Alex Donaldson
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apzonerunner.com
Alex Donaldson
@apzonerunner.com
4.5K followers 790 following 1.9K posts
Video game critic. Owner/Final Boss @RPGSite.net, Editor-at-large @Eurogamer.net, occasional freelancer & consultant.

Into: Arcade cabs, Watches, Dogs, Whisky, fighting games (esp SF), RPGs (esp FF), NFL (Rams), Lego, Poker & Blackjack

www.donaldson.zone
Posts Replies Media Videos
apzonerunner.com
Really good piece summarizing some really irresponsible reporting. If you don't wanna read it someone will probably have a totally misrepresentative telephone game version of it on another outlet soon no doubt
jasonschreier.bsky.social Jason Schreier @jasonschreier.bsky.social · 16h
For my first newsletter of 2026 we're diving into this week's GTA VI "delay" debacle, from death threats to Take-Two stock dropping nearly 2% thanks to misinformation from content farms like Dexerto.

Here's the whole story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Take-Two Falls on ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Delay Misinformation
“Grand Theft Auto VI’ was first announced for fall 2025 before slipping to May 2026 and then again to Nov. 19, 2026, its current planned date
www.bloomberg.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:29 PM
apzonerunner.com
Amazing buck passing like Ofcom does anything except, er, wield the power of the state, which is derived from the very cabinet office Kendall hails from. Cowardice
peterwalker99.bsky.social Peter Walker @peterwalker99.bsky.social · 19h
NEW: Liz Kendall, the technology secretary, says Ofcom would have the "full backing" of government if it opted to block access to X in the UK (but it's a decision for Ofcom)
I think the images being produced are despicable and abhorrent, and sexualising images of children is one of the worst crimes imaginable. And I think it is insulting to say that you can still access this service if you pay for it. So, Ofcom should use the full powers of the law that Parliament has given it. X needs to get a grip and get this material down. And I would remind them that in the Online Safety Act, there are backstop powers to block access to services if they refuse to comply with the law for people in the UK. And if Ofcom decides to use those powers, they would have the full backing of the government.
January 9, 2026 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
jasonschreier.bsky.social
For my first newsletter of 2026 we're diving into this week's GTA VI "delay" debacle, from death threats to Take-Two stock dropping nearly 2% thanks to misinformation from content farms like Dexerto.

Here's the whole story: www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...
Take-Two Falls on ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’ Delay Misinformation
“Grand Theft Auto VI’ was first announced for fall 2025 before slipping to May 2026 and then again to Nov. 19, 2026, its current planned date
www.bloomberg.com
January 9, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
midimyers.com
i know a lot of games journalists and critics follow me, and you'll notice that mothership.blog already has a "How to pitch" page live, along with a few other pages! so yes, please, go ahead and pitch. i'm so excited to announce this in part to get more of your voices out there.
January 9, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
stephentotilo.bsky.social
Larian writing director says gen AI won't be used for the new Divinity game's writing

Says they tinkered at it for research, and it created work that was "at best" 3/10 in terms of quality, inferior to even his own worst human-written drafts

www.reddit.com/r/Games/comm...
The stance applies to writing as well. We don't have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries or other writing in Divinity. To answer your second question, 'how does generated placeholder text benefit development over simple stub text'"- it doesn't. We had a limited group experimenting with tools to generate text, but the results hit a 3/10 at best and those tools are for research purposes, not for use in Divinity. Even my worst first drafts - and there are a LOT of them - are at least a 4/10 (although Swen might disagree :p), and the amount of iteration required to get even individual lines to the quality we want is enormous. From the initial stub to the line we record and ship, there are a great many eyes and hands involved in getting a dialogue right.
January 9, 2026 at 2:33 PM
apzonerunner.com
I think broadly Lego has been unable to do much wrong but I'm really not vibing with the pricing, the non-replaceable batteries etc here
wario64.bsky.social Wario64 @wario64.bsky.social · 21h
LEGO Star Wars Smart Play Sets up for preorder at LEGO Store buff.ly/vDiLicY
Amazon buff.ly/980KUvN #ad
January 9, 2026 at 2:12 PM
apzonerunner.com
Thing is, Musk et al are already briefing against the UK govt, ranting about LONDINISTAN etc etc. So what is there to lose by going balls to the wall against them? This is a rare case when Labour should have the stones to be aggressively progressive without doing panicked looks over their shoulder
theguardian.com The Guardian @theguardian.com · 21h
No 10 condemns ‘insulting’ move by X to restrict Grok AI image tool
No 10 condemns ‘insulting’ move by X to restrict Grok AI image tool
Spokesperson says limiting access to paying subscribers just makes ability to generate unlawful images a premium service * UK politics live – latest updates Downing Street has condemned the move by X to restrict its AI image creation tool to paying subscribers as insulting, saying it simply made the ability to generate explicit and unlawful images a premium service. There has been widespread anger after the image tool for Grok, the AI element of X, was used to manipulate thousands of images of women and sometimes children to remove their clothing or put them in sexual positions. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:02 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
priscillapage.bsky.social
vibe check
E.T.'s lifeless, mottled, supine body lying on the riverbank
January 9, 2026 at 6:52 AM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
privateeyenews.bsky.social
Number crunching: Pay and dividends of Bet365 chief executive v total fiscal cost of gambling-related harm.

From the new Private Eye, out now.
January 9, 2026 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
aidanmoher.com
Final Fantasy X (Square, 2001)
A headshot of Tidus from Final Fantasy X looking bemused.
June 26, 2025 at 6:51 PM
apzonerunner.com
If I were Xbox I would definitely decouple significant updates to games from the late multiplat releases, as dropping a load of improvements the same day as the PlayStation release really fuels that "Xbox players beta tested for PS users" narrative. Let Xbox players have the update first lol
rpgsite.net RPG Site @rpgsite.net · 1d
Avowed launches for PlayStation 5 on February 17 alongside update adding new races, New Game Plus, and Photo Mode: https://www.rpgsite.net/news/19319-avowed-launches-for-playstation-5-on-february-17-alongside-new-races-new-game-plus-photo-mode
January 9, 2026 at 8:57 AM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
chadbourn.bsky.social
Another image that sums up the protest.
A young Iranian woman lights a cigarette with a burning photo of Khamenei
January 8, 2026 at 11:13 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
seamas.bsky.social
Things are awful, so a little treat for the real Crush-Heads. It is now eleven years since I got this printed in the Metro.
A Rush Hour Crush I got published on 7th January, 2015. To the sexy Spanish snorita on the No.30 bus to Highbury. I loved our heated chat on Friday but realise what I did was insensitive to your country. I'm mortified. Please let me make up for it, over tapas or paella or whatever. Bearded Man Who Used Discarded Burger Cartons As Castanets
January 8, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
funeralpig.bsky.social
your train has arrived
train with a graffiti mural showing pinhead from the hellraiser series next to the word SLUTS
January 8, 2026 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
tadashidaiba.bsky.social
January 8, 2026 at 11:02 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
shintonty.bsky.social
this could happen like a million more times and i'll still find it funny
January 8, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
jesseguarascia.com
FFXII menu UI appreciation post
January 8, 2026 at 2:52 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
dragonsdpawn.bsky.social
It seems all roads lead to Gran Soren.
January 8, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
peloriemate.net
obsessed with this frame. he looks kind.
January 7, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
catacalypto.bsky.social
what this week feels like to me
a peggle blast screenshot saying “Allow Peggle Blast to make and manage phone calls?” and the poster saying “you know what, sure, peggle make phone calls who gives a shit anymore”. the tweet is from 2019
January 7, 2026 at 9:58 AM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
danthat.bsky.social
You're not ready for the name of the energy transition specialist at Heat Pump Association UK
The man's name is Bean Beanland
January 7, 2026 at 12:06 PM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
oispammy.bsky.social
Yes
January 7, 2026 at 7:19 AM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
syrstorm.bsky.social
January 7, 2026 at 5:16 AM
apzonerunner.com
The way Anthem hasn't been allowed to even die in a dignified way, with installations blocked early and the like to prevent players from doing a farewell lap, is just pure distilled Electronic Arts down to the ground
January 7, 2026 at 1:15 AM
Reposted by Alex Donaldson
matpiscatella.bsky.social
Looks like Dell gets it.
January 6, 2026 at 11:59 PM