Love that transparencies in Diablo II Resurrected are now so effective that I don’t know where walls are anymore and just get stuck on everything while trying to avoid bosses or navigate my way past convoluted architecture and level design.

I wasted all this time playing a Warlock in Diablo II Resurrected only to discover that it’s an ‘online’ character and if I want to play offline I have to create an offline-specific character? I’m old enough to remember when it was the same thing. That’s time wasted.

How’s Operation Distract From The Epstein Files going?

Dom Dolla closed out Electric Avenue, and while most people kept their dancing compact and civil, there’s always gotta be some ****s doing capoeira that just don’t know how to keep their elbows to themselves. I swear this ***** was on MDMA or something because *** was all elbows AND grinding on me.

hey fellas, THIS IS NOT A GOOD LOOK. Douchemullets and wannabe pornstaches are OUT. They never came back IN. You look BAD.

Ladies: Free festival ProTip — Don’t wear heels to a festival, especially one with a grass/dirt floor. I mean… ?

Ladies: Free festival ProTip — Don’t wear heels to a festival, especially one with a grass/dirt floor. I mean… ?

Why are mullets so popular again? It’s like every dude at this festival is in a rush to look like every other mulleted dude. Shop off a different rack, fellas.

I asked and Leftfield delivered. Got my shirt ahead of tonight’s show at #electricavenue and the their show in Wellington at Shed 6. #Leftfield twice in one week? I have never had it so good.

REVIEW: Electric Avenue promised a party bigger and better than Australasia had ever seen before, and boy, did it deliver.

Review: Split Enz makes history at Christchurch’s Electric Avenue

Totally vibes-enhancing glasses. It’s easy to see when I put them on but watch for the moment I take them off. #SplitEnz #ElectricAvenue

Before and after #Ravewear glasses. Will post a video next.

The world’s sickest spoon solo courtesy of the legendary Split Enz, during their 1,000th show (they were stuck on 999 forever) for their 50th anniversary. Amazing band to see live, actually. Neil Finn (Crowded House) and older bro Tim Finn were in great form. Neil shreds on guitar too.

I can’t wait til the Logan Paul/Jake Paul douche-mullet dies the horrible death it deserves. So many young dudes at this festival rocking it not realizing how bad they look.

I got glasses that make everything trippy. It changes this into this. In lieu of medicinal enhancements, this’ll have to do. #ElectricAvenue

Eternia is in peril! ⚔️🏰 Skeletor has uncovered the Dragon Pearl of Destruction, and only you can stop him. Take control of He-Man, Teela, and more in this high-octane magic brawler! Available digitally on PC and Consoles on MOTU Day, April 28! Wishlist now! bit.ly/4tUlSPx

Marvel Super Heroes, assemble! Presenting, MARVEL MaXimum Collection! Featuring 13 illustrious games, preserved across all their console and handheld counterparts. Including X-Men: The Arcade Game, Maximum Carnage, and more! Take to the streets, and welcome to MARVEL MaXimum Collection!

Hands down the best cold cure. Have sneezed approximately 15,000 times over the past few days so it was time to take the nuclear option.

The links are starting to pile up so I made a Beacons thing to organize everything. Preorder my #NobuoUematsu biography ‘Nobuo Uematsu: On The Record’ here, or read up on my latest articles, features and stories. ✍️ beacons.ai/jamesmielke

Thanks @wario64.bsky.social!

Amazing how an entire Kotaku article spawned out of a Bluesky (or was it X?) conversation. Kudos for mentioning my upcoming Uematsu biography though! @danshoehsu.bsky.social kotaku.com/final-fantas...

Thanks to my local pal we were able to determine what befell my gaming rig, and it turned out to be RAM gone bad, which is like Girls Gone Bad, but way lamer. Perfect timing too, since memory prices are spiking due to stupid AI. Could have been worse tho. At least it's not my 3D card.

I hope Sony doesn't lay off the entire Bungie staff 23 minutes after Marathon ships. That seems to be how things go these days.

Watching videos of New York’s snowfall with severe envy, and saw the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.

Got the best toy. Tokyo enjoyers will appreciate this.

The Rick Astley of our times? Budapest by George Ezra www.shazam.com/track/968741...

Nice write-up about Nobuo Uematsu: On The Record. I’m in no rush to watch my life go whizzing by any faster than it needs to, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want September to get here in a hurry so you all can read this thing.

Narita Airport or the 4th Ring of Hell? You decide.

Well this is fun. #Tokyo

Tokyo’s Airport Limousine bus ticketing site is some kind of next-level nonsense. Couldn’t set a password for my life, the whole ‘half-width’ requirement always borks everything, it accepts AMEX but didn’t accept my AMEX, the confirmation code went to email and not text. Japan is so bad at websites.

Big news. I wrote a biography on Nobuo Uematsu and it drops this Fall, published by @viz.com. It is jam-packed with amazing revelations about the Final Fantasy composer that the public has never heard about, as shared by himself and those closest to him. This is the definitive chronicle on Uematsu.

CD player. #TowerRecords

Is there an official term for old guys acting like hot shit around a 9 year-old and camping on the Initial D machine and —despite people standing there waiting to get a turn— just keeps pumping ¥100 coins in the machine, like he fucking lives there?

Who should narrate a ‘Nobuo Uematsu: On The Record’ audiobook? To be clear, there isn’t an audiobook planned, but I’m just taking an informal poll as to who you’d love to hear read his biography out loud. Wrong answers only.

They finally made #Metroid merch, and they went hard.

Here is a handful of pics of Nobuo Uematsu from the actual dinner where we were vibing so hard that we decided to work on a biography together. A few days later I had a deal with @viz.com to publish it and the rest is history. I hope you enjoy this intimate deep dive into his life.

Official statement from @viz.com. "Announcement: The legendary Final Fantasy composer goes on the record in this intimate biography! Featuring a foreword by Hironobu Sakaguchi and written by James Mielke, Nobuo Uematsu: On the Record releases Fall 2026."

Big news. I wrote a biography on Nobuo Uematsu and it drops this Fall, published by @viz.com. It is jam-packed with amazing revelations about the Final Fantasy composer that the public has never heard about, as shared by himself and those closest to him. This is the definitive chronicle on Uematsu.

GOAT magazine cover.

Hitoshi Sakimoto and Radiant Silvergun OST.

The Toho Cinema I usually go to is closed until the day after I leave Tokyo (wtf) and the Mister Donut I frequent is closed until March. Tokyo is being uncool this trip.

This may sound like an odd request, but I think everyone should be taught basic photography skills if only to inform the people at every/any concert that TURNING THE ****ING FLASH ON ONLY ILLUMINATES THE BACKS OF THE PEOPLE’S HEADS IN FRONT OF YOU (while annoying literally everyone). Jesus, people.

I basically just want a fighting game where Pepsiman battles Kool-Aid Man's jug ass. Just one on one.

Just witnessed the revirth of the dot hack series: .hack//Z.E.R.O. CyberConnect2ms 30th anniversary celebration. Wow. Looks amazing.

Super sad news. Shutaro Iida, director of the best Castlevania games, has lost his battle with cancer. I was lucky to conduct one of the last —if not *the last— interview with him about #Bloodstained 2. RIP, Shutaro-san. store.epicgames.com/en-US/news/b...

The new electronic declaration process (vs the old paper form) at Narita Airport is like 50% more complicated to fill out, and puts you in a much longer, slower line, that repeats the face scan process you experience just moments earlier at immigration. Absolutely Japanese in nature.

Reminded that I never picked up the Metal Wolf Chaos statue that Devolver Digital made, and I have regrets. It’s a miracle the game was remastered for modern consoles. It’d be perfect on Switch but I hear From wasn’t too happy with the port for some reason. So maybe never. It’s on Steam though.

Hideki Kamiya’s ‘business card’ from last year still cracks me up. He’s no longer ‘unemployed,’ so this meishi is incredibly rare.

#Shenmue booklet (quite beautiful inside). Signed by Yu Suzuki.