Tessera

Diego Nicolás Argüello

@diegoarguello.bsky.social

words @ new york times, the guardian, rolling stone, the verge, wapo, npr, vulture, pitchfork, edge, gamespot, av club, game informer, polygon, paste, fanbyte, game developer, & more founder @ into the spine • diego6arguello6@gmail.com • he/him

3233 Posts3610 Follower 711 Folgt

Jay Castello 🌻@jaymcastello.bsky.social · 3d ago

happy birthday hades 2 I still cant believe you were really like that youtu.be/zMa6nDH8KvQ

Hades II's ending isn't fixed

YouTube video by Jay Castello

youtu.be

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 3d ago

my dawnwalker review being on this issue

spongebob pointing at himself on the tv barely visible behind a window in the background

Game Informer@gameinformer.com · 3d ago

GTAVI is our next cover! Our 14-page cover story features exclusive interviews with @rockstargames.com, plus a dozen new screenshots. Want your own copy of this collectible piece of gaming history? buff.ly/1FAnmzj

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 3d ago

hades was a good game too bad it never got a sequel

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 4d ago

at the very least i broke the nine-month curse

Diego Nicolás Argüello@diegoarguello.bsky.social · 3w ago

update: i'm parting ways with my freelance news gig at game developer at the end of the month. helping the team since april 2025 has been a great experience and has taught me a lot if you're looking for an experienced b2b news writer, or just an experienced freelancer that can do it all, i'm around

Princess Space Catt 💙@spacecatt.bsky.social · 7d ago

Update has been pushed by @jessiscah23.bsky.social which hopefully fixes a lot of the bugs 🤞👼

Diego Nicolás Argüello@diegoarguello.bsky.social · last wk.

experiencing roman sands re:build means inhabiting spaces barely holding themselves together, populated by people who are equally crumbling down. it’s perpetually frustrating to see through, but arresting nonetheless. my review: www.theguardian.com/games/2026/s...

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · last wk.

Roman Sands RE:Build review – marooned in a crumbling vaporwave dream

The latest work from the team behind Paratopic is part compulsive time-loop management sim, part eerie subterranean adventure

theguardian.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · last wk.

Roman Sands RE:Build review – marooned in a crumbling vaporwave dream

The latest work from the team behind Paratopic is part compulsive time-loop management sim, part eerie subterranean adventure

theguardian.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · last wk.

it's obviously great from a preservation standpoint but being able just reload a 10 year old save like it's nothing feels wrong in a way

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · last wk.

i said this in my review but the blood of dawnwalker doesn’t go hard enough on the time limit. i had access to all main points of no return with over a week to spare and i wasn’t particularly min maxing it. the sense of constraint doesn’t last. if anything the sequel should have 15 days instead

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 2w ago

thinking about this today after having unearthed the most buried lede of all time, following weeks (months, really) of joint and individual breaking news, which wouldn't have happened without proper editorial guidance and great feedback throughout. this culmination is infuriating to say the least

Nicole Carpenter@nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 2w ago

like @danielleri.bsky.social, @diegoarguello.bsky.social, and @kerrblimey.bsky.social, i will no longer be contributing to game developer. it was an absolute blast working with this team on my twice-a-month column! that means i’ve got more time to report and write for you!!!! hit us all up, really✨

Nicole Carpenter @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 2w ago

danielleri @danielleri.bsky.social · 2w ago

Have some BIG NEWS, and it really is wild that today is also the anniversary of the Fanbyte Apocalypse. But my time at Game Developer is done, and hence, my time as a full-time game journalist has come to an end. 20 years in a career sure is something. www.tumblr.com/danielling/8...

After 20+ years of writing professionally about games, including time at Polygon and Idle Thumbs, launching Waypoint, serving as editor in chief of Fanbyte and finally as EIC at Game Developer, my time is done. I'm officially out at Game Developer. Given the state of game journalism, this obviously means leaving the profession, at least as a full-timer.

I'm out, with respect to my colleagues, and a lot of love for the site as it was. We've published work that I'm extremely proud of, particularly our reporting on labor and on how workers are finding things in a miserable, gutting moment in the game industry. I'm proud of the dev-authored features we had for so many years, the resources and knowledge and bits and pieces of know-how that I still use, to this day, in my own game design courses.

What's next? Well, I'm not leaving games. I'll always be making and teaching and writing about games, it just can't be my full time gig anymore. I've actually been doing narrative design on a game since 2022, with a team I really believe in, and I can't wait until I can show that off properly. I am also OPEN TO WORK. Anything involving writing or editing words, editing video, teaching (I've been teaching college since 2009), and hey, I'm an EMT and got my phlebotomy cert a couple years back. I'm versatile!

For full-time employment, I am eventually going to try my hand at medicine. I've served as an EMT here in NYC since 2016, and I've been taking science courses post-bac since January 2025, usually 2 or more at once concurrently with... the full time job, my part time adjunct job, and volunteering on said ambulance. Exhaustion set in years ago, lol, so I've settled into something beyond that at this point. I feel like I've been climbing a mountain, and trying to make many things work at once. I had a pretty good rhythm going, truth be told, despite all the burnout. I'm proud of myself for that.

I'd really like to be a physician assistant one day, or potentially a nurse practitioner. It's a very, very long and hard road to either of those paths, but I'm going to make my way as best as I can.

How do I feel? Again, devastated was years ago. We're pretty far past that at this point. What's happened to journalism in America is... a topic for a very depressing, very well-researched book. I hope someone writes that one day. What happened to game journalism... well, it's more of a niche, but I can say only that reporting honestly on layoff after layoff and corporate malfeasance writ large and executives gambling the whole industry down the drain was tough, but somebody had to do it.

But it's not something one can do without editorial independence.

It's dramatic, but I'm going to mourn this career. Twenty years of my life, at 42, is just about half of my days alive. I put a lot, and I do mean *a lot* of myself into this. I tried at all times to lead with empathy and care for the human beings around me and to be as honest and frankly honorable as possible in my work. I really, really tried to live my values in my work in this career, and the only way I can keep that reputation is the path ahead of me.

So there it is. Expect to see me making games, making art, teaching game design, writing about games from time to time @VeeGeeBees. Expect to hear more about my adventures as an EMT, and hopefully, soon as a PA student, and eventually, as an advanced practitioner. I've kept telling myself, in the darkest and worst days of the last few years, that I'll fly again, somehow. It'll just look very different.

To sign off, and pull an old favorite out of my pocket: be good, and be good at it.

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 2w ago

@lazzieb.bsky.social hi lazzie! hope you’re well. would you mind sending me a dm or email? i have a quick question (my discord is the same as my handle here, too). thank you for your time!

Jay Castello 🌻@jaymcastello.bsky.social · 2w ago

after I wrote my oral history of Spore, a member of the community reached out in a long email to talk about its legacy, which has been particularly supported by modding. so I asked if they'd like to help me put together a follow up www.designroom.site/spore-moddin...

The modding community keeping Spore alive

We talk to three members of the Spore modding community about their efforts to continue Maxis' work and keep the game active for new generations of fans.

designroom.site

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 3w ago

finally some good fucking food

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 3w ago

any achievements leaked for the darkness 3? keep me posted

Nicole Carpenter @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 3w ago

there’s just one left 😭😭😭 ty!!!!

Nicole Carpenter@nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · 3w ago

i’m opening up a little etsy shop ✨ i’ve listed four of my cutie little bag charms/keychains! freelance journalism is rough, and figured this might be a fun way to make a little extra to fund my hobbies. www.etsy.com/shop/ClayByC...

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 3w ago

i'm afraid we've lost the plot entirely at this point

Jesse Vitelli @mamavitelli.bsky.social · 4w ago

oh hey, my first IGN review! Orbitals is a game that emulates its contemporaries but never rises above its inspirations in meaningful ways. An endearing romp that pulled out dormant nostalgia for the Toonami era and memories of watching anime I didn't understand as a kid in my parent's basement

Orbitals Is a Co-op Sci-fi Adventure That Looks and Feels Exactly Like a Playable '90s Anime, One Any Toonami Fan Should Be Excited For

A co-op adventure that nails the feeling of a playable ‘90s anime.

ign.com

i’m just ken @shepardcdr.bsky.social · 4w ago

Orbitals is the kind of game that starts out strong then you slowly realize it’s run out of ideas, and I was pretty put off by how much its closing chapters try to imitate better works without having put in the effort.

Orbitals Review: A Beautiful But Derivative Co-Op Adventure

The anime-inspired co-op sci-fi romp has ideas, they’re just not its own

kotaku.com

Chris Kerr @kerrblimey.bsky.social · 4w ago

A personal update. I'm stepping down as Game Developer news editor at the end of the month. I'm incredibly proud of my work at the publication and feel—especially in recent years—we've punched above our weight and delivered some truly impactful reporting.

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 4w ago

Spike Spiegel Smoking in Cowboy Bebop

Alt: Spike Spiegel Smoking in Cowboy Bebop

static.klipy.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 4w ago

did anyone write “it takes toon” as a dek for their orbitals review or do i have to do everything myself here

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 4w ago

it's cool to see that gamesradar published the time extend i wrote about rock band 4 back in march 2024 on the site, but i don't understand why they repurposed the headline to read like a recent op-ed. wish i had been consulted on it first www.gamesradar.com/games/action...

I'm excited for Stage Tour, but Rock Band 4 will take a lot to beat

Harmonix's swan song for the plastic-instrument era lives on

gamesradar.com

the gyrados of hot women @renorraven.bsky.social · 4w ago

ty to suriel for reminding me to also plug my consultancy services. i *also* provided feedback on MS2 among other things recently. i really, really love providing feedback on in-development projects and do so at competitive rates! (particularly flexible for indie devs)

Suriel Vazquez@suriel.bsky.social · last mo.

You don't get public credits often in consulting, so it's nice to get one every once in a while. Thanks to the team at @playstack.com for letting me consult on Mortal Shell 2, along with some other cool folks!

Screenshot of the in-game "Special Thanks" section of the credits for Mortal Shell 2, where you can see ya boi's name.

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · 4w ago

i'm back on game informer with a review of the blood of dawnwalker, a game that carries a ton of potential while also being hindered by ambitions that don't quite come together gameinformer.com/review/the-b...

The Blood of Dawnwalker Review: Time Doesn't Heal All Wounds

The Blood of Dawnwalker (PlayStation 5) Review – 7/10: Despite mechanical gripes, The Blood of Dawnwalker shows that curating a massive RPG rather than

gameinformer.com

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · last mo.

gta 6 should penalize you for not being an eater

Diego Nicolás Argüello @diegoarguello.bsky.social · last mo.

yeah im gonna have to write about the use of spanish in gta 6 asap

Nicole Carpenter @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social · last mo.

"It's just not our money to keep, and it felt really good to give it back," Panic co-founder Caleb Sasser said. "That's an easy way to know you made the right decision."

Playdate maker Panic is refunding tariff fees to customers

Panic is refunding customers who purchased a Playdate device and paid a 19 percent fee imposed by the now-rescinded US tariffs.

gamedeveloper.com