also and this is not the most important thing here but genuinely how is anyone expected to do creative work under these conditions
WILL BUTLER
@carrythezero.bsky.social
PhD researcher at Bath Spa | videogame preservation | music maker at MachinesMachines | site here: https://killjoy.bearblog.dev/
Closing out the rally, @nershly.bsky.social beautifully speaks about her experience being fired by Rockstar and how they try to use fear.
Here's my write-up from the Japanese premiere of Backrooms, where @hideokojimaen.bsky.kojimaproductions.jp & Kane Parsons talked about analogue media, liminal horror & Kane's roots in the Source Engine. postmode.org/hideo-kojima...
“I made Metal Gear at 23. A24 didn't call me until I was 59": Hideo Kojima & Kane Parsons at the Japanese premiere of Backrooms
What Kojima saw in Backrooms — an empty furniture store, an empty Shibuya crossing — and what a childhood in the Source Engine does to a person.
postmode.org
SO, I've been digging into this concept lately that games culture-at-large does not have a historical consciousness. It just does not consider games as part of longer, more complex histories. 'Gamers' are only responsive to histories that are isolated within the medium or platform they understand.
Joshua Rivera@jmrivera.bsky.social · 3w agoso do gamers just not know about toshiro mifune. is that why he hasn’t come up much.
Have I ever showed you guys my favorite N64 commercial? Here it is, enjoy.
YEah! Yeah! This is the key. Games pres. is so much about custodianship and responsibility. Very nice to see someone with some industry clout put words to it.
VGC@videogameschronicle.com · 3w agoHideki Kamiya says he’s more concerned about the future of game preservation than whether games remain available physically or digitally. “That’s the big thing for me: whether IP holders are going to take responsibility". vgc.news/news/hideki-...
Game publishers want the staffing of film and TV without the unions that make gig-to-gig work a viable living and a sustainable business.
Stephen Totilo@stephentotilo.bsky.social · 3w agoSCOOP: A few weeks before the launch of Star Wars Zero Company, most of the developers at its studio were furloughed The studio says they hope to secure funds to restore their pay. Some are skeptical it'll happen I learned about this via a bitter lawsuit: www.gamefile.news/p/star-wars-...
I'm happy to share a new 𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 for an edited collection on game preservation in Canada, with co-editors @jeanketterling.bsky.social and @videogamehistorian.bsky.social. We welcome essays, material studies, and interviews. Full details at the link below - please share widely!
Call For Papers – GamePreservation.ca
gamepreservation.ca
Wonder if anyone would get mad if we started calling games where you improve and learn to play by applying effort "skillslop"
Found an unexpected affinity with Japan's batting cages. Living my best Yakuza minigame life.
Legendary find in a Hard-Off on the outskirts of Osaka
Be sure to check out the fab contributions from @carrythezero.bsky.social, @xurvermilion.bsky.social and @mabinogiongame.bsky.social. Here: www.historicalgames.net/category/the...
Nations Archives | Historical Games Network
historicalgames.net
Had a great time writing this so thanks to all the @historygamesnet.bsky.social folks for giving me the opportunity!
Historical Games Network@historygamesnet.bsky.social · last mo.Weekend reading! Will Butler (@carrythezero.bsky.social) examines how genre functions as both a marketing & cultural classification system shaped by commercial viability & national contexts, & how contemporary games increasingly destabilise these boundaries: www.historicalgames.net/the-geofenci...
Incredible selection of classics. Something for everyone!
I have now finished Zero Parades for Dead Spies and this statement no longer applies.
WILL BUTLER@carrythezero.bsky.social · 2mo agoFor loads of of reasons Marathon is likely going to be my favourite game this year, but the sound design and audio work is the top of that list youtu.be/BJYQDG1ORoY
Now that I've cooled off post-World Cup, I still stand by this. Final bump for this piece about videogames platforms jangling their keys at us.
WILL BUTLER@carrythezero.bsky.social · 2mo agoMaybe I'm salty from last night's loss but I finally got some words down on how I'm feeling about the state of the games community. New blog about the Ocarina of Time remake, Trash Culture, Platform Powers and us all needing to 'Grow Up' a bit. killjoy.bearblog.dev/its-time-to-...
New in our digital archive: We're taking you back to E3 like you've never experienced it. Explore thousands of pages of ephemera and nearly 24 hours of video from the history of the Electronic Entertainment Expo Read more: gamehistory.org/e3-history/
Revisit E3 Like You've Never Seen it Before
YouTube video by The Video Game History Foundation
youtube.com
For loads of of reasons Marathon is likely going to be my favourite game this year, but the sound design and audio work is the top of that list youtu.be/BJYQDG1ORoY
Marathon | Game Audio Study
YouTube video by Dylan King
youtu.be
This week: Let's get historical, from past to present to future: critical-distance.com/2026/07/19/j...
January 19th
Welcome back readers. We’re announcing an *event* tomorrow. Stay tuned. Patreon support is what makes *events* possible. Please take a look. This Week in Videogame Blogging is a roundup highl…
critical-distance.com
Maybe I'm salty from last night's loss but I finally got some words down on how I'm feeling about the state of the games community. New blog about the Ocarina of Time remake, Trash Culture, Platform Powers and us all needing to 'Grow Up' a bit. killjoy.bearblog.dev/its-time-to-...
IT'S TIME TO GROW UP
Your relationship to games does not have to be governed by platform power.
killjoy.bearblog.dev