Lewis Gordon
@lewisgordon.bsky.social
Culture on computers, mostly | ✍ The Verge, FT, The Ringer, The Nation, ArtReview, The Guardian, Vulture | ✉️ lewisjohngordon~at~gmail~dot~com | he/him
crushing so hard on mctominay rn
November 18, 2025 at 9:00 PM
crushing so hard on mctominay rn
The article also sees @jdmchenry.bsky.social on maybe the year's most pernious trend: the rise of Google's AI summary.
It sucks having to explain to ostensibly smart loved ones that this is siphoning money away from actual journalism. That basic point (theft, really!) just hasn't cut through yet.
It sucks having to explain to ostensibly smart loved ones that this is siphoning money away from actual journalism. That basic point (theft, really!) just hasn't cut through yet.
November 17, 2025 at 11:51 AM
The article also sees @jdmchenry.bsky.social on maybe the year's most pernious trend: the rise of Google's AI summary.
It sucks having to explain to ostensibly smart loved ones that this is siphoning money away from actual journalism. That basic point (theft, really!) just hasn't cut through yet.
It sucks having to explain to ostensibly smart loved ones that this is siphoning money away from actual journalism. That basic point (theft, really!) just hasn't cut through yet.
thank you Nicholas Quah for spelling out exactly what makes these interviews so inane. also, on SFV you're only ever catching 90 seconds of an exchange, TOPS -- so you end up with what are effectively disembodied soundbites, cut off from context. it stinks!
www.vulture.com/article/dumb...
www.vulture.com/article/dumb...
November 17, 2025 at 11:34 AM
thank you Nicholas Quah for spelling out exactly what makes these interviews so inane. also, on SFV you're only ever catching 90 seconds of an exchange, TOPS -- so you end up with what are effectively disembodied soundbites, cut off from context. it stinks!
www.vulture.com/article/dumb...
www.vulture.com/article/dumb...
Too many wonderful moments to list but this one hit especially hard.
November 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Too many wonderful moments to list but this one hit especially hard.
Goodnight Universe, from @nicedreamgames.com, is a treat: funny, beautifully observed, gently profound. And by frequently tasking you to close your eyes, it is a rare video game that soothes rather than scorches the retinas.
www.ft.com/content/a3f4...
www.ft.com/content/a3f4...
November 11, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Goodnight Universe, from @nicedreamgames.com, is a treat: funny, beautifully observed, gently profound. And by frequently tasking you to close your eyes, it is a rare video game that soothes rather than scorches the retinas.
www.ft.com/content/a3f4...
www.ft.com/content/a3f4...
A beautiful, singular, and quietly radical game that I'm proud to have covered a bunch of times.
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/n...
• www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/a...
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/a...
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/n...
• www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/a...
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/a...
October 31, 2025 at 10:21 AM
A beautiful, singular, and quietly radical game that I'm proud to have covered a bunch of times.
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/n...
• www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/a...
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/a...
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/n...
• www.nytimes.com/2025/06/18/a...
• www.theguardian.com/games/2023/a...
I always come back to this @radiatoryang.bsky.social quote (included in my review of @marijamdid.com's book), which seems to sum up so much of the fundamental tension around the ongoing games/entertainment/commerce debate that GaaS discourse obvs taps into
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
October 28, 2025 at 10:24 AM
I always come back to this @radiatoryang.bsky.social quote (included in my review of @marijamdid.com's book), which seems to sum up so much of the fundamental tension around the ongoing games/entertainment/commerce debate that GaaS discourse obvs taps into
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
www.thenation.com/article/cult...
I also make the case that the current live-service landscape (which Sony is struggling to break into) has its origins in Xbox 360's heyday: Gamerscore and COD4: MW — two canaries in the coal mine for our modern, engagement-obsessed world.
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
October 27, 2025 at 2:40 PM
I also make the case that the current live-service landscape (which Sony is struggling to break into) has its origins in Xbox 360's heyday: Gamerscore and COD4: MW — two canaries in the coal mine for our modern, engagement-obsessed world.
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
Loved hearing Uncharted 2's Justin Richmond (@wildspeculation.bsky.social) on his shameless aping of Modern Warfare's perk system (which took a "nightmarishly" long time to figure out) and how Naughty Dog simply telephoned Bungie to get the skinny on its netcode.
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
October 27, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Loved hearing Uncharted 2's Justin Richmond (@wildspeculation.bsky.social) on his shameless aping of Modern Warfare's perk system (which took a "nightmarishly" long time to figure out) and how Naughty Dog simply telephoned Bungie to get the skinny on its netcode.
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
www.theringer.com/2025/10/24/v...
Gosh, what a vibe this book is: vivacious, pugnacious, street-level prose set in late '90s San Francisco. Lots of environmental dread, tons of hard-drug hangovers. Enamoured!
October 21, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Gosh, what a vibe this book is: vivacious, pugnacious, street-level prose set in late '90s San Francisco. Lots of environmental dread, tons of hard-drug hangovers. Enamoured!
The replies are mostly hilarious/miserable pleas for Spencer not to shut down the studio
October 17, 2025 at 6:06 PM
The replies are mostly hilarious/miserable pleas for Spencer not to shut down the studio
I'd have loved for Keeper to lean into the weirdness of its visuals and setting through mechanics, à la The Eternal Cylinder and Future Unfolding. But that doesn't really happen. Instead, we get a bunch of simple puzzles amid tremendously beautiful environments.
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
October 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I'd have loved for Keeper to lean into the weirdness of its visuals and setting through mechanics, à la The Eternal Cylinder and Future Unfolding. But that doesn't really happen. Instead, we get a bunch of simple puzzles amid tremendously beautiful environments.
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
www.theguardian.com/games/2025/o...
Explored this in a broader piece on Yotei's depiction of nature and the historical moment of its setting.
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
October 8, 2025 at 2:23 AM
Explored this in a broader piece on Yotei's depiction of nature and the historical moment of its setting.
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
I mean, also, just look at this
October 2, 2025 at 3:03 PM
I mean, also, just look at this
Yōtei has a lot going on, particularly in its depiction of nature and indigenous Ainu people on the cusp of colonisation.
Wolves would go extinct; people would get assimilated. I don't think the ghost of the title soley refers to Atsu but the land and its inhabitants.
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
Wolves would go extinct; people would get assimilated. I don't think the ghost of the title soley refers to Atsu but the land and its inhabitants.
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
October 2, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Yōtei has a lot going on, particularly in its depiction of nature and indigenous Ainu people on the cusp of colonisation.
Wolves would go extinct; people would get assimilated. I don't think the ghost of the title soley refers to Atsu but the land and its inhabitants.
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
Wolves would go extinct; people would get assimilated. I don't think the ghost of the title soley refers to Atsu but the land and its inhabitants.
atmos.earth/art-and-cult...
It's a similar dynamic with Silent Hill f — a channeling of feminine rage through tried-and-tested combat mechanics. It's amazing what tweaks to the narrative ornamentation around these interactions can yield in terms of emotional output.
October 2, 2025 at 11:17 AM
It's a similar dynamic with Silent Hill f — a channeling of feminine rage through tried-and-tested combat mechanics. It's amazing what tweaks to the narrative ornamentation around these interactions can yield in terms of emotional output.
Here's a thing I'm digging about Ghost of Yōtei: the way shifting to a female protagonist makes the combat feel so much more cathartic. Atsu is constantly denigrated by men for simply being a woman — and then she/we get to cleave them in two with her katana.
October 2, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Here's a thing I'm digging about Ghost of Yōtei: the way shifting to a female protagonist makes the combat feel so much more cathartic. Atsu is constantly denigrated by men for simply being a woman — and then she/we get to cleave them in two with her katana.
Wrestled with one aspect of this in my piece for The Verge.
"What sports (in particular soccer) share with video games, beyond this competitive crossover in the form of esports, are committed, tribal fandoms.."
www.theverge.com/2023/12/1/23...
"What sports (in particular soccer) share with video games, beyond this competitive crossover in the form of esports, are committed, tribal fandoms.."
www.theverge.com/2023/12/1/23...
September 29, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Wrestled with one aspect of this in my piece for The Verge.
"What sports (in particular soccer) share with video games, beyond this competitive crossover in the form of esports, are committed, tribal fandoms.."
www.theverge.com/2023/12/1/23...
"What sports (in particular soccer) share with video games, beyond this competitive crossover in the form of esports, are committed, tribal fandoms.."
www.theverge.com/2023/12/1/23...
Does supporting Labour's racist policies like the hostile environment make voters racist? Yeah, kinda actually.
September 29, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Does supporting Labour's racist policies like the hostile environment make voters racist? Yeah, kinda actually.
Many will fixate on the difficulty. But this is a merciful, kind game (there are so many routes to choose from!)
Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time that "massive penis-shaped shovel" has made it into the FT.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time that "massive penis-shaped shovel" has made it into the FT.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
September 23, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Many will fixate on the difficulty. But this is a merciful, kind game (there are so many routes to choose from!)
Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time that "massive penis-shaped shovel" has made it into the FT.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
Also, I'm pretty sure this is the first time that "massive penis-shaped shovel" has made it into the FT.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
Folks, Baby Steps is an easy 5 stars.
Experimental performance art meets heartfelt ode to walking (think the ambulatory odysseys of nature writer Robert Macfarlane). And it has this gonzo stoner comedy vibe, too.
Exquisite stuff TBQH. Words over @financialtimes.com.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
Experimental performance art meets heartfelt ode to walking (think the ambulatory odysseys of nature writer Robert Macfarlane). And it has this gonzo stoner comedy vibe, too.
Exquisite stuff TBQH. Words over @financialtimes.com.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
September 23, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Folks, Baby Steps is an easy 5 stars.
Experimental performance art meets heartfelt ode to walking (think the ambulatory odysseys of nature writer Robert Macfarlane). And it has this gonzo stoner comedy vibe, too.
Exquisite stuff TBQH. Words over @financialtimes.com.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
Experimental performance art meets heartfelt ode to walking (think the ambulatory odysseys of nature writer Robert Macfarlane). And it has this gonzo stoner comedy vibe, too.
Exquisite stuff TBQH. Words over @financialtimes.com.
www.ft.com/content/dbe5...
there is just so much to chew on in Silent Hill F: violent eco-horror imagery, Japanese folklore, a honkaku-tinged mystery that deepens across multiple playthroughs — and it coalesces beautifully 💉💉💉
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
September 22, 2025 at 11:29 AM
there is just so much to chew on in Silent Hill F: violent eco-horror imagery, Japanese folklore, a honkaku-tinged mystery that deepens across multiple playthroughs — and it coalesces beautifully 💉💉💉
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
reviewed Silent Hill F, whose tilt towards action is fundamental to depicting Hinako's eruption of rage.
she is a bonafide star in this stellar, sinister, but not especially scary return for the venerable horror series. words over @theverge.com
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
she is a bonafide star in this stellar, sinister, but not especially scary return for the venerable horror series. words over @theverge.com
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
September 22, 2025 at 10:26 AM
reviewed Silent Hill F, whose tilt towards action is fundamental to depicting Hinako's eruption of rage.
she is a bonafide star in this stellar, sinister, but not especially scary return for the venerable horror series. words over @theverge.com
www.theverge.com/games/782012...
she is a bonafide star in this stellar, sinister, but not especially scary return for the venerable horror series. words over @theverge.com
www.theverge.com/games/782012...