Álvaro, Grand Unifier
@mortemnyan.bsky.social
Videogames. Wrestling. MTG. Whatever | Game journalist and writer | He/Him
¡ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/alvaroarbones
¡ko-fi! https://ko-fi.com/alvaroarbones
Pinned
tan solo el contraste nos liga al pasado
bumbúm, bumbúm, bumbúm,
extraterrestresentrenosotros.substack.com
Hay letter. Y toca hablar del debate de ludología vs. narratología y porqué está bien muerto, de Magic y reglas (y leyes) injustas, de Einstürzende Neubauten, de dadá, de rituales, de Wake Up, Dead Man, de bumbúm, bumbúm, bumbúm,
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
“Game design” as in “how can we psychologically manipulate the player into Maximum Retention EnterGagement over the course of a 3 month battle pass season” is satan
But “game design” as in “how many dudes can we put on the NG2 staircase without red ringing the player’s 360” is essential
But “game design” as in “how many dudes can we put on the NG2 staircase without red ringing the player’s 360” is essential
I feel like a little farmer at my little game potato farm sitting between the nations of Game Design and Anti Game Design, sweating constantly as I see both sides arm for war.
December 27, 2025 at 5:14 AM
“Game design” as in “how can we psychologically manipulate the player into Maximum Retention EnterGagement over the course of a 3 month battle pass season” is satan
But “game design” as in “how many dudes can we put on the NG2 staircase without red ringing the player’s 360” is essential
But “game design” as in “how many dudes can we put on the NG2 staircase without red ringing the player’s 360” is essential
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
YOOOUTHHH! Art by me. 🤼
December 26, 2025 at 9:16 PM
YOOOUTHHH! Art by me. 🤼
Mañana la última letter del año. Seguro que escribo sobre lo mejor del añ... Dios, es que no puedo ni escribirlo. No se lo iba a creer nadie.
December 27, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Mañana la última letter del año. Seguro que escribo sobre lo mejor del añ... Dios, es que no puedo ni escribirlo. No se lo iba a creer nadie.
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Penúltima letter del año. Hablamos de que Jonathan Blow no es el padre de los juegos indies (y diseccionamos qué cojones es un juego indie), de que la fase de concepto es la parte más importante de una obra artística, de retro y de nostalgia y de fascismo, de Kojima, de nueva carne, de V I B E S.
((( ｍｏｍｅｎｔｏ)))
O poeta é um fingidor
extraterrestresentrenosotros.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Penúltima letter del año. Hablamos de que Jonathan Blow no es el padre de los juegos indies (y diseccionamos qué cojones es un juego indie), de que la fase de concepto es la parte más importante de una obra artística, de retro y de nostalgia y de fascismo, de Kojima, de nueva carne, de V I B E S.
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Recently, a fellow writer accused my own writing of being poor and claimed that I was also relying on A.I. I do not expect this to be the first or last time such accusation is levied against me. So I have published our exchange, taking care to anonymize said person: ogrerun.com/2025/12/26/a...
Am I Using A.I. to Write? A Response Towards a Concerned Reader
On being a human writer in the age of A.I.
ogrerun.com
December 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Recently, a fellow writer accused my own writing of being poor and claimed that I was also relying on A.I. I do not expect this to be the first or last time such accusation is levied against me. So I have published our exchange, taking care to anonymize said person: ogrerun.com/2025/12/26/a...
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Witch on the Holy Night (Type-Moon, 2012).
December 22, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Witch on the Holy Night (Type-Moon, 2012).
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Congrats to everybody who got a switch 2 for Christmas, the library is now destined for greatness.
SIMPLE Series for Nintendo Switch 2 Vol.1 THE Mahjong announced
SIMPLE Series for Nintendo Switch 2 Vol.1 THE Mahjong announced
D3 Publisher has announced SIMPLE Series for Nintendo Switch 2 Vol.1 THE Mahjong for Switch 2. It is available now via Nintendo eShop in Japan for 1,980 yen.
www.gematsu.com
December 26, 2025 at 12:29 PM
Congrats to everybody who got a switch 2 for Christmas, the library is now destined for greatness.
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
A frustrated Pedro Pascal asking Neil Druckmann, who was directing Pascal in a Last of Us episode, “do you like art?”
What's an insult you'll never forget?
December 26, 2025 at 2:46 AM
A frustrated Pedro Pascal asking Neil Druckmann, who was directing Pascal in a Last of Us episode, “do you like art?”
Increíble día de navidad haciendo lo más navideño que se me ha ocurrido: jugar a Terminator 2D: No Fate. La 1cc está a punto de caramelo.
December 25, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Increíble día de navidad haciendo lo más navideño que se me ha ocurrido: jugar a Terminator 2D: No Fate. La 1cc está a punto de caramelo.
Increíble especial de navidad en streaming. La historia de Jose Luis pasará a la historia como uno de los grandes cuentos de navidad...
December 24, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Increíble especial de navidad en streaming. La historia de Jose Luis pasará a la historia como uno de los grandes cuentos de navidad...
¡Hay streaming especial de navidad! Será una mágica experiencia interactiva en la que os llevaré por un viaje a través del Verdadero Significado de la Navidad. ¿Qué significa eso? Tendréis que verlo para saberlo~ ¡Ya en directo!
Twitch
Twitch is the world
www.twitch.tv
December 24, 2025 at 1:00 PM
¡Hay streaming especial de navidad! Será una mágica experiencia interactiva en la que os llevaré por un viaje a través del Verdadero Significado de la Navidad. ¿Qué significa eso? Tendréis que verlo para saberlo~ ¡Ya en directo!
¿Os imagináis que hoy abriera streaming? ¡¿Y que hiciera un especial de navidad!? Menuda locura, ¿no?
December 24, 2025 at 11:41 AM
¿Os imagináis que hoy abriera streaming? ¡¿Y que hiciera un especial de navidad!? Menuda locura, ¿no?
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
The confusion and conflation of ‘generative ai that is built on stolen artwork’ and ‘machine learning, character behaviour modelling and proc gen’ is intentional on the part of the grifters peddling the former. They benefit from murkiness of classification, because the latter predates their bollocks
December 23, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The confusion and conflation of ‘generative ai that is built on stolen artwork’ and ‘machine learning, character behaviour modelling and proc gen’ is intentional on the part of the grifters peddling the former. They benefit from murkiness of classification, because the latter predates their bollocks
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Got an end-of-year recommendation list here for people with a refined gaming palate:
www.pcgamer.com/games/i-play...
www.pcgamer.com/games/i-play...
I played dozens of retro games this year, and these are the ones I still whole-heartedly recommend going into 2026
Dust off your DOS, reinstall those ROMs, and party like it's 1999.
www.pcgamer.com
December 23, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Got an end-of-year recommendation list here for people with a refined gaming palate:
www.pcgamer.com/games/i-play...
www.pcgamer.com/games/i-play...
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Quantic Foundry does legit trustworthy analysis of gamer behaviour, and these survey results are shockingly negative toward genAI, to the point where I’m more hopeful that data driven mobile and AAA backpedals on their uses.
everyone dislikes genai in games, but kids and story-focused players the most.
sounds like we'll be ok. just have to stay the course here and the "inevitable" new technology nobody likes will die. again.
quanticfoundry.com/2025/12/18/g...
sounds like we'll be ok. just have to stay the course here and the "inevitable" new technology nobody likes will die. again.
quanticfoundry.com/2025/12/18/g...
Gamers Are Overwhelmingly Negative About Gen AI in Video Games, but Attitudes Vary by Gender, Age, and Gaming Motivations.
Learn about how gender, age, and gaming motivations shape the perception of Gen AI in video games.
quanticfoundry.com
December 20, 2025 at 1:53 AM
Quantic Foundry does legit trustworthy analysis of gamer behaviour, and these survey results are shockingly negative toward genAI, to the point where I’m more hopeful that data driven mobile and AAA backpedals on their uses.
Nolan, entiendo que eres Un Tío y no se te puede pedir más, pero, ¿no te planteaste que igual era hacer el ridículo pretender hacer una adaptación de La Odisea como si fuera Película de Tíos Muy Tíos Muy Profunda e Importante?
December 22, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Nolan, entiendo que eres Un Tío y no se te puede pedir más, pero, ¿no te planteaste que igual era hacer el ridículo pretender hacer una adaptación de La Odisea como si fuera Película de Tíos Muy Tíos Muy Profunda e Importante?
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Siempre digo que la IA es para catetos pero Álvaro lo ha escrito con mucha elegancia, "la máquina de estupidificar a la masas".
Penúltima letter del año. Hablamos de que Jonathan Blow no es el padre de los juegos indies (y diseccionamos qué cojones es un juego indie), de que la fase de concepto es la parte más importante de una obra artística, de retro y de nostalgia y de fascismo, de Kojima, de nueva carne, de V I B E S.
((( ｍｏｍｅｎｔｏ)))
O poeta é um fingidor
extraterrestresentrenosotros.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Siempre digo que la IA es para catetos pero Álvaro lo ha escrito con mucha elegancia, "la máquina de estupidificar a la masas".
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
What surviving and thriving looks like in 2025
December 21, 2025 at 9:38 PM
What surviving and thriving looks like in 2025
Penúltima letter del año. Hablamos de que Jonathan Blow no es el padre de los juegos indies (y diseccionamos qué cojones es un juego indie), de que la fase de concepto es la parte más importante de una obra artística, de retro y de nostalgia y de fascismo, de Kojima, de nueva carne, de V I B E S.
((( ｍｏｍｅｎｔｏ)))
O poeta é um fingidor
extraterrestresentrenosotros.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Penúltima letter del año. Hablamos de que Jonathan Blow no es el padre de los juegos indies (y diseccionamos qué cojones es un juego indie), de que la fase de concepto es la parte más importante de una obra artística, de retro y de nostalgia y de fascismo, de Kojima, de nueva carne, de V I B E S.
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
NEW VID: A History of Arcade Wrestling Games! We're looking at every wrestling coin-op, totalling a lil' under 40 games, featuring everything from WWF to AJPW, a bit of Joshi, Monsters in Tokyo, MMA and Sumo...there's a lot of goodness here. Enjoy and please share :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky07...
A History of Arcade Wrestling Games | Kim Justice
YouTube video by Kim Justice
www.youtube.com
December 21, 2025 at 3:03 PM
NEW VID: A History of Arcade Wrestling Games! We're looking at every wrestling coin-op, totalling a lil' under 40 games, featuring everything from WWF to AJPW, a bit of Joshi, Monsters in Tokyo, MMA and Sumo...there's a lot of goodness here. Enjoy and please share :) www.youtube.com/watch?v=ky07...
Menudo podcast de 40 minutos en notas de audio se acaba de comer @cecilos.bsky.social sobre Yellow Magic Orchestra.
December 21, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Menudo podcast de 40 minutos en notas de audio se acaba de comer @cecilos.bsky.social sobre Yellow Magic Orchestra.
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
Unos días después de haber medio-dejado los servicios de streaming para escuchar música (los sigo usando en desktop), mi principal conclusión tiene menos que ver con el chisme que con la dinámica de consumo: realmente es horrible exponernos constantemente a tanto contenido
December 21, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Unos días después de haber medio-dejado los servicios de streaming para escuchar música (los sigo usando en desktop), mi principal conclusión tiene menos que ver con el chisme que con la dinámica de consumo: realmente es horrible exponernos constantemente a tanto contenido
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
NEW VIDEO
3 Mysterious PSP Games
all about PSP games that are mysterious. 3 of em even. wow!
legit im v proud of this one lol, hope yall enjoy it :3
LINK: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yUu...
3 Mysterious PSP Games
all about PSP games that are mysterious. 3 of em even. wow!
legit im v proud of this one lol, hope yall enjoy it :3
LINK: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yUu...
December 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
NEW VIDEO
3 Mysterious PSP Games
all about PSP games that are mysterious. 3 of em even. wow!
legit im v proud of this one lol, hope yall enjoy it :3
LINK: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yUu...
3 Mysterious PSP Games
all about PSP games that are mysterious. 3 of em even. wow!
legit im v proud of this one lol, hope yall enjoy it :3
LINK: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yUu...
Por fin adaptación del mejor arco del mejor JoJo: Gyro Zeppeli. Que no es un JoJo.
アニメ『スティール・ボール・ラン ジョジョの奇妙な冒険』PV第１弾 ｜ "STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure" 1st Trailer !!
YouTube video by Warner Bros. Japan Anime
www.youtube.com
December 20, 2025 at 2:29 PM
Por fin adaptación del mejor arco del mejor JoJo: Gyro Zeppeli. Que no es un JoJo.
Reposted by Álvaro, Grand Unifier
the retro game community is basically divided into two factions: those who are into obscurities or arty indie games, and the ones who just want to relive childhood and have youtube channels where they stand in front of their game collections and complain. this is obviously directed at the latter
December 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
the retro game community is basically divided into two factions: those who are into obscurities or arty indie games, and the ones who just want to relive childhood and have youtube channels where they stand in front of their game collections and complain. this is obviously directed at the latter