Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
@jmlwhittington.com
PhD student, Texts and Technology, University of Central Florida
Scholar (and lover) of games and theme parks, yapper of politics
https://jmlwhittington.com/ | #AppalachianGameStudies
Unwise views are my own; wiser ones are communal
Scholar (and lover) of games and theme parks, yapper of politics
https://jmlwhittington.com/ | #AppalachianGameStudies
Unwise views are my own; wiser ones are communal
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
Mike's talk was a thought-provoking and poignant retrospective on EXAG's past, present and future, and our past present and future as a community in the current climate. I really connected with this talk, and it gave me a lot to think about! Grateful to be a part of this community.
November 11, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Mike's talk was a thought-provoking and poignant retrospective on EXAG's past, present and future, and our past present and future as a community in the current climate. I really connected with this talk, and it gave me a lot to think about! Grateful to be a part of this community.
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
With the #DiGRA26 deadline coming up I hope this meme isn't true for everyone! www.digraconference2026.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:07 PM
With the #DiGRA26 deadline coming up I hope this meme isn't true for everyone! www.digraconference2026.com
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
I've told myself that, if I'm good (read: "productive"), I can have a new game this month as a treat. It'll probably be Once Upon a Katamari.
November 11, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I've told myself that, if I'm good (read: "productive"), I can have a new game this month as a treat. It'll probably be Once Upon a Katamari.
The only thing I can think about amidst this Jar Jar Binks discourse is Lego Darth Jar Jar.
November 11, 2025 at 10:20 AM
The only thing I can think about amidst this Jar Jar Binks discourse is Lego Darth Jar Jar.
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
PSA - reminder that #DiGRA2026 submissions due THREE WEEKS TODAY (deadline for full papers and abstracts Monday 1 December).
Obligatory "how is so soon??" "what I am going to submit??" panic may now commence.
www.digraconference2026.com
Obligatory "how is so soon??" "what I am going to submit??" panic may now commence.
www.digraconference2026.com
DiGRA 2026 Conference | Maynooth University, Ireland
Join the DiGRA 2026 conference at Maynooth University, 14–18 June 2026. Theme “Intersectional Pleasures.” A global hybrid event for game research, culture, design, and industry.
www.digraconference2026.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:40 PM
PSA - reminder that #DiGRA2026 submissions due THREE WEEKS TODAY (deadline for full papers and abstracts Monday 1 December).
Obligatory "how is so soon??" "what I am going to submit??" panic may now commence.
www.digraconference2026.com
Obligatory "how is so soon??" "what I am going to submit??" panic may now commence.
www.digraconference2026.com
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
Boomer, West Virginia
Pop: 644
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomer,_West_Virginia
Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110227431
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21323034
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98960139
Pop: 644
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boomer,_West_Virginia
Images: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=110227431
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21323034
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=98960139
November 9, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
infocom, game studio, catalog, back, excerpt (1983) archive.org/details/vgmu...
November 9, 2025 at 4:17 AM
infocom, game studio, catalog, back, excerpt (1983) archive.org/details/vgmu...
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
derek yu's top ten favorite games (2002) www.classicgaming.com/blackeyesoft...
November 9, 2025 at 12:28 AM
derek yu's top ten favorite games (2002) www.classicgaming.com/blackeyesoft...
The hype train has reached yet greater speeds. Not ready for if this thing hits a wall. Can *any* game live up to the hype anymore?
GTA 6 has been delayed again, all the way to late 2026.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is delayed to November: 'These extra months will allow us to finish the game with the level of polish you have come to expect and deserve'
Take-Two announced the new release target in today's quarterly financial report.
www.pcgamer.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The hype train has reached yet greater speeds. Not ready for if this thing hits a wall. Can *any* game live up to the hype anymore?
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
Just a reminder that archive .is openly courts right-wing extremists to use their site to coordinate harassment campaigns and to filter any concerns about "preservation" accordingly
The FBI is trying to unmask the owner of infamous archiving site Archive.is, according to a subpoena the site posted. No other information given, the site quietly posted the document a few days ago. FBI telling domain registrar to hand over all sorts of ID'ing info
www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...
www.404media.co/fbi-tries-to...
FBI Tries to Unmask Owner of Infamous Archive.is Site
The FBI has subpoenaed the domain registrar of archive.today, demanding information about the owner.
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Just a reminder that archive .is openly courts right-wing extremists to use their site to coordinate harassment campaigns and to filter any concerns about "preservation" accordingly
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
November 3, 2025 at 10:04 AM
Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching
Went to Halloween Horror Nights two nights ago for the first time ever. Had a blast! I normally just laugh through haunted houses, but they got me a few times here.
The production and performance quality were just top notch. Excellent theming choices.
The production and performance quality were just top notch. Excellent theming choices.
November 1, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Went to Halloween Horror Nights two nights ago for the first time ever. Had a blast! I normally just laugh through haunted houses, but they got me a few times here.
The production and performance quality were just top notch. Excellent theming choices.
The production and performance quality were just top notch. Excellent theming choices.
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
Oh wow this is BIG. Huntington and Cabell County opted out of the settlement that Patrick Morrisey put together—which garnered about $1 billion—and sought $2.6 billion from the pharmaceutical companies based on this interpretation of public nuisance statute
NEW: Huntington and Cabell County opioid lawsuit revived by federal appeals court
mountainstatespotlight.org/2025/10/28/h...
mountainstatespotlight.org/2025/10/28/h...
Appeals court revives Huntington, Cabell County opioid lawsuit
In a 49-page ruling, a three-judge appeals panel found that West Virginia’s nuisance law could be applied to the distribution of opioids.
mountainstatespotlight.org
October 28, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Oh wow this is BIG. Huntington and Cabell County opted out of the settlement that Patrick Morrisey put together—which garnered about $1 billion—and sought $2.6 billion from the pharmaceutical companies based on this interpretation of public nuisance statute
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
It's a good time to write a book about a single game/series!
There's the great work being published by @bossfightbooks.com
And now three of the best scholarly presses have joined in ...
There's the great work being published by @bossfightbooks.com
And now three of the best scholarly presses have joined in ...
October 28, 2025 at 4:43 PM
It's a good time to write a book about a single game/series!
There's the great work being published by @bossfightbooks.com
And now three of the best scholarly presses have joined in ...
There's the great work being published by @bossfightbooks.com
And now three of the best scholarly presses have joined in ...
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
It is important to remember that GOOD things can happen quickly too ❤️
"After only one year, the transformation is dramatic", says a conservation manager about the growth of a colony of 2,000 sooty tern seabirds. Previously, invasive rats had destroyed their eggs, making it impossible for the native birds to persist on the islands. www.thecooldown.com/outdoors/inv...
Scientists stunned by results after removing 1 harmful creature from island chain: 'The transformation is dramatic'
The successful removal of an invasive species of rat saw nature spring back to life on two islands in the Marshall Islands.
www.thecooldown.com
October 27, 2025 at 4:12 AM
It is important to remember that GOOD things can happen quickly too ❤️
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
Tales of interpellation.
October 27, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Tales of interpellation.
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
I do agree that the market for "professional" game's writing is basically non-existent, but there are plenty of blog posts getting posted every week on sites like @critdistance.bsky.social to basically no attention. social media as a way to discourse and share work has become a dead end, imo.
October 27, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I do agree that the market for "professional" game's writing is basically non-existent, but there are plenty of blog posts getting posted every week on sites like @critdistance.bsky.social to basically no attention. social media as a way to discourse and share work has become a dead end, imo.
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
my hot take is that the fantasy that’s being catered to with videos like the one going around is of participation in a seamless, infinite, directed loop where the player and computer are constantly updating each other. which is where I think a lot of the satisfaction in systemic video games is. 🧵
this is stupid but at some point i think we have to confront the fact that there appears to be a not insignificant demand for videogames to be the holodeck, an infinite virtual playground you can basically live in. except even holodeck programs were actually written by someone, right?
Oh my god some fucking tech dingdong posted this on Twitter with the caption "AI games are going to be amazing" totally seriously, you have to watch it. You have to. In full screen.
October 24, 2025 at 9:14 PM
my hot take is that the fantasy that’s being catered to with videos like the one going around is of participation in a seamless, infinite, directed loop where the player and computer are constantly updating each other. which is where I think a lot of the satisfaction in systemic video games is. 🧵
The game is not even out yet. 🙃
Think carefully. You're stuck with whatever you pick!
Should you pick the Crabble Claw or Raptidon Fin for Inez's graft in Outer Worlds 2?
Think carefully. You're stuck with whatever you pick!
www.polygon.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:37 AM
The game is not even out yet. 🙃
As a passive viewer of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the only two critiques I'll lob at it (to be fair):
1) The "Battle Zone activated!" screen feels unnecessary. Still probably due to setting up the zone's red, laser-y boundaries, like BotW resetting monsters during the Blood Moon.
1) The "Battle Zone activated!" screen feels unnecessary. Still probably due to setting up the zone's red, laser-y boundaries, like BotW resetting monsters during the Blood Moon.
October 24, 2025 at 3:17 AM
As a passive viewer of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the only two critiques I'll lob at it (to be fair):
1) The "Battle Zone activated!" screen feels unnecessary. Still probably due to setting up the zone's red, laser-y boundaries, like BotW resetting monsters during the Blood Moon.
1) The "Battle Zone activated!" screen feels unnecessary. Still probably due to setting up the zone's red, laser-y boundaries, like BotW resetting monsters during the Blood Moon.
That year in video games and US foreign policy:
1) US Army finishes SNES console version of Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator (MACS): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-p...
2) Open-source intelligence company Janes Information Group releases first combat simulator: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane%27...
1) US Army finishes SNES console version of Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator (MACS): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-p...
2) Open-source intelligence company Janes Information Group releases first combat simulator: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane%27...
urban strike, print ad, imagery (1994) archive.org/details/vide...
October 24, 2025 at 1:52 AM
That year in video games and US foreign policy:
1) US Army finishes SNES console version of Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator (MACS): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-p...
2) Open-source intelligence company Janes Information Group releases first combat simulator: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane%27...
1) US Army finishes SNES console version of Multi-Purpose Arcade Combat Simulator (MACS): en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-p...
2) Open-source intelligence company Janes Information Group releases first combat simulator: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane%27...
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread
October 23, 2025 at 12:41 PM
this headline hums with ancient autumnal dread
Reposted by Justin (J. M. L.) Whittington
I obtained video of two FBI agents visiting an anti-ICE protester not charged with any crime.
While the media continue to mock Trump's war on "Antifa" as legally impossible, the FBI is quietly implementing it with investigations like these:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/video-fbi-...
While the media continue to mock Trump's war on "Antifa" as legally impossible, the FBI is quietly implementing it with investigations like these:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/video-fbi-...
VIDEO: FBI Agents Visit Anti-ICE Protester
“Your name was brought up.”
www.kenklippenstein.com
October 23, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I obtained video of two FBI agents visiting an anti-ICE protester not charged with any crime.
While the media continue to mock Trump's war on "Antifa" as legally impossible, the FBI is quietly implementing it with investigations like these:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/video-fbi-...
While the media continue to mock Trump's war on "Antifa" as legally impossible, the FBI is quietly implementing it with investigations like these:
www.kenklippenstein.com/p/video-fbi-...