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.
Nintendo’s decision to revive the Famicom Detective Club series seems to have kick-started a mild rush of new games that are, effectively, mystery visual novels, but have point-and-click elements and light puzzles to keep players interested and intrigued. That’s a good thing. This genre is excellent. And Aksys’ decision to localise Path of Mystery: A Brush with Death is a…
I am a firm believer that as many video games, be they popular, good, bad, and loathed, should be preserved as possible. All these retro collections that have been released by publishers to cash in on their classic properties (and undermine the value of emulation and the second-hand market) have…
Nintendo’s timing with its no-pressure comfort food games has been fortuitous. Animal…
For people who enjoyed the vibes of Monster Hunter, but found the…
GoldenEye 007 has been the talk of the town again over the last few days, thanks to its recent re-release on to Nintendo Switch and the Xbox Game Pass service. There are, apparently, issues with the Game Pass version, but the Switch port is basically exactly the game you remember…
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Today, the Australian Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, announced the Revive National Cultural Policy, which outlines the new(ish) Labor government’s position on the arts and the investments that it will make as part of that. Buried within it is some support for the games industry, but calling it a…
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People often forget that Game Freak is more than Pokémon. Certainly, that’s where the big money is, but as a developer, the team have come up with some excellent smaller ideas too. Pocket Jockey on the Nintendo 3DS was one of the finest download-only games on that platform. Thank goodness,…
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I never had the opportunity to play Risen on its original release, many years ago. It was banned in Australia. It’s still banned, but thankfully modern consoles are region-free and I’ve been able to grab a copy from elsewhere. This stream covers the first hour or so of the Nintendo…
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I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth. When you think of England’s iconic moors,…
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Most people with a casual interest in Japanese culture are aware of kabuki theatre on some level. Even if they’ve never witnessed a performance, the mannerisms and make-up of kabuki theatre are one of Japan’s great artistic exports. Noh is to kabuki what opera is to Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals,…
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I don’t really understand why Idea Factory continues to experiment with action combat systems. Action combat systems are far more resource intensive to get right, and for a company producing JRPGs on a very small budget, it seems counterintuitive. Recent Neptunia titles, including Neptunia Virtual Stars and Cyberdimension Neptunia, have…
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SteamWorld has, over the past decade, built up to become a highly eclectic series. It started with a humble DSiWare tower defence, which was quickly forgotten, but had a breakout hit with the first SteamWorld Dig, which was something of a Mr. Driller iteration. Since then there has been a…
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“We’re screwed. Writing is over. That’s it. It’s time to pack away your quill, your biro, and your shiny iPad: The computers will soon be here to do it better.” This quote came from a writer for The Spectator, and it was in an article talking about the explosive growth…
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I’m a big fan of itch.io for the freedom and open platform that it allows for developers to be creative, experimental, and directly canvas the audience for feedback for games that are not yet ready for primetime on Steam and its ilk. In addition, itch.io allows you to be transgressive,…
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