Matt Leone

A photo of a 1991 issue of Gamest shows game publisher New Year's illustrations.

Old game magazine photo of the day.

An in-development screenshot from Sayonara Wild Hearts shows a different visual style.

A photograph shows marketing materials from the unreleased Nintendo music game Sound Fantasy.

An illustration shows a developer sitting at a desk while working on Mirror's Edge.

An illustration shows all 16 bosses from Shadow of the Colossus in a single frame.

Hi, we're a new video game oral history site. Some highlights so far:

Mirror's Edge: bit.ly/mirrorsedgeoralhistory
Sayonara Wild Hearts: bit.ly/sayonarawildhearts
Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/shadowotcolossus
Sound Fantasy: bit.ly/49xPfha
Rez Infinite: bit.ly/4pKj0BB

Find us at designroom.site.

Title image from the Sega Master System version of Ys 1

Announcing Localization Lore, a new series dedicated to learning more about the history of video game localization! 🎉Featuring new interviews personally conducted by me, this first entry is on Ys 1 and the people behind its first three English translations. lizbushouse.com/localization...

So sorry to hear.

A graphic shows Ulala from Space Channel 5 on top of a photo of cheese fondue.

A menu for the restaurant Matterhorn shows Ulala fondue for sale.

Update for anyone visiting San Francisco: We now have a Space Channel 5 fondue.

The vibe difference between how my Harmonix family talks about the Beatles in this excerpt and how the other company talks about the process is the reason Harmonix was chosen to make the game. No one else could have done it. Greatest music game of all time imo.

"That looks stupid." How Harmonix made The Beatles: Rock Band A new book excerpt reveals how Harmonix, MTV Games, and Electronic Arts teamed up with The Beatles for a rare video game collaboration.

"Directing The Beatles: Rock Band is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

You ever see this one they did for the sequel?

Mothership Video game coverage for her, them, and yes, him, too.

guess what... i made a website www.mothership.blog

Mirror's Edge: An oral history 17 years on from its release, DICE's first-person parkour thriller is a cult classic. We spoke to nine people who worked on it about how the revelatory game came to be.

Our next big project is live! @lewisgordon.bsky.social spent the past few months tracking down nine people who worked on DICE's innovative 2008 parkour runner.

So sorry to hear!

Sorry to hear!

Really sorry to hear!

the dream team rides again - excited to have an excerpt from my book on @mattleone.bsky.social's wonderful new site, @designroom.bsky.social. Loved writing this chapter on The Beatles, and especially learning more about the GOAT Yoko Ono.

People tell me I don’t push the paid-subscriber exclusive stuff enough, so here’s some of that. It’s good!

Everybody should be reading @designroom.bsky.social Excellent oral history of Mirror’s Edge just posted

People tell me I don’t push the paid-subscriber exclusive stuff enough, so here’s some of that. It’s good!

Reporting and writing this story consumed me at the tail end of 2025. I'll post my favourite details tomorrow but, for now, enjoy!!

Thanks to @mattleone.bsky.social for having me, all the interview subjects for talking to me, and @kim-hu.com for the incredible accompanying illustration.

I drew this, go read it!

Thanks! Though @lewisgordon.bsky.social should get the tag.

Big new story coming next week! You'd already know what it is if you subscribed to our newsletter, though... www.designroom.site#/portal/signup

hi! i'm co-founding a new gaming website with my former polygon colleague @zoehhannah.com. it's called mothership.blog. i made it for someone like me... the kind of website i always wished we had in our space. watch the video to learn more :D

How Simogo built Sayonara Wild Hearts' best stage We talk with four members of the team about how "Begin Again" came about, why it took them a year to finish it, and the challenges of building something new.

Read (and hear!) how “Begin Again” from Sayonara Wild Hearts came to be. www.designroom.site/how-simogo-b...
By @designroom.bsky.social

Happy new year! We've got big plans for 2026, but this seems like as good a time as any to poll the room: What games do you want to see oral histories on in 2026?

another year, another 20+ translated Japanese game developer interviews published by @shmuplations.bsky.social at shmuplations.com —the final updates for the year just went up, so allow me to run down what's been translated over the course of 2025, from most to least recent: (thread)

Our music game series is now done, so let's recap it with original art by @wendyleftmealone.bsky.social.

YouTube video by The Video Game History Foundation The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System

Merry Christmas! If you'd like to spend 45 minutes celebrating video game history with me, we're about to debut The Untold Story of the Nintendo Entertainment System. I worked on his ALL YEAR, and I genuinely think it will reshape how we all think about the system. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJvp...

An original illustration shows the 16 bosses from Shadow of the Colossus.

An original illustration shows the four games from Design Room's Sensory Overload music game series.

A photograph shows the packaging from the canceled Super Nintendo game Sound Fantasy.

A piece of concept art shows Rez Infinite's Area X level.

Holiday gift idea! Get someone a one-year Design Room subscription. Just go here, tip $70, and put their name, email, and the date you want it to start in the notes. www.designroom.site#/portal/supp...

Buried in this article are FIVE DIFFERENT WIP versions of Begin Again. Unbelievably cool.

4,000 words on the stage I haven't been able to stop playing for the last six years. Early dev screenshots, talk of tech challenges, five demo tracks embedded so you can hear the song's evolution. All the good stuff.