Graham Smith

Graham Smith

@grahamsmith.bsky.social

Studio manager/producer @suspicious.dev. Co-founder @jank.cool. Previously: RPS, PC Gamer, Crate & Crowbar, Eurogamer, Dicebreaker.

2.9K followers319 following214 posts

Graham Smith reposted

Hit Points by Nathan Brown
@hitpoints.bsky.social

Delighted as I am to see @marshdavies.bsky.social doing reviews again, it means frequently being transported back to the start of my journo career when I would read his stuff and think, fuck, I’ll never be *that* good. 15 or so years later: still true! Furious about it actually!

Jank@jank.cool

Hellraiser: Revival's schlocky ultraviolence contains a deeper rumination on pleasure than we expected www.jank.cool/hellraiser-revival-review/

jank.coolHellraiser: Revival reviewPain and pleasure, indivisible
Graham Smith
@grahamsmith.bsky.social

also your opposition to AI "slop" games shouldn't be rooted in the same wannabe gatekeeper language of those opposed to "asset flips", a shallow aesthetic judgement designed to protect "real games" (the polished, the expensive, the 'AAA') from the hobbyist, the amateur, the cobbled-together dreamer

Graham Smith
@grahamsmith.bsky.social

Every mod is an asset flip. DotA and Counter-Strike and Garry's Mod were asset flips. Asset flips are the spirit of people working with what they have, what they know and within their means, to make something, anything. It's not the same as using AI generation at all.

Graham Smith
@grahamsmith.bsky.social

Your language around being anti-AI shouldn't lump you in with people who are anti-collage or anti-sampling, or with people who think you need a arts degree and a huge budget to make something

Graham Smith
@grahamsmith.bsky.social

We also published £1000 of freelance writing, if you care about your subscription helping to support a wider ecosystem of critical work

Brendy_C@brendyc.bsky.social

We published four reviews this week at @jank.cool - FOUR! That is more than PC Gamer did this week, or RPS, or Eurogamer, or all those other sites I like but must pretend, for professional reasons, to hate.

Graham Smith reposted

Marsh Davies
@marshdavies.bsky.social

Physical books of GOLD TEETH, hefty enough to smash a lobster, and our FALSE KINGDOM zines are now available: teethrpg.bigcartel.com

Marsh Davies@marshdavies.bsky.social

GOLD TEETH has launched! It's a piratical TTRPG set in a cursed version of the Age of Sail, with 350 pages of briny phantasmagoria, colonial terror and nauseating seafood. It's part Master & Commander, part Blackadder, left to ripen in the sun like a beached porpoise. teethrpg.itch.io/gold-teeth

Graham Smith reposted

Chris Kerr
@kerrblimey.bsky.social

🎉 HUGE CAREER ANNOUNCEMENT 🎉 Today, I'm launching Vertical Slice, a new independent trade outlet committed to producing quality video game journalism that inspires, informs, and interrogates. That means daily news, incisive interviews, vital investigative work, and more. www.verticalslice.news

Graham Smith
@grahamsmith.bsky.social

This is because the failure of fishing or steel industries decimates local economies, particularly in rural areas without other options for work. Whereas the failure of Games Workshop would make every man over the age of 30 substantially more wealthy.

Jim Rossignol@rossignol.bsky.social

This gets said constantly, but it worth reiterating: Games Workshop being bigger than fishing is important to shout about because you wouldn't know it from government talking points, which are rarely about anything creative or artistic. Growth won't involve fish or steel, it will involve goblins.

Graham Smith reposted

Elizabeth Minkel
@elizabethminkel.bsky.social

*Love* our latest from @pokachee.bsky.social, about a type of fanwork that's massively popular but one I rarely see discussed in convos about transformative fandom. Fangames are technically interesting—literally using the source material in modding—but even more so from a community/fandom angle:

fansplaining.comPokémon Fangames Evolve Beyond Their OriginsFor fangame creators, the work they develop and the communities they inspire are inextricably tied.

Graham Smith reposted

Rick Lane
@ricklane.bsky.social

Hello! I'm looking to speak to a game developer/programmer with a strong understanding of asset streaming. How it works, how it can be applied, what it means for games etc. If you're that person, get in touch at rick@ricklane.co.uk. Shares appreciated.

Graham Smith reposted

Brendy_C
@brendyc.bsky.social

This essay by fighting game dev Patrick Miller starts as a response to drama (don't ask) but then drops truth after truth about escapism, coping mechanisms, and games as a painkiller. "If games serve a load-bearing function in someone's life, it's the life that needs fixing, not the games."

Smokage of the Burning Leaf@pattheflip.bsky.social

"On opiates" I have been thinking a lot over the years about the unhealthy roles games play in people's lives, and the last week got me to finally put together this post on the kind of work I am doing (and not doing) going forward. I am here to heal and strengthen. www.patreon.com/pattheflip/p...

patreon.comOn opiates | Patrick MillerFirst, some admin: My work has escaped containment over the last week, and I fully expect some lingering haters to stop by from time to time

Graham Smith reposted

Imran Khan
@imrankhan.bsky.social

So we found out this morning that everyone - myself included - from Restart's editorial staff has been let go. After like six layoffs in six years, that gif is my unfortunate reaction. Looking! For! Opportunities! I guess I'm open for freelance for a while!

Imran Khan@imrankhan.bsky.social

Graham Smith reposted

Tom O
@vgtomo.bsky.social

Big news! @apzonerunner.com and I have launched a new video games website. @respec.net is our attempt to create a highly curated multi-format site that has that club feel you used to get from the best magazines (and frankly, my beloved VideoGamer back in the day) www.respec.net/feature/87-w...

respec.netWelcome to Respec: A word from the Editors | RespecWelcome to our new little corner of the internet. Why a new video game website, and why now? Allow us to explain...