Jon Irwin
@winwinirwin.bsky.social
Writer/Teacher.
Words in Kill Screen, Paste, Men's Health, The Atlantic, Billboard, Variety, Washington Post, Inverse and more.
https://about.me/jonirwinis
Words in Kill Screen, Paste, Men's Health, The Atlantic, Billboard, Variety, Washington Post, Inverse and more.
https://about.me/jonirwinis
Pinned
Jon Irwin
@winwinirwin.bsky.social
· Feb 13
Jon Irwin is feigning optimism on about.me
I am a writer and teacher in Atlanta, Georgia. View my portfolio.
about.me
Hello!
Until I land that lucrative book contract with publisher-funded website, here is my free online landing page.
about.me/jonirwinis
Until I land that lucrative book contract with publisher-funded website, here is my free online landing page.
about.me/jonirwinis
I remember playing this on my iPod Touch way back when. Wasn't sure how it would hold up in the year of our lord 2025... but it still gets its hooks in and is a great lil' reminder of the promise of early mobile games that were fun, simple arcade-y action distilled into a single input.
Simogo Legacy Collection • Spotlight 1: Kosmo Spin
Available Dec 2! Wishlist:
Steam store.steampowered.com/app/3817040/...
Nintendo Switch www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Nintendo Switch 2 www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Available Dec 2! Wishlist:
Steam store.steampowered.com/app/3817040/...
Nintendo Switch www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
Nintendo Switch 2 www.nintendo.com/us/store/pro...
November 24, 2025 at 3:30 PM
I remember playing this on my iPod Touch way back when. Wasn't sure how it would hold up in the year of our lord 2025... but it still gets its hooks in and is a great lil' reminder of the promise of early mobile games that were fun, simple arcade-y action distilled into a single input.
Reposted by Jon Irwin
🚨 MORSELS REVIEW 🚨
Would love to get some eyes on this! I know it’s an uphill battle posting about a game with a small footprint post-launch, but I think it’s worth making space for reviews like this.
jakesteinberg.substack.com/p/morsels-re...
Would love to get some eyes on this! I know it’s an uphill battle posting about a game with a small footprint post-launch, but I think it’s worth making space for reviews like this.
jakesteinberg.substack.com/p/morsels-re...
Morsels Review
Don't Look Away
jakesteinberg.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
🚨 MORSELS REVIEW 🚨
Would love to get some eyes on this! I know it’s an uphill battle posting about a game with a small footprint post-launch, but I think it’s worth making space for reviews like this.
jakesteinberg.substack.com/p/morsels-re...
Would love to get some eyes on this! I know it’s an uphill battle posting about a game with a small footprint post-launch, but I think it’s worth making space for reviews like this.
jakesteinberg.substack.com/p/morsels-re...
I just sat in my car to see if this was her real name or if my car’s radio was hallucinating. She’s real! Incredible.
November 19, 2025 at 10:46 PM
I just sat in my car to see if this was her real name or if my car’s radio was hallucinating. She’s real! Incredible.
Reposted by Jon Irwin
Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made.
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
November 19, 2025 at 6:38 PM
Today is the day to repost this meme about International Men's Day, one of the most unironically wholesome memes that has ever been made.
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Shoutout to all my fellow champs, chiefs, and kings. ✊
Please let’s give this the Star Fox 2 treatment and release it on NSO
Also in the main story: archival photos showing the packaging for Iwai’s canceled Super Famicom game Sound Fantasy.
November 19, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Please let’s give this the Star Fox 2 treatment and release it on NSO
Let this be a reminder that in Wii Fit Plus, you could attach the Fit Meter to your dog’s collar and upload its steps into their very own doggy profile in the game
November 18, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Let this be a reminder that in Wii Fit Plus, you could attach the Fit Meter to your dog’s collar and upload its steps into their very own doggy profile in the game
After finally finishing Ratner’s Star I am sharing this reminder, both to you and myself
Wrote a little about difficult books, short books, and short and difficult books. countercraft.substack.com/p/short-litt...
Short Little Difficult Books
Novels that challenge with style, story, or form that you can read in a day.
countercraft.substack.com
November 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
After finally finishing Ratner’s Star I am sharing this reminder, both to you and myself
Counterpoint to all the glowing impressions of the Analogue 64:
Maybe you should only play 64-bit games from 1997 on a 27” CRT.
Are there converters for playing old VHS tapes on 4K 80” flatscreens? If so they should be destroyed.
Maybe you should only play 64-bit games from 1997 on a 27” CRT.
Are there converters for playing old VHS tapes on 4K 80” flatscreens? If so they should be destroyed.
November 18, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Counterpoint to all the glowing impressions of the Analogue 64:
Maybe you should only play 64-bit games from 1997 on a 27” CRT.
Are there converters for playing old VHS tapes on 4K 80” flatscreens? If so they should be destroyed.
Maybe you should only play 64-bit games from 1997 on a 27” CRT.
Are there converters for playing old VHS tapes on 4K 80” flatscreens? If so they should be destroyed.
Most retro filters don’t really do it for me, but there’s something about the one from @digitaleclipse.bsky.social for the original Mortal Kombat (Arcade) that puts me back at Tel-Twelve Mall in Southfield, MI.
The Legacy Kollection is a remarkable achievement. Such an important moment, told well.
The Legacy Kollection is a remarkable achievement. Such an important moment, told well.
November 18, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Most retro filters don’t really do it for me, but there’s something about the one from @digitaleclipse.bsky.social for the original Mortal Kombat (Arcade) that puts me back at Tel-Twelve Mall in Southfield, MI.
The Legacy Kollection is a remarkable achievement. Such an important moment, told well.
The Legacy Kollection is a remarkable achievement. Such an important moment, told well.
So Metroid Prime 4 has a hub world-like desert called Sol Valley that connects a bunch of its areas...
I'm thinking Vanpool had a role to play in all this
I'm thinking Vanpool had a role to play in all this
November 14, 2025 at 4:32 PM
So Metroid Prime 4 has a hub world-like desert called Sol Valley that connects a bunch of its areas...
I'm thinking Vanpool had a role to play in all this
I'm thinking Vanpool had a role to play in all this
Reposted by Jon Irwin
Metroid may lead all franchises in Discourse:Sales ratio.
November 14, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Metroid may lead all franchises in Discourse:Sales ratio.
People seem anxious about the new Metroid game's surprise inclusion of some hanger-on but I'm all for a 40-year-old franchise trying something new.
(This, from an unapologetic fan of Other M, so...)
I'm glad @ashleybardhan.bsky.social seems on board, too.
www.gamesradar.com/games/metroi...
(This, from an unapologetic fan of Other M, so...)
I'm glad @ashleybardhan.bsky.social seems on board, too.
www.gamesradar.com/games/metroi...
After 18 years, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is a surprisingly magical return to Nintendo's legendary series, and I'm all in on psychic abilities and the power of friendship
Hands-on | My 80 minutes blasting away on the Nintendo Switch 2 left me feeling one thing: good for her
www.gamesradar.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:18 PM
People seem anxious about the new Metroid game's surprise inclusion of some hanger-on but I'm all for a 40-year-old franchise trying something new.
(This, from an unapologetic fan of Other M, so...)
I'm glad @ashleybardhan.bsky.social seems on board, too.
www.gamesradar.com/games/metroi...
(This, from an unapologetic fan of Other M, so...)
I'm glad @ashleybardhan.bsky.social seems on board, too.
www.gamesradar.com/games/metroi...
I’m doing what I can.
November 14, 2025 at 3:57 PM
I’m doing what I can.
Watching GILDA right now. You can be too. Think about what you’re doing, and then think, “Is this better than watching Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford?” And it’s likely not. So join me.
November 14, 2025 at 3:35 AM
Watching GILDA right now. You can be too. Think about what you’re doing, and then think, “Is this better than watching Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford?” And it’s likely not. So join me.
Always on the cusp of the latest & greatest, I picked up Madden ‘18 (PS4) in a Clearance bin at a used book store, primarily to play Longshot, the in-engine story mode co-written by a guy I had pizza with once. @adriantoddzuniga.bsky.social
It was great! If Madden was just this I’d be all over it.
It was great! If Madden was just this I’d be all over it.
November 13, 2025 at 5:29 PM
Always on the cusp of the latest & greatest, I picked up Madden ‘18 (PS4) in a Clearance bin at a used book store, primarily to play Longshot, the in-engine story mode co-written by a guy I had pizza with once. @adriantoddzuniga.bsky.social
It was great! If Madden was just this I’d be all over it.
It was great! If Madden was just this I’d be all over it.
Interesting write-up by @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social on these new idle games that run on your Desktop. As a Chrome user I haven't seen these... not sure if they're my jam but certainly seems like a less caustic use of time than endless scrolling between work tasks.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/a...
These Video Games Want Only Some of Your Attention
www.nytimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:38 PM
Interesting write-up by @nicolecarpenter.bsky.social on these new idle games that run on your Desktop. As a Chrome user I haven't seen these... not sure if they're my jam but certainly seems like a less caustic use of time than endless scrolling between work tasks.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/a...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/a...
Permit me to port-beg for a Switch 2 version that uses the upcoming Virtual Boy goggles as makeshift VR headset
🎉 Lumines Arise Available Now for PS5 and Steam 🚀
Light, sound and haptics unite your senses. Feel the good vibes. Puzzle differently.
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2370000/Lumines_Arise
PS5: store.playstation.com/concept/10011885
lumines.game #LuminesArise
Light, sound and haptics unite your senses. Feel the good vibes. Puzzle differently.
Steam: store.steampowered.com/app/2370000/Lumines_Arise
PS5: store.playstation.com/concept/10011885
lumines.game #LuminesArise
November 11, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Permit me to port-beg for a Switch 2 version that uses the upcoming Virtual Boy goggles as makeshift VR headset
Reposted by Jon Irwin
Good morning
Here is the correct vid as mentioned on yesterday's stream that has the context of the Nintendo Power info: The "voice effects" of Fulgore in Killer Instinct are modified audio of pigs squealing.
Now you must carry the burden of seeing the cute piggy face every time you hit Fulgore.
Here is the correct vid as mentioned on yesterday's stream that has the context of the Nintendo Power info: The "voice effects" of Fulgore in Killer Instinct are modified audio of pigs squealing.
Now you must carry the burden of seeing the cute piggy face every time you hit Fulgore.
November 11, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Good morning
Here is the correct vid as mentioned on yesterday's stream that has the context of the Nintendo Power info: The "voice effects" of Fulgore in Killer Instinct are modified audio of pigs squealing.
Now you must carry the burden of seeing the cute piggy face every time you hit Fulgore.
Here is the correct vid as mentioned on yesterday's stream that has the context of the Nintendo Power info: The "voice effects" of Fulgore in Killer Instinct are modified audio of pigs squealing.
Now you must carry the burden of seeing the cute piggy face every time you hit Fulgore.
Wish I could put this next to Rez Infinite & Tetris Effect on my aging PS4. Alas, progress waits for no man. Hope this does well!
While I wasn't *quite* as smitten by Lumines Arise as everyone else, I was enthralled for a stint. Especially in VR, it was like a wild two-day bender of stress relief, but I don't see myself coming back to it as often as I do other puzzlers.
@rollingstone.com
www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-g...
@rollingstone.com
www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-g...
'Lumines Arise' Is a Trippy Puzzle Game Beamed Into Your Eyeballs
'Lumines' gets the 'Tetris Effect' treatment with an immersive synesthesia makeup
www.rollingstone.com
November 11, 2025 at 4:53 PM
Wish I could put this next to Rez Infinite & Tetris Effect on my aging PS4. Alas, progress waits for no man. Hope this does well!
Reposted by Jon Irwin
I seriously don't want any new high-end hardware until 2035. Now would be a good time to work on shrinking down existing hardware to handheld form instead.
The PS5 is only in the middle of its lifecycle, says Sony CFO Lin Tao:
"The PS5 is only in the middle of the journey[...]There are many active users enjoying the console. We are really planning to expand it even further.
Holiday promotions to expand install base.
➡️ gamingbolt.com/ps5-is-only-...
"The PS5 is only in the middle of the journey[...]There are many active users enjoying the console. We are really planning to expand it even further.
Holiday promotions to expand install base.
➡️ gamingbolt.com/ps5-is-only-...
November 11, 2025 at 4:22 PM
I seriously don't want any new high-end hardware until 2035. Now would be a good time to work on shrinking down existing hardware to handheld form instead.
Was very happy to have a student come up to me, tell me they saw my @bossfightbooks.com Mario 2 book in our department's glass cabinet for faculty work & ask how they could buy it in a way that gives me the most money. Told her I still have a few copies at home. I brought 'em in & she paid MSRP.
November 7, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Was very happy to have a student come up to me, tell me they saw my @bossfightbooks.com Mario 2 book in our department's glass cabinet for faculty work & ask how they could buy it in a way that gives me the most money. Told her I still have a few copies at home. I brought 'em in & she paid MSRP.
Today's paper-grading music:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqX...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqX...
Miles Davis - On The Corner (1972) - full album
YouTube video by Driving a stolen car
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Today's paper-grading music:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqX...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIqX...
I'm newly addicted to KOSMO SPIN like it's 2010, dang
November 7, 2025 at 6:06 PM
I'm newly addicted to KOSMO SPIN like it's 2010, dang
I hope BLIPPO+ has unlocked a new era of games leaning into this channel-surfing/TV Guide aesthetic, I love it
🏰KINGDOMS OF THE DUMP🏰
An indie turn-based RPG set in the "Lands of Fill"
🗑️Made by real janitors
♻️6+ Years of work
📢RELEASING IN DAYS (NOV. 18)
I finally hung up the broom after years of janiteering to focus on our launch.
Help us out by wishlisting now!
#PitchYaGame
An indie turn-based RPG set in the "Lands of Fill"
🗑️Made by real janitors
♻️6+ Years of work
📢RELEASING IN DAYS (NOV. 18)
I finally hung up the broom after years of janiteering to focus on our launch.
Help us out by wishlisting now!
#PitchYaGame
November 7, 2025 at 6:03 PM
I hope BLIPPO+ has unlocked a new era of games leaning into this channel-surfing/TV Guide aesthetic, I love it