# To the Beat of My Own (Bongo) Drum – Memory Card #2 I'm over half way through *Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat*. What an odd and sometimes delightful game. The bongo drum controller proves itself to be the goofiest peripheral I own and I am glad I am playing this way, despite the lack of finer control. I imagine myself chipping away at the core games on this essay. I don't have many games to play intentionally for the remainder of the year. I'm skipping *Zelda* for budgetary reasons. *Metroid Prime* progress for [Chapter Select](http://chapterselect.com/season7) is slow. Much slower than I anticipated. I did just beat *Prime 2* though and that felt good. I worry about *Hunters*, but that should be [shorter](https://howlongtobeat.com/game/5956). Back to the essay though, I find myself getting pulled toward the deeper history and design of the 3D Mario games after Galaxy 2. I need to remind myself that the core focus here is *DK* for its novelty and significance as the "start," then the *Galaxy* games for obvious reasons, and then *Splatoon 3*. I don't think I have the time to divert into *3D Land*, *3D World*, *Odyssey*, and *Bowser's Fury*. While those may be beneficial, they change the scope and focus of the project tremendously. At that point, I would consider playing all the *Splatoon* games too. Scope goes from four games to ten. Scope creep is real and I am trying to keep it in check. Before signing off today, I don't love the name "Essay Diaries." I just needed something to change from "Wiki Stories" so I could keep the same Buttondown account. [Buttondown](https://buttondown.com) is so good. If newsletters were my bread and butter, I'd use them. > [!email]+ Memory Card Newsletter > This letter is one block from the newsletter **[Memory Card](https://buttondown.com/MaxFrequency)** by [Max Roberts](https://www.maxfrequency.net/about). Thoughts? Send *me* an email at [email protected]. > > Max is the writer and producer behind [Max Frequency](https://www.maxfrequency.net), a place where he cultivates and curates curiosity—both for himself and for others—by delighting in the details and growing greatness from small beginnings. > > He's written a [[Chasing the Stick - The History of Naughty Dog during the PS4 Era|rich history and dive on the making of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II]], celebrated the [[MFP23 - “A Passion for Smash” – Celebrating 15 Years of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with Peter Spezia|15th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the voice behind its hype]], and examined how [Zelda "stole" Fortnite's best mechanic](https://youtu.be/kc2l_9Fdpek). > > **Memory Card** is a real-ish time, raw, drip feed newsletter of his creative process for telling these stories. It’s *how* The Thing™ gets made. You can sign up below. (Look down) > > It's all powered by [Max Frequency](https://www.maxfrequency.net) and [patrons](https://www.patreon.com/maxfrequency). > > Wanna see The Thing™? [Check it out on YouTube](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxCxW3Sbhy5ZzVOkvmfo4Rme41g6KzJOk). Read it on [The Blog](https://www.maxfrequency.net). > <iframe scrolling="no" style="width:100%!important;height:220px;border:1px #ccc solid !important" src="https://buttondown.com/MaxFrequency?as_embed=true"></iframe>