-100's of games launch on Steam every week -There aren't enough writers to cover them -Pubs/devs don't always respond to emails from excited writers -Editors can't always afford to pay for reviews/features Please don't rush to blame writers/sites when something niche isn't covered. We're trying.

We’re a podcast about old gaming mags, and yup

Ride this wave this Friday morning!!

minutes after halting trading on all your shares and postponing your earnings report, on a thursday afternoon, is a heck of a time to send out a marketing email titled “did someone say black friday??” advertising sales “up to 90% off”

This thread provides actual knowledge for things that I had a vague gut feeling about -- and many things that never would have occurred to me -- about the more affordable Japanese PS5. But Japanese Gen Z playing 3DS more than PS5 illustrates how much of an uphill battle *Sony* faces at home.

1802: Everyone is talking about the new Steam Machine 2025: Everyone is talking about the new Steam Machine

The console wars are back, baby!!

Super Mario World has an extremely eclectic art style whereby many enemies are drawn in completely different ways. Development files reveal Mario went through many stylistic changes; it is possible that all the enemies were made to fit Mario, but at different points in time.

More of you should be regularly talking about @funfactorpod.com, honestly.

!! let’s gooooooooo

We got a labor movement before GTA6

sort of incredible to read a review that doesn't just made a vague nod at AI being bad, but actively reckons with the ways in which falling obsessively to AI usage actively obliterates the artistic intent and integrity of the work you've made.

Fwiw, I actually asked Yoshinori Kitase about this in an interview two years ago and he laughed and literally just said "Tell me why you want that."

“Website different” takes SO much time and effort.

This is what Sid Meier sounds like, right?

Hot CRT action.

This is what Sid Meier sounds like, right?

Hey, everyone: Your FunFactor Fuesday and/or GOOD FUNFACTOR MORNING are sliiiiiiightly delayed, but coming very soon!

life is imitating video games, all our society’s most notorious criminals are now also somehow our most severe hotties

shooters shoot

multiple editors at worker-owned outlets posting pitch guides this week, we absolutely love to see it

Zohran Mamdani caught lying when he said Schala Zeal and her younger brother Janus (late Magus) have purple hair, yet when pressed he admits that Chrono Cross canonically stated members of the Zeal royal family have blonde hair which they dye purple.

This is a harder pattern but you can get through it if you hug the right and just weave up and down as the balls spread out. Good to save a bomb for this one if you can.

uhhhhhhh

My latest, an overdue love letter to my favorite SRPG. Now that I got to make my own "Final Fantasy Tactics is relevant to today's political landscape" piece, I can finally read all the good ones I had to ignore while working on this!

👀😬👀

A legend!!

my boy has been on the picket line for *months*, while dealing with some big-deal real life stuff. if you have a sense of solidarity and a little change to spare, helping him out would be super rad: www.paypal.com/paypalme/aid...

One of the major challenges here is that due to my in-laws’ car accident, I’m basically doing primary childcare around my picketing shifts, so I’m not only losing out on my regular paycheque, but am also unable to do freelance work for secondary income. Never gonna get that money back.

The bloodbath is global. Everyone hears about layoffs at English-speaking sites like Polygon, but every other language just gets reported locally. Jovem Nerd is big enough to get a cameo NPC & quest in Cyberpunk 2077. When they fired their game journalists, only Brazilians heard about that... :/

Was fun!

Our newest bonus epsiode is LIVE! We were thrilled to get to talk to @mattleone.bsky.social about games media, journalism, and the launch of his amazing new site, Design Room: www.designroom.site

Oh, hell yeah. I’m gonna have to figure out how to buy this issue in Canada, haha.

Hot @funfactorpod.com action.

Seeing some of the insane responses to Legends Z-A just solidifies my opinion that Pokémon Sword/Shield irreversibly damaged all video game discussion online and I say this as someone who has their fair share of grievances with The Pokémon Company/Game Freak.

It’s FunFactor… Fonday? Today we’ve got an à la carte bonus episode of @funfactorpod.com with @mattleone.bsky.social to chat about games history and preservation, how we tell stories, and his new oral histories project: @designroom.bsky.social. Extended preview in the free feed!

this is how you integrate magic and UB

Like retro video games? Read any video game magazines when you were younger? Go listen to @funfactorpod.com and then when it is awesome buy a subscription. @aidanmoher.com is awesome and it is really the least we can do while he is on strike for his day job.

Not sure who makes Pure Pool Pro, but the agency they hired to promote the game is doing sleazy-ass "if you cover our demo, we'll give you our game" shit. Clown-ass behavior.

👀👀👀👀👀👀

The Assassin’s Creed series was a canary in the coal mine for our modern, engagement-obsessed world. @ckunzelman.bsky.social explains:

yoooooooooo, thank you @moegamer.net!!

This is honestly such a lovely examination of @funfactorpod.com and what makes it so special to me and @tyschalter.com. Pete’s a king.

Four ways to avoid taking damage in FF6

gotta be honest, I am in the very fortunate position where I just do not have to think about game subscription prices. They go on the business card and it all gets written off. I don't even consider it. But that Ultimate price has me thinking about cancelling... from that position. That's bad lol

ironically, "guys who know nothing about the medium pretending they know everything about the medium" does, in fact, cement games as art in the debate of "are games art"

Fun fact: One of EA's new owners, Affinity Partners (investment group founded by Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner) has a similar logo to fictional Templar-run evil Assassin's Creed gaming company Abstergo Entertainment

A lot of people are (understandably) focused on the Saudi Arabia and Kushner part of this, but the far bigger immediate impact will come from the new private EA being on the hook for $20 billion in debt. That could mean mass layoffs, more aggressive monetization, and other big cost-cutting measures

I finally cleaned up my messy cablework