# The Journey to Find Spirit – Memory Card #5 First thing's first, a quick bit of follow up: I noticed that I pondered playing the Switch port of *Galaxy* in my [first letter](https://buttondown.com/MaxFrequency/archive/who-knows-what-ill-call-this-thing-but-here-i-go/) as well as my [most recent](https://buttondown.com/MaxFrequency/archive/tangential-permission-granted/) so let's just lock it in now and say I am going to play the *3D All-Stars* port. Done. Today is one of those "bounce around from task to task" aimless sort of days. The sort of day where looking at the clock is painfully slow, but also blink-and-you-miss-the-hours fast. Some of the tasks today involved brief research for the essay. I remembered a slew of essays from Mark Brown over at [Game Maker's Toolkit](https://www.youtube.com/@GMTK) about [Nintendo design](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc38fcMFcV_tkTGFilnMfX4KvfQfpYuym). I went back and queued up the ones that I *thought* could pertain to my essay; and that's what I wanted to grab onto—thinking about where information and insight *might* come from. I find myself drawn to the lessons learned between *Galaxy 2* and *Splatoon 3*. I'm fighting the urge to play those games front to back, but that doesn't mean I can't glean knowledge from the titles, right? What I found so interesting is that I am exploring concepts and design principles from an established series (Mario) and applying them both to a new IP (Splatoon), but that IP's latest entry. It has been NINE years since *Splatoon* on the Wii U. 🫠 And that semi-leads me to my other insight gained for the day. I realized I am asking and trying to answer a question without the familiarity of key source material—*Splatoon 3*. I haven't played it yet. It's hard to focus on the end without knowing the shape of the thing. Am I hurting my process by waiting to play *Splatoon 3* last? Should I play it and then trace my steps back? I'm somewhat unsure now. I feel like there is value in seeing ideas and philosophy develop over time, instead of retroactively seeing inspiration. It has been so long since I played *Galaxy* games, I barely remember them. It's broad strokes and a banging soundtrack. Even as I write this, I feel like the journey is what will elevate this story from pure research to something a bit more. Anyone can point out similarities between games? I want to find the spirit of these titles. I think that'll take a bit more soul searching, but if I am asking these questions then perhaps I am already on the right path to discovering the essence of it all. > [!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>