I'm a little frustrated. My next review still hasn't gone live on Nintendo Life — the embargo date for its coverage was the 19th (last Thursday) and I busted my ass finishing it ahead of schedule so I could make any edits if necessary… but still, nothing.
This is doubly frustrating because I know that the localisers of the game in question, Fruitbat Factory, are quite excited to read my review, and I'll also be complementing said review with a piece on MoeGamer too, because I ended up feeling rather strongly about it. In a good way.
My frustration stems not just from the fact that something I spent time on hasn't yet been published, nor from the fact I feel like it's letting down a group of enthusiastic localisers that I'm keen to stay on the good side of — but because the reasons for it not being published feel… rather transparent.
If you look at the front page of Nintendo Life right now, there's a lot of Animal Crossing. There are guides, there are news stories, there's a review somewhere in there… it's the latest example of a big release getting a zillion articles written about it because clickety clickety click. And with the thing I covered — SeaBed — being a niche-interest visual novel… well, that obviously gets pushed right down the priority list, since Nintendo Life appears to operate on a model where they limit the number of things they publish per day, particularly reviews.
Don't get me wrong, I understand the reasons this has happened; I just feel a bit bad for Fruitbat Factory, who have been eagerly awaiting some coverage of their new release! I also can't complain too much, because Nintendo Life are actually covering SeaBed at all in the first place… plus out of every outlet I've ever freelanced for, they are by far the most prompt people to pay up I've ever encountered!
But anyway. SeaBed is amazing. If you're in the market for a thoroughly compelling, lengthy read, SeaBed is an absolutely superb kinetic novel with some of the most mature writing I've seen — and an excellent localisation. So pick it up. And when (if?!) my review actually goes live, be sure to give it some views and show that people want to read this sort of thing… preferably in a timely manner! 🙂
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