Nicole Carpenter
@nicolecarpenter.bsky.social
reporter text me on signal @ nicolecarpenter.87 email: nicolecarpenterwrites@gmail.com
In real life I consider myself a pretty smart, prudent person--but I am a disaster in Big Walk, running off from the group and losing my items and constantly forgetting where we are. But it's these moments--and the fact that you aren't in them alone-- that have made the game fun so far.
Aftermath@aftermath.site · yesterdayBig Walk is at its best when you totally screw things up aftermath.site/big-walk-impre...
the worst (best?) part of this is that riley and i wandered off together holding both of the walkie talkies
Chris Person@papapishu.bsky.social · 2d agoI got separated from Riley and Nicole in the woods at night with no method of communication until I found a puzzle that let me shoot infinite green flares into the air for 30 minutes and they used that to geolocate where I was. Truly a magical game lol.
I got separated from Riley and Nicole in the woods at night with no method of communication until I found a puzzle that let me shoot infinite green flares into the air for 30 minutes and they used that to geolocate where I was. Truly a magical game lol.
Chris Person@papapishu.bsky.social · 2d agoBig Walk is so good dude.
i started collecting pokemon cards again and am making a collection of pokemon with food ☺️ i can’t explain it but it feels illegal when i manage to find and buy pokemon packs lol
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, here's another zinger from @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social! This week, she looks at how institutional knowledge is being disregarded and undervalued across major game studios to the detriment of workers.
Game Developer@gamedeveloper.bsky.social · 6d agoIf knowledge if power, why are game companies setting it alight?
in her Mothership debut, @megannicolett.bsky.social spoke to Consume Me developer @qdork.bsky.social about looksmaxxing, "Get Ready With Me" videos, and how Consume Me upends it all:
Consume Me dev Jenny Jiao Hsia rejects glow-up culture
It’s no coincidence that Hsia encountered "looksmaxxing" content while promoting the game.
mothership.blog
In concert with anime industry interviews feeling like access journalism to publications that don't play ball, the ins and outs of requests asked of journalists breathing rarefied air with creatives feel more like stringent PR than actual journalism.
Aftermath@aftermath.site · last wk.I hate doing anime interviews: aftermath.site/i-hate-doing-a...
By filing Freedom of Information requests, 404 Media has obtained bodycam footage and documents that uncover stories about tech that powers ICE and how cops abuse Flock. You can FOIA too! On July 30th at 1 pm ET, we will teach you how to file a FOIA request live: www.404media.co/our-new-foia...
Back 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...
Rockstar Fired 34 People, but the Union Is Bigger than Ever
YouTube video by People Make Games
youtube.com
I've been chatting with a bunch of video game contractors who have recently worked with major AAA companies about how the relentless budget cuts are affecting them (spoiler: badly)
Kotaku@kotaku.com · 2w agoThousands of full-time video game industry workers have been laid off in the last several years as game companies scramble to cut costs. But there are even more cuts happening quietly to contract workers, wh... https://kotaku.com/amidst-mass-layoffs-contract-workers-devastated-video-games-2000718416
interesting little details in here about video game contracts and how they're applied, like the nfl players association and saber interactive arguing about whether or not there should be a helmetless mode in the game
Aftermath@aftermath.site · 2w agoSaber Interactive won't pay up $3.1 million in Wild Card Football licensing fees, football union says aftermath.site/saber-interact...
Xbox gamer suing Microsoft for tariff refunds as Nintendo says they're too hard to do aftermath.site/xbox-microsoft...
Have YOU lost a farm in stardew valley/animal crossing? Tell me your tale of woe (for a story) email in bio, DMs open, share widely please and thank you
This video of a woman telling an anti-abortion asshole to, "Shut the fuck up" is exactly what I needed to see on a Monday morning
i forgot to explain the science of how the microwave kiln works, but basically the white outside is like a porous insulating material, and the black liner inside (which is orange in the photo) absorbs microwave radiation to heat up very very very very hot
Aftermath@aftermath.site · 3w agoI'm making ceramics in my microwave: aftermath.site/microwave-kiln...
For @mothership.blog, I talked to over a dozen caretakers about the reality of being a caretaker while working in games. The short of it? It's *very* difficult. Here's a glimpse of the current experience, its consequences, and coveted standardized practices: www.mothership.blog/the-games-in...
The games industry isn't taking care of its caretakers
We spoke with over a dozen devs who take care of children, aging parents, and sick family members
mothership.blog
I spent an unhealthy amount of time ranking my favorite farming locations in modern FromSoftware games for @aftermath.site Please enjoy. aftermath.site/dark-souls-e...
The Definitive Ranking Of FromSoftware Farming Locations I Like
Dark Souls, Demon's Souls, Elden Ring, Sekrio, Bloodborne, AC6 and more. I have been thinking about farming for weeks now.
aftermath.site
Chris Person@papapishu.bsky.social · last mo.Have been mentally ranking all my favorite From farming locations. Giant Lord. Those blue samurai. That one armed guy. Arch dragon Peak. That fuck off boulder. Reaper time. Dam attack. Looney Tunes forest cliff. Albinaurics massacre cliff. And of course Cum chalice.
Massive counter point to anyone claiming that AI will help the video game market by lowering development time and cost. Add to this the already gargantuan challenge of discovery, the assumingly soon massive increase in the number of games being released daily, and matured demand... it's... bad!
404 Media@404media.co · 3w agoVibecoding has made it possible to create a cheap rip off of a video game in just a few hours.
for 404 media, i wrote about video game clones—who makes them, how they make them, and where the line gets drawn between inspiration and cloning
404 Media@404media.co · 3w agoVibecoding has made it possible to create a cheap rip off of a video game in just a few hours.
A fantastic column from @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social today, on marginalized devs navigating the hellfire that is the current indie funding environment www.gamedeveloper.com/production/t...
A risk-averse video game industry is failing marginalised devs
Nazih Fares has been inundated with praise when pitching 'spicy' card battler The Arab League of Misfits, so why has funding yet to materialize?
gamedeveloper.com
a raccoon spent a half hour this weekend moving five babies under my house lol
the scope of these layoffs feels so overwhelming—that's 1,600 people whose lives are instantly changed and thrown into chaos. i think about how getting laid off impacted my life, then times that by 1,600... it's hard to comprehend.
Aftermath@aftermath.site · last mo.Xbox will lay off 3200 workers and cut four studios loose aftermath.site/xbox-layoffs-j...
Despite a report this morning, I can confirm that Obsidian is *not* in negotiations to avoid shutting down. Plenty of details are still up in the air surrounding the layoffs (picture will be clear on Monday) but Xbox is keeping Obsidian, according to people familiar with the situation.
when i was a teenager, the kids in my high school were all using oxycontin. this novel, negative space, is the only one to truly capture what being so surrounded by death feels like when you are so young. aftermath.site/negative-spa...
Negative Space Is A Weird And Honest Portrait of Watching All Your Friends Get Hooked On Drugs
B. R. Yeagar's novel about drug addicted, suicidal teenagers brought me back to my own adolescence
aftermath.site
