Iain Mew
@superchartisland.com
Writing a British history of popular video games one UK sales chart #1 at a time. Now in 1986. Also into pop music and writing on The Singles Jukebox. He/him. http://www.superchartisland.com
Pinned
Over the last two months on my blog, I've written about the history of each of the nine computer games to reach #1 in UK sales charts during 1985.
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
Reposted by Iain Mew
this is insane both on its face and with several more insane details once you read the full thing
Our upcoming game HORSES was preemptively banned from Steam, with no path to appeal. The game will still launch next week on December 2nd and will be available on EGS, GOG, Humble, and Itch for $4.99. Here is a detailed FAQ covering what happened: horses.wtf/BannedFromSt...
November 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
this is insane both on its face and with several more insane details once you read the full thing
Thanks to Arron for running this and to everyone else taking part. It's the first time I've joined one of these and it's been a lot of fun! A playlist of my choices, in chronological order: open.spotify.com/playlist/26I...
2020s
open.spotify.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Thanks to Arron for running this and to everyone else taking part. It's the first time I've joined one of these and it's been a lot of fun! A playlist of my choices, in chronological order: open.spotify.com/playlist/26I...
You have the same 12-pointer as me, 3 other matches of less-voted-for songs, and we'd have another if we hadn't each picked different Babymint songs. I'm looking forward to listening to everything on your list I don't know!
November 25, 2025 at 2:51 PM
You have the same 12-pointer as me, 3 other matches of less-voted-for songs, and we'd have another if we hadn't each picked different Babymint songs. I'm looking forward to listening to everything on your list I don't know!
Reposted by Iain Mew
NEW VIDEO: Phoenix Games is beyond notorious for releasing metric tons of garbage for the the PlayStations 1 and 2, sometimes in compilations of asset flips.
What if, though, one of these games was kinda... okay? And how would such a thing be possible?
youtu.be/EngHesUk2g8
What if, though, one of these games was kinda... okay? And how would such a thing be possible?
youtu.be/EngHesUk2g8
That time Phoenix Games accidentally released something kinda okay
YouTube video by Alien Bob
youtu.be
November 25, 2025 at 11:02 AM
NEW VIDEO: Phoenix Games is beyond notorious for releasing metric tons of garbage for the the PlayStations 1 and 2, sometimes in compilations of asset flips.
What if, though, one of these games was kinda... okay? And how would such a thing be possible?
youtu.be/EngHesUk2g8
What if, though, one of these games was kinda... okay? And how would such a thing be possible?
youtu.be/EngHesUk2g8
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 50
Jens Lekman - Wedding in Leipzig
(2025, Sweden)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBU...
The full Jens Lekman experience in one gentle 10 minute epic: fantasia strings, thoughtful vulnerability, wedding DJ farce & a lesson in pronouncing the name of a European city
Day 50
Jens Lekman - Wedding in Leipzig
(2025, Sweden)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBU...
The full Jens Lekman experience in one gentle 10 minute epic: fantasia strings, thoughtful vulnerability, wedding DJ farce & a lesson in pronouncing the name of a European city
Jens Lekman - Wedding in Leipzig (Official Lyric Video)
YouTube video by JensLekmanVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:56 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 50
Jens Lekman - Wedding in Leipzig
(2025, Sweden)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBU...
The full Jens Lekman experience in one gentle 10 minute epic: fantasia strings, thoughtful vulnerability, wedding DJ farce & a lesson in pronouncing the name of a European city
Day 50
Jens Lekman - Wedding in Leipzig
(2025, Sweden)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBU...
The full Jens Lekman experience in one gentle 10 minute epic: fantasia strings, thoughtful vulnerability, wedding DJ farce & a lesson in pronouncing the name of a European city
I feel like there's a similar enough concept there to be confident it was an inspiration (especially given Ultimate's arcade roots from that time) but they added and changed enough too that it's more than a copy. It's not like a Daley Thompson’s Decathlon/Hyper Olympic situation
November 24, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I feel like there's a similar enough concept there to be confident it was an inspiration (especially given Ultimate's arcade roots from that time) but they added and changed enough too that it's more than a copy. It's not like a Daley Thompson’s Decathlon/Hyper Olympic situation
Reposted by Iain Mew
I wasn't expecting the throughline from Nintendo's Famicom version of Spartan-X to Super Mario Bros. to be quite so visually obvious (we wanted to get away from black backgrounds, said Miyamoto)
November 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I wasn't expecting the throughline from Nintendo's Famicom version of Spartan-X to Super Mario Bros. to be quite so visually obvious (we wanted to get away from black backgrounds, said Miyamoto)
Reposted by Iain Mew
A 1984 arcade game of a Jackie Chan movie kicked off the beat-'em-up genre. Then those who made it and its ports took what they learned to Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., and a Windows rival that briefly had Microsoft worried. New post on Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
Kung-Fu Master – “Martial arts experts and demons of every description”
In 1982, Takashi Nishiyama directed an arcade game called Moon Patrol, for Irem. It featured a moon buggy which moves constantly across a lunar landscape, where you have to jump over holes while sh…
www.superchartisland.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:01 AM
A 1984 arcade game of a Jackie Chan movie kicked off the beat-'em-up genre. Then those who made it and its ports took what they learned to Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., and a Windows rival that briefly had Microsoft worried. New post on Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
I wasn't expecting the throughline from Nintendo's Famicom version of Spartan-X to Super Mario Bros. to be quite so visually obvious (we wanted to get away from black backgrounds, said Miyamoto)
November 24, 2025 at 3:59 PM
I wasn't expecting the throughline from Nintendo's Famicom version of Spartan-X to Super Mario Bros. to be quite so visually obvious (we wanted to get away from black backgrounds, said Miyamoto)
I made sure to give Aespa an HM!
I picked a few other NIE song too. Yoasobi's "Idol" has more YouTube views than any of the Billie Eilish or Olivia Rodrigo singles I voted for but alas I have only seen one other person give it points
I picked a few other NIE song too. Yoasobi's "Idol" has more YouTube views than any of the Billie Eilish or Olivia Rodrigo singles I voted for but alas I have only seen one other person give it points
November 24, 2025 at 3:00 PM
I made sure to give Aespa an HM!
I picked a few other NIE song too. Yoasobi's "Idol" has more YouTube views than any of the Billie Eilish or Olivia Rodrigo singles I voted for but alas I have only seen one other person give it points
I picked a few other NIE song too. Yoasobi's "Idol" has more YouTube views than any of the Billie Eilish or Olivia Rodrigo singles I voted for but alas I have only seen one other person give it points
What do Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo and Chris Hawley of Berkeley Softworks have in common? Not very much, but they did both work on hit conversions of the same game.
The story of Spartan-X aka Kung Fu aka Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
The story of Spartan-X aka Kung Fu aka Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
Kung-Fu Master – “Martial arts experts and demons of every description”
In 1982, Takashi Nishiyama directed an arcade game called Moon Patrol, for Irem. It featured a moon buggy which moves constantly across a lunar landscape, where you have to jump over holes while sh…
www.superchartisland.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:56 PM
What do Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo and Chris Hawley of Berkeley Softworks have in common? Not very much, but they did both work on hit conversions of the same game.
The story of Spartan-X aka Kung Fu aka Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
The story of Spartan-X aka Kung Fu aka Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
Also with NIE elements, in descending order of how much of the song they are, NewJeans's Ditto and Super Shy both looked borderline last I checked, APT. is surely in, and Huntr/X's Golden might be one of those few 2025 songs to make it
November 24, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Also with NIE elements, in descending order of how much of the song they are, NewJeans's Ditto and Super Shy both looked borderline last I checked, APT. is surely in, and Huntr/X's Golden might be one of those few 2025 songs to make it
Quite confident Somewhere Near Marseilles is in, although to be fair it is more in English than not
November 24, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Quite confident Somewhere Near Marseilles is in, although to be fair it is more in English than not
Yes! Happy to see someone else pick this today too, maybe it has a chance to make it in
November 24, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Yes! Happy to see someone else pick this today too, maybe it has a chance to make it in
Indeed! Two more on that theme coming in 1986 too, one in only three games' time
November 24, 2025 at 10:37 AM
Indeed! Two more on that theme coming in 1986 too, one in only three games' time
Yes, I rememeber it
November 24, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Yes, I rememeber it
Ah, like how Jacques Villeneuve became Driverone Williams in Formula 1 97 and Driver Williams in F-1 World Grand Prix
Another stupid one from the games I have on my Steam Deck: in WRC 2001, you can play as beloved racer FORD DRIVER due to the WRC license granting a full roster of drivers, teams, and tracks from the 2001 season but Colin McRae’s name and likeness already being snapped up for his own series.
November 24, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Ah, like how Jacques Villeneuve became Driverone Williams in Formula 1 97 and Driver Williams in F-1 World Grand Prix
Sorry, should be Day 49. I knew I'd get one of those wrong at some point!
November 24, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Sorry, should be Day 49. I knew I'd get one of those wrong at some point!
A 1984 arcade game of a Jackie Chan movie kicked off the beat-'em-up genre. Then those who made it and its ports took what they learned to Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., and a Windows rival that briefly had Microsoft worried. New post on Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
Kung-Fu Master – “Martial arts experts and demons of every description”
In 1982, Takashi Nishiyama directed an arcade game called Moon Patrol, for Irem. It featured a moon buggy which moves constantly across a lunar landscape, where you have to jump over holes while sh…
www.superchartisland.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:01 AM
A 1984 arcade game of a Jackie Chan movie kicked off the beat-'em-up genre. Then those who made it and its ports took what they learned to Street Fighter, Super Mario Bros., and a Windows rival that briefly had Microsoft worried. New post on Kung-Fu Master:
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
www.superchartisland.com/kung-fu-master
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 48
Fred Again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax - Victory Lap
(2025, UK)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=08C9...
Superbly chosen and used Doechii sample, and they carry the momentum through from there
Day 48
Fred Again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax - Victory Lap
(2025, UK)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=08C9...
Superbly chosen and used Doechii sample, and they carry the momentum through from there
Fred again.. x Skepta x PlaqueBoyMax - Victory Lap (NYC, 17th June 2025)
YouTube video by Fred again . .
www.youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 6:24 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 48
Fred Again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax - Victory Lap
(2025, UK)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=08C9...
Superbly chosen and used Doechii sample, and they carry the momentum through from there
Day 48
Fred Again.., Skepta & PlaqueBoyMax - Victory Lap
(2025, UK)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=08C9...
Superbly chosen and used Doechii sample, and they carry the momentum through from there
Alerting @sharkabytes.bsky.social incase you haven't already seen this
November 23, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Alerting @sharkabytes.bsky.social incase you haven't already seen this
Reposted by Iain Mew
#Discourse2000 is back! This intro post sets the scene for the 1978 posts with an overview of the different tribes of early #2000AD creators - the professionals, the rebels, the fans and the outsiders - and their visions of what the comic is
freakytrigger.co.uk/wedge/2025/1...
freakytrigger.co.uk/wedge/2025/1...
Dance Our Way Out Of Our Constrictions: INTRO ’78
Previously on Discourse 2000: After successfully helping launch war comic Battle, editor Pat Mills had the opportunity to launch a new kind of boys’ comic at publishers IPC – Action, a title which tur...
freakytrigger.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 6:26 PM
#Discourse2000 is back! This intro post sets the scene for the 1978 posts with an overview of the different tribes of early #2000AD creators - the professionals, the rebels, the fans and the outsiders - and their visions of what the comic is
freakytrigger.co.uk/wedge/2025/1...
freakytrigger.co.uk/wedge/2025/1...
Great write-up! I had a similar thought on paradigms shifting at the start of my Singles Jukebox review at the time:
November 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Great write-up! I had a similar thought on paradigms shifting at the start of my Singles Jukebox review at the time:
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 48
Meovv - Hands Up
(2025, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0p...
Teddy and YG haven't had a girl group properly take off in a while, but I like this apocalyptic dance pop more than anything by Blackpink this decade. Love the bit where it turns into its own remix.
Day 48
Meovv - Hands Up
(2025, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0p...
Teddy and YG haven't had a girl group properly take off in a while, but I like this apocalyptic dance pop more than anything by Blackpink this decade. Love the bit where it turns into its own remix.
MEOVV(미야오) - ‘HANDS UP’ M/V
YouTube video by THEBLACKLABEL
www.youtube.com
November 23, 2025 at 6:02 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 48
Meovv - Hands Up
(2025, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0p...
Teddy and YG haven't had a girl group properly take off in a while, but I like this apocalyptic dance pop more than anything by Blackpink this decade. Love the bit where it turns into its own remix.
Day 48
Meovv - Hands Up
(2025, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL0p...
Teddy and YG haven't had a girl group properly take off in a while, but I like this apocalyptic dance pop more than anything by Blackpink this decade. Love the bit where it turns into its own remix.
Reposted by Iain Mew
this is how you lose the dish war
November 22, 2025 at 4:22 PM
this is how you lose the dish war