"In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limits." www.computerworld.com/article/4059...

My book, Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun, is out next February! It is a lively cultural history of the world's most beloved video game company, drawing from 20 years' worth of reporting and interviews. Pre-order here: linktr.ee/super_nintendo

It is fucked up what they did to the headphone jack

If they're removing bugs they can start with those little drill head bastards in the Blasted Wastes

This gets at exactly why I fail to enjoy most open world games in the Ubisoft mould: you're not playing the game, you're playing the UI. With a little bravery and trust in the player, as Stephen discovers here, they could be so much better

do u think we just sound like animal crossing villagers to cats

Videogames, a short story:

Fuckin Last Judge, man. I can't do it

yeah. this is very true, and *as a woman working in games in 2014* it was extraordinary how many of us were screaming that something VERY NEW AND BAD was happening and how little of a shit the mainstream media gave about either women or 'what's going on in videogames'

For Super Mario Bros' 40th anniversary, here is an enjoyable insight into its creation (from my forthcoming book, Super Nintendo - linktr.ee/super_nintendo)

This show has gotten me through a bunch of difficult days as I've been recovering from a nerve injury - I came for Mae Martin, stayed for about 5 more seasons

Today is the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros, one of the many iconic Nintendo games that @mackeza.bsky.social talks about in her upcoming book, Super Nintendo. Our super shiny proofs of Super Nintendo are in now and we can't wait to get them into the hands of early readers 👀

This week's column is about the obvious thing, as I slowly lose my mind in Bellhart and my dreams are soundtracked by chanting bugs www.theguardian.com/games/2025/s...

Will someone please find iNiS and show them this

A guy on my train is also playing Silksong! I keep trying to catch his eye so we can do this

Going to be talking about Mario's 40th anniversary on BBC Radio 4 shortly ✌️

Going back to my childhood home now that I can double jump onto the roof

I have spent 3 hours in the same extremely challenging part of the Silksong map, facing down a punishing gauntlet of flying things and evilly-positioned pogo-balloons. My thumbs hurt. I KNOW this area isn't on the main path and I could simply leave, but because I am Like This I simply can't give up

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.

I wrote a piece for the Guardian games newsletter this week on my PhD research into preserving play experiences, and why I think that the most archaeological games are those that that actually make you *think* like one 🏺 www.theguardian.com/games/2025/s...

The EHRC Code will devastate trans people's lives. This is an emergency. Here are three ways to fight back. Take action now: www.transsolidarityalliance.com/ehrc-code

Join @mackeza.bsky.social as she takes us on a joyous exploration of our love of video games and offers unparalleled access to the company that created some of the world’s most beloved characters. Super Nintendo, loading 12 February 👾 guardianbookshop.com/super-ninten...

My book, Super Nintendo: How One Japanese Company Helped the World Have Fun, is out next February! It is a lively cultural history of the world's most beloved video game company, drawing from 20 years' worth of reporting and interviews. Pre-order here: linktr.ee/super_nintendo

I feel like Crystal Dynamics has had extremely bad luck for a very long time

One fun thing about being old enough to have been around for the launch of Gmail is that sometimes, when you're searching your inbox for something unrelated, you find some heinously embarrassing fan mail that you wrote when you were 14 and have to take the rest of the morning to recover

I don’t think Nintendo is perfect by any stretch, but they’re definitely masters at responding to the overall mood. During the pandemic, we got a game about talking to your neighbors and giving them presents and nice letters. Now, we get a giant ape just smashing the shit out of everything.

I may have a problem

Wish me luck! Just gotta drive a truck containing the only copy of the source code and all the assets for Silksong across this bridge

This is a good article about how YouTube (and others) have slowly ruined children's TV, but also: this has been obvious for AGES now. It was evident that YouTube was a real problem for kids 12-13 years ago, when I was raising my now adult stepson. Nobody listened! www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...

I've been quiet lately because my body simply refuses to heal from a very painful nerve injury I picked up back in March, I am at least back writing Pushing Buttons again. Please send me some fun questions for Question Block! [email protected] www.theguardian.com/global/2022/...

I have gotten my children into the original 2000 Pokémon anime (happy to report that they are already nearly world-perfect on the theme song) and am about to witness as they watch the episode about the abandoned Charmander that mildly traumatised me when I was a kid

I suppose this is the point when I should say again that: the amount of money the videogames industry brings into the UK economy every year is *more than double* the value of the fishing and steel industries *combined* what this country is really good at is producing culture

The Nintendo skepticism at this time was omnipresent - it's hard to believe in retrospect but truly, most things you read would dismissively suggest that Nintendo would soon go the way of Sega and you'd be playing Mario on an Xbox. And Nintendo was about to enter its most successful era!

Everything that @grahamsmith.bsky.social writes here about the purpose and technique of games criticism is so good that I want to steal it for my own style guide. (Actually a lot of this IS in my style guide, just not so brilliantly or succinctly expressed) www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-sunday-p...

I've had Bananza since launch day, but have not managed to actually play it because my 5-year-old has decided that ONLY HE may be Donkey Kong. Now I have to watch him suck at it whilst relegated to the role of Pauline. Can't even play it when he's not around because IT'S SUMMER, HE IS ALWAYS AROUND

Most of the internet used to be like this. This is actually the default, it took companies enclosing the internet and adding weird, soul-killing incentives to make people behave the way they do now. In a way, there is truly nothing special about Wikipedia except that it survived longer.

Hello. It's almost been 10 years since UNDERTALE released. Now, I'm looking for your memories. Let's turn back together. Face the flower and speak. memories.undertale.com

Apple is delisting Wheels of Aurelia from the App Store, because it's... "obsolete". Our statement:

"i asked grok" "i asked chatgpt" yeah well i asked carl sagan and he said the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance but the illusion of knowledge 🧪

I wrote about being part of the very specific micro-generation that burned MiniDiscs full of horribly compressed mp3s from LimeWire for our friends and crushes, sometimes with unforseen consequences www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Gotta catch 'em all! on.games Check out our #Pikachu cover with matching Pokémon slipcase! Inside the mag, @christapsell.bsky.social speaks to a Pokémon archaeologist in the quest to find the mysterious Mew. #pokemon #gamesmagazine

The way I YELPED at this

The Pro Skater games shaped a generation's music taste, but they were even more transformative for the bands on the soundtracks. I spoke to Less Than Jake, The Ataris, Drain, AFI, The 900 and Tony Hawk himself about how Pro Skaters' killer soundtracks changed their lives

A great Sunday morning read!

Bam Margera is back. Here is my lengthy interview with the skating icon. This is one of my most personal interviews, and something I've wanted to do for my entire career. Give it a read, please. Shares are very much appreciated! www.videogameschronicle.com/features/the...

Happy Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 day to all who celebrate www.theguardian.com/games/2025/j... @grapedosmil.bsky.social

Big fan of Purity Ring here, so the news that their next album is a soundtrack for an imaginary RPG really hits the centre of my personal Venn diagram www.theguardian.com/games/2025/j...

Non-violent games about cooking, farming or tidying now rival the more traditional video game pursuits of shooting and fighting in popularity. What's next for "cosy" games? @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social finds out: www.theguardian.com/games/2025/j...