I did appreciate your post about not finding someone to blame, but finding solutions. I understand why it had to go down with the rest of it though.

But, until then, I think what we can do for our generation is strive to find useful tactics that might encourage people to genuinely rethink their approach to online spaces.

This is an example that I think might have legs, depending on whom you're speaking to.
bsky.app/profile/anon...

And by doing so repeatedly, by making it a habit, they only further carve that neural pathway into their brains. It only gets easier to get angrier.

So to see a really widespread reassessment of online behavior, it probably has to start with the next generation. If education could take that turn...

-then that's what you use the Internet for.

By lack of immediate consequence, you're allowed to exhaust all your rage into others. And that's often easier than putting in the effort to mitigate it.

Because it's the path of least resistance, I think a lot of people fall into it without realizing.

A big variable for that change probably lies in education.

Generally, we're raised on a social etiquette defined by extrinsic consequences. Lack of consequences can therefore result in lack of etiquette. And if you were never taught how to manage frustrations and where to safely redirect anger-

I messed up the date! The disc version listed for this demo is June 8th. My bad.

Using this, @jaikhay.bsky.social found another iteration of The Queen's design in that early demo (disc version dated June 6th, 2001).

The headdress here is far more elaborate than even the feathered one seen in Game Informer's screenshots. And this is our best look at her tattered cloak of shadow.

With some adjustments to the emulated copy's internal memory (initially uncovered for the retail release by Wisi, and later adapted to the Jampack Summer 2001 Demo by @rossy2xunderscore.bsky.social), ICO's cutscenes can be paused while the free camera is active.

Happy 20th anniversary, Shadow of the Colossus <3 #shadowofthecolossus #sotc #art

October 18th is not just my birthday. According to Wikipedia, the one and only Shadow of the Colossus released on this day 20 years ago. This game means so much to me and I'm sure a lot of gamers felt the same way after finishing the game for the first time.

I enjoy the way the Japanese manual phrased this:

イコは最初少女とどう接して良いのかわかりませんでしたが、やがてR1ボタンで少女と手をつなげることに気づきました。

"At first, Ico didn't know how to properly interact with the girl, but before long he realized that he could hold hands with her by pressing the R1 button."

After 2 years of retirement, and in celebration of the 20th anniversary, I am happy to announce my return to Shadow of the Colossus speedrunning.

I have unfinished business.

Sorry to flash on main but it's also been 10 years since I got this baby

I can spend the rest of my life talking about this game, and it still wouldn't convey how much it means to me. How much it changed it changed me, and how much of my life only is what it is now because I played Shadow of the Colossus so many years ago. +

In honor of Shadow of the Colossus' 20th Anniversary, here is the NICO concept art in wplace I've been working on!

『ワンダと巨像』20周年を記念して、wplaceでコンセプトアートを公開します！

20歳

Hey wake up

Why am I giving you advice when you just asked for my thoughts? Because I’ve dedicated myself to this game for the past 5 years or so. I can no longer be objective about it. Please understand that I listed so many caveats because I adore this game and want those inclined to have a good time with it.

4. Some areas were adjusted or re-textured between releases. One of them is missing two challenging platform puzzles.

If hearing this makes you want to play a finalized version of the game with English captions, that can be found on a European copy, but you’ll need a PAL PS2 or emulation to run it.

Your copy differs from the final release in the following key ways:
1. You won’t have access to NG+ features.
2. Enemies were yet to be rebalanced and their AI wasn’t finalized. Most will take 14 hits with the stick to defeat.
3. Certain cutscene effects don’t appear or have simple placeholders.

What may be important to know is that you have the US PS2 release.

Its cover signifies more than just poor marketing, it’s actually a rushed release that happened months before the game was ready for the Japanese market. It lacks a bit of polish because of that.

What that means is, even if you have a manual, don’t expect that it informed you of all the contextual button inputs and mechanics.

But don’t worry too much, many people have completed the game and liked it just fine without knowing every trick to the controls.

Even more than Shadow of the Colossus, it’s a game that doesn’t click for everyone. Being an escort game, it requests a degree of investment for you to truly enjoy the act of clearing paths for your companion.

It also quietly urges experimentation with the controls to master the rudimentary combat.

You should check out Praey for the Gods.