short— but I know my family could pay off the full amount if they were so inclined.
Still, this is something I could reasonably make happen and, with so many people voicing over how much they wish they could leave the US behind, something I have felt cultural pressure to do. However… while I do not like America, while I want to make America go away forever, I do not want to leave where I currently live. I do not want to leave my home. When I bought my current home, I did so with the intention of making it my forever home. A brilliantly located unit located in the heart of my hometown, with convenient access to public transit, a post office, a grocery store a mere 5/10 minute walk away, and oodles of other amenities. …Except for a good doctor’s office.
I like where I live, I enjoy being in my hometown, and I find it to be very comfortable, as it, more than any place in the world, allows me to live my life as I see fit. I just want to stay in my room, eating the same food every day, only leaving maybe once a week, to see the same streets I have seen for as long as I can remember. The familiarity has a great level of value to me, and that’s before getting into the fact that I live with my mother, who handles the groceries, most of the cooking, errands, and laundry.
If I were to move to another country, I would lose all of that, and I know for a fact that I would not be happier living my day-to-day life. I would need to abandon my mother. I would need to learn a new location, new culture, and new environment that I had never been to before, with realistically no help or guide. I would need to likely deal with a new climate, lacking the distinct seasons I have come to know and love, potentially being more prone to natural disasters.
In addition, I would likely need to accept living in a largely monoethnic culture, which I would find sick and wrong and backwards. I am used to seeing people of all races and backgrounds, and if I am denied that, I would feel perturbed. I don’t want to be in a 90% White environment, as that breeds profound racism. I don’t want to be a lone Caucasian in a sea of Asian/Brown people, because I would feel like a damn colonizer. A bitch-ass cracker running away from fixing a cracker-ass problem by mooching off of a group of people from a better culture that, at most, will just be glad that I’m bringing money into their economy.
Due to Canada’s proximity to America and the UK’s own pivot toward fascism, I would also likely need to move to a place where English is not the dominant language, requiring me to learn the local language. English is a flawed language used by dogs and man in equal measure, but it has been the international language for a solid century, maybe longer. And while I am willing to learn a second language, I do not want to live in a place where English is not an official language. I enjoy being proficient in the main language spoken, and I do not want to lose that. Yes, even if I am just going to only leave my house for doctor’s visits and groceries. There would come a time when not being proficient would fuck me.
But would aaallll of that be worth it if it means I won’t need to live in America anymore? …No! In part because my job directly involves the US government, namely the IRS, and no matter where in the world I may be, I would need to deal with that. I would have a professional responsibility to monitor the political and tax climate of the US. I would still be hearing all the horrible stories I’m hearing.
So, no, I don’t want to leave America. In part because I would be miserable having given up everything I know. And in part because… I don’t live in America, I live in Illinois. I live in Cook County. I live in a tiny sliver of one of the biggest countries in the world. And while things that happen in America do affect me, they do not affect me directly. My life has not significantly changed since Trump was elected for a second term. Only my mood, as I am now on Team [REDACTED]. My retirement account, which took a steep decline. And my work schedule, as his presence emboldened crypto people to start reporting their taxes. Somehow!
Now, is this a smart decision? No, not really. For all I know, ICE could enter ‘hardcore mode’ tomorrow. They could decide to aim past Chicago, target my hometown, break into my unit with the power of ladders, and send me away to El Salvador, where I am left to suffer for the remainder of my life. Not die, because cruelty is the point. Because cruelty makes the dick bigger!
Akumako: “Or you could just get hit by the car, suffer a random brain hemorrhage, or die in your sleep for no discernible reason. I’m not trying to say that you’re worrying over nothing— you aren’t. But you need to live your life in accordance to what you want to do. And you want to just stay in your work, playing games, doing taxes, and writing your shit. That’s what you want to do with your life, and while you could do still do all that shit after moving, you could not do it with the same level of ease, as you’d need to deal with oodles of new bullshit.”
This leads me into my next point, and one that is easy to overlook because of how humans are generally not good at imagining things at the macro level. Nobody ‘lives in America.’ America is a place, but it is large, varied, and filled with so many people, different climates, and different cultural subsets. I think it is no exaggeration to say it is the most diverse country in the world, and that is its greatest strength. …Next to being so large and out of the way from the better half of the world that a land invasion is basically impossible.
Are there universal experiences? Yeah, people are exposed to the same media, culture, taxes, outrageous food prices, outrageous medical prices, and car dependency. But there is a reason why the American Youths of today run the gamut between queer communists who think that they are at the eve of a revolution and White supremacists who believe dictatorships and caste systems are good, actually. Life in a blue state, red state, and purple state all differ. There are pockets of Civil War deniers across every damn state in the country who speak in inexplicable Southern accents.
Akumako: “The fuck’s a Civil War denier?”
Someone who masturbates in the same room as an American Nazi Confederacy flag.
Akumako: “Are there really people like that?”
I know for a fact that and über popular streamer who physically can’t close his mouth and lives in a roach-infested house has done that, so it must be part of a bigger trend. It’s also a gateway to masturbating to vintage lynching home movies. And videos of children getting raped by the family dogs for their homeschool science projects.
Akumako: “The fuck are you talking about?”
White people. Anyway—
Akumako: “No, you cannot say that it’s wrong to generalize Americans and the American experience while also generalizing all White people like that!”
Not all White people, just enough of ’em.
Anyway, America is big, diverse, and has many good places. Some places in America are full of literal wet parasite-riddled feces that feature a quality of life comparable to a Third World country. But there is a reason why wealthy immigrants have flocked to American cities and communities over the past few decades, and it’s not just to avoid high taxes in other countries or business opportunities. America is, and basically always has been, a nation of opposing ideologies, of warring extremes, and people trying to redefine the narrative of what America was, could be, or should be. The problem with it now is that the good people are on a major losing streak, and those who want to crystallize it into a White Supremacist authoritarian police state are winning, and need to be dealt with.
I do not blame anyone for seeing the shit happening in Miss Columbia’s District and wanting to leave for greener pastures, as everything really has been as horrible as it has seemed. But for me? I have not seen any physical adverse effects of the fascist regime that have affected my ability to live my life. Let alone anything so extreme that the act of living would be materially easier if I were to move to Central America, Southeast Asia, or the fascism flirting landscape of Europe. …The fuck am I saying? All of those places are prone to fascism, except for some particularly civilized Asian countries, but will they suffer a climate crisis in 10 years? Maybe!
Am I willing to pack up and flee to another country? Yes. I have no idea which of the trans friendly countries would be the best pick for me, but I’d be willing to pack my ass up and schlep. I would need a suitcase, like a week to prepare and back up things, and would spend the rest of my life pining over the future that never was. Likely falling deeper into writing my own alternate history where fascism was killed by televised child rape.
Akumako: “You cannot just say shit like that with no context. Natalie, the fuck are you talking about?”
My 2024 political novel Psycho Shatter 1988: Black Vice X Weiss Vice! That’s how I destroyed the GOP! Using god magic to awaken their inner pedophiles and have them rape fake children on television!
Akumako: “Why are you spoiling the end of a novel that maybe five people have maybe read?”
You answered your own question, love.
Point is, I do not like being in America at the moment, but I enjoy where I live. I enjoy the privileges I have access to, enough that I do not want to roll the die and move to a country I’ve never visited, intending on making it my new forever home. That’s a bad idea and I don’t know how people make that happen.
Akumako: “Most of them visit the place they want to live in for a while, try it out, before moving someplace else. Meanwhile, you have not left Cook County in over 15 years.”
That’s not true. I went to DuPage to shoot some Black kids back when I was like 20.
Akumako: “You went to film a high school play in a mostly Black community back when you were a professional videographer. You didn’t shoot Black kids. I… screw it. You delivered a conclusion, and this is good enough for who’s it for.”
Should I Run Ads on Natalie.TF?
(Strictly for Tax Purposes!)
Oi! Readers! Perk up because this is a direct CALL TO ACTION segment where your responses could shape part of the future of Natalie.TF!
Should I start running ads on Natalie.TF?
…Specifically, should I run ads at the very bottom of the website, in the footer, which most people are not going to see unless they scroll all the way down?
Why do I want to do this? For tax purposes, as I want to limit the amount of money I owe to the Federal government.
I have said before that I do not care about making money off of Natalie.TF, but given the current political climate, I have been reconsidering that, and for a simple reason. On US income tax returns, I cannot deduct expenses paid towards a ‘hobby’ and can only deduct expenses towards a ‘business.’ Natalie.TF has historically functioned as a hobby, as have all my prior writing endeavors. Meaning the expenses I have paid for the site, the email provider, the materials I cover on the site, any software I use, all of these have been just straight out of my pocket, with zero tax benefit.
I have said before that I think people should use the tax system to their advantage and turn their hobbies into business. Because, in the go-go year of 2025, where everything is a scam and crime is legal, then everything should also be a business. This includes writing about stuff you care about, and streaming video games. However, in order to pass the smell test, you need to achieve certain things to make your case more convincing. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Incorporate a business, most likely a single-member LLC, which is treated as a disregarded business entity for tax purposes. The incorporation and renewal costs vary state by state, but are generally cheap, except for California.
- Create a business bank account and/or credit card that you funnel purchases and revenue into.
- Maintain an accounting of the business’s income and expenses, which could be done in Google Sheets as a basic financial spreadsheet of ins and outs with basic categories, with annual summaries.
- Show an intention to profit off of one’s work by receiving some sort of revenue, and ad revenue or royalties are a form of revenue.
- Make the business a creative venture, and hold oneself out as a creative, as IRS is more lenient towards creatives and artistés.
- Work with some level of regularity and have a reasonable case against the activity being wholly recreational in nature. Such as having a schedule or putting things out with regularity.
If I were to runs ads, and resume selling my novels via an online platform— on Smashwords or something— I would be establishing intention to profit. Then, if I also establish an Illinois LLC for $175. Open up a business checking account. And open up a business credit card, I think I would have a solid case that what I am doing with Natalie.TF is, as a matter of objective, measurable fact, a business.
Now, what would be the tax benefit of this? Well, 26.95% of my expenses, and that’s before considering what I would save on self-employment taxes from my other side gig. Plus, I have wanted to establish an LLC for a while in order to cover my ass regarding any legal issues I may run into, and better protect the rights to my characters, world, etc. Just a bunch of paranoia on my part.
This will not save me much, if any, money in the grand scheme of things… but it will reduce my tax liability, particularly Federal tax liability. And more than that, I think it would be neat.
However, I can only do this if you, my readers, are okay with me running ads on my site. To reiterate, it will just be an ad in the footer. A section many of you probably have not looked at for weeks or months.
…Now, would I be able to get any decent advertises with such family unfriendly content? Don’t know, don’t really care!
Edit 2025-10-21: I originally had a segment here that discussed a TG caption creator’s pivot to creating AI videos, but after receiving many upset comments from here, I ultimately chose to scrap this segment entirely. If you want to read it yourself, here’s an archive link.
Donkey Kong Bananza Direct
(As Expected, It Looks Great!)
Nintendo kept their head down throughout S3 the past two weeks, as they were a bit too busy ensuring the Switch 2 had a successful launch. But with their next big game, Donkey Kong Bananza, just a month away, they had to do something, and released a 17-minute-long dive into what the game will be like. We already had a detailed Treehouse demo, so the general ebb and flow of the game has been known for two months now. But it’s always nice to have an official announcement of features, rather than let people spew them over social media ahead of time. Plus, Nintendo Directs alway draw more eyes than a live demo.
Anyway, big reveal number one is that Donkey Kong’s purple rock friend is actually… Pauline! Yep, she was somehow turned into a rock, wound up in Kong Country, and is a small child, as I guess this is a prequel. Which, fair enough. It is a far better visual than anything DK on his own or with a grown woman, and feels like a very Nintendo take on God of War 4 (2018). Just instead of a man, it’s a monkey, and instead of a typical kid, it’s a cute girl who has the power of song!
It kind of poo-poos on the whole Mario timeline, but I don’t have the same brain worms needed to care about the Mario timeline. Instead, I have the brain worms that looks at this game as the great furry awakening. …Then again, I also thought Super Mario Odyssey would represent a dramatic rise in possession TF, but eight years out, and that has not really happened. Knowing my crummy luck, this will just lead to a spike in a—
Akumako: “Natalie, you’re not going to look for it, and you’ll be upset when you see it, so don’t even speak the devil’s name.”
Anyway, the prior demo already revealed the fact that this game is all about rocks. You break ’em, rip ’em out, throw ’em, skate on ’em use ’em for double jumps, or use them to make a bridge. All good ways to terraform and manipulate the world like a raging gorilla beast. The mysterious seals from the demo are where Pauline comes into play, if only to give her something to do. And the Brand New Kong World was revealed to be a continuous open world of different levels, all stacked up on top of each other, to be traversed in a linear order while venturing to the world’s core. …Even that means there are multiple suns underground! Like this is The Cave World Saga!
Why are Donkey Kong and Pauline going to the core of the world? Why, to awaken to Giant Elder Animals, gain their powers, and unlock Donkey Kong’s animal transformations! Yep, not only can DK enter BIG RAGE mode and become Kong Bananza, but he can also become a fast-running Zebra with a juicy ass and a flying ostrich— because ostriches used to fly back in my day! …And every T-Rex was named Ralph!
Oh, and of course DK also needs to defeat a posse of baddies who… really feel like more refined takes on the enemy faction from [Kirby Discovery (2022)](). A gaggle of recurring bosses who capstone each world before opening up a sinkhole to the next level, because everybody loves free-falling sequences! …Or at least programmers do, as it makes it easier to transition between two huge environments. Oh, and the former Sonic Team devs at Nintendo also probably like it!
You explore, collect stuff, break everything you feel like smashing, and venture deeper and deeper into a giant world. There are instance-based special challenges and puzzles, because that is a damn-near defining Nintendo-ism. The golden bananas, Banandium Gems, are used to unlock skills that the player can invest in to upgrade their Kong as they see fit, boosting metrics and unlocking supplemental abilities. Gold is used for assorted and miscellaneous stuff, like recovery items or temporary buffs. While fossils are used to purchase fresh outfits for DK and Pauline, granting them passive buffs. A sensible idea, but given how much people like customizing characters for style, this smells slightly contentious.
How do you find all of these collectibles? Well, the game conveniently has a numbered list for easy guide sleuthing, but you can also find chests of treasure maps— not how that works— that reveal their locations. And if backtracking sounds like a pain, don’t worry, Nintendo has added fast travel to the game and more organic transportation as well in the form of subterranean eels. They act as eelevators and you can also use them to teeleport. …The game’s getting 0.2 points out of ten from that pun alone.
I’ve been talking about DK, but what does Pauline do? What is this child’s contribution to life? Well, she mostly functions as back candy and a partner for DK on the journey, singing to help the player from getting lost and unlocking seals, which seems like a manufactured function. Weirdly, her true use case only really shows up when playing the game in co-op, where one player can aim shouts of destruction that blow up stone and other objects, copying materials in the environment to deal more damage. It’s a way for a tag-along players to participate in the active gameplay, avoiding the Super Mario Galaxy (2007) and Super Mario Odyssey (2017) co-op problem. However, it might be a bit too powerful, possibly trivializing certain challenges as the Pauline player can attack targets that DK cannot reach.
I’m definitely interested in how the co-op mode will fare, and Nintendo is encouraging people to try it out. Not only is it comparable with Game Share across Nintendo Switch 2, but it supports co-op on the Switch 1 as well. Which I did not expect to be a thing, and that’s a genuinely cool feature. I doubt more than 3% of the people who bought a Switch 2 sold their Switch 1, and this is a way for them to play Donkey Kong Bananza with a friend, or child, while having their own screen. Well, so long as they are in the same room, as Game Share only works with Switch 1 via local wireless.
…All of which is before getting into the presentation. Overall, it represents an evolution of what Nintendo has achieved since their pivot to HD. The game is gorgeous, the in-engine cutscenes they showed throughout the trailer looked stellar, and it looks like a game that genuinely would not work on the Switch 1. Which is a good thing! People love feeling that their new toys are worth their investment!
I’m sure that the game will be good, as it’s another big Nintendo first-party romp, but I worry that it will suffer the same core problem of Super Mario Odyssey. Where the game is remembered fondly, but the specifics all blur together into a collected 12 to 30 hour experience that just kind of blurs together. A fun romp, but one that is a bit too reliant on momentary rewards compared to bespoke challenges à la 64, Sunshine, Galaxy, and Galaxy 2. Because when I think of those games, I think of specific stages. When I think of Odyssey, I think of trinkets.
Donkey Kong Bananza will launch as the second big— Canonical even— Switch 2 exclusive on July 17, 2025!
…Don’t worry, I will explain what canonical means next week! I’ve already got it wrote down and everything!
Akumako: “Stop referencing shit from a dead podcast that nobody will remember!”
NO!
Natalie Tries to Figure Out What Dating Sims Are
(And the Gap in Western Romance Games)
Let’s see… there’s some dumb discourse about how the recently released Date Everything is a bad dating sim because it does not understand its genre. Which makes me think that it’s not meant to be a dating sim. So why judge it based on the standards of one? Plus, the term dating sim is one so loaded and misunderstood in much of the Anglosphere, to the point where it’s easy to conclude that nobody who doesn’t know Japanese actually knows what a dating sim is. And I think the key word that trips people up is sim.
The simulation part refers to the tried and true genre of Japanese simulation games. Which evolved on their own, as a genre separate but equal to the more western simulation titles. Between all the train sims and the like, they definitely focused on job simulators in comparable measures to western creators, but there is also a lengthy lineage of raising and romance simulators. Games where one needs to manage a schedule, stats, and relationship metrics.
It’s a genre with a lot of depth, but it requires a good deal of patience, it is very much an acquired taste, and the much praised Tokimeki Memorial (1994) is not easy. They can be daunting, challenging, and take quite some time to learn how to play exploit properly. Games like it and Angelique (1994) are routinely cited as core essential examples of real dating sims, as they contain the stat-based simulation elements and event planning, but that game has never been translated in English. (No, the barely complete translation from 2001 does not count).
Instead, let’s look at something that actually came out in English. Such as the remake of the classic, foundational 1992 dating sim Dokyusei: Bangin’ Summer (2021). If this is not a dating sim per someone’s definition, then the definition is just wrong. The game has an explorable world, it has a daily schedule system, it has character relationships. It is not the typical Japanese simulation game, as it gives you a character to walk around and navigate through a world, but Princess Maker 2 (1993) did that, so I’m saying it’s legit.
Or, to look at a more contemporary example, not even from Japan, Gaokao.Love.100Days might not be a platonic ideal of a dating sim, but it is a game about balancing classes with a burgeoning relationship, trying to achieve both goals. It requires planning, dealing with chaos, and much of its gameplay is based around the same roots of a Japanese simulation game.
Okay, so is this the rigid definition that people must follow to pursue the unreal goal of factual accuracy? It needs Japanese simulation elements, and we want them to be something separate from romance-driven visual novels? …Actually, no, no, I am going about this all wrong. Let me see what the Japanese definition of this genre is, because Japan is the only language where video game genres can make sense. Wikipedia should be a decent place to start and— why does it call these games romance games? These are dating sims, right? …Well, yes, but they are part of a broader genre of romance games.
Why the hell are they even called dating sims in the west and not romance games? Especially when romance game is such a better and more accurate name for what stupid poopyheaded gaijins think when they hear dating sims. Shit, is this a Hirameki visual novel situation where the terms used to describe these games got all borked up? …You know what, that sounds plausible. I can primo defo see 90s gaming magazines looking at Tokimeki Memorial, hearing it called a dating sim, informing their audiences that this is what these games are called in Japan, and that just becoming the de facto term for all Japanese romance games. Even as the dating sim faded while standard romance visual novels thrived.
Because throughout the late 90s and early 2000s, the number of ‘dating simulator’ games declined as even purveyors of the genre, like Key, began shifting their focus to pure romance visual novels like Kanon (1999) and Clannad (2004). Those are definitely romance games, but they are not dating sims, as you are not simulating something. You are just picking choices that lead to different routes. Dating sims still persisted, Tokimeki Memorial continued, mostly in the form of otome games— where you date MEN. Love Plus was a huge hit. Hell, Uma Musume the among biggest non-Genshin style gacha games at the moment, and it’s a damn sports simulation game with dating vibes, so I’m gonna call it a horse dating sim. And you can’t stop me!
Goldarn it, this was just supposed to be a two paragraph things…
Okay, okay, okay… dating sims are their own genre, but they are part of a broader genre that we largely do not even use for games in the Anglosphere, romance. And why shouldn’t that be a staple game genre? It is for every other bloody medium!
And I think this is a key source of friction whenever a western game developer tries to make a silly, transgressive, or abnormal ‘dating sim,’ or otherwise promotes one. Because, one, they are not dating sims because they lack simulation elements, and are just visual novels with romantic flavor or datable characters. Or in other words, romance visual novels. And two, while there are plenty of romance games being released from developers around the world these days, they typically lack the publisher backing or budgets of something that is more novel. You are not going to see a game strictly about a college girl falling in love with boys at the next Summer Games Fest.
The biggest romance visual novel from a western developer in the past decade has to be Doki Doki Literature Club (2017). And you could write a dissertation on the discourse surrounding that game and its enduring fandom. I think that is a fine game, I thought it could have done more and weirdly did not focus on the titular literature club element, but I appreciated it as a creative and ‘transgressive’ game. However, the game was a far cry from a typical Japanese romance game, and much of its praise was for being transgressive, for not being like a typical Japanese romance game. …But most of the people who said that had never actually played a typical Japanese romance game. Let alone a dating sim.
For those invested in Japanese romance games, this was deeply frustrating, as it led to waves of people poo-pooing on something they, realistically, didn’t know the first thing about, and were operating under negative stereotypes. …And because DDLC did so well, it helped usher in a steady stream of self-professed dating sims that feel the need to be ‘transgressive’ like MiSide (2024). Or they feel the need to guise the romance under a veneer of comedy, to pull a Hatoful Boyfriend (2012) or Monster Prom (2018).
I do not think there is anything wrong with this on its own, but there is a noticeable lack of decently budgeted games from western developers making games focused on romance. On managing relationships. And when they do come around, they feel the need to apply something novel. Such as having you date something abnormal, wrap the romance under a veneer of wacky comedy, or… just not pursue a sense of genuineness. They generally lack the earnestness that one could find in even a western romantic movie, series, or novel. I know you can find them if you dig for them, but it is far harder to find them than it is in Japan, where fully voiced romance visual novels are released every damn month.
…Okay, am I done? Yes, I think I am. GOOD!
Akumako: “Play Tokimeki Memorial, ya dumb bitch!”
Fine, fuck you, I will! …I spent an evening getting through the first year, and I don’t really like it. For a social game, it encourages you to play it like an anti-social lunatic. I’ll explain my thoughts on it next Rundown.
Switch 2 Did Not Save Gamindustri…
(BIG SHOCK!!!)
Damn discourse devils. I heard about this, so I may as well pull out the Natalie perspective!
The Nintendo Switch 2 was home to a wildly successful launch, with Nintendo’s hefty stock of consoles flying off the shelves, but in a way where they wound up in the hands of people who want to play these games. Not in the hands of people who want to sell them for a quick buck. This is something to celebrate, but I theorized that the lack of coverage would hurt third-parties or lead to disappointing sales, and… that seems to be the case. The Game Business put out an article providing the good numbers. Not counting the Mario Kart World bundle, 62% of physical Switch 2 game purchases were for first-party titles in the US, while 48% of UK physical Switch 2 game sales were for first-party titles. Both of which… honestly make all the sense in the world.
While the Switch 2 is a brand new consoles and had a stacked launch library, the majority of the titles available for launch have been released on other platforms. If the diehard gamers buying the Switch 2 wanted to play these titles, they had plenty of opportunities to check them out. There were no reviews of these games, so diligent customers could not tell if a game was good prior to picking up their system at launch. Mario Kart World is such an expansive game that it will keep some players busy for weeks. All of these games, except for Cyberpunk 2077 (2020), shipped on a Game Key Card. Meaning that the games would not only need to be downloaded, but they would need to futz with the game card to play the game. Oh, and the Switch 2 also functions as the Switch Pro that people were always clamoring for, and plays many key titles at better frame rates and/or resolutions.
…Also, the third-party releases on Switch 2 ultimately did better than they did on Switch 1. Which also makes sense, as what else launched for Switch other than Zelda? Snipperclips and a mediocre Bomberman game.
I’m sure that sales will pick up over time, but for now… the Switch 2 has not miraculously saved gaming. What a shocker!
Progress Report 2025-06-21
I was going to talk about romance visual novels here, but instead I will just briefly make a note on something I saw in the private Press-Switch Discord server from the scrumptous Skillet “Vanessa” Caso.
A 4 party member classic turn-based JRPG with body swapping and other transformations would absolutely work as a concept. The best way to gauge something like that would be to look at how various RPGs have handled class systems in the past, discover archetypes, and figure out what end points you can achieve through different mechanical combinations. Assign attributes to a character’s body and their mind, and come up with… probably 32 different classes. 4×4 gives you all the mind and body combinations, and you multiply it by two when you TransSex the bodies. This sounds like a lot, but if you look at Final Fantasy, Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default, and Dragon Quest— really, any series with a robust job system, you can get a plenty of ideas.
A quicker and dirtier approach would be to have characters’ bodies contain base stats and have their souls apply modifiers to them. But if this is an RPG, I think there should be some variation, and every combination should represent its own job. Jobs can be an outward projection of a characters’ personality, and I think the idea of the soul changing how a body dresses would make for an intuitive visual aid. Assign a soul a series of traits, like have them be conservative, flashy, skimpy, or wear a specific type of fashion, like a goth/punk aesthetic.
…Also, on a completely unrelated note, that body swap visual novel I reviewed back in May, Body Swap Story – Aunty Yui & Yuto, is finally on Steam, and I bought it. Not just so say that I did it, but I’m committed!
Also also, Mariana released a patch for Press-Switch v0.6c Beta that made two previously inaccessible endings accessible to players. I’ve updated my Press-Switch page with the relevant information, but the patch had some problems. I tried helping Mariana with them, but the patch isn’t done as of this Rundown’s last update, five hours before publishing.
2025-06-15: Anime with Cassie, started a new route in Hundred Line, wrote 1,500 words for the Hundred Line review.
2025-06-16: Wrote 1,600 AI section in the morning, then played Hundred Line’s comedy route for a couple hours. Also finished up my CPE for this year, so good on me for that. 24 credit hours acquired! Meaning I have finished my first three year cycle of CPE! Now to do this again for at least 42 more years, unless I die. I could die tomorrow for all I know!
2025-06-17: This was entirely a Hundred Line day for me, going through the Comedy route (it was not very good) and deciding to pivot onto the main second scenario, after clearing up the revenge paths, which are rather limited.
2025-06-18: Went on a stint and wrote 2,200 words for next week’s Rundown because of a provocative skoot. Wrote 600 words on the AI bit. 1,100 words for Yonkey Donk. Could’ve written more something for Hundred Line, but I didn’t feel like it.
2025-06-19: Edited this wet fish, after working until 19:00 because of crypto ‘n’ bullshit.Wrote the 400 word Switch 2 section. Started playing Tokimeki Memorial, thinking a run would only take 2-3 hours. But that was a LIE!
2025-06-20: Played more Tokimeki Memorial, managed to become the number 1 student two semesters in a row due to save scumming, and I am going to have some COLD TAKES next week. Also, played the Veshness route in Hundred Line. It was really good! So good that I find it hard to play Tokimeki when I have something like this also a click away.
2025-06-21: Finished one run of Tokimeki Memorial (9.5 bloody hours), and did not have a good time. Got 1,200 words into a pseudo-review of the title. Was busy with morning chores, afternoon work, and Press-Switch patch testing.
I don’t mind ads, tho I would advise to be careful. If I get a pop-up everytime I open Nat.tf I would go ballistic quickly.
More to the point, it sounds like alot of effort for not much reward in this tax deduction thing. Natalie has frequently made it clear that they need extra time to do things in life so I would ask Nat if this expenditure of time is worth it?
If Natalie feels like the pros are good for her, and the ads don’t negatively affect viewing. I would support.
This would only take me a few extra hours a year to account, so whatever impact this has on my free time would be immaterial. And I would minimize ads as much as possible. So don’t worry your pretty little head, Cassie-licious yum!
DDLC was never meant to be a dating sim or even a romance game, and anyone who claims it is is a complete moron who probably missed the entire point. DDLC is an existential horror game that hits some of the starter romance game points specifically to make you drop your guard so the horror hits harder.
DDLC is a game that presents itself as a regular ordinary romance VN, or as many have described it, a dating sim. The game is not a romance game, but it does have romance game elements with three persuadable heroines and adopts the guise of a visual novel for the first two or so hours of play before becoming a horror game. However, for those first two hours, the game is a romance game. Furthermore, much of its praise was for how its horror subverted the expectations of its innocent romance game appearance. You cannot describe DDLC without at least an allusion to romance games, and I know for a fact that many considered it to be a ‘psychological horror dating sim.’ And considering how people have attached themselves to these characters, with fan art and fan communities persisting even into 2025, I would say it achieved its function as a romance game, a game where people learn to love and care for its romanceable characters in a manner similar to those from romance games.
It both is and is not a romance game. I can see it being seen as a romance game by the majority who played it, who lack much familiarity with romance games, and it being shunned by romance game enthusiasts as not a real romance game, as it keeps things very ‘surface level.’ I know I have seen both perspectives over the past eight years, and I am inclined to consider it a romance game and a horror game.
put ads on the site if it means you get like a hundred off
Bit of a somber note to start on, but yeah, I feel a lotta the same way you do right now… though we definitely can’t afford to move out of the country, and I put way too many skill(et) points into English to pick up any other languages, so I’m a bit more stuck here in the south. It’s miserable and I hate it here, but it *is* diverse in a way a lot of the US isn’t, much less other countries. (A bit funny of a thing for you to value given how little you actually go outside, but I get it, and I admire your shameless embrace of the NEET life). Besides, I literally just moved into a new room this year to reflect my post-transition, young adult self (even though it’s still filled with most of the exact same interests as when I was a 7 year old boy), so moving out *right* now would doubly suck.
But yeah, the whole state of the country is already having a worrying effect on our finances, so I sympathize with you doing whatever you can to get your bag and eff the feds, especially if it’s so tucked away as to not even really be visible. Though my concern then becomes what kind of ads we’re talking, because there are so many that are sketchy or represent morally bankrupt companies, and who knows what kind would want to make themselves at home here.
…
Full disclosure, I skimmed the AI segment because *who the fuck cares,* (certainly not me!), but I will say the idea of a son becoming a part-time mom to his Fortnite-playing, girl-dating mother, is actually kind of hilarious, though I’d need to see an actual human writer tackle it to know if it could be *hot*, or at least good drama. Definitely has potential.
I do feel that the whole “(clearly unknowledgeable) Western parody of J-romance games” thing has been played out at *least* since DDLC came out eight (fucking!) years ago, but streets are saying Date Everything is actually pretty good, or at least, I’ve liked the character designs I’ve seen so far — that much seems “earnest”. So it’s officially on my radar, in the vaguest possible sense. Likewise, I think Monster Prom’s art style is really cute, and I’ve heard Hatoful Boyfriend is like, secretly actually amazing or something.
…
Man, I feel like I’m getting a shoutout every third post these past couple months! And I feel a little undeserving of that attention, with me being by far the least useful member of the “P-S team”… and it always comes as a total surprise to see myself on the N(atalie The Fuck)ews! I might’ve gone days without even noticing it down there at the bottom, if not for Mariana asking about my little “pet name.” But to actually address the topic at hand:
Yeah, a traditional (J)RPG with body swap mechanics throughout is absolutely something I daydream of often, (I even got Trigger to talk about his own ideas for one in DMs once upon a time~), and the mix-n-match class changing mechanics of Bravely Default and FFV definitely seem like they’d be the best place to start… emphasis on start, since I’ve not really played either of those games. Maybe when I get a Switch 2, if I ever do, because *someone’s* gotta support third parties on there… unless it comes out on Steam first! Oh, and I do like that outfit idea, thank you.
However, I also think a game like that would get a little boring with *just* four characters to swap, so to me, the natural next step would be a large cast of optional recruitable party members, which makes me think Fire Emblem. But even a game with just four sounds like a nightmare of variables for a fledgling dev when the player has active control over (at least one of) them! The great and wise Master has imparted upon me many lessons, one I often remember being: “Your starter games when learning to code should be simple. Nothing about body swapping is simple.”
However (x2), actions speak louder than words, so as a result of the great Master’s more recent interactive endeavors (as well as the fact that it seems like most TSF games are VNs already), I have become deeply fascinated with the idea of body swapping games that are actual *games* with mechanics and shit. I’ve got a decent little list of ideas for different premises spanning multiple genres, but… as you’ve said before, ideas are worth very little by themselves, and if there’s one thing I’m not, it’s a game designer. (Especially because my actual firsthand experience with many of the formulas I wanna riff on are so lacking!)
Ironically enough though, a lot of my ideas kinda play with elements of the Japanese social sims discussed in this rundown, as I think that could be a really clean and neat way to both integrate gameplay in and tell a more longform story… but wait, if I were to do that, wouldn’t that just be putting my *own* filthy gaijin gimmick onto it!? Fuck it, I’ll blame P5 for *this*, too (and promptly get revenge by swapping *that* party around. I’ve already known exactly who I’d swap with who for the past year now, even if DA’s nargaflarga already has an aggressive monopoly on P5 TSF fiction.)
Well, at the very least, I actually *have* played a little Princess Maker 2, and I can confirm that that game rocks. Oh, and… sorry for the long comment on such a short rundown. It’s as if I’ve parasitized it and made it my own, like a damn Cordyceps. Time to see if there’s a character limit here!
Hey, I am not a NEET! I am employed! Technically, I am a partner/officer for a corporation that is paid a regular salary on the first of each month, but that’s just semantics. I value having an environment I am comfortable enough to casually go outside when need be. While I can live a NEET-like life here in Cook County, I would not be able to live such a life if I had to flee to Southeast Asia or something. Not only because of the language barrier, but because I would need to buy my own groceries!
As a 30-year-old trans woman, how many of my interests are reflective of when I was a 7-year-old boy? …Well, I played video games, watched a video about Pokemon game balance while exercising. I read a TSF body swap comic, which I actually had one of as a kid. Or maybe it was a personality swap comic. It was a Dexter’s Lab comic, I’m not going to check the details. And I spent a few hours watching anime (Higurashi) (cartoons) with friends, so… most of them, I guess!
The ads would be done using WordAds or something similar. Nothing sketchy, everything should be screened ahead of time. But I will need to do some much procrastinated cleanup before rolling things out. Like restore the sticky header I’ve disabled for… nine months now. Orz…
Like it or not, you’re part of Natalie.TF canon, kid. It’s the price to pay to be a regular in my DMs. Keep it up and you may get your own TSF Series request one day. Emphasis on may and one day.
Every time I find a TSF idea with potential, part of me curls up, as I know I could execute the idea in a way that’s ‘interesting’ at the least, but time is illmatic and whatnot.
I have mostly seen negative stuff regarding Date Everything, but I think I’m just in a bubble in that sense.
Bravely Default II is on Steam, and knowing how gung-ho Square is about multiplatform releases, I’m sure Bravely Default Remastered will be ported eventually. Weirdly, the game I first think of when thinking of a Final Fantasy class system is 4 Heroes of Light, which can be thought of as Bravely Default 0.
I was imagining the game not just being body swapping, but also standard TSF or ‘gender transformations.’ That multiplies the number of possibilities by two in and of itself, so 4 characters would really be 32 potential characters. 8 characters would be 128 characters! Could that work? Eh, maybe, but it would be a PITA to manage and balance.
“Your starter games when learning to code should be simple. Nothing about body swapping is simple.” Two choice quotes right there. Trigger is teaching you well, Scrumptious!
Japanese Social Sims are not really what I would call a clean genre, as they are driven by a certain level of chaos and randomness, which is part of their charm. :P There is definitely a way to make a body swap social sim work, but designing a simulation game will require a lot more programming knowhow than a visual novel, and you’d want to get your knees wet in the genre first.
I’m already working on a section regarding my time with Tokimeki, which may or may not show my ass on understanding the whole Japanese social sim genre. We’ll find out NEXT WEEK!
Well, responding to this was a waste of time. I just spent an hour+ writing something, and it just…ate my comment. :(
Oh goodness. I never expected to hear from you like this, and I am so sorry that my site ate your comment. It’s a problem with WordPress and their ability to process longer comments. Sometimes it just does not allow the comment through if it is too long, and I cannot find a cause or way to fix it.
I’m pretty miffed, because it was well thought out, and it took time out of my typical creation time.
Now I’m doing all I can to hold back snarky insults, which is NOT where I want to go with this — but I also want to defend myself without having to write a whole other essay.