Matt S. is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of DDNet. He's been writing about games for over 20 years, including a book, but is perhaps best-known for being the high priest of the Church of Hatsune Miku.
The release of Virtue and a Sledgehammer, the latest from Selkie Harbour, Deconstructeam, and Devolver Digital, is right around the corner. We’re going to have a review of what is a pretty provocative and powerful entry into the “games as art” genre, and we certainly had some questions for the developers about it. For those who haven’t been following along:…
Here’s the thing: I find that a lot of gaming-focused mice don’t put ergonomics particularly high on the list of priorities. That’s not to say they can’t be comfortable, but the focus is very clearly on the design and the features that will give the user a competitive edge. And…
Well, fellow Final Fantasy fans, here’s our chance. For years now we’ve…
A persistent issue I have with video game adaptations of stories from…
There is a massive problem with filming a Dancesport film: Unless your cast are actual Dancesport athletes (and they are typically poor actors), then it’s going to be hard to make the dancing look good. 10 Dance, a Netflix-published film by the director of the Rurouni Kenshin films, is quite…
Read More
Sony has filed a patent for an AI-based technology that would allow the company to censor game content in real time. This is the latest example of the libertarian tech culture and capitalistic big business kicking the arts in the balls. In this case, with a steel-capped boot. As described…
Read More
I’ve been making my way through the surprise-dropped Tomb Raider Definitive Edition that landed on the Switch a few weeks ago, and with two new Tomb Raider games just announced (albeit with a new publisher), that turns out to have been good timing to remind myself of the direction that…
Read More
Octopath Traveler 0 isn’t really Octopath Traveler. It’s good. It’s even excellent, frequently and for long stretches of time. But it’s not Octopath Traveler for this very simple reason: Both the original Octopath Traveler and its sequel told the stories of eight (“Octo”) different people, who would eventually come together…
Read More
I don’t often write about films these days, but I recently saw something at the Japan Film Festival in Australia that was powerful, profound, and haunting enough that it has since occupied all my thinking. Kokuho, directed by one of Japan’s most noteworthy art film directors, Lee Sang-il, is, as…
Read More
The SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite is a good headset. This is by far the most uncontroversial thing I’ve ever written at DigitallyDownloaded.net, because with a price tag of AU$1350, you would hope that it’s a good headset. SteelSeries has packed as much sound quality as possible into this thing and,…
Read More
Disclaimer: I’m making this quick disclaimer so it’s clear and up-front. I did work with Big Ant in the past, and contributed to cricket games that they have previously released. During the term that I worked for Big Ant, I did not review their games, nor did we cover them…
Read More
Kirby Air Riders is fun. It’s not any more than that, and it’s clearly filler for Nintendo to pad out the all-important first Christmas for the Switch 2. With Metroid coming soon, Kirby’s there for the younger ones to also have something under the tree. And it’s fun. The basic…
Read More
Tetris Effect (by the same developer as Lumines Arise) was a breakthrough puzzle game in the way it utterly transformed how we look at action puzzle games as audiovisual experiences. It was, essentially, an interactive music video with some of the coolest, most rhythmically vibrant music. The way it inspired…
Read More
Football Manager is in a fortunate position of having no meaningful competition. Most other sports properties have at least one contender tilting at the windmills, but for Football Manager, the biggest risk has always been that people simply get bored with it. And given that this is a series that…
Read More