♥FH: On Point (2014)
Final form
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This artwork is now available as a limited edition print here
Being the third painting in this series—right about the time I thought I might want to make it a series—through this time I was just painting hardware I happened to own and was using.
In 2014, the DS line of systems was 10 years old. Its successor, the 3DS, was already 3 years old. Despite video games being my favorite free-time activity, I haven’t been on-generation since the early 2000s. Turns out there are just too many games to play per generation, and there are plenty of earlier games to play on hardware I never had, so I am chronically behind the times now. Its not that I am a retro game snob, I just am not in a hurry to play the next thing. This means I lose out on the cultural moment of major releases, sometimes coming to them 10-20 years late.
The DS line of systems went through three major form factors, and this last one was probably the least popular of them, even while it paved the way for the larger handheld screens that would take us out of the tiny displays of prior years. It also found the hardware dipping into the kiddie pool of eShops for downloadable content. I still own my DSi XL, pictured here.
It’s always fun to try to think of some minor visual gag or fantastical aspect, or historical reference for these, although a few lack them. The title obviously refers to what I view as the system’s final and best form, but it also gave me the opportunity to play with including the stylus here.
One thing I loved about the DS era was the region free nature of the system. During this era I took up Japanese language study a bit more in earnest (99.9% through reading and writing, not speaking and listening). So being able to import Japanese games and make my way through them was always an accomplishment, even while it made the games take longer since I was often looking words up! I still have a handful of Japanese titles I picked up that remain unplayed, because I think my future of gaming is one of falling further behind as the backlog grows!