🗣️📣 NEW BLOG POST ALERT! This week, I look at Trials of Mana and analyze what makes it a strong remake that improves upon one of my least favorite JRPGs of recent memory while still being an imperfect game itself. Likes and reposts appreciated! www.derekexmachina.com/blog/2025/9/...

Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser will retire on December 31, 2025 Devon Pritchard, currently the Executive Vice President of Revenue, Marketing & Consumer Experience, will become President of NoA effective January 1, 2026

This is old and I would probably write it differently now (it's partially a personal essay about what I learned playing WotL), but I also wrote about WotL and Final Fantasy Tactics back in the day when I was a baby translator. www.rpgfan.com/feature/the-...

My biggest takeaway from that State of Play is that Japan Studio was a catastrophic loss for Sony.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 got officially revealed at Tokyo Game Show and it looks fantastic! I've always thought that Yakuza 3 is the game in the series that would benefit the most from a remake, so I'm really looking forward to this!! Including an expansion starring Mine is a great bonus!

Fix your brain and heart

Update: This job is going to be a super weird situation. After a very late budget approval, I've been brought back on for a few more weeks - possibly through to the end of the year (they won't confirm one way or the other). So, for the time being, I do have a job, but definitely on borrowed time.

🗣️📣 NEW BLOG POST ALERT! This week, I discuss the value of making media that's different from what's come before, especially within established IP. I use my recent Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge to frame how being different makes for a more memorable experience. www.derekexmachina.com/blog/2025/9/...

#NieR #NieRReplicant カイネ

Reviews for Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Remake have been trickling in and every review I've seen so far has been quite glowing. Really happy to see so much enthusiasm for this game and seeing so many people looking to get into the series with this game. Can't wait to play this soon!

What if I streamed again? 👀

Been chipping away at my backlog this year, and I'm currently about halfway through the Trials of Mana 2020 remake. I got super burnt out by the grindy original Super Famicom game, but I'm enjoying this remake a lot more. Still on the simpler side, but a super solid time!

Really hitting me that I'm going to be unemployed again after having been unemployed from January - June earlier this year. I really don't know what I'm going to do.

It is ridiculous how many game companies expect you to relocate for a job they’re obviously going to lay you off from in 18-24 months.

「だいぶぐっすり眠っているみたいだし、グランデルでこのまま休ませてあげようよ。」 「—そうだな。」 #ゼノブレイド #Xenoblade

イーラ7周年おめでとうございます！当時クリアした時に描いたシンとラウラと一緒に🎈 #Xenoblade2Torna_fes25

#Xenoblade2Torna_fes25 ちゃんとした絵は間に合わないので低クオで失礼します！！めっちゃ好き！！おめでとう！！

Pay dub actors, writers, engineers what they are worth Because they are clearly worth it

Here is some non-satire for you: Trans rights forever.

Saw Wisp in St. Paul last night. It was awesome to see her live!

Ivy #FireEmblem

I have now been laid off 8 times since 2018.

So my current job previously told me that my contract was being extended to the end of the year. Today, I was informed that they never got budget approval for this, so my contract is now abruptly over and I am now out of a job. 🙃 Suffice to say...looking for work now.

This is precisely the shit that makes me love Nintendo. No one asked for this, not many people will even use this, but it exists nonetheless.

Today's Nintendo Direct was solid! Interested in most of the Mario stuff, Metroid Prime 4 looks great, and I'm always down for a new Fire Emblem!! What were your highlights?

Got rejected for a job at a game publisher after 2 hour-long interviews and an assessment for not having enough game dev experience. This year, I also got rejected by a publisher after 5 hour-long interviews for having too much experience. It's fucking impossible to get hired in this industry.

September 11th, 2001. A shocked nation grieves as the World Trade Center is destroyed in the largest terrorist attack on American soil. Unsure of what else to do, GameFAQs user BoredGamer collects their thoughts and begins to work on a plain text walkthrough of Tail of the Sun

reaching out for help isn’t a weakness. you aren’t a burden. you are wanted, you are loved, & you are worthy of existing and experiencing joy. you are more than the hardships you’ve faced. you are allowed to grow, flourish, and change. one day at a time. 💜 please stay, my friend. i love you! 🫂

you sure about this one? #ffx

this is what every localization complaint looks like to me these days

Sigh.

Today I’m thinking of Melissa Hortman, the Democrat Speaker of Minnesota’s House of Representatives, who was tragically assassinated in her home back in June. She was a supporter of gun control laws and was pro-choice. She was inspiring and taken from us far too soon.

You are under no obligation to mourn the death of people who would’ve celebrated yours.

Join us on Sept 12 at 6am PT for a #NintendoDirect! Tune in for roughly 60 minutes of information on upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch games. Watch here: ninten.do/6010siIIw

what a fucking way to find out magic is real

Is MAGFest worth going to? It's halfway across the country for me, but I've never traveled to Maryland (or New England in general). It seems like a perfect excuse tho! As someone that's been to a smaller local version of this con, is it worth making the trip? I'm interested...

"I think it's worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights" - Charlie Kirk, 2023 www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk...

This is an amazing bit of localization history, touching on A Link to the Past, Super Mario 64, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing!

AAAHHH, so excited! We've been overdue for a nice, big Nintendo Direct! This'll apparently be a 60-minute presentation on Friday. What do you hope to see? I'd love to get a release date for Metroid and learn what Monolith Soft has been cooking. 🍲

Playing Suikoden as part of the remaster released earlier this year for the very first time, and I gotta say...I get it.

Anora cost $6M. Everything Everywhere All At Once cost ~$20M. CODA cost $10M. Nomadland cost $5M. Parasite cost $11M. Green Book cost $23m. The Shape of Water cost $20M. Moonlight cost ~$4M. Spotlight cost $20M. Birdman cost $18M. 12 Years a Slave cost $22M. I think you get the point.

This “solo dev” and “only 3 devs” rhetoric is getting truly dangerously out of hand. Investors see this and think “I only have to pay 3 people” and the result is severely overworked and/or underpaid people and a subpar product. We need to stop treating outsourcers and contractors like ghosts.

Hi! I was laid off from Firaxis this morning. I wrote leaders and civs for Civilization VII (NDA for now) and Deadpool and Storm for Marvel's Midnight Suns. I also wrote the award-nominated Hindsight. I'm available for full time, remote work starting ASAP. DMs are open: emmkid.info

Yeah, no. I'm a contractor, I write for games, and sometimes that means writing 100% of a game's text. I'm a valuable part of the team! Contractors aren't just "support", they deserve to be credited (and treated) better than this

I think I just like depression.

@loekalization.bsky.social 's write-up about the current situation with Silksong's Chinese localization is equal parts fascinating, funny, and downright horrifying. A must-read for any localization professional that carries a powerful warning for translators: pride goes before the fall.

If you're an indie developer, you should hang this screenshot on your wall and use it as inspiration to never give up

I'M MOVING TO TOKYO!! After 3 years at Deluxe, I've accepted an offer at a major video game company as a Localization Director! I can't wait to dive back into game loc and start the next chapter of my life in Japan. (1/3)

Got to visit the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle. EASILY the best museum I've ever been to! #MoPOP #Seattle