Iconic_Savant

Mind ya business

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@Siggyv You looking for a console to play your $100 copy of GTA VI.

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@Siggyv Don't die on this hill Siggy. These companies should not be allowed to do what they want.

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@Siggyv You gonna keep the same energy when they charge $40-60 for online access?

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@unusual_whales Got the new stimmy

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@ChampRDS How ghetto

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

Go Knicks

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@DMichaelTripi @grok what are the top three countries these workers are from?

[Greg Baldwin @GregBaldwinIroh]

Hard truth…

I can speak freely because I’m 65 years old and my pocketful of fucks is seriously depleted.

Working as a paralegal at various studios in LA for thirty years…I had the opportunity to observe studio executives closely.

They’re generally a slippery and clueless bunch who shouldn’t be allowed near anything remotely creative…but the new regime at Paramount is straight up evil.

I assure you.

These soulless bastards have nothing but contempt for a show about grace and redemption and the struggle against fascism.

ATLA is a mystery to them.

They. Do. Not. Value. The. Franchise.

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@unusual_whales So, the people who are fully invested in AI claim that AI isn't the problem... makes sense

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@unusual_whales This guy will never be president of the US

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@Akademiks Got flown out, nice.

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@unusual_whales Simple fix, delete Facebook and Instagram

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@nypost Time to sue

[Ol’ Dirty Cabo Verde @Hempsism]

🫴🏽

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@Polymarket Guess who's on PolyMarket's board.

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@unusual_whales ...after countless years of surveillance, counting the lives of thousands.

[Perma Banned ထ🔨 @GiveMeBanHammer]

My Proper Critique of Mixtape:

Alright after all that's said and done on my part - I will try to give a more in depth final take on Mixtape as a whole.

First and foremost as an experience in a vacuum; I do not have a strong impression or opinion on Mixtape, content wise as a whole. Yes one part is really unnecessary and extremely weird and unneeded granted.

Ultimately I would have honestly not cared about Mixtape in the way I did if it were not for some really, odd things surrounding its apparent success - as well as some personal gripes of Mixtape as a concept.

Firstly: Bluntly, Mixtape is NOT a Video Game.

Mixtape in actuality to me, is close Kinetic Novel than an actual game. It is linear, most of us know the ending to the experience before we even start it and the only thing that's material is the curated experience the developers made for the viewer.

Yes, viewer. NOT "player". There's no player choice, no branching paths, and no real meaningful interactivity. There is no fail-state, most of the parts of the game are completely guided and on-rails. The only thing that resembles "gameplay" is basically "showroom" segments where you walk around a small space and interacting with random items to get some exposition and AT BEST, some very throwaway minigames.

The devs should have just marketed it for what it is - an "interactive movie" or an "experience", not call it a "Video game", let alone the Games Journalists perpetuating that misconception.

Secondly: Calling it an "indie game" is an insult to actual indie games

It is not an indie game it is an Indie™ Game - its not a self-funded "underdog" creation made by small dev team fending for themselves...

It is a creation that leverages the stereotypical aesthetics, "quirky" designs that was characteristic of Western Indie games in the early/mid 2010s that have morphed into a glorified subgenre rather than fitting the bill of an "independent game".

Anyone who unironically calls a game developed by a studio that is funded by a rich corporation founded by the daughter of the world's Fifth richest billionaire, an "indie game", are insulting others' intelligence and their own.

Thirdly: The "Nostalgia" marketing

Nostalgia for lack of a better term, is a eulogy of past experiences that we are fond of that have passed. Nostalgia is a fundamentally deep PERSONAL experience. Our feelings of nostalgia is tailor made for ourselves, as it is the creation of our autobiographical memories.

I know and understand that there are a sizeable number of people who appreciate nostalgia bait. I do see the appeal of it too even if I do not seek it out myself.

I personally however do not like it, because experiences like Mixtape at least to me, attempts to commodify the eulogy we give to our past selves. The impulse behind such creations is...I don't know, kind of off-putting to me when I just give it some deeper thought.

Fourthly: The Execution

Because of how PERSONAL nostalgia is. Most attempts at it are honestly going to be misses instead of hits. By all means anyone can try, but to me if a developer really is set on creating this experience - I think they should not just hyperfixate on just ONE type of Nostalgia experience, and obligate viewers globally to appreciate with something that they have never experienced, let alone resonate with.

What about the non-American or non-Western potential audience? I saw the content of Mixtape and every minute I witnessed it I felt minimal if any connection. I can say with some certainty many others also would think the same. Nailing conveyance of Nostalgia to a viewer in my opinion, requires some form of linkage to said viewer to anchor the nostalgia - whether it be culture, social, or walk of life.

Maybe the VHS and cassette tapes are the closest that relate to me but even then the devs made inaccuracies with that. There was zero excuses for these oversights. With the funding they had, and how SHORT the experience is, the devs had to at least nail everything presented perfectly.

This is such a hyper-specific scenario - and it is a 3 hours experience? I think if the devs were really serious in trying to go all in on this, they should have at least expanded the scope of their project. I mean, Anapurna DEFINITELY has more than enough money to give them to expand the project. I can imagine the millions they spent on the music licensing alone.

Re Execution: What would I do?

This is just for fun. If I was the Creative Director of Mixtape, what would I do honestly?

Well I would have added different chapters, different "arcs", each focusing on a specific culture/country/setting to capitalise on the 90s Nostalgia vision...for instance:

Arc 1: what we have, Californian highschoolers...minus the "kiss scene" personally and some really "I will burn our house" down thing but hey, idk maybe it was a Californian teenager thing?

Arc 2: maybe European culture such as French? A setting, tropes maybe an aesthetic and vibe like Amelie?

Arc 3: maybe taking place in Hong Kong ? Maybe highschoolers living their last years in Kowloon's walled city for instance? Something akin to Kowloon Generic Romance, which is ironic since that show is a critique on the commodification of nostalgia and over-attachment to it.

Arc 4: the typical Japanese highschool student's coming of age? Many Slice of Life Anime to choose from to emulate such a feeling. Clannad is a good example especially if we want to make the moments more emotionally intense, tear jerkers and pulling on the heartstrings?

If the devs did that, perhaps it could turn this 3 hour experience into perhaps give or take 10-12 hours of pure emotional rollercoaster? Of course length is not everything, but its certainly likely to enrich the experience more.

Takeaway

If I am to judge Mixtape solely on the content and nothing else, honestly I do not really have any strong problems with it...except for that one glaring scene again. For certain it has no appeal to me, and I would prefer to spend my money elsewhere.

However taking everything surrounding Mixtape - the seemingly coordinated Game Journalist glazing, backing by billionaires despite labelling itself an "Indie Game", and calling itself a "game" despite having no meaningful gameplay. It ends up irking me.

I do not know why the devs, the marketing and the Game Journalists have been so hard-set to insisting that Mixtape is a "game", and why it needs to glaze it to such over-the-top levels, giving a non-game a 10/10 VIDEO GAME.

Had those surrounding oddities not happen, I would have shrugged at the concept and existence of Mixtape. It would have just been another "experience not for me".

At the end of the day, I honestly think - no one has sabotaged Mixtape more...than the "critics" glazing it, and the accounts on this site running defence for it regardless of how genuine the critiques for the experience are.

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@AnimexTwts This is cool until you realize it's a grown man living with 4 little girls

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@AniTVOfficial Epstein the anime

[Iconic_Savant @iconicsavant]

@thehealthb0t @OfficiallyIce @JoeBuddenPod How much did yall quote again? ~70% of the population took the vaccine?