Will Freeman

Ah. Thanks mate. Hope you like it!

A book, two comics and a video game magazine on a bed. Anathem by Neal Stephenson 20th Century Boys by Naomi Urasawa Assorted Crisis Events by Camp/Zawadzki ´Earthion’ Article by Will Freeman, featured in Retro Gamer magazine

New (& one quite old) bits of reading material. Always good to have a new shmup/stg feature from @spadgy.bsky.social to read 🥳 #books #comics #magazines

I kept seeing something in japanese shmups: bullets are equidistant. So moving up doesn't create clumps of bullets, and moving down doesn't make the bullet stream seem more sparse.

So I mocked it up. Feels very right. It's not for anything, just a proof of concept.
#indiedev

Not making a Switch 2 game? I also have almost every other gaming format. Unless you’re making an FM Towns Marty or X68000 game… but I’m always looking for excuses to buy one of those! :)

A hand holding up a Switch 2 console in front of a shelf containing rows of boxed video games. On the screen of the switch the logo/Home Screen of the game Dinkey Kong Bananza is displayed.

Finally flippin’ got one. First time I’ve not had a console on launch day since the PS1 gen, I think.

Now I can review/mock review/etc. your Switch 2 games!

Thank you!

Absolutely! I’ll always prefer a proper arcade stick (and there I like short throw, short engage, etc.

That kind of vibe in a palm-held joystick? That’s why I love it so!

I wrote some words about unusual game controllers for the mighty @bitmapbooks.com.

And I’m here to defend the Cheetah Bug to the bitter end! Sincerely one of my favourite controllers.

I spoke to Ancient Corp. (devs of the 8-bit Sonic games) about the creation of their recent shmup Earthion for @retrogamermag.bsky.social. Issue 281!

Thanks to Earthion producer and chiptune icon Yuzo Koshiro, and Earthion director and Shenmue stalwart Makoto Wada for all the insights!

#shmups

Just got asked for my CV. Just realised I've not updated or used it in 17 years. 🤦Very professional, me!

(How was it 17 years ago I applied to a wrtiting roll at @mcvdevelop.bsky.social on Develop mag!?)

I LOVE a risk/reward focused shmup. How’d I miss this one until now!? I must try it!

Lost my phone fo three days and it was so blissful and lovely I might start locking the damn thing in a box every weekend!

Well, after a cat we don’t own snuck in our house and knocked some over, here’s a half-destruction video!

Still more fun than taking Lego apart!

It sorta teaches you to be resilient to failure. Stuff can collapse mid-build… multiple times if it’s complex. But it sorta teaches this inner calm. Has for me and my 7YO. I’m kinda proud when he wrecks an hour’s build, and reacts super calm, happy to get another go. Took a while for both, mind!

YouTube video by Kaplamino High-Tech KAPLA Tricks

It’s so flipping wicked. So meditative to build… and the only way to take it apart is knock it over!

I mainly enjoy the ‘Kapla domino’ side of it. This is not my video (I ain’t that good!), but this kinda thing…

youtu.be/Z9vx2ZKSggQ?...

A photo of a living room interior. On the floor in front of the back go a blue sofa is a relatively large model mansion house, made from the wooden construction toy Kapla. The mansion has several towers, and pink and blue roofs, plus some white Kapla planks used to suggest a snowy topping. On the floor in front of the build is a standard sized white playing card.

My kid and I knocked up an improvised Kapla mansion. Playing card for scale!

750-ish identical planks (colour aside), all balanced and held in place by gravity. No studs, no clips, no glue. Nothing physically connecting them.

One of Earth’s best toys! Destruction video coming when we destroy it!

Cash Converters!!! One here closed. Never thought to keep an eye out for SNK carts!

Flotsam review - Waterworld becomes a cosy post-apocalyptic city builder Surviving the apocalypse has never been so relaxing as in this excellent mix of survival game and city builder, set on a waterlogged future Earth.

One more review of a wonder that didn’t get as much attention as it deserved amidst the Christmas release schedule.

Seafaring settlement-builder Flotsam is welcoming, nuanced, and superb. Reminds me of the vibe of the early Settlers games. And such an upbeat apocalypse!

metro.co.uk/2026/01/07/f...

Yes mate! All bangers there. Cripes, I need me a Metal Slug 2nd (though pennies mean I might go for Dark Arms next).

And I somehow ended up with two copies off Metal Slug 1st. Too many games!

My favourite ever game, and my first ever 1CC (back in the day, visiting the arcade week after week, never using emulation etc.). Treated myself to the PCB years later!

A Neo Geo Pocket Color motherboard PCB held up in front of a green cutting mat with other electronics parts and tools scattered across it.

While I’m here, shout out for what a fitty the Neo Geo Pocket colour motherboard PCB is.

Two Neo Geo Pocket Color handheld games consoles placed one above the other on a tabletop. The top console has a bright screen thanks to the back light mod being installed. The console below has the original much darker screen, but note that original screen is much bigger than the one seen with the backlight mod.

Here’s my original NGPC, and the one I modded to run with a backlight.

- GREAT for play on the go, and in general
- Backlight kit means a smaller screen :(
- Pixel art does still look more nuanced on the original screen… if you hold it at just the right angle to a light
- East mod, easily reversed

I braved the Neo Geo Pocket Color backlight mod. It worked!

One of the best handhelds ever… aside from the lack of backlight.

An ace but imperfect mod kit. Comparison shot and more thoughts below!

Clawpunk review – arcade cyberpunk with a feline theme GameCentral continues its look back at notable games from 2025, that got missed the first time round, with this bombastic arcade actioner featuring an amazing heavy metal soundtrack.

The lovely thing about this time of year is the chance to spotlight smaller games that got buried in the busy pre-Xmas release schedule.

Here's my Metro review of Clawpunk, a superb 'feral cyberpunk' run 'n' gun that's equal parts West Side Story and Metal Slug!
metro.co.uk/2026/01/06/c...

Right - I'd let Bluesky slip. Time to get back on it! Miss this place!

Cybergore Supremacy, by Scissorhash / Mechanistic Butchery 7 track album

Need some pounding Luddite-gore to help wash the malicious algorithm from your brain?

The new Mechanistic Butchery/Scissorhash split EP has you covered.

Gabber donks, breakcore wonks, toilet gargling vocals, and rasping blastbeats all smashed up. 👌🏼

deliriumpsychosis.bandcamp.com/album/cyberg...

Ah - thank you! sincerely. I'm glad you're on it for me! :)

Flyer for a live stream at twitch.tv/mkstayontarget on Wednesday November 26 at 3.00 PM GMT+1

This Wednesday, our shmup Schildmaid MX is finally arriving on all major current consoles!

To celebrate & pay homage to the games that inspired us, we'll be live streaming from perhaps the largest arcade on mainland Western Europe.

Join us on November 26 from 3PM GMT+1 at twitch.tv/mkstayontarget.

(I did not say 'best arcade stick'. just to be clear! :) )

As a controller junkie, it was so ace to write this for @bitmapbooks.com!

Rather than just try and pick 'weird' controllers purely for how strange they are, I tried to go with ones with a bit more interesting going on, or underapprciated potential.

And yes, I'm a Cheetah Bug stan. Best joystick!