Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Replaylee vs. Laylee is an interesting example of a modern mass audience's idea of what new Banjo game is vs. the closer reality to what it would actually be. The 2017 game was Playtonic/Rare ambition (with all the friction that entails) somewhat clashing with a market with differing expectations. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Retro vs. Not Retro is a bit revealing of how young video games still are. Comparing to the more specific periods describing eras of books, music, art, movies, etc. one can sense games are still trying to figure out ages beyond the somewhat hazy (& soon to be outdated) notion of console generations. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Unleashed was kind of the perfect storm for this kind of reaction; bold & earnest enough for fandom to love, but an outsider audience seeing the Werehog as another Sonic Team albatross as simply too big to downplay & after 06's release no longer inclined to give the IP benefit of the doubt. 021
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026Classic is resented by some because it indirectly gives credibility to those that viewed the series as being innately changed in the Adventure era & because there's an unspoken emotional investment in the idea of the one true Sonic. Classic's existence shifts Sonic from that to TMNT with hedgehogs. 120
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 19/09/2026This video is what actually got me to check out DK Vine and specifically the Kongversation, going into the latter admittedly with a mindset that there's no way Hyle & company can be bigger DK freaks than I. Boy, was I humbled that day. 040
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026"Edgy within context" was the Shadow game needed to be but failed to be. LoZ TP was the mature Zelda title some fans wanted & it sold the concept with horseback duels, realistic aesthetics, & devoting (more) time to story. It was darker within the boundaries of franchise expectations, ShtH wasn't. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Bongo titles were the Federation Force for the DK fandom; perfectly fine tiles released in the worst possible context & without expected new games to assuage fears about the franchise's future. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026In a lot of ways Bananza is Switch 2's Luigi's Mansion 1. Paired with a safely successful Mario crossover also roughly at console launch (SSBM vs MKW), acting as an unexpected single player-oriented killer app, just with a bit more meat on its bones & bigger scope than the arcade adjacent LM1. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 14/09/2026This kind of underscores that Switch 2 really is a kind of more successful GameCube. Similar under the radar, unorthodox releases in the first two years of the console than the expected heavy hitters, just now in a cultural context that's more willing to embrace them. 240
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 07/09/2026Honestly, I'd love to see something akin to the Power Rangers game series retrospective again. Easy for me as a fan to want a not necessarily profitable video I know, but it was a fun look at games that were of interest to you that don't necessarily get attention otherwise. 110
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 02/09/2026"Viewers of this channel know of my use of the term 'superannuated' to describe a game that's obsolete via age or future developments, but if we're being honest about the nature of this particular title's status through a modern lens, then it must be described as 'super-fucking-annuated'." 082
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 17/08/2026I've had people encouraging me to sell my parents' old house that I now own & live in, apparently under the impression that there's loads of affordable houses in my area just waiting to be bought. It's impractical to even attempt & that's coming from someone lucky enough to actually own property. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 04/08/2026Similar to main protagonist but with a variation can very much work in a 2D and even 3D space. 3D World made the core Mario cast ideal for platforming & while DK struggles with balance at points (looking at you Diddy in the Retro games compared to Dixie), its core concept is strong. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 28/07/2026True story, a year ago I tried to hook my SNES classic to a modern TV & had issues with getting both to function. I then connected my actual SNES to a 45-year-old wooden floor Zenith television, & both worked fine. Certain things, consoles included, were made to last. 001
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 22/07/2026Opinions on Sonic Heroes are a lot like the gameplay of Sonic Heroes; you do need to experience all the various paths to get the true ending. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 19/07/2026Given what a phenomenon Splatoon became, to the point of becoming easily the biggest new Nintendo IP since arguably Animal Crossing, the general bafflement at its concept & wacky marketing ("You're a kid now, you're a squid now") is pretty amusing to look back on. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 07/07/2026One of the game's greatest triumphs is that even relatively well-worn level tropes still feel fresh in it. Carnival, space, underwater, & grassy fields are usual Sonic concepts, but all stand out in Colors. Heck just combining the first two made for one of the best-looking stages in series history. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Things like this are why it's such a disappointment that 90s websites aren't better archived. It's not true earliest internet (news groups still hold that distinction) but they were among the first online experiences to have the kind of character younger people could compare the 'net' of later eras. 000
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 29/06/2026It's illustrative of the kind of plot drift the series had at that point when a title strictly about Sonic facing off against strictly Eggman for the entire game was a refreshing novelty. Same with Super Sonic being usable in every level, an idea which hadn't been present for 15 years at that point. 040
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 28/06/2026(Pictured: Dongled circa 2026 attempting to pitch another Castlevania Console Wars Episode with the original NES version vs the Master System homebrew port) 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 27/06/2026Geek Critique print media review of Undertale/Deltarune done in the style of old Gamepro scores. The image of a cool guy with sunglasses to represent Undertale's Fun Factor rating feels like it should happen sooner rather than later. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Sonic 1 is particularly special because it's kind of perfect estuary between the 1st (arcade) & 2nd (console defying) eras of the Genesis. Later Sonic titles were so big that one can sense how it's pushing hardware, but that 1991 game is the system moving from Altered Beast to an eventual Vectorman. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 24/05/2026"Give him a colorful 3D platforming game with a snarky protagonist, based around player created momentum, & with timed challenges, but make it Bubsy & not Classic Sonic" 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 24/05/2026It's thanks to informative posts I've seen online by learned Sega fans; great podcasts like @theycreateworlds.bsky.social, & your videos that have allowed me any kind of insight to verbalize such thoughts. Video game culture is a topic that thankfully cross pollinates a lot in terms of discussion. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 18/05/2026If hope/hype are some of the most important currencies in gaming, then the tragedy of the Wii U was that it lost both so broadly in the marketplace that not even good software could ever compensate for the perception that Nintendo had lost touch with both the casual & hardcore audiences. 000
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026In a weird inversion of the 90s, Ken Griffey Jr will somehow end up playing a game featuring @snesdrunk.bsky.social. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 09/05/2026You have not experienced Grieg until you've heard him with the original sound blaster card (or in AoStH) www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZNv...youtube.comWindows 95/98 - Hall of The Mountain King.rmi (Sound Blaster 16 YM OPL3 FM MIDI)YouTube video by Joshua Schaferhund 000
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 07/05/2026Star Fox 64 somehow having a remaster (the 3DS game), a remake (this Switch 2 release) and a reimagining (Star Fox Zero) has to be some kind of record, & that's without getting into the N64 game being a reinterpretation of a previous title. 021
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 06/05/2026Possibly projecting my own experience here, but for many people of the time period America Online pretty much was the internet. Trying to understand the nature how to surf the world wide web (without knowing about search engines) was a concept many pretty much had to learn via the AOL walled garden. 110
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 03/05/2026Shawn Michaels & a Nitro Girl at Hogwarts; the concept even Archive of Our Own writers look at & go "Eh, this might be a bit too out there." 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 03/05/2026A romance that was inevitably doomed once you made it clear that you weren't their boy toy. 100
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 15/04/2026YouTube has a lot of video game essayists putting out good work & your stuff is still at the very top for its honest fan sentiments as well as painting a descriptive cultural context of the games you discuss. TGC is proof essays can still be fun & the best critiques come from affection, not scorn. 130
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 11/04/2026The Snake & Meryl image looks so on point I'm half convinced it was grabbed from an actual Metal Gear cartoon in another universe. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 06/04/2026Mortal Kombat is one I use whenever younger fans need an example. It exploded in 92, outdid itself with II in 93, ruled the world via home ports in 94, went off the beaten path with MK3 in 95, & by 98 we had reviews of MK4 home ports saying it couldn't stand out in the current fighting game scene. 050
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 06/04/2026I was slightly older at that time, but what I remember amplified how long it felt was that gaming itself was moving ridiculously quick. Concern that Sonic was not part of the changing landscape was common because so many pillars once considered permanent were falling away & being replaced so fast. 000
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 29/03/2026"As it turns out this game with a blue hedgehog is not in fact a spin-off of Sonic Blast Man. 0/10." 100
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 25/03/2026Broader media also didn't effectively get to stronger coverage of gaming until the 6th gen where the mainstreaming of the hobby via the PS2 & novelty of Xbox changed everything. PSX was successful in NA, but it took years for it to catch up to the cultural presence that Sega & Nintendo already had. 075
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 22/03/2026Would make for a fun, but still introspective April Fool's video; with alternate Josh lamenting how shrunken & broken the Xbox community felt after the 2013 E3 with a bittersweet running gag of "but hey at least we could now watch the Price is Right." 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 19/03/2026To older fans more used to gaming's default as geek/fantasy adjacent the 2000s were a real shift with what was dominant, but younger fans (often not always experiencing the "mature" titles) it probably was a colorful time via playing older games & what parents were willing to buy them. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 18/03/2026I was literally going to answer with "Dangerous" because I thought that was his nickname, but then I realized that was actually Danny Davis from 1980s WWF. So, to answer your question, I don't know either. 001
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 13/03/2026Playing CD via the 2011 version was eye opening in that I instantly saw what the appeal was while also qucikly comprehending my issues with it; a game asking for a skill/memorization to experience level sections that just don't quite feel worth it to reach with Sonic (but are with Tails & Knuckles). 000
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Knuckles in Cool Spot would somehow lead to Tommy Tallarico claiming he helped compose most of the Sonic soundtracks on the Genesis. 120
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 05/03/2026For American players especially, NES was the perfect nostalgic console; retro enough to be removed from the modern trends they disliked but just connected enough to current gaming via series/genres that it's positives were still relevant. The Rock & Wrestling to the 6th Gen's Ruthless Aggression. 030
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 03/03/2026Whenever I encounter someone surprised at your lack of interest in most cozy games, I just recall your outright love of the final maddening Robotnik boss fight in Sonic Superstars & point to that. "Folks, see the arcade level unfairness there? That's what cozy is to Josh." 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 28/02/2026There's always something darkly amusing in being part of an infamously combative fandom like Sonic but then experiencing an even more heated one via Pokémon. It's like being a political content creator whose most divided comment section is from their one-off video on professional wrestling. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 21/02/2026Forest & Resort Layers were both levels where I realized the cleverness of the platforming concepts were matching the central idea of terrain destruction perfectly. It was like the creative novelty of Squitter's web platforms in DKC just done in a 3D space & completely fitting the stages' aesthetic. 120
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Konga on top of Nintendo already feeling out of sync with where gaming was going & many it's IP's (Smash/Metroid excepted) not getting genre defining blowout titles on the GC? Seeing that DK (which had changed the SNES's fortunes a decade earlier) wouldn't be getting that either was really crushing. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 08/02/2026I think even with the initial mixed reception to SA2B's releas, it had the good fortune of the 3D Mario game on the same system having far less impact than 64 before it or Galaxy after it. Sunshine's somewhat eh nature blunted a lot of potential negative comparisons SA2B could have gotten otherwise. 020
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 31/01/2026Some series fandoms are houses you want to live in all the time, & some are best as a single room in your house that you visit when you feel like it. The latter doesn't make anyone less of a fan, just one that understands it's not always healthy to stay in the proverbial rec room for too long. 010
Christian Williams @merelyafan.bsky.social · 27/01/2026This kind of describes how my views on DK can coexist. It's an IP about silly apes jumping on heads with a base concept not that different from Mario... while also being a stealthily deep series that when aesthetic/design/music is just right has the kind of emotional impact as any story heavy game. 020