David Merrett

Wuthering Heights, sorry, "Wuthering Heights" is intermittently quite good before there's a jump scare of Margot dressed like the witch from snow white or dracula, or some shot from the overlook hotel.

re:your "Ace Ventura goes to Epstein Island" script—we like the concept. We th ink its very good. But it borrows too many jokes from AV1 & 2

"AI detectors" are themselves AI, and yet are endlessly trusted by people on here if they say that a newspaper article is AI.

AI detectors are snake oil. None of them reliably works. And UK broadsheet are not yet using AI to write articles. No, that link to the deal you found doesn't prove it.

Ha, same. Honestly, the green shards in Metroid Prime 4 were a treat.

If you want to sell me a next-gen console, just fill its games with loads more little boxes and pots and crates for me to punch into pieces as I pootle about the place.

I'm that easy to please.

Hmm, I did pretty well with 2016, but some notable gaps: Stephen's Sausage Roll, Rez Infinite, Kentucky Route Zero, XCom 2, Pony Island, Shadow Tactics. Nice idea.

Not a bad shout! I played loads of the first level of Hitman 2016 but got overwhelmed by Sapienza. The framing of a decade later might get me over the hurdle of going back.

If children were more politically active they would be quite pissed to be told that their screen time is “the most urgent public health issue” while the largest measles outbreak since the vaccine sweeps their schools because of conspiracies that the adults in their life believed from social media.

The heart wants what it wants.

Okay, I will keep up with games this year, and catch up on last year's releases. Why would I finally get around to playing a random 7/10 from 2015? Especially when I could be making headway in Expedition 33 or starting Cairn. What's that? Mad Max is downloading?

Signed up to the newletter. Exactly my kind of nonsense.

Talking about this on @tcgs.co tonight, but why not be cool and get a demo code BEFORE I officially said you should

Since the government is about to introduce a social media ban for under-16s based largely on vibes – and Jonathan Haidt's shitty book – in the hopes it boosts its popularity (it won't), I'll re-up this.

If we're banning under-16s, why not over-60s?

the holy trinity The Felt is not The Hand is not The Henson Spirit. But together...they are Muppet.

had a very respectful chat about theology tonight

POV you are about to lose at Guess Who

Numerous accusations from critical media outlets claimed the clinic was a “transing factory” that ignored “holistic” approaches to care and was recklessly prescribing puberty suppressant hormones, known as puberty blockers, to children. One article from The Times, published in 2022, claimed that at least 1,000 families were planning mass legal action against the Tavistock gender clinic for rushing youngsters into taking puberty blockers. However, a freedom of information (FOI) request to the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, shared by Yorkshire Bylines, revealed that, between 2012 and 2022, only eight complaints over healthcare provisions had been lodged.

This entire 'debate' is so maddening. We have been promised that a groundswell of rushed, dissatisfied detransitioners was about to emerge for nearly a decade.

Not only have they never materialized, but academic research continues to show small numbers, long assessments and miniscule regret rates.

no, it simply isnt.
People are talking about capital using gAI as an excuse to conduct mass lay-offs, about students losing learning because theyre being lied to about gAI in education, about the mass theft of the work of artists and authors to train LLMs, about CSAM and nonconsensual sexual images.

Did not expect the story of Mario Tennis Fever to basically begin with “Daisy is on her deathbed.”

Hahaha

SnakeyDave's review of Doom 64 | Backloggd I’m a big fan of Super Mario Land on the Gameboy. Is it as good as traditional Mario? Probably not, but as a contrast, as a weird alternate version of a familiar thing, where, for example, the Koopa’s...

Games completed 2026, #6: Doom 64

Cracking game.

bckl.gg/q6lW

SnakeyDave's review of Skate Story | Backloggd Loved the look, loved the music (Blood Cultures have a new fan) and, by the end, I liked the story. A limited skating game, but an excellent music-centred experience a la Sayonara Wild Hearts or Thump...

Games completed 2026, #5: Skate Story

Desperately trying to avoid using the 'vibes.' If it's still on PS+, it's well worth checking out.
bckl.gg/q6lx

And some longer, less structured thoughts here: bckl.gg/q6lM

SnakeyDave's review of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time | Backloggd Played this with a friend, showing him one of my old favourites. It really holds up. Even the combat is not bad; the encounters just suffer from too many respawning enemies. The story and platforming ...

Games completed 2026, #4: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

What a shame about the remake, eh? But, it's still worth playing the original. The combat is alright - just don't try and jump over any of the blue enemies.

bckl.gg/q6li

SnakeyDave's review of Despelote | Backloggd I really struggled with the first half of this. The central kicking mechanic was annoying and I was a little bored. However, I was completely enraptured by the end. One of the chapters added a loose m...

Games completed 2026, #3: Despelote

Even with the awkward controls, this kid's better at football than me.

bckl.gg/qY7c

SnakeyDave's review of Blasphemous II | Backloggd I found the first Blasphemous a bit underwhelming. There seemed to be a contradiction between the game's portentous tone, with all its overt religious symbolism, and the kinda bog standard Castlevania...

Games completed 2026, #2: Blasphemous 2

Turns out, even after putting god knows how many hours into Silksong, I was still in the mood for a Metroidvania packed full of religious imagery. Better than the first one.

bckl.gg/qPle

Completely agree.

After the brutal highs of Silksong, Game Pass' latest great Metroidvania shows the genre at its elegant best After Silksong, it seemed like we needed a break from Metroidvanias. Mio: Memories in Orbit makes us realise we were wrong.

Love this piece. Christian Donlan writes so beautifully about the appeal of games.

incidentally think transphobes did something similar! spent so much time discussing the quasi-philosophical issue of What It Truly Means To Be A Woman, Deep Down when the issue should have mostly been "how are these very much already existing people meant to live in the world"

@jacobgeller.com Sektori was an incredible recommendation. Not since Super Hexagon has a game plugged so directly into my adrenal gland.

Fired Rockstar Games developers fight for payroll relief at employment tribunal hearing | VGC Rockstar claims that fired staff were breaching confidentiality agreements…

A preliminary employment tribunal hearing for recently fired Rockstar Games developers kicked off this week, with their union seeking interim relief.

www.videogameschronicle.com/news/fired-r...