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.
It must be tough being an indie developer and trying to make something of a trip to Japan. Not only are you pushed into an entirely different building than the one where Square Enix, SEGA and so on set up (though it is the same building where the merchandise is, so it’s not like there’s no foot traffic down there),…
This was the first TGS that I’ve attended since 2019 – thanks a lot for that, COVID-19. On the one hand, it actually meant that this year was quiet for me. Where in the years leading up to COVID my schedule had become wall-to-wall with meetings and interviews, I’m now…
It’s hard to shake the feeling that with Super Bomberman R 2,…
This Japan trip has been a whirlwind that I just wasn’t expecting.…
Valve’s inconsistencies around what is and isn’t too offensive for its platform are at the point where it is so blatant that there are ulterior motives at play that it is incredibly offensive. Here’s a story of two different sets of games to illustrate. The first involves Hitler. Steam is…
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Developer, Sting, has announced a remaster of Riviera: The Promised Land. This is genuinely exciting because Riviera is a true cult classic, and a remake is long overdue. One of the more interesting qualities of this game is that you don’t really have free movement around the world. Rather, it…
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In recent years (thanks largely to the success of the Ryza trilogy), Gust and Koei Tecmo’s Atelier series has grown from being a very niche and micro-budget JRPG property to become something that, while not exactly mainstream, holds itself well in the market and can find an audience beyond genre…
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Silent Hope will be released on October 3, and it is an intriguing little game. It is being billed as a return to the classic isometric action JRPGs of yesteryear (think Secret of Mana), with a quirk: this is a world without words. From the press release: “In a world…
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It has been 13 years since the last The Settlers title. The Settlers: New Allies is also the first time the series has ever made its way to a home console. Until now, this venerable, hugely respected and beloved simulation/strategy series had been exclusive to PC (with a couple of…
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I’ve run out of patience with the Richman series. I want to love them, but the feeling is clearly not reciprocal. This is the third game that developer/publisher, Softstar, has released on the Nintendo Switch, and not only does it demonstrate that there is little interest in improving the series,…
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Of all the major sporting events, the Tour de France must be one of the most challenging concepts to adapt to a video game. After all, you’re looking at courses that are hundreds of kilometres long, and take hours to cycle across, with the scenery changing up and down mountains,…
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What happens when you blend the otome visual novel sub-genre with death games like Danganronpa or Squid Games? Essentially, you get Charade Maniacs. This is Idea Factory’s latest to make its way out west and it’s an intriguing and eclectic thing. I don’t know if this particular fusion of ideas…
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One of the most significant television broadcasters in Japan, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television (TBS) has announced its first major foray into video games. Given that the company has launched a website in both English and Japanese, it would imply that TBS has ambitions beyond the domestic market. There aren’t any…
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Persona 5 has become a full-on franchise in its own right, having already had a spin-off rhythm game and a Musou-like action sequel. And now there’s a tactics JRPG coming. It looks so, so good, and Atlus in Japan has just released a new trailer to remind us of that…
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