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Rick Lane

@ricklane.bsky.social

930 followers 300 following 650 posts

Freelance journalist, critic and consultant. Bylines at The Guardian, PC Gamer, NME, Eurogamer and more. Immersive sim geek. Contact: [email protected]

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Reposted by Rick Lane

Jeremy Peel @jeremypeel.bsky.social · 11h

If you're disgusted by all media outlets redirecting their coverage efforts toward Prime Day, please ask the human race to stop clicking on keyboard deals and start clicking on journalism instead. I promise you everyone wants to be doing the latter.

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 1d

Linked to the reviews like a chump. Here's the actual Steam page link. store.steampowered.com/app/2088550/...

Save 20% on Dying Breed on Steam

Golden-age RTS classic. Fast-paced action & strategic decision-making, battling evil arch-enemies, zombies, and retro-futuristic technologies. All to a '90s electro-metal soundtrack and FMV live-a...

store.steampowered.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 1d

It's hardly a new phenomenon, but it's wild how stuff like this just appears on Steam all the time.

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 1d

Thought Tempest Rising was a slam dunk for "Best C&C clone 2025" but this one from MicroProse nails the visual style of the original. store.steampowered.com/app/2088550/...

Save 20% on Dying Breed on Steam

Golden-age RTS classic. Fast-paced action & strategic decision-making, battling evil arch-enemies, zombies, and retro-futuristic technologies. All to a '90s electro-metal soundtrack and FMV live-a...

store.steampowered.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 1d

Already seen two one star reviews of Tron Ares. Oof.

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 1d

So utterly, utterly sick of seeing those godforsaken little sparkles on every single program, app, menu, taskbar, webpage, chatbox, advert, banner, popup and virtual pet I encounter when Just Trying To Use The Computer.

Reposted by Rick Lane

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 3d

For this week's PC Gamer column, I spoke to former gamedev and current author Glen Dahlgren about the extraordinary development of 1999's The Wheel of Time. Strap yourself in, it's a wild ride. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/in...

Inside the astonishing development of 1999's The Wheel of Time FPS: 'The fact that we shipped anything at all is kind of a miracle'

"I never played my games after they were done, but this one I played forever because it was so fun."

www.pcgamer.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 3d

For this week's PC Gamer column, I spoke to former gamedev and current author Glen Dahlgren about the extraordinary development of 1999's The Wheel of Time. Strap yourself in, it's a wild ride. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/in...

Inside the astonishing development of 1999's The Wheel of Time FPS: 'The fact that we shipped anything at all is kind of a miracle'

"I never played my games after they were done, but this one I played forever because it was so fun."

www.pcgamer.com

Reposted by Rick Lane

Dan Marshall @danthat.bsky.social · 4d

If you enjoy Size Five and want to see it survive what is a very iffy time for the Games Industry, please do three things with your Saturday:

✅ Wishlist EARTH MUST DIE
✅ Buy a game on sale
✅ Share these links where you can

store.steampowered.com/app/3639780/...

store.steampowered.com/dev/sizefive

Earth Must Die on Steam

These moronic Terranoids think they can just roll in here and take over my beautiful Tyrythian kingdom? The kingdom that I built from the ground up with my bare hands, and only sort of inherited from ...

store.steampowered.com

Reposted by Rick Lane

The Society of Authors @societyofauthors.bsky.social · 6d

A searchable works list has been released to identify the authors’ works that were stolen by US Corporation Anthropic, to train its AI models. It includes UK authors whose works were copied without their permission or payment.

Reposted by Rick Lane

Jeff Grubb @grubb.wtf · 6d

things are getting more expensive because only rich people are spending. The top 10% of earners ($250k as a household) make up half of all consumer spending in the US. So, everything is being priced for them while Xbox leaves everyone else behind. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Top 10% of Earners Drive a Growing Share of US Consumer Spending

Wealthy consumers continue to account for a growing share of US consumer spending, highlighting the lopsided strength of the economy as a slowdown in hiring and wariness among other income cohorts rai...

www.bloomberg.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 6d

When you've definitely played more than the first level of the game.

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 7d

Having a true PC gaming experience this evening as I randomly pull out wires in the BIOS in an effort to get a game to launch.

Reposted by Rick Lane

RetrogamerDaz @retrogamerdaz.bsky.social · 8d

November marks my 20th year on the magazine. I think that deserves a self-congratulatory pat on the back.
For every like this receives I'll try and recall one anecdote (interesting or otherwise) about my time on the mag.
(this is one of my favourite covers by armyoftrolls)

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 8d

Typically, I now have the disgusting urge to replay all the Call of Duty campaigns.

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 8d

If you need a laugh this morning, I urge you to read Jeremy Peel's brilliant summary of Call of Duty: Black Ops' preposterous lore. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/ca...

Can I explain Black Ops lore to you in time for the new sequel? Well: I'll try

There's a maximum amount of sense this series can make, and we'll endeavour to reach that threshold together.

www.pcgamer.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 9d

Even coming in with incredibly low expectations, I am amazed by how bad this is. Isn't the point supposed to be that he doesn't look and sound like an animatronic?

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 9d

"Sure, we created something ghoulish and morally reprehensible. But in our defence, we also did a TERRIBLE job."

Screen Rant @screenrant.bsky.social · 10d

Checking out the Stan Lee Experience
at #LACC.

The hologram sends his greetings to all the fans at ScreenRant.

Reposted by Rick Lane

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 10d

For this week's PC Gamer column, I tried to find out what happened to the ill-fated Source mod They Hunger: Lost Souls. And, uh, I kinda did. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/wh...

Whatever happened to They Hunger: Lost Souls, the sequel to one of Half-Life's best mods?

Unravelling the strange death of the once highly-anticipated mod.

www.pcgamer.com

Reposted by Rick Lane

Dan Marshall @danthat.bsky.social · 10d

EARTH MUST DIE

Featuring a load of my favourite comedians - too many even to fit on the trailer! Joel Fry! Martha Howe-Douglas! @alexhorne.bsky.social! Tamsin Grieg! @5teviem.bsky.social @mrholness.bsky.social! @misterabk.bsky.social! @rosieisaholt.bsky.social! MORE

Please RETWEET and WISHLIST

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 10d

It's fine to watch Love Island as a guilty pleasure, for example. But if you're, say, watching nothing but unedited Twitch streams, you should probably engage with some art directly.

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 10d

Broadly on board with this article, though I think there's a big difference between being a snob and just having some basic taste. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

In an era of AI slop and mid TV, is it time for cultural snobbery to make a comeback?

The lowbrow dominates culture and anyone who questions the status quo is dismissed as an elitist killjoy. But with bland algorithmic content on the rise, perhaps we consumers should start taking our a...

www.theguardian.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 10d

For this week's PC Gamer column, I tried to find out what happened to the ill-fated Source mod They Hunger: Lost Souls. And, uh, I kinda did. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/wh...

Whatever happened to They Hunger: Lost Souls, the sequel to one of Half-Life's best mods?

Unravelling the strange death of the once highly-anticipated mod.

www.pcgamer.com

Reposted by Rick Lane

Glen Tedman @dilfpatrol.bsky.social · 11d

@ricklane.bsky.social continues to do pioneering work in the field of Source Engineology, a discipline whose deep lore and forgotten texts can make you go blind like the Ancestor Moth monks in Oblivion. www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/wh...

Whatever happened to They Hunger: Lost Souls, the sequel to one of Half-Life's best mods?

Unravelling the strange death of the once highly-anticipated mod.

www.pcgamer.com

Rick Lane @ricklane.bsky.social · 13d

DE's a hard game to remaster because it's so damn dingy. But at the same time I've never really felt like it needs it. It's kinda supposed to look grotty and bleak.