reviewed Hades II, whose roguelite structure evokes the oral tradition of Greek myth, and whose tone shifts away from the first game's soapiness and into tragedy www.slantmagazine.com/games/hades-...

thinking about Disco Elysium again

not sure I've read a Lewis lede I didn't love

Folks, Baby Steps is an easy 5 stars. Experimental performance art meets heartfelt ode to walking (think the ambulatory odysseys of nature writer Robert Macfarlane). And it has this gonzo stoner comedy vibe, too. Exquisite stuff TBQH. Words over @financialtimes.com. www.ft.com/content/dbe5...

this essay is as good and maddening as you’ve heard bidoun.org/articles/hou...

dropping a foundational, all-timer critic to save a few dollars. truly baffling stuff. awaiting the news that they're cutting the print magazine to avoid spending money on paper and ink

Joshua remains one of the most lucid interpreters of *the videogame* as an industry, a commodity, and an object of distinctly odd devotion

reviewed Silksong, whose friction is fundamental to its humanism. (may we, twisted by this historical moment into alienated vermin, be like the bugs) www.slantmagazine.com/games/hollow...

reviewed Silksong, whose friction is fundamental to its humanism. (may we, twisted by this historical moment into alienated vermin, be like the bugs) www.slantmagazine.com/games/hollow...

shoveling money at people so that people shovel money at child wizards to shovel money at one of the world's preeminent bigots. just read a different book, take a different paycheck

every few months there's a conversation about symptoms -- embargos are good, or they're bad; hype is good, or it's bad -- but the fact is that the current landscape values criticism only insomuch that it serves as marketing. this is perhaps most acute with videogames, but it's not exclusive to them

the expectation among many readers (and writers and editors) that videogame crit = product reviews, or something closer to toy manuals, explains a whole lot

Tactics Ogre: Reborn has a move called "Disembrain." can't beat this stuff

the prince of Persia should have stayed purple

still early days for me on The Rogue Prince of Persia, but very much into it. controls very gracefully -- alternating wall runs and dashes, each mapped to a different shoulder button, induces a pinball-esque flow. and the music! www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCaf...

been thinking about Triangle Strategy (while semi burning out on Tactics Ogre: Reborn) and I think it does a distinctively good job of making its characters actually interesting to use

Aaron's a rare writer who's as fun to disagree with as he is to nod along to. comes down to the thoughtfulness and care! (give me roguelike everything)

asking my two-year-old to call me Owl (Father)

Waxed lyrical about the wonder-filled perspective of Sword of the Sea for @eurogamer.bsky.social. Also featuring director @mattnava.bsky.social on trippy IRL snowboarding experiences, sumptuous shaders, and going on Caravaggio pilgrimages as a kid. www.eurogamer.net/video-games-...

Sakurai doing a visual technical manual for Kirby is amazing. "This part is important, so please pay attention." then explains that these are not drivers, they are riders

stumbled into a Tactics Ogre / Yakuza 0 playthrough pairing, and should have been less surprised by how complementary they are

very cool of Supergiant Games to make the wait for Hades II's full launch an immersive contextual experience (rolling a boulder up a hill forever)

brief review of the brief but delightful Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound www.slantmagazine.com/games/ninja-...

Following up on yesterday, this is what famous actors empower when they expand Rowling’s legitimacy by acting in Harry Potter productions. Rowling doesn’t merely have skeevy opinions, she’s an active fanatic.

why would you want some profit when you could have some other profit and lay lots of people off

I responded to @markskrikorian.bsky.social's review and misapprehension of my book, The Case for Open Borders. My latest newsletter. johnwashington.substack.com/p/case-count...

Wheel World is so chic and summery I can practically taste the holiday Coca-Cola as I play. Also, the cycling rules, especially when you are freewheeling down a hill, the wind in your hair and shirt fluttering on your back. My review for @theverge.com. www.theverge.com/games-review...

reviewed Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, a clarion case study in the difference between aping FromSoft and really getting it. (seeing mentions of strong level design, which is baffling. the world's a convoluted mess; areas looping back to hubs =/= coherence) www.slantmagazine.com/games/wuchan...

my has wife asked me to stop my running Werner Herzog commentary during our Donkey Kong Bananza playthru

"I will leave New York if Mamdani wins" really gives the game away

This is a scheme to pipeline people into using for-profit AI tech through exposure in the public education system. Even if you wanted guidelines for AI already in use, why would you develop them in collaboration with AI companies that want people to use their products as often as possible?

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance K-Mart ad (2003) #retro #art #gaming #FinalFantasy

videogames have given me unrealistic expectations for life (not enough moody philosophical knights sitting on the ground at crossroads)

Death Stranding 2 is a more conventional game (rocket launchers, robo-samurais!) which somewhat dilutes the original's radically slow, radically non-violent design ethos. Yet the experience as a whole moved me greatly. Never change, Kojima. www.eurogamer.net/death-strand...

you wear outfits to increase your health and reduce incoming damage I wear outfits to find crickets in graveyards. We are not the same

Death Stranding // Nightreign

Kojima, barring a too-diplomatic answer about AI, is exceedingly relatable www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/hide...

capitalism is when games cost $80

wistful only for Donkey Kong

eager to discuss the greatest tactical RPG, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

reviewed NIGHTREIGN, which is quickly becoming dreamy comfort food — www.slantmagazine.com/games/elden-...

on TAINTED GRAIL: THE FALL OF AVALON, a flawed, deeply interesting RPG — www.slantmagazine.com/games/tainte...

I wrote about the Abrego Garcia case and Trump's collapsing standing on immigration. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

the latest reminder (of more than enough) that BDS targets are not determined by random finger pointing. throw your money elsewhere; claw through your videogame backlog; do anything but fund this and what it enables in turn

While a bunch of you were jacking back into Oblivion, I was deep in The Witcher 3 again, the game that, in some ways, blew Bethesda’s open-world RPG model out of the water. For @the-ringer.bsky.social, I reported on the making of a storytelling all-timer. www.theringer.com/2025/05/16/v...

perfect pairing of subject and journalist —

I talked to Sufjan Stevens on Good Friday about the Carrie & Lowell reissue and what he's been up to lately. He wants you to know he's okay. www.vulture.com/article/sufj...

Final Fantasy, baby