The very worst controller I’ve ever used was this no-name joystick in the 90s. You had to grip like a claw, which looked kind of cool and futuristic but was awful in use. The base was tiny and it had these suction cups that didn’t work at all.
But the very very worst thing about it, was that the input was binary! It was either on or off, no gradual movements or anything. Basically it was an oversized d-pad.

I borrowed it from a friend so I could try Rebel Assault, which looked so awesome what with CD-ROMs being a new thing. But that joystick ruined the experience so much! Try flying a ship through a canyon when all you can do is hard turns in 8 different directions. I constantly crashed within the first 10 seconds of the game and kept thinking it was my fault for being a crap player.
I still hate that monstrosity with every fiber of my being.

My entire family is obsessed with Power Wash Simulator right now. Especially my partner who can’t seem to get enough of it.
It is quite soothing though, just empty your head and wash away the filth.

When you put it like that I suppose Anachronox is definitely more of a JRPG. Either way, it’s a really good game :)

Thank you for your thorough explanation!

It was a mix of both, the battle system was definitely like a JRPG that’s true.
Come to think of it, I’m not an expert on JRPG’s, so maybe it is? :) What else defines a JRPG?

One title that comes to mind is Anachronox. A western rpg with a really good story, interesting characters (one of your companions is an entire planet shrinked down to human size), fun humor and a cliffhanger that never got resolved.

I really wish they made a part 2 but I know it will never happen.

I splurged on the Steam winter sale and bought a set of smaller games.
Right now I’m busy playing I Was a Teenage Exocolonist which has been more fun than expected. I really like the story and the multiple paths and endings. The card games are meh, but once you find a good modifier they become very easy.

At the same time I’m also playing Shadows over Loathing which is very very funny in short sessions.

Oh I love Frog Detective! I played it together with my (then) 5 year old daughter, where I was required to read out loud all the dialogue in funny voices.
They are indeed very cute and short games.

edit: it’s a trilogy, not one game :)

I’ve started playing Rogue Trader. I’m not very familiar with the warhammer 40k universe and my god it’s a depressing place. I’m heavily leaning into the iconoclast play style because I don’t think I’d be able to roleplay as a dutiful servant of the empire.
There’s also a ton of stats that make my head spin. But I usually just avoid thinking about that by decreasing the difficulty and choosing upgrades that sounds interesting.

I’m making my way through the Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance. I’ve read the Dutch version many years ago and it’s a real treat to read it again English.
It’s basically one gigantic fairy tale and I’m loving all of it…

Westwood, but not for Command & Conquer or Dune 2. I still remember them fondly for their Kyrandia games. I loved the art design, the music and the jokes.
Kyrandia 2 being one of my all time favorite adventure games, Zanthia was an awesome protagonist. Especially for her time.

It’s nice that their strategy games picked up the way they did, but part of me wishes they stuck with their fantasy games.

I loved the Quest games! They were my first real introduction to the English language. Simple phrases like Open Door and feed chickens were a great way to build my basic vocabulary. I kept pestering my dad for translations until he got fed up and taught me how to use a dictionary :)

I have so many great memories playing those games, on my own and together with my dad. It really was a bonding experience.

Oh yes, that’s how I got my current job. I used to be an external contractor myself, said I was interested at working full-time for my employer (it’s a very stable and fun job) and had to go through an entire circus. It was guaranteed I would get the job but I still had to:

1. Write a resume (with cover letter!?)
2. Wait for the job to open up on their recruitment website (only for 15 minutes so I would be the only one who could apply)
3. Have several interviews
4. etc.

All because their HR software requires certain steps to be followed or it’ll refuse to process the application.

For our last contractor recruitment (new position, not a rehire) we got rid of our external selection agency (responsible for the first stage of resume scanning) and decided to do it ourselves, specifically for the reason in my last little rant. We didn’t trust them to select the right candidates because they had no experience with our line of work and just blindly searched for keywords.
It was nice to get to see all incoming resumes but I had to pick through 40+ of them manually. And because of procurement laws, I had to grade all of them on a 20 point list of criteria we got to decide. On top of that, an applicant (or their recruitment agency) can challenge the fairness of the process if they feel we rated them unfairly on a specific criteria. So it was important to have a proper substantiation for every single judged criteria. That was over 800 times I had to check for proof if what a applicant claimed lined up with what their resume said.
And again, it was the recruitment agencies that really ruined my days (yes, plural). You could see that the recruiter altered resumes, wrote nonsense cover letters and did whatever they could to get past the criteria. At least half of the people who applied were clearly not suitable, but I still had to explicitly say why they weren’t suitable for every single criteria.

Sorry, this is really something I can go on and on about.
It’s definitely a nightmare, but that’s what you get when you work in the public sector I guess.

It’s pretty much a given if you want to even get through the automatic HR software many companies use. They don’t care about your experience or how it could translate to a new situation, all they want is a match on a list of keywords.

Our team consists of a few internal employees like myself and a larger group of individual contractors hired for a year or two at a time. Due to procurement laws, we have to start a new tender when one of the contracts end, we can’t extend a contract indefinitely. Which sucks because the contractors really are part of our team and have built up a wealth of domain knowledge. So we formulate the tender to make sure our current contractor is a perfect match and gets a chance at an interview (our work is specialized enough that it would require a miracle if a second candidate is just as knowledgeable and available).
Anyway, we had a situation wherein our own contractor did not get through the HR selection process for a resume that was specifically written for him. Turns out he used a slightly different description than what HR was looking for and got denied even though he was a literal perfect match.

HR and similar organizations don’t look beyond the limited list of keywords they know. If being less than perfectly honest on your resume gets you through the first round of selections, then I’d say go for it. There’s always more nuance to a resume than just the list of skills you can tick off.

edit
Oh and before I forget, recruitment agencies do this all the time but for exactly the wrong reasons. The amount of lousy resumes I’ve seen come by where they try to squeeze in an applicant who’s clearly unsuitable for the position but who happens to have the right keywords is depressing. I hate having to tell a hopeful applicant that they’re not suitable, my time is hugely wasted going through all these resumes and a possibly suitable applicant is ignored because they don’t play the game as well.
Sorry, I had to add this little rant. The hiring process is one of those moments I really dread and I wish it could go smoother.

Started playing Space Wreck which has been fun so far. It’s like playing the old Fallout and Arcanum games, or at least as how I remember them. The first act I basically talked my way through without fighting a single fight or passing any other skill checks. I really love these kinds of role-playing games so I’m a happy… err… person :)
I’m already thinking about how to replay this for my second and third run (it’s supposed to be a short game)

I’m just glad Daggerfall got some appreciation. It is horribly outdated now, but back then it was the first game that really let me explore an open world and role-play as whoever I wanted to be (within the limitation of the game of course). I could do anything I wanted, go anywhere I pleased.
I don’t think I ever got far in the plot, but I spend months exploring every other nook and cranny. I still remember the vibrant online community it created in the form of webrings where people shared tips or showed off their screenshots in self-made geocities websites.

The only problem is that fighting games are relatively niche so the weight of that decision isn’t too high.

Really? I thought fighting games got quite a bit of press attention, at least whenever a new game releases. Specifically because there aren’t a lot of them around but the interest is still pretty big.
I always saw them as kind of like a prestige thing. It might not be everyone’s favorite genre, but having the best fighting game looks good on your platform as a whole. There’s a certain… pedigree to them because of their arcade roots.
Anyway, I hope you’ll get your wish. It’s always a shame when these kind of titles are just languishing away because some company bought the rights but decides to sit on them.

From a completely selfish standpoint, I hope they’ll do something with the neglected IP. Would love to see a new Sierra game, though that might just be the nostalgia speaking :)

Other than that, I recall Microsoft not going to interfere with any unionization attempts due to a neutrality agreement?

It really depends on where I play. Behind the PC it’s definitely mouse and keyboard, it just doesn’t feel comfortable to play with a controller while sitting in my office chair.
Everything else is controller, but it’s not like you have much choice in those situations :)

Baldur’s Gate 3 - It’s my second run. Part of what I love about these games is that you’ll find new things and different approaches with every play-through. And with every run you get a little more daring and in-character with how you react to situations.
First time round I can’t help but play little miss goody two-shoes, just staying true to my own nature. Second time I feel a bit more daring and actually try to act like the self-centered anti-hero I had in mind for this character. Who knows, maybe some day I’ll even dare to play a villain :)

The thing I hated most with social media is that no one really wanted to email anymore.
I used to have several pen pals around the world. We would exchange long mails every couple of days telling each other about our lives. But the moment social media popped up, the one-on-one conversations started to shift to posts with something everybody got to comment on. And on top of that, they didn’t seem very personal anymore. Not like the friends I used to know.
Didn’t take long for those friendships to fizzle out. I’m still quite sad about it.