The Steam Machine has been delayed because stupid little babies can't stop using AI to write their emails:

aftermath.site/steam-machine-...

This may be more subjective than the other things, but was the writing and voice acting meant to be like that? Was it meant to be taken sincerely or with a level of irony?

Because Keanu Reeves growling the word cunt in an attempt to be cool never really worked for me.

Relatedly, the interface in general felt unintuitive. Accessing your inventory, and then having most of your stuff be hidden in your backpack (which is an item in your inventory) just seemed odd.

Menu navigation is fucking WOEFUL. I get these were adapted from a PC interface but I’ve literally never come across a more finicky UI. Scrolling through items or lists always ended up being work than it needed to be.

(The follow replies to this will just be me mostly whinging. Apologies).

Maybe it’s different on PC, but on PS5 the game feel is really off. A lot of actions using a gamepad feel clunky or inaccurate. The simple act of getting on a motorbike always takes a couple of attempts.

Finished Cyberpunk 2077 after 20ish hours of mostly doing just the main story.

I get that there are parts of it that just aren’t for me. And I probably missed a lot of highlights by skipping most of the side quests.

But I just don’t see how this game was meant to be groundbreaking.

Finally finished watching Dark. I have never been confused and yet engaged whilst watching something.

I don't think the ending is as good or satisfying as most people say, but at the same time it's still pretty good.

Make your first puzzle game! Beginner friendly tutorial from Josia a creator of Cats Organised Neatly. @duandigames.bsky.social
📺 youtu.be/rsjedJFfUAo

Cyberpunk may have done enough for me to see it through to the end.

But I’m going to complain about it the whole time.

On that note - what abysmal motorbike controls.

All the arguing of hope vs. doomerism is making me tap the sign

Episode 2 of our GOTY extravaganza, we reveal some of our categories and what games win them. Which game of 2025 is the most ambitious? The most Jeremy? What about the most addictive? Listen in to find out!

youtu.be/CJhEM1n57e4

I really like how in Cyberpunk 2077 you take cover and it does nothing.

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It's a new year and we've got lots of plans for 2026!

Now is a great time to support independent games media.

Join us on Patreon for ad-free videos and podcasts, written columns, experimental videos and other benefits!

thanks for all the kind words about our Disco Elysium series. it's a long watch, but given the game I wanted to ensure we captured as much of the story as possible. it'll never tell the full story, you kind of can't. but hopefully it paints a broader picture of the time, place and people who made it

Oh my lord I actually got them after they supposedly sold out an hour ago. I feel like I’m going to throw up.

Should have been in bed like 2 hours ago but I swear I’m going to get these Ghibli Museum tickets.

A timeline visually representing the advice from my post, emphasising how dramatically and reliably having more time, with a testable build, converts to your game being better and your studio being safer.

I've been running an indie games studio for 15 years now, and it felt like a good time to boil down what I've learned into 4 pieces of advice:

www.pentadact.com/2026-01-08-1...

I hope it's of use, not least because goddamn I forgot how long blog posts take to write.

Starting the new year with a cold/flu/covid/virus is just awesomeeeeeeee, woo yeah wouldn’t want it to be any other wayyyyy

Yeah others have told me to see it through to where it starts to open up more. Here’s hoping!

I’m trying to get into Cyberpunk 2077 and I’m struggling.

Playing it (on PS5 at least) feels kind of awful. Like clunky and unresponsive, and I’m running into bugs and quirks which definitely don’t help.

Happy 2026.

Oh my lord the constant bickering and withholding of key information because “There’s no time to explain!” is really sending me.

Awful! (Continues watching)

This last season of Stranger Things feels so off for some reason. It’s like every second scene is people sitting in a circle theorising what’s going on.

Into The Breach on iPad via a Netflix subscription might have legit saved my sanity this Christmas.

Unearthing my BlueSky account just to post the hottest of takes that Hades is actually quite good.

I'll say it once and I'll say it again. If you think artists are just "naturally talented", you're deeply wrong. The only difference between you and us is that we kept trying when it didn't come out like we hoped.
You can always make art yourself. There's no bad time to start, you can start now.

Okay, big breath...

After more than two years since we published our last documentary on the topic, it's time we returned to Disco Elysium:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZEA...

Video games have a serious crediting problem, but unions can help How are unions working to fix the industry's issue with credits?

Video games have a serious crediting problem, but unions can help

"Being properly credited on a title is essential to our individual careers as workers, and also just general fairness. Being able to say, 'Hey, I worked on this,' is important to show the work you did and not undercut labor."

VOLITION - Do it for the city. Go.

SHIVERS - Do it for the wind.

LOGIC - Do it for the picture puzzle. Put it all together. Solve the world. One conversation at a time.

I paused playing The Alters for a while and have finally come back to it.

I really want to finish this but the moment to moment gameplay is actually so not engaging. Constantly feels like a grind (possibly intentionally), but it really isn’t fun most of the time.