I hear a lot of fuss about physical games but I nabbed the last copy at my local Walmart so I don’t see the problem

I've never liked people comparing the modern day upsets to the 1982 crash, but we would gain a lot from looking at the late 90s, early 2000s collapse of publishers like Broderbund, Infogrames/Atari, and Midway. Those examples are far more instructive to our current situation.

Just got back from a week of vacation. Stayed offline pretty much. What'd I miss?

I did not expect a new Netflix game to get my attention... but when you cite Red Steel as a design influence, you get my attention. Looking forward to it, @nightschool.bsky.social www.gamefile.news/p/netflix-pr...

Please let's normalize these kinds of low-effort channels that still bring value and perspective without all the fluff + faff

Was at a retro games expo thing this past weekend and a young-ish guy (20s) did not blink at buying a pre-modded PS Vita for $220 (well, he tried to get it down to $200, but the seller would not have it) and so yes, I can see this happening more and more

Will be in Albuquerque / Santa Fe, NM next week. Any hot arcades, used game and-or bookstores, under-discovered hiking trails, breakfast places, drinking establishments, et cetera you need to tell me about?

I've read many many articles about the problem with schools over the past few years--from K-12 to college and beyond--and it seems the answer, that's rarely even mentioned, is just, like.... be better parents? www.nytimes.com/2026/06/22/o...

This is one of those articles I've had in an open tab for months (two almost exactly, as I note the 'April 16th 2026' publication date) and... I finally read it! It's pretty good. Especially for fellow fans of obsolete media. www.newyorker.com/culture/essa...

I watched this (for the 1st time! I know, shame on me) weeks ago & indeed felt something like sadness, witnessing the wheels of the news system turn in a way that seems now to have been taken from us, a former Jaguar rendered toothless as a domesticated tabby. Read Lindsey's more eloquent take here

You saw it here first, and are legally obligated to say so. Yes Donald Glover is actually on an hour long podcast with two 13 year olds (?)

Bring back NintendoSports

TEVIS! We have a Tevis Thompson sighting, ye gods. Also, let's just be honest: Games Criticism was better 13 years ago. (He says, knowing full well he was a player on the field 13 years ago.)

Counterpoint: I was shocked (in a good way!) when I realized [SPOILER?] ... ..the two male/female leads were not actually ending up as romantic interests

After all the chatter about Xbox’s hard reset in the Asha Era, the question we have to ask is… Can Microsoft Turn Things Around? (©️2014)

Just saw this yesterday and Lawson's read here makes me actually want to see it again. Can confirm Blunt is impressive. Refreshing to see a "big blockbuster" film that is kind of opaque and hard to follow and asks of its audience a certain amount of attentiveness

Gotta respect the persistence

As a dad to 2 kiddos, the nightly post-bedtime window is a sacred realm. You must use it wisely. Somehow, the last 2 nights I've watched the worst 30-minutes of produced TV from the 20th century (Ep 10, S2 of Ray Bradbury Theater, "Tyrannosaurus Rex") and played both Atari Karts + Fight for Life

After that fiasco over the weekend, probably not the worst time to read CAGE KINGS by Mike Thomsen bookshop.org/p/books/cage...

While I wait for my counteroffer to an eBay reseller to be accepted or denied, please enjoy this amazing poster for 3D-Con 2014

Cast your eyeballs away from all the Timothée Chalamet clips and read this. Still don't love the Knicks but hey, I love NYC so enjoy it, you crazy bastards www.nytimes.com/2026/06/14/n...

If you, like me, don't get to all your newsletters on the day they arrive in the overstuffed inbox, remember to go back and click on the good ones. Like this from @hitpoints.bsky.social on the Game(s) Fest week that was newsletter.hitpoints.co/380-bro-talk/

Everything we’ve ever done since 2013 is yours for just $29/year. We’ve never run ads & don’t aggressively push anything on you ever, because the internet sucks enough as it is. But we still need $$ to pay writers, artists, editors, and bills. Each subscription means the world to us/keeps us going 🙏

We've all been acclimated to watching movies/tv that pause three times an hour for 90 seconds of ads. Would not be shocked if Msoft employs a similar thing here.

People Make Games traveled to Michigan to meet Jerry Gretzinger, an 84-year-old man, who's spent most of his life working away on a single, giant map to an imaginary world. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is8N...

It’s a travesty we live in a country that has the red Staples Easy button but not this. Perhaps the travesty of our age

In hindsight: very weird that so many of us (me included) had these cards. Maybe weirder: That we don't have Operation Freedom card-packs in our local Targets

Children’s Zoo (Central Park), by Seth Becker, 2023, 📸 by @CarlosGonzMedia

Apropos of nothing: I fired up my New Nintendo 2DSXL today and saw an unopened gift box. Had no idea what it was. What it was, was THE QUEEN-TV GAME 2 purchased for I think $0.02 on the advice of @tronknotts.bsky.social and I fired that baby up and, let me tell you, it was worth every pennies.

Can we all just not talk about the IPO, thanks (oops I'm part of the problem)

Hope your power's back on, @knickerbacker.bsky.social. knickerblogger.net/2026/06/2026...

Today's writing music: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-kc... (via @genericsoda.bsky.social) bsky.app/profile/gene...

I’m glad I’m a sports fan. Just glad I’m not a Spurs fan. (Still not a Brunson fan.)

I think also that in Nintendo's case often it's a desire to refine + iterate just as much as it is a crass commercial decision. Super Mario World is kind of a "remake" of Super Mario Bros, right? Very few games (& songs & films & books) are *wholly* their own thing. Most build on what comes before.

I’d be more concerned about this IF I didn’t also know that Hollywood in the 40s was already remaking movies from the 20s. We still got creative, unique, soulful masterwork from that medium in the decades hence. Games will be no different.

SCRAM KITTY RETURNS (If you’re saying “What’s a Scram Kitty” you clearly missed when I called it a Cat-Person Masterpiece in 2014) www.killscreen.com/scram-kitty-...

Rise up, fellow MFA’ers who like and write about videogames

This guy gets it

Sometimes I miss being outside of the freelance game reviewing grind. But one benefit is the complete lack of pressure to be timely. This week I've played MADWORLD (Wii) & SPIRIT CAMERA: THE CURSED MEMOIR (3ds) and they're both weird and interesting and very much time capsules of their era.

This is exactly it. The work is the point.

Come for the art, stay for the column! www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

After reading about him in Becca Rothfeld's ALL THINGS ARE TOO SMALL, I finally saw my first Eric Rohmer film, and man did it pluck my 40something strings. Watch "Love in the Afternoon" (not the Hepburn one from the 50s, the French one from the 70s) and see if you don't vibrate the same.

Confession Time: Sometimes I miss websites with frames.

After seeing Sony begin their show with WOLVERINE's blood-soaked claws and Microsoft begin their show with GEARS's blood-soaked everything, I think back to my screed yelled into the void back in 2017... (Click for your daily requirement of BONSAI BARBER) www.avclub.com/hey-games-st...

Stumbled upon this book when I was looking for an old article of mine... and saw that Navarro-Remesal cites it! (The article in question seems to be so much digital dust, sadly... at least after a cursory search. Look for yourself: "The Rise of Slow Gaming, Our Cultural Antidote to Angry Birds"

Are you, too, a fan of remainders? If you even know what that is, you'll want to click and scoop 'em up from @harvardbookstore.bsky.social, the best in the biz. 3 days only! hbswarehousesale.com

As evidence to back up #20's inclusion: My 7yo has been going around the house enthusiastically saying "I'm Barry Sanders!" for no particular reason.

I haven't published any freelance work in awhile and this old postcard gave me the language to accept and explain

Enjoying this post-State of Play chat as I ignore all the excitement and/or ennui re: new God of War + Insomniac game because I'm just gonna go start Chapter 3 of Mysterious Book tonight anyway www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiO3...