Hey @milkman.bsky.social, I'm working on a ThisWeekInVideogames feature on how Japanese devs are adapting to the industry's financial pressures. I thought you may be a good person to ask, do you know any Japanese devs who might be interested in chatting? Feel free to DM or email, thank you!

Finally, a game that lets me talk with my hands

Big Walk Is for the Italians

Finally, a game that lets me talk with my hands

polygon.com

The industry makes great games, but nobody can find them. Algorithms built to surface content are increasingly rewarding volume, familiarity, and short-term engagement over quality or originality. https://bit.ly/44VFYO9

as it turns out, putting blood, sweat, tears into surviving to 24 and writing a book during your hardest year is worth it. thank you @lostincult.co.uk 💜 i definitely haven't processed this being my reality yet, but they're right there nonetheless. on my shelf. my book. that i wrote.

@aftermath.site literally does not exist without paid subscribers. It's (currently) the only way we make any money. While it's cool that over 25,000 people are subscribed to our newsletter, 'free' members actually COST us money to host, so the more people we can get signing up, the better:

We're Having A Sale!

We've got discounts on both our monthly and annual offerings

aftermath.site

One thing I've learned from operating an independent reader-funded games publication is that I'm absolute dogshit at self-promotion and I need to get better at that. Anyway, just letting you know This Week in Videogames had its first anniversary like two weeks ago lol pls subscribe to keep us alive

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thisweekinvideogames.com

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w ago

This Week in Videogames has reached its first full year of operation. Thank you to our paid subscribers for helping us sustain an independent, commercial-free, AI-free, and no-nonsense approach to games coverage for everyone. Here's a brief rundown of what we've managed to achieve in Year One:

I flew to Paris for 40 hours to check out Castlevania: Belmont's Revenge for Kotaku and it rips so hard.

Kotaku@kotaku.com · 3w ago

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is an ambitious 2D revival of a classic franchise with a lot to prove. We interviewed the team and went hands-on with the upcoming action platformer in P... https://kotaku.com/beautiful-and-ambitious-with-a-lot-to-prove-hands-on-with-castlevania-belmonts-curse-2000716828

After years of videogames trying to recreate the one-shot take, 007 First Light and Mixtape are bringing back the art of the jump cut in 2026. But though they’re quick in execution, they’re not exactly easy to implement. We speak to Beethoven & Dinosaur + @blendogames.bsky.social to understand why.

Videogames Are Rediscovering the Jump Cut

Standout sequences in 007 First Light and Mixtape have embraced one of cinema's favourite tools. But if it were that easy to use, everyone would be doing it.

thisweekinvideogames.com

This Week in Videogames has reached its first full year of operation. Thank you to our paid subscribers for helping us sustain an independent, commercial-free, AI-free, and no-nonsense approach to games coverage for everyone. Here's a brief rundown of what we've managed to achieve in Year One:

This Week in Videogames Marks Its First Anniversary

The award-winning independent games media outlet has reached its first full year of operation, sustained by the support of a reader-funded subscription model.

thisweekinvideogames.com

Ok Capcom this is good

007 First Light's action film montage made its tutorial a memorable highlight. But why does a century-old film editing technique feel so remarkable? I spoke to @mixtapegame.bsky.social and @blendogames.bsky.social about how they use the neglected art of the videogame jump cut.

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w ago

After years of videogames trying to recreate the one-shot take, 007 First Light and Mixtape are bringing back the art of the jump cut in 2026. But though they’re quick in execution, they’re not exactly easy to implement. We speak to Beethoven & Dinosaur + @blendogames.bsky.social to understand why.

I'm in a book! Specifically @lostincult.co.uk's fab Arcade Adventures anthology. I interviewed the founders of New York's Barcade®, Bury's Arcade Club and Melbourne's Bartronica about how arcade bars keep the past, and some particularly venerable cabinets, alive.

Hey, so, I was so angry today that, for once, I blogged it instead of posting about it. Games media, especially mainstream games media, cannot keep abdicating responsibility in how it talks about these things an-evening-at-the-inn.ghost.io/video-game-s...

Video Game Studios Aren't Monoliths

I'm just going to come right out and say it this time - treating video game studios like some kind of fantasy football draft, in the wake of mass layoffs no less, is sickening. The last three years, ...

an-evening-at-the-inn.ghost.io

Big news! @apzonerunner.com and I have launched a new video games website. @respec.net is our attempt to create a highly curated multi-format site that has that club feel you used to get from the best magazines (and frankly, my beloved VideoGamer back in the day) www.respec.net/feature/87-w...

Welcome to Respec: A word from the Editors | Respec

Welcome to our new little corner of the internet. Why a new video game website, and why now? Allow us to explain...

respec.net

For NAIDOC Week, I wrote up @gdig.bsky.social's interviews with Aboriginal Australian devs making their mark on Australian gaming and finding a path to become self-sustaining studios. Including Crimson Cutlass, a roguelite using a rev-share model designed to house and fund First Nations games.

ABC News Australia@news.abc.net.au · last mo.

First Nations creators tell Indigenous stories through video games

For some people, video games are about the wonder of exploring strange, thrilling, action-packed worlds but for me the joy of video games has always been all about moving to a franchise-centric planning strategy to better focus resources on long-term growth and stability amid broader restructuring.

GamesIndustry.biz@gibiz.bsky.social · 4w ago

Bethesda is moving to a "franchise-centric" planning strategy to better focus resources on long-term growth and stability amid broader restructuring at Xbox www.gamesindustry.biz/bethesda-piv...

Hey, let's talk about money and @skyboxcritics.com again. Last month, we hit $250 a month! Yay! This month, we're below that again. I'm not shaming anyone; times are hard. But the reality is Skybox operates at a loss that I make up personally, and that's becoming more and more unsustainable. 1/X

Yeah, I'm excited to return to Vice City, but I hope the rest of Leonida in GTA VI is a direct evolution of RDR2's fascinating approach to natural environments and just fooling around in the countryside. My latest for @gamesradarplus.bsky.social: www.gamesradar.com/games/grand-...

GTA 6 deserves more than Vice City, and I hope Rockstar takes cues from Red Dead Redemption 2

Opinion | 13 years later, Grand Theft Auto's world needs to be more than a criminal playground

gamesradar.com

So, Xbox just got the perfect opportunity for a 13 years in the making clapback? youtu.be/kWSIFh8ICaA?...

Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video

YouTube video by PlayStation

youtu.be

Wario64@wario64.bsky.social · last mo.

Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles blog.playstation.com/2026/07/01/p...

Excited to write for Eurogamer again! I wrote about how games explore queerness through the concept of time

Chris Tapsell@christapsell.bsky.social · last mo.

And here's a great piece from @crapstacular.bsky.social on how queerness interlinks with the concept of time, via games like Life is Strange, If Found, Killing Time At Light Speed, and Queers In Love At The End Of The World:

please don't make me upgrade my computer or buy a new thing

This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 2mo ago

With constant price hikes and next-gen gaming hardware likely to break the bank during a cost-of-living crisis, @edmondtran.bsky.social proposes developers keep lowering the bar. Meaning? It's time to really embrace low-spec benchmarks so we can keep playing new games on devices we already own.

My first SGF piece for @ign.com is live! Onimusha was a top 3 game of the show for me, and I think it absolutely has the juice even if it's not quite Combo Mad. I just wish it was harder. Hurt me more, Capcom. As always, big thanks to @dmc-ryan.bsky.social for the opportunity and letting me be me.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword Has the Combat Feel Action Sickos Crave | IGN Preview

Often, you leave a demo satisfied. But sometimes, you put down your controller with another thought in mind: “Yeah, I could keep going.” If Capcom had let me, I would have played Onimusha: Way of the ...

ign.com

Mixtape revived memories of the years when music microfixations meant everything to me - listening to Joy Division and David Gray (and local ska-punk bands) until 3am every night. I wrote about it for the ABC's Games of 2026 (so far) round-up. www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06...

Six gaming experts share their favourite video games of the year so far

From cosy builders to hectic shooters and all the way through to nostalgic adventures, there are lots of gems to enjoy on your favourite game console so far this year.

abc.net.au

This is a fun article I participated in about the NDS art creation scene! Check out how my NDS ended up on display in a museum…

Francisco Dominguez@dominguezf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Nintendo DS/3DS enjoys a strange afterlife among digital creatives. I spoke to @mattnava.bsky.social about when he painted Journey's concept art with a DS Lite in a desert, and Art Academy's creator and 3DS photographers about its artistic relevance. www.backmarket.com/en-us/c/tech...

Imagine owning Double Fine and even *considering* closing it. The history of Double Fine is the history of the games industry itself. This is a crime.

Jason Schreier@jasonschreier.bsky.social · 2mo ago

BREAKING: Several Xbox studios, including Compulsion, Ninja Theory and Double Fine, are negotiating with Xbox as they try to avoid closure. Some or all could spin off. Lots still in flux as many studios remain unsure about what's happening. Here's the latest: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Nintendo DS/3DS enjoys a strange afterlife among digital creatives. I spoke to @mattnava.bsky.social about when he painted Journey's concept art with a DS Lite in a desert, and Art Academy's creator and 3DS photographers about its artistic relevance. www.backmarket.com/en-us/c/tech...

How the Nintendo DS and 3DS inspire artists | Back Market

Although Nintendo's focus might be on the Switch 2 nowadays, it hasn't stopped artists from continuing to embrace the Nintendo DS and 3DS to aide with their creations. Francisco Dominguez speaks to so...

backmarket.com

'Spore: An oral history' by Jay Castello and the (excellent) Design Room www.designroom.site/spore-an-ora...

Its a 3ds summer baybee

Francisco Dominguez@dominguezf.bsky.social · 2mo ago

The Nintendo DS/3DS enjoys a strange afterlife among digital creatives. I spoke to @mattnava.bsky.social about when he painted Journey's concept art with a DS Lite in a desert, and Art Academy's creator and 3DS photographers about its artistic relevance. www.backmarket.com/en-us/c/tech...

The Nintendo DS/3DS enjoys a strange afterlife among digital creatives. I spoke to @mattnava.bsky.social about when he painted Journey's concept art with a DS Lite in a desert, and Art Academy's creator and 3DS photographers about its artistic relevance. www.backmarket.com/en-us/c/tech...

How the Nintendo DS and 3DS inspire artists | Back Market

Although Nintendo's focus might be on the Switch 2 nowadays, it hasn't stopped artists from continuing to embrace the Nintendo DS and 3DS to aide with their creations. Francisco Dominguez speaks to so...

backmarket.com