Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 20h

I raced with @sonic-official.bsky.social on their Minecraft stream! Sliding into their lobby made me feel like I hit the lottery.

Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 7d

CrossWorlds is really good!

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 7d

My review of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is finally here… on Skybox! Sorry I was late, but it was worth the wait.

Skybox @skyboxcritics.com · 7d

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds review: I’ve never driven this fast and furious before by @sonicprincess15.bsky.social

"Honest to Chaos, CrossWorlds is a breath of fresh air compared to Team Sonic Racing and Mario Kart World."

Read the latest Skybox review:

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds review: I’ve never driven this fast and furious before

A review of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, a new racing game from Sega and Sonic Team.

skyboxcritics.com

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 7d

Four years and two months is not a long enough prison sentence for Diddy. R. Kelly got 30 years in prison for more or less the same crimes. What the hell happened?

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 7d

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs sentenced to 4 years and 2 months in prison in case involving sex workers, violence and ‘freak-offs’.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 9d

Happy October 1st from Knuckles at Pumpkin Hill!

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 16d

When you’re having a bad week, but Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds coming out will make everything all better. (The Chao mug is from the old SEGA Shop, fyi.)

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · 29d

The Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds demo drops in less than a week. But there’s one problem.

Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Sep 7

PSA for Sonic artists.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Sep 6

The Pink Shadow shirt is back in stock at Hot Topic! You can get it from my storefront for 20% off now!

lcshop.co/nwsls8

#HTPartner

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Aug 5

I got cut off from Digital Trends in May and lost work at Kotaku last month. I’ve been trying to figure out where to go from here for the last few months as well. What makes the cuts even worse for me is Digital Trends was where I did my best work.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Aug 5

The list of IGN staff who were laid off today, as far as I know:

- Matt Kim
- Chelsea Reed
- Myles Obenza
- Erik Adams
- Rob Manuel

There are three more people affected by the layoffs, but I don’t know who they are. Nor have they announced they were let go.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Aug 5

My heart breaks for the IGN staff affected by today’s layoffs. There is a special place in hell for corporate assholes who care more about profits than the wellbeing of the people who put out their best work every single day. Fuck Ziff Davis, a million times.

IGN Union @ignunion.bsky.social · Aug 4

Today, IGN laid off eight extremely valuable members of our union and workforce via directive from our parent company, Ziff Davis. This, after two incredibly successful live events IGN Live and SDCC, and yet another corporate acquisition.

Please take a moment to read and share our full statement:

Today, IGN Entertainment announced that it would be laying off eight members of the IGN Creators Guild.

This is 12% of our bargaining unit, and comes just days after our sister union, the Ziff Davis Creators Guild, underwent similar layoffs impacting 15% of their members. It also comes just months after our multibillion-dollar parent company, Ziff Davis, instituted a company-wide buyout that shrunk our unit numbers, with the express intent of avoiding future layoffs. And it comes just a little over one year after three of our members were laid off almost immediately after our union went public.

The company has told us that the reason for this layoff stems from a Ziff Davis-mandate to cut costs despite several quarters in a row of year-over-year revenue increases, to which IGN Entertainment responded by coming for our members' jobs. This is perplexing to us, as we are told again and again that IGN Entertainment has had a tremendously successful year thus far thanks to their hard work. In just the last few months, our members have been absolutely essential to major events and livestreams, including San Diego ComicCon, Summer of Gaming, and IGN Live. Every single person impacted today was involved in and critical to the success of those events.

Meanwhile, IGN Entertainment continues to spend money on costly acquisitions, only to turn around and gut those companies in the same way it is cutting away at IGN itself. For instance, last year, it acquired Gamer Network, and almost immediately laid off a number of staff critical to making those sites successful. The company has not responded to the union's questions about whether its budget for future acquisitions is being reconsidered as a cost-saving measure alongside these other apparently necessary personnel cuts.

At a time when it is more necessary than ever to support its creators, IGN Entertainment is choosing to eliminate the individuals who ensure IGN remains competitive as generative AI

threatens our reach. We have been told that expert opinion pieces, original interviews, and work that leverages our staff's deep knowledge of gaming, tech, and entertainment are all essential to combating AI summarization and regurgitation of our work. Management has responded by cutting several individuals who do that exact work, as well as others whose job it is to ensure that these written and video pieces are published in a speedy manner — another component of combating AI we're told is critical.

This continued cycle of repeated, aggressive cuts to our staff and being asked to do more with less, only for management to continue to spend on new business it isn't interested in sustaining cannot continue. We will enforce our interim agreement that guarantees better severance and other protections to laid off members, as well as demand additional support for those impacted. We will continue to bargain over our first contract with the aim of enshrining even better protections against further layoffs, working conditions continuously degraded by understaffing, and the encroachment of generative AI. And we won't stop fighting to ensure IGN remains the best destination for trustworthy, original, exciting, and creative work covering video games, entertainment, and tech.

While IGN Entertainment management may not value us, we value one another and the incredible work we can do together. Behind the articles, videos, social posts, playlists, and maps of IGN are human beings, not just numbers on a spreadsheet to be pushed around when some number at the top isn't big enough. Without us, there is no IGN.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Aug 4

It really shouldn’t have to be this way.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Aug 1

Don’t forget Christian nationalism.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jul 22

Thank you, Meg. Titi was the sweetest, fluffiest, and silliest cat you would ever meet.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jul 21

No cheating. Post the last pic of your pet.

Unfortunately, I’m gonna have to cheat on this one. Titi died after a month-long battle with osteosarcoma on Friday, and her right hind leg was super swollen in one of the last pics I took of her. Here’s a picture from 10 days before she was put down.

Titi the Silly Kitty sitting on the grey carpet by the couch on July 8, 2025.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 30

You’re welcome, Gio! I hope we work together again soon.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 30

Gio has been the best editor I’ve ever worked with in the games media industry! Every gaming op-ed idea I ever pitched him was blessed with his stamp of approval and his stellar editorial guidance. He’s the reason why all my best work was done at Digital Trends.
I wish the absolute best for him.

Giovanni Colantonio @marioprime.bsky.social · Jun 30

Some news! This is my last week at Digital Trends! I've never had the privilege to leave a job I care about on my own terms, so I've decided to take that opportunity. I am so proud of everything I was able to do at DT over the last 6 years and the creative freedom I was given to get there.

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Reposted by Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15

Sonic the Hedgehog news and updates! @tailschannel.com · Jun 22

BREAKING: SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star have been officially announced for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds at the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards!

Check out the official trailer below.

#SonicNews

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 20

Elio came out the same day as 28 Years Later, yet it doesn't have an audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. I think Pixar fumbled the marketing for Elio just as Disney did for Strange World. They need to get their shit together.

Screenshot of critic and audience scores for Elio and 28 Years Later on Rotten Tomatoes. Elio has a Certified Fresh score of 84% but no audience, whereas 28 Years Later has a Certified Fresh score of 90% with an audience score of 69%.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 18

This interview with Iizuka-san about the Sonic Renaissance was a truly delightful read. Everything about Sonic that is more positive now than it was a decade ago is because he took the time to reflect on his mistakes and actually listened to fan feedback on making the games better for everyone.

Eurogamer @eurogamer.bsky.social · Jun 17

How Sonic went from “fighting to survive” to being a global megastar in 10 years: Sega’s Sonic series producer tells all

www.eurogamer.net/10-years-ago...

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 17

The writing in Sonic Forces is even worse.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 16

CW: religion

My mom texted me a prayer along with a verse over WhatsApp, and I feel like gagging. I certainly hope she didn’t send it to me exclusively, even though my brother and his wife are more religious than I am. I’ve been agnostic/atheist since well before I graduated from college.

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 15

What if Sonic and Shadow played pickleball?

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Cristina Alexander | SonicPrincess15 @sonicprincess15.bsky.social · Jun 15

Here’s my contribution to the #NoKingsDay protests. Sonic wouldn’t sacrifice his freedom for a king. Neither should we!

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