It’s that time of day again, and it went by relatively quickly. Today is my 36th birthday, and, well, it’s been a challenging year, more than I had hoped. Well, here are my thoughts.
Believe it or not, life has been a bit tough at the start of this year for obvious reasons. Of course, it impacted my activity on my blog, given that there has been a lot of stress from work. That said, it’s only recently that things became a little less chaotic. As a result, I also focused on saving a lot of money.
With that, it is no surprise that I’m less active on social media and take longer to reply to comments. Yes, life is stressful with all the chaos going on. With that, I want to focus on other things to keep my mind off it. After all, there are some things in life that I cannot control. All I can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best. That said, I’m not going to let this consume my life.
That said, there is no secret that I’ve spent a few weekends at the beach, relaxing. It’s been a tough year, but hopefully we will get through it together.
There are, of course, some bright sides of the last year, such as finally getting a Switch 2 quite easily on day one. I have had it for about two months and it’s been a good upgrade over the original Switch.
Sure, the Switch 2 got a lot of criticism over its price, the game keycards, and the price of games, but the performance and quality of life improvements make it worthwhile. I have played Pokémon Scarlet extensively, and it runs significantly better with higher quality settings compared to the original. It really showed how bad the game ran, and it’s clear that it’s meant for a more powerful Switch, but that didn’t come out until three years later. That said, I do look forward to the new Pokémon Legends game when it comes out in October.
Lastly, as for my Japanese studies, it looks like I didn’t pass my 2nd attempt at JLPT N2. I guess there are some deficiencies in reading and especially listening. I’m considering taking the N3 this year because it seems easier to prepare for, as I can simply review what I’ve learned and practice immersion. I think it’s doable if I put some effort in the next few months.
That said, while the next few years will be challenging, I will do my best. I have worked hard on my projects, such as the Mastodon instance, and recently developed a new version of the AniBlogTracker. Sure, it’s sad to see the old one go away, but I’m building a new one that will be better than ever. Perhaps it could be an alternative for those who are into Anime, Manga, and Japanese culture to have one place to discover new content easily. Sure, a lot of things I wanted to do didn’t quite go to fruition, but maybe next year? With that, feel free to say Happy Birthday to me in the comments.
@chikorita157 Happy birthday! Here’s to the next 365 days being better!
Also keycards sucks, but it seems like they might have some positive movement there. Looking forward to seeing what games that Nintendo releases next. DK was a lot better than I ever expected.
Grattis på födelsedagen!
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Yes, it has been a tough year, but I survived, but hopefully my 37th year will be good, although my mid 30s went by that fast? I think it’s a meme at this point.
Yes, I don’t see the point of keycards, which is why I’m going all digital at this point. Keycards feel like a half-measure or a search for a solution to a problem. It must be the fast storage on those Switch 2 game cards are more expensive, which is probably why. Also, tariffs, so it’s basically pushing me to go all in for digital for Japanese only releases.
I did finally get a Sandisk 512 GB Micro SD Express card, they are expensive and hard to find, but at least that should be enough.
@chikorita157 The keycards feels like designed by someone to appease some focus group. It’s probably somewhat cheaper than a card when actual memory on it. But you still need the case, the piece of paper, the shrink wrap, and pay people and the factory. Then you have to ship it all around and then someone sells it to the end customer.
The cost savings for pure digital is massive. Let’s say a 30% cut is small compared to physical distribution. So I have no idea why they don’t just push for digital, there’s no downsides to publishers after all.
Especially after Nintendos bizarre sharing thing (which imho sucks, but could be great if they had just simplified it).
So TL;DR I’m half surprised that the S2 has physical to be honest. I always knew it was a loosing battle. And now with the reports of the counterfeit carts that makes Nintendo lock up your whole device (that should be illegal!) I don’t know if I want to buy physical:(
That said I really like my S2, just hoping for some bigger splashes in the game department soon. Xenoblade S2 versions please Nintendo! Because no way Monolith Soft has a new game ready already.
Any games you have on your radar?
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I guess they want to compromise so people who prefer to collect physical can still buy a physical copy without having to put the full game. Still, it’s silly for the fact you need to plug in a “key” just to play a game that is not even on the card. It doesn’t have the convenience of playing the full game without having it download.
Then again, it’s not too different from the PS5 and Xbox Series as the discs themselves don’t have the full game and you have to download the full game anyway.
Not much. I did mention that idol game, but I haven’t beaten it yet. Also looking forward to that new Pokemon Legends game.
@chikorita157 Pretty much all games on the carts are pretty old versions quickly, so it has the same issue. Would have been interesting if they would have had a space to save updates.
But physical distribution has been dying since Steam showed up. Changed the business. But a cart with a key doesn’t feel very collectible to me. Could just as well buy empty cases and put nicely printed custom covers in there then.
Forgot about Pokemon. Hope it runs well, that’s a buy. Been going back and forth on trails and FF:tactics. Time will tell. But I’m getting more careful with buying.
@chikorita157 Happy Birthday. Good luck with all your ambitions.
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Thanks.
@chikorita157 hey happy birthday!
I hope things are better next year, and good luck on your JLPT!
I recently got a Switch 2 as well, and I’ve been enjoying it too. It’s nice to see switch games not struggling to run.
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I’m working hard on preparing for it, but I think it should be easier hopefully.
Yes, the Switch 2 is an improvement. I played Pokemon Scarlet on the Switch 2 and it feels like a different game, it’s a lot smoother and the graphics look better. Still looking forward to the new Pokemon Legends game that is coming out in October.
@chikorita157@chikorita157.com Just saw this. Belated happy bday~!
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Thanks
Super late here but hope you have been well recently despite life struggles and other stuff. Let’s keep going as long as we can.
It’s too late to wish you a happy birthday but hope it was enjoyable.
You already know I got a Switch 2 and enjoying it.