The world feels a little less dark this morning, doesn't it. A tinge more Green.

Inclined to agree.

Was just checking out some old links to stuff I'd written years ago for @pcgamesn.com and @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social and, rather depressingly, my name has either been removed entirely or replaced by someone else's. Classy.

Played a game, had some opinions, typed them up:

This looks utterly charming. After six months exclusively flying spaceships, I'm ready to try on some different wings.

Oh my! I sat across from Nick during my short time at Imagine and we caught up again over the summer, for a feature he was writing. A really lovely bloke whose knowledge and patience will be hugely missed. Huge condolences to family and friends.

The Steam page for our first game is now LIVE! 🎮✨ We've heard wishlists are pretty important. (Please wishlist us!) 🐊 store.steampowered.com/app/4218800/...

I would urge you to listen this series on the history of Gaza, stretching back to the Bronze Age. The ep on post-WWI British rule is devastating: at the same time Nazi's were dive-bombing Guernica on behalf of Spanish fascists, the RAF was doing the same to Arab villages in Palestine.

Time to download Too Good To Go...

Debug and Debug++ subscribers can now access all their digital magazines in one place... Not a subscriber? No problem. You can see all the digital issues you own here, too!

New issue! Hope you like purple.

Pondering #EliteDangerous: What if CMDRs could opt out of weekly gameplay ARX and rather that it being lost to the ether, it was put in a big pot and either raffled or converted into $$$ and given to charity? I dunno, but with 60k stuff soon to be available, 400 is bordering on contemptuous ;)

Tuned in to the tail end of #TheLastNightoftheProms (expecting #MOTD) and it cheers my heart that at this bastion of conservative patriotism there were more EU flags being waved that Union Jacks. Was it always ever thus?

Our free games industry magazine Debug++ has a Physical Edition and it’s shipping today! If you want to contribute, be featured, or have comments and suggestions please chat to editor @zptr.bsky.social Get you copy: debug.plus

Just got back from having the father-in-law looking after the kids for 4 days and the place looks like 3 children have been home alone rather than two left with a responsible adult.

You don't have to be an all-in-one #indiedev or coder, btw. Maybe you're all about the pixels, or the words, or a tunesmith, or, like me, wrangle content for others to ogle over (or whatever the aural equivalent is). You just need to identify as indie and have a god-like hero in your chosen field.

You heard about it on OLL, now go and check it out! Go on!! #GameDev

I really should crack on with the next ish of @debug.plus, which means I need to find another victim/subject for this soon-to-be series. So, if you're an #indiedev that sees themselves more on the left of this pic, who might be the person on the right that you'd like to quiz?

The colour proof of the first ever issue of FREEZE-ZX has *just* landed, and it looks gorgeous! Hopefully the bulk order of print will arrive this time next week, at which point I’ll start posting out pre-orders. Secure your copy from: freeze64.com/freezezx-iss... #ZXSpectrum #Speccy

Gosh, GFN really is quite good isn't it! I've been comparing #EliteDangerous on Deck through GFN vs native and even sans tweaks it's noticably better. Kind of a shame to use the Deck as a dumb terminal though.

The mealy-mouthed Labour government continually takes 2 steps back for every inch forward. If you believe in a state's right to exist, you don't make it conditional on its neighbour continuing to be genocidal.

Did that paddleboarding thing at the weekend and didn't fall in the water once. I've now convinced myself that I need to get serious; buy my own and start thinking about the next Olympics.

The mag I've been working on, @debug.plus, is out. It's free, full of #indiedev insight, and I think quite good. Check it out so I can do another one.

Hello! Our latest episode did indeed feature Mr Richie Shoemaker @zptr.bsky.social and he did cover himself in glory despite an incorrect score! 😆 You've still time to get your letters to us before our final episode ahead of the summer hols! Zap 'em to us at team<at>onelifeleft.com ASAP! #GameDev

Career highlight! I was invited on the @onelifeleft.com podcast this week to talk about a new mag that I've been working on and some old ones that I wish were still around. I might not have covered myself in glory, but I'll score it a 9/10 anyway. www.onelifeleft.com#listen

Every time I think about putting some ££ aside to get with the current gen, a new Speccy comes along. Life is so unfair.

If you need something to write about this week, or just want to feel old (although not as old as Florence Cohen would be), Hot Coffee was er, being reheated around this time 20 years ago. www.gamesindustry.biz/take-two-fac...

Internal dialogue: I wonder if this free magazine needs "FREE" somewhere around the masthead? Nah, it cheapens it.

I've often wondered how life might've turned out had I taken the other job. Would I have been thrown on the scrapheap after working on SWOS 97/98 (as some were) to never trouble the industry again, or risen through the ranks elsewhere, throwing other people on the scrapheap 23/24?

That's a mighty fine cover.

EVE's reign as my most played game is about to end o7

Career aspirations have been met

The Young Gods have a new album out today. If you've not heard of this splendid band, know that they are the best thing to come out of Switzerland since my great grandfather, Albrecht Schumacher, thought the UK in 1912 would be a good place to head for. www.younggods.com/2025/06/new-...

My skills are more transferable than I thought.

Tom's Hardware is seeking contributors for freelance opportunities. We're searching for technical hardware experts with a demonstrable knowledge of consumer and enterprise hardware. If you know the semiconductor industry like the back of your hand, get in touch. sayem.ahmed(at)futurenet(dot)com

Rather ashamed to admit I was largely unaware of Marwan Barghouti until listening to this interview with his son. More people need to know who he is and what he represents in terms of a peaceful way forward for Gaza. youtu.be/bYNSBrA_V4M?...

Finally, FINALLY, we're having decent internet installed tomorrow. Never had fibre before. Expect to see lots of "Zapatero played xxxx for the first time" on your Friend Activity feed.

Not someone you expect to bump into in #EliteDangerous

What is the point of a Guardian tech review when everything gets 4 or 5 stars? Paul Whitehouse was more discerning about Cheesy Peas than this guy is about phones. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

For those that would like to compare and contrast with the version depicted in the #BlackMirror episode, here are some pics from the PC Zone office in the 90s. That's me in the orange shirt and that last pic was my desk. There's an overflowing ashtray in there somewhere. Absolute filth and carnage.

PC Zone is real. The office not so much.

Been listening to Japanese shoegaze of late and at high school pickup today my daughter called it cool. Which means I am cool. Ok, so she didn't say 'cool' (or lit, safe, wicked or rad) but whatever the 2025 word is for cool. I didn't quite catch it, but I am that. Cool dad.

A bit lucky in the first half, brilliant in the second. Play up to stay up!

Not ashamed to admit that productivity takes a hit whenever a new @edzitron.com newsletter appears. Today was no exception. www.wheresyoured.at/power-cut/

Congrats @limeyotoko.bsky.social on your first of many issues as editor. There's life in the old dog yet! The mag, I mean. mcvuk.com/business-new...

I started the year working on four games mags, one of which was very advanced. That one unexpectedly stalled last month (which I'm still pissed about) and another has just been shot down entirely (which was expected and I'm ok with). The other two are still on course. I remain hopeful.

Valentine's Day breakfast courtesy of my amazing wife. Gonna crash hard in about an hour.

Today I learnt two things. The first was the existence of something called a double plus (⧺). The second was that my LinkedIn had been hacked. Thankfully the double plus is of more use to me at the present time.

RIP 'Pubic Hare', my character in Toontown Online, who Disney killed off 20 years ago this month. Yes, he made it through character creation and 18 months of grinding Cogs, but the profanity filter got him in the end.

I went to format some text in a gmail and inadvertently had Gemini rewrite it. Regardless of the fact it did a fucking terrible job, there's no option to undo. If that's not a portent of our shared AI future I don't know what is.