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Alexander Had

@alexanderhad1.bsky.social

400 followers 93 following 320 posts

I wrote From Ants to Zombies: Six Decades of Video Game Horror - out now @bitmapbooks.com 🐜 🧟‍♂️. Bylines at The AV Club, PC Gamer, Edge, RPS, The Verge, The Washington Post, Slant Magazine, Wireframe, others.

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Oct 18

Since the list is already available online (www.bitmapbooks.com/products/fro...), I'll be making a daily(-ish) thread covering every main entry in From Ants to Zombies with some of my unused screencaps.

1) The Wreck of the BSM Pandora: a 1981 Apple II boardgame adaptation inspired by you-know-what

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 19h

frothing fascists fighting slimy neoliberals on who gets to unlock the world's most spurious achievement first, what timeline is this even?

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 4d

didn't expect I was going to be personally attacked by Ultima IV for my life choices but here we are

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 4d

A rainy day and some spare time so fuck me if I'm not having my first serious go at one of the greatest CRPGs ever made

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 8d

Essential thread to understanding what's happening in the US (and, surely, a blueprint for the rest of the West to follow) as not simply the machinations of an unhinged would-be dictator but as the culmination of decades of across-the-spectrum systemic manouevring to bring us exactly to this point.

alec karakatsanis @equalityalec.bsky.social · 8d

THREAD. In Trump's speech to an unprecedented gathering of generals, he announced that he was preparing to order them to use American "cities as training grounds for our military." I want to highlight a few other statements that are bone chilling and put them into context that U.S media obscures.

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 8d

*blushes*

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 8d

Spooky season is here so sign up to be notified when From Ants to Zombies -covering 130+ horror games on over 60 platforms from the 1970s to the 2020s- becomes available.

www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/...

@bitmapbooks.com

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 16d

72) Giant centipedes emerge from cavern fissures with terrifying slithering sounds; winged horrors grab a fully-grown human to carry to their nest; and carnivorous lizards of steadily increasing size are stalking you.

King Kong's breathtaking setting is fixated on killing you. @bitmapbooks.com

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 20d

not sure what the odds are of me playing this scene from Soul Blazer for the 1st time & watching that Jon Stewart bit in the same day, but there certainly seems to be a theme emerging from my Saturday entertainment picks

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 22d

I'm a C64 guy through and through but I gotta admit I was wowed!

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 23d

71) Orion Prime is a unique New Retro hybrid.

Setting and tone are inspired by System Shock, yet it plays like a 1990s first-person point 'n click adventure, and was coded for the Amstrad CPC, becoming one of the most ambitious works ever created for the platform. @bitmapbooks.com

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 28d

Image 4!

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 28d

I prefer to go in blind & only knew it had mildly positive reviews, so wasn't quite sure what to expect. Was very pleasantly surprised by how thoughtfully crafted it was & how more honest it felt from most other versions of the last-person-on-Earth template.

Plus, that line had me in stitches.

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 28d

Watched the 1985 NZ sci-fi The Quiet Earth for the 1st time yesterday for some light research on post-apocalyptic worlds.

Moving & uncomfortable, it paints a more convincing picture of life in an empty world than most examples of the genre & deserves a place alongside classics like Miracle Mile.

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · 29d

70) Among the initial ideas for the book was an "Ultraviolent" chapter which would feature some of the goriest horror games from the early 80s until today. Entries would include the likes of Go to Hell (1985), Manhunt (2003) & SNK's blood-soaked rail shooter, Beast Busters (1989) @bitmapbooks.com

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Sep 10

Mostly away from social media these days so a belated post about the latest Edge, featuring my Time Extend on a game I will never shut up about: Cinemaware's It Came from the Desert, a bolder, more adventurous approach to the interactive movie than anything that has followed in the 35+ years since.

Edge @edgemagazine.bsky.social · Sep 4

Also inside: Game censorship in 2025, the making of Expelled, Strange Scaffold profiled, a return to It Came From The Desert, and reviews including Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater and Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance. Edge 415 is available now from UK stores and online: bit.ly/buy-edge

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Sep 10

Πρώτη φορά; Από τα πιο ιδιοφυή core mechanics που έχω δει σε επιτραπέζιο: τόσο απλό που μπορεί να το παίξει οποιοσδήποτε με δύο λεπτά επεξήγηση, ξεκάθαρες σχέσεις cause/effect και cost/reward, αλλά άπειρο βάθος στο πως θα το προσεγγίσεις.

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Reposted by Alexander Had

Bitmap Books @bitmapbooks.com · Sep 9

From Ants To Zombies 🐜🧟‍♂️

A showcase of horror gaming across six decades, from the 1970s to the 2020s.

Coming soon if there is enough demand, sign up here: www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/...

#bitmapbooks #book #retrogaming #gaming #horror #fromantstozombies #booksky @alexanderhad1.bsky.social

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Reposted by Alexander Had

Bitmap Books @bitmapbooks.com · Sep 9

From Ants To Zombies 🐜🧟‍♂️

13 thematically-divided chapters, such as Space Horror, Rail Shooters, Dark Forests and Haunted Mansions. 

Available soon, get a stock alert here: www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/...

#bitmapbooks #book #retrogaming #gaming #horror @alexanderhad1.bsky.social

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Sep 4

69) Prefiguring cinematic horror's introverted turn triggered by the success of M. Night Shyamalan's The Sixth Sense a year later, Echo Night's voyage is defined by a kind of otherworldly tranquility, your sole concern aboard the Orpheus to discover what ails its forlorn ghosts.

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Aug 28

tbf, I don't follow the gaming press very closely these days but I can't imagine another industry-beholden outlet covering the ongoing atrocity & the West's complicity in it more honestly than RPS - grateful for the work of Edwin, Nic & co.

Rock Paper Shotgun @rockpapershotgun.bsky.social · Aug 28

"A culture of intimidation, retaliation and oppression": How Microsoft’s Gaza stance fuelled an industry-spanning boycott

RPS meets a few of the developers participating in the BDS campaign against Microsoft's Israeli military ties, including an Xbox worker fired for his views.

www.rockpapershotgun.com

Reposted by Alexander Had

Bitmap Books @bitmapbooks.com · Jul 29

From Ants To Zombies 🐜🧟‍♂️

Comes as a hardback, with a unique glow-in-the-dark logo and text.

Out now: www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/...

#bitmapbooks #book #retrogaming #horror #fromantstozombies #booksky @alexanderhad1.bsky.social

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Jul 9

Still remember that bozo who heads a major indie publisher proclaiming, a couple of years ago, that Game Pass is great for indies & if you disagree you don't know what you're talking about because you haven't published on the platform like he has...

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Jul 3

"If Lord British can do so much with 64K, what is the potential with 256 or 512 or more?", asks Scorpia -citing one of her favourites, Ultima IV- for the June-July 1987 issue of Computer Gaming World.

Judging by what I've played since then, nothing to write home about (Disco Elysium aside, obvs).

Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Jun 27

68) Scythe-wielding skeletons dig their way up from the ground; scowling trees sprout roots to entangle you; famished vultures observe your progress from above, ready to pounce. All combine into Ghouls 'n Ghosts' memorable opening level - gaming's quintessential spooky forest.

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Alexander Had @alexanderhad1.bsky.social · Jun 24

"...a single market for space that works for all."

What does this absolute drivel even mean? Seems that, unless it's for the purposes of cheerleading a genocide, these bozos can barely put a coherent sentence together.

European Commission @ec.europa.eu · Jun 24

Space is booming, with satellites multiplying.

It’s Europe’s moment to create a single market for space that works for all.

Safer space. Stronger Europe. Shared future.

24 June: the countdown begins ↓