Ooh, hopeful that the line about "drama, children's, documentary, arts or educational programs" means that shitty, knock-off reality shows don't count.

New book review is up! I haven't watched Mickey17 yet, but I did read the book it's based on and, you know, it's pretty good. #BookSky medium.com/@lawardornd/...

New book review is up! I haven't watched Mickey17 yet, but I did read the book it's based on and, you know, it's pretty good. #BookSky medium.com/@lawardornd/...

Since I am too sick to write a lengthy article today, here's a often-overlooked piece of mine that you all should read. docseuss.medium.com/as-writers-w...

ICYMI: No Escape has launched its content plan for 2026! We’re moving away from covering AAA games and towards bringing you thoughtful coverage of indies of all stripes. - We’re bringing the magazine back - We’re starting a podcast - We’re commissioning more writers noescapevg.com/content-note...

Posted this thread over on Twitter, but it has some relevance here in terms of how people read and react to social media posts from reporters (and specifically how I operate). So I'm also posting it here...

it's weird to me that the Snake Eater remake just came and went with almost zero discourse. that's been happening a lot

reminder that we've got a pitch guide for freelance, if you ever feel like writing something up

If I win the lottery, I'm putting together a games website. Goal: get a bunch of writers whose primary focus is on helping readers answer questions they didn't know they had, and a newsroom dedicated to supporting reporters with what they need to cover good stuff Have em backed by a great ad team

Lol he bought my handle for a domain name. Totally normal thing to do for someone that definitely is not stalking me.

"where is all the good writing about games" now replaced with "where is the money for good writing about games"

This week: 31 terrifying picks on haunted houses, costumes, Blue Prince, cozy games, friction, media literacy, and much, much more: critical-distance.com/2025/10/26/o...

A bit of common sense prevails! Now to find a way to make the bastards pay more than a pittance for stolen work www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Oh my god some fucking tech dingdong posted this on Twitter with the caption "AI games are going to be amazing" totally seriously, you have to watch it. You have to. In full screen.

When developers get the lion's share of a video game's profits and not executives and shareholders, then we can talk about raising the price of games. But miss me with this $100 shit when we have leeches like Phil Spencer and Andrew Wilson constantly laying off devs for a quarterly boost.

That explains a lot.

This likely undercounts because I'm still signed up to the platform that provided the data despite effectively leaving the field. But why not? The corporate sector of the games media is designed to burn people out. Gods, I do miss the work, though...

After 6 years with TheGamer, Valnet has decided to shut down features and lay off the entire team, including me. I don't know what's next for me but I intend to stay in games, whether that's at another outlet, consulting, or PR. If you have any leads, I'd appreciate any help

Valnet unfortunately let go of the entire TheGamer features team today alongside several other staff members. Many incredibly talented and hard working writers I've had the pleasure of working with over the past several years.

I love a good literary map. Might have to check out the book related to this exhibition. (Times like this I miss living in London...)

We crushed it on Second Wind in Q3. Typically a slower quarter, but as we close in on year two I’ve never been more confident in our business for the longterm. We had such a crazy start, and of course some rough patches early on, but we’re in a good spot now. Read our latest quarterly report.

The Great When is about the power of imagination to define and shape the world — and how that can be either a source of great hope or utterly terrifying. It's also one of the best books I've read this year. A review: medium.com/@lawardornd/...

It's 2025, and the LNP's first policy announcement for the next election is... income tax cuts. They really need a new playbook.

Lmao

Alan Moore's The Great When blends hugely imaginative fantasy with grimy historical fiction, but does it work? medium.com/@lawardornd/...

Israel apparently being able to decide unilaterally when the ceasefire is and is not in effect is obscene

My latest book review is up. This time, I've looked at Alan Moore's The Great When. Moore is probably best known for Watchmen and V For Vendetta, but how does his latest novel stack up? #BookSky medium.com/@lawardornd/...

Feels relevant. Ursula K. Le Guin on kindness from The Left Hand of Darkness #BookSky

Probably should have seen Boy Swallows Universe coming. Didn’t vote (couldn't narrow it down), so can't complain. It is a great book, though #Top100Books

big news for vonnegut fans

Reading Ursula K. Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness at the moment, and I love how specific it is. It's unashamedly about something, and the world is so well built. Some damn fine lessons in writing going on here 📚💙

GUESS WHO'S BACK BACK AGAIN DOC'S BACK TELL A FRIEND That's right. It's time for part 3 of the FPS series; this time, a lot of assorted thoughts on what makes for good enemy design. This one was fun as hell to write. docseuss.medium.com/building-a-b...

Hey Gmail... The fuck you mean I now have to turn on AI summaries if I want you to continue sorting my emails as you have for years? Goddamn enshittification

So rich, so rare, so exhilarating – Aurealis #185, our October 2025 issue, is here. Get it, or subscribe, at www.aurealis.com.au

Industria 1 also has very strong HL2 vibes. The sequel even more so (I have a build). I'm loving this low-to-mid budget but high-quality kind of throwback to early 2000s FPS design, and I mean all that in the most complimentary way.

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy: www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

R. F. Kuang's sixth novel, Katabasis, stars two Cambridge post-grads n a question to save their advisor's soul from hell. It's a great premise, but how well does the execution stack up? medium.com/@lawardornd/...

Should you read Katabasis by R. F. Kuang? I'm trying to make my media review and criticism hats fit again, starting with fortnightly book reviews. #BookSky medium.com/@lawardornd/...

Should you read Katabasis by R. F. Kuang? I'm trying to make my media review and criticism hats fit again, starting with fortnightly book reviews. #BookSky medium.com/@lawardornd/...

... The further we travel down this GenAI rotspiral, the more obvious it becomes that it was a mistake. Imagine not just thinking this, but thinking it's in any way appropriate to write with the intention of publishing

Getting real close to going back to doing everything in ledgers and notebooks...

It’s official: EA is going private. The leveraged buyout will be financed by a staggering $20 billion of debt, which likely means some *aggressive* cost cutting is ahead for EA in the coming months and years. www.businesswire.com/news/home/20...

Alien: Earth hits a lot of what was missing from Romulus—it's confidently its own thing with its own ideas. Shout out to @darrenmooney.bsky.social's piece on it. I was fetched by the parallels of Kavalier and Wendy both trying to control things they didn't understand www.patreon.com/posts/139791...

My latest cartoon for @theguardian.com books p.s. My new book of science cartoons is here: www.tomgauld.com/comic-books-v2

Oh, hey. Those are my words!

Updated my one-sentence reviews for the first time in a month, so if you want to know what I've been reading/watching/playing recently, here's the list: www.patreon.com/posts/119062...

This was a really interesting conversation about books and modernity and ideology. Should reread Fahrenheit 451. [The Minefield] Are we on the brink of a world without books? On Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451” #theMinefield 📚💙 www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

As a student of journalism… this past week has made me so, SO angry. Just completely irresponsible people.

New books for review have arrived!