Currently doing some marking. A reminder to everyone involved in archives and collections: digitisation is not preservation. If I digitise a box of records and put the files on a USB stick I haven't preserved a thing. It's all about what you do with the files post-digitisation. #archives #digipres

Not food-related but important news! Congrats to the newest inductees to the National Toy Hall of Fame (right here in beautiful Rochester, NY) for 2025: -Trivial Pursuit -Battleship -Slime

Remember, by the time the Kinect reached the market, it had been engineered to meet a specific price point. I'm not saying the addition features would have saved it, but there would have been less compromises in the process. Ever wonder what Project Milo looked like? www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTu7...

Y'all, I know two hours is a big time commitment, but this panel I arranged and hosted last month is one of the most important things I've ever done for video game history. The launch of the NES is a crazier story than most people realize, and my guests were extremely generous with their memories.

Also a good one!

New pinball day here at The Strong. Wonder what it could be 👀

Follow @wario64.bsky.social and repost for a chance to win 1 of 5 Steam codes for Tales of Xillia Remastered courtesy of @gamesplanet.bsky.social. Giveaway closes on Nov 2nd, 6:30 PM PT Game is $32.97 on Gamesplanet w/ code MILLA buff.ly/t0b4NED

Found my copy of FFXI from before the first expansion was even out.

The nicest Halo 2 box I own. And it's a display only copy.

My #GDC2026 Game Preservation Roundtable proposal, co-moderated by @borman.bsky.social, was formally accepted! 🥳 Too long has there been a complete lack of collaboration and communication between Industry and Institutional Game Preservation groups. It's time we start to fix that.

I’m also happy to report that the Skinballs legacy is preserved at The Strong National Museum of Play bsky.app/profile/borm...

Skinballs always makes me chuckle.

A few of the many user interface changes that Descent went through. From February 94, to April 94, to June 94. From the Volition collection at The Strong.

Are Famicom Disk games already on Nintendo Online? Or would that be new for Animal Crossing if that's one of the playable...

Even as of the Alpha 2 build of Descent in October 1994, the game's menu still didn't quite resemble its final form. From The Strong.

TLDR; The PSF has made the decision to put our community and our shared diversity, equity, and inclusion values ahead of seeking $1.5M in new revenue. Please read and share. pyfound.blogspot.com/2025/10/NSF-... 🧵

The Strong was featured as a category in Jeopardy last week! Not the first time, but always exciting! www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNZ5...

Three years ago in Georgia, working to get approval to do the World's Largest Donkey Kong!

Save the Games returns next year to The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY! More info to come, but save the date! July 29 and 30, 2026!

For a report for Access Granted, I'm looking to speak with accessibility consultants who HAVEN'T been credited for the games they've worked on. I'm aware of this impacting future opportunities, so I can assure anonymity. Feel free to send me a message if you wish to speak about your experiences!

What a weird find at the local Habitat for Humanity store.

The bloodbath is global. Everyone hears about layoffs at English-speaking sites like Polygon, but every other language just gets reported locally. Jovem Nerd is big enough to get a cameo NPC & quest in Cyberpunk 2077. When they fired their game journalists, only Brazilians heard about that... :/

Save the Games returns next year to The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY! More info to come, but save the date! July 29 and 30, 2026!

The Strong is hosting their annual Play Ball fundraiser this week, and with it, the auction! These are items donated specifically for the fundraiser. Lots of great items available, including signed Atari hardware, Defender poster, @shawnlayden.bsky.social signed PS1, and more! strongmu2025.ggo.bid

We're doing a 20% off sale at imaginarymonsters.shop until midnight on Halloween. Here's a blog post about the new things we have available: imaginarymonsters.com/2025/10/10/s...

Back to better news, there were some other fun games last night worth seeing.

I literally just was on a panel about game preservation in Chicago 45 minutes ago. The response is simple: not only is the characterization about games and preservation untrue, but it also dismisses the incredible work of film archivists.

We did beat this though!

Ah well

I'll be talking with @simonparkin.bsky.social today for a live recording of the @myperfectconsole.bsky.social podcast as part of the University of Chicago's amazing Year of Games Symposium. Come through if you can! www.eventbrite.com/e/my-perfect...

The Soundtrax Music Festival kicks off tomorrow at Eastman School of Music, I’ll be joined by esteemed video game composers Guy Whitmore, Garry Schyman, and Seth Wright, where I will lead a discussion about music design and composition for video games! It’s free to attend the session!

A fascinating statement from the head of the Office of Innovation and Technology for the city of Philadelphia that "if anyone says they are an AI expert, they are lying." ...especially bold given how many legitimate AI experts are in the room for the hearing.

If you’re in Chicago, come join us for two live interviews at the University of Chicago's Year of Games symposium. @SimonParkin.bsky.social will be speaking with Bungie co-founder Alex Seropian and Black Panther writer @evnarc.bsky.social on October 17th and 18th. Register now: bit.ly/46ubnIR

25 years in, we are NOT allowing genAI music onto OC ReMix, full stop. We're 100% against genAI music and are a community geared toward authentic creativity and artistic development. You don't get that by doing text prompts. ocremix.org/remix/OCR04918 youtube.com/watch?v=fUsg...

This is a 2020 video from PtoPOnline that features some more footage from the game, including its Tokyo and medieval location. I've been trying to reach out to some of the other known devs to see if anything else remains. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3XG...

The fact you can't have the death sounds on without the voices in the FFT remake is disappointing. I miss that. Give me an option Square!

I’ve started a GoFundMe to help with my cancer battle gofund.me/6850175a3

[NEW VIDEO] Xbox’s Cancelled ‘Uncharted Rival’ From Gears of War Studio I investigate how Microsoft attempted to make its own Uncharted exclusively for Xbox from the Gears of War team and question if Phil Spencer misled the public about the project... www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mT_...

Still can't believe the things I get to do for a living. It's Al Alcorn!

As seen on Reddit, what a great metaphor.

Ready for Final Fantasy Tactics this week!

North American Conference on Video Game Music (NACVGM) 13 Conference CFP (Formats: Paper Presentation, Poster/Game Demo/Sound Art Installation, Performance) Dates: May 1–2, 2026 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI); Troy, NY (in person & virtual) Deadline: November 21 2025 nacvgm.org/proposals/

the Command & Conquer series is 30 years old today we so have an excuse to share this iconic moment with Tim Curry

The Exhibitor Floor at #ROCGameFest 2025 is now open and we’re loving our new home at RIT’s SHED! Check out those windows!

Dollhouses Unveiled opens at The Strong Museum this weekend. The collection is absolutely beautiful! The team did a remarkable job showcasing such a popular form of play.

I had a fantastic talk w/ John Szczepaniak, badass author of "The Untold Story of Japanese Game Developer" books: a one-of-a-kind endeavor that'll never be repeated. Please share his story! Game-mag BS, Kojima, interviewing 80+ JP devs in 90 days! gamesdonelegit.com/found-in-fan...

One of the benefits to things like BadAvatar/Update is that it expand the pool of compatible hardware, minimizing use of rarer pieces to only when necessary. Tested it out today at work!

Need to check out the two demos on the right sometime at work. I did see a CD-r of the True Motion disc showed up recently online.

It’s going to be great!

If you're a fan of classic hand-drawn animation, Disney's Robin Hood, Don Bluth, or Redwall, we think you'll enjoy what we've got cooking! Want to try it for yourself? Now you can! War of the Western Deep now has a playable demo on Steam! store.steampowered.com/app/2976440/...