Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 8h

I wanted to take a moment to applaud Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound's New Game + Hard Mode which (a) actually saves your original clear file in case you want to replay easier stuff and (b) is actually harder because the levels have been redesigned to drop more obstacles and foes. I feel like that's rare.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 11h

Had the rare day off (for my birthday) and celebrated by solving DASH 12. Great fun, wild variety, and some interesting hot fixes to solve puzzles that were meant to have more than one physical person in the room (looking at you, This Trivia's for the Birds!).

www.twitch.tv/videos/25872...

Twitch

Twitch is the world

www.twitch.tv

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

So I'm agreeing that what Indie Games+ is doing is important and good. But it feels like what you seem to be asking for would (a) make it harder to find such curated content on Indie Games+ and (b) leave less time for writers to create such insightful coverage. We are *trying*, though.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I love getting thank-you emails, but it can't JUST be good for a dev; has to be good for the outlet, the reader, and the writer.

indiegames.com currently puts up ~4 articles a week, none of which seem written in 20 minutes, and all of which are pointing to games that look interesting.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

As someone who also been doing this for 10+ years (with very little to financially show for it, thanks), if it works, why isn't everyone doing it? Why are there constant layoffs everywhere, even from studios that are releasing critically acclaimed and well-covered games?

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

(To be clear, when I say "publisher" expectations, I'm talking about the owners/publishers of media sites, although I think we all agree that those making GAMES are also getting hit by problematic expectations; I'm glad nobody expects GOODNIGHT UNIVERSE to do FORNITE numbers--though I hope it does.)

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

And I hope we'd all agree that that's more valuable than simply putting up a trailer with some text for every game, or every game that passes some "popping off" threshold.

But look, we agree the media SHOULD do more. I think we just disagree on how (and on what) they can best spend their resources.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

That's why putting together the mid- and end-of-year list for Slant is my favorite task. I can't write about every game I get a press release or request code for, but I can highlight the ones that were most important to me so that if, say, you never checked out POPUCOM, maybe you now will.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

Big sites need (and need to pay) passionate writers to sift through all the announcements and all the releases, to play them (or at least their demos), and to write content that EXCITES and COMPELS readers, or at least gives them a shorter, more curated list of things to check out.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

But it would take me more than twenty minutes to write something for a site. Imagine if IGN just flooded their site with individual, AI-generated write-up of EVERY game announced. Even if they did so ONLY for games with trailers, how's that better than searching Coming Soon on Steam?

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I'll repost a cool-looking trailer for a game (especially if I know I've liked previous games from those involved, whether that's EARTH MUST DIE, ALABASTER DAWN, or POSSESSOR(S)) without having first played it; I think we'd all agree that social is a more casual environment.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

Respectfully, I think that might be the poison pill for the industry. Unreasonable publisher expectations AND the rise of AI have only made "just slap it together in 20 minutes" requests seem like the norm, and it serves nobody well, unless you want games outlets to regurgitate a press release.

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 1d

heya! absolutely not suggesting that at all. I'm saying -- press are not even covering smaller games that are popping off, let alone games before they launch

Also, I was press for 10 years, so I know exactly how hard it is -- and it's not at all! An article with a trailer takes what, 20 minutes?

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, OK. You're saying the only reason the games got guides in the first place was because the money-making site overseers (or the algorithm) was demanding content for a hit that they had no idea was coming.

But, like, that makes sense, no? Guides SHOULD be driven by demand.

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

If you're saying Blue Prince guides were written . . . to damage the sales of Blue Prince . . . that seems like some real conspiratorial stuff.

The same things that happened for Blue Prince happened for Outer Wilds, the Witness, and Lorelei and the Laser Eyes; it's the nature of big puzzle games.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

And yeah, that's why some coverage ends up only on smaller sites, or only on social; when we feel strongly about games, but can't get coverage up on bigger outlets (which takes energy on our part to pitch), we're still driven to share with others. Feed that energy! Discovery's my favorite part!

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

Ultimately, when those "big" sites do cover "smaller" titles, readers need to organically show up for them; that's the only fix.

(There's a reason I'm not still writing a three-indie-review roundup each month, and it's not just a matter of me having the time to find games I'm amped to write about.)

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 1d

I feel the angst here, but press being driven by a need for New/Trending, high scores, and huge player numbers would be the final nail for smaller games. The big outlets he mentions do TRY to discover new indies, especially RPS (which has a piece on House of Necrosis), but it's hard to cover it all!

Mike Rose @mikerose.bsky.social · 1d

It's 48 hours since Little Rocket Lab launched, we've been top of New and Trending for the entire time, 94% rating on Steam, huge player numbers, big numbers on Game Pass, tons of streams and YT videos...

and we've still received next to no press at all

The press for smaller games is just dead.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 2d

Would that Taylor Swift's latest album had even an inch of the life in this full-bodied critique of it, which sure as hell as purpose and is redolent of disappointment.

Defector @defector.com · 2d

"'The Life of a Showgirl' is the weakest and least interesting album Swift has ever made. It has no heart, no purpose, no emotional core." defector.com/taylor-swift...

No Good Art Comes From Greed | Defector

The packages arrived square and thin and carefully wrapped on Saturday afternoon. There were three of them, but only one was mine. If I could have rejected my package, sent it back from whence it…

defector.com

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 2d

Had to postpone the DASH 12 solve, but I will be doing cryptics tonight from 9 to about 12 or 1, Eastern. Join me if you like puzzles (or even if you don't!) at twitch.tv/thatcrypticguy.

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 4d

So as to manage my sleep better, I will likely be doing a shorter Tuesday evening stream, but adding a second evening stream on Wednesdays or Thursdays. I have Cohen's AVCX, Yingst's "Figure Eight" (from Gnomon #3), some WSJ cryptics from Dean Felch, and the latest Mossberg in my queue.

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 2d

I am not surprised. They don't want him to win, and probably won't acknowledge him in the puzzle unless they have to.

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 2d

(And once again, I'll be going after you haha ;))

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 2d

Okay, so Thursday, 10/9, from 9:00 to 4:00, I'll be solving DASH 12. Come and help me; I'll certainly need it!

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 5d

Celebrating my birthday the only way I know--a rare me day off from work to solve the DASH 12 puzzle hunt. (And you can help if you haven't already done it!)

Get the puzzles here (playdash.org/DASH12/). I plan to start on Tuesday, 10/7, at around 9:00 AM Eastern, twitch.tv/thatcrypticguy.

Twitch

Twitch is the world

twitch.tv

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

I may have to postpone this until 10/9; there's very loud construction occurring outside my window at the moment. I'm going to give it until 10 AM Eastern to see if it clears up. Will keep you all posted!

Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 5d

Celebrating my birthday the only way I know--a rare me day off from work to solve the DASH 12 puzzle hunt. (And you can help if you haven't already done it!)

Get the puzzles here (playdash.org/DASH12/). I plan to start on Tuesday, 10/7, at around 9:00 AM Eastern, twitch.tv/thatcrypticguy.

Twitch

Twitch is the world

twitch.tv

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

We need to talk about UBI in these terms more often. It's not just "giving" money to people. That money gets spent and reinvested, which is the same argument made by businesses and people who successfully lobby for tax breaks only to horde wealth instead of distributing it.

Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 3d

Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...

Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."

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Aaron Riccio @illogicaljoker.bsky.social · 3d

Tested it, so haven't double checked to see if anything changes, but 7D was my favorite. :)

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