Kris Holt

Enjoyed my day at Osheaga! Olivia Rodrigo was great, The Beaches and Marina were very good, Royel Otis were enjoyable and I’ll check out more of their stuff, and Cage the Elephant were fine but I’ll probably never care much about them.

Two “hell yeah” games in one week plus tons of other cool stuff, like a game jam based on investigative journalism

Saw Canada’s (finest? only?) Electric Callboy tribute band last night. Had a damn good time but I need to see the real deal ASAP

The Subway by Chappell Roan is the sad and sapphic counterpart to Tekkno Train by Electric Callboy

This was in reference to Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound! I'm a couple of hours in and, so far, it's extremely good.

There’s not much better than starting a new game, getting 15-20 minutes in and thinking “hell yeah, this is rad”

the GERMAN game industry. they're not allowed to make anything that's not a truck simulator. and here they are putting their necks on the line

Most experts acknowledge that a takeover by artificial intelligence is coming for the video game industry within the next five years, and executives have already started preparing to restructure their companies in anticipation. After all, it was one of the first sectors to deploy A.I. programming in the 1980s, with the four ghosts who chase Pac-Man each responding differently to the player's real-time movements.

This is an insane thing to write about game development. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/a...

There's a discussion happening among BAFTA Games members about taking action on the censorship of adult/nsfw games. BAFTA is a particularly good group to consider this given the long and sordid history of TV and movie censorship.

It also makes us confront why games are treated differently... 🧵

Steam and Itch.io Are Pulling ‘Porn’ Games. Critics Say It’s a Slippery Slope to More Censorship A conservative group is targeting payment processors as “a weapon” to get adult games deindexed in storefronts. Even games that have nothing to do with sex or abuse have been caught in the dragnet.

On Wednesday evening, developers began to notice their games were being unceremoniously delisted or outright removed from Itch.io. Itch's founder says it's the direct result of a financial censorship campaign from Collective Shout, an org with ties to anti-porn groups www.wired.com/story/steam-...

Best team name at the pub quiz tonight, by a mile, was Hulk Hogone

It absolutely reeks that Valve and Itch have had to acquiesce to pearl-clutchers

My YouTube watch later playlist was getting out of hand (366 videos) so I started a new one a month ago called "catch up quick" and there are already 98 videos on there. Send help

Against Ironic Detachment I’m going to say something that will make many of you deeply uncomfortable: our culture has confused ironic detachment with intelligence. We’ve mistaken cynicism for sophistication, distance for de…

A manifesto for our times. Believe in something and act upon it, better that than to rot on the sidelines as a cynic.

How exactly did Grok go full 'MechaHitler?' After Grok took a hard turn toward antisemitic earlier this week, many are probably left wondering how something like that could even happen.

New from me about Grok's very bad week, with insight from @solmg.bsky.social. www.engadget.com/ai/how-exact...

YouTube video by ANTI- Records Neko Case - "Wreck"

New Neko Case is great, because of course it is

Totally! I would see them again in a heartbeat.

It’s been a week and I can’t stop thinking about this show. Genuinely one of my favorite live experiences ever. So much fun.

Yeah, seems like they changed it due to the reason others mentioned. I updated the guide as soon as I learned about the replacement game.

Babymetal on stage holding Babymetal flags with Babymetal logos on screens

Did I just go to a show that filled a hole in my soul I never knew was missing? Only the fox god knows

Video Games Weekly: Summer Game Fest ends when I say so We close out Summer Game Fest month with a closer look at Crisol: Theater of Idols, Grave Seasons and Escape Academy 2.

a week of gaming news, plus mini itty bitty baby previews of three games I can't stop thinking about since sgf 2025:
- crisol: theater of idols
- grave seasons
- escape academy 2

Anthropic's Claude stocked a fridge with metal cubes when it was put in charge of a snacks business If you’re worried your local bodega or convivence store may soon be replaced by an AI storefront, you can rest easy after Anthropic's Claude AI had a hard time of running a mini fridge business.

Probably the most fun I've had writing a story recently.

I have been waiting for a long time for the chance to write this story

Jeff Bezos alters Venice wedding plans after threat of inflatable crocodiles Amazon founder reportedly forced to change venue for his wedding celebrations in Italian city

Meanwhile, in funny news

My ballot for the best movies of the 21st century: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Almost Famous, In Bruges, The Babadook, Parasite, Inside Out, Let the Right One On, Pan's Labyrinth, The Endless and a blank space where Turbo Kid should be.

Just off the top of my head. For some unforsaken reason, Turbo Kid wasn't in the database, but that's what would be in the blank space.

I expect that consumer-facing AI programs will continue to improve and they may become much more useful tools for everyday life in the future.

But I think it was a disastrous mistake that today’s models were taught to be convincing before they were taught to be right.

LET'S SHOW UP FOR TRANS KIDS! Point of Pride is a phenomenal trans-led organization that provides *direct* gender affirming care to trans ppl, from financial aid for surgeries, HRT, electrolysis, free binders/shapewear. Every single donation makes a difference secure.givelively.org/donate/point...

Studio Ghibli’s Majestic Sensibility Is Drawing Imitators

As Studio Ghibli turns 40, for @nytimes.com I reported on the video games that bear the influence of the anime giant

More than visuals, these titles embody something of the poetry, grammar, and moral integrity of Miyazaki and co's wondrous work.
www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/a...

Donations to The Trevor Project are quadrupled at the minute give.thetrevorproject.org/campaign/692...

Daily notifications from the Mila air purifier app. Text: “Heads up, Kris. It looks like elevated ozone levels are forecasted in your area over the next 24 hours.”

Chat is this normal?

(I’ve gotten this alert every single day since setting up my air purifier six weeks ago)