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spadgy.bsky.social
Will Freeman
@spadgy.bsky.social
1.8K followers 1K following 690 posts
Head fulla noise, toys, & hobbies.
🕹️🪀🛹
Freelance game journalist, copywriter, events, mock reviewer, etc. Edge, The Guardian, Eurogamer, BAFTA, PC Gamer, GI, Bitmap Books, etc.

Arcade/shmup/retro player. Yo-yoer.

https://linktr.ee/willfreeman_spadgy
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spadgy.bsky.social
Will Freeman @spadgy.bsky.social · Nov 5
Gotta admit I’m proud of this. Perhaps my favourite games thing I’ve written in my 19 years at it!

I wrote about the fascinating relationship shared by graffiti and video games, for the mighty @apwot.bsky.social magazine!

Illustrated by Rita Diaz, with extra pieces by Team Reptile writers!
Reposted by Will Freeman
hitpstudio.bsky.social
This Wednesday, our shmup Schildmaid MX is finally arriving on all major current consoles!

To celebrate & pay homage to the games that inspired us, we'll be live streaming from perhaps the largest arcade on mainland Western Europe.

Join us on November 26 from 3PM GMT+1 at twitch.tv/mkstayontarget.
Flyer for a live stream at twitch.tv/mkstayontarget on Wednesday November 26 at 3.00 PM GMT+1
November 24, 2025 at 1:43 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
As a controller junkie, it was so ace to write this for @bitmapbooks.com!

Rather than just try and pick 'weird' controllers purely for how strange they are, I tried to go with ones with a bit more interesting going on, or underapprciated potential.

And yes, I'm a Cheetah Bug stan. Best joystick!
bitmapbooks.com Bitmap Books @bitmapbooks.com · 15h
Our latest blog has just dropped - GET A GRIP: A GUIDE TO GAMING'S MOST UNUSUAL CONTROLLERS

Link in bio 🔗

Find more unusual controllers in our new book - Trigger Happy: A Visual Celebration of Video Game Controllers: www.bitmapbooks.com/collections/...

#bitmapbooks @spadgy.bsky.social #booksky
November 24, 2025 at 4:04 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
I spoke to SNK producer Yasuyuki Oda about creating the remarkable Real Bout Fatal Fury 2!

Thanks to @retrogamermag.bsky.social for the opportunity, and for making it look so great. In the new issue (279).

GET IN THE RING!
November 21, 2025 at 1:24 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
Treated myself to some Neo Geo Pocket Color gold…

Fatal Fury: First Contact!
A hand holding up a boxed copy of the Neo Geo Pocket Color game Fatal Fury: First Contact. The background is a colourful graffitied wall.
November 19, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Will Freeman
ohfivepro.bsky.social
In Scion you need to battle through many layers of a large planet to defeat the core. An idea later used by a rather more famous Taito shmup. It wasn't called Layer Section in some of it's guises for nothing
October 29, 2025 at 8:37 AM
spadgy.bsky.social
My favourite cosplays at MCM Comic Con?

Firstly, this guy that ‘transformed’ into a D&D game, complete with detailed charcater sheets, snacks, figures, the table, and his mate as DM!

#DnD #DandD #MCMComicCon
The front view of a man wearing black, standing amidst the crowds at a large indoor expo venue, with a table strapped to his back, and his arms up holding the table. Two bewildered, delighted onlookers are eagerly watching. In the same indoor expo venue hall, the man in the other photo shared with this social media post is now bent over, out of sight, and the table on his back is now in the conventional position, with a game of Dungeons and Dragons mid-way through arranged on the table, including painted figurines, character sheets, snacks, dice, and so on. Behind the table another man is posing to suggest he is the game’s Dungeon Master.
October 28, 2025 at 2:25 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
What a pleasure to interview the Creative Director of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Axel Torvenius, to kick off the @gamerepublic.bsky.social's awesome New Horizon's event.

Full video soon. Lots of chat about game design and old skool practical movie effects. I will share!

#GRNewHorizons
Two seasted speakers sit on a small stage, the backs of some of the audiences' heads and shoulders visible in the foreground. On the left and right of the stage, a pair of screens on stands show artwork and the logo from the video game Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.
October 22, 2025 at 3:02 PM
Reposted by Will Freeman
geekdadgamer.bsky.social
We are bringing our biggest ever Family Gaming Zone back to EGX! South Hall S1680.

Over 100 games to choose from with experts on hand to suggest titles, explain PEGI and parental controls for consoles, Roblox and PC. www.familygamingdatabase.com/Family+Gamin...

See you there? Shares welcome.
October 21, 2025 at 4:36 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
I popped downstairs to find this one in my living room!

She didn’t even dash off. Sat there chilling, and watched us a while. 💚
A young adult fox, likely female, sitting inside a living room just a few inches from an open door leading outside. The fox appears to be looking directly to the camera.
October 11, 2025 at 1:35 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
Notepads for work lists and doodling? Pah!

It’s my desk for me. Anyone else!?😁
A physical desktop covered in drawing, to-do lists, doodles, tests of pens, ink spillages, and so on, all drawn directly onto the desk.
October 7, 2025 at 11:51 AM
spadgy.bsky.social
Has anyone received anything for First PRess Games... say... this year?

I'm still waiting for months on some 'in stock' shmups I ordered, and I'm desparate to hear anything to give me hope!
October 3, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Will Freeman
tegiminis.bsky.social
playing devil blade reboot again (after playing it a bunch at launch) and yup, still goated. it's on sale for the autumn sale and is a wonderful beginner-friendly shmup.

"Let me show you the power of God! Hell is mine to command!"

store.steampowered.com/app/2882440/...
Save 25% on DEVIL BLADE REBOOT on Steam
An immersive pseudo-3D shoot 'em up experience that pushes the limits of pixel art. Push your score higher with the innovative Berserk System: the closer they are, the more points you get!
store.steampowered.com
October 2, 2025 at 8:52 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
Psyvariar isn't just one of my favourite shmup series - it's one of my favourite game series.

22 years after Psyvariar 2, Psyvariar 3 just got revealed! First screens! 👀

'Buzz' and 'Roll' systems remain. Arcade, arrange, caravan, and more modes. And a Cotton cameo!? PS5/Switch 1 & 2.

#shmups
A screenshot from the newly announced shmup video game Psyvariar 3, showing a small spacecraft dodging bullets and firing on enemies. A screenshot from the newly announced shmup video game Psyvariar 3, showing a small spacecraft dodging bullets and firing on enemies. A screenshot from the newly announced shmup video game Psyvariar 3, showing the character select screen, with a reinterpretted version of the lead charcater from the Cotton shmups on screen.
September 25, 2025 at 2:07 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
The game industry has been family to me when it’s come to my mental health, traumatic events, being an overwhelmed carer, & more.

Support that’s saved me… as part of a dream career!

I went on @gothbosscat.bsky.social’s podcast to talk about building a career in games when life is complex. You can!
gothbosscat.bsky.social Cat Burton @gothbosscat.bsky.social · Sep 23
Honestly getting a wee bit emosh rewatching clips from this week's episode of the podcast with @spadgy.bsky.social ❤️

It quickly became an honest conversation about his struggles & how the industry has rallied around him.

Available now in all the usual places!

youtu.be/9BU1BzVf7sk
Games Journalism and a Love Letter to the Industry with Will Freeman
YouTube video by Cat Burton
youtu.be
September 23, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by Will Freeman
gothbosscat.bsky.social
Honestly getting a wee bit emosh rewatching clips from this week's episode of the podcast with @spadgy.bsky.social ❤️

It quickly became an honest conversation about his struggles & how the industry has rallied around him.

Available now in all the usual places!

youtu.be/9BU1BzVf7sk
Games Journalism and a Love Letter to the Industry with Will Freeman
YouTube video by Cat Burton
youtu.be
September 23, 2025 at 11:30 AM
spadgy.bsky.social
Snagged the EP of a load of dot-matrix printers making ‘music’ together. Works lovely for my ears/brain.

Love the vinyl sleeve with the floppy-style slots!

Here’s the tunes/noises: staalplaatlabel.bandcamp.com/album/sympho...
A hand holding up a 12 record im a black sleeve, in front of a hedge/bushes. The record has a small label as seen on floppy disk, with the text ‘The User’ most visible.
September 15, 2025 at 12:21 PM
Reposted by Will Freeman
dark1x.bsky.social
First thought
September 4, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Reposted by Will Freeman
armormodekeeg.blacksky.app
I always liked the notion that danmaku wasn't invented for the sake of truly crushing difficulty, but rather to make shooters more visually enticing and thrilling. It's a little sad that these types of games got assumed by onlookers to just be completely impossible instead.
xxgr1llmast3rxx.bsky.social Herbert @xxgr1llmast3rxx.bsky.social · Sep 2
Tsuneki Ikeda of CAVE on the value of hard games shmuplations.com/ikeda
I personally think that games are not just for having fun; they could also be called a form of competition, of gamer vs. game. When you watch a story unfold in a game, it can be moving. However, when you clear a game that has a reputation for being impossible to all but the most dedicated of players, then you will experience something that is distinct from what narrative games offer. So long as there are players who want very difficult games, I hope to keep making them. Of course sometimes we overdo it, and the players get pissed at us. (laughs) I mean, if it’s ok for there to be casual games for casual players, then what’s wrong with having hard games for hardcore players? Casual players are an important part of the audience, it’s true, but hardcore players are equally important. My hope is that I can convey the joy of these difficult games to casual players via the visually dazzling medium of danmaku; maybe then normal, everyday players will have their interest piqued.
September 2, 2025 at 4:52 AM
spadgy.bsky.social
Today is 20 years exactly since I went full-time writing for and about games & the game industry.

Shout out to all the fascinating, creative, supportive people I’ve worked with, & the amazing projects you’ve involved me in.

I’m so lucky this is how I put food on the family table… thanks all of ya!
September 1, 2025 at 1:42 PM
spadgy.bsky.social
Generous dog turd bin!

(Definitely wasn’t me. 😁)
August 20, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Reposted by Will Freeman
geeky-jay.neocities.org
what if every franchise have a shmup spinoff just like how they have pinball and/or racing spinoffs?
August 18, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Will Freeman
shmupdb.bsky.social
Raiden IV & Raiden III x MIKADO Deluxe Edition shmups by MOSS -35% Steam on Fanatical 👇
www.fanatical.com/en/game/raid...
August 16, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Reposted by Will Freeman
scowsh.bsky.social
Cracking Sunday, sat outside in the sun, reading about Tiger Heli with a cup of tea. Absolutely loving @spadgy.bsky.social retro gamer shmup/stg articles, making me wanna play this one again! #outside #sun #magazine #retrogamer #shmup #stg #tigerheli #toaplan
Double page spread about Tiger Heli from retro gamer magazine on a table outside, with a cup of tea next to it. Another page about Tiger Heli from retro gamer magazine on a table outside, with a cup of tea next to it.
August 17, 2025 at 11:00 AM
Reposted by Will Freeman
shmupdb.bsky.social
Check out the United Galaxy Space Force which is Namco's universe bringing together their space related games. Lots of #shmups like Galaga, Galaxian, Bosconian, Gaplus, Final Blaster and NebulasRay to name a few.
ugsf-series.com
August 15, 2025 at 2:08 PM
Reposted by Will Freeman
claymatic.games
It's what you've all been waiting for.. 👀
The Platypus Reclayed Release Date Announcement! 👏

🚀 PC, Mac, PlayStation 4|5, Xbox X|S, Nintendo Switch
💥 Launching on September 18th

#PlatypusReclayed #GameDev #Shmup
August 14, 2025 at 1:03 PM