To be fair, I don't think all of the blame can be laid on execs. Game directors and Art directors are often the source of the issue.

I've seen execs come to a studio and say: "Make something AAA, a single player game with unique gameplay and a great 10 hour story, and get it done in a couple of years. Don't worry about the bottom line, we want a showcase experience."

Then the directors come back with: "Okay, showcase you say? How about a AAAA 20v20 open world multiplayer shooter (nobody is doing that!), SaaS (to keep'em coming back), with ultra realistic graphics (it'll be epically fun that way), a $100million budget (we'll outsource to save money), MTX so we can make tons of money (we get profit sharing right?), and we do it in 3 years (for work-life balance)?"

Devs are just sitting there shaking their heads and thinking... "Here we go again..."

I've always disliked how washed out BotW looks. It's like they could only process limited colours so they reduced the contrast and everything is light grey with a hint of colour.

I guess I don't get what your point is. Caribou are wild, reindeer is generally used for domesticated caribou (at least in North America)

The poem "A visit from St Nicholas" (aka "'Twas the Night Before Christmas") was written by an American.

Is it different outside of North America?

I don't think anyone has mentioned: being very competitive.

They're "Les Schtroumpfs" in French.

The Wikipedia article on Spice has some pretty good details on the subject:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spice#%3A%7E%3Atext=Early+history

I'm pretty sure BC did over 40 prescribed burns in 2024, half of which were planned by first Nations. They're doubling that next year.

I only mention it because the article discusses it like its not part of the strategy at all, but it absolutely is. Maybe we need more, I'm not an expert, but I was surprised by the tone in the article, emphasis mine:

"Following the lead of Australia and the United States, we need to reinstate the routine preventive burning that Indigenous Peoples traditionally practised."

Somewhere uncomfortable

Mariah Carey has been so overdone she's now Pariah Carey.

How did you get in my house!?

(yes, we have this exact drawer, though I moved the scale to another drawer)