Esteban Fajardo

Author: @estebanthinks

  • Designing Systems for Games (July 2021)

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    It’s still July, right? Not only have I missed my self-imposed deadline for the first time, but I have missed it by a whole week. It has been more challenging to write anything recently, partially due to travel, but mostly because every day online the games industry brings more heartbreak. The stories out of Activision-Blizzard…

  • Absent Design (June 2021)

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    We’ve come halfway through the year! My local farmers market has continued running throughout the pandemic, but this month it seems to have exploded to be the busiest it has ever been. I wish to be the same — I am ready to burst with life! I flew back home to see my family and…

  • New Pokémon Snap (May 2021)

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    A very short catch up this month; I am flying out to visit my parents tomorrow, now that we have all been vaccinated. I have been able to spend more time this month in much needed social company, and I hope you all are able to as well. A funny side effect of this is…

  • Looking at the credits

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    Sometime near the start of April I needed to research some top-down combat implementations on the GameBoy. This initial quest sparked a tangential curiosity, which would consume most of my month. I started by playing the Japanese release only Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru, or “For Frog The Bell Tolls“ for the GameBoy.…

  • Gnosia (March 2021)

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    This month I did not play very many games! I finished playing Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (GC), which I had been streaming with friends a couple times a week, but after the credits rolled I decided to take a break before continuing onto the sequel. This left me without a new major project for…

  • How much is a coin worth? (February, 2020)

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    In my books, this month’s biggest release was actually rather small: Bowser’s Fury — a bonus feature packaged with the Switch reissue of Super Mario 3D World, originally for the Wii U. Bowser’s Fury is a stand-alone experience constructed out of the engine and assets used in 3D World, but manages to feel completely fresh…

  • Skateparks (January, 2021)

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    Welcome, this is the first installment of Saving Game… Do Not Turn Off The Console, a monthly newsletter recording my life goings ons and the games I am playing along the way. A new year is an opportunity for new habits! Did you make resolutions for this year? Writing and reflecting at the end of…

  • 2020 Games in Review

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    At the beginning of the year, I decided to write down every game I played. Turns out, I played a lot of games! Probably more games than I will ever play in a single year again in my life. I wrote these reflections very quickly, trying to get it under the wire before the new…

  • Pokémon is actually relevant this time you can’t stop us

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    This episode is 10% game development, 90% Pokémon, and 100% shame. It may seem like this episode is also 200% late, but we’re not talking about the usual turkey holiday, we’re talking about Thanksgiving II, the lesser known second one. We’re right on time for that. Hope everyone enjoys Thanksgiving II! Our theme music is…

  • Spirals and Dizzy Spells

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    “Pet That Dog” was in an exhibition! Catherine Fox talks about prepping her game for the Dizzy Spell show in Denver, and Esteban ports the bicycle game to the Web. There’s some Halloween talk, and some pontificating on spoilers and trailers before getting back to the important stuff: talking about how good Promare is. Our…