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.
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 we enter an era where AI is undermining the very…
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,…
Disclaimer: I’m making this quick disclaimer so it’s clear and up-front. I…
Kirby Air Riders is fun. It’s not any more than that, and…
The Turtle Beach Stealth 600 Gen 2 MAX is a mouthful of a headset to pronounce, but it’s a very solid and easy-to-use gaming-orientated headset indeed. If only gamers cared more about aesthetics. As a wireless headset, you’ll only be able to use the headset on devices that have a…
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Here’s a free tip for developers and publishers: “Souls” means something in video gaming now. We may or may not like it, but people see that combination of letters and think something very specific. Soulstice is not actually one of these games (blessedly, given that this year has already been…
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Penko Park is what happens when you take a Tim Burton nightmare, and mash it with Pokémon Snap. The game has become something of a cult hit “hidden gem” on Steam, where it released back in 2020, but now it’s coming to Nintendo Switch. I’ve got to say, the Switch…
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“Through me you pass into the city of woe: Through me you pass into eternal pain: Through me among the people lost for aye. Justice the founder of my fabric moved: To rear me was the task of power divine, Supremest wisdom, and primeval love. Before me things create were…
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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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You have to go back around 16 years to find the last time that an Atelier title had a “3” next to it. From the PlayStation 3 onwards, Gust has been predominantly interested in building games with new protagonists each time. Characters might cross over from one title to the…
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Amnesia: Memories was first released over a decade ago, and it’s fair to say that the visual novel genre – and particularly the otome sub-genre – has moved at a rapid pace from that time. That’s not a criticism of Amnesia, by any means, but the experience of reading through…
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Clap Hanz Golf is not a game you stealth launch on a console! Clap Hanz Golf is a game you make a big deal about, especially since Nintendo has really lost its way with Mario Golf and fans of that series desperately want something like this on their consoles too.…
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Babylon’s Fall had the makings of a great game. It had exceptional art direction and an amazing aesthetic. It had Platinum Games, with all their talent for combat design, giving us a new action experience with some interesting mechanics, and it had an intriguing setting and hits of what could…
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Ten-Pin Bowling is one of my favourite activities. Few things are more entertaining than getting a group of people together and hitting the lanes. Especially when there’s party music and alcohol involved. Bowling is a lot of fun – a truly good night out! – when combined with a bar,…
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