i’m just ken
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shepardcdr.bsky.social
i’m just ken
@shepardcdr.bsky.social
writer @kotaku.com | the 🏳️‍🌈 one @normandyfm.bsky.social | he/him | nyc | [email protected]

ears still ringing, arms still swinging
Pinned
Reposted by i’m just ken
2026 is 30 years of Pokémon, but it’s also 20 years since these six became my main team. Had to get a new group shot now that Raichu can fly.

Art by @psaber97 on IG.
January 20, 2026 at 11:29 PM
2026 is 30 years of Pokémon, but it’s also 20 years since these six became my main team. Had to get a new group shot now that Raichu can fly.

Art by @psaber97 on IG.
January 20, 2026 at 11:29 PM
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If there are any European/Australian gaming outlets that still have a budget and want coverage of the year's biggest gaming events in the US but *don't* want to expose their people to well... the US, my email is in my bio!
January 20, 2026 at 9:42 PM
i did like Double Exposure quite a bit until it was like Max Will Return In Avengers: Doomsday, so i'm withholding judgment, but it is hard not to feel like this series has retreated to safety after it seemed like it was going to be an anthology about people from different walks of life.
January 20, 2026 at 5:34 PM
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Mamdani: I am in support of abolishing ICE… I'm tired of waking up every day and seeing a new image of someone being dragged out of a car, dragged out of their home, dragged out of their life.
January 20, 2026 at 5:08 PM
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A 44-year-old Bothell man who worked for The Pokemon Company has been arrested for allegedly putting cameras in public bathrooms to spy on transgender people. https://kotaku.com/pokemon-company-ben-tsai-employee-camera-starbucks-arrest-2000661238
Pokémon Company Employee Arrested For Spying On Bathrooms
The man allegedly was ‘curious about transgender people,’ and set up cameras in a local Starbucks and his workplace
kotaku.com
January 20, 2026 at 1:54 PM
"ken you have your dream job, live in new york city, are the hottest you've ever been, mega raichu is real, and zohran is mayor. what more could you possibly want?"

not having a chemical imbalance in my brain and being free of the shackles of the nyc gay dating scene, would also be nice.
January 20, 2026 at 1:32 AM
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Alright, here's the official I'm looking for work thread. After four years at Inverse, taking the lead on gaming coverage, I'm now completely open to work. I've been a reporter, editor, podcast host, and much more. If you want to see what I can bring to the table, here's some of my best from Inverse
January 19, 2026 at 10:09 PM
gonna try to go to the gym for the first time since The Procedure, pray 4 me
January 19, 2026 at 2:29 PM
i, too, am showing support for the bears this evening
a bear pride flag with a paw print on it
ALT: a bear pride flag with a paw print on it
media.tenor.com
January 18, 2026 at 11:49 PM
i fight the horrors by paying artists to draw me and the electric rat
January 18, 2026 at 4:37 AM
slip and slide
January 18, 2026 at 3:08 AM
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NEW: Public records I obtained from Washington state offer an alternate look at the mass layoffs in the games industry

With each letter sent by Microsoft, Sony, WB, Amazon to notify the state of a mass cut was a long list of roles eliminated.

A stark accounting
www.gamefile.news/p/video-game...
Video game layoffs also look like this
Via public records requests, some long lists of gaming jobs cut by Microsoft, Sony, Warner Bros. and Amazon in the state of Washington.
www.gamefile.news
January 16, 2026 at 10:58 PM
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The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy- is $41.99 on Steam buff.ly/iAGf1FY

Deck playable
January 17, 2026 at 8:39 PM
yeah, i’m not at the new york game awards where pokemon is being recognized and the pikachu mascot is there.

but i *am* still in bed at 3:30 pm, sooooo who really wins?

(i haven’t eaten solid food other than fries in five days)
January 17, 2026 at 8:26 PM
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Block instantly.
January 17, 2026 at 12:13 AM
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The most frustrating thing about media right not, not just games, is that people want reporting, they want crit, they want analysis. The numbers prove it too. But so much legacy is run by enormous man babies that don’t fucking get it, and just want more and more money
January 16, 2026 at 11:16 PM
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This job doesn't usually require you to get existential, but I've been thinking about artifacts we have to remember people/art that are gone by. I talked to Anthem fans before the shutdown and asked them what they had left of the game and a lot of them said they just had memories, and those fade.
January 13, 2026 at 4:49 PM
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SEO-funded games journalism is in freefall with no floor and it's up to you now to fund quality coverage out of pocket. Support @aftermath.site, @remapradio.bsky.social, @secondwindgroup.com, @vgbees.com, @rogue.site, @skyboxcritics.com, @bloodgodpod.bsky.social, @mothership.blog, @3ma.bsky.social
January 16, 2026 at 8:05 PM
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Reminder that video game journalism cannot exist without functioning newsrooms that have the capacity to mentor and train new talent and the bandwidth to pursue long-form investigative pieces and break news—all while paying writers a living wage.
January 16, 2026 at 7:11 PM
my attention has other places to be so if there is a 1.5x speed button, i'm gonna slap it like a hockey player's ass.
January 16, 2026 at 5:18 PM
January 16, 2026 at 5:04 PM
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Breaks my heart to share this, but today is my last day at The Verge and I am looking for work! I'd really like to stay in video games, preferably in some kind of journalistic capacity but I can do PR/Marketing and maybe even a lil Narrative Design. Please get in touch!
www.ashparrish.com
Ash Parrish
www.ashparrish.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:55 PM
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So does every generation of writers eventually feel like their job is just reminding people of things everyone used to just know
January 16, 2026 at 3:59 PM
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after flying back from Vegas last week, I was just laid off from Inverse today. I'm open to connecting over email at [email protected] and I'm definitely still in the writing and editing space. Expect a more in-depth explanation coming soon in my Updater newsletter. shannonliao.substack.com
Updater, Shannon Liao's gaming newsletter | Substack
Exclusive gaming and tech news, from a classically-trained journalist, delivered to your inbox. Click to read Updater, Shannon Liao's gaming newsletter, a Substack publication with thousands of subscr...
shannonliao.substack.com
January 16, 2026 at 4:05 PM