I'm gonna really miss Cohost.

For the more than two years that I've had an account, I've checked it almost daily, even if I haven't posted daily. Often, what I've posted have been the Sega Saturn stories I've written for Sega Saturn SHIRO! but that's because that's been a major hobby of mine for the last few years and I wanted to share it here. (SHIRO! doesn't pay me anything, nor have they ever.) And I wanted to add something to Cohost as a whole — some Sega Saturn fandom specifically, some Sega fandom generally, some retro gaming fandom more generally. I like to contribute, and even though likes and reposts don't show up publicly under posts on Cohost, I've seen a lot of people show that they liked what I put here, and I appreciate that. I'm glad I made this place a little more fun.

I've also posted a lot of screenshots I've taken in Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis. I love that game, for all its faults, and I really enjoy taking cool (and sometime gravure...) screenshots in it. Posting PSO2 screenshots has become a whole thing on Twitter, mostly for the game's Japanese players, and I wanted to try to bring that subculture over here to Cohost, too. I'd hoped at one time that maybe Japanese players would find out about Cohost as Twitter further descends into the abyss and start moving over here, and the PSO2 players would see that someone was already getting the party started with tags like #PSO2_SS and #メンテの日なのでssを貼る but that's not happening now...

I've tried to interact with others on Cohost, too — leaving a like or occasionally reposting or commenting. Compared to Twitter or even Facebook and Instagram, posting on Cohost can feel a little bit like speaking to a dark room, unsure if anyone's in there listening to you at all. Some people post things for themselves and that's fine, but I think most people use a communication platform like Cohost to actually communicate with people, and you're not quite sure if you're accomplishing that goal unless you get some feedback. I know that Cohost intentionally made likes and views hidden to reduce toxicity, which is an admirable goal, but I think it also had a knock-on effect of making Cohost feel very quiet, especially as we've all become trained to accept the loudness and immediacy of social media over the last 20 years.

Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't interacted with people more on Cohost. I hope that everyone I follow knows that I've been reading what they said, at least, even if I didn't let them know directly. Thank you for being here and posting your thoughts, your art and your jokes on this site.

I plan to continue using Cohost and posting my Saturn stories and PSO2 screenshots and whatnot right up until the end. After that, well, all my Saturn stuff always has been and always will be at Sega Saturn SHIRO! and I'm still using my Twitter account. I also have a Mastodon account on the Retro Pizza server that I've used a bit sparingly but fairly consistently for the last couple years — I might use it a little more once Cohost shuts down.

Using those other social media sites aren't the same as Cohost, though. I saw someone contrast Cohost with other sites by describing it as "actually fun," which I agree with, but I'll add that Cohost is also "cozy." There's very little drama and practically no toxicity (that I've seen, anyway) on Cohost, and that's almost unprecedented for a community larger than a handful of longtime friends. Everyone's just talked about things they find interesting, shared cool stuff they've made, done CSS crimes for laughs... Everyone's having fun here.

It's worth nothing that Cohost's lack of toxicity has created a safe place for many in the LGBTQ community, too, and I feel terrible that they're losing a place where they could feel comfortable and have fun without fear.

There's even something about the static nature of Cohost's pages that's felt pleasant — it's not constantly refreshing itself under your nose, it's not dinging you with notifications, it doesn't have ads that pretend you tapped on them and open themselves when you actually were scrolling by them on your phone. What you see is what you get with a Cohost page, and it's not going to change until you choose to click/tap on something. It's like how the Internet used to be. It's how I wish the Internet still was, really.

Even the lack of toxicity is kinda how the Internet used to be way back when — before the Eternal September — at least as far as I understand it, since I was pretty young at the time and didn't use Usenet bulletin boards. With Cohost, it's felt like we regained a place where people conform to a culture of civility on the Internet. It's ironic that we're losing that in the month of September.

I'm gonna really miss Cohost.

You heard that right, and I am not one to be facetious in my development posts. The very first demo for Project Petunia is now available for download on Windows and Linux. Three levels are playable in the demo (and some debug stuff if you like messing around a bit more) and I am very interested in hearing any feedback people might have on how the game plays.

If you are interested in trying out a platformer in its most vestigial state and perhaps even having a hand in shaping its future, please swing by the game's Itch.Io page and give it a spin.

Project Petunia Demo 0.1: The Neverlasting Soup Of Love

So I played The Legend of Zelda and Warios Woods on NES, checked socials later to find.... Xbox are laying off 650 employees...sigh

Theres really not much I can say about this other than its shit, the gaming industry is shit and that all the recent layoffs will straight up kill anyones desire to pursue game development as a career. So i'll just link the article and include a couple of dracula flow bits to brighten this post up.
https://www.purexbox.com/news/2024/09/xbox-is-cutting-650-more-jobs-confirms-phil-spencer-in-letter-to-employees

"Picked up a transistor down at SoCal, she had a license for that concealed carry, thotty was packin a dirty harry bitchstick, she walkin funny with that big iron by her hip. Shorty pulled a gock on me, I gave her nuts a bizarre adventure, running a dempsey roll on her sack, i'm like pussy on them yarns. Went Fist of the North Star on them balls, left her cumming troughs for a month.

We out here huffing boyass, gettin fucked up on turdghosts, got shit on my mind. Bro barely got hair on that ass, feels like i'm frenching Homer J, Simpson, going full tootsie pop on that Elmer Fudd. I'm out here chasing bussy like tom and jerry, running 90 over the speed limit on that roadkill ass. I'm clapping these cheeks like the 2011 tohoku earthquake. I'm beyond balls deep, my lower abdomen is just straight up colonising his rectal cavity, got me running a 100-meter dash on that backyard gash. I'm in deep shit in that manhole, his grandkids wont be shitting for a week."

Alright thats enough of that, lets talk about games.

So i've been partial to the Zelda series with Ocarina being my first, then Wind Waker followed by Twilight Princess, skipped Skyward and played some Breath of the wild. So last nights session looked to be a good time to try the first game out and try to play it proper.

So firsts thing first. How many kids when they first played this missed out on the cave on the first screen, ran around without a sword and died to the enemies? I'm genuinly curious because I can imagine that being more than zero.

The sword blast you start off with at full health, its definitely useful as an early ranged attack but you end up losing it as soon as you take damage which you will because it seems like nearly every enemy in the overworld attack with projectiles, and it does get real irritating from getting to one side of the map to the next just to get to where you need to go, you will take a hit or two along the way.

Now you can block the projectiles but that requires facing them and not using any item otherwise you take damage and i've ended up eating hits I figure should've been blocked.

I managed to find and beat two of the first dungeons but had trouble finding the 3rd. I instead found both the penultimate and the final dungeon instead and did not have the skills nor abilities to beat those early on. The thing about figuring out where you need to go, its usually hidden in some cave with an old man telling you something cryptic. I know this seems moot since you can just look it up online but I dont think thats a valid form of criticism, like yeah I can look up where I need to go but shouldnt I rely on the game itself to lead me subtly to where I need to progress?

Well it didnt seem to matter since I started to debate doing that since running around the overworld, trying to find that 3rd dungeon while constantly getting shot at, hering that damn theme over and over that while it is iconic, just starts to become real grating after a while, ended up leaving me with a headache.

I did not want be negative to this game but after a while, I just said forget it and switched to something else. The last 1st party game released for the NES, Warios Woods.

Its a strange idea for puzzle game, starring Toad facing off against Wario by clearing colored mobs using same colored bombs. And the controls can be a bit... finicky? You can pick up mobs and bombs or even kick them forward, if your not carrying anything you can run up a line of mobs/bombs to climb over them. Every so often birdo(who is also here for reasons) is switched out for wario who will spawn more mobs and bring the ceiling further down before leaving. I was able to make progress in game A to Round 20 before I stopped, in some cases if I end up picking up the wrong thing, it becomes a hassle to reorient myself while bombs keep raining down.

Switched to game B and made it to Round 20 again tho for Game B you can occasionally face a boss who will usually just spawn mobs and change location with you needing to clear a line above or below them to damage them. I decided to tap out when I got past midnight and fulfilled my quota.

You know? Why was Wario briefly associated with bombs? Between this game and Bomberman GB/Wario Blast, its the only time we got a glimpse at Wario during his Unabomber arc before he eventually became the microgame ceo we know him now. Food for thought I suppose.

Thank you for reading Midnight Gaming. Feel free to leave feedback or game suggestions. Anons are currently on. See you tomorrow.

I have one of these, yes it is the entire comic, it's been around since I started. It's probably a good time to follow it so here's the QR.