Mark MacDonald

♫🎸『Hi-Fi RUSH』🎸♫ ⚡️PlayStation 5向け👉パッケージ版⚡️ 📀2026年7月16日発売決定‼️ 大変長らくお待たせいたしました‼️ 音楽とアクションがシンクロするリズムアクションゲーム『Hi-Fi RUSH』、発売決定です🎵 🌞通常版 ⭐DELUXE EDITION ✨🙋本日から予約開始🙋‍♀️✨ superdeluxegames.jp/collections/...

Steam Next Fest is still going strong, and so is response to our new approach to physics in action games!! Try out Awaysis NOW!! store.steampowered.com/app/3334760/...

Without nicknames, we wouldn't need to listen to find out the meanings of @markmacdo.bsky.social "Empty Promises", @johntv.bsky.social "Body Cream", @tinabuttz.bsky.social "Nier Automatone Deaf", and @gabrieldeleon.bsky.social "Screwjob". I track these fun wordplays at www.vgmlife.com/8-4/roster

Kare 11 local news just read, in full, this statement from Michael and Susan Pretti, the parents of Alex Pretti. "Please get the truth out about our son."

今月のプレゼンで紹介される作品です！ - Agehabachi / 垓交官YUKI - A-Blast! / Apollo - Kowloon's Curse / REM - MONOPHOBIA @ngamedev.bsky.social - DOOM SPIRAL / Forbidden Saucery

Sometimes you just have to let @lopatto.bsky.social say it out loud www.theverge.com/policy/85990...

ICYMI during the holidays, these were my five favourite video games of 2025. Special props to Baby Steps and Lumines Arise for being utterly magnificent in their own unique (and harrowing, in the case of Baby Steps) ways.

Honored to see Lumines Arise nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design and Family Game of the Year in the 29th Annual #DICEAwards! 🙏🏻💜 Check out all the nominees here: https://www.interactive.org/awards/29th_dice_awards_finalists_93k3p1.asp lumines.game @official-aias.bsky.social

Once again, Öoo has been nominated for Outstanding Achievement in Game Design at the D.I.C.E. Awards! Huge thanks to @official-aias.bsky.social for the honor, and to everyone who has supported the game. #DICEAwards

Honored to see Lumines Arise on The AV Club's list of the Best Games of 2025! 💜🌟 "...absolutely worth rising up to." 📖 https://www.avclub.com/best-games-2025-clair-obscur-silksong-despelote @avclub.com

Friend of the show and former EGM editor Che Chou joins us to ring in 2026 with another freeform Q&A ep fueled by bourbon and filled with New Year's resolutions, holiday memories, GOTY talk, and Cybermorph. HNY! 8-4.jp/podcasts/202...

Not surprised but deeply impressed nonetheless that Kyle kept up with this very cool thread that wrapped up yesterday.

In Zelda 2, a woman appears in each town, beckoning Link into her home. They disappear inside and Link's health begins to refill. One reddit user recently asked if this scene was *intentionally* suggestive. While that seems very unlikely, I thought I'd look into it.

皆さん、こんにちは！ BitSummitへの応募締切は12月31日（応募料：2,750円）ですので、ぜひお忘れなく。 レイトエントリーは2026年1月16日まで受付（応募料：5,500円）しています。 詳細は bitsummit.org をご覧ください。

Hello everyone! Just want to remind you that the deadline for BitSummit submissions is December 31st (submission fee: ¥2750). Late entries are open until January 16, 2026 (¥5500). Looking forward to seeing your games! For more information visit bitsummit.org.

Gertie and her creature companion must venture into dungeons & lush forests on a quest to fulfill a coven’s oath. Wishlist now on Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/3041680/... Summon Hints from the Coven: wildflowerinteractive.substack.com

👀🫣

Not So Random, #RandomGameSaturday Today is the 24th anniversary of Rez, so here’s a bunch of versions of Rez.

The new episode of the MinnMax Show is now live on YouTube and podcast platforms! Guest host Kyle Bosman recruits @markmacdo.bsky.social and @pokachee.bsky.social to finally figure out what type of game Lumines is and what those little blocks are called. www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ts...

Lumines Arise is an almost perfect zen puzzle game

Lumines Arise is the kind of game that I won’t delete from my hard drive because I will always want the option to lose myself to the game periodically, which Arise is consistently excellent at. Our review: gameinformer.com/review/lumin...

🎉 Lumines Arise Available Now for PS5 and Steam 🚀 Light, sound and haptics unite your senses. Feel the good vibes. Puzzle differently. Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2370000/Lumines_Arise PS5: store.playstation.com/concept/10011885 lumines.game #LuminesArise

Lumines Arise review: Enhance's Tetris Effect follow-up is another audio-visual delight, but it sacrifices some substance for its supreme style. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ www.videogameschronicle.com/review/lumin...

Perfect excuse to #84bump right here

Big congrats to @ancientgames.bsky.social @yuzokoshiro.bsky.social on today’s Japanese physical release of EARTHION!🚀✨🥳 Super proud of the @sdxgames.bsky.social versions we made, and especially stoked that we teamed up with 8BitDo (the best!) on this rad M30! ❤️ superdeluxegames.jp/collections/...

👁️ We blinked, and suddenly it's now SIX days until Lumines Arise launches. 🚀 『Lumines Arise』発売まであと6日！ いよいよ1週間を切りました！ #LuminesArise #ルミネス lumines.game

We're kicking off a series of music game oral histories with a look back at Rez Infinite -- and why it's been nine years without a follow-up.

According to Wikipedia, today is the 20th anniversary of The 1UP Show. I choose to believe this is true. I miss this work. More, I miss my old coworkers. Still the best and most fun job I ever had. I’ll let Jane and Eric’s killer tune race through my mind today.

🚨🚨🚨 We are live! Welcome to Design Room, a new independent games media site. • We specialize in oral histories like the Final Fantasy 7 and Street Fighter 2 ones I (@mattleone.bsky.social) did at Polygon • Our first big story is on Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/4hjwz8n • See more: designroom.site

One thing a lot of my friends missed from other social media platforms was interacting with venerable Japanese game devs. To that end I've made a list of folks I know are here, focusing on devs whose games you will have heard of. Please share and tell me who I'm missing! go.bsky.app/5R1tEtT

We could all use some good vibes right now. 🥰 How about this—The Lumines Arise Demo is back—for #SteamNextFest (and also back on PS5)! Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2370000/Lumines_Arise PS5: store.playstation.com/concept/10011885 Play, wishlist, and pre-order now!

Somehow our little company turns 20 years old today. Time is weird! Thanks and <3 to everyone who has supported us over the years~

With almost laughably low power, a monochrome screen, and unique controls, niche-micro console Playdate shouldn't make any sense in a world of modern gaming. Yet, it's near impossible not to love it. www.wired.com/story/three-...

In honor of the 40th anniversary, my anecdote from the EGM issue #200 cover feature “Top 200 Games of Their Time” on Super Mario Bros. — which, of course, ranked #1. Shout out to Scott Dunn for turning me on to the crazy new game he played at Godfather’s Pizza in Brentwood

Made a Virtual Boy to Switch 2 adapter after I saw the news this morning. I prefer to play VB games with the proper controller. So far it works great, but I'll have plenty of time to tune it before Nintendo drops the VB update. youtu.be/e60283SywV8?...

Meanwhile, in Japan…

reminds me of this hardware shitpost I did for @markmacdo.bsky.social 7 years ago

What happens when you wanna take a quick look at a video game... With a little EXtra help? That's right y'all, Quick Look EX is back as @danryckert.com and @grubb.wtf are joined by Enhance's own @markmacdo.bsky.social to check out the awesome new Lumines Arise demo! youtu.be/BBqUG1gqVvg

Lumines Arise demo is out (game releases on Nov 11 - demo available only until Sept 3) US PSN store.playstation.com/en-us/search... Steam store.steampowered.com/app/3847360/... also up for preorder on PSN ($35.99 on PS+) Details: blog.playstation.com/2025/08/26/l...

Anybody who knows anybody that might be interested in Demonschool and might give it a little boost, please entice them to fill out this form! We put a lot into this game and we really want people to see it.

To celebrate one year of the VGC Patreon, we’re gifting exclusive pins to everyone who joins, upgrades, or gifts in August! Our highest members will receive them automatically. Support the future of independent games media and join our community. www.patreon.com/posts/135220...

🍒 Whoa, what's this?! UFO 50 is available right now on #NintendoSwitch! #UFO50 #IndieWorld

If you’re just starting up UFO 50 since it’s on Switch now - please enjoy my favorite thing I’ve done in 18+ years of podcasting.

Release date! Release date! As announced this morning in ~Indie World Japan~ Demonschool is coming September 3rd! We have been working really hard on this. We hope you will enjoy it.

"Öoo" the bomb caterpillar exploration puzzle platformer, is out now! 🎉 Dive into an adventure packed with discovery and clever puzzles, we hope you enjoy it! 👇 store.steampowered.com/app/2721890/...

For the evening crowd: I’m launching a new oral histories site called designroom.bsky.social. Won’t be much there for another month or so, but follow now to get in early!

Legendary former Nintendo composer Hip Tanaka has told VGC he would "love to" make another full video game soundtrack if asked. The Super Mario Land, Metroid, Tetris and Kid Icarus composer says he's "getting back into" game music after 20 years away. www.videogameschronicle.com/news/legenda...