Another month has gone by, once again. I've been saying that a lot this year, and it's odd because it should feel slow considering how awful the state of the world has become. Aside from the COVID-19 virus still infecting the populace and the protests for Black Lives Matters, racism and homo/transphobia has been a common topic this month. June is pride month which raises awareness and celebrates the challenges and rights those of homosexual orientation or of transgender faces. With so many people bringing up racism and gay rights, those of opposite opinions have also been a lot more aggressive with how they feel. With people anxious of being stuck indoors, they congregate the moment officials said it's okay to go outside as long as they continue to follow social distancing and are careful. Of course, that's not how it went. People went to large gatherings. People didn't want to wear masks. And now, that much more people are infected with the Corona virus and continue to spread it. With the topic of racism and homophobia/transphobia being prevalent, the amount of hate and harassment has been just as high. I haven't even mentioned a worldwide economy crumbling, or foreign tensions between China and India rising, or suicide rates going up because of unchecked mental health within the confinement of one's home, etc. It just seems so scary and intolerable out in the world right now.
I tried to get back into working with a remix.
I wasn't completely satisfied with this remix. But I make do with what I got and didn't want to dwell on this particular project for too long.
While I do try to keep up with current events and news since I'm disconnected from the outside world more than usual, I've tried to put more focus into my work and personal goals. Working on the remix took most of the time out of this month, so I didn't get much done. With Phantasy Star Online 2 finally out in North America, I tried to play as much as possible. But since the game is exclusive to the Microsoft Store, parts of it is undoubtedly linked to Windows. When Windows updated, it broke the game for me after 2.5 weeks of playing the game. I haven't been able to play since then. While I planned out for my next few projects, I knew the summer events were going to distract me and so slowed down on work to put some focus on games. I tried to clear some more games from my Steam library so I can cycle in a new batch of games as well as buy some new ones. So far, a lot of the game announcements throughout June have been rather disappointing and not particularly exciting. New Game+ Expo was last week and the most exciting news was that Ys IX was confirmed to have a Western release, Trails of Cold Steel IV has a release date, and Inti Creates announced Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2 for a release on July 10th. Given the slow down in progress because of developers working from home and the fact that we're in the transition period into the next generation of consoles, I guess it's not as surprising to see a lack of games announced this year. With Steam Summer Sales, I feel like a lot of games have stagnated on big discounts and haven't really moved in years. Still, I bought a decent amount of games and having fun with them so far. I'm planning to take this week to play through my new games and hopefully clear some more off my library of games before I start getting back into work. I think I'm going to try to finish the last few example tracks I want to use for my portfolio, set things up and start looking for a job I can possibly work remotely from home. It's not exactly what I had in mind for my entry into the Videogame Industry or as my first full time job in nearly a decade, but I feel like my skills are ready and it gives me a chance to get some experience without worry about moving, paying expenses and such right away. I'm not sure what the environment for hiring is at the moment, but I imagine not a lot of people are seeking potential employees within our given environment.
I was going to try to do some more reading or watch anime, but I'm just constantly always working or clearing through games that I never feel like I have time. I can understand people miss being around other people or wanting to participate in outdoor activities, but it's hard to imagine people getting bored at home considering the sheer amount of indoor activities available to us in our modern day lives. For the month of July, I hope I can get a fair amount of work done as well as clearing more games.
