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Mike Diver

@mikediver.bsky.social

2.3K followers 520 following 2.6K posts

Mostly works in marketing. Mostly. Author of gaming books inc. From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops, The Console, Indie Games, Retro Gaming. Aliens: The Video Games out in 2026. Ex-music industry. Semi-professional tea drinker. #saintsfc

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · Apr 26

It's #alienday.
And Independent Bookstore Day.
So here's a thing.

Aliens: The Video Games.

Games old and new, licensed and unofficial, crossovers, fan projects, unreleased titles.

Loads of new interviews covering games from the 1980s to the 2020s.

Cover by @sammgreer.bsky.social

Out in 2026.

The cover to Aliens: The Video Games. Features a character playing a game with an alien-like silhouette behind them.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 4h

It is SO slow.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 4h

Well. This is New News to me.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 8h

Needs a clean. Don't shame me. I'm busy.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 8h

The SEGA Control Stick. For when you absolutely, positively, had to control Alex Kidd with your hands the wrong way around.

The SEGA Control Stick, a controller for the SEGA Master System which flipped the usual dpad left/1 and 2 buttons right positioning because... idk why, actually.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 9h

Related: the history of how the CD-i came to be is a part of my book, The Console, available now.

It's sold, like, 18 copies in the last six months, so any purchases are extraordinarily welcomed.

The Console: 50 Years of Home Video Gaming, a book I wrote that spans console evolution from 1972 to 2022. It's mostly about Old Things, the choice of DualSense controller for the cover not something I had a say in, really. Lots of research went into this book, it took me ages to put together. I lost holidays to it. I fell out with family making it. So, that it's barely sold at all, is a constant bummer.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 9h

CD-i is the best.

A Philips CD-i and some games, which I acquired earlier this year.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 18h

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 20h

When I saw the release date earlier today I whooped and did a kick flip at my desk and put my knee out so this game owes me.

Andy Kelly @ultrabrilliant.xyz · 1d

And here's a new trailer. One of the best we've ever done.

Skate Story | OUT DECEMBER 8 🛹

YouTube video by DevolverDigital

youtu.be

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Would love to do some chats about the book when it becomes available to (pre)order.

Please invite me on your podcasts about old/new/horror/movie games; or send me questions for your blog, ty ty.

(Also flutters eyelashes in the direction of
@perfectorganism.bsky.social @alientheory.bsky.social )

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Pre-orders for Aliens: The Video Games aren't too far away now.

The book is laid out - I've the proof to look over, this weekend.

When this is up for pre-order, please forgive me banging on even more about it. I'm hugely proud of it. I hope Alien likers who aren't even into the games can enjoy it.

The cover of Aliens: The Video Games. It's a book that I wrote, which is published next year, around the time of Aliens' 40th anniversary. I'll be 46 then. Fucking hell. As well as words by me, the book also has a foreword from Andy Kelly, author of Perfect Organism: An Alien Isolation Companion, and interview contributions from Lewis White and Richie Shoemaker. Clarence Lim contributed some photography, and the cover is by Samantha Mackenzie Greer. Two dozen new interviews in here, as well as loads of archive material.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

The games press has also been gutted. Many folks doing whatever they can now, to stay afloat, to stay employed. The landscape, even since I was last in the games media (fully), in 2022, has completely changed. Some outliers/exceptions of course, but they too are overwhelmed in their own ways.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

It's exclusively in the margins because you can't run a business that way in 2025. Extends beyond the games media, too. Helping something small and cool pop off was always a buzz. Honestly, now, that popping off, if anywhere, is on tiktok, shorts by creators that land in an algorithmic sweet spot.

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 1d

When I was games press back in 2008 - 2015, no-one *ever* talked to me about "we need to report on stuff that is going to make us money"

It was just never a thing. I reported on whatever games I damn well liked, and I helped make so many small games pop off -- so so many

Where is that now?

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Reposted by Mike Diver

Konstantinos Dimopoulos @konstantinosd.bsky.social · 1d

'Night and the City' by Chris Donlan remains one of the finest online articles on game urbanism ever. Somehow simultaneously personal, historical, and objective it is an excellent read, and a reminder that L.A. Noir remains truly unique.

Find it here: www.eurogamer.net/night-and-th...

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

As a kid, we had Terminator 2 toys. And I knew of toys for Aliens, RoboCop. Rambo, I think... and of course all the video games based on adult movies. But I had no idea that Demolition Man got a toy range. Repurposed from early 90s He-Man, but, look. They're awful(ly brilliant).

Demolition Man toys from the early 1990s. Three are based on Sylvester Stallone's John Spartan character, the fourth on Wesley Snipes' Simon Phoenix.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

PS5. Haven't experienced any performance hiccups at all.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

I actually thought it was going to end at this moment... And it could have, and I'd have been cool with that.

Spoiler: oh, boy, there's more.

Mat Piscatella @matpiscatella.bsky.social · 22d

I really don't want Mafia: The Old Country to end.

I've been slow playing it but it's just about finito.

Really enjoyed the heck outta this one.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Credits rolled on Mafia: The Old Country. 15 hours, including some exploration for collectibles, some customisation. You could mainline the story in less time. Fun stuff. Story kept me engaged, the shooting is fine, the knife stuff is fine, it looks gorgeous pretty much all the time. Recommended.

A promotional image for Mafia: The Old Country showing a knife, a wine cork, some grapes and a postcard on a platter.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Really like this little mould - and if that Magnus ever gets a standalone release (or I see it listed solo), it's getting got.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Ah, it's okay, he's a tiny metal man. Phew.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Don't worry. I also have Safety Gunnies.

A teeny tiny Megatron toy in its gun alt mode with HEALTH AND SAFETY GONE MAD orange tip so you don't mistake this wee baby pistol for the real thing and call the old bill over.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Come on over if you want a go with Gunny.

It's my hand holding a SEGA Master System Light Phaser, ready for some Operation Wolf or Space Gun.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Should have all been dentists. Or electricians. Or idk, wig makers. Undertakers. AI can't do that. Yet.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

I absolutely shit you not, have been a bit at a loss on weekends without any writing work and seriously considered replying to an ad for seasonal work at the Big Tesco, in the toy section. How simple that'd be, for a little extra pocket money.

a man standing in a field with the words it 's a peaceful life written below him

ALT: a man standing in a field with the words it 's a peaceful life written below him

media.tenor.com

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 2d

I still can't get over that her name is Bad Enoch. You'd throw it out of the writer's room. Ain't no way we can be that on the nose.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 2d

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