Cook Maarten
@maartenbrands.bsky.social
Founder Cook and Becker. Games, Art, Literature, Film, Politics, Memes.
Reposted by Cook Maarten
We’re hard at work on 'Sounds & Visions: Enhance at 10', a new book chronicling Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s studio and its acclaimed games, including REZ INFINITE, LUMINES ARISE, and TETRIS® EFFECT.
Read the first few pages of the REZ Infinite chapter : bit.ly/49gsIGJ
Read the first few pages of the REZ Infinite chapter : bit.ly/49gsIGJ
December 19, 2025 at 2:04 PM
We’re hard at work on 'Sounds & Visions: Enhance at 10', a new book chronicling Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s studio and its acclaimed games, including REZ INFINITE, LUMINES ARISE, and TETRIS® EFFECT.
Read the first few pages of the REZ Infinite chapter : bit.ly/49gsIGJ
Read the first few pages of the REZ Infinite chapter : bit.ly/49gsIGJ
Reposted by Cook Maarten
Get your copy here! www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3...
Book SOUNDS AND VISIONS: ENHANCE AT 10 | Enhance
Formed in 2014 by visionary Tetsuya Mizuguchi, Enhance is synonymous with transcendent interactive experiences that blur the line between video games, art
www.cookandbecker.com
December 19, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Get your copy here! www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3...
There’s always been something defensive or pleading in how Avatar is talked about or covered. Ever since the very first film. Even by its creator. A slight unease that maybe something is off.
There has never been a single notable Avatar meme. The modern hallmark of something hitting culturally.
There has never been a single notable Avatar meme. The modern hallmark of something hitting culturally.
December 19, 2025 at 6:55 AM
There’s always been something defensive or pleading in how Avatar is talked about or covered. Ever since the very first film. Even by its creator. A slight unease that maybe something is off.
There has never been a single notable Avatar meme. The modern hallmark of something hitting culturally.
There has never been a single notable Avatar meme. The modern hallmark of something hitting culturally.
FINALLY the Splitgate 2 I was waiting for. I'm glad they changed course (or were forced too). No more MOBA shit, but pure Arena gameplay. That core Splitgate gameplay is so good and fast and the portal mechanic can be such a mind-fuck. Love it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKUP...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKUP...
SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded Official Launch Trailer
YouTube video by SPLITGATE: Arena Reloaded
www.youtube.com
December 18, 2025 at 9:11 AM
FINALLY the Splitgate 2 I was waiting for. I'm glad they changed course (or were forced too). No more MOBA shit, but pure Arena gameplay. That core Splitgate gameplay is so good and fast and the portal mechanic can be such a mind-fuck. Love it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKUP...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKUP...
"We could not have created this tech without stealing other people's work, likenesses and data, and we are lobbying governments using millions to let us keep doing that. Rich people should be held to a different standard than poor people. No, I do not want to take responsibility for the pollution"
December 17, 2025 at 6:50 AM
"We could not have created this tech without stealing other people's work, likenesses and data, and we are lobbying governments using millions to let us keep doing that. Rich people should be held to a different standard than poor people. No, I do not want to take responsibility for the pollution"
Reading about the atrocities in Sudan, the UAE must be boycotted. And another sports organization with blood on its hands in the NBA...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
As Sudan burns, the NBA’s embrace of the UAE shows how sport enables atrocity
The NBA’s growing ties with the UAE come as the Gulf state faces mounting evidence of complicity in atrocities in Sudan – and silence from sport
www.theguardian.com
December 17, 2025 at 5:22 AM
Reading about the atrocities in Sudan, the UAE must be boycotted. And another sports organization with blood on its hands in the NBA...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/d...
When I look at Dutch politics—this provincial, entitled, seven-year stalemate we’ve had—I’m glad to be part of the EU. It’s the EU drives the green transition, our defense against Russia and digital colonization etc. The pressure from outside forces can only push us even further forward.
December 16, 2025 at 8:25 AM
When I look at Dutch politics—this provincial, entitled, seven-year stalemate we’ve had—I’m glad to be part of the EU. It’s the EU drives the green transition, our defense against Russia and digital colonization etc. The pressure from outside forces can only push us even further forward.
Reposted by Cook Maarten
Marathon releases March 2026, and everyone will have a chance to play in an open preview weekend before launch.
December 15, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Marathon releases March 2026, and everyone will have a chance to play in an open preview weekend before launch.
Trump’s reaction to Rob Reiner’s death - this nice, sweet guy - really threw me. For the first time maybe. Just this mawing, dark, black pit of nothingness I saw before me. I felt deeply saddened.
December 15, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Trump’s reaction to Rob Reiner’s death - this nice, sweet guy - really threw me. For the first time maybe. Just this mawing, dark, black pit of nothingness I saw before me. I felt deeply saddened.
Perfectly normal company.
"Reuters reported last month that Meta earns $7 billion a year just from the portion of scam ads it considers “high risk,” and that 10% of the company’s 2024 revenue – about $16 billion – was projected to come from ads for scams, illegal gambling and banned products. "
To grow its ad biz in China, Meta has relied on ad agency partners given the power to create special enforcement-protected ad accounts and share them with resellers. The system produces so much fraud that Meta internally calls China its top “scam exporting nation.”
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
December 15, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Perfectly normal company.
Reposted by Cook Maarten
My theory about Germans and their organizations is that they can be slow to move, but when they have decided to move, they execute! Full court press. The Dutch more rapidly embrace and try new shit, but always scale haphazardly because we lack any concept of hierarchy.
December 14, 2025 at 9:04 AM
My theory about Germans and their organizations is that they can be slow to move, but when they have decided to move, they execute! Full court press. The Dutch more rapidly embrace and try new shit, but always scale haphazardly because we lack any concept of hierarchy.
Reposted by Cook Maarten
Congratulations to @compulsiongames.bsky.social for #SouthofMidnight winning the Games for Impact Award! Hearing that the game is coming to PS5 and Switch is also 😍
We had the honor of collaborating with @lostincult.co.uk and @compulsiongames.bsky.social on a limited-edition art and music box set.
We had the honor of collaborating with @lostincult.co.uk and @compulsiongames.bsky.social on a limited-edition art and music box set.
December 13, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Congratulations to @compulsiongames.bsky.social for #SouthofMidnight winning the Games for Impact Award! Hearing that the game is coming to PS5 and Switch is also 😍
We had the honor of collaborating with @lostincult.co.uk and @compulsiongames.bsky.social on a limited-edition art and music box set.
We had the honor of collaborating with @lostincult.co.uk and @compulsiongames.bsky.social on a limited-edition art and music box set.
Obviously Larian makes amazing games - I mean BG3 and Divinity, come one - but I have trouble with their latest trailer. Depictions of brutal torture to sell a game. Why?
We finally moved out of the "neck stabbing trailer" era, do fantasy RPGs have to pick up the brutality baton?
We finally moved out of the "neck stabbing trailer" era, do fantasy RPGs have to pick up the brutality baton?
December 13, 2025 at 8:41 AM
Obviously Larian makes amazing games - I mean BG3 and Divinity, come one - but I have trouble with their latest trailer. Depictions of brutal torture to sell a game. Why?
We finally moved out of the "neck stabbing trailer" era, do fantasy RPGs have to pick up the brutality baton?
We finally moved out of the "neck stabbing trailer" era, do fantasy RPGs have to pick up the brutality baton?
Reposted by Cook Maarten
European buyers can get DRAW STEEL books directly from our store!
www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3...
www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3...
The breathtaking new fantasy RPG!
A new game for a new age! DRAW STEEL is the breathtaking new, action-oriented, fantasy RPG from MCDM that’s both fun to play and fun to run!
www.cookandbecker.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:05 AM
European buyers can get DRAW STEEL books directly from our store!
www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3...
www.cookandbecker.com/en/artwork/3...
This would obviously make travel to the US go to zero.
A city like Las Vegas would be completely F’ed without conventions and foreign tourists.
A city like Las Vegas would be completely F’ed without conventions and foreign tourists.
It's not just social media. Looks like visitors to the US from Europe and other countries that are part of the visa waiver program will have to submit an enormous amount of data about themselves and their families, including DNA, if proposed new rules are accepted
December 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM
This would obviously make travel to the US go to zero.
A city like Las Vegas would be completely F’ed without conventions and foreign tourists.
A city like Las Vegas would be completely F’ed without conventions and foreign tourists.
Reposted by Cook Maarten
It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new “euro-sclerosis”: that the EU economy is lagging the US
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
December 12, 2025 at 12:32 PM
It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new “euro-sclerosis”: that the EU economy is lagging the US
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
This view is wrong
A little primer on the measurement of productivity – and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggerated🧵
I love how this looks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvMD...
Orbitals – Announcement Trailer – Nintendo Switch 2
YouTube video by Nintendo of America
www.youtube.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:03 AM
I love how this looks: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvMD...
Disney has been on a decline for a long time. Snowballing ever faster. With anti-America sentiment rising around the world, I only see them shrinking further. There is a limit to how high they can make the ticket prices to their parks. Nintendo is the new family entertainment king.
Disney is making a $1 billion investment in OpenAI and will let the AI platform use its characters to make social-media videos.
Disney to Invest $1 Billion in OpenAI, License Characters for Use in ChatGPT, Sora
The three-year licensing deal will let users generate videos of more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Star Wars and Pixar characters.
on.wsj.com
December 11, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Disney has been on a decline for a long time. Snowballing ever faster. With anti-America sentiment rising around the world, I only see them shrinking further. There is a limit to how high they can make the ticket prices to their parks. Nintendo is the new family entertainment king.
DRAW STEEL box sets are arriving at customers! Huge thanks to the amazing writers and artists @hellomcdm.bsky.social for entrusting @cookandbecker.bsky.social to design, produce and distribute this special edition for their hit TTRPG. Our biggest project to date!
December 11, 2025 at 9:05 AM
DRAW STEEL box sets are arriving at customers! Huge thanks to the amazing writers and artists @hellomcdm.bsky.social for entrusting @cookandbecker.bsky.social to design, produce and distribute this special edition for their hit TTRPG. Our biggest project to date!
We're only a few days aways before we can read the exact same Christmas news stories as previous years!
December 11, 2025 at 6:47 AM
We're only a few days aways before we can read the exact same Christmas news stories as previous years!
Famously hilly The Netherlands with its American roads and non-existent tradition of caroling.
McDonald's has released an AI-generated Christmas ad
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
The studio behind it says they 'hardly slept' for several weeks while writing AI prompts and refining the shots — 'AI didn't make this film. We did'
Comments have been turned off on YouTube
December 9, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Famously hilly The Netherlands with its American roads and non-existent tradition of caroling.