Silicon Valley has forgotten what normal people want Did the tech industry get high on its own supply?

from the annals of getting high on your own supply (gift link) www.theverge.com/tldr/915176/...

Might help the odds to look for writers who've covered similar games and email them directly—most of our author pages on PCG include email addresses. Lead with what makes the game unique, not just genre descriptors. (When every subject line says "roguelite" it just stops registering as anything.)

This is a thoughtful essay. The impulse to bitterly shout at its surface-level framing rather than take a moment to consider what was meant by it is ironically illustrative. (Though possibly everyone just read that Altman story and ran out of free New Yorker articles for the month.)

I've always wanted to fire the infinite cannons of a giant anime battleship, and this solo dev's giving me a chance on Steam later this year Who among us hasn't yearned for a super dimension fortress of their very own?

More than anyone could reasonably process, though I do my best. Maybe obvious to say, but we are most likely to cover a game if one of use has a strong reaction to it. Readers don't need us to neutrally mirror Steam's database, but they do want to know what has surprised or delighted us. Eg:

What's New in Game History: 2026 How do games live on after launch? Documenting the underrecognized last stage of the development ecosystemgame afterlivesthis fast-paced panel spotlights the most vital new work in game history, prese...

After almost 15 years of covering GDC as a journalist, I was on a panel for the first time! Waow. And now you can watch it on the internet.

I talked about game preservation that would likely never happen without the mad dedication of the emulation community -- and, uh, @quest64official.bsky.social

Windrose developers ask players if they 'happen to know someone at a major ISP' who can help diagnose online co-op issues "To be completely transparent, we’re still trying to figure out what exactly is going wrong here."

Anyone here know John Comcast?

Oh you think you know hidden object games? Then go find a four-leaf clover One In A Thousand is a mesmerizing replication of real life's most notorious hidden object challenge.

Can't stop staring at this ridiculous four-leaf clover hidden object game made by a guy who actually likes looking for real four leaf clovers.

AI Is Really Weird If you like this piece and want to support my independent reporting and analysis, why not subscribe to my premium newsletter? It’s $70 a year, or $7 a month, and in return you get a weekly newsletter...

Free newsletter: We need to talk about the inherent weirdness of the AI bubble, and how strange it is that an industry that loses billions of dollars to create few productivity benefits is described as a disruptive technology rather than an industry of WeWorks.
www.wheresyoured.at/ai-is-really...

I don't like that the context makes Pac-Man appear nude. I've never really thought of him as nude, but he's nude here. Expression is relatable, though. Seems like he just remembered something embarrassing he did 10 years ago.

Not sure which is worse, the hubris of thinking I could become a pro bowler without actually knowing how to bowl, or my insistence on dancing after every single strike www.pcgamer.com/games/sports...

Students in a Computer Lab at Spokane Falls Community College in January 1994. You could look this cool if you started dressing like it was the '90s, gathered four of your best friends together and crafted the perfect email to letters@pcgamer.com. Photo by Bob Rowan/Corbis via Getty Images

Hello Bluesky! We're bringing back the Letters section of PC Gamer magazine and want your thoughts, opinions and questions for our next issue.

📨 Write us at letters@pcgamer.com and the best messages will make their way into print! On *real* paper!

What's next for Slay the Spire 2: the ending, new character(s), new modes? YouTube video by PC Gamer

Here's my Slay the Spire 2 interview—feat. details about the final ending, new character(s), new modes, and how The Regent's regal buffoonishness was autobiographical, speaking with @megacrit.com's Casey Yano. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlmD...

Turns out running a zoo is easy unless you spend all your money on chickens Visitors in Zoo Life Simulator will pay top dollar to look at anything: a rabbit, a goose, and even a hot dog stand.

This week's job sim: Zoo Life Simulator, where you can put a single goose in a pen and visitors will absolutely lose their shit with excitement over it

I am not sure how to interpret OpenAI dropping Sora and its erotic chatbot plans. What does that signal?

If you worked at Epic Games within the past six years or so and are comfortable chatting briefly about its recent internal priorities (I will not share your name), you can reach me on Signal at: tylerwilde.01.

Critically endangered hare spotted in surprising location for the first time in 40 years — but it was already dead Scientists in China have announced the first confirmed sighting of the critically endangered Hainan hare in part of its native range in four decades, after spotting its completely flattened carcass on...

Poor rabbit shouldn't have underestimated Kenshiro.

AI gaslighting watch: Is there AI in my fridge? Answer: No, but there could be intelligent life forming in its recesses.

It may end up only amusing me in the end, but considering making this a series in which I ask once a week: "Is this thing someone just said about AI true?"

We don’t do a lot of personal blogging on @pcgamer.com so please enjoy my first person account of getting sloppergangered in 2026

Meanwhile it's 90F/32C here as if it's the middle of summer.

(*this* point, I meant.)

The 2000s rendering styles seen as charming today also reflect tech priorities of the time, but it's hard to imagine that future people will feel nostalgic about AI face filters in the way they do PS1 graphics. Then again, it seems like the passage of time can bring about fondness for anything.

I may have slightly overstated his point, since as I mention, It's already the case that PC players happily alter how games look with mods. In a deeper way that I don't mention, tech companies have always been major determinants of how games look. But obviously AI has a very different character.

Having just spent the week at GDC up in SF, it is perhaps only fair that I now get a taste of what it's like to be the local who has to dodge packs of lanyards to get to the grocery store. In the past, GTC has happened the same week as GDC, limiting my experience of it.

On a related note, I live in downtown San Jose where Nvidia GTC takes place, and they've really gone all out this year, taking over two downtown parks with big stages and booths. A Vietnam War memorial wound up fenced into the registration area lol.

Path of Exile's new Mirage league might be the best chance you'll ever get at obtaining the rarest item in the game This map's so nice I'll run it twice

My latest for @pcgamer.com - on @path-of-exile.bsky.social’s sweet new league.

www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/pa...

For the first time in years, there are no blockchain gaming talks at GDC NFTs are out, generative AI is in at this year's Game Developer's Conference—though much of the industry isn't on board with that, either.

Friendship ended with blockchain.

Grammarly is using our identities without permission Grammarly’s AI stole my boss’s identity.

I happened to be in downtown SF today, so I tried stopping by the Superhuman AI office to ask about the AI “editor” based on me. Unfortunately just got a very nice office manager who said no one was in.

Lots of games people in Grammarly’s pool too besides me…

Uh excuse me what the fuck

800 gamers tried to beat an '80s adventure without a walkthrough—only 2 did Only .25% completed the AGAT: the Adventure Game Aptitude Test, designed by fiendish developer Woe Industries.

Designed by developer Woe Industries, the AGAT challenged players to complete an '80s adventure game without using a walkthrough.

Just a note: someone has been impersonating me (me, of all people!) on Discord, Twitter, and even gmail.

I am not on Twitter/X at all. Any account there saying it's me is fake. My work email & Discord are in my bsky profile. Any others are fake. If you see anyone saying they're me anywhere, lmk plz