Jay Baylis

I give it 6 months before games start having splash screens like this

I give it 6 months before games start having splash screens like this

Cheers Ben!

The weathering is really good fun, I do recommend!

Couple of photos I found of some gunpla kits I painted some years back now

Thanks! I don't think I ever nailed the restrained use of Typhus Corrosion the way I did here, but it became a model painting staple for me forever after it.

Couple of photos I found of some gunpla kits I painted some years back now

If you're in game dev or tech there's many archetypes of Guy, but one of my least favourite is definitely "Guy who is good at programming and has tricked himself into thinking this makes him an Actual Scientist, and now posts regularly about how he uniquely understands the decline of society"

We should stop letting people think that if you clock enough hours in Unity you suddenly become George Carlin

Spoken to a few people about this and there is absolutely *no-one* who feels like the PS5 has had a good run and on its way out. It feels like it's barely started - the entire generation has had less killer apps than the PS2 would get in a single year!

If you're in game dev or tech there's many archetypes of Guy, but one of my least favourite is definitely "Guy who is good at programming and has tricked himself into thinking this makes him an Actual Scientist, and now posts regularly about how he uniquely understands the decline of society"

Game writers can't get enough of the word "corruption"

Happy early Valentines day to my "Castlevania husband + Silent Hill wife" couples out there

Game writers can't get enough of the word "corruption"

"I hope this new hobby brand you've recently gotten into gets discontinued" is weak; lacks punch.

"I hope this new hobby brand you've recently gotten into announces a Harry Potter licensing deal" is much scarier; more realistic; could happen to you.

"I hope this new hobby brand you've recently gotten into gets discontinued" is weak; lacks punch.

"I hope this new hobby brand you've recently gotten into announces a Harry Potter licensing deal" is much scarier; more realistic; could happen to you.

THE FURTIVE PYGMY!

Super excited to read this, Jon!

ordering gig tickets online in 2008: here is a PDF to print out

ordering gig tickets online in 2026: Here is a code to use with the EVENTO app, which can verify the order with your LOTSATIX app. Reminder: in order to enter the venue you'll need VEN-U installed. (VEN-U will require a passport scan)

ordering gig tickets online in 2008: here is a PDF to print out

ordering gig tickets online in 2026: Here is a code to use with the EVENTO app, which can verify the order with your LOTSATIX app. Reminder: in order to enter the venue you'll need VEN-U installed. (VEN-U will require a passport scan)

YouTube video by CALYPSO CHARLI XCX'S POKÉMON BATTLE THEME - CALYPSO

Youtube algorithm finally providing the goods www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J9k...

One thing less spoken of when talking about the vastly increasing development time of games: if you exclusively works on projects with 8-10 year dev cycles, you're getting 2-4 games out across your entire career, tops. Your life's total creative output, capped by bloated budgets and mismanagement!

Shorter project lengths allow creatives to improve skills faster by experiencing complete dev cycles. It allows them to see projects to the end rather than joining halfway through.

If you're locking down devs for close to a decade on one death march of a project, you're denying them all of this.

One thing less spoken of when talking about the vastly increasing development time of games: if you exclusively works on projects with 8-10 year dev cycles, you're getting 2-4 games out across your entire career, tops. Your life's total creative output, capped by bloated budgets and mismanagement!

I think Halo is nosediving to what you could definitely describe as "trick franchise" in 2026, absolutely. Massive recognisability but currently lacking in a broader sense of "personal attachment" or investment in it as a set of characters and universe. Funko Pops gathering dust at Forbidden Planet.

great shout, perfect example

YouTube video by derp Origin of Battlecat - He-Man

If you're old enough to have grown up with He-Man on TV you were born in the 70s! You could have grandkids by now! Baffling investment.

FWIW the best piece of He-Man media is probably the "Toys That Made Us" episode on its creation, incredibly funny stuff in there
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM9q...

It's also extremely 80's and pulled from a big post-Conan the Barbarian (another trick franchise in 2026 there) interest in swords and sorcery media which, as you say, probably doesn't translate.

Compare with Transformers, where I think the appeal of "transforming robot toys" is evergreen

The poster child of the trick franchise is, of course, Tron. Sorry in advance to the Tronheads out there and I know the Tron: Legacy soundtrack goes.

Other suggestions welcome! I'd nominate Power Rangers here in 2026, and maybe Tomb Raider outside of the games.

Metroid is a series about many things, but above all it's a series about driving around a desert and collecting Green Energy Crystals