Mike Diver
@mikediver.bsky.social
Mostly works in marketing. Mostly.
Author of gaming books inc. From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops, The Console, Indie Games, Retro Gaming. Aliens: The Video Games out in 2026.
Ex-music industry.
Semi-professional tea drinker.
#saintsfc
Author of gaming books inc. From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops, The Console, Indie Games, Retro Gaming. Aliens: The Video Games out in 2026.
Ex-music industry.
Semi-professional tea drinker.
#saintsfc
Pinned
Mike Diver
@mikediver.bsky.social
· Apr 26
It's #alienday.
And Independent Bookstore Day.
So here's a thing.
Aliens: The Video Games.
Games old and new, licensed and unofficial, crossovers, fan projects, unreleased titles.
Loads of new interviews covering games from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Cover by @sammgreer.bsky.social
Out in 2026.
And Independent Bookstore Day.
So here's a thing.
Aliens: The Video Games.
Games old and new, licensed and unofficial, crossovers, fan projects, unreleased titles.
Loads of new interviews covering games from the 1980s to the 2020s.
Cover by @sammgreer.bsky.social
Out in 2026.
What are your favourite LPs of 2025, so far? I am, as always, playing catch up.
Some of mine:
Joanne Robertson - Blurrr
The Callous Daoboys - I don't want to see you in Heaven
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Deafheaven - Lonely People with Power
Quade - The Foel Tower
Deftones - Private Music
Some of mine:
Joanne Robertson - Blurrr
The Callous Daoboys - I don't want to see you in Heaven
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Deafheaven - Lonely People with Power
Quade - The Foel Tower
Deftones - Private Music
November 11, 2025 at 2:41 PM
What are your favourite LPs of 2025, so far? I am, as always, playing catch up.
Some of mine:
Joanne Robertson - Blurrr
The Callous Daoboys - I don't want to see you in Heaven
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Deafheaven - Lonely People with Power
Quade - The Foel Tower
Deftones - Private Music
Some of mine:
Joanne Robertson - Blurrr
The Callous Daoboys - I don't want to see you in Heaven
These New Puritans - Crooked Wing
Deafheaven - Lonely People with Power
Quade - The Foel Tower
Deftones - Private Music
Unremarkable male Gladiator? Couldn't be the UK.
November 11, 2025 at 6:54 AM
Unremarkable male Gladiator? Couldn't be the UK.
A Tired Parent mode where if you mess it up three times in a row the game says Been a day, huh, orders you a beer and skips onto the next level.
November 11, 2025 at 12:12 AM
A Tired Parent mode where if you mess it up three times in a row the game says Been a day, huh, orders you a beer and skips onto the next level.
👀👀👀👀
Tune in Tuesday at 2pm PT | 5pm ET for State of Play Japan, a special broadcast curated for gamers in Japan and Asia.
This episode is broadcast in Japanese with English subtitles play.st/48bKxVV
This episode is broadcast in Japanese with English subtitles play.st/48bKxVV
November 10, 2025 at 3:13 PM
👀👀👀👀
Don't ask me why, but I had to Google Terry Wogan just now.
Google. That's not Terry Wogan.
Google. That's not Terry Wogan.
November 10, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Don't ask me why, but I had to Google Terry Wogan just now.
Google. That's not Terry Wogan.
Google. That's not Terry Wogan.
Two books on gaming peripherals/controllers in quick succession - from Lost in Cult and Bitmap Books.
Made me look back on pitches I sent between 2020 and 2024 on this exact thing, to always be told: photography budget would be too high, there's not enough audience interest, it's way too niche. 🤷♂️
Made me look back on pitches I sent between 2020 and 2024 on this exact thing, to always be told: photography budget would be too high, there's not enough audience interest, it's way too niche. 🤷♂️
November 10, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Two books on gaming peripherals/controllers in quick succession - from Lost in Cult and Bitmap Books.
Made me look back on pitches I sent between 2020 and 2024 on this exact thing, to always be told: photography budget would be too high, there's not enough audience interest, it's way too niche. 🤷♂️
Made me look back on pitches I sent between 2020 and 2024 on this exact thing, to always be told: photography budget would be too high, there's not enough audience interest, it's way too niche. 🤷♂️
Stuck in Eastleigh because of train delays and the combo of cheap eats and a cheap sleep just over the road is becoming more and more appealing.
November 9, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Stuck in Eastleigh because of train delays and the combo of cheap eats and a cheap sleep just over the road is becoming more and more appealing.
Re this: I feel Lost Records has got a bit lost as the year has progressed, but I really liked it. Very strong in its first half, particularly. It's not ripping up any rule books but the dual era approach to its storytelling worked for me.
These are the performances that won me over in 2025:
✅️Lea Seydoux as Fragile (DS2)
✅️Lucy Griffiths as Alva (Eriksholm)
✅️Amelia Tyler as Hecate (Hades 2)
✅️Kimberly Woods as Alta (Wanderstop)
✅️Takaya Kuroda as Michi (Promise Mascot Agency)
✅️Olivia Lepore as Swann Holloway (Lost Records)
Women rule.
✅️Lea Seydoux as Fragile (DS2)
✅️Lucy Griffiths as Alva (Eriksholm)
✅️Amelia Tyler as Hecate (Hades 2)
✅️Kimberly Woods as Alta (Wanderstop)
✅️Takaya Kuroda as Michi (Promise Mascot Agency)
✅️Olivia Lepore as Swann Holloway (Lost Records)
Women rule.
November 8, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Re this: I feel Lost Records has got a bit lost as the year has progressed, but I really liked it. Very strong in its first half, particularly. It's not ripping up any rule books but the dual era approach to its storytelling worked for me.
Great account/blog, a must for likers of old/obscure games.
If you love the Games From The Black Hole blog, please can you share and let people know why.
It's time to get this account a following comparable to X so I can move on! When this account gets to 1000 followers I will not only stop posting on X, I will nuke it from orbit and delete it forever.
It's time to get this account a following comparable to X so I can move on! When this account gets to 1000 followers I will not only stop posting on X, I will nuke it from orbit and delete it forever.
November 7, 2025 at 8:50 PM
Great account/blog, a must for likers of old/obscure games.
Post you from a different era.
November 7, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Post you from a different era.
Thrust has arrived, completing my Earthrise seekers/coneheads - and I will absolutely not be doing the set for the new Studio Series 86 mould. Done the classics, done these, that's enough.
November 7, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Thrust has arrived, completing my Earthrise seekers/coneheads - and I will absolutely not be doing the set for the new Studio Series 86 mould. Done the classics, done these, that's enough.
A trillion dollars?
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 AM
A trillion dollars?
This is because the electricity grid wasn't 100% true to life, isn't it.
November 6, 2025 at 11:03 PM
This is because the electricity grid wasn't 100% true to life, isn't it.
Is The Traitors always full of atrocious cover versions, or have they wheeled this shite out solely for the celeb one?
November 6, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Is The Traitors always full of atrocious cover versions, or have they wheeled this shite out solely for the celeb one?
Any other year, you could never convince me that this is a real photo.
incredible photo that's definitely worth at least 1,000 words from Andrew Harnik of Getty
November 6, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Any other year, you could never convince me that this is a real photo.
Just looking at some performance stats for a significant video game (million+ sales) of the last 12 months, and it clearly shows that reviews of the game (it scored meta 80+) WERE significant in people's purchase decision. So for those still saying game reviews don't matter... you're wrong.
November 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Just looking at some performance stats for a significant video game (million+ sales) of the last 12 months, and it clearly shows that reviews of the game (it scored meta 80+) WERE significant in people's purchase decision. So for those still saying game reviews don't matter... you're wrong.
The cover of my book, Aliens: The Video Games, as drawn by @sammgreer.bsky.social ... reposted for #xenovember
Preorders for this will open in Feb/Mar 2026. Publication in Aug. There will be an Alien Day discount.
Preorders for this will open in Feb/Mar 2026. Publication in Aug. There will be an Alien Day discount.
November 5, 2025 at 10:47 PM
The cover of my book, Aliens: The Video Games, as drawn by @sammgreer.bsky.social ... reposted for #xenovember
Preorders for this will open in Feb/Mar 2026. Publication in Aug. There will be an Alien Day discount.
Preorders for this will open in Feb/Mar 2026. Publication in Aug. There will be an Alien Day discount.
Léo Scienza. That's the, uh, skeet.
November 5, 2025 at 10:36 PM
Léo Scienza. That's the, uh, skeet.
Went to see fireworks. Missed them all.
November 5, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Went to see fireworks. Missed them all.
A little hope somewhere far away still feels like hope wherever you are.
November 5, 2025 at 6:51 AM
A little hope somewhere far away still feels like hope wherever you are.
Good luck, New York.
November 4, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Good luck, New York.
Legit hadn't heard of this til the 1m sold news - and I get a lot of new games shot across my radar.
Instantly downloaded.
Instantly downloaded.
It's cool how we keep proving over and over and over again that there's a significant market for narrative-heavy, character-driven, single-player experiences in video games and publishers just categorically refuse to believe us
Dispatch has sold 1 million copies in under two weeks
November 4, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Legit hadn't heard of this til the 1m sold news - and I get a lot of new games shot across my radar.
Instantly downloaded.
Instantly downloaded.
Rare, possibly unaired(?) Australian advert here for the Sega 32X, showing it alongside the Mega CD 2 (and MD2), and footage of Daytona USA (with Saturn disclaimer). Not a great ad, too long, too much going on, but I'd certainly not seen it before...
youtu.be/uHv0CHJo2FY?...
youtu.be/uHv0CHJo2FY?...
RARE FOOTAGE - Mega Drive / Genesis 32X Australian Commercial
YouTube video by Derek Proud
youtu.be
November 4, 2025 at 7:52 AM
Rare, possibly unaired(?) Australian advert here for the Sega 32X, showing it alongside the Mega CD 2 (and MD2), and footage of Daytona USA (with Saturn disclaimer). Not a great ad, too long, too much going on, but I'd certainly not seen it before...
youtu.be/uHv0CHJo2FY?...
youtu.be/uHv0CHJo2FY?...