"Which is your favorite/definitive version of the original Prince of Persia?" 💾As promised-- after 35 years, here's a proper blog post with my thoughts, and the story behind Prince of Persia's multiple 1990s ports. www.jordanmechner.com/en/latest-ne...

The slug says it all: "america-authoritarian-regime-ai-suicide" www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

I want the next Mario Bros game to be WWII-themed

doubtless you have already heard, but Bennett Foddy, Gabe Cuzzillo, and Maxi Boch's new game is out today and it's really good. store.steampowered.com/app/1281040/...

This brings me joy for three reasons: 1) a reminder of that red Robot on Wheels cartridge (shades of Switch 2 cards) 2) a reminder of when mass market magazines ran game coverage 3) realizing how $59.99 in 1999 is equal to about $113 today--> another reminder that, no games, aren't too expensive now

The Super Mario 64 source code lists names for Mario's footstep sounds. The list starts off normal but becomes poetic with names like "Footsteps in the Fallen Leaves" and "More Than Anyone Else in the World". It turns out the names are actually taken from a 1994 dating simulator.

Obligatory first-day-of-fall post. www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/its...

This explains why I love The Happening and you’re wrong about it

You, also, want to read some interviews w/ old game devs about their work on Virtual Boy? So did I. www.timeextension.com/features/i-s...

One man. Two legs. Zero balance. 🦶

2 Things Noticed in the Recent Nintendo Download Email: -For the first time I can remember since launch, Nintendo is saying Switch 2 is available for purchase through the My Nintendo store. Stock is definitely readily available. -A game called "Meatshaker" is released on the eShop. Coincidence?

Phew. What an ending. So here it is, that 12 hour, high quality, well written, single player, story driven game at a moderate price point that lots of folks say they want to see more of. This game will make for a meaningful sales benchmark for other games to get made. We'll see what happens.

12-year-old me did love this.

I finally beat Tears of the Kingdom last night. During the last battle, playing handheld on Switch 2, I noticed 3 tiny scratches on the screen. I honestly have no idea how they got there & I'm really annoyed but am telling myself Ganondorf did it, slashing through the 4th wall during the epic finale

Cover of the day

“My idea of heaven is to wake up, have a good breakfast, and spend the rest of the day drawing." Peter Falk #BOTD

This feature on A24 seems like a great road map for more interesting, sustainable game dev. More singles & doubles! Not every studio needs to swing for the fences. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Holy cow, Warner Herzog (I mean @marioprime.bsky.social) has reviewed Garfield Kart 2. This is the criticism our world demands and deserves. www.polygon.com/garfield-kar...

For all the bluster about Nintendo's pricing strategies, I have to wonder how much of that is just the constant crabby loudness of Always-Online people or if Nintendo is actually losing the goodwill of their audience, which is Mostly Everybody. Early sales indicate the former.

That's certainly an interesting Top 6 best-selling books on Amazon. www.amazon.com/gp/bestselle...

In honor of the 40th anniversary, my anecdote from the EGM issue #200 cover feature “Top 200 Games of Their Time” on Super Mario Bros. — which, of course, ranked #1. Shout out to Scott Dunn for turning me on to the crazy new game he played at Godfather’s Pizza in Brentwood

Pokopia is actually a bigger deal than people are giving it credit for because they just don't make Pokémon spin-offs anymore If you haven't noticed the freemium mobile games have been taking their place for quite a while now

Virtual Bowling is by far the most expensive game to be added to Switch Online. There are a couple sitting on eBay for $10K. Not quite worth that, but I can't think of another game on the service that would sell for anything close to this.

THIS. This right here. Will save me hundreds of dollars. (Already have 8 of 'em, but Jack Bros. alone goes for $800+ for the cart alone)

WHAT DID I JUST SEE (all in red, and black... what glee!)

New Yoshi saved that 40th anniversary sequence for me. Yes, I am fully onboard with a weird Yoshi's Story pseudo-sequel with purposefully unfluid animation and neat environmental puzzles

Just watched that Acclaim Direct video, before hearing or seeing any real online reaction, and... I don't know, I was kinda smitten. Nice to see a legacy brand (if in name only) publish new games instead of reboots of old IP. The repeated logo intros were fun. Sure! www.youtube.com/watch?v=bckT...

MK World will always live in the shadow of Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 03: Vehicle Drive Kit™

Some interesting number crunching in this edition of @dringo.bsky.social’s The Game Business. www.thegamebusiness.com/p/developers...

Today's Writing Music: "Eighty-One" by Herbie Hancock. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaaH...

Everyone keeps talking about the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. What nobody is talking about is the 11 year, 5 month anniversary of Rusty's Real Deal Baseball. Excited for Friday's Direct 👀 www.killscreen.com/rustys-real-...

A film season with new PTA and new Aronofsky, both going for comedy/action but still crafted with their unusual, unique spark? Hope Iives.

It's time to buy up all the FoxTrot collections you can find and line this man's pockets.

I’m shocked—shocked I tell you—that Nintendo never made a detachable Joy-Con: D-pad Edition. They love selling unnecessary things! The control input is indelible to their history. Maybe one day…

A great conversation about the evolution of Atari and where the Retro game scene is now and needs to go in the future. Also: look at Wade’s hair! It’s working. open.substack.com/pub/thegameb...

The fall book season is DROWNING in deluxe, limited, anniversary, special editions & that isn't necessarily a bad thing but it is absolutely connected to the decline of book reviews & cultural criticism as publishers try to squeeze more sales out of existing fan bases instead of creating new ones.

Even though the title veers negative, the conversation here is pretty even-handed and Abram gives DxD a useful framing that seems otherwise absent in a lot of the game's coverage. Worth a listen if you, like me, are not yet done thinking about this strange little experiment.

This convo I had highlights the difference in what "respect your time" means in games. A lot of players want to trade time for in-game progress. It's purely transactional: 1 hour = 1 progress But I want to feel like my actions matter i.e. what I do with time creates progress, not time itself.

Whoa. I've been following the wrong sources, 'cause I hadn't heard about REBOUNDER or LOVE ETERNAL until now, and both look and sound insane.

So you're saying I need to add Criterion to my streaming portfolio

Nice little chat with various former employees about The Nintendo Difference™️ www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

Finally I can say "Proud of my Senator"

Let me join @hitpoints.bsky.social as firmly in the Hollow Knight Agnostics camp -- played HK and... it was fine. So Silksong's launch is not the holy day for me than it may be for you. So I appreciated his shining a light on these other recent releases. newsletter.hitpoints.co/333-hornets-...

This piece by Joshua Rothman in the NYer has the perfect last scene for an essay about A.I. www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Caught Stealing for Best End Credits of the Year?

MGSV and the Mad Max game came out 10 years ago *today* and look exactly the same as most AAA games from this year

Criminally underrated game.

Back in 2022, I bought as many copies of Mario Paint as I could get my paws on 😅Not because I thought they’d become rare or pricey, but for the original artwork that may be lying dormant inside each and every one 🎨 Three years later and that mission is complete 🍄 youtu.be/aHuQZVtzdIo 🍄 #MarioPaint

the people who post the most are always posting about how bad it is to be online all the time

Radio-Canada showed Drag x Drive to actual wheelchair basketballers who are all very positive on the game, while noting the differences with the real life sport. But they're loving the representation.