Around the Network

Good evening everyone! I have some exciting news that you may not know if you didn’t see on Twitter: I’m now the site editor of Rice Digital, which you can find at https://ricedigital.co.uk.

This is an actual proper day job that I’m getting paid for, so you’ll be seeing plenty of my stuff over there in the daytime — be sure to follow for the latest updates! MoeGamer won’t be going anywhere, though; the focus of both Rice and MoeGamer is quite different despite the overlapping subject matter, so you’ll still see stuff in both places. I have that Atelier MegaFeature to finish, after all!

In simple terms, you’ll likely see more “current” stuff on Rice, while MoeGamer will continue to deep-dive into stuff that’s been around for a while. Between the two, you should find everything you’d ever want to know about RPGs, visual novels, retro games and everything in between. So let’s take a look at what you might have missed this week!

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MoeGamer

Combat Crazy: The Genesis of Bizarre Creations – Kicking off a new, smaller-scale MegaFeature is this article looking at the very first game from the people who would eventually become Bizarre Creations.

Malibu Bikini Volleyball: Beach Body Ready – Fancy a bit of volleyball action on your Atari Lynx and/or Evercade? I got you covered.

short;Play: Rise of the Dragon – One of my favourite adventure games of all time gets the full playthrough treatment.

Waifu Wednesday: Marion Quinn – A delightful highlight from the Atelier Dusk series, Marion Quinn is a wonderful character who I have a lot of time for.

Checkered Flag: Where the Driver’s Gender Becomes Important – In which we look at an Atari Lynx classic, and muse on the contents of my toilet.

Evercade A to Z: Side Pocket – I get to show you how bad I am at electronic pool, in the absence of any opportunities to show you how bad I am at real pool.

Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk – Alchemy in a Fading World – The Atelier MegaFeature continues with a look at Atelier Ayesha’s alchemy mechanics — a significant reinvention from what has come before.

Rice Digital

Yep, you’re getting highlights from the day job here now too! Please do check out what we’re up to over there — I’m super-excited about what we’re building, and also making numbers go up makes me look good. Thank you muchly!

Letter from the Editor – My introduction to the Rice Digital community, and my plans for the site.

The harrowing horror of indie visual novel Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk – Rice contributor Lils explores an unusual and fascinating short-form visual novel that delves into matters of mental health.

13 big-name VTubers to drag you down the rabbit hole – I introduce the VTuber phenomenon to those of you who aren’t familiar yet, and highlight 13 favourites you should check out to get to know what it’s all about!

10 of the best sexy games on Nintendo Switch Got a Switch? Want some saucy fun? I got you covered.

It’s Makina from Grisaia’s birthday – It’s not any more, but it was when I wrote this.

Gal*Gun Returns digital preorders are live; let’s celebrate with GIFs – A bit of fun. Enjoy a few GIFs from the upcoming Gal*Gun Returns from Inti Creates.

How to build a cute waifu in VRoid Studio – I check out the latest 3D character creator that launched on Steam recently. It’s free, but doesn’t provide the opportunity to fuck your creations unlike other popular toolsets.

Redo of Healer’s brutal tale of revenge gets off to a surprisingly sedate start – With the anime world expecting controversy over this new title, I decided to check out the first episode and came away quite pleasantly surprised at the quality of worldbuilding and characterisation.

The gentle Zen of Guitar Girl – I don’t normally go in for “clicker” games, but this one got my attention with its chilled-out vibe, its pleasant music and its subtle storytelling.

The welcome return of Scott Pilgrim – Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game is back! Here’s why that’s a big deal.

10 of the best RPGs under £10 on Steam – Tight on funds but want something to keep you busy for a long time? Check some of these delights out.

Atari A to Z

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This week we’ve got an inventive take on Tetris, an arcade classic that got a rather late port to ST, and a sports game I don’t hate.

Patreon

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Don’t forget that over on Patreon I post a daily behind-the scenes personal blog that is, effectively, a resurrection of my old #oneaday blog I used to host over at angryjedi.wordpress.com. If you’d like to get to know me a bit better, be sure to sign up; just £1 a month (about $1.50) can get you in the club, and it also provides you with access to the MoeGamer Discord as well as helping to fund and support the things I do here on the site. S-Rank (£5+ a month) Patrons also get to play a part in the monthly Q&A video!

Find out more and sign up to Patreon here!

Cool Stuff By People Who Aren’t Me

First up, Patreon goodness! Right now, I’m supporting Paul “Mr Biffo” Rose’s creative endeavours on the Digitiser YouTube channel, the ever-grumpy (and always hilarious) Cheap Show Podcast, gaming and gaming culture commentator Liana Kerzner, fountain of retro computer gaming knowledge Rob “Hellfire64” Caporetto, blogger/YouTuber meggsngrits and TangoPunk, the newest zine on the block, all of whom you can find out a bit more about by clicking through to their profiles.

Here’s a selection of YouTube and podcast goodness from several of this lot:

And to wrap up, let’s have our usual wander around the WordPress Reader and see what everyone’s been up to!

Lynn’s Top 10 Red-Haired Ecchi Anime Girls! (Ecchi Hunter) – As a fellow fan of red-haired ecchi (and non-ecchi) anime girls, I can only applaud this post.

“Doing It Again” Redo of Healer – Episode 1 Review (Cactus Matt Anime) – Matt checks out the first episode of Redo of Healer, just like I did! See what he thought.

Moving to PC as My Fighting Game Platform of Choice? (In Third Person) – Jett muses on whether it makes sense to switch from consoles to a decent gaming PC for the purposes of enjoying modern fighting games.

Densha De Go! Densha De Go! Densha De Go Go Go! (Baud Attitude) – Baud checks out one of the world’s most well-known train games — even if you’ve never played this series, you’ve almost certainly heard of it.

Book Review: The Games That Weren’t by Frank Gasking (Retro Arcadia) – stvnorman checks out a book that explores a variety of interesting games that never got finished or released over the years.

And that’s your lot for now. Hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend and that the coming week is kind to you. Take care of yourselves, stay warm and remain indoors. Errm, unless you need to go food shopping or something.

Anyway. Thanks as always for all your support! Ta-ta for now!


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