November 2023 media
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The League: A fantastic documentary about the history of the Negro Leagues. It’ll of course mainly appeal to baseball fans—perhaps the sort who like to, as Deadspin used to say, remember some guys—but the story is compelling enough that I think non-sports people with an interest in African-American history, or American history generally, will find purchase as well. It’s not often that watching a documentary immediately makes me want to visit a museum!
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Venba: A short and sweet indie game about an Indian family’s experience as Canadian immigrants, told through vignette-sized cooking minigames (which are more textural than anything; they’re not mechanics to be rehearsed). It doesn’t try to do too much, and what it does do works extremely well. I have an embarrassing backlog of smaller-scope 2023 games that I’ve been meaning to work through, but I’m glad I made time for this one.
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Kimimi on Sega Ages 2500: This series has been going on for quite some time, but I figured I’d recommend it now that it’s wrapping up. Sega produced dozens of these PS2 rereleases with varying degrees of quality and success; Kimimi goes over each one with a fine-tooth comb and a retro game expert’s eye, providing insightful reviews and valuable historical context. It’s always a good sign when I enjoy reading this sort of thing for games I’m completely unfamiliar with, and that’s the experience I had here.