Questioning A Box Garden Galaxy Essay
I haven't played any more Jungle Beat. I've been focused on the Echoes of the Eye DLC for Outer Wilds. Spooky stuff and I feel like I am close to the end? It will feel good to have the game fully complete, fully known, in a way.
All this space travel doesn't mean I am not thinking about the essay though. Javed Sterritt of Good Blood, The Hyrule Journals, and Second Wind put out a new "journal entry" this very morning about the The Question No One Asks Shigeru Miyamoto. It is superb.
I always take a lot away from Javed's videos. Besides the usual studying of his technique, I came away with a question for this "Spirit of a Galaxy Game" essay. Actually, I came away with a few and they all stem from Javed leaning heavily on interviews.
The more I discovered during my research phase however, the bigger the project grew. Coming across the term “Hakoniwa” blew the walls down and opened up a whole new aspect to the research. Suddenly things weren’t only Zelda-related anymore but Japanese culture related. This made things tricky due to the fact that I’m not Japanese. I always err on the side of caution when it comes to recounting history and events that belong to a culture other than my own, and so I doubled down on my sources, cross-checking every sentence and phrase.
The end result of this dense research is a video packed with quotes and research papers. I figured the more I can get others talking for me, the more confident I can be about my thesis. You’ll find that this video contains no opinions, but is a mass delivery on what is pretty close to every mention and discussion on the subject.
This big lean on interviews got me asking the following...
- What can interviews reveal about the spirit of a Galaxy game?
- Where and when does opinion and source blend together?
- Is "spirit" definable?
Being a student of journalism, interviews are our most valuable possession. I planned on using them, but initially, I felt this was more a opinion style essay, given the inspiration for it was from my pal's review of Splatoon 3.
I don't think it has to lean one way or another. I think it will require finding that balance in the middle. Basically, turning my own essay into its own hakoniwa and being intentionally about the spacing, sourcing, and design to convey a story. Ultimately, I am figuring out how to give the video its spirit...
This letter is one block from the newsletter Memory Card by Max Roberts. Thoughts? Send me an email at max@maxfrequency.net.
Max is the writer and producer behind Max Frequency. cultivate and curate curiosity—both for himself and for others—by delighting in the details and growing greatness from small beginnings.
He's written a rich history and dive on the making of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, celebrated the 15th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the voice behind its hype, and examined how Zelda "stole" Fortnite's best mechanic.
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