A full week! Wow!
Hey we launched this thing and boy the support you’ve shown sure has made this stressful process a million times easier. We’re still working out some bugs and quality of life issues, but the thing I’ve been most excited about is putting amazing words onto a website again.
Here’s a rundown of everything you absolutely have to check out from our first week of going live!
Stupid Sexy Snake
That’s the name of the file Moira Hicks sent to me for edits for her piece about the sex found in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater‘s CURE system where Snake has to be told how to carefully tend to his many wounds in the field. It is a wild read and the thing I edited over the past few months that made me go “oh we’re so fucking back.” Moira wrote a few of my favorite pieces at Fanbyte, most of which are totally gone from the internet at this point!
The Merritt K Double Feature
It was such a joy getting to edit Merritt’s pieces again. The first is a rundown of Japanese PC games that inspired a whole heap of modern stuff you probably love! The second is a lamentation of the loss of local connection via video games like Streetpass. I loved both of these pieces and I think you will, too!
Power & Communication By Way of Pentiment
Andrei Filote handed in a draft I couldn’t stop reading in the form of this essay about modern misinformation campaigns and the historical analogue found in Pentiment, one of this website’s favorite games of the last decade.
Third Party Hardware Bans Throw Obstacles At Disabled Gamers
Grant Stoner has been one of my favorite disability and accessibility writers in the games space for ages and I’m so glad he did this report on the controversial third party hardware bans levied by console manufacturers.
Return of the King
Diego “El Rey” Argüello has graced us with his presence with this wonderful piece about Hades II and its keen understanding of rivalry and camaraderie. He paints a beautiful picture on the subtle ways the sequel sets itself apart from its timeless, near-perfect predecessor.
These Are The Bees
What would the launch of VGBees be without a definitive list of the very best bees from all of video games. You know, the best Vee Gee Bees? I’m glad I enlisted Izzy Kestrel to do the job for me. She was able to wrangle the finest bees this side of Hudson Soft.
ZOINKS
Ryan Easby going all-in on this rundown of Scooby-Doo games from the late 90s into the PS2 era was a wild ride! I now know so much more than I did before and isn’t that just the most magical thing about what we do?
Happy Birthday Sonic!!!
Sonic turned 33 this week and who else would we have to celebrate the Blue Blur than Sean Aitchison with his debut for the site. He went deep on how the Sonic Team can’t seem to settle on a creative vision for the hedgehog’s AAA products even has he finds enormous success everywhere else. Also hey that Sonic Adventure pose was cool.
We’re Not Going Away
I’m so glad Imran Khan decided to write something for our debut! As cloudy as the outlook seems for games in so many ways, the determined defiance in his piece resonated with me as we launched a new thing!
I Wrote Some Stuff, Too
I had some thoughts, too. And not just the Stingers I keep putting on the site every day! Those are fun to make.
I think M. Bison’s return feels right even though maybe they should’ve left him for dead. I understand why they didn’t! I thought Metroid Prime 4: Beyond‘s redebut felt really weird. I tried to put my finger on it. I played Fear the Spotlight at SGF and liked it a lot.
We’re Talking, Too
My partner in crime, Niki Grayson, and I are back talking to each other about video games with the official VGBees Podcast. This week we had Merritt K on to talk about Warhammer 40,000 and all of the wild games that keep coming out under that license. The week before we had Game Informer & MinnMax’s Charles Harte on. It’s a great show! You should subscribe!
Join the Hive
We had a great week for new subscribers, so let’s keep it going! Your support goes directly to folks who make the podcast, freelancers who contribute to the site, and making those things go up in frequency and what we’re paying for them!
You get, among other things, access to a private podcast feed with bonus episodes, early access to some articles, and merchandise discounts!
