The UK social media ban punishes kids for our failure, 18/06/2026
Also, Power Play is out today 🎉
Latest Gaming Articles
Let's talk Cosmere video games
Maybe one will happen...someday?
The Nintendo Direct has me excited, guys. I’m so ready for a new Fire Emblem game in the fall, and I can’t wait until we get the date for the Ocarina of Time remake. Now I just have to finally beat Baldur’s Gate 3.
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Szeth journey in Wind & Truth is like his Pokemon gym challenge
How LGBTQ+ video game content is censored across the world, 11/06/2026
A new VGIM long-read report lifts the lid on censorship of queer game content
An Alternative to Toroidal Video Games
On game maps that could have been made, but apparently weren't
A little while back, I wrote an article about how many JRPGs (and video games in general) secretly take place on a torus, even when you expect it to be on a sphere.
Now I want to see a game played on a Klein bottle.
To do the concept justice, you would need to make orientation meaningful. Perhaps something like a puzzle-platformer where your character has asymmetric abilities, so that you have to return to the same location in the opposite orientation to make progress.
So wait, what goes wrong if you try to do a projective plane instead by twisting both axes? Apparently something must, but I can't offhand think of what!
Playing Video Games Again
but for research!
So I’ve been playing a bit more video games than usual. Yes, it is mainly because I am currently Looking For Work, but also because games tend to have my favorite examples of art direction. I love the logic in most games, linear or non-linear, which doors we can enter, what we collide against, who is an NPC… When I imagine worlds in games, I immediately…
The End of "Video Games"
Press F to Pay Respects
For the generation that grew up with an Atari, Commodore 64, and NES, “Video Games” as a form of media were in a constant state of evolution.
AI in Video Games: Own the Loop
How AI is about to reshape what it costs to make a game, and why a studio keeps its value only if it owns the learning loop, not the model that runs it.
TL;DR AI is not coming for the game engine, the core that holds the rules and runs the shared world. It is coming for the content around it, the art, writing and testing that are what a studio spends on. The value of that work flows up to a handful of AI labs by default and a studio keeps it only if it owns the loop that produces it.
childhood video games and child-like faith
& my case for the connection between the two.
Adulting Needs Rewiring
WE NEED A REVIVAL OF CHILDLIKE WONDER
Wow - super interesting read. I love how you mixed your prose with the interview .. a must send to my SIL…
For me personally, the scripture in Matthew has been a challenge since I missed a childhood - in survivor mode for most of it so raising my kids was a deep (wonderful) dive and our ever faithful Pops gave me a husband who wears the verse on his arm .. so to speak.. ha!
My kids did not do much gaming .. but I appreciate the connection here.
Takes me to Romans 8:28, God orchestrates every circumstance and uses what we know to glorify His Kingdom.
What a God!
😉
Are map-games for high IQ people?
Video Games and IQ
A few years ago, a good friend shared an observation with me: “every smart person I know likes map and strategy games the most.” I had sensed this intuitively but never properly articulated it. The claim seemed logical, yet when I went looking for confirmation, Google turned up nothing, leaving it as one of those observations that feels true but cannot …
Curiosity Beats Credentials
Curiosity unleashed twenty-five years of growth, opportunity, and possibility.
Before Streamline Studios existed, three kids from different parts of the world met on the internet because they were trying to figure out how games worked.
Advice For Men: When in doubt, play video games
"The grins of the father are visited upon the son."
This essay began as a short play titled Song of Pong, performed at The Brick Theater in Williamsburg in 2011, and later went viral as an essay on Medium. Two years ago, the video game podcast Gamers with Jobs produced a recorded version featuring actor Graham Rowat
Video games are becoming a hobby for the rich.
A base PS5 now costs $600, the next Xbox is rumored at up to $1,200, and $80 games are circling. Sony’s console sales just dropped 46% in a year. The hobby is splitting into people who can afford it and people playing free games on the phone they already own.
On Indigenous Political Thought in Video Games
In something of a departure from my typical work, I recently published an article in International Political Sociology on Indigenous political thought in video games.
What's Wrong with Writing on Games
Case studies in misguided Mixtape criticism
I regularly toy with a “What’s Wrong with Writing on Games” post but without specific examples it’s too vague, and with specifics it’s too mean.
It feels almost radical to say but I enjoyed Mixtape. Apparently I'm "a certain type of guy" despite being a woman... and Black... who grew up in the 80s and 90s... on the opposite side of the country... was pretty poor... and raised almost exclusively on hip hop, soul, and R&B... I say all that to say that I had nothing in common with the characters in the game. However I realize that nostalgia for thee does not have to look like nostalgia for me in order for me to enjoy it. Sure it was a particular coming-of-age story of someone with a particular life, but aren't they all? Due to the wide variety of experiences people have in this world, it will always look different for everyone. That doesn't make someone else's story or song choices any less valuable. (Because I'm quite sure had MY personal song favorites from the 90s been put in a game, there would be similar uproar.) We can extrapolate meaning from other's life experiences, even if their life looks nothing like our own.
And the historical accuracy argument is laughable because, as you stated, magical realism exists. As a teen, did I leap and bound my way through the woods as though someone had dialed down Earth's gravitational pull? No. Or did I float through the town as the world faded to black and white? Also no. These were the character's memories and, I feel like people forget this but, memories aren't exactly accurate. They are mental recreations that are filtered and shaped and influenced by so many things. I've seen so many comments about how unrealistic the tongue mini game or shopping cart game was and it's like "well, yeah. That's how our memories can work." Some details get exaggerated, some minimized, and most is forgotten and we fill in the gaps.
Also last point because this is getting really long and I fully agree with you, but this is just my chance to say my piece lol... the "this is not the 90s" argument I often hear bothers me for the reasons you've mentioned. But also...yeah, this was the 90s. I grew up in the 90s: from elementary school to high school and despite so many people saying this was "nothing like the 90s," I was there. I remember cassettes and VCRs and making slushies and covering my walls in pictures from magazines. I wasn't involved in skater culture but I knew it existed. I often listened to old music because my mom did. I hung out in the woods and at convenience stores and in run down shacks. I rented VHS tapes and drinking was, indeed VERY important to parties. I was jealous of people who I thought stole my friend's attention from me. I even rolled down the street in shopping carts. You had to make your own fun in the 90s lol But I say all that to say, the 90s was a time when we had some shared experiences but also many that we didn't even know existed. Maybe other 90s kids lived differently but it doesn't invalidate that it happened. And I, personally, don't mind an amalgamation of years crammed together. Quite frankly in media this happens a LOT. However, since we didn't live through the era, we don't notice it. 1953 feels the same as 1957 to me. And how many would even notice all the subtle differences between 1432 and 1441?
I feel like I'm losing the plot here so I'll end with saying...I agree the discourse was misguided and mishandeld and became a "human centipede" of content. I was more understanding of the "it's not a game" criticism because it focused on particular mechanics. Although as someone who has been gaming since the 80s and has seen gaming evolve so much over the past 40 years I say to that... I don’t flipping care. "Game" vs "interactive story" vs whatever... just play or "experience" whatever you like.
TL:DR -- this was a great read with great insights. I hope others take away the message so that think pieces can truly lead us to thinking more deeply
This was such an interesting read! And I do mean interesting in its actual sense, not the 'I want to be nice about not liking it' way that native speakers apparently use it.
Reading some of the criticism of this game felt alienating: too often it came from the angle of hating narrative games wholesale, or denying that they are even games to begin with (because semantic nitpicking will apparently prove that something is bad).
I've seen both professional and user reviews approach it with an air of 'of course, we all hated Life is Strange, so get a load of THIS game.'
But the thing is, I like Life is Strange. In a sense I am the elusive (((that type of guy))) brought up in every other review. I'm also a '90s kid and it is ridiculously easy to make me feel things with nostalgic media.
I was prepared to love this game, but in the end I didn't. Yet every think piece or review out there seemed to be either "I expected to love it and I loved it" or "I expected to hate it and I hated it."
I'd like to think I did a decent job explaining why it didn't work for me, but that's for others to judge. That specific viewpoint, though, is what I am often missing in writing on games: "I expected to like this, but I didn't. Here's why." To me those are the most interesting takes as, at the very least, they are a safeguard against the bad-faith cynicism that seems to dictate the tone of "The Discourse" surrounding every new piece of media these days.
Another thing I like about your article specifically is the reminder to explain things and give examples. It seems simple, but I still have to actively remind myself not to make grand statements without backing them up when I write any sort of argumentative piece. Fortunately, I can still hear the echo of my thesis supervisor yelling at me, and that is an experience I would wish upon every writer.
A long comment, but I've read your entire article so I feel like I'm owed some space to ramble!
The Art of the Longplay
Watching people play video games really, really slowly
A twelve-hour and fourteen minute YouTube video entitled Pokemon Emerald playthrough ~Longplay~ on the channel FCPlaythrough has 1.3 million views. It consists of the player completing the 2004 Pokemon game in its entirety: going to every building, talking to every non-player character, a…
5 All-Time Favorite Gay Everythings for Pride
TV, books, movies, video games, albums, and more.
Happy Pride, homos! I recently answered a question at a prestigious literary panel thus: “Oh, I don’t read or watch or play stories about straight people.” And this dude emailed me later and asked, “Can you even name five gay books that would be on a ‘favorites’ list?”
Greetings to all of you, my people. I am so happy to see the stupendous banquet of choices for us now. I will be, I hope, 80 years old in a few months. I had to write to distant bookstores and research and seek out treasures. Bibliography section of Sex Deviant Women in Literature (found it in the library, bought the paperback, tore out the bibliography and carried it in my pocket). I had The Well of Loneliness, Patience and Sarah, When It Changed, and Desert of the Heart. I am so happy that we can find each other here – thank you Heather – and that we can finally be ourselves.
DEBS is such a cheesy movie and I love it so much.
I'd add Arcane to the animated tv show list.
The peeling wallpaper of a decaying world
Backrooms, Covid, video games, slop, and the future of film
Deal table in the middle, plain chairs all round the walls, on one end a large shining map, marked with all the colours of a rainbow. There was a vast amount of red—good to see at any time, because one knows that some real work is done in there, a deuce of a lot of blue, a little green, smears of orange, and, on the East Coa…
This is thoughtful and articulate and cool as hell. A good trio of works to read together. I do not envy those newly 20!
Haven't seen the movie, but from the description, especially the end where the room slowly dissolves to nothing, I'm reminded of "The Langoliers" and the same sense of emptiness and dissolution. Seems like there are too many similarities to be pure coincidence. We could probably stretch this back even further to the underworld of Hades and forgetting that comes with drinking from the river Lethe and the slow dissolution of what was once a life. I think one key rule would be to not eat anything you find.
Xbox plans major layoffs under new CEO | Fortnite players pay real money for sprite creatures | EA launches in-game ad service
Gies W24 | June 19, 2026
Xbox Plans Significant Layoffs as It Transforms Under New CEO Asha Sharma
Video Games Aren't A Waste of Time—They Were Built for Our Brains
Five types of games that were made for neurodivergent people
“Video games are a waste of time.”
I guess I'm the only AuDHD out here that hates video games.
I'm older than you, and when I started playing, every mistake sent me all the way back to the beginning, or stole my quarter. The Mario theme still raises my hackles.
The frustration translated into a depth of rage and embarrassment that has persisted. Even when they introduced checkpoints, it was too late.
I love real world games: pool, pinball, skeeball, air hockey,the dance mat. I like board games, except for Monopoly, which is just capitalism on the dining room table.
When I had kids, I tried again. Yeah, no. And no one understands. 🤷♀️
I spent hours having my Sim write a bunch of books in the evenings so his monthly royalties were enough that he could quit his day job and never have to get another one.
I’m hoping to emulate that success some day. 😆
CORE from Nerdtacular 2026!
With Scott, Jon, Beau, Randy, Brian, Bobby, and the one and only LIAM O’BRIEN! Enjoy the archive from our live episode! Video coming soon to the Youtube Channel as well. CORE: About Them Video Games is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The Something Else
If it wasn’t Porn or Video Games, it would be something else.
I do blow hours on my PS5, but even if modern games weren’t so amazing and there was no PS5, I’d find something else.
Agree.
I could probably have supported 4-5 kids at this point, but saw no point in becoming the divorced dad struggling to pay alimony and child support.
"The something else I’m detailing here may in fact be a man’s genuine passion, but his impetus to engage (or over-engage) in it comes as a result of a need for escapism rather than genuine fervor for it." - High value men are motivated by the need to build something, not "as a result of a need for escapism."
There are plans for bolder Star Trek video games
“We wanted to do something that's more interesting and engaging and will get people's attention.”
I am not telling you news when I tell you than an executive at a major entertainment conglomerate has looked at a popular franchise and decided that they can—they should—do more with it in video games.
Wow, I didn't even know that ST: Resurgence had been pulled from stores. Huge Trek fan here, I played it and really enjoyed it as a Trek story authentic to the era it was being told in. Although I do remember having some quibbles with the way your choices played out in the end game.
I've been enjoying Voyager: Across The Unknown as an idle time game, but damn if the RNG mechanic doesn't drive me bloody crazy at times.
Shadow Frontier looks really interesting! Ro Laren was always one of the most interesting characters on TNG, so giving her top billing immediately gets my attention.
I suppose it's time to indulge and list my favourite Star Trek games over the years:
ST: 25th Anniversary & Judgement Rites - Interplay's point-and-click adventure masterpieces, with the voices of the OG cast on the CD-Rom versions! The puzzles frequently stumped me as a kid, but the space combat was easy - you just threw the Enterprise into reverse and the enemy AI would sit right in front of you, and the Enterprise would almost always outgun them toe-to-toe.
Starfleet Academy - fun albeit simple first-person space combat
Bridge Commander - fun albeit overly complex first-person space combat
Voyager: Elite Force - a great and very creative early 2000s FPS, that as a bonus let you walk around the virtual Voyager and explore to your heart's content.
Star Trek: Legacy - spanning all eras of the franchise of the time, with voices from all the Captains (including the highly elusive Avery Brooks!), you had a third-person space combat game that included some very light strategy elements too.
Star Trek: Armada - a great RTS!
Ok, this sounds great.
The European games biz goes lobbying, 04/06/2026
Riding a regulatory wave in Brussels 🏄
This week’s Video Games Industry Memo is sponsored by First Playable
Great piece, George. This event went oddly under the radar given how important the people in attendance were, but that might've been by design?
26 (or so) very brief previews of video games you might want to know about
My favorites: Bub. Ithaca. Sonic Pico Park. Clutch. Valor Mortis. Slap Out Of It. My least favorite: Blood Message.
Last week, I checked out more than two dozen new and upcoming video games in Los Angeles. Let me quickly tell you about a lot of them.
I am guessing that you... liked Galactic Racer. Maybe I'll open a bet on Polymarket for it!
It's a very slow day at work today so I've been watching some YouTube previews of the new Tomb Raider. It looks great, but nobody asked the developers the question I would have: how is this, gameplay-wise, a step up from their 2007 Anniversary remake? It's obvious how it iterates on the 1996 original, but otherwise it looks to be re-deploying a lot of Crystal Dynamics' tricks from their first Tomb Raider trilogy - grapple hook, physics puzzles, bullet-time combat shenanigans. (Do this old-school TR fan a solid and ask them if you get a chance, Stephen!)
For my part Shadow Of The Tomb Raider was my favourite of the last trilogy games, and TR: Legend my fave of the trilogy before that.
And Sonic Pico Park looks great and also makes me want someone to make a new Lost Vikings game. Who owns that now anyways? It was Blizzard developed but Interplay published as I recall.
Great write-up! Added a couple of demos to my to-play list for the coming Next Fest.
CORE 525: Address The Pile
Guys, there were a lot of video games announced lately, and we take it upon ourselves to talk about the ones that make us the most excited! Plus, all the games we played and more!
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