In my restless dreams, I see that clown
In my restless dreams, I see that clown
Q3 Postmode leadership and shareholder summit, please bring your boat shoes
Hi diddly ho, subscribers. Remember newsletters? Remember the promise of a heightened cultural engagement with the written word? I’ve been doing a lot of reading newsletters lately (
, to name a few), but not a lot of writing newsletters. Curious! Let me remedy this by providing a speedrun overview of everything I’ve done and thought about since June.
I wrote this showcase
And then, I wrote this showcase
Most recently, I wrote this showcase
Scriptwriting! And lots of it. In the process, I learned something interesting - that Ned Luke (Michael De Santa from Grand Theft Auto V) suffers from unilateral hearing loss. We have that in common! I had heard about this on the internet grapevine, as players have noticed that Michael turns his head and moves his body in cutscenes to amplify his better ear, and this was captured as part of the mocap. But my boss confirmed it during the shoot for the Gamescom show.
Internet commenters have theorised that this is referenced during the GTA V prologue; when Trevor shoots the guard who briefly holds Michael hostage, Michael puts his hand to his right ear and complains - the bullet would almost certainly deafen you in some regard, at that range. I can’t say whether that was intentional from Rockstar in an ode to Ned’s hearing, but that is my personal headcanon. I hope so; that would be cool and an interesting case of hearing loss representation in one of the biggest video games of all time.
See! You thought this would be pure indulgence, but you just learned a really cool fact! I will always keep you guessing, parasocial besties. Anyway, the internet dug this gag I wrote for Roger Clark, where he rustles up the next trailer as Arthur Morgan. Million-follower Twitch streamer and Cyberpunk 2077 NPC CohhCarnage also had lovely things to say about the Mobile Showcase. Here’s to many more showcases, even though each one is a chaotic miracle.
Wir suchen dich!
After a successful run of previews in 2023, Polygon asked me to cover gamescom again, and I politely said yes. Then, on the ground in Cologne, I politely passed on a ‘golden ticket’ meet-and-greet with Geoff Keighley. It’s not that I’m too good for him or anything, I am a ‘Final Hours’ stan, but it just felt… deeply wrong to take this opportunity from the punters around me, who may have been real bonafide Geoff-heads. I can only imagine how it would have went down - me walking up and trying to quickly explain that I’m actually a games journalist and that I was doing this as a bit as the camera flashes… and it’s over.
I nearly got a selfie with Peter Molyneux at ONL, too, but I was too scared—a real sliding doors moment. Perhaps we could have struck up a friendship, and I may have ended up signing away my cerebellum to appear as the protagonist in his next project. I should have asked him about Project Milo! Fuck’s sake. Why am I only thinking of this now? That was my one chance, gone with the wind.
Dying Light: The Beast is more of the same, but with superpowers
Avowed feels like a fun fantasy spinoff for fans of The Outer Worlds
Comprehensive controller support turns Path of Exile 2 into a twin-stick titan
Shadow the Hedgehog’s dad wants the ultimate life-form to be evil again
Marvel Rivals has won the popular vote, but can it stick the landing?
Atomfall is a proper British detective mystery with Fallout: New Vegas vibes
InZoi is a highly ambitious simulator, but the game aspect is a work in progress
Ow, the edge! I got to interview Shadow the Hedgehog’s dad and ask him about memes. I was very convinced by Civ 7, too, and surprisingly enamoured with Path of Exile 2. Avowed, though? I don’t know about that one. I'm praying it turns out good, but Atomfall offers a similar framework and kind of ate its lunch. Rebellion’s Cumbrian STALKER-like was easily my game of the show.
Posting, à la mode
Beyond my writing, consulting and whatever-is-needed-from-me work, which, ahem, pays me the money I barely survive on, I’ve been focusing my very little remaining energy on expanding Postmode.org with cool stories that I think people would like to read. YouTube channel is coming along nicely too.
I gave you the first interview with the creator of Arctic Eggs and demystified the Riven remake, but my most popular article has been a guide that I wrote in a fit of survival game zeal about How to Fish in Once Human. I think that says it all, really, but I’m proud of the output regardless.
Our Benefactors Google appear to be rejecting the endless scourge of SEO slop in favour of what it calls helpful content. I have no idea what that means because I have not read any guidelines, and I will not because that sounds boring. Keep in mind that while Google is trying to clean up the reading experience, it also continues to destroy organic search and the broader coherence of the internet with AI. Curious gambit!
Either way, I like to think that everything I’ve put out at Postmode is written to be informative, funny, and engaging rather than stuffed with keywords. It’s all articles that I would want to read, and I hope you think so, too. My quasi-SEO luddite approach will never bring me the big bucks, but it also means I can carefully control the tone without advertisers breathing down my neck.
If you’re worried about Postmode being off-pulse due to its feeble status, I previewed Owlchemy Labs's next game, interviewed the studio’s CEO, and reviewed Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster and Astro Bot with pre-release codes. So it seems I hold a little sway with PR thanks to my years of industry hustling, and there’s more where that came from, so mind out!
Hopefully, I can build on this wee community and turn Postmode into a reader-supported venture because it looks like corporate-owned games media is really on its haunches now. It’s always been rough out there as a permalancer (and it continues to be), but I think everyone is feeling it now. There is so much mind-boggling tomfoolery from the C-Suiters. Love to anyone who has been affected by all this chaos.
But before we go, let me ask you this, friend. What other video game site is interviewing the localizer of Metal Gear Solid and Silent Hill 2 and writing guides for a fan-translated RPG from 2006? Truly inimitable! By the way, to join a very loud chorus, Mother 3’s a bit good, innit? Jeez.