‘This shouldn’t be normal’: developers speak out about bigotry on Steam, the world’s biggest PC gaming storefront

Bandai Missile Invader, 1980. it’s possible I should spend less time hanging about on livestreamed auctions

This definitely means there’s going be another Jambo Safari

Hi I wrote about how Iron Lung isn’t so much a film based on a video game as a film based on watching someone else play a video game. I also answered the age-old question: what is the Citizen Kane of games? www.theguardian.com/games/2026/f...

The justification for these AI experiments is always “this stuff is not going away”. Well no because the tech giants lobbying for it have billions invested in the technology and they’ll do anything to make it mandatory www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Latest from me, and one of the most important pieces on Special Needs I've written so far: "In fifteen years of political journalism, I don’t think I have seen anything quite like this: a mad game of briefing, counter-briefing and official stonewalling." maybeimamazed.substack.com/p/why-the-po...

I am writing this week’s Pushing Buttons newsletter for the Guardian - do you have a question about video games? Anything you’re dying to know about games, the industry, etc, please reply. I have two hours to write this sucker!

Hi I spoke to Jade from Traitors about how playing video games prepared her for life in the castle… www.theguardian.com/games/2026/j...

1: Love is a Curse by @keefstuart.bsky.social: A smartly told story following a woman navigating grief whilst investigating a generational curse. Took a little longer to get its hooks in than his previous books, but it still had me completely invested by the end

Hi I wrote about SpellTower by @stfj.net - one of my favourite ever mobile games!

LONDON! Come see me on 16 Feb at Loading Bar in Stoke Newington, I'll be talking about my book Super Nintendo with my longtime friend and colleague @keefstuart.bsky.social ✌️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/super-nint...

Bathysphere is a newsletter I set up with wonderful gaming pals Christian Donlan and @florencesn.bsky.social last year. It’s about video games, culture, art, archeology and many other things - no gaming news, no hot takes. Now 100% free. Please join us!

I've been subscribed to Bathysphere since the start, and it's been full of really amazing little essays and lots of fascinating links about games, play and surrounding cultures. And now it's completely free! Highly recommend subscribing if you're not already.

Hi, I reviewed the Commodore 64 Ultimate. It was … emotional www.theguardian.com/games/2026/j...

I've been commissioned to write a piece about games based on real places that changed peoples' perception of that place or had some kind of local impact - are you a dev who made a game like this? Or are you a player who has a story about a game that inspired you to visit somewhere? Let me know!

I was having an extremely bad time last year. I started experiencing excruciating pain in my right arm, pain that lasted for months (it's ongoing now). When Hollow Knight Silksong came out, I didn't know if I'd even be able to play it. On Silksong and suffering: www.theguardian.com/games/2026/j...

A disliked government will try to redirect anger at the most vulnerable people in society

I'm going on a BOOK TOUR next month with Super Nintendo! I'm launching it in Glasgow on Feb 12, then London, Brighton Edinburgh, St Andrews and Manchester. Tickets for everywhere are through this link: linktr.ee/super_nintendo

Goodbye David Rosen. I interviewed him ten years ago for my book on the Mega Drive and he was lovely. His influence on the arcade business is incalculable. www.theguardian.com/games/2026/j...

Fresco of January at Castello Buonconsiglio, Trento, Italy, (detail), c. 1405-1410.

Hi, I asked some lovely developers for their favourite Christmas gaming memories. Please have a read and add your own in the comments section. Also, if you celebrate this season or not, all the very best wishes to you from the Guardian games team xx www.theguardian.com/games/2025/d...

Keza and I wrote about Vince Zampella. I suspect I have spent more time in his games than anyone else’s - I’m sure I’m not alone www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

For some reason today, I have remembered the fascinating iPhone game Blackbar, from 2013 about a censorious dystopian regime mrgan.com/blackbar/pre...

The Excavation of Hob's Barrow is a whopping 55% off in the Steam Winter Sale! Inspired by movies such as The Wicker Man & the works of M.R. James, with a little pinch of Twin Peaks and Lovecraft - our folk horror adventure is the perfect play for Christmas! store.steampowered.com/app/1182310/...

Hello, here are the best games of 2025 as chosen by Keza and me! Please enjoy responsibly www.theguardian.com/games/2025/d...

Hiya, I recommended eight local multiplayer games to try with your family and friends this Christmas/winter! www.theguardian.com/games/2025/d...

Hello! I am writing a little thing on Christmas (or wintery festive) gaming memories - e.g. getting particular consoles or games as presents or just memories of playing games. Do you have any that mean something to you? My DMs are open if you want to share?! Xx

Delighted to see this piece up! Massive thank you to all the women who shared their experience with me for this 🖤 www.gamesindustry.biz/a-decade-on-...

There should be a Nobel prize for games preservation

You don't need to write about the vibe-coded game btw.

VIDEOVERSE got 32/40 in Weekly Famitsu and entered the Famitsu Gold Hall of Fame! 🥳🥇 A huge thanks to everyone who helped on the Japanese localisation – This one is for you! 😄

Hi I interviewed Dan Houser in London and we talked about lots of interesting things www.theguardian.com/games/2025/d...

Incredible charity shop DVD haul this morning!

What was your go to Sega magazine back in the day? I spoke to MegaTech editor Paul Glancey about the good old days. 👉 www.forgottenworlds.net/megatech-mag... #Sega #MegaDrive #SonicTheHedeghog #StreetsOfRage #RetroGaming ☀️🌴

I think I am very late to this BUT if you haven’t played Evil Egg yet, play Evil Egg!! It is an incredible twin stick shooter which feels like some lost Commodore 64 masterpiece - you can pay what you like! ivysly.itch.io/evil-egg

I spoke to @fortune.com about my upcoming book Super Nintendo and the secret(s) to Nintendo's enduring success - a large part of which is cultivating and caring for developers instead of hiring and firing everyone in yearly cycles. (Book deets: linktr.ee/super_nintendo) fortune.com/2025/11/28/s...

My book about Nintendo is out soon! Early readers have said incredibly nice things about it! Pre-order here for US/UK: linktr.ee/super_nintendo

So @mikerose.bsky.social & I decided to do a silly podcast comparing notes about indie games & their history & also about suddenly being middle-aged & tired As anyone who knows both of us could have guessed, shenanigans ensued immediately Introducing ⭐ Mike & Rami Are Still Here ⭐ mikeandrami.com

Hi, for this week’s Pushing Buttons newsletter I talked to Dan Houser about the influence of Victorian literature on his games writing - especially Middlemarch on Red Dead Redemption 2 - it was a really interesting chat! www.theguardian.com/games/2025/d...

Hi, Keza and I decided on the 15 most important Xbox 360 games. I’m afraid we will not be taking questions www.theguardian.com/games/2025/d...

New article is live! Why did the UK have so many Sega specific magazines compared to the US? I asked a bunch of magazine editors from the 16bit era. Link below👇 #Sega #MegaDrive #SegaGenesis #SegaPower #MeanMachines #MasterSystem ☀️🌴

TONIGHT! Come play our game about taking billionaires to court for their climate CRIMES ✨

gathered together some of my old games that had fallen off the internet smestorp.itch.io/lots-of-mich...

Last night's interview with Novara on the Rockstar firings is now up as its own standalone video, if you'd like to watch. Delighted to see the story picked up by the wider media in this way, as surreal as it felt to appear on a show I've been watching for years now. www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxuP...

Games industry: games are art Also games industry: “This transaction supports our key priorities by strengthening our focus on strategic assets and core IPs”

For most authors (anyone not regularly on the bestseller list) every single sale counts. The booksellers notice and our publishers notice. Please buy books

Hello I have suggested some Xmas gifts for gamers - these are all things that I own, have tested or that I really want for Christmas. That’s not a hint www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...

The Guardian chose my article on the Sega Master System as one of its six great reads of the week! 😊 www.theguardian.com/news/2025/no...

All those people, including current government, who falsely claim migrants are to blame for failings with the NHS, along with infrastructure in general, are in for one hell of a shock with how much worse things will get with Labour's anti-immigration policies. www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Fair warning! Xmas be approaching, which means I'll be going into full-on retro gaming Christmas mode on Dec 1 and posting old ads, articles, covers, and sundry gaming festive content throughout the month. So if you hate Xmas, you probably better mute me 'til the New Year! 🎄