Wallace
@exalclaw.bsky.social
710 followers 470 following 1K posts
A writer & video creator with a weakness against soft cookies | Rambles without oversight at exalclaw.com | Words also at Unwinnable, Stop Caring, PopMatters, etc. 📬: [email protected] Latest: https://linktr.ee/Exalclaw
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exalclaw.bsky.social
New at my site Exalclaw: I chatted with a few people about what EA's acquisition could mean for The Sims, as well as what they're seeing in their communities reaction-wise. While opinions vary, it's clear that many are worried about the franchise's future.

exalclaw.com/2025/10/07/f...
Fans Of The Sims Face An Uncertain Future Following EA’s Acquisition By Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner
“The main concern, as a female LGBTQ player, is that the representation will disappear.”
exalclaw.com
Reposted by Wallace
otomeniki.bsky.social
Here's one for the memers and the dreamers: I wrote about Final Fantasy Tactics memes and art criticism for Stop Caring! Check it out!
stopcar.ing
New article is live on Stop Caring

This one from @otomeniki.bsky.social, who argues that Final Fantasy Tactics memes engages audiences in a unique form of reader-response theory. Which *is* art criticism, even if it doesn't *look* like art criticism.

Give it a read and a share!
Final Fantasy Tactics Memes Prove Video Games are Art
Final Fantasy Tactics memes engage audiences in an unique form of reader-response.
www.stopcar.ing
exalclaw.bsky.social
Jumped back into reading Video Game Of The Year for a flight, got to 2012. Might’ve been about The Walking Dead, but oof did it remind me that I miss The Wolf Among Us
Reposted by Wallace
jamalzuhir.bsky.social
Honestly, it’s exhausting that people think Gazans should only ask for help to survive to eat, to stay alive but not to dream, to study, or to rebuild their lives. Wanting education, safety, and a future isn’t greed. It’s being human.
exalclaw.bsky.social
On Season 5 now of Supernatural, show continues to be the definition of escaping one hell just to face another
Reposted by Wallace
stopcar.ing
New article is live on Stop Caring

This one from @otomeniki.bsky.social, who argues that Final Fantasy Tactics memes engages audiences in a unique form of reader-response theory. Which *is* art criticism, even if it doesn't *look* like art criticism.

Give it a read and a share!
Final Fantasy Tactics Memes Prove Video Games are Art
Final Fantasy Tactics memes engage audiences in an unique form of reader-response.
www.stopcar.ing
Reposted by Wallace
ashleybardhan.bsky.social
it’s time we talk about one of the most important parts of a great horror game: the creepy doll

the haunted dolls in silent hill F and bloodborne, in particular, are the most perfect chariots through the underworld

i’d be lost in the nightmare without them…🕊️

www.gamesradar.com/games/silent...
The best part of Silent Hill f is also my favorite from Bloodborne, and it has nothing to do with "Soulslike" combat
Opinion | It's not always a haunted doll, but it's usually a haunted doll
www.gamesradar.com
Reposted by Wallace
briggsy.blacksky.app
Hi, all.

After years of torment and with the current climate getting worse, I had to make a big decision.

If you guys could watch and share, I’d really appreciate it. Thank you. ❤️

(sorry for the slight stutter)

Links and more info below.
Reposted by Wallace
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI Don’t Stop, Girlypop! demo is cool
Have you ever wondered what it’d look like if Studio Trigger made a videogame right after watching the entirety of Totally Spies? Maybe while pounding pack after pack of energy drinks during development? Because that’s what it felt like playing the Don’t Stop, Girlypop! demo.
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI Don’t Stop, Girlypop! demo is cool
Have you ever wondered what it’d look like if Studio Trigger made a videogame right after watching the entirety of Totally Spies? Maybe while pounding pack after pack of energy drinks during development? Because that’s what it felt like playing the Don’t Stop, Girlypop! demo.
Reposted by Wallace
ethangach.bsky.social
NEW: Nearly 100 current and former developers at MindsEye studio Build A Rocket Boy slam Leslie Benzies and the rest of studio leadership for poor management and botched layoffs.

They say crunch was mandated leading up to release only for 250 people to be sacked afterwards.
Reposted by Wallace
404media.co
BREAKING: A catastrophic breach has impacted Discord user data including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the app’s verification process, email addresses, phone numbers, approximately where the user lives, and much more.

🔗 www.404media.co/the-discord-...
The Discord Hack is Every Users’ Worst Nightmare
A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive informa...
www.404media.co
Reposted by Wallace
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
hi folks, i'm here to plug my workshops again. even if you have no experience doing any of these things, they will be very fun and you should sign up for one or maybe all of them.
gr8earlofhell.bsky.social
icymi, i lost my job and am running some workshops to make money to uh, live?

tickets for the first run of THE RANDOMIZER are up now at natraum.com/links. the rest are coming soon!
2025 workshops

It's Lit: Literary Magazine Submissions. October 29 @ 7PM EST.

THE RANDOMIZER #1. November 6 @ 7pm EST.

No Choice But to Stan: Writing Pop Culture in Poetry. November 15 @ 12pm EST

Writing to Grieve: Poetry as Processing. November 22 @ 12pm EST

THE RANDOMIZER #2. TBD late November. About your instructor

nat raum is a queer, disabled, and recently unemployed artist and writer based on unceded Piscataway and Susquehannock land in Baltimore. They hold an MFA in Creative Writing with a focus in Poetry, and have served as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art and The University of Baltimore. They’re the author of 22 books of poetry, all of which were proudly published independently.
Reposted by Wallace
stopcar.ing
Stop Caring covers indie games (sometimes)

we have no pull in the industry but we're passionate writers with an equally passionate audience. Also, we hate fascists and pull no punches.
Stop Caring
A publication about video games focused on the ways they evoke unique cultural conversations as well as the personal lessons we can learn from them as artistic media.
www.stopcar.ing
Reposted by Wallace
nathangrayson.bsky.social
spoke to @afterclimate.com.au about the sustainable games standard, a means of tracking emissions now publicly available for use by the entire games industry. a lot of thought went into this thing
“In terms of methodology, each one is a little bit different,” said Abraham. “I started with whatever already existed, talked to a lot of our member companies and some other contributing ones. We knew we needed a quick and dirty method for as many as possible, so where there's the option to make a ‘spend based’ calculation, we've put one in there. Those are good for fast and easy numbers, but they don't give you any control over the emissions, because the only way to reduce them is ‘spend less money,’ which you might not want to do if you're marketing your new game.”

This meant that in some cases, Abraham – alongside games industry experts – had to devise new methods entirely.

“Like the [section 3.11] use of sold products (mobile) component, which says ‘OK, phones have batteries, what if we measure the battery level at the start and the end of a game session, that will tell us how much power the game has used,’” said Abraham. “Because the use of energy at the battery doesn't actually directly generate emissions, we also have to trace it back to the source, which is grid electricity emissions. To get power from the grid there has to be a charger that converts AC to DC, and when you do that you get power losses, so you also need to account for that by adding some extra on top for charger losses.”
Reposted by Wallace
exalclaw.bsky.social
Don't Stop, Girlypop! is fun to say, the demo was fun to play, my fingers need more practice with what it was asking of me, and I miss Totally Spies.

exalclaw.com/2025/10/09/d...
I Wasn’t Ready For The Finger Workout Don’t Stop, Girlypop! Gave Me
I should’ve taken pre-workout beforehand, but alas.
exalclaw.com
exalclaw.bsky.social
As it should be 🙂‍↕️
exalclaw.bsky.social
Don't Stop, Girlypop! is fun to say, the demo was fun to play, my fingers need more practice with what it was asking of me, and I miss Totally Spies.

exalclaw.com/2025/10/09/d...
I Wasn’t Ready For The Finger Workout Don’t Stop, Girlypop! Gave Me
I should’ve taken pre-workout beforehand, but alas.
exalclaw.com
Reposted by Wallace
jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Some exciting news: 404 Media just won a grant via Muckrock to investigate book bans and educational censorship in the U.S. The plan is to file hundreds of public records requests around the country and to report on and archive all the documents for public use:

www.404media.co/help-us-inve...
Help Us Investigate Book Bans and Educational Censorship Around America
404 Media has gotten a grant to unearth public records about systematic censorship of books, schools, and libraries in the U.S.
www.404media.co
Reposted by Wallace
muellershewrote.com
Portland has elevated protesting to an art form.
Reposted by Wallace
heartimecia.bsky.social
hate it here, man
stephentotilo.bsky.social
SCOOP: Last year, Ubisoft cancelled an Assassin's Creed game set during Reconstruction. Was to feature a Black Assassin who, among other things, fought the rise of the Klan

Sources: Leadership nixed it over concerns re: U.S. political climate, backlash to Yasuke

www.gamefile.news/p/scoop-ubis...
Scoop: Ubisoft cancelled a post-Civil War Assassin’s Creed last year
Company leadership deemed the project too controversial for the moment, sources tell Game File
www.gamefile.news
Reposted by Wallace
exalclaw.bsky.social
Other ICYMI: Celeste rules, playing games in the language you’re learning rules*, everyone should try both if you haven’t already

*it’s not easy
exalclaw.bsky.social
Had to write about Celeste. Not just bc it's a great platformer that I loved pretty much every death of, but also bc it's now a major milestone in my language learning journey:

exalclaw.com/2025/10/07/c...
Reposted by Wallace
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI: Chatted with a few Sims players and community moderators about how the EA sale is landing. Give it a read!
exalclaw.bsky.social
New at my site Exalclaw: I chatted with a few people about what EA's acquisition could mean for The Sims, as well as what they're seeing in their communities reaction-wise. While opinions vary, it's clear that many are worried about the franchise's future.

exalclaw.com/2025/10/07/f...
Fans Of The Sims Face An Uncertain Future Following EA’s Acquisition By Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner
“The main concern, as a female LGBTQ player, is that the representation will disappear.”
exalclaw.com
exalclaw.bsky.social
Other ICYMI: Celeste rules, playing games in the language you’re learning rules*, everyone should try both if you haven’t already

*it’s not easy
exalclaw.bsky.social
Had to write about Celeste. Not just bc it's a great platformer that I loved pretty much every death of, but also bc it's now a major milestone in my language learning journey:

exalclaw.com/2025/10/07/c...
exalclaw.bsky.social
ICYMI: Chatted with a few Sims players and community moderators about how the EA sale is landing. Give it a read!
exalclaw.bsky.social
New at my site Exalclaw: I chatted with a few people about what EA's acquisition could mean for The Sims, as well as what they're seeing in their communities reaction-wise. While opinions vary, it's clear that many are worried about the franchise's future.

exalclaw.com/2025/10/07/f...
Fans Of The Sims Face An Uncertain Future Following EA’s Acquisition By Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner
“The main concern, as a female LGBTQ player, is that the representation will disappear.”
exalclaw.com