Hello Writers of Bluesky! Anyone organizing an event taking place at or around #AWP2026 in Baltimore (March 4-7)? If you're looking to add another reader to your lineup, let me introduce myself FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION: about.me/jonirwinis

Today’s writing is inspired by this piece from the Fall/Winter 1982 issue of Playboy Guide: Electronic Entertainment

Just watched the Tomodachi Life Direct... ...and am still freaking out about them (rightly) having to re-introduce Miis as if a sizeable chunk of the audience might not have been germinated cells yet in 2006

479 people are waiting on Nintendo’s YouTube page for the Tomodachi Life Direct livestream happening tomorrow at 9am. www.youtube.com/live/K_0kl1W...

All the hullabaloo re: Nintendo's Virtual Boy NSO offerings reminded me they went all out w/ Labo VR & made the most popular Switch titles compatible. Dug out my goggles + checked out the Mario Odyssey stuff. Had no idea they were discrete, original levels. Loved it. www.nintendo.com/ph/switch/aa...

As someone who devoured this book over the holidays, I'm delighted to hear her next book may return to the same town and fill in some of those gaps.* *Double entendre intended

This is a neat concept and I could totally see a @3313books.bsky.social or @bossfightbooks.com style series of Great Little Books About Movies made like this

I still hop into Simogo Legacy Collection once in awhile and poke around… and realized I never tried out the Rollovski prototype. Man, what a fun and cool concept. And a generous demo with levels and collectibles! This, on the 3DS (its original platform I believe), would have been eShop gold.

This guy gets it

YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW AMAZING THIS IS

The non-believers will believe next month! Welcome!! Join us!!!

GameShare is kind of an incredible feature that hopefully has a breakout implementation soon. To stream a controllable video-feed to a local system (even if it's the previous system!) in order to play w/ people who don't own the game is pretty crazy

<<raises hand so high even though we're in ATL>>

I was excited to read this delightful sounding article. But then the subheading hit me with that Other M slander and I just won't stand for it.

Found this book at the amazing JOHN K KING BOOKS in Detroit. Wild that such a book appears to be lost to time. It’s like a proto @3313books.bsky.social on the making of a single album by Commander Cody in 1974. Reviewed in the New Yorker! Yet has 28 ratings on Goodreads and have never heard of it.

This is a fantastic round-up for anyone at all interested in the backend of independent journalism and what it takes. Thanks @stephentotilo.bsky.social for two years of fantastic original reporting (and a glimpse into the changing game preferences of your kiddos.) www.gamefile.news/p/game-file-...

Come for the 2015 interview with soon-retiring Kensuke Tanabe, stay for @jonnymetts.bsky.social inadvertently planting the seed for Talking Flowers*, both in-game and the physical toy coming soon, in the mind of NCL www.nintendoworldreport.com/interview/40... *Unconfirmed

I always think I’m done with amiibo. And then I see Captain Toad with his little headlamp and think, Welp you got me this time

If I was still on my Ultimate Frisbee club team, I’d petition hard to put this on a flag and wave it around before every match

I, for one, am annoyed the college football championship game is on ESPN.

A truly awful day for movies and art, losing one of the most singular and brilliant voices to ever make them. We've unlocked our full David Lynch issue from 2017, which is now entirely free to read. R.I.P. Mr. Lynch, and thank you forever for the work and example you left us.

What might have been

My right Joycon stopped tracking my movement which made DxD impossible to play BUT I finally cleaned the lens with rubbing alcohol and it works again. I’m back.

Reading this in the February print issue while eating my Egg-in-a-Basket (née Toad-in-a-Hole). Worth the subscription cost alone. Thank you for your service, @petridishes.bsky.social www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

Some outlets are reposting their original reviews w/ added Update info & so all the original comments from March 2020 are still there. Makes for some eerie reading. "This will be my first Animal Crossing, and it will be very necessary during these strange days." www.nintendolife.com/reviews/nint...

Interesting stuff here from @dringo.bsky.social about what the “game industry” even is… open.substack.com/pub/thegameb...

Animal Crossing: New Horizon's 3.0 update is here. I wrote about returning to a game that was so linked to a time of fear of isolation. Can you still find a cozy home in a time capsule loaded with emotional baggage? www.polygon.com/animal-cross...

So that's where Twisted Pixel has been hiding. Remember Gunslinger? Maybe Nex Playground can pick 'em up and make a sequel.

Hours of hoppin' fun for the price of a luxury sandwich. If you like games where just moving around is a pleasure, this is worth a look. HOPe to have more to say about it soon.

If you're in SF, check this out & don't fall asleep like I did watching on HBO Max. Malle's 1st narrative feature after The Silent World, his Jacques Cousteau doc! Davis testing out sounds a year before Kind of Blue! Then read this by @sashafrerejones.bsky.social! metrograph.com/listen-up-mi...

[insert relevant political caption here] Thank you @dailydsgames.bsky.social for this polygonal Ben Stiller I didn’t know I needed in my life

Can confirm one is closing about 15 minutes away from us. That said, there’s still two within 15 minutes in other directions.

In 2D Mario platformers, Mario can either crouch or slide, but is denied the ability to sit in place. However, with a specific setup in Super Mario Bros. 3, Mario will come to rest in a sliding animation, finally allowing him to simply sit.

Hell yes to @stephentotilo.bsky.social for having the COURAGE to list Drag x Drive as one of his (okay, his son's) favorite games of 2025. It's one of mine, too. It should be yours. It's so great. (If you have the right pants.) www.gamefile.news/p/2025-video...

One of my new year resolutions: Actually finish Ring Fit Adventure. I started it in 2019. Have played/exercised with it intermittently. Reading this gives me hope (and answers the question I have after every Boss: Just how many Worlds *are* there?) www.nintendolife.com/features/opi...

Last night I finally started UFO 50. Was going to play one game a week and last me through the year. BUT I think it might shift to one game a night to at least sample them all more quickly and see the progression. Finally, I've found the killer app for those NSO NES control pads...

Saw my first Mario Galaxy promotional grocery item… was not expecting it to be Lucky Charms.

Funniest gift I got yesterday was THE TEN-YEAR AFFAIR by @somers.bsky.social, not since it's funny (though it is!) but because I mentioned it to my wife as a book I wanted, who mentioned it to my mother-in-law, who got me a book with a cover blurb "the best book about infidelity since Madame Bovary"

Got a prototype Virtual Boy for Christmas.

My most-anticipated (unannounced) game of 2026: High Impact Football as part of a DLC pack for @digitaleclipse.bsky.social’s Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection

The Game of the Season for my 6yo & 8yo boys is… LITTLE INFERNO (Wii U). A great cooperative puzzler if you’re looking for all the combos; a necessary end-of-year catharsis if you’re just letting it all burn.

The #1 movie from when you were 10 years old is how your 2026 will go. (Oh no.)

4,000 words on the stage I haven't been able to stop playing for the last six years. Early dev screenshots, talk of tech challenges, five demo tracks embedded so you can hear the song's evolution. All the good stuff.

As a motion-control defender & buyer of Kinect-Only games, I'm loving the Nex success story. If anything, it tells traditional publishers that active, novel, non-traditional games can be big business still. Good interview w/ its CEO from @dringo.bsky.social www.thegamebusiness.com/p/we-want-a-...

I figured it was the price cut. But no: Here’s the reason PlayStation 5 outsold the competition this holiday.

Among video games selling 1 new physical unit in Nov (US): PSP Samurai Warriors: State War PS3 Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 Wii Donkey Kong Barrel Blast NDS My Weight Loss Coach XBX Panzer Dragoon Orta PSP Traxxpad: Portable Studio 3DS Carnival Games: Wild West 3D PS2 X-Men: Legends 360 Crysis 3

I feel like SKATE STORY might be my FUTUREGRIND of the upcoming year... a game that just feels good to play, centers locomotion, w/ music that keeps me going

I so miss the era of multiple sports sims, so that Acclaim had one and EA had one and Sega Sports had one and each had their own little distinctive flavor