Welcome back to TWIGâyour Weekly Geekly Family-Friendly News Showâwhere we serve up all things nerdy with a heaping side of Nintendo. Iâm Nerd Pastor Nate, coming to you from Checkpoint Church, the church for nerds, geeks, and gamers.
Strap in, because this week weâve got a massive Nintendo Direct breakdown, wild AI controversy, a surprising sale of MyAnimeList (to a Web3 company?!), and a stack of new games thatâll keep your subscription services busy.
đŹ What Weâre Watching, Playing, and Reading
This weekâs guest was DGC, one of our LVL2 members, whoâs been:
Watching: Paprika, Mob Psycho 100, and the new Devil May Cry anime.
Playing: Metaphor.
Reading: The Luke/Acts study.
As for me? I finally caught up on anime during podcast game time (Moonstone Island ftw). I binged Ascendance of a Bookworm, The Elusive Samurai, and caught the new English dub of Dragon Ball Daima. Also watched the psychological thriller Heretic, which gave Zero Escape vibes and made me want to play it more than watch it.
And yes, I got married in Moonstone Island. Ferra Waifu forever.
đ„ The Legend of Zelda (Live-Action!) MovieâItâs Real.
Nintendo used its new Nintendo Today app (which is basically âNintendo News Liveâ) to drop major news: a Legend of Zelda live-action movie is coming March 26, 2027.
Directed by Wes Ball (Maze Runner), produced by Avi Arad (Spider-Man 2), and distributed by Sony, this thing is happening. Is it going to be gritty? Will Link talk? Will Chris Pratt show up somehow? TBD. But the memes are already glorious.
âMario is going to be Chris Pratt. Heâs so cool.â âMiyamoto, burned into our memories forever.
đ€ AI-Generated Studio Ghibli Art: Gross or Groundbreaking?
OpenAIâs latest image demo tried to mimic Studio Ghibli's iconic styleâand it backfired. Hard. Critics, including Zelda Williams and Red Deadâs Roger Clark, called it lazy and unethical.
Even Hayao Miyazaki once called AI-generated art âan insult to life itself.â
My take? AIâs great for productivityâbut generating art? Nope. Especially when itâs just rehashing classic memes in a new âstyle.â It lacks the struggle, the soul, and the bad iterations that make art art. Thatâs what pushes creative evolution forward.
TL;DR: AI can make spreadsheets, not Miyazakis.
đȘ MyAnimeList Sold to a Web3 Company. Yep, Really.
In the biggest âwait, NFTs still exist?â moment of the week, MyAnimeList was sold to Web3 company Gaudiy. They plan to use it for a blockchain platform called Fanlink that includesâwait for itâNFTs and generative AI.
...Okay.
MAL sold for $3.5 million, which feels low-key shocking for a site with that kind of cultural footprint. Fortunately, their U.S. manga initiative (Manga Mirai) will continue unaffected... for now.
đź Subscription Game Drops for April
đŠ PlayStation Plus
Robocop: Rogue City
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth â Hackerâs Memory
đ© Xbox Game Pass Highlights
Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition (Apr 3)
Still Wakes the Deep (Apr 3)
Wargroove 2 (Apr 3)
South of Midnight (Apr 8)
Blue Prince (Apr 10)âyour next Golden Idol-style mystery gem
Hunt: Showdown 1896 (Apr 15)
Pro tip: Blue Prince might be an indie GOTY sleeper. Keep your eyes peeled.
đŠ CheckPoint's CheckBox: No Fast Travel Allowed
Aprilâs CheckBox theme is âNo Fast Travel Allowedââfocused on perseverance, patience, and long roads worth walking. It includes nerdy surprises to help you level up IRL. Plus, 10% of earnings go to wildfire trauma relief.
đ§ Sign up here
đš Nintendo Switch 2 Direct: Itâs Real, Itâs Wild, Itâs Got a Mouse?!
Letâs break this down:
đ” Hardware Highlights
Releases June 5
$450 base / $500 with Mario Kart World bundle
Joy-Cons now act like mice
New chat feature via Game Chat (yes, like Zoom... for Nintendo)
Built-in webcam
4K dock support
No OLEDâjust LCD. đ€
đŁ NSO GameCube Back Catalog
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
Wind Waker
Luigiâs Mansion
Soul Calibur II (with Link!)
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness & Colosseum
đ First-Party Hype
Mario Kart World: Open-world racing + knockout mode
Donkey Kong Bonanza: First 3D DK game in years!
Kirby Air Ride 2 (yes, city mode better be in it)
Dusk Bloods: New FromSoftware Switch exclusive
DeltaRune Chapters 3 & 4: Launch day drop! đ„
Hyrule Warriors 3: Zeldaâs back for another Musou
Also... theyâre charging money for their Astro Bot-style tech demo. Why, Nintendo? Why?
đź Cryptic Critiques: Nintendogs
This weekâs Cryptic Critique featured a review saying:
âI played this when I had three real dogs I could have been playing with in real life at literally any point.â
Yes, it was Nintendogs. RIP to all the forgotten puppies. You are remembered. đ¶
đ Three Things to Watch for Next Week
đ„ DGC's Picks:
Fire Force Final Season (Apr 5)
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes (Apr 7)
Food for the Soul (Apr 12, Crunchyroll)
đč Nate's Picks:
Katamari Demacy Roll Live (Apple Arcade, sigh)
South of Midnight (Apr 8, Xbox Game Pass)
Minecraft: The Movie (because yes, I will watch it)
đŠ Meme of the Week
Lizzie nailed it this week:
A goose: âI think I will cause problems on purpose.â
Caption: âWill it work? No, but I tried.â
𧹠Goose with the chaotic neutral vibes wins.
đ§ Final Thoughts
Thanks for tuning in to TWIG! Be sure to join us live next weekâsame time, same nerdy place. Whether youâre here for Jesus, Joy-Cons, or just vibes, we believe:
God loves you (like, for real).
We love you and want community with you.
You matter. A lot.
Now go ye forth, love thy neighbor, and pre-order that Switch 2. âïž
welp
that last line sure proved to be topical đ