iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 7h

Since it's out today I'll mention that Kaytee and I have been playing through Quern on Nintendo Switch and really enjoying it. A little ugly compared to the original PC version but still a really solid Myst-like. I'll have a full review once we finish it.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Also I suspect the Fichina battle theme (a level where you harvest green crystals) being called "The Brightest Stars" may be a Star Wars Rogue One Reference. "The strongest stars have hearts of Kyber"

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Now that we have the full soundtrack for Star Fox 2026, I went through and pulled all of the new music (not directly from Star Fox 64) into its own playlist. I tried to arrange it in an overall nice listening order. There's some great stuff in there that music.nintendo.com/shared/en-US...

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

This is Music Man. He's doing the plot to Music Man. He googled ponzi scheme that works in Iowa and found a summary of the hit Broadway production Music Man. He just replaced the marching band with a steel mill.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

"Why *not* set this in Area 6?" is what I meant to type. It already has assets that could be easily adapted for this game mode. They went out of their way to build an entirely new take on Katina. Weird.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Also you can see the remnants of the Saucerer in the skybox below the map. Further confirmation that canonically the multiplayer takes place after the Lylat Wars are over.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I'm probably reading too much into it but how come the rest of the multiplayer stages predominantly make use of assets from their respective single player iterations but Katina is using entirely brand new assets? Why set this in Area 6. Why did you build these for this one stage?

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

I think the most impressive thing about Witcher 3 Remastered on Switch 2, is that it's actually targeting the same underlying pixel count as Witcher 3 on Switch 1 (720p). A really good example of how you treat your pixels being as important as how many you have.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Oh hey, I backed the original GBA version of this definitely-not-Dune game years ago. It's a really cool game if you have exactly my taste in cool underpowered 3D. www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Switch now has both Xevious 3D and the PC-8801 version of Silpheed. With their powers combined I feel like we could summon the Sega CD Version of Silpheed

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

A few folks have suggested that I might prefer Dietrich's storyline if I want to focus on the tactical combat elements of Fire Emblem. This is terrifying as that's already who I'm playing as :P Also the story itself is great once you trudge through free time.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Fascinated by how this map for the Ocarina of Time remake represents the Gerudo Desert. A lot of little changes compared to the original.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

I swear this lineup makes perfect sense if you watch the video :P

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Nintendo has a Legend of Zelda playlist on their music app, but their selection of Zelda OSTs is so random that there is a LOT of Age of Imprisonment (not Age of Calamity which is a better OST) and no Majora, Twilight, Echoes, Awakening, Minish, Oracle (either one) pr Zelda 2 among others.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Evelynn causing an existential crisis to every random person who walks in.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Lol Nintendo updated the Star Fox Zero origami Arwing for Star Fox 2026. Pretty sure the origami itself is identical. www.nintendo.com/app/znsa/dl/...

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

they put an owl on his leather armor... I don't think I'll ever recover

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

See this is a big ol' dividing line and no lines connecting the end of primary timeline to the era of wilds origin? That doesn't mean the Zonai founded Hyrule after the core timeline ended. the Wilds Era hasn't officially been placed so it remains (as it always has) a separate listing. Thank you.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

The way Star Fox Adventures on Switch 2 handles the original's analogue trigger input is to register the triggers as being partially pressed (barrel roll is a double click) it works but it looks goofy cuz you're awing just lazily slants rather than doing the full turn.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

cuz the wings are closed and Rare likes X-Wings ;)

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Star Fox Adventures is an absolutely absurdly good looking game.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I am very glad we are back in an era where Nintendo teams are allowed to make weird little guys part of the art style again.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I honestly don't know if I would even touch the textures. They border on just being pixel art rather than a low-resolution texture. So if they did I'd want the option to switch back :P

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

There is still time to rectify the mistakes of the past Capcom.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

.... Nintendo is celebrating the 25th anniversary of 9/11 by announcing a second Nintendo Direct....

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

They made the argument that if you were actually buying digital games to own then only one person could ever buy each game. Because Sony obviously just has the one digital copy and everyone is sharing it right now.

“As plaintiffs admit, Section 1 of the SPLA likewise explains that ‘the Software is licensed to you, not sold’, Sony’s filing reads. “This makes sense. In the digital age, it is not plausible to allege that reasonable consumers believed they were obtaining ‘ownership’ of a digital game.

“Were that the case, then Plaintiff Edward Heycock would not have been able to obtain the game Resident Evil Requiem on February 25, 2026 for $69.99 from the PlayStation Store after Plaintiff Jason Mendoza had obtained Resident Evil Requiem on February 14, 2026, because Mr Mendoza, not Sony, would have owned it then.”

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

What I imagine it's like working in PR for Sony right now.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

If you're working on a game and are considering using AI placeholders to "avoid pressure on staff" allow me to provide you with this FREE human-made high-quality placeholder texture for all your placeholding texture needs. As an added benefit it is very hard to forget to replace this.

the word placeholder in yellow comic sans font against a solid pink backdrop.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Literally the first ship you see in the game has a broken LOD with a big ol' hole in the mesh. This isn't a pop in issue either. It stays like this the whole time.

Steam Deck (left) VS Switch 2 (right) showing a broken mesh in the Switch 2 version.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

Big day for the Army Men collection. Air Tactics has alluded me for a long time so getting it in PC Big Box form AND factory sealed is pretty rad.

Army Men Air Tactics and Army Men World War on PC in Big Box variants.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

I got good at keeping my shield through the entire armada level purely so I would never need to remember to dodge this rock.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Randomly picked up Skydrift Infinity for a few bucks on sale for Switch. Absolutely love it. It has Darksiders themed planes!? Was amazed I'd never heard it talked about so I pulled up it's meta to see 7.5. I apparently remain on brand.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Should have waited a couple days for @spriters-resource.com to just upload the actual models :P But outside of Origammy I'd say I got pretty close just going off low rez gameplay capture. Particularly proud of Goose and Stingray models.spriters-resource.com/virtual_boy/...

Goose via https://models.spriters-resource.com/virtual_boy/zeroracers/

Stingray via https://models.spriters-resource.com/virtual_boy/zeroracers/

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Nintendo didn't make a cover for Zero Racers when they put it on NSO and that bothers me. So I made one. I also uploaded the individual ship models to my Sketchfab. They're not perfectly 1:1 but I think they look pretty good compared to the in-game wireframes :) sketchfab.com/JohnRairdin/...

All four ships are free to download on my sketfab. Linked in post.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Lol in perfect sync with me checking my email

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

fun example of why you shouldn't treat any score aggregating site as a definitive magic number for a game. Metacritic (left) vs Opencritic (right).

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

These renders of the Falcon from Zero Racers in Nintendo Power #87 look suspiciously familiar. source: archive.gamehistory.org/item/3b29c00...

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Zero Racers is very much my shit. Tracks take a while to start taking advantage of verticality but once they do it makes them a lot more interesting.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave 2026 (colorized)

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I said what I said. We LOVE corn. More than New Mexico has ever loved anything. They could never understand.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Beyond all of the problematic politics and war profiteering, this is just a fascinatingly weird lookin' dude to show off as the face of your company. Like just from a marketing perspective surely someone else works there.

Palmer Lucky sits in an empty murder apartment. He sorta has bangs? I'm not sure what's going on there. He looks like a problematic NPC from a late era Tony Hawk game.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This is my favorite dumb moment from yesterday's E3 collections drop at @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social. When I was editing this, I told Kaytee I felt like I doing the TV show thing of zooming in on reflections and enhancing to solve a crime.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 18/07/2026

Listen, I love Star Fox 2026 a lot. But I am very glad to be done with the expert challenges for Aquas.

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Koloktos in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is a Zonai construct. I will not be taking questions. Thank you.

Multi-armed mechanical Koloktos boss from the legend of Zelda Skyward Sword: https://models.spriters-resource.com/wii/thelegendofzeldaskywardsword/asset/464407/

multi-armed Sized construct boss from Zelda Tears of the Kingdom: https://models.spriters-resource.com/nintendo_switch/thelegendofzeldatearsofthekingdom/asset/501839/

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John Rairdin NWR @jtsknight92.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

The game starts mid-Lylat War. The line is generally being held at Sector Y, Katina, and Fichina but Andross has occupied the rest of the system. There is a wormhole near Katina that leads into Meteo which is past the Cornerian line. The fleet is in Sector Y so Corneria is caught off guard.

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