Jordan Mechner
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jmechner.bsky.social
Jordan Mechner
@jmechner.bsky.social
I make video games (Prince of Persia) and graphic novels (Replay, Monte Cristo) and fill up sketchbooks. American in France. https://jordanmechner.com
"Which is your favorite/definitive version of the original Prince of Persia?"

💾As promised-- after 35 years, here's a proper blog post with my thoughts, and the story behind Prince of Persia's multiple 1990s ports.

www.jordanmechner.com/en/latest-ne...
September 25, 2025 at 3:42 PM
THE STING
BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID
BAREFOOT IN THE PARK
THE HOT ROCK
THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER
THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
A BRIDGE TOO FAR
ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN

All those movies in my first 12 years
then... ORDINARY PEOPLE
and he was still just getting started.
September 16, 2025 at 7:55 PM
I struggled to find an alternative, but ended up sticking with "spirit"-- I use the word in dialog in several other places in the book ; "esprit" is an important quality for Beaumarchais. I did my best. Hope you like it.
www.jordanmechner.com/en/latest-ne...
September 12, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Sometimes scriptwriting calls for a little poetry translation. For this scene in LIBERTY! I needed an English version of two stanzas from Beaumarchais' "The Marriage of Figaro" (1784). Here's my rendition:
(Discussion follows... 1/)
September 12, 2025 at 2:53 PM
On a train from Paris to London, I’m prepping the American English “translation” of my new graphic novel LIBERTY. (Easy job, cause I wrote the French script first in English. Is that cheating?) 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇫🇷
www.jordanmechner.com/en/latest-ne...
September 5, 2025 at 9:49 AM
If you happen to be at @data.ft.com FT Weekend in London, I'll be on a video games panel with these very smart people. 5pm tomorrow 🎮
I've posted the rest of my Sept-October schedule at
www.jordanmechner.com/en/latest-ne...
September 5, 2025 at 8:18 AM
My new graphic novel trilogy LIBERTY is now complete - Book 3 lands tomorrow in French bookstores!
An epic historical adventure about the true Franco-American "black ops" behind the American Revolution.
Today's blog post at jordanmechner.com🇺🇸 (click the flag to read it in French 🇫🇷)
August 26, 2025 at 5:52 PM
@lizardengland.bsky.social‬ I hope you've been to the Strand in NY.
August 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Today, I'm retiring my email newsletter and doubling down on RSS. Some call this 1990s news format old-fashioned; I say it's the future.
My blog post at jordanmechner.com explains why.
Drop me a comment to say if you (A) agree, (B) disagree, (C) What the heck is RSS?
August 25, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Back in 1989 when I first made Prince of Persia on Apple II, the publisher opted not to do a Commodore port because it was an obsolete platform. Incredible to see this thread 35 years later!!

For those interested, here's my web page on how POP started: www.jordanmechner.com/en/games-mov...
August 3, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Which I'm actually glad for, since Acorn includes other good British shows, and doesn't have the annoying ad breaks. AMC+ subscription promptly canceled.
I loved this show. If the filmmaker knew how it's being presented, he'd blow a gasket.
(End outraged consumer rant) 6/6
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
But the final insult was yet to come: After watching 5 of 6 episodes (it's basically a 6-hour film), it turned out that my paid AMC+ subscription included only the first 5. To see the final episode, I had to pay for ANOTHER subscription, to "Acorn"... 5/
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Turns out "ad-free" means you don't see the ads, but you still get the interruptions in the audio & visual flow every six minutes or so, often inserted in the middle of scenes, where the ads would go. For an artistically edited show like this, that's a crime. 4/
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
(Begin outraged consumer rant) Ep 1 is free on Amazon Prime. It got me hooked enough to subscribe to AMC+ to watch the rest. I figured AMC has good shows, why not?
Here's why not: First, they've butchered it with commercial breaks- even with a paid AMC+ subscription... 3/
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
...makes strong, unusual, surprising choices throughout. Script, directing, actors, costumes, music, all top-notch. It's suspenseful, complex, powerfully emotional. I highly recommend it.👍👍
Unfortunately, the way Amazon AMC+ presents it is a travesty. 2/
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
If you like John Le Carré or are in the mood for a good thriller, the 2018 BBC "The Little Drummer Girl" is a rare series that's so gorgeously framed, art-directed and shot, I was sorry to be watching it on streaming and not on a big screen. Director Park Chan-wook... 1/
July 25, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Read and acknowledged. Account deleted. Adieu, WeTransfer.
July 21, 2025 at 10:06 AM
It's getting easier for tyrants to rewrite history in the digital age. Surfing the internet today, it seems some people are foggy about which two countries invaded Poland and started World War II.
(Hint: "Molotov-Ribbentrop nonagression pact")
Fortunately, in 1939, newspapers were printed on paper.
May 9, 2025 at 7:11 PM
My first major attempt as a game developer was in 1981, a reverse-engineered Apple II port of the coin-op hit Asteroids.
I was 16 years old and in high school. To my delight, Hayden Software agreed to publish my game. I was already spending the royalties in my imagination, when...
May 9, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Wow, my graphic novel "Replay" is suddenly on sale on Amazon for 50% off -- less than 15 bucks! amazon.com/Replay-Memoi...
Grab two for the price of one, give it as a gift! 😃😃
March 29, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Thank you and congrats to everyone who snagged a "Shadow" etching! There's ONE left of the limited edition of 40 prints at www.jordanmechner.com/en/artworks/...

*Galerie Maeght in Paris has extended my artwork exhibition through this weekend (1 March) and may have copies of "Shadow" as well.
February 28, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Rereading Stefan Zweig’s “The World of Yesterday” and practically every page resonates as if he’d written it today
February 21, 2025 at 10:36 AM
Stefan Zweig, writing in 1940
February 20, 2025 at 8:02 PM
I refuse to give up
AI is the future.. I'm sure it's gonna be great.
February 19, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Are computers getting dumber, or am I?
February 19, 2025 at 10:20 AM