Ryan C. Gordon
@icculus.icculus.org
Don't use this service, didn't you learn _anything_ from Twitter?
Not only was Firewatch incredible, but the wild marketing done outside the game was honestly brilliant: you could mail order your in-game photos and they would send you printed copies, and one person actually wrote in to order a paperback from the game and _they produced and sent it to him_.
Ten years ago today we shipped Firewatch. I say this every anniversary but it feels both like a lifetime ago and like it was yesterday. Thank you everyone who played it back then or played it today for the first time. Thank you to everyone on the team, I’m still so proud of what we made.
February 9, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Not only was Firewatch incredible, but the wild marketing done outside the game was honestly brilliant: you could mail order your in-game photos and they would send you printed copies, and one person actually wrote in to order a paperback from the game and _they produced and sent it to him_.
I wonder if there are any 80s kids watching the Olympic opening ceremonies play the Triumphal March from Aida, who just got their shit rocked because they always thought this was the opening theme to The Hobbit on the C-64.
youtu.be/l3w4I-KElxQ?...
youtu.be/4ZLD0tBuEbA?...
youtu.be/l3w4I-KElxQ?...
youtu.be/4ZLD0tBuEbA?...
The Hobbit / C64
YouTube video by World of RetroGaming
youtu.be
February 7, 2026 at 1:37 AM
I wonder if there are any 80s kids watching the Olympic opening ceremonies play the Triumphal March from Aida, who just got their shit rocked because they always thought this was the opening theme to The Hobbit on the C-64.
youtu.be/l3w4I-KElxQ?...
youtu.be/4ZLD0tBuEbA?...
youtu.be/l3w4I-KElxQ?...
youtu.be/4ZLD0tBuEbA?...
Looking aside all the other awfulness of modern-day Twitter, I'm realizing that all it _ever_ feeds me now is vague shit, so I have to click on the Grok button to explain literally every tweet it shows me.
I think this, as much as everything else, drove me away from there.
I think this, as much as everything else, drove me away from there.
February 4, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Looking aside all the other awfulness of modern-day Twitter, I'm realizing that all it _ever_ feeds me now is vague shit, so I have to click on the Grok button to explain literally every tweet it shows me.
I think this, as much as everything else, drove me away from there.
I think this, as much as everything else, drove me away from there.
Online Sundance continues:
Big Girls Don’t Cry hits some deeply uncomfortable notes about growing up. I cringed so much during it. That’s not meant as a negative.
Everybody to Kenmure Street was so good. Absolute resistance role models.
Big Girls Don’t Cry hits some deeply uncomfortable notes about growing up. I cringed so much during it. That’s not meant as a negative.
Everybody to Kenmure Street was so good. Absolute resistance role models.
January 31, 2026 at 3:48 AM
Online Sundance continues:
Big Girls Don’t Cry hits some deeply uncomfortable notes about growing up. I cringed so much during it. That’s not meant as a negative.
Everybody to Kenmure Street was so good. Absolute resistance role models.
Big Girls Don’t Cry hits some deeply uncomfortable notes about growing up. I cringed so much during it. That’s not meant as a negative.
Everybody to Kenmure Street was so good. Absolute resistance role models.
Wrapping up my first Sundance experience. Time and Water kicked my ass, and Queen of Chess was good but didn’t blow me away.
Spent most of our time doing Cookie Queens stuff. Next year, Olive and I might go to Boulder and just stuff our eyeballs with films for a solid week.
Spent most of our time doing Cookie Queens stuff. Next year, Olive and I might go to Boulder and just stuff our eyeballs with films for a solid week.
January 29, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Wrapping up my first Sundance experience. Time and Water kicked my ass, and Queen of Chess was good but didn’t blow me away.
Spent most of our time doing Cookie Queens stuff. Next year, Olive and I might go to Boulder and just stuff our eyeballs with films for a solid week.
Spent most of our time doing Cookie Queens stuff. Next year, Olive and I might go to Boulder and just stuff our eyeballs with films for a solid week.
Finally got to see a second film at Sundance, and totally made an ass of myself gushing to @lizgarbus.bsky.social about her latest work afterwards. 😬 “Give Me The Ball!” gave me a lot of hope, though. I was grateful the waitlist paid out for me here.
January 28, 2026 at 5:20 AM
Finally got to see a second film at Sundance, and totally made an ass of myself gushing to @lizgarbus.bsky.social about her latest work afterwards. 😬 “Give Me The Ball!” gave me a lot of hope, though. I was grateful the waitlist paid out for me here.
“We all saw the video” is going to be the phrase of the year. I fucking hate it.
January 24, 2026 at 11:33 PM
“We all saw the video” is going to be the phrase of the year. I fucking hate it.
More notifications like this, please.
January 15, 2026 at 3:10 PM
More notifications like this, please.
See, this is a popular misunderstanding, William. The doctor is actually named Frankenstein, not the monster.
January 12, 2026 at 9:37 PM
See, this is a popular misunderstanding, William. The doctor is actually named Frankenstein, not the monster.
I gritted my teeth and sat through the last 60 minute of The Substance so I could correct my original review: web.archive.org/web/20250107...
It took me days to get through it, avoiding looking at the screen. The last part was easier to watch because it gets so grotesque that it becomes cartoonish.
It took me days to get through it, avoiding looking at the screen. The last part was easier to watch because it gets so grotesque that it becomes cartoonish.
The Substance
Okay, look, disclaimer: I walked out of this movie around the 90 minute mark, with almost an hour to go.
The film spends entirely too long on body horror, which gets increasingly harder to sit throug...
web.archive.org
January 7, 2026 at 7:26 PM
I gritted my teeth and sat through the last 60 minute of The Substance so I could correct my original review: web.archive.org/web/20250107...
It took me days to get through it, avoiding looking at the screen. The last part was easier to watch because it gets so grotesque that it becomes cartoonish.
It took me days to get through it, avoiding looking at the screen. The last part was easier to watch because it gets so grotesque that it becomes cartoonish.
Eddington is a wildly overrated movie.
January 7, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Eddington is a wildly overrated movie.
Oh wow, someone built a profiler for DragonRuby Game Toolkit: pvande.itch.io/firestarter
Super cool! I love the "please don't buy a commercial license until you make money" note, too.
But sorry, good sir: it's an instant buy over here even without a specific game in mind. :)
Super cool! I love the "please don't buy a commercial license until you make money" note, too.
But sorry, good sir: it's an instant buy over here even without a specific game in mind. :)
Firestarter by pvande
Ignite Your Insight
pvande.itch.io
January 2, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Oh wow, someone built a profiler for DragonRuby Game Toolkit: pvande.itch.io/firestarter
Super cool! I love the "please don't buy a commercial license until you make money" note, too.
But sorry, good sir: it's an instant buy over here even without a specific game in mind. :)
Super cool! I love the "please don't buy a commercial license until you make money" note, too.
But sorry, good sir: it's an instant buy over here even without a specific game in mind. :)
Okay, the memes aside, this was unironically pretty good.
January 2, 2026 at 5:42 PM
Okay, the memes aside, this was unironically pretty good.
Start the new year with a really big SDL3 release! 3.4.0 finally shipped, before the stroke of midnight! github.com/libsdl-org/S...
Release 3.4.0 · libsdl-org/SDL
Thanks to all the people who have contributed, SDL 3.4.0 is now available!
In addition to lots of bug fixes and general system improvements, this release has some major themes of improved interoper...
github.com
January 1, 2026 at 7:59 PM
Start the new year with a really big SDL3 release! 3.4.0 finally shipped, before the stroke of midnight! github.com/libsdl-org/S...
The last ten minutes of Hamnet absolutely ground me down to dust. The ushers had to sweep my remains up with the discarded popcorn.
December 27, 2025 at 11:42 PM
The last ten minutes of Hamnet absolutely ground me down to dust. The ushers had to sweep my remains up with the discarded popcorn.
Play a 1050 ELO opponent on Duolingo: "This guy is probably a moron."
Play a 750 ELO opponent on chess dot com: "This guy is probably an unstoppable chess assassin."
Play a 750 ELO opponent on chess dot com: "This guy is probably an unstoppable chess assassin."
December 21, 2025 at 6:34 AM
Play a 1050 ELO opponent on Duolingo: "This guy is probably a moron."
Play a 750 ELO opponent on chess dot com: "This guy is probably an unstoppable chess assassin."
Play a 750 ELO opponent on chess dot com: "This guy is probably an unstoppable chess assassin."
Everyone is very focused on the idea that Meta is going to make AI-powered glasses, and not the fact that they ate shit on trying to make the "metaverse" happen.
Them fumbling this so badly is GREAT NEWS. For you, not them.
Them fumbling this so badly is GREAT NEWS. For you, not them.
December 11, 2025 at 4:59 AM
Everyone is very focused on the idea that Meta is going to make AI-powered glasses, and not the fact that they ate shit on trying to make the "metaverse" happen.
Them fumbling this so badly is GREAT NEWS. For you, not them.
Them fumbling this so badly is GREAT NEWS. For you, not them.
I can talk about this publicly now: we're in a movie about Girl Scouts, that's premiering at Sundance! A film crew followed Olive around for cookie season.
If you find yourself in Park City, come watch me dance in a cookie costume. :)
festival.sundance.org/program/film...
If you find yourself in Park City, come watch me dance in a cookie costume. :)
festival.sundance.org/program/film...
Program Guide | 2025 Sundance Film Festival
Discover the 2025 film lineup.
festival.sundance.org
December 10, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I can talk about this publicly now: we're in a movie about Girl Scouts, that's premiering at Sundance! A film crew followed Olive around for cookie season.
If you find yourself in Park City, come watch me dance in a cookie costume. :)
festival.sundance.org/program/film...
If you find yourself in Park City, come watch me dance in a cookie costume. :)
festival.sundance.org/program/film...
Reposted by Ryan C. Gordon
We got Weird Al out here singing Killing In The Name, the time for moderation is over
December 6, 2025 at 2:45 PM
We got Weird Al out here singing Killing In The Name, the time for moderation is over
Jesus Christ, my health insurance is going up by over 700 dollars per month next year! What the fuck?! Who the hell can pay this?
Are we all just planning to die if we get sick from now on?
Are we all just planning to die if we get sick from now on?
December 1, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Jesus Christ, my health insurance is going up by over 700 dollars per month next year! What the fuck?! Who the hell can pay this?
Are we all just planning to die if we get sick from now on?
Are we all just planning to die if we get sick from now on?
We nuked the half-finished HLSL compiler from MojoShader. I'm a sentimental wuss, so I asked Ethan to pull the trigger for me.
Pieces of it live on in the (still pending) SDL shader language work, though.
github.com/icculus/mojo...
Pieces of it live on in the (still pending) SDL shader language work, though.
github.com/icculus/mojo...
Remove HLSL compiler code. · icculus/mojoshader@7c3fbde
Per Ryan: "This was never completed, and is sort of stinking up the headers in general."
github.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:21 AM
We nuked the half-finished HLSL compiler from MojoShader. I'm a sentimental wuss, so I asked Ethan to pull the trigger for me.
Pieces of it live on in the (still pending) SDL shader language work, though.
github.com/icculus/mojo...
Pieces of it live on in the (still pending) SDL shader language work, though.
github.com/icculus/mojo...
Rest in peace, Tom Stoppard, you absolute fucking legend.
November 30, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Rest in peace, Tom Stoppard, you absolute fucking legend.
...and now PhysicsFS and SDL_sound (and more to come) are bridged to the wiki! wiki.icculus.org
physfs: docs: Fix up deprecated APIs to use signature that wikiheaders expects.
physfs: docs: Fix up deprecated APIs to use signature that wikiheaders expects.
github.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:17 PM
...and now PhysicsFS and SDL_sound (and more to come) are bridged to the wiki! wiki.icculus.org
Rebecca Heineman passed today.
She was a unique talent, to understate things. Anyone could see that in her long list of accomplishments.
But we are not just our catalogs of retail products. She was a force of nature, a light in the darkness.
This is an unimaginable sadness.
She was a unique talent, to understate things. Anyone could see that in her long list of accomplishments.
But we are not just our catalogs of retail products. She was a force of nature, a light in the darkness.
This is an unimaginable sadness.
November 18, 2025 at 3:53 AM
Rebecca Heineman passed today.
She was a unique talent, to understate things. Anyone could see that in her long list of accomplishments.
But we are not just our catalogs of retail products. She was a force of nature, a light in the darkness.
This is an unimaginable sadness.
She was a unique talent, to understate things. Anyone could see that in her long list of accomplishments.
But we are not just our catalogs of retail products. She was a force of nature, a light in the darkness.
This is an unimaginable sadness.
Reposted by Ryan C. Gordon
This is it. I nearly suffocated by using the reetroom. I’m asking my doctors agreeing on a short cure. Only really sure painful prolonged angona is hereafter the grim reaps me. Please donate on the funeral fund me now.
November 16, 2025 at 6:57 PM
This is it. I nearly suffocated by using the reetroom. I’m asking my doctors agreeing on a short cure. Only really sure painful prolonged angona is hereafter the grim reaps me. Please donate on the funeral fund me now.