Welcome to my 2026 Backlog Beats! Let’s see how many months this will take!

Today on the podcast- @theindieinformer.bsky.social joined me for a great chat about Goodnight Universe, the follow-up from the creators of Before Your Eyes. As always, no spoilers for a while- enjoy! LISTEN: talesfromthebacklog.fireside.fm/202 WATCH: youtu.be/-NVLivvDrYk

I’m live on Twitch, babes 💜 We’re working our way up this mountain 💪 So excited to be continuing Cairn! Thank you once again to @thegamebakers.com for providing the key 🙏 twitch.tv/aspecificegg

Upped the CanCon on this week's ep of Crossplay Conversations by having @roganplaysgames.bsky.social on the show! One of my fave episodes of the year that we do on @crossplayconvos.bsky.social... here are my picks: 🌒 Ontos 📸 Toem 2 🚆 Denshattack! 🔨 Virtue and a Sledgehammer 🃏 Forbidden Solitaire

Hey listen! A new episode is available! We invited @brianpshea.bsky.social, host of All Things Nintendo podcast, to talk about what Nintendo could be cooking up for 2026! Give it a listen and let us know what you're expecting from Nintendo in 2026. open.spotify.com/episode/4rDO...

Birthdays in your mid-30s? Forcing your friends to play Pokemon Puzzle League over drinks.

I like art

Did not expect the story of Mario Tennis Fever to basically begin with “Daisy is on her deathbed.”

I should probably play Perfect Tides: Station to Station, eh?

Pikmin (2001)

Robert Kraft losing another Super Bowl is music to my ears.

www.gamespot.com/articles/pok... “Lady Gaga sings the Jigglypuff lullaby during a Super Bowl ad” is now a thing that is real.

Lady Gaga got me twice today - the halftime show AND THEN THE JIGGLYPUFF SONG

“If I’m here at Super Bowl LX, it’s because I never stopped believing in myself. You should never stop believing in yourself either. It’s worth more than you think.” —Bad Bunny

It’s the PAX East vs. PAX West Super Bowl

Decided it was finally time to jump into my in-laws 2022 Christmas gift, Pokemon Scarlet. It me. I am much further than this now. Wanna see my team?

Went to a funeral and raised Catholic, so I almost instinctively went for communion until I realized it’s just a gluten wafer. Thankfully the priest said he had low gluten wafers, which smartened me up and saved my celiac ass.

VIDEO GAME TRIVIA RETURNS TO PAX EAST 2026! As someone who started going solo with @traviscolenutt.bsky.social around 2015, being on the PAX website will *always* be so cool. Details to follow - but block off your Saturday night at East! 📸: @jeanluc.bsky.social east.paxsite.com/en-us/guests...

Mewgenics, more like woooooooooogenics amirite

Did three surprise trades in Pokemon Scarlet - and was given three LV100 Pokemon whose names correspond to websites where you can buy Pokemon for real money. Pokemon as ads - now I’ve seen it all. Shocked Nintendo hasn’t shut this down. 😂

Capcom is hiring a Communications Intern! We're looking for someone to join our PR & Social Media team for Summer 2026 in San Francisco. Please apply or share with students pursuing a career in games! jobs.jobvite.com/capcomusa/jo...

LFG

They listed my entire personality here, damn

put it on NSO please

Long time fave local game store closing - gotta do something to commemorate it

🎶Turn around, blight cluuuuuub!🎶 @giantbomb.bsky.social @tolkoto.com @grubb.wtf @danryckert.com

Fun bit of lore: I had a short-lived career in terrestrial radio, so I had tons of fun building a guest block for Chillscape. Shoutout @scabzilla.superghost.site! Listen for tunes from: 🦊 Tunic 🛡️ Breath of the Wild 🍌 Donkey Kong Country ⭕ Halo 3: ODST 🌈 Life is Strange: True Colors 🎸 Afterlove EP

Madden 2005 and ESPN NFL 2K5 are both lauded as some of the best sports games ever made, and over 20 years later, Chris of @retrohangover.bsky.social and @adamgumby.bsky.social joined me to decide which one deserves the crown! LISTEN: talesfromthebacklog.fireside.fm/201 WATCH: youtu.be/RID972hPlFY

My first episode of the Left Behind Game Club in *six* months and it’s one of my faves in a while. Best part - if you’re fine with spoilers - you can jump right in.

Not to alarm anyone, but we're 19 days away from Steam Next Fest 🫣 *cue training montage of me training my fingers to click "Download Demo" 20,000 times*

Reviews are dropping for Hermit and Pig - stoked for it. OC - 88 RPG Fan - 95/100 Loot Level Chill - 9/10 The A.V. Club - A- Destructoid - 8/10

Every year I forget that Paul Mescal and I share a birthday

Amazing. And the number is still climbing! You can still donate here. bit.ly/iceoutminnea... Huge thanks to everyone who tuned in to the stream and donated and to @yozetty.bsky.social for coordinating the whole thing.

ICE OUT: www.givemn.org/story/qexfdf - @danryckert.com @grubb.wtf @giantbomb.bsky.social @minnmax.com @yozetty.bsky.social @jacobgeller.com

There are so many gaming journos/independent media sites that are lurking around here, but damn! Hard to catch all of you. SAY HELLO --> I'd like to keep you in mind for any features/news/opps that we might have goin' down at Akupara Games 👀. I'd love to follow you as well, of course.

I reviewed Cairn. www.gamespot.com/reviews/cair...

Citizen Sleeper 2: Design Works 🚀 is available to preorder now! To celebrate the 1 year anniversary we have loads to offer: -Deluxe Edition with boxed edition of Spindlejack! -New boxed edition of Cycles of the Eye! -Both OSTs on vinyl! -And more... Go NOW: www.lostincult.co.uk/citizensleep...

How do we see the future? Is it an expansion of possibility and imagination, a canvas on which we can paint anything? Or is the future a contraction? A place where ideas are bound by the spaces we’re given to create them — a place that determines what we’re allowed to dream youtu.be/F0K2DnI1TDk

BBL January update! The Last of Us Part II ✅ Quantum Break ✅ Time to pick three new games out of the backlog for 2026.

I have finished TLOU Part 2 (I know, five years late). I could have written ten ending predictions and the ending wouldn’t have been among them. Genuinely surprised by it.

where the real gamers at

Stick around to the end for @lukewarmlewis.bsky.social's yearly slickly produced Top 10 reveal video.

Marty Supreme Hamnet nightmare blunt rotation

A love letter to Citizen Sleeper #digitalArt #fanArt #CitizenSleeper

If you're going to put Concord and Highguard in the title together, I'm not going to read/watch/listen to it.

Holding your daughter for the first time hits different. #LinkinParkAMV

Submissions for the Six One Indie Showcase 2026 are now open through February 20th! Everything you need to know can be found in the submission form. As always, there are zero fees and no paid or commercial slots available. We can’t wait to see what you’re working on! ➡️ www.sixoneindie.com/showcase

I'm teaming up w/ my boy Jesse Vitelli (@mamavitelli.bsky.social) to co-op Resident Evil 6; and we're doing it live to say FUCK ICE and fundraise for MIRAC!! (@miracmn.bsky.social)! 👉🏽 www.givemn.org/story/pnu2tf 👈🏽 COME THRU @ 3PM PT / 6PM ET TODAY!! 👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽 twitch.tv/mamavitelli twitch.tv/brazyazn

I need to purge some of my physical game collection.

Only snow