Brian Altano

Hi I’m Brian and I host, write, and produce shows about video games, movies, and other assorted pop culture nonsense 💜

Last month we lost our jobs. This month we made new ones. Introducing X BUTTON: an independent gaming network from three ex-IGN employees. A new weekly Nintendo podcast! A new weekly video game podcast! And that’s just the start, but we can’t do it without your help! www.patreon.com/cw/XButtonShow

I was a constant subscriber to Game Informer magazine growing up, so guesting on their podcast this week to talk gaming news and promote @xbuttonshow.bsky.social was so wonderful. They've got such a passionate, knowledgeable, and funny crew over there. Nothing but love for them!

On a new Kit & Krysta Podcast we're joined by the great @brianaltano.bsky.social to discuss the state of Nintendo, Ocarina of Time, life after IGN and a whole lot more! youtu.be/7G3bAOfYMUw

You're all subscribed to us on YouTube, right? RIGHT? You gotta do it! Help us it our first 30K milestone by the end of today! www.youtube.com/@XButtonShow

You have no idea how proud I am of our new podcast company @xbuttonshow.bsky.social right now 😭

Last month we lost our jobs. This month we made new ones. Introducing X BUTTON: an independent gaming network from three ex-IGN employees. A new weekly Nintendo podcast! A new weekly video game podcast! And that’s just the start, but we can’t do it without your help! www.patreon.com/cw/XButtonShow

Still have a few more projects going up before my last day at IGN this Friday. All of them really special to me. One of them a 44 minute long conversation with legendary artist and director @realgdt.bsky.social. Hope you all enjoy this! I'm really proud of it. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GgCM...

Type of fit you’d wear to reveal an Xbox exclusive first person shooter on stage at E3 2012.

I’ve never written anything using AI, I never will, and I have zero respect for any professional who does.

One of things I vastly prefer in The Mario Galaxy Movie over the previous one is that there are like two and a half licensed songs in it instead of thirty and one of them is Hypnotize by Biggie Smalls.

It's fascinating reading some of the most viciously negative reviews of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and then taking my seven year old on opening night and see her beaming with joy for 90 minutes. Reminded me that some of my favorite comedy movies growing up also had barrel bottom review scores.

By some miracle, for the second time in ten months I got to sit down with Shigeru Miyamoto, this time at the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto. As always, he was an absolute delight: www.ign.com/articles/ill...

It’s my birthday today. I woke up in Osaka, hung out for 12 hours, flew back to California and got back home by 1:30PM where it’s somehow still my birthday? This feels like time travel. This feels illegal.

They put Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: Secret of the Ooze back in theaters for a few weeks and my young nephew went to go see it. Before the movie they showed an IGN ad with me in it so he saw me on a big movie theater screen and man, that’s easily one of my proudest career (and family) moments.

One of the big reasons that The Game Awards gets more viewers than The Oscars is because you can just watch The Game Awards on YouTube but for The Oscars you have to check every streaming platform you already pay for, realize none of them have The Oscars, then sign up for a 7 day trial for Fubo TV.

I wrote about how Resident Evil Requiem works so well as a Hollywood style legacy sequel for one of my favorite characters and why that's a really rare thing for video games. It would make my day if you read it <3 www.ign.com/articles/res...

When it's Pokemon Day but also you can't stop thinking about Resident Evil.

I had some initial concerns about Resident Evil Requiem but holy shit, it absolutely rules. Just a fantastic balance of action and survival horror with stunning visuals and sound design. One of my favorite games of this generation and it feels SO good to reunite with my old friend Leon S Kennedy.

Every Trump voter would say "YES!!!" to the "Would you press a button that gives you a million dollars but also kills a total stranger?" question, except in their case the button makes them lose money and hurt somebody they know personally.

The 40th anniversary of Zelda is all the excuse you need to submerge yourself in classic Katsuya Terada art.

My good friend @mitchyd.bsky.social once told me that John Fetterman reminds him of the large goons in the Arkham City game who yell “IT’S DA BAT!!” when they’re about to get beat up by Batman and I laugh about this at least once a day.

Went out for drinks with the legendary @sssuda51.bsky.social and played him my upcoming album and his reaction made my whole decade. Big thank you to @maxscoville.bsky.social for capturing this moment. Pure joy.

I’m in Atlanta and I’m about to play three of my best friends my brand new album for the first time. I hope to share it with the rest of you soon ❤️

“Why are you protesting Minneapolis, you don’t even live there” I dunno man, why are you wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey to a sports bar in Buffalo.

Rolling Stone put up a piece about celebrities speaking out against ICE and one of the top comments said “since when do we care what celebrities have to say” so I clicked on her profile and a month ago she was telling everyone how excited she was to get Snoop Dogg’s cook book.

I know this is ironic coming from a bald guy but why does every billionaire have the worst fucking hair you’ve ever seen in your life.

Every day is just January 6th now. They do the worst thing imaginable in broad daylight, we say you can’t fucking do that, and they say they didn’t do anything or they brag that they did it because they think we can’t do a damn thing about it.

You and your wife drop your 6-year-old off at school. You just moved here. You see ICE terrorizing your new neighbors. You film them, as is your legal right. Your wife complies with orders. She is then shot in the head. You still have to pick up your child later today. This could be you.

This has the same energy as “The McRib is back at McDonalds”

Recorded my last podcast of 2025 so if you listened to me on any @ign.com shows, @thisthingrules.bsky.social with @maxscoville.bsky.social, or any of the other things I guested on this year, I just wanna say thank you for being there and I’m very excited to do it all again in 2026 ❤️

You all have Trump Derangement Syndrome. Stop thinking about and talking about the guy who for a decade now has forced himself into the news cycle seventy times a day, wants to rename everything in his own name, and is trying to put his own face on money. Why can’t you just leave him alone.

Hey, what are your favorite children's books that got great (or interesting) film adaptations? I read with my kid every night (lots of Roald Dahl recently) and I love to show her the movie version afterwards as a little treat so we can talk about the differences between both. Tell me your favs!

Haven't finished the full scientific study yet but so far 100% of people who took their profile picture while sitting in a car think that there's absolutely nothing wrong with Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein being best friends for decades.

Once a year you should be allowed to go to your kid’s school and get on the loudspeaker and make an announcement that you know will make the entire building erupt in cheers.

Best part about this is NYC's "Big Apple" is always depicted as red. It's not like it's usually one of those mealy yellow ones nobody likes, or the rock hard green ones they have at hotel breakfast buffets. The Big Apple is always a red apple! Even if he made it red it would still be the same color!

Good job New York, now Zohran Mamdani is gonna enact SARIA’S LAW (everyone gets a free ocarina)

Y'all, I know two hours is a big time commitment, but this panel I arranged and hosted last month is one of the most important things I've ever done for video game history. The launch of the NES is a crazier story than most people realize, and my guests were extremely generous with their memories.

GUY WHO JUST CAME BACK FROM DOING THE JABBA'S PALACE COMEDY FESTIVAL: You know, I gotta say they're really great in there, they're just like us. I thought it was only gonna be women in chains and a trapdoor monster they feed slaves to but like, they also have a band that plays cool music.

Sorry we had to cancel your cancer treatment, but the Secretary of Defense had to fly all the generals in so he could call them fat.

Watched The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977) and there's a part where a violent storm destroys their homes and sends Pooh & Piglet spiraling towards a waterfall while a totally oblivious Owl decides to tell a story and wait for someone else to help and I thought.. hey, that's Chuck Schumer!

Need to show you all this 1991 soft vinyl Super Mario coin bank I picked up at a vintage toy store recently. I believe he was a promotional item given out to people that signed up for a savings account at a bank chain in Kyoto. He’s awesome!

Hi sorry this was my fault. My friends and I like to hang out in escalator buildings after everyone leaves to see how much stuff we can make ride the escalator. Sandwiches, bags of coins, soup that isn’t in a bowl. Things of that nature. It mostly just gets jammed up in there. Bad? Yes. Funny? Very.

One of my favorite things I have in my kitchen is this custom print that guests think is a “Live, Laugh, Love” sign until they actually read it.

We asked four professional chefs which store bought mayonnaise tastes best and they said please, when will you let us out of this prison, we can't answer any more of these questions and we haven't seen our families in weeks.

These miserable little imp men are so scared of cities, public transportation, seasoned food, a trans kid five states over who sometimes plays kickball in her own backyard etc. Just terrified, awful ghoul people who make everything they touch worse and add nothing of value to anything anywhere.

Here is a photo I took six years ago of the Safdie brothers competing on a Pong machine and now one of them is making a movie called The Smashing Machine and the other is making a movie about ping pong. @a24movies.bsky.social

Off to Germany to host a live show for @ign at Gamescom! I’ll be in a studio on the show floor for most of the week but if you’re there don’t hesitate to say hi! Very excited to work a massive video game convention again, interview game devs, and wash down large plates of food with small beers 🍻🇩🇪🍻