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Design Room
@designroom.site
A new website dedicated to video game oral histories from @mattleone.bsky.social. Find us at designroom.site. Logo by asawallander.se.
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Hi, we're a new video game oral history site. Some highlights so far:

Mirror's Edge: bit.ly/mirrorsedgeoralhistory
Sayonara Wild Hearts: bit.ly/sayonarawildhearts
Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/shadowotcolossus
Sound Fantasy: bit.ly/49xPfha
Rez Infinite: bit.ly/4pKj0BB

Find us at designroom.site.
Thanks so much!
January 16, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Been reading this excellent piece from @designroom.bsky.social about Mirror’s Edge. A lot jumps out at me but this really hit me like a ton of bricks.

In 2008, EA released:
Mirrors Edge
Left 4 Dead
Spore
Dead Space

Unrecognizable from today’s POV.

www.designroom.site/mirrors-edge...
Mirror's Edge: An oral history
17 years on from its release, DICE's first-person parkour thriller is a cult classic. We spoke to nine people who worked on it about how the revelatory game came to be.
www.designroom.site
January 16, 2026 at 4:26 PM
In less than three months!
January 16, 2026 at 5:08 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Thank you, Yoko Ono, for reminding everyone that John Lennon could be a real ass sometimes <3
January 15, 2026 at 7:35 PM
Reposted by Design Room
the dream team rides again - excited to have an excerpt from my book on @mattleone.bsky.social's wonderful new site, @designroom.bsky.social. Loved writing this chapter on The Beatles, and especially learning more about the GOAT Yoko Ono.
January 15, 2026 at 7:18 PM
This is an excerpt from @metallicaisrad.bsky.social's new Guitar Hero/Rock Band oral history book from @readonlymemory.com, which is available now.
The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom
The Oral History of Guitar Hero, Rock Band and the Music Game Boom tells the full inside story of a gaming phenomenon that lived fast and died young. Building on Blake Hester’s acclaimed 2021 Vice art...
readonlymemory.com
January 15, 2026 at 6:27 PM
"Directing The Beatles: Rock Band is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."
"That looks stupid." How Harmonix made The Beatles: Rock Band
A new book excerpt reveals how Harmonix, MTV Games, and Electronic Arts teamed up with The Beatles for a rare video game collaboration.
www.designroom.site
January 15, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Hi, we're a new video game oral history site. Some highlights so far:

Mirror's Edge: bit.ly/mirrorsedgeoralhistory
Sayonara Wild Hearts: bit.ly/sayonarawildhearts
Shadow of the Colossus: bit.ly/shadowotcolossus
Sound Fantasy: bit.ly/49xPfha
Rez Infinite: bit.ly/4pKj0BB

Find us at designroom.site.
January 14, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Everybody should be reading @designroom.bsky.social Excellent oral history of Mirror’s Edge just posted
January 14, 2026 at 3:20 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Our next big project is live! @lewisgordon.bsky.social spent the past few months tracking down nine people who worked on DICE's innovative 2008 parkour runner.
Mirror's Edge: An oral history
17 years on from its release, DICE's first-person parkour thriller is a cult classic. We spoke to nine people who worked on it about how the revelatory game came to be.
www.designroom.site
January 13, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Best accidental homepage story placement.
January 13, 2026 at 10:44 PM
Reposted by Design Room
So many cool stories in @lewisgordon.bsky.social's oral history of Mirror's Edge, including about the now-iconic art style, along with some eye-opening ones about how marketing decisions were made at EA back then. (I feel like corporations are *somewhat* more willing to delay games these days?)
January 13, 2026 at 8:21 PM
What could have been: We talk to members of the original Mirror's Edge team about the sequel they wanted to make.
The lost Mirror's Edge sequel
Former DICE team members talk about their plans for a Mirror's Edge sequel following the game's release in 2008 -- and why those plans didn't pan out.
www.designroom.site
January 13, 2026 at 6:16 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Sally Lore: one of the first video games I auditioned for was Mirror’s Edge!

I was somehow shortlisted- though I had no idea what I’d auditioned for until years later because it was anonymised.
January 13, 2026 at 5:10 PM
Lots of new details in here on how the game came about, discarded experiments, sequel attempts, and more. With header art from the great @kim-hu.com.
January 13, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Our next big project is live! @lewisgordon.bsky.social spent the past few months tracking down nine people who worked on DICE's innovative 2008 parkour runner.
Mirror's Edge: An oral history
17 years on from its release, DICE's first-person parkour thriller is a cult classic. We spoke to nine people who worked on it about how the revelatory game came to be.
www.designroom.site
January 13, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Big new story coming next week! You'd already know what it is if you subscribed to our newsletter, though... www.designroom.site#/portal/signup
January 8, 2026 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by Design Room
Read (and hear!) how “Begin Again” from Sayonara Wild Hearts came to be. www.designroom.site/how-simogo-b...
By @designroom.bsky.social
How Simogo built Sayonara Wild Hearts' best stage
We talk with four members of the team about how "Begin Again" came about, why it took them a year to finish it, and the challenges of building something new.
www.designroom.site
January 6, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Happy new year! We've got big plans for 2026, but this seems like as good a time as any to poll the room: What games do you want to see oral histories on in 2026?
January 2, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Happy new year! We've got big plans for 2026, but this seems like as good a time as any to poll the room: What games do you want to see oral histories on in 2026?
January 2, 2026 at 6:13 PM
Reposted by Design Room
The final story in our music series is live!
How Simogo built Sayonara Wild Hearts' best stage
We talk with four members of the team about how "Begin Again" came about, why it took them a year to finish it, and the challenges of building something new.
www.designroom.site
December 19, 2025 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by Design Room
Our music game series is now done, so let's recap it with original art by @wendyleftmealone.bsky.social.
December 22, 2025 at 5:56 PM
And finally, we talked with Simogo about Sayonara Wild Hearts' best stage, why it took them a year to finish it, and the challenges of building something new. www.designroom.site/how-simogo-b...
How Simogo built Sayonara Wild Hearts' best stage
We talk with four members of the team about how "Begin Again" came about, why it took them a year to finish it, and the challenges of building something new.
www.designroom.site
December 22, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Iwai had lots to say about his first game, the Famicom musical shooter Otocky, as well, so we then made that into its own story.
A rhythm-based shoot-'em-up in... 1987?
Before making Sound Fantasy and Electroplankton with Nintendo, Toshio Iwai designed a Famicom Disk System game starring a flying “sound warrior” called Otocky.
www.designroom.site
December 22, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Next, @radishgames.com tracked down Toshio Iwai to talk about the canceled SNES first-party game Sound Fantasy and how that ultimately led to Electroplankton.
Toshio Iwai's journey from Sound Fantasy to Electroplankton
We profile the artist behind two of Nintendo's attempts at making experimental music games -- one a canceled Super Famicom game based on musical insects, and the other a Nintendo DS cult-favorite base...
www.designroom.site
December 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM