This Ain’t Your Uncle’s Nintendo

With Nintendo’s newfound anti-consumer practices—$80 to $100 games, selling a console that’s outdated the day it hits shelves, and charging more than an Xbox or, better yet, a Steam Deck—I can’t help but feel like it’s time to remind everyone of one thing:

Your gaming backlog.

I’m willing to bet you’ve got quite the backlog. I know I do. A new DOOM just dropped, and I still haven’t played DOOM (2016). I’ve was waiting for God of War and Horizon to hit PC. I haven’t touched Mario Odyssey or the latest 3D Kirby installment. And don’t even talk to me about Baldur’s Gate 3—with my backlog, DO YOU THINK I HAVE TIME FOR BG3? No.

So really, I’ve got to thank Nintendo for slapping me awake and reminding me that I should probably play something other than Skyrim.

While I play catch-up on a backlog that stretches all the way back to 2015, I’ll have plenty of time for Switch 2 prices—and its games—to drop. I most certainly will not be giving Nintendo my ever-decreasing dollars for Mario Kart. Are you kidding me? No. Absolutely not.

Besides, who am I going to play an open-world Mario Kart game with? Don’t get me wrong—it sounds like fun, and it looks like fun... until the repetitive gameplay loop sets in. But Nintendo has priced all of my best friends completely out of the market with this bullshit. So tell me, Nintendo: who do I play these $100 games with, exactly? That friend has kids to feed and too little time to not play a console they had to sacrifice their firstborn for. The others have PCs—and they’re going to pirate Metroid Prime 4 anyway. Hmmm. I also have a PC. One that I… Anyway.

You know you've messed up when, after years of anticipation, unfounded rumors, and the mythos of the Switch 2, the first thing my friends do after the reveal is ask for my opinion on the Steam Deck. Which, for the record, I love—and I’ll remind you, it’s cheaper than a Switch 2 and comes with about a million more games, emulators, and customization options. Did I mention emulators? I’m not winking, and Nintendo can’t prove anything in a court of law.

Look, Nintendo isn’t the only greedy corporate entity clawing at your wallet. And before I start kicking Microsoft—or get into how I’d really love to wear Randy Pitchford’s skin—let’s highlight some folks actually doing it right.

You’ve probably heard about Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a strange and wonderful game that delivers a rich, imaginative experience for just $49.99. I don’t know a single person at that French studio, but I know I can support a game that values artistry and affordability.

They're not alone. Later this year, the latest installment in the Mafia series will launch at $49.99. Again, I don’t care who made that call—I just care that someone did. That’s the kind of practice we should support across the board. Let’s show the industry that standard MSRP isn’t the only way to turn a profit. Make gaming accessible to as many people as possible.

I think a wise man once said, “If you build it, they will come.” Or some shit like that. I’ll innovate on it and say: When you tear down the walls, they will come.

Final Thought

If we ever want to see ethically conscious pricing become the norm, we have to treat those in opposition the same way history dealt with fascists.

Don’t waste your money on a greedy corporation that used to have a moral compass. And don’t talk to me about development costs. I’m sure there is an executive or ten somewhere who aren’t worth their weight in lowly underpaid game developers.

Sincerely,

Your Dawg

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I don’t know what Alanah Pearce does for work. I don’t know anything about Alanah Pearce, and I don’t care to—because I’m not a parasocial weirdo.

I could address the allegations made against her. I could seek out evidence to support the response video I didn’t watch. I could do all the things that she—a woman I do not know—didn’t ask me to do. But this piece isn’t about Alanah. Nor is it about the incels who started this mess.

I don’t know much about Alyssa Mercante either, beyond the fact that she has a voice in games media who, alongside Alanah, became a target of fragile incel outrage because some fragile men didn’t like something she had a part in writing.

But despite never hearing of this whiny shit-streak Smash JT before writing this piece, I somehow feel like I know him very well. Because I grew up in the GamerGate era.

A discount outrage merchant with a persecution kink and a podcast mic, allergic to women with opinions.

The kind of guy who thinks harassment is journalism and bitterness is branding. Who breaks into cold sweats at the mere suggestion that women might have insight into the games he once felt ownership over.

He, though, is also not the story. He’s the embarrassing punchline on the way to the real issue—the festering stink of misogyny that still clings to games culture like his unwashed underwear.

So let’s leave him and the legion of irrelevant, pit-stained, clout-chasing skid marks that followed suit. And let’s talk about something that actually matters.

Women have always been part of gaming. Always. From Roberta Williams, co-founder of Sierra On-Line and creator of King’s Quest, to Rieko Kodama, a pioneering force behind Phantasy Star and Skies of Arcadia, who passed away only two years ago (R.I.P.). From Brenda Romero (Wizardry, Jagged Alliance, Ghost Recon) to modern devs like the jubilant and charming Ikumi Nakamura, women have shaped the games we love—often while being actively erased or ignored.

The problem isn’t that women are “taking over” gaming and making it “woke and gay”.

The problem is that some fragile, egotistical men still believe gaming belongs to them, and women belong, blah blah blah. Women belong wherever they want—get over it.

That toxic root, the one GamerGate supercharged, is still there. It’s in the harassment campaigns. The YouTube grifts. The forums where angry white males still unironically say “go woke, go broke,” while Baldur’s Gate 3 wins Game of the Year. It’s in the backlash Alyssa Mercante gets for doing her job as a critic. It’s in the fixation with Alanah Pearce’s body instead of her work.

It’s not about facts. It’s about fear.

Fear that a woman might be better at a thing you thought made you special. Fear that the world is moving on without you—and it is.

But here’s the truth: games have never been more interesting, more inclusive, more alive.

Not in spite of diversity, but because of it.

Games today are more positively manly, powerfully feminine, excellently Blacker, shamelessly gayer, and gloriously weird. And that's good. It's art evolving. It's culture breathing. It's the kind of messy, experimental energy that gave us Yakuza 0, Undertale, Celeste, Hades, and Spider-Man 2 with Miles Morales’ cocoa-butter-slick fade. It’s everything that makes games not just good, but human.

So to all the insecure men terrified of women in their space:

Touch grass. Take a shower. Play something made after 2007.

To the rest of us? Stop giving these mid-level man-babies air. Don’t debate them. Don’t platform them. Don’t try to reason with them like they have something worth hearing. Let them rot where they belong—in Asmongold’s chat, right next to the dead rat and cockroach on his shoulder.

Because while they cry about "wokeness," women keep doing the work. Writing. Creating. Building the future of games.

And we owe them our support.

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So here’s to the women and femmes who make gaming better. Here’s to the queer devs, the Black artists, the critics who hold the line, and everyone else helping evolve this chaotic, beautiful medium.

To the straight white dudes—don’t worry, we still have Doom: The Dark Ages.

To the gooners—I guess Stellar Blade is still a thing.

To the rest of us? We’ve got games. So many damn good games.

Now pick up a controller. Mind your business. And for the love of God—lock the incels in the basement. Happy gaming.

Sincerely,
Your Dawg

Key sources & Women to celebrate:

Roberta Williams – King’s Quest, Sierra On-Line

• Summary: Co-founder of Sierra On-Line, a pioneer in graphical adventure games. Her work helped establish narrative-driven games as a major genre.

• Source: Roberta Williams – Wikipedia

Rieko Kodama – Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia

• Summary: One of the first prominent women in Japanese game development. Known for art direction and producing RPGs at SEGA. Passed away in 2022.

• Source: Rieko Kodama – Wikipedia

• News of her passing: IGN – Rieko Kodama Passes Away

Brenda Romero – Wizardry, Jagged Alliance, Ghost Recon

• Summary: Veteran designer and writer with deep roots in RPG history. A vocal advocate for diversity in games and the cultural significance of the medium.

• Source: Brenda Romero – Wikipedia

Ikumi Nakamura – Ghostwire: Tokyo, E3 2019 Presentation

• Summary: Gained fame after her viral E3 presentation; formerly an artist and creative director at Tango Gameworks. Now leads her own independent studio.

• Source: Ikumi Nakamura – Wikipedia

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“Rebellions are built on hope.” – Jyn Erso

On a world of endless oceans and tropical forests, a war rages so ancient most beings no longer remember how it began. But the native Togruta of Kattada do.

A thousand years ago, settlers arrived on Kattada seeking refuge—a people without a home. The Togruta, a spiritual and nature loving people, some welcomed them, some did not. But what began as coexistence turned to conquest. The settlers, known as Zions, grew into a colonizing force, bolstered by off-world empires with vast fleets and endless credits.

Generation by generation, the Togruta were pushed farther from their ancestral coasts and deeper into the barren lands. Cities became camps. Homes became rubble. For centuries now, the remaining Togruta have endured under siege—harassed by orbital patrols, blockaded by gunships, and bombarded by StarFortress SF-17 bombers whose engines howl like mourning gods above.

Children go days drinking only seawater. The sky is the color of smoke more often than it is blue.

Across the vast ocean, hope stirred.

A coalition of sentients from across the galaxy—humans, Bothans, Ithorians, Twi’leks, and more—gathered with one mission: to break the humanitarian blockade with peace, not war. They came bearing only humanitarian aid—food, medicine, water filtration units, and supplies for mothers, children, and elders. They came with a Jedi among them, though only a Padawan. Thun Bell, not yet knighted, volunteered to join this mission, believing that peace is forged by presence.

They named their effort the Free Peoples Flotilla.

For weeks, the coalition carefully assembled a fleet of waterbound vessels. Their flagship, a mighty carrier named The Mindful, would receive the smaller crafts offshore and deliver the aid through corridors long denied. Every measure was taken not to provoke the Zionist occupation. The wounds of a massacre fifteen years prior—when another peaceful flotilla was turned into a graveyard—were still felt across the stars.

But history is a pattern to those who do not interrupt it.

As the coalition embarked from their staging ground, Padawan Thun sensed it—before the others heard it. The groan of heavy bombers. The chill of the Force recoiling.
"Take cover!" She shouted.

Panic erupted. Across the decks, beings scattered. Some dove overboard in confusion. Others were trampled. Cries echoed over the slapping waves.

Then came the sound.
Whoosh—KA-BOOM! KA-BOOM!
The placid waters erupted into heaving, angry surf. Waves battered the smaller crafts. Fires blossomed on the horizon. The air thickened with smoke and disbelief.

When the chaos settled into stunned silence, all eyes turned to the flagship.
The vessels carrying the coalition to the flagship was not the target of the attack, but the intended target was of hope itself as The Mindful burned.

Sources & Real-World Parallels

This story mirrors the recent attack on the Freedom Flotilla by alleged Israeli forces in early May 2025. The flotilla was attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, where UN officials have repeatedly stated that famine conditions are growing amid a catastrophic blockade.

Key sources:

• Al Jazeera: Drones hit ‘Freedom Flotilla’ Gaza aid ship in international waters

• Freedom Flotilla: Attacked — Ship in Distress

• 2010 Gaza Flotilla Raid: The Gaza flotilla raid was a military operation by Israel

I wrote this story to draw parallels to the very real horrors unfolding in our galaxy—not far, far away, but right here and now. For those who love fiction, remember: the atrocities we read about in books or watch play out on screen don’t always stay there. Sometimes, they cross into our world in terrible ways.

Stay mindful of others. Stand up for what’s right. And always—Free Palestine.

Thank you for reading. Subscribe and follow for more storied parallels, truths told through tales, and so much more.

With solidarity,
Your Dawg

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Since November 2024, I’ve been building a WordPress site to host the blog I’ve wanted to start for years. This site is supposed to be the place where I finally release all the rants my loved ones have suffered through in person. If they’ve endured my insane ramblings about games, societal decay, and personal philosophy, then why shouldn’t the rest of the internet?

Well… because I’ve suddenly found myself speechless. Paralyzed by fear and doubt about my own writing, rants, and philosophy.

I have no formal training. I was shoved into the back corner of special ed English so I wouldn’t get in the way of students without reading disabilities. I was left to drift, to figure it all out on my own. And yet—I’m damn proud of what I’ve become. I can write well-researched articles full of nuance and out-of-the-box reasoning. I can write long-form and short-form stories. After years of telling myself I couldn’t do it, I’m finally making art and developing multiple video games.

So why the hell can’t I just press Post?

Hopefully by starting here on Substack, I can explore all that self-doubt—and maybe even encourage someone else out there with the same hesitation to start their own journey.

Over the last few months, I’ve written several draft articles that lost their relevance with time. I regret not posting the one where I roasted the hell out of Notch back in January, when he reared his ugly little blockhead to talk nonsense about a "Minecraft 2"—only to abandon the idea a few weeks later. Exactly like I predicted. For anyone who’s forgotten: Notch is a white supremacist, bigoted fuck, and deserves to stay in that $2.5 billion dustbin of gaming history. But I’ll keep that piece in the chamber for next time he crawls out of a square-shaped hole.

I also wrote a piece about the state of the games industry and media landscape—taking aim at specific publisher showcases and the unfortunate void left by E3. I called it The Game Awards (derogatory). I still want to post it, because I’m proud of that one, but… relevancy. I’ll see you next time, Keighley (derogatory).

And just two months ago, I wrote about the looming wave of greed in the industry—predicting $100 games and increasingly anti-consumer practices. I was proven right a month later. The only thing I got wrong was not expecting Nintendo (derogatory) to be the ones to kick it off. That piece will still go up eventually, just needs some tweaking to catch up with the times.

All this to say: moving forward, I hope to stop letting self-doubt keep me from hitting publish. I will call Notch a racist fuck with my whole chest. I will drag Geoff Keighley when he deserves it. And I will press Post.

More to come.

Sincerely,

Your Dawg

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