Planet of Lana II builds on its predecessor’s strong foundation, but retains some of the original game’s issues. @alexgreen9898.bsky.social reviews.

This looks cool, Nintendo should make a game based around this guy

Busy time means I've become the guy carving up time in a coffee shop to sit with my Edge subscription and catch up

At some point, I will write something about how Starfield exemplifies the worst of 2020s AAA gaming.

Further thoughts: Gaming has always had an identity crisis between being a tech industry and an artistic one. At its best, its a hybrid of both. At worst, its a grim extreme. This is that principle to a tee.

"Geometry, texture assets and materials are unchanged" - Really living in an alternate reality with that line. These companies are destroying the planet and our water resources for this? To make Grace Ashcroft look even deader behind the eyes?

This is part of the reason I don't want to see a trailer for a game until its coming out in a year or two. The games industry built itself on endless hype for games rather than encouraging players to properly focus on games, creating players who aren't excited and don't actually engage

Not only did the US, per its own ‘intelligence,’ bomb this girls primary school, THEY BOMBED IT TWICE. www.reutersconnect.com/item/the-pri...

On a side note, the Greens seemed to be the only party to pitch a local candidate who had worked in the region both in trade and in politics and, you know, might actually appeal on that basis to voters. A party winning for that surely is a good thing

Resident Evil Requiem’s great first impressions and rock solid gameplay are undermined by some questionable story and pacing choices in the game’s second half. Despite this, @stopcar.ing finds there is plenty of life left in this corpse in their review.

Of Monsters and Men last night, absolutely fab

I don't think people understand how truly inhuman the tech bros and technocrats are. This is about as good of an understanding of that mentality.

You thought Xbox was bad right now? Don't worry, it can get worse

Perfect example of modern AAA gaming, where an excellent and highly respected studio is given terrible direction from above, then shut when that terrible direction obviously doesn't work

At some point, everyone will realise LiS2 has the most intriguing and potent narrative in the series

Park Chan Wook, don't let me down!!

The state of Ubisoft.

I do love this series, but I yearn for when 2 and True Colours were creatively bold enough to swing the series in completely new directions with gameplay that had its own identity.

Bit late, but my top 15 films of 2025 (as released in the UK)

Privileged to be part of the annual startmenu awards committee and to award the highly prestigious 'JUST STOP' and 'Game that is never coming out' awards!

Make a Bond movie academic: A Peer Review To a Kill

Merry Christmas to all those celebrating today!

My piece for @startmenu.bsky.social as part of the winter spectacular! Take a gander and whilst you're at it, read some of the other fabulous pieces

Every director would dream of a run this good. I still regularly watch A Few Good Men, a film full of fascinating quirks about the nature of American might & mentality. RIP to a fabulous filmmaker.

Are our game collections doomed to disappear along with us when we die? @coledone.com unpacks the problem of ownership when it comes to digital libraries, as well as what it means to hold a cartridge in your hands in 2025.

A few bits for this: - Watching Possession (1981) and squirming in panic all through the tunnel sequence - Just this week, the ending of It Was Just an Accident - Watching Cold War (2018) with my Dad

FOLKS, WE HAVE SUCH A KILLER LINE UP FOR THE WINTER SPECTACULAR THIS YEAR!

Did some words, reviewed a game!

Sometimes, graffiti isn't a complicated thing. Sometimes, it sums up the state of the world very easily

Man, sometimes there's a film that reminds you how good cinema is and how valuable it is to watch a film with people.

Watched Long Walk on Sunday, then House of Dynamite on Monday. Really good way to lose all hope over two days.

A relaxing week away on the Isle of Wight! Now, time for some good old wrasslin!

NEW: During an interview at the Xbox booth on the Gamescom show floor, I attempted to ask a veteran Obsidian developer for their thoughts on making video games at Microsoft amid layoffs and widespread criticism over the company's links to Israel. I was immediately shut down.

The fact that the thing we're calling artificial intelligence *can't do math* and yet we're jamming it into programs that successfully *have done math* for decades, then warning people against using the AI to do math, seems like an excellent summary of where we are.

Ok, so. I've been let go of my job at TheGamer. If you're looking for a gaming journalist with 7+ years of experience in the field and 3 years of experience as an editor, just hit me up at [email protected], or check santileguiza.com to read my work!

The natural end point of the government's feckless obsession with AI

All the dire implications notwithstanding it is hilarious how evil this technology is. Billions of dollars spent on this greasy lying stupid thing that was literally built to replace people, and everyone that uses it gets weaker, lazier, dumber, and sadder for having done so. Well done all around.

Those lionesses!! What a team, full of fight through the tournament and full of spirit!

Notts Pride!!

I watched The Happytime Murders in a cinema and have never felt more embarrassed for the medium of film

Good news: Avoided heatwave by being in a air conditioned hotel room yesterday Bad news: The film on offer was Independence Day: Resurgence. Almost considered burning in the heat.

Hulkenberg P3!! Absolute scenes!

As one illustration of just how sloppy and chaotic today's mass Xbox layoff has been, some employees at Zenimax Online Studios are now watching their Slack accounts abruptly get locked out. No message from HR, no word on whether they still have a job, just an ominous Slack deactivation

Was genuinely excited for this game, but its simple. If you're going to not bother crafting your text and outsource to derivative LLMs, why should I care? Particularly when there's so many other games with genuine craft and care?

His name is Mr Abagnale. Not AbagNaily, not Abagnahly, but Abagnale.

Given the choice of watching the Summer Games Fest, or going camping and seeking out puffins on the East Coast of the UK, the option was straightforward.

Finally listened to the vinyl that made me get a record player

I wrote some words about the fabulous game despelote!

Gaming is a hobby that seems to be getting more expensive by the day. Thankfully, @wendeego.bsky.social has collated a list of fully fledged experiences you can play right now for free. www.startmenu.co.uk/home/a-guide...

Don't post often but here's a quick fundraiser to share. The University of Birmingham student newspaper, Redbrick, is having a fundraising drive to sustain its future. Please give if you can, it has given a start to so many great writers and journalists. www.justgiving.com/campaign/red...