Matt Wrench – Writer of words and code

May 29, 2025

Sonic x Shadow Generations: Paint It Black

I guess I felt attached to my weakness. My pain and suffering too. Summer light, the smell of a breeze, the sound of cicadas–if I like these things, why should I apologize. The same with having a beer with you…
Haruki Murakami, A Wild Sheep Chase

Some rivalries are lopsided: Coke versus Pepsi. Globetrotters versus Generals. Roadrunner versus Coyote. And despite both bands’ critical and commercial successes, the Beatles versus The Rolling Stones can be included on that list as well.

A hundred years from now, the Fab Four will still be the quintessential rock band. “Ruby Tuesday” is charming, but “Yesterday” is legendary. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abbey Road are seminal works that define not only the rock genre but music as a medium.

But liking the Beatles is fairly meaningless. Their work has been absorbed by the popular culture. Enjoying the White Album says as much about you as eating at McDonald’s; you would sometimes prefer to listen to harmonious sounds than silence. As Stephen Hayden explains in Your Favorite Band Is Killing Me, “If I’m honest, I’ll admit to being a Stones guy because being a Stones guy just seems more interesting. Loving the Beatles is ordinary by comparison; it says nothing about you other than your unquestioning acceptance of inevitable truths. Siding with the Beatles is like siding with gravity.” I wish I was a Stones guy.

May 11, 2025

How to Earn Your CS Degree in 9 Months

In fall 2019, I started my bachelor’s in computer science at Western Governors University. By April 2020, I had finished my degree.

At most schools, this would be impossible. WGU, however, has a unique system. Students sign up for a six-month term at a fixed tuition price. You start with a regular semester’s worth of classes. Once you finish those first four classes, you can take additional ones as long as you finish them before the end of the term. In theory, you can complete your entire degree in a single six-month term. My studies only took an extra 3 months. If you are looking to do the same, here are some of my best tips:

April 26, 2025

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: The Balance of the Force

The following essays contains spoilers for all Star Wars films and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

For the first six months of dating, my partner believed I hated Star Wars. Any time the franchise was brought up I would express visible disgust. Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker was still too fresh on my mind, and that film had buried my love for lightsabers deep down. But the lady doth protest too much, methinks.

The truth is I love Star Wars. I always have and always will. But the franchise is hard to love because it has a fundamental flaw. And that weakness is not a recent development arising out of the sequel trilogy. That problem started a long time ago in theaters not so far away.

Episode IV: A New Hope is a classic hero’s journey. The film is the most prototypical example of the monomyth, and Joseph Campbell’s influence upon George Lucas is well documented. Luke Skywalker answers the call to adventure, crosses the threshold, transforms himself, and in doing so saves the galaxy.

The morality of that first film is obvious and binary. The Rebels are the good guys. The Empire are the bad guys. Luke is robed in white, and Darth Vader is dressed in black from head to toe. From the moment Luke discovers the charred corpses of his aunt and uncle, the audience never doubts his mission to stop the Empire. And the guiding lights for Luke on this adventure are Obi-Wan Kenobi and the very idea of the Jedi.

November 9, 2024

When We Were Young 2024: The Kids Are Alright

Friday 3pm

French fries taste better in the car. The spuds are still piping hot and crispy, having not yet been ruined by steaming inside the bag. I am already in vacation mode, so the first waffle fry on my tongue tastes of salty deliciousness, not fattening guilt.

We are grabbing a bite before getting on I-17. E, J, and I are heading to Vegas for When We Were Young music festival. L is joining us tomorrow. This is my second year attending. For the other three, it is their third. We converse for the first three hours of the trip, catching up after months of not seeing each other. The long drive eventually saps us of energy though. The second half of the ride is spent listening to music. The volume steadily grows. We are going to Las Vegas for pop punk and emo, and this is our first taste of the weekend.

The playlist repeats, but we do not notice until “Vindicated” by Dashboard Confessional plays for the second time. The darkness of the desert is broken by the distant haze of light. Las Vegas nears. Soon enough, E and J are dropping me off at Park MGM. I am too cheap to stay closer to the festival grounds. I grab a slice of Roman-style pizza and a Peroni from Eataly. The pizza crust is overdone.

I review the lineup for the fourth time on my phone. No perfect solution exists. WWWY is stacked with the biggest artists the genre ever had. Missing some of the bands I want to see is inevitable due to overlap. I go to bed a little salty about the plethora of riches in front of me.

October 21, 2024

Whatever Happened to the Games We Loved?

I have killed countless innocents including women and children. My decisions have sown genocide across worlds. I have shot my allies in the backs of their heads. Worst of all, my atrocities amused me.

Fortunately, however, every one of those sins occurred digitally. After all, playing violent video games is fun. Hitting pedestrians with my car in Grand Theft Auto V frequently makes me crack a smile. What worries me more is when video games bore me.

Gaming has been a passion of mine since I first picked up the controller. In middle school, my afternoons were spent playing Super Smash Bros. Melee. Rather than talk to girls, my high school years were dedicated to Halo 2. The majority of my free time this past weekend was used to play Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. Yet despite this longstanding fascination, I find myself frequently bored with video games since I reached adulthood. Oftentimes, I will pick up the controller, play for less than half an hour, and then step away. The reasons for this are numerous:

October 13, 2024

The Most Important Game Dev Advice

And I heard your voice as clear as day. And you told me I should concentrate. It was all so strange and so surreal that a ghost should be so practical.

— “Only If For A Night”, Florence + The Machine

My sixth birthday was the best one of my life. I woke up and darted downstairs. A pile of gifts sat in the living room, but my attention was immediately drawn to the largest one. My mom was in the kitchen making breakfast, and I asked her if I could open my presents. She relented. My fingers tore into the blue wrapping paper, but I already suspected what they would find. Inside was a Nintendo 64, my first video game console. Soon after, I found a copy of Super Mario 64.

My dad connected the console to the TV. The rest of my morning was spent throwing King Bob-omb off the mountaintop and racing Koopa the Quick. I had played video games at friends’ houses before, but this was the first experience that was truly my own. The controller felt strange in my hands, but soon that foreign feeling would disappear, never to return.

Soon enough though, I had to set the game aside. My parents were taking me to Celebration Station. We spent the afternoon racing go-karts, eating pizza, and playing mini-golf. No day could have been better, but I was not disappointed when we reached the end. Super Mario 64 was waiting.