What is something included in a game that made you appreciate it more?

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For example, the inclusion of NES games in Animal Crossing on (N64/GameCube). The game didn't really need to include it, but I like the game much more for including it.

I spent so much time figuring out what NES games there were to get and finding codes to get them. First exposure to NES games like Balloon Fight, Wario Woods, Excite Bike, Baseball, Tennis, Soccer, Donkey Kong 1 and 3, and Clu Clu Land.

(Unfortunately, Super Mario Bros, Ice Climbers, Punch Out, and Zelda 1 were only available through Action Replay, which I did not have access to at the time, but that didn't stop me from trying to look for codes to redeem in Tom Nooks shop).
 
OK so this wasn't something included with the game at launch but later added to it via an update, but the pride flags in The Sims 4.

Like y'all gotta understand, when I heard that EA added a pride flag object back in June 2019, I was expecting the literal bare minimum. I was thinking the swatches for the object would just be:
- Rainbow flag
- Transgender flag
- Maybe the more modern progress pride flag

3 swatches, one to cover the el jibbity community as a whole (the rainbow flag), one to cover the transes (the transgender flag), and one for the more modern el jibbities (the modern progress pride flag).

No, that ain't what EA did.

Instead these are the swatches used for the pride flag item:
- Rainbow
- Polysexual
- Non-binary
- Genderfluid
- Lesbian (7 stripes)
- Lesbian (5 stripes)
- Agender
- Genderqueer
- Aromantic
- Bisexual
- Pansexual
- Straight ally
- Intersex (old design)
- Pangender
- Lipstick lesbian
- Progress pride flag
- Philadelphia POC rainbow
- Intersex (modern design)
- Transgender
- Asexual

They absolutely did not have to do that shit, I think most people would've been fine with just the rainbow flag (and considering this is the Sims, there'd have pride flag CC the same day as the update). But nah they fucking did that. They added all the goddamn pride flags.

And then this past June they added two more:
- Intersex-inclusive progress pride flag
- Native American two-spirit

Like goddamn. I basically screamed internally when I saw the asexual flag was an option. We got dipshits claiming that we're 'not part of' the LGBT community or that we 'don't exist' and here was The Sims going 'Nah fuck that shit y'all are part of the community'.

It's so easy to be cynical about rainbow capitalism and the like and I get that, I'm critical of that shit too, but the important thing to remember is all of this stuff is for you. It's not like EA put these pride flags into the game for their own benefit, they put it for the LGBT+ players and fans.

Edit: Honestly I could just say 'The Sims 4 and its commitment to diversity as a whole is something I really appreciate' (even if it's not perfect - why do my Sim's titties get fucked up when she wear's mens clothing lmao. Not my fault I want to wear a suit and the only good suits are male outfits) but that's also not really something inherently included with the game.
 
OK so this wasn't something included with the game at launch but later added to it via an update, but the pride flags in The Sims 4.

Like y'all gotta understand, when I heard that EA added a pride flag object back in June 2019, I was expecting the literal bare minimum. I was thinking the swatches for the object would just be:
- Rainbow flag
- Transgender flag
- Maybe the more modern progress pride flag

3 swatches, one to cover the el jibbity community as a whole (the rainbow flag), one to cover the transes (the transgender flag), and one for the more modern el jibbities (the modern progress pride flag).

No, that ain't what EA did.

Instead these are the swatches used for the pride flag item:
- Rainbow
- Polysexual
- Non-binary
- Genderfluid
- Lesbian (7 stripes)
- Lesbian (5 stripes)
- Agender
- Genderqueer
- Aromantic
- Bisexual
- Pansexual
- Straight ally
- Intersex (old design)
- Pangender
- Lipstick lesbian
- Progress pride flag
- Philadelphia POC rainbow
- Intersex (modern design)
- Transgender
- Asexual

They absolutely did not have to do that shit, I think most people would've been fine with just the rainbow flag (and considering this is the Sims, there'd have pride flag CC the same day as the update). But nah they fucking did that. They added all the goddamn pride flags.

And then this past June they added two more:
- Intersex-inclusive progress pride flag
- Native American two-spirit

Like goddamn. I basically screamed internally when I saw the asexual flag was an option. We got dipshits claiming that we're 'not part of' the LGBT community or that we 'don't exist' and here was The Sims going 'Nah fuck that shit y'all are part of the community'.

It's so easy to be cynical about rainbow capitalism and the like and I get that, I'm critical of that shit too, but the important thing to remember is all of this stuff is for you. It's not like EA put these pride flags into the game for their own benefit, they put it for the LGBT+ players and fans.

Edit: Honestly I could just say 'The Sims 4 and its commitment to diversity as a whole is something I really appreciate' (even if it's not perfect - why do my Sim's titties get fucked up when she wear's mens clothing lmao. Not my fault I want to wear a suit and the only good suits are male outfits) but that's also not really something inherently included with the game.

Not to mention, the My Wedding Stories cakes! You have all of those options included as cake toppers.

1657779365297.png


In a recent update, they've included pronouns, and you can even customize them!!!

1657779181864.png
 
The tutorial worlds and the general hints and tips in the menus and when you encountered things for the first time made minecraft Xbox 360 edition much more memorable and nostalgic and great for a beginner like I was in 2015

TTYD and spm both have interesting mini games and the challenge pits. New super Mario bros ds also had great mini games and the Mario Vs Luigi mode

Iirc my copy of Galaxy 2 came with a tutorial dvd and that was pretty nice, I haven't watched it in ages and don't know if I've still got it though

Lego Batman 3 had an awesome bonus level based on the 1960s tv show and Lego Indiana Jones 2 has the nostalgic and cool level maker
 
Shadow the Hedgehog adding melee made me enjoy the game far more than most, until then I almost never went for melee weapons. Afterwords I couldn't get enough of melee. Be it the Energy swords, only using my swords in Castle Crashers, playing characters with projectiles in Smash, or just preferring the brush in Splatoon 2. I never did notice how fun it was to smack stuff before that, but was I started doing it in games where the swords don't break in three hits. I was sold.
 
Well, The Sims 4 just announced that they're officially going to integrate sexual orientation in a free update. Holy shit, you can finally make asexual Sims!!!!!!


And it's quite robust too, despite being pretty simple. You can check on or off to explore romantically and if aromantic Sims are still interested in WooHoo despite not being able to have a romance bar.

Also, their last FAQ is quite that delicious burn towards bigots, showing you how firmly they are making this statement implementing this in the game and saying no to them:

Can I turn this feature off?

No. While we try to give players the option to toggle certain gameplay features, LGBTQIA+ identities are a fact of life and not a toggle to be switched on and off.
 
I find it quite refreshing that plenty of complaints around Sims 4 is that it needs MORE diversity (like hairstyles for black people) compared to the drone of "wokeness" and whatnot.

It's so easy to be cynical about rainbow capitalism and the like and I get that, I'm critical of that shit too, but the important thing to remember is all of this stuff is for you. It's not like EA put these pride flags into the game for their own benefit, they put it for the LGBT+ players and fans.
it probably comes to no surprise that the dev studio Maxis is quite diverse for game industry standards, and you can see decent inclusiveness when you have a diverse team.

The Sims has generally been one of the better games for LGBT+ players and it's still probably one of the best.

 
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In terms of Mario games, whenever Daisy and/or Waluigi are involved in a significant manner, I appreciate that game even more. Those two are somehow dismissed for being active in spin-offs in a way that none of the other characters were, and it's wild how it got to that point. Perhaps the chastise they get kind of made me pity them. For example, I consider Daisy to be the most exciting addition to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, even more than Sora, Steve, Sephiroth, or the various guest fighters. Waluigi appearing in Game & Watch Gallery 4 is something to appreciate, since it was the last of the series and I am glad to see him get in when it still continued. If a future Mario RPG has at least one of them in a significant manner (so not like Thousand Year Door where the Waluigi costume was a bonus), it would be a dream come true.

On a more "I feel represented so I appreciate it" manner, whenever a game has something in relation to Malaysia, like even putting the flag as an option, I feel like this country is noticed. It sounds very cheesy or silly to some people, perhaps a bit nationalistic too, but it's the little things that I love. I need to point out that Mario Kart Tour has courses based on its neighbouring countries (Thailand and Singapore), and personally speaking, I doubt there will be a Malaysia course by the time the game's service end in the future.

To a lesser extent, whenever a Chinese being represented in video games, it is also really great, especially when done tastefully. It's not uncommon for a character to be represented, for we have characters like Chun-Li for example, or for the culture or story to be represented like Suikoden. A character/setting being represented is one thing, but it's another thing when it developed as a Chinese game. I recently finished a game called "重明鸟Bright Bird" (developed in China), which is a game with gorgeous art inspired by ancient Chinese art, and represents Chinese culture too! In fact, the Mario series heavily references Japanese culture (no guesses on why, you know because Mario is being developed by a Japanese company), but if Mario references something Chinese, I would really appreciate it (the only instance I can think of that references China is the Chai Kingdom in Super Mario Land). You have Mario dressed in various traditional Japanese dresses, but Chinese? I don't feel like there is any official one that I even drew up one:
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Finally, the photoshoot feature. Super Mario Odyssey introduced the ability to not only freeze the scene to take a picture, but also apply various types of filters. Together with how Mario gets to dress in lots of different clothes, I really love this flexibility in how to set up Mario. Smash Bros. technically have the ability to take photos from a frozen scene, but for me, Super Mario Odyssey's implementation made it quite fun that I find myself doing it whenever inspiration strikes.

Thank you for reading.
 
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