Time to climb! Cairn is available now. Mount Kami awaits, unconquered. This is what you trained for: fight for every meter of the climb and rise to the challenge.

Shenmue.

Wow! I think I actually visited SegaWorld, but I was so young that my memory of that occasion is very faint. Would love to see more footage.

Really feeling the impact of these lines from Christina Rossetti at the moment: 'In the bleak mid-winter Frosty wind made moan, Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, In the bleak mid-winter Long ago.'

Thank you all for your patience! Without further ado, it's This Year In Videogame Blogging 2025, complete with a bonus This Week In Videogame Blogging, December 28, 2025! critical-distance.com/2026/01/01/t...

this was 2025, as told by 91 writers across the world intothespine.com/2025/12/31/s...

It's Giving Tuesday at the VGHF! We've had an incredible 2025, but we need your help to make sure we can continue doing our charitable work in 2026 and beyond. We just launched our annual Winter Fundraiser campaign, please give if you're able (and share this post!). http://gamehistory.org/donate

The part of my job I love best might very well be bringing fresh voices to GameSpot, and I feel so lucky to have crossed paths with @aamirm.bsky.social! Aamir is a brilliant writer and I’m so impressed by how this piece turned out! www.gamespot.com/articles/is-...

A real shame how hard it can be to find digital or physical copies of the official UK PlayStation magazine from the PS1 era, though. That would be really helpful.

The @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social digital archive has been incredibly helpful for my research into PS1 stuff so far. It would be fantastic to see game manuals on there too, especially because of the regional differences that can pop up in them.

I've been an admirer of Edge magazine ever since it launched in 1993. It's one of the most beautifully designed game magazines of all time, and has featured some terrific covers over the years. This one is fantastic - Shenmue III, originally published in April 2019.

Absolutely love Clair Obscur. Amazing game.

It's finally time, #LudoNarraCon 2025 is here! 🥳🥳🥳 Join us for five days of celebrating narrative-driven games with 50+ exhibitors, 15+ hours of panels, a ton of new demos, and sales galore! 📅 May 1 - 5 🚶‍♀️ bit.ly/LNC_Steam 📺 bit.ly/LNC_YT

So good to have the warm weather finally returning! Here is a piece I did in 2024 for Eurogamer about sunshine and games. www.eurogamer.net/can-video-ga...

Awful to see the remnants of games media continue to be torn apart. As someone who's been in the industry for a long time, its future continues to feel so hopeless. My heart goes out to everyone losing their jobs. And to ALL creators out there, please, if you haven't read my rant before, DO SO.

@frankcifaldi.bsky.social Hi Frank, how should I get in touch if I have a query for you? All the best!

A Treasure Trove Of Amazing Shenmue Artwork Has Just Been Preserved. (Image: @Shenmue_Dojo)

Gorgeous advert for Final Fantasy VIII in Game Informer, 1999. (Via @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social digital archive.)

"As part of my pitch to the Tolkien estate, I showed them some of my first programming that I had written on the inside flap of The Fellowship of the Ring. I wanted them to know how special the books were to me" www.timeextension.com/features/the...

The Most Influential Video Game Of All Time is... Shenmue 👑 Yu Suzuki's tale of revenge topped our global poll 🌎 What's your favourite memory of the Shenmue series? View the full Top 21 list now👇 www.bafta.org/stories/the-... #BAFTAGamesAwards

Discover magic and mystery in @witchbrook.bsky.social , a spellbinding, multiplayer, witch life-sim.🧙 Make friends, find love, and discover a world filled with wonder and charm on the road to graduation this Winter!❄️ 🪄Discover More: witchbrook.com #Witchbrook

Fantastic news.

Love this quote from Sam Raimi about making Spider-Man (2002). Link: variety.com/2022/film/fe...

Interesting to learn that many 1995 E3 talks were recorded on audio tapes and offered for sale. Wonder if any of those survived? Found this via @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social

I'm already finding useful info for research at the new digital archive set up by @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social. Really interesting and valuable to get a better sense for gaming culture back in the era I'm writing about (the mid to late 90s).

The Video Game History Foundation Library is now in early access. For free. For everyone. Wherever you are. Read more: gamehistory.org/vghf-library...

Curious to see Naoko Yamada's 'The Colors Within', sounds interesting.

Good things come to those who wait - the Video Game History Foundation Digital Library launches on January 30th, 2025. (We'll tell you all about it then!)

This looks interesting! Going to try this out after I finish A Day of Fallen Night.

Over on the @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social Discord we've been showing off and playing with our work-in-progress digital library (soon!), this is going to be such a great resource. I just asked it to show me every video game magazine in our collection in chronological order that says "Metroidvania."

happy 7th, @intothespine.bsky.social - and a massive shoutout to everybody who continues to choose the site as a place to share their stories

The Thrill of the Fight 2 entered early access last year on Quest, and we sparred with creator Ian Fitz to learn more:

Really wish this show at @nortonmuseumofart.bsky.social wasn't so far away! www.theguardian.com/artanddesign... #boxing #boxingart

Many thanks to Michael Carbert for allowing me to write about the Barry Jones vs Acelino Freitas fight! www.thefightcity.com/jan-15-2000-...

We're looking back at some of our favorite articles about movies, TV, and pop culture in 2024! We've got deep dives into fandom culture, Marvel, classic sci-fi, WrestleMania, and much, much, MUCH more! reactormag.com/some-of-reac...

Happy 30th to the PlayStation!

Currently hunting for issues of the Official UK PlayStation Magazine from the '90s era. Very useful for research, but tricky to find some of the issues!

A quick glimpse behind the scenes while we're scanning our collections... Q: How fast does our high-speed feed scanner go? A: Yes.

We’re looking for boxing-related art and writing for issue 4 of our boxing fanzine The Spit Bucket. Deadline is 15 November, full details here: writersonboxing.com/the-spit-buc...