Edmond Tran
@edmondtran.bsky.social
// Managing Editor, @ThisWeekInVideogames.com // Managing Editor, GamesHub (2021-2023) // Senior Editor and Video Producer, GameSpot (2008-2020) // Multi-Award-Winning, Token Asian // DM's open, edmond@thisweekinvideogames.com
🔴🟡🔵 BIG WALK 🔴🟡🔵 Out now on Steam, Nintendo Switch 2, and PlayStation 5. Hooray!
I interviewed Ojiro Fumoto about POINPY!! and got great insights like: - Why he made it free (so kids who are used to Fortnite and Roblox would try it. Also, the Netflix money was good enough) - His favourite fruit (strawberries) - The game he wishes he made (Cinco Paus by @smestorp.bsky.social)
Poinpy's Revival Is Free, Because of the Kids
"I'm not fond of taking money from kids," says Ojiro "Moppin" Fumoto.
thisweekinvideogames.com
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This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w agoThis 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:
Sony has addressed multiple questions regarding its decision to end physical disc production for PS5 games in January 2028. CFO Lin Tao reasoned that a large part of the business was already digital, and by discontinuing discs, “we don’t see that there will be any negative impact.”
Sony Doesn't See "Any Negative Impact" On Business By Ending Physical PS5 Disc Manufacturing
Sony acknowledged feedback regarding the decision: “We have received various opinions, and people have strong views… we understand those emotions."
thisweekinvideogames.com
SpecialEffect is a UK charity bringing videogames and accessible controls to the lives of people with physical disabilities. For free. The rising cost of tech has put increased pressure on their work, but they tell @maddie-b-a.bsky.social "We say yes first, and figure out how we pay for it second"
Despite The "Massive Impact" Of Rising Tech Costs, SpecialEffect's Accessibility Ethos Perserveres
The accessible gaming charity says the technological improvements accompanying the increased costs are “still a privilege” to work with.
thisweekinvideogames.com
Ah, nothing beats settling down on a cold Winter's Friday afternoon after business hours with a glass of wine and 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝙶𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚙 𝙵𝚈𝟸0𝟸𝟼 𝚀𝟷 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙰𝚗𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸𝚗𝚟𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛 𝚀&𝙰 𝚂𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗
Sony has reported its earnings for Q1 FY2026, noting “essentially flat” sales but a 37% increase in profits, due to US tariff refunds. 1.6 million PlayStation 5 consoles were sold during the three-month period, bringing total lifetime sales to approximately 95.3 million units on a sell-in basis.
PlayStation Profits Boosted by US Tariff Refunds, PS5 Sales Reach 95.3 Million
The company also assured it had “secured the quantity of memory necessary to meet our projected sales volume” for continuing console sales
thisweekinvideogames.com
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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This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w agoThis 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:
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
Sign Up
thisweekinvideogames.com
This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w agoThis 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:
In-depth feature article gets posted on r/Games: Wow, amazing! So many new people are going to discover our work! Article gets pulled for being partially paywalled halfway in: 😞 Anyway please support your favourite independent games media outlets as we push these boulders up a goddamn mountain
Edmond Tran@edmondtran.bsky.social · 4w agoSomething that often goes unsaid: We're against using genAI in our work, and we've also blocked AI crawlers from finding and stealing our work. Even Google. We're not traffic-driven, but in 2026 this has a big impact on how people find us. So, simply following us and sharing our work means a lot 🙏
jesus christ i almost pounded my phone like a cartoon alarm clock
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl DLC for Marvel Tokon please ArcSys!!!!1
In October last year I was fired by Rockstar Games in what we believe was a union busting move. We lost our home. We lost 2 jobs with my partner being forced to resign. We lost a community. Most importantly however we had to leave our two dogs behind, one of which will never return.
Chris Bratt@chrisbratt.bsky.social · 2w agoBack in October, Rockstar Games fired 34 employees for alleged gross misconduct. The severity of these firings could have spelled the end for a burgeoning union effort that was underway, but it didn't. In fact, the union is now *bigger* than it's ever been before. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ym4z...
Yo! I spoke to DINOBLADE creator Jean Nguyen (who I think is maybe only the third? other Vietnamese person I've met working in games?) We talked about how a silly animation he made when he was unemployed led him down paths of AAA development AND tiny-team indie development AT THE SAME TIME. 🦖
This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 2w agoIn 2022, animator Jean Nguyen posted a clip he made of a Spinosaurus swinging around the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy 7. It went viral, landed him a job at Sucker Punch working on Ghost of Yōtei, and gave him the confidence to make his own game in his spare time. This is the story of DINOBLADE:
Yo! I spoke to DINOBLADE creator Jean Nguyen (who I think is maybe only the third? other Vietnamese person I've met working in games?) We talked about how a silly animation he made when he was unemployed led him down paths of AAA development AND tiny-team indie development AT THE SAME TIME. 🦖
This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 2w agoIn 2022, animator Jean Nguyen posted a clip he made of a Spinosaurus swinging around the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy 7. It went viral, landed him a job at Sucker Punch working on Ghost of Yōtei, and gave him the confidence to make his own game in his spare time. This is the story of DINOBLADE:
PSA if you’re reviewing a Nintendo game and you hit the credits don’t stop that’s just the tutorial
Sam Barlow 🔥@mrsambarlow.bsky.social · 2w agoGenuinely baffled by the lower scoring reviews that talk about the game being too short / easy?? They did not see me sweating trying to complete the neon bug challenge and losing gamepad grip from my sweaty palms
Ghost World is 25 years old this week. Struck me like lightning as a teenager. Still does, really.
Rick Burin@rickburin.bsky.social · last mo.If you’re coming to Ghost World through the double-bill added to the Criterion Channel today, here’s my 20th anniversary celebration, with Thora, Terry Zwigoff, Daniel Clowes, Illeana Douglas and others: www.the-independent.com/arts-enterta...
I chatted about filmic cuts --
This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w agoAfter 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.
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
New feature! A quick history of James Bond videogame songs turned into a quiet rumination on the folly of chasing fan expectations, the importance of music in pop culture works, and a passive-aggressive pass at 007 First Light's need to be liked.
This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 3w agoWhen IO Interactive announced that Lana Del Rey would perform 007 First Light's Bond Song, fans rejoiced. But in reflecting on the history of Bond's videogame title tracks, @omgmorejames.bsky.social argues these songs should aspire to more than simply giving audiences what they want.
Very much recommend The Incident at Galley House for all the deduction game sickos out there. Type Help still has unique charms, but even if you’re cool enough to have played it already there are some great surprises in the Galley House reimagining. store.steampowered.com/app/3641000/...
Save 10% on The Incident at Galley House on Steam
In 1936, something terrible happened at Galley House. Decades later, with a strange contraption that reveals echoes of the past, you must uncover the truth behind this grisly mystery.
store.steampowered.com
Edmond Tran@edmondtran.bsky.social · 2mo agoVery keen for this. Quick -- You have one month to play Type Help and brag about how you were in the know before it was reimainged and blew up: william-rous.itch.io/type-help
rip sam. here is a story about farts and Princess di he told. what a legend.
Something that often goes unsaid: We're against using genAI in our work, and we've also blocked AI crawlers from finding and stealing our work. Even Google. We're not traffic-driven, but in 2026 this has a big impact on how people find us. So, simply following us and sharing our work means a lot 🙏
This Week in Videogames@thisweekinvideogames.com · 4w agoThis Week in Videogames is a reader-funded website, and our independent, commercial-free nature is only possible due to paid subscriptions. By popular demand, we've just launched a Discord community as a new perk for financial supporters. We'd love for you to be a part of it.