nathaniel
@pedrothedagger.bsky.social
game developer (derogatory). Lead Systems Designer at Epic Games on Lego Fortnite
SF is a nice place that tech and insane home prices have deeply fucked up in serious ways, but it's still a nice place, if you can afford it.
SF is the most beautiful major American city. Very funny/good to see people who thought it is hell discover this objectively true fact and other amazing things the city has (burritos).
San Francisco is actually beautiful Super Bowl fans discover
This week, the fake narrative of San Francisco as a failed city was laid to rest.
sfstandard.com
February 8, 2026 at 3:02 AM
SF is a nice place that tech and insane home prices have deeply fucked up in serious ways, but it's still a nice place, if you can afford it.
Reposted by nathaniel
the traitors finales always drive me insane because they offer the end the game/banish vote and there is no game theoretic reason to not just always vote to banish. the prize fund should diminish if you choose to banish!!!
it's hard for me to watch game-based reality shows because i always get mad that they obviously didn't hire anyone who even knows what narrative design is
February 8, 2026 at 2:22 AM
the traitors finales always drive me insane because they offer the end the game/banish vote and there is no game theoretic reason to not just always vote to banish. the prize fund should diminish if you choose to banish!!!
Hideo Kojima got his hands on the historical record
Gunstein Oldbitch
United States, Panama Canal Zone, Employment Records and Sailing lists, 1905-1937
United States, Panama Canal Zone, Employment Records and Sailing lists, 1905-1937
February 7, 2026 at 5:52 PM
Hideo Kojima got his hands on the historical record
imo it is actually more revolutionary in one aspect- the application of physics to gameplay. It’s the first game in my eyes that really executed on the dream of physics engines, it’s kind of the first really successful example in a 20 year quest to make actual gameplay out of physics
i get why people have cooled on Tears of the Kingdom but “it wasn’t as revolutionary as BotW” is unreasonable criticism to me. that’s just not a standard you can expect anything to meet
February 7, 2026 at 5:50 PM
imo it is actually more revolutionary in one aspect- the application of physics to gameplay. It’s the first game in my eyes that really executed on the dream of physics engines, it’s kind of the first really successful example in a 20 year quest to make actual gameplay out of physics
wow you do not expect to open one of these articles and see a name you know
You've heard of semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy), tirzepetide (Mounjaro/Zepbound).
But there are new drugs coming, ones that leave these in the dust, and leave clinicians and scientists asking: Can people lose too much too fast? www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...
By me.
But there are new drugs coming, ones that leave these in the dust, and leave clinicians and scientists asking: Can people lose too much too fast? www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-...
By me.
The next wave of GLP-1 drugs are coming—and they’re stronger than Wegovy and Zepbound
The upcoming drugs CagriSema and retatrutide target multiple gut hormones and could cause twice as much weight loss than current treatments. But experts wonder how much is too much
www.scientificamerican.com
February 6, 2026 at 10:53 PM
wow you do not expect to open one of these articles and see a name you know
dude where did they grow this guy. he is like superhuman at this. can you imagine being that chill with the level of stress and scrutiny he’s under????
Child at the podium: “A woo woo woo.”
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
Mamdani: That’s how I felt when we came up with this plan. Together, we will expand the idea of what is possible in our city—and what sounds and noises we can make at a press conference.
February 6, 2026 at 6:08 AM
dude where did they grow this guy. he is like superhuman at this. can you imagine being that chill with the level of stress and scrutiny he’s under????
Caves of Qud is (imo) much, *much* better on Steam Deck than desktop M/KB mostly bc diagonal movement is so crucial. Having access to the touchpads on SD is a big win and I think it'll still be better than switch, but I still think Switch w. controller will be more pleasant than M/KB PC
its funny how many replies the the date announcement are "this will be horrible on controller" ehehehhehe they will be surprised
February 5, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Caves of Qud is (imo) much, *much* better on Steam Deck than desktop M/KB mostly bc diagonal movement is so crucial. Having access to the touchpads on SD is a big win and I think it'll still be better than switch, but I still think Switch w. controller will be more pleasant than M/KB PC
Reposted by nathaniel
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Epstein had many known connections to Silicon Valley CEOs, but less known was how he made money from those relationships.
We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
We did a deep dive into how he got dealflow in Silicon Valley, giving him shots to invest in Coinbase, Palantir, SpaceX and other companies.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...
Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Mingled With Silicon Valley Start-Ups
www.nytimes.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:38 PM
While reporting this, I had something happen that's never happened. A comms rep for one of the co's disputed my reporting and said what I was telling them was untrue because it was not in Grok, xAI's chatbot.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
I was looking directly at the files. And this person was using AI to challenge the truth.
Reposted by nathaniel
![A classic tweet from @kennykeil
[Bluto subtweeting after getting his ass whooped]
I don't know who needs to hear this but spinach isn't a personality](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:dwqmtoy5uzacqe3bt5ib44oo/bafkreidsxaapkreaeus7oqavtvgeqb6u6jnd57gcutdxtcw4mgluiszimi@jpeg)
Reposted by nathaniel
I was miserable before I disliked the N64. Correlation is not causation.
I've never met someone who doesn't like the N64 who seems happy
February 5, 2026 at 5:19 AM
I was miserable before I disliked the N64. Correlation is not causation.
This comment on the first take version of on the way cracked me up lol.
“My 4 year old keeps saying ‘dame dame! Mate mate! Nagai mo yamaimo dakeshimetai’ lol please stop”
Which means “I want to embrace a yam even if it’s long” instead of “I want to embrace both the curse and the disease” lol
“My 4 year old keeps saying ‘dame dame! Mate mate! Nagai mo yamaimo dakeshimetai’ lol please stop”
Which means “I want to embrace a yam even if it’s long” instead of “I want to embrace both the curse and the disease” lol
February 5, 2026 at 5:49 AM
This comment on the first take version of on the way cracked me up lol.
“My 4 year old keeps saying ‘dame dame! Mate mate! Nagai mo yamaimo dakeshimetai’ lol please stop”
Which means “I want to embrace a yam even if it’s long” instead of “I want to embrace both the curse and the disease” lol
“My 4 year old keeps saying ‘dame dame! Mate mate! Nagai mo yamaimo dakeshimetai’ lol please stop”
Which means “I want to embrace a yam even if it’s long” instead of “I want to embrace both the curse and the disease” lol
discovering that apparently my opinion that the dandadan s2 op is better is a hot take lol
February 5, 2026 at 5:11 AM
discovering that apparently my opinion that the dandadan s2 op is better is a hot take lol
Reposted by nathaniel
why is game dev feedback always kinda like this
February 3, 2026 at 5:26 PM
why is game dev feedback always kinda like this
ado’s scene is v cyberpunk - people created artificial machine voices, wrote songs for them exploiting their artificiality by making them too hard for normal people to sing, and then ppl took that as a challenge to develop their technical skill to be able to recreate it with the human voice. v cool
February 2, 2026 at 7:40 AM
ado’s scene is v cyberpunk - people created artificial machine voices, wrote songs for them exploiting their artificiality by making them too hard for normal people to sing, and then ppl took that as a challenge to develop their technical skill to be able to recreate it with the human voice. v cool
i genuinely couldn’t do this for long in fft because I felt too bad for the guy that i was leaving at 1hp while we threw rocks at each other
My FFT party milking each other for XP: agh. oug. ahg. uog.
The cuck goblin in the corner at 1 HP: :(
The cuck goblin in the corner at 1 HP: :(
February 2, 2026 at 7:32 AM
i genuinely couldn’t do this for long in fft because I felt too bad for the guy that i was leaving at 1hp while we threw rocks at each other
once in a while I’ll see or hear about something like the linked blog and I realize if nothing else I do not have the mental fortitude to be a writer in games, where everyone thinks they could do your job despite not understanding it at all. The sheer frustration. sprints for fucking writers lol
For more on this, vide Michet 2024 blog.lauramichet.com/why-you-shou...
February 2, 2026 at 7:06 AM
once in a while I’ll see or hear about something like the linked blog and I realize if nothing else I do not have the mental fortitude to be a writer in games, where everyone thinks they could do your job despite not understanding it at all. The sheer frustration. sprints for fucking writers lol
Also - this doesn’t need to be in the form of butting in to creative decision making. Many experienced but still bad producers know enough to avoid that. But it can be in the form of arbitrary, ill fitting process or holding meetings that largely exist to make everyone remember the producer is there
My hot take about producers - I have noticed some producers recoil against the role because being a great producer involves a lot of invisible labor and if you are not socialized to believe invisible labor has value, you feel a need to insert yourself into visible labor to validate your existence
February 2, 2026 at 6:54 AM
Also - this doesn’t need to be in the form of butting in to creative decision making. Many experienced but still bad producers know enough to avoid that. But it can be in the form of arbitrary, ill fitting process or holding meetings that largely exist to make everyone remember the producer is there
Reposted by nathaniel
For more on this, vide Michet 2024 blog.lauramichet.com/why-you-shou...
February 2, 2026 at 6:47 AM
For more on this, vide Michet 2024 blog.lauramichet.com/why-you-shou...
My hot take about producers - I have noticed some producers recoil against the role because being a great producer involves a lot of invisible labor and if you are not socialized to believe invisible labor has value, you feel a need to insert yourself into visible labor to validate your existence
February 2, 2026 at 6:38 AM
My hot take about producers - I have noticed some producers recoil against the role because being a great producer involves a lot of invisible labor and if you are not socialized to believe invisible labor has value, you feel a need to insert yourself into visible labor to validate your existence
all producers are multipliers on the output of their team. It is very possible for that multiplier to be less than 1
There are a lot of roles in game dev where someone bad in a role can do damage, but a bad producer can be so unbelievably damaging that it truly would be better to have no one in the role at all.
Just as good producers are force multipliers, bad producers are like throwing sand into a gearbox.
Just as good producers are force multipliers, bad producers are like throwing sand into a gearbox.
A good producer is absolutely an incredible force multiplier and allows the folks who are creating the actual artifacts to be more effective.
A producer beholden to methodology or who does not understand the needs of the game they're working, however, can do irreparable damage very easily.
A producer beholden to methodology or who does not understand the needs of the game they're working, however, can do irreparable damage very easily.
February 2, 2026 at 5:56 AM
all producers are multipliers on the output of their team. It is very possible for that multiplier to be less than 1
lol the night manager season 2, truly awful
February 2, 2026 at 5:54 AM
lol the night manager season 2, truly awful
Games require engineering, design, art and organization. Sometimes those skills live in one person and sometimes they don’t.
I know several games made solely by programmers, I know none made only by project managers.
February 2, 2026 at 4:54 AM
Games require engineering, design, art and organization. Sometimes those skills live in one person and sometimes they don’t.
i've seen a couple people mentioning this today and I enjoy how I've managed to curate my feed such that these kind of bad takes are like dark matter, I can't see them except by their secondary effects
There are very few Objective Truths in gaming, but I do believe that if you call the Evergrace soundtrack “bad”, you should be banned from sharing any additional opinions online for a period of no fewer than 99 years, for your own good
February 2, 2026 at 2:16 AM
i've seen a couple people mentioning this today and I enjoy how I've managed to curate my feed such that these kind of bad takes are like dark matter, I can't see them except by their secondary effects
among all of the things i liked about freiren season 1 it makes a great argument in favor of the effectiveness of remote work
February 2, 2026 at 12:36 AM
among all of the things i liked about freiren season 1 it makes a great argument in favor of the effectiveness of remote work