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.
To start this review with something very personal: My father passed away last week. It’s been difficult, to put it mildly. The reason I bring it up is that Dad absolutely loved Ten-Pin Bowling. Had his own ball, ball bag (I had no idea they made bowling ball bags), shoes, the works. He competed in social leagues all over the…
Having not played the original Code Vein, I have no idea whether Code Vein II is effective in building on it, or whether the two games are related at all. What I do know is that Code Vein II is an excellent soulslike. One that starts quite slowly, but has…
It’s incredible that Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergarde plays so well on…
Lached Up Games serves a very specific niche with its quirky and…
Android-based consoles, such as those Anbernic produce, are made for an application that is obvious: Emulation. By extension, that means they facilitate piracy, and that tends to make the games industry’s suit people mad. However, it is also because of devices like these that the indie scene flourishes with new…
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2025 is finally done and dusted. It’s been a big year with a lot of great game releases, despite some incredible turbulence in the industry. As we always like to do at DDNet, we’re taking a look back at the year that was, and some of our highlights. Matt spent…
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It’s that time of year again, and whatever your Christmas traditions (or however else you might celebrate this time of year) the DDNet crew wishes you all a happy, joyful and safe time. 2025 has been quite the rollercoaster of energy and emotion, both in terms of global events, and…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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