The week I played Undertale

In August of 2016 I started my first job as a History teacher in a country school. It was a small school, housing grades 8-12, single building. By the time I was hired, though, the school was down to 65 kids total, all separated into five grades. On my second week working there the principal gave me a laptop computer, as per school policy. It was a crummy old thing, but it did come with Undertale.

It was a fun diversion for my lunch hours; after a busy morning, the game was like a godsend to me. In the morning I worked with the grade 9's, 11's, and 12's. Doing three grades in one day is NOT easy; imagine doing five a day EVERY DAY! And the grade 8's were THE WORST!

Anyway, I had Undertale. Every day after I ate my lunch I'd go to my classroom, boot up the game, and play it until ten minutes before class. After I clocked in I'd return to my classroom, put the comp away, and teach my classes.

I could tell whoever had the computer last had already played the game; when I fell down to the Underworld Flowey greeted me like he had seen me before. However, the previous owner certainly did not go the Genocie Route, as far as I could tell. Personally, I didn't make it very far; only as far as the Ice town and to Papyrus' boss fight.

Why didn't I got further? It's not that I dropped the game by choice; my job ended the next week. The school was losing kids daily; when once there were 65 kids, there were only 40. Then 35. On my last day of class, there were only 18 kids total. The school was closed down completely. My last two days were spent clearing up the classroom (wasn't mine anymore), stacking the books away. That was August 2016.

The first time I played Undertale I was trying to relax my mind for the busy afternoon that awaited me. The last time I played Undertale I was trying to keep my cool as my very first job was ending. Undertale will always remind me of that school, of those wonderful children, and that beautiful school that got closed down.

Why Didn't Pokemon Die Off?

In the year 1999, Pokemon was literally EVERYWHERE. Toys, card games, TV shows, a movie in theatres, TIME magazine's cover, the works. Exasperated parents kept telling themselves "this will fade away with time" and prepared their boxes to store away all the Pokemon memorabilia they spent ungodly amounts of hard earned money on for their kids. Nineteen years later, while not to the same extent as it was in the 90's, Pokemon is STILL huge. What happened?

The Golden Age of the JRPG

Often we RPG afficionados make reference to this "golden age" of the Japanese Role Playing Game, a time where JRPG's were at their peak in terms of quality. A time where, it seemed, EVERY JRPG was a hit and a guaranteed future classic. But when was this time, and what exactly made it so special?

Announcement- December is PlayStation Month

So my life is pretty hectic right now; I'm not in a good position career wise, and LOTS more issues I cannot share publicly, sorry. That's why updates have been non-existent lately. However, I'm not dead, and neither is this blog. 

I'm announcing that this December will be PlayStation Month. All month long we'll be looking at that highly celebrated family of consoles: the PlayStation. We'll be analyzing their impact on gaming culture, their highs and lows, and we'll be counting their Top 5 MUST-HAVE titles! The tentative schedule is as follows:

December 8: PlayStation 1

December 15: PlayStation 2

December 22: PlayStation 3

December 29: PlayStation 4

I hope you'll be joining me this December!