James Youngman
@jyoungman.bsky.social
He/him Game Designer, composer, writer
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/ten-lessons-over-ten-years
http://jamesyoungman.bandcamp.com
https://jyoungman.itch.io
Senior Tech Designer at Elsewhere. All opinions my own.
#gamedev | #gamedesign
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/design/ten-lessons-over-ten-years
http://jamesyoungman.bandcamp.com
https://jyoungman.itch.io
Senior Tech Designer at Elsewhere. All opinions my own.
#gamedev | #gamedesign
You can False Roman Cancel in the Shrek 2 tie-in game from Amaze
i was going through my X archives and found this by @superpodsaga.com, which I qrt'd at some point years ago
so, let me bring the question back: what is the most useless piece of video game knowledge you know?
so, let me bring the question back: what is the most useless piece of video game knowledge you know?
November 25, 2025 at 6:15 PM
You can False Roman Cancel in the Shrek 2 tie-in game from Amaze
Reposted by James Youngman
stack ranking art or media is missing the point imo
November 25, 2025 at 5:15 AM
stack ranking art or media is missing the point imo
Reposted by James Youngman
I'm hardly the only one, but I've been warning against the 'warrior' language and symbolism for years (foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/19/u...)
November 24, 2025 at 8:05 PM
I'm hardly the only one, but I've been warning against the 'warrior' language and symbolism for years (foreignpolicy.com/2021/04/19/u...)
Reposted by James Youngman
For Aftermath, @alyssamerc.bsky.social spoke with the Sucker Punch dev fired over Charlie Kirk comments and others, who highlighted the unique way the backlash played out in games
November 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
For Aftermath, @alyssamerc.bsky.social spoke with the Sucker Punch dev fired over Charlie Kirk comments and others, who highlighted the unique way the backlash played out in games
Reposted by James Youngman
There are a few reasons why publications don't source properly, including:
- not wanting you clicking away from their article
- wanting to trick you into thinking they're more of an authority than they are
- wanting you to spend more time on the page.
It's all sketchy, is what I'm saying.
- not wanting you clicking away from their article
- wanting to trick you into thinking they're more of an authority than they are
- wanting you to spend more time on the page.
It's all sketchy, is what I'm saying.
we have got to have a conversation about how some game sites handle sourcing because why do you have to scroll all the way to the bottom underneath the ads and database entries of this gamerant article to find out the source of this mysterious "recent interview?"
November 24, 2025 at 9:06 PM
There are a few reasons why publications don't source properly, including:
- not wanting you clicking away from their article
- wanting to trick you into thinking they're more of an authority than they are
- wanting you to spend more time on the page.
It's all sketchy, is what I'm saying.
- not wanting you clicking away from their article
- wanting to trick you into thinking they're more of an authority than they are
- wanting you to spend more time on the page.
It's all sketchy, is what I'm saying.
A dynamic made worse by the practice of mobile ISPs having device whitelist, choking the ability of smaller manufacturers from innovating. It ought to be illegal.
there has been no meaningful improvement in the devices or their functionality in 10 years in any way that affects what any normal person uses them to do, people only switch when forced updates cause a device which worked fine yesterday to lag so bad you can't type at full speed until you replace it
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/h... "please, buy new phone. the economy is dying" is an incredible gaslight
November 24, 2025 at 9:32 PM
A dynamic made worse by the practice of mobile ISPs having device whitelist, choking the ability of smaller manufacturers from innovating. It ought to be illegal.
Reposted by James Youngman
Reposted by James Youngman
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
I want more life, Charlie Brown
We have such beautiful sights to show you, Charlie Brown
Wanna know how I got these scars, Charlie Brown?
November 23, 2025 at 5:54 PM
I want more life, Charlie Brown
Reposted by James Youngman
Made my day to read this great post and see this!
November 23, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Made my day to read this great post and see this!
Loved playing video games when I was five, decided I would grow up to design them.
22 years later my first two games as a professional game designer released!
22 years later my first two games as a professional game designer released!
November 22, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Loved playing video games when I was five, decided I would grow up to design them.
22 years later my first two games as a professional game designer released!
22 years later my first two games as a professional game designer released!
Reposted by James Youngman
As one of the folks with a "here's how to help with your inbox" thread, I should mention that *allegedly* google is not *currently* training Gemini off of your emails.
However, I do not want to see anyone guilting folks for what was an extremely reasonable assumption to make.
(thread)
However, I do not want to see anyone guilting folks for what was an extremely reasonable assumption to make.
(thread)
It's also fair for folks to not want google to take their data for *any* products, and it's still fair to be at the very least suspicious about *what* products google is using data for.
There's also no need for the categories to have been part of whatever "smart features" are
There's also no need for the categories to have been part of whatever "smart features" are
November 22, 2025 at 11:26 PM
As one of the folks with a "here's how to help with your inbox" thread, I should mention that *allegedly* google is not *currently* training Gemini off of your emails.
However, I do not want to see anyone guilting folks for what was an extremely reasonable assumption to make.
(thread)
However, I do not want to see anyone guilting folks for what was an extremely reasonable assumption to make.
(thread)
Reposted by James Youngman
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
November 22, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Journalist challenge: Use “Machine Learning” when you mean machine learning and “LLM” when you mean LLM. Ditch “AI” as a catch-all term, it’s not useful for readers and it helps companies trying to confuse the public by obscuring the roles played by different technologies. 🧪
Reposted by James Youngman
Good. More conferences should be doing this. Universal protections for all!
At New Zealand's Kawaiican cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO2 levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived. www.wired.com/story/this-h...
This Hacker Conference Installed a Literal Anti-Virus Monitoring System
At New Zealand's Kawaiican cybersecurity convention, organizers hacked together a way for attendees to track CO2 levels throughout the venue—even before they arrived.
www.wired.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Good. More conferences should be doing this. Universal protections for all!
Reposted by James Youngman
Reposted by James Youngman
The heart of the problem with all current models that see growth (and exponential growth at that) as the only metric of value.
re: roblox dude's interview crashout. the thing he wants to say but can't is "at scale, kids are gonna get hurt. that is the price for scale." the thing nobody wants to say out loud is "maybe scaling to a level where harm isn't manageable is bad, and scale should be contained"
November 21, 2025 at 7:12 PM
The heart of the problem with all current models that see growth (and exponential growth at that) as the only metric of value.
Reposted by James Youngman
"Forgive, don't demand accountability" is a perfect way to maintain the existing power structures and ensure that nothing changes.
This is unfortunately a common response to even very serious issues such as sexual abuse. Never expose them, never press charges, never demand accountability even from positions of leadership. It's horrifying.
November 21, 2025 at 4:44 PM
"Forgive, don't demand accountability" is a perfect way to maintain the existing power structures and ensure that nothing changes.
Reposted by James Youngman
FUCKING DUH
Relying on ChatGPT to teach you about a topic leaves you with shallower knowledge than Googling and reading about it, according to new research that compared what more than 10,000 people knew after using one method or the other.
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
Shared by @gizmodo.com: buff.ly/yAAHtHq
November 21, 2025 at 2:57 PM
FUCKING DUH
I love the way This Way madness Lies built on the battle system of Cosmic Star Heroine. It solves item hoarding, and has bar none the best crit system.
This Way Madness Lies is a great game and barely anybody bought it. It should be played by more people. If everybody here on @bsky.app banded together and bought a Steam copy and played it, well, that'd be a miracle and I would be forever grateful.
store.steampowered.com/app/1318970/...
store.steampowered.com/app/1318970/...
November 21, 2025 at 3:53 PM
I love the way This Way madness Lies built on the battle system of Cosmic Star Heroine. It solves item hoarding, and has bar none the best crit system.
Friendly reminder that you don't have to (and probably shouldn't) use Google's web client for GMail. Plenty of free, open source email clients out there!
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 21, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Friendly reminder that you don't have to (and probably shouldn't) use Google's web client for GMail. Plenty of free, open source email clients out there!
Reposted by James Youngman
Not to be that kid who grew up during the great recession and got an A in AP US History but..... this is how Wall Street has always been. It is completely disconnected from the economy and is almost entirely speculation-based now due to the repealing of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933.
Pretty crazy to see Wall Street just coast on vibes. No real government jobs data, no objective measurements, just headlines about everything costing more than they’ve ever cost and every small business being shuttered
November 20, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Not to be that kid who grew up during the great recession and got an A in AP US History but..... this is how Wall Street has always been. It is completely disconnected from the economy and is almost entirely speculation-based now due to the repealing of the Glass–Steagall Act of 1933.
Reposted by James Youngman
The amount of people I know who have been laid off from games industry jobs and are deciding to leave games entirely as a result is not only extremely saddening (of course), but also genuinely scary. We have lost legitimately thousands of years of knowledge and experience in the last four years.
November 21, 2025 at 2:13 AM
The amount of people I know who have been laid off from games industry jobs and are deciding to leave games entirely as a result is not only extremely saddening (of course), but also genuinely scary. We have lost legitimately thousands of years of knowledge and experience in the last four years.
New Bedford must be seething
A dead sperm whale has washed up on Nantucket for the first time in decades. It’s too big to move — at least until officials figure out a plan.
Dead Sperm Whale on Nantucket Is Too Big to Move, for Now
A local nonprofit said the 52-ton mammal is “far too big, awkward and heavy to remove.” A town official later said it could be dragged out to sea by Thanksgiving.
nyti.ms
November 20, 2025 at 10:28 PM
New Bedford must be seething
Nationalize Verizon
November 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Nationalize Verizon