I downloaded Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom today and I am LOVING it. Fun platforming, I love the character designs (especially the taxi tbh...it can wear little hats) and I just adore the N64-everything about it. I sunk almost an hour into it just trying it out and it didn't even feel like it lmao

Highly recommend

So I just beat the story part of this game, I am so hooked on just trying to get to places with seemingly no way to get there (but there always seems to be if you know how to jump off any slight ramp) and it's just a fun game to chill with- none of it got frustrating, very fast and satisfying when you do a sick maneuver that also helps you get you where you needed

Once again, I HIGHLY recommend this game. There's probably 30-40 bucks worth on content to play and I'm pretty sure it's only 20 bucks or less (I forget and may have gotten it on sale lmao, but budget gaming has been very fun regardless tbh)

Postcard credit: Shop sign for the Monumensonge art exposition (Lucien Mathelin, 1971).

Pin: Celeste, available from The Yetee.

Stickers:

• Cohost's own @doodlemancy, purchased from Etsy.
• Cohost's own @Boltcreature.
• United States Postal Service.
• Super Mario Bros. 3.

Haraiva on twitter made a post and then deleted it about orientalism in "cozy/wholesome" games specificially about fetishizing and infantilizing japan.

They went on to say that just because something is cutsey and charming doesnt mean that it isnt a form of racism. Celebratory intent doesnt negate harm and appropriation.

Its a real shame they had to delete it because they got harassed. i think is completely correct and this conversation needs to be more in the public conscious. Ive been seeing some of it in ttrpgs vis a vis 'ghibli aesthetic', but i'd like to see more of it esp within ""wholesome"" games discussions.

This is especialy relevant given there are 2 different games made by different teams that are using japan as a backdrop all while using fake kana. There is genuinly no reason for this other than fetishization.

Edit/Amendment: I want to acknowledge that orientalism is an issue throughout all genres of games, but for the purposes of this post I was focusing soley on those listed as "cozy" or "wholesome"