James Cunningham
@jamesac68.bsky.social
I've been writing for Hardcore Gamer since its first issue in 2005, which may be a long time to do anything but it hasn't gotten boring yet. james (at) hardcoregamer (dot) com
I'm supposed to be working right now but @adamatomic.bsky.social isn't helping!
adamatomic.itch.io/kolydr
adamatomic.itch.io/kolydr
February 10, 2026 at 2:52 PM
I'm supposed to be working right now but @adamatomic.bsky.social isn't helping!
adamatomic.itch.io/kolydr
adamatomic.itch.io/kolydr
Well that's just absolutely excellent! :D
February 9, 2026 at 9:14 PM
Well that's just absolutely excellent! :D
Off on adventures today. If the videogame store in Salem MA has Zelda: Spirit Tracks for anything like a non-ridiculous price, I’m getting it.
February 8, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Off on adventures today. If the videogame store in Salem MA has Zelda: Spirit Tracks for anything like a non-ridiculous price, I’m getting it.
Can't say I was expecting much from Middenmoon based on the art, but the demo really pulled me in. Automate trash recovery on a moon made of garbage, dealing with production recipes that all have byproducts to use or dispose of.
hardcoregamer.com/one-mans-tra...
hardcoregamer.com/one-mans-tra...
One Man's Trash Is Another's Automation Empire in Middenmoon Demo
Middenmoon may not be much of a looker, but a quick scratch of the surface shows an automation game that's very easy to get lost in.
hardcoregamer.com
February 7, 2026 at 6:06 PM
Can't say I was expecting much from Middenmoon based on the art, but the demo really pulled me in. Automate trash recovery on a moon made of garbage, dealing with production recipes that all have byproducts to use or dispose of.
hardcoregamer.com/one-mans-tra...
hardcoregamer.com/one-mans-tra...
Ok, going to try to remember how to write something later today. Maybe it will work, or maybe these "word" things will get completely tangled. I'll see how it goes.
February 6, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Ok, going to try to remember how to write something later today. Maybe it will work, or maybe these "word" things will get completely tangled. I'll see how it goes.
Backed! While I loved that there were new episodes of MST3K a few years back the pacing was just wrong, too many jokes and not enough space for the terrible movie. The Rifftrax crew has the pacing right and I can't wait to see them return to their original home.
In the not-too-distant future, RiffTrax is making four new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000! Support us on Kickstarter: rifftraxmakesmst3k.com #RiffTraxMakesMST3K @mst3kofficial.bsky.social
February 2, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Backed! While I loved that there were new episodes of MST3K a few years back the pacing was just wrong, too many jokes and not enough space for the terrible movie. The Rifftrax crew has the pacing right and I can't wait to see them return to their original home.
Just heard a Grateful Dead song playing in the background and remembered I saw then live once, then remembered that was late 80s, and then did the math on how long ago that was.
Anyway, anyone know where to buy a nice crypt?
Anyway, anyone know where to buy a nice crypt?
February 1, 2026 at 7:17 PM
Just heard a Grateful Dead song playing in the background and remembered I saw then live once, then remembered that was late 80s, and then did the math on how long ago that was.
Anyway, anyone know where to buy a nice crypt?
Anyway, anyone know where to buy a nice crypt?
Ugh, leafing through Steam demos to see what's interesting and hit three in a row that caught my attention, only to find all three had something in the AI disclaimer.
Granted, one was quite clearly someone's stomp-on-me-anime-mommy fetish but ridiculous enough it could have been funny as hell.
Granted, one was quite clearly someone's stomp-on-me-anime-mommy fetish but ridiculous enough it could have been funny as hell.
January 31, 2026 at 3:42 PM
Ugh, leafing through Steam demos to see what's interesting and hit three in a row that caught my attention, only to find all three had something in the AI disclaimer.
Granted, one was quite clearly someone's stomp-on-me-anime-mommy fetish but ridiculous enough it could have been funny as hell.
Granted, one was quite clearly someone's stomp-on-me-anime-mommy fetish but ridiculous enough it could have been funny as hell.
Much as I'm enjoying Arknights: Endfield, I really wish the game knew when to shut up. Got to a new section yesterday and got a cut scene. After the cut scene I get to explore, but unskippable communicator message. After the communicator message came another, and then finally it was play time again.
January 31, 2026 at 3:31 PM
Much as I'm enjoying Arknights: Endfield, I really wish the game knew when to shut up. Got to a new section yesterday and got a cut scene. After the cut scene I get to explore, but unskippable communicator message. After the communicator message came another, and then finally it was play time again.
Little quiet and not much writing this week. Arm is messed up, some kind of strain that kicks in when resting at keyboard/mouse position. It's getting better but "type for 2 minutes, rest for 5" isn't particularly productive.
January 28, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Little quiet and not much writing this week. Arm is messed up, some kind of strain that kicks in when resting at keyboard/mouse position. It's getting better but "type for 2 minutes, rest for 5" isn't particularly productive.
I hope everyone who works for ICE is barefoot for eternity with every step on to a Lego.
Yeah. The Bluesky app has a zero tolerance policy towards wishing death on people.
January 28, 2026 at 2:48 PM
I hope everyone who works for ICE is barefoot for eternity with every step on to a Lego.
I keep getting emails for the game Obey the Insect God and I'm sorry but Edward Gorey stole most of that title from anyone else using it. There is no statute of limitations, Insect God is functionally Edward Gorey's forever. We know what became of Millicent Frastley.
January 26, 2026 at 7:01 PM
I keep getting emails for the game Obey the Insect God and I'm sorry but Edward Gorey stole most of that title from anyone else using it. There is no statute of limitations, Insect God is functionally Edward Gorey's forever. We know what became of Millicent Frastley.
Guess I won’t stop referring to ICE as the Murder Gestapo any time soon.
January 24, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Guess I won’t stop referring to ICE as the Murder Gestapo any time soon.
Oh, @ubisoft.com, you pack of rascals! "Everyone hates AI, let's jump on that train and ride it straight to the void. Surely that will make everyone from players to stockholders love us!"
staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefmxkxpxwl...
staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefmxkxpxwl...
January 21, 2026 at 5:51 PM
Oh, @ubisoft.com, you pack of rascals! "Everyone hates AI, let's jump on that train and ride it straight to the void. Surely that will make everyone from players to stockholders love us!"
staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefmxkxpxwl...
staticctf.ubisoft.com/8aefmxkxpxwl...
I don't normally quote my own reviews seeing as it's better in context, but regarding the Arknights: Endfield gacha-
"There's a lot of advice out there on how to maximize the results, but I'm here to play a game rather than gamble so decided early on that I just plain don't care."
"There's a lot of advice out there on how to maximize the results, but I'm here to play a game rather than gamble so decided early on that I just plain don't care."
January 20, 2026 at 10:08 PM
I don't normally quote my own reviews seeing as it's better in context, but regarding the Arknights: Endfield gacha-
"There's a lot of advice out there on how to maximize the results, but I'm here to play a game rather than gamble so decided early on that I just plain don't care."
"There's a lot of advice out there on how to maximize the results, but I'm here to play a game rather than gamble so decided early on that I just plain don't care."
I thoroughly enjoyed Arknights: Endfield with last summer's playtest and no surprise, enjoyed it again for the review. Yeah, gacha, but the game is designed so that all characters can be effective, and the combat is deep. Automation is fun too, albeit a subsystem.
hardcoregamer.com/review-arkni...
hardcoregamer.com/review-arkni...
Review: Arknights: Endfield
Arknights: Endfield is easily one of the best examples of gacha gaming, thanks to feeling like the gaming comes before the gacha.
hardcoregamer.com
January 20, 2026 at 5:10 PM
I thoroughly enjoyed Arknights: Endfield with last summer's playtest and no surprise, enjoyed it again for the review. Yeah, gacha, but the game is designed so that all characters can be effective, and the combat is deep. Automation is fun too, albeit a subsystem.
hardcoregamer.com/review-arkni...
hardcoregamer.com/review-arkni...
Easy one for me, Pitfall II on Commodore 64. A lot of games had endings by then but Pitfall II was the first one I actually owned.
Technically it might have been Adventure on Atari 2600 but I played that at a friend's place and had a ton of advice, so I don't count it.
Technically it might have been Adventure on Atari 2600 but I played that at a friend's place and had a ton of advice, so I don't count it.
I see the trending topic.. but man i cant even recall the first game i completed... i must have been pretty little
January 19, 2026 at 2:17 AM
Easy one for me, Pitfall II on Commodore 64. A lot of games had endings by then but Pitfall II was the first one I actually owned.
Technically it might have been Adventure on Atari 2600 but I played that at a friend's place and had a ton of advice, so I don't count it.
Technically it might have been Adventure on Atari 2600 but I played that at a friend's place and had a ton of advice, so I don't count it.
I could really go for a cookie right about now.
January 16, 2026 at 5:58 PM
I could really go for a cookie right about now.
Presented without comment-
January 15, 2026 at 8:23 PM
Presented without comment-
Wishing Greenland a flawless victory against any invasion that may come its way.
January 15, 2026 at 2:45 AM
Wishing Greenland a flawless victory against any invasion that may come its way.
Been a long time coming but finally it's Hytale day! @hytale.bsky.social released the game in its earliest form, and while the warning was everything is rough I had a really nice evening dipping my toes into its blocky infinite world.
hardcoregamer.com/the-long-roa...
hardcoregamer.com/the-long-roa...
The Long Road to Hytale Finally Reaches Its Starting Point
It's been a long trek from Hytale's start to today and there's years of work ahead, but finally, after all the game is available to play.
hardcoregamer.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:50 AM
Been a long time coming but finally it's Hytale day! @hytale.bsky.social released the game in its earliest form, and while the warning was everything is rough I had a really nice evening dipping my toes into its blocky infinite world.
hardcoregamer.com/the-long-roa...
hardcoregamer.com/the-long-roa...
I wish I was sad that Scott Adams is dead, rather than it feeling like a relief that the cartoonist who seemed so damn cool in the 90s finally can't sink any lower than 6 feet deep.
January 13, 2026 at 7:40 PM
I wish I was sad that Scott Adams is dead, rather than it feeling like a relief that the cartoonist who seemed so damn cool in the 90s finally can't sink any lower than 6 feet deep.
Max in his sun beam, overseeing my work to make sure it’s of an acceptable quality.
January 13, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Max in his sun beam, overseeing my work to make sure it’s of an acceptable quality.
It's nice to see but I really would much rather have played. The money aspect of gaming sucks. :(
Also, the money aspect of ______ sucks is an equally true statement.
Also, the money aspect of ______ sucks is an equally true statement.
This was Uproot Galaxy, a metroidvania with Mario Galaxy & Mario 2 influences. It was canceled 2 years ago after our publisher ran out of money. I'm making this previously internal pre-alpha trailer public because everyone involved has long since moved on...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUpS...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUpS...
Uproot Galaxy - Internal Pre-Alpha Pitch Trailer (March 2023) [CANCELED GAME]
YouTube video by Monomirror
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 7:23 PM
It's nice to see but I really would much rather have played. The money aspect of gaming sucks. :(
Also, the money aspect of ______ sucks is an equally true statement.
Also, the money aspect of ______ sucks is an equally true statement.
Fuck. Yes!
One Piece live action not shying away from being One Piece.
One Piece live action not shying away from being One Piece.
January 12, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Fuck. Yes!
One Piece live action not shying away from being One Piece.
One Piece live action not shying away from being One Piece.