May 2026 👀 My monograph "Characters and Characterization in Mythological Video Games" will be out next year in @bloomsburyacad.bsky.social's IMAGINES series! Many thanks to @ubisoft.com for the #ImmortalsFenyxRising art ⚡ More information (soon!) on www.bloomsbury.com/uk/character...

I’ve been meticulously rotoscoped, that’s why my movements are so realistic

Any sufficiently open videogame world is indistinguishable from tourism: “the player takes a left in Piazza Venezia and enters the Colosseum. After a spiral loop with Swoops ending with a ramp, the player enters the Roman Forum, littered with fallen columns that can be used to obtain Jump Boosts”

In the Bitmap Brothers game The Chaos Engine, “The Mercenary” looks to me a lot like Peter Lorre as Dr Gogol in Mad Love (1935). (Especially since Lorre was completely bald under the hat)

In Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which Greek mythical creatures are these supposed to be? Clue in background

1960s: invention of gashapon capsule toys 1986: invention of Samus Aran's Morph Ball 2000: invention of Pokeballs

There’s a special place in videogames I like to call Greco-Rome. Marisa’s stage in Street Fighter 6 has Spartan warriors in a ruined colosseum. It’s in south central Greco-Rome

Pre-AI: pics or it didn’t happen Post-AI: pics and it didn’t happen

In under 90 minutes from now, I'm chairing Panel 4 of #MythGames2025: "Deep Dive: Supergiant's Hades". Looking forward to it!

This ancient image of a Roman gladiator, accompanied by graffiti, has been dated to August 1983

I think old videogames might be why isometric images of Chinese ports do not register in my brain as real photos.

So very tempted to support this kickstarter game for the GameBoy: Orpheus, To Hell and Back. Puzzle game with music mechanic. It looks really nice. Have you seen it @alexvandewalle.bsky.social @katexe.bsky.social @ancientplay.bsky.social www.kickstarter.com/projects/stu...

Question about Delphi in popular culture: can anyone help? The Oracle famously inhaled fumes, but when is the first time that these were imagined as green? Image is from Call of Duty Black Ops 4 (2018), Zombies mode, Chaos story

Christopher Nolan's Odysseus (for the summer 2026 movie) is Matt Damon with standard-issue manly cheekbone scratch. I've already got a lot of notes, and this is just a helmet

I know you’ve Ben Hur. An Endless Ocean of Horrible Histories can make you so Quraishy, it’s Touch & Go. But Jewel Master The Dream, for a Wonderful Life that Will Rock.

Roses are red Violets are blue Satō wa amakute aishiteimasu

“A skeuomorph is a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues (attributes) from structures that were necessary in the original.” Best DOOM mod ever

Ad for computer camp for children aged 10-16, aimed at girls. It comes SO CLOSE to getting it right...but it was still 1983.

Corrected post (thanks pavelpeychev.bsky.social!) Paradox have bought Haemimont, Bulgaria's excellent games studio, makers of many historical strategy games (Europa Universalis, Glory of the Roman Empire, Imperium Romanum, Grand Ages: Rome). www.paradoxinteractive.com/media/press-...

AI explained with bread: In France, bakeries do not use AI (Chorleywood process) in most outputs (baguettes) because clients (customers) insisted on quality. In the UK and US, bakeries use AI in most outputs, and only clients who spend a lot get the kind they call artisanal. AI = Chorleywood process

I have seen a lot of launch trailers for strategy games and I think this is the best.

Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord composer Winifred Phillips wins Grammy award www.gamedeveloper.com/audio/wizard...

When life gives you Elon, make Elonade.

Homer may be the ultimate dead white European male, except that people have seriously disputed the white, the European, and even the male. In this paper on the lack of evidence for Homer's death I will

I think Dreamlight Valley: The Storybook Vale is trying to start a war with this recipe: Greek Potatoes: Salt Crystal, Potato, Garlic, Any Fruit, Any Spice

Today I learned that Sega’s System 16 chip (used in arcade games like OutRun) routinely came with an enclosed battery, purely so it would malfunction or shut down completely after about ten years. It is known today as the “suicide chip”.

Merry Christmas!🎄

Crossing something off the bucket list today: publish a piece with "farting" in the title

When it come to AI, you can’t make an omelette…that’s it

Please invent and serve me these Nintendo cocktails: Falcon Punch Snow Barrel Blast Honeyhive Galaxy Mighty Darknut Psychic Noise Shinespark

Many citybuilding roads still lead to Rome (other roads lead to the Middle Ages, Old West, outer space, etc, obviously)

"The group's name comes from the Greek word 'chara' (χαρά, lit. 'joy'), which they interpreted to mean 'sweet melody'"

I know this is Theseus and Ariadne, but Moebius drew exactly how I imagine Dido and Aeneas’ early days

Today I learned that the Emperor in Warhammer 40K is, canonically, a prehistoric man called Neoth who became Alexander the Great.

The first boss of the PS2 Rygar (2002) has the form of living pink slime inside some merged giant statues. Why? Here's a theory: One model is Tessai in Ninja Scroll (1993). He is a stone-skinned giant, dispatched with rather pink and gooey-looking gore. The other model is Ghostbusters 2 (1989).

Archaeology on Twitter is like “Hadrian’s Wall is a continuous barrier of incredible length. There is evidence of ditches, ramparts, even forts. But its real function remains mysterious. The stones are so exactly aligned that not even a credit card can fit between them”

there's a game that satirizes mobile game ads, called "YEAH! YOU WANT "THOSE GAMES," RIGHT? SO HERE YOU GO! NOW, LET'S SEE YOU CLEAR THEM!" (There's also YYWTGRSHYGNLSYCT 2.)

I know some people who shouldn't hear about a Roman architectural crafting game. Not because they'd hate it. Because they'd want it in a worrying way. www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxPP...

Kharon the ferryman from Mortal Kombat XI (2019). Proof that Greek names have authentic Ks in the MK universe. The same game introduced the titaness Kronika.

“Which of you beanbags brought the tripod in?” “It’s OK, he’s my emotional support tripod, he’ll stay plugged in right here.”

Post your favourite Pokemon, wrong answers only.

The Tribunal in their secret meeting chamber (Metalocalypse, 2006-2013). The Council in their secret meeting chamber (Carmen Sandiego, 2019-2021).

I don’t know what these inflatable sticks are called, but they are loud

¡Vamos!

New Gaming experience III conference in Cordova kicking off. Time to get my head in the game

Work as Wendell Berry writes:

Bluesky is mainstream now, so I'm going to... stay on it, obviously? We were all on Xitter BECAUSE it was mainstream, it was other things that spoiled it. If you want a non-mainstream social medium, there are many failures to choose from

We missed this! "Age of Empires - Battle for Greece, an immersive narrative expansion for Age of Empires II that transports players to the world of classical antiquity." 🏛️ www.ageofempires.com/games/aoeiid... 🏺CC @alexvandewalle.bsky.social, @gamingthepast.bsky.social, @ancientplay.bsky.social

I'm speaking at this videogames conference on Friday, check it out