Guy DeBored
@theetceteras.bsky.social
Books ; Philosophy ; Games Business and History. DiScOuRsE
They/them. Reposts usually mean "take a look at this."
They/them. Reposts usually mean "take a look at this."
Pinned
Guy DeBored
@theetceteras.bsky.social
· Jan 3
"The existential dream of childhood is to enclose oneself and to settle" - Roland Barthes
Konami getting good studios to make games with their crazy stable of IP is great to see. Evil Empire doing Castlevania looks amazing and the new Silent Hill stuff is a great evolution of that series look and themes.
February 12, 2026 at 11:12 PM
Konami getting good studios to make games with their crazy stable of IP is great to see. Evil Empire doing Castlevania looks amazing and the new Silent Hill stuff is a great evolution of that series look and themes.
Speaking of AI and "the left" it occurs to me that there is an available criticism of AI from a religious right perspective but I haven't seen basically anything. My interpretation is that this is because the "religious right" in the US has become a secular political movement. Religion as kayfabe
February 12, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Speaking of AI and "the left" it occurs to me that there is an available criticism of AI from a religious right perspective but I haven't seen basically anything. My interpretation is that this is because the "religious right" in the US has become a secular political movement. Religion as kayfabe
Reposted by Guy DeBored
One of Vanillaware's co-founders (Takehiro Shiga) drew this cool illustration depicting the structure of Chunsoft's most famous sound novels. This was posted around the time 13 Sentinels was entering production, so the devs may have been studying these sound novels while conceptualizing the game.
February 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM
One of Vanillaware's co-founders (Takehiro Shiga) drew this cool illustration depicting the structure of Chunsoft's most famous sound novels. This was posted around the time 13 Sentinels was entering production, so the devs may have been studying these sound novels while conceptualizing the game.
Just generally, the left and center left have been too disengaged on tech policy since 2000 and we're now locked into the terrible downstream outcomes. Stronger privacy laws in the early aughts could have broken Facebook, could have prevented the internet from being dominated by ads, etc etc.
February 11, 2026 at 9:18 PM
Just generally, the left and center left have been too disengaged on tech policy since 2000 and we're now locked into the terrible downstream outcomes. Stronger privacy laws in the early aughts could have broken Facebook, could have prevented the internet from being dominated by ads, etc etc.
Anyway I've been playing Arc Raiders off and on for a while, the lurking and looting feels good and reminds me of Dying Light at its best. But any kind of combat feels pretty bad IMO, the ammo economy makes fighting robots a huge project and PvP is awkward at best due to a bunch of factors.
February 11, 2026 at 7:01 PM
Anyway I've been playing Arc Raiders off and on for a while, the lurking and looting feels good and reminds me of Dying Light at its best. But any kind of combat feels pretty bad IMO, the ammo economy makes fighting robots a huge project and PvP is awkward at best due to a bunch of factors.
Talking about how the cold war wrecked US leftism, the inability to think in terms of controlling organizations that aren't the Democratic party is a huge one. Anti-unionism along with Soviet infiltration made it so hard for so long to have native leftist movements to exert pressure in politics.
February 11, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Talking about how the cold war wrecked US leftism, the inability to think in terms of controlling organizations that aren't the Democratic party is a huge one. Anti-unionism along with Soviet infiltration made it so hard for so long to have native leftist movements to exert pressure in politics.
Really shocking how this essential freedom just ... Disappeared over the last couple years. Probably won't ever get it back either.
While this absolutely sucks, we are going to see a lot more places implementing universal global age verification over this next year, because the number of states and countries legally requiring it has gotten to the point no one can keep up anymore.
Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month
February 10, 2026 at 2:20 PM
Really shocking how this essential freedom just ... Disappeared over the last couple years. Probably won't ever get it back either.
Reposted by Guy DeBored
My first attempt to make sense of a truly historic general election.
open.substack.com/pub/observin...
open.substack.com/pub/observin...
The age of Takaichi dawns
Understanding what happened on Sunday
open.substack.com
February 8, 2026 at 10:57 PM
My first attempt to make sense of a truly historic general election.
open.substack.com/pub/observin...
open.substack.com/pub/observin...
The one major difference between Code Veins 1 and 2, the open world, doesn't really work IMO. Especially because of the baffling motorcycle, it ends up being huge, mostly empty unrewarding spaces, even worse than Elden Ring. I would have preferred more structured levels or random dungeons.
February 7, 2026 at 7:24 PM
The one major difference between Code Veins 1 and 2, the open world, doesn't really work IMO. Especially because of the baffling motorcycle, it ends up being huge, mostly empty unrewarding spaces, even worse than Elden Ring. I would have preferred more structured levels or random dungeons.
This is so correct it obviously burns, as you can see by the number of responses that are just "who controls AI" or some other failure to meaningfully engage with the problem. Indeed, who does "control" artificial intelligence? Probably those bourgeois mathematicians.
February 6, 2026 at 6:25 PM
This is so correct it obviously burns, as you can see by the number of responses that are just "who controls AI" or some other failure to meaningfully engage with the problem. Indeed, who does "control" artificial intelligence? Probably those bourgeois mathematicians.
Pretty good summary of "how humanity will use AI" here.
> new model comes out
> use it to fix the mess I made with the last model
> realize I can be more ambitious than before
> make new, much larger and more complex mess
> use it to fix the mess I made with the last model
> realize I can be more ambitious than before
> make new, much larger and more complex mess
February 6, 2026 at 4:48 PM
Pretty good summary of "how humanity will use AI" here.
One of the best bands around right now.
Hear @chatpileband.bsky.social's furious new anti-ICE protest song "Masks" and their cover of Nirvana's "Sifting"
Chat Pile Shares New Song "Masks" & Cover Nirvana's "Sifting": Listen
Have you listened to Chat Pile’s Cool World lately? I have, and I can’t help but notice it feels more relevant than ever. I wish that wasn’t the case. But anyway. They followed that 2024 with the Hayd...
stereogum.com
February 6, 2026 at 4:02 PM
One of the best bands around right now.
Schumer probably can't believe his luck that he gets to have a shutdown fight with Trump, but it's only DHS that gets shut down, and the fight is over "can ICE wear masks and kidnap kids". Can't imagine a more favorable political fight for Dems at this moment.
February 5, 2026 at 11:01 PM
Schumer probably can't believe his luck that he gets to have a shutdown fight with Trump, but it's only DHS that gets shut down, and the fight is over "can ICE wear masks and kidnap kids". Can't imagine a more favorable political fight for Dems at this moment.
Reposted by Guy DeBored
Friend of mine interviewed Khun Bedu, the commander of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force. give it a read if your interested in Burma
adventuresinsea.substack.com/p/an-intervi...
adventuresinsea.substack.com/p/an-intervi...
An Interview with Khun Bedu of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force
An interview with one of Myanmar's foremost rebel leaders
adventuresinsea.substack.com
February 5, 2026 at 10:03 PM
Friend of mine interviewed Khun Bedu, the commander of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force. give it a read if your interested in Burma
adventuresinsea.substack.com/p/an-intervi...
adventuresinsea.substack.com/p/an-intervi...
I'm not sure whether it will work but Sony clearly thinks Horizon has legs as a big franchise, we already got the Lego game, there's this 2D Disney-looking thing they just announced, the mobile game, and eventually we'll get a screen adaptation -unless they give up on this idea.
I really disagree, it looks to me like they put a lot of work into the shading/lighting/etc to give it a unique look while still leaning into the hand-drawn animation style. I was expecting more "Fortnite-ization" from your description.
February 5, 2026 at 7:53 PM
I'm not sure whether it will work but Sony clearly thinks Horizon has legs as a big franchise, we already got the Lego game, there's this 2D Disney-looking thing they just announced, the mobile game, and eventually we'll get a screen adaptation -unless they give up on this idea.
The way it works is, you get Tim Pool to ask Trump if he's thinking about eating the elephant, no president ever has, maybe the elephants name is Barack. Then we can have a month of "Trump considering baby elephant burger" stories.
Good news of the week: an Asian elephant was born on February 2 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) for the first time in nearly 25 years. 🐘
📷: Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
🎵: TripleScoop
📷: Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
🎵: TripleScoop
February 3, 2026 at 10:47 PM
The way it works is, you get Tim Pool to ask Trump if he's thinking about eating the elephant, no president ever has, maybe the elephants name is Barack. Then we can have a month of "Trump considering baby elephant burger" stories.
Surprised not to have seen more discussion of Arknights: Endfield as a straightforward "strand-type game", its the most mainstream example I can think of that isn't Death Stranding. Deemphasizes combat in favor of construction, with network elements. Really interested to see how it goes over time.
February 3, 2026 at 5:31 PM
Surprised not to have seen more discussion of Arknights: Endfield as a straightforward "strand-type game", its the most mainstream example I can think of that isn't Death Stranding. Deemphasizes combat in favor of construction, with network elements. Really interested to see how it goes over time.
People out complaining about ICE being forced to wear body cameras like it doesn't matter - just tells me they aren't really engaged with the project of reforming law enforcement. It's a long-term project that will take decades and many, many steps, none of which will be "end policing".
February 2, 2026 at 10:50 PM
People out complaining about ICE being forced to wear body cameras like it doesn't matter - just tells me they aren't really engaged with the project of reforming law enforcement. It's a long-term project that will take decades and many, many steps, none of which will be "end policing".
Reposted by Guy DeBored
Compelling piece which argues that the events of 2020 to 2023 saw a shift away from US thinking that MENA's stability relied on a balance of power between the KSA and IRI towards an overt underwriting of Israeli regional domination, which in turn has compelled other states to unite against this.
Iran and the New Geopolitical Moment
A coalition of states is seeking to avert a U.S. attack, and Israel is in the forefront of their mind.
carnegieendowment.org
February 2, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Compelling piece which argues that the events of 2020 to 2023 saw a shift away from US thinking that MENA's stability relied on a balance of power between the KSA and IRI towards an overt underwriting of Israeli regional domination, which in turn has compelled other states to unite against this.
If you are interested in Code Vein 2, you should just consider what you thought about the first Code Vein - or go play the first game. I liked Code Vein and the sequel feels extremely similar - for good and bad. There's some visual design evolution but it's mechanically almost the same game.
February 2, 2026 at 6:50 PM
If you are interested in Code Vein 2, you should just consider what you thought about the first Code Vein - or go play the first game. I liked Code Vein and the sequel feels extremely similar - for good and bad. There's some visual design evolution but it's mechanically almost the same game.
While I do enjoy the world and environment design in Wuthering Waves, the core narrative quests have developed the same issues that eventually drove me away from HSR. Repeatedly, main quests are overlong story segments full of so many proper nouns I lose interest halfway through.
January 29, 2026 at 4:50 PM
While I do enjoy the world and environment design in Wuthering Waves, the core narrative quests have developed the same issues that eventually drove me away from HSR. Repeatedly, main quests are overlong story segments full of so many proper nouns I lose interest halfway through.
As I have now seen all the current Wuthering Waves areas, I'm really impressed with Kuro's environment design and the evolution of themes through the different regions. Each one has been better realized than the last, attractive and novel. Necessary after the Genshin-ass first area, but still.
January 27, 2026 at 6:44 PM
As I have now seen all the current Wuthering Waves areas, I'm really impressed with Kuro's environment design and the evolution of themes through the different regions. Each one has been better realized than the last, attractive and novel. Necessary after the Genshin-ass first area, but still.
Reposted by Guy DeBored
Last year, a human trafficking victim trapped in a crypto scam compound in the Golden Triangle region of Laos contacted me. He then proceeded to leak to me a huge collection of the compound's internal materials.
Then he had to get out alive. This is his story.
🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
Then he had to get out alive. This is his story.
🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
He Leaked the Secrets of a Southeast Asian Scam Compound. Then He Had to Get Out Alive
A source trapped inside an industrial-scale scamming operation contacted me, determined to expose his captors’ crimes—and then escape. This is his story.
www.wired.com
January 27, 2026 at 12:15 PM
Last year, a human trafficking victim trapped in a crypto scam compound in the Golden Triangle region of Laos contacted me. He then proceeded to leak to me a huge collection of the compound's internal materials.
Then he had to get out alive. This is his story.
🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
Then he had to get out alive. This is his story.
🧵👇 www.wired.com/story/he-lea...
