Video Game Generations
@vggenerations.bsky.social
I’m Mike, an erstwhile indie dev and podcaster, now a newsletter author (it's totally free) and game mini-reviewer with no patience for the anti-woke crowd. Each issue of VGGN features a new (usually fun) topic. Read 'em all at https://vggpodcast.com/news/
Maybe they're sociopaths on a power trip. Maybe they're just misunderstood good guys. This week in VGGN Issue #28, it's a trilogy of top 7 lists all about criminals and crime games.
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November 15, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Maybe they're sociopaths on a power trip. Maybe they're just misunderstood good guys. This week in VGGN Issue #28, it's a trilogy of top 7 lists all about criminals and crime games.
Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
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Fill your week with shovelware! OK, don't, but at least read about it in VGGN issue #27. Also: a few duds from my Wii collection and a shovelware verdict on several mini-reviews.
Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
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November 8, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Fill your week with shovelware! OK, don't, but at least read about it in VGGN issue #27. Also: a few duds from my Wii collection and a shovelware verdict on several mini-reviews.
Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
Archive: vggpodcast.com/news
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Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
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For anybody who doesn't already own Limbo and Inside, they're a staggering 90% off on PlayStation right now.
This isn't a refer or affiliate link or anything - just a well-intentioned PSA.
You're welcome.
store.playstation.com/en-us/catego...
This isn't a refer or affiliate link or anything - just a well-intentioned PSA.
You're welcome.
store.playstation.com/en-us/catego...
November 4, 2025 at 3:53 AM
For anybody who doesn't already own Limbo and Inside, they're a staggering 90% off on PlayStation right now.
This isn't a refer or affiliate link or anything - just a well-intentioned PSA.
You're welcome.
store.playstation.com/en-us/catego...
This isn't a refer or affiliate link or anything - just a well-intentioned PSA.
You're welcome.
store.playstation.com/en-us/catego...
Capsule Review: Stroke the Animals (PS5)
Perhaps the biggest shovelware offender. The same elevator music re-used. Animal stock photos. Pricier than other "easy platinums". Wear out your X button (can't just hold X). No animation, just a slight dimming effect. Irredeemable slop.
Perhaps the biggest shovelware offender. The same elevator music re-used. Animal stock photos. Pricier than other "easy platinums". Wear out your X button (can't just hold X). No animation, just a slight dimming effect. Irredeemable slop.
November 2, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Capsule Review: Stroke the Animals (PS5)
Perhaps the biggest shovelware offender. The same elevator music re-used. Animal stock photos. Pricier than other "easy platinums". Wear out your X button (can't just hold X). No animation, just a slight dimming effect. Irredeemable slop.
Perhaps the biggest shovelware offender. The same elevator music re-used. Animal stock photos. Pricier than other "easy platinums". Wear out your X button (can't just hold X). No animation, just a slight dimming effect. Irredeemable slop.
…when you hold the X button. The whole point is that you're buying a quick platinum trophy to easily raise your PSN rank, not any sort of actual game. Even the music seems to get re-used, but I only tried three of these. FWIW, I could actually see toddlers enjoying one of these.
November 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM
…when you hold the X button. The whole point is that you're buying a quick platinum trophy to easily raise your PSN rank, not any sort of actual game. Even the music seems to get re-used, but I only tried three of these. FWIW, I could actually see toddlers enjoying one of these.
Mini-Review: The Jumping "food" series (PS5)
Some shovelware devs at least *try* to include game-like elements to mask the lack of any redeeming qualities in their games, but not ThiGames. Each one is just a different still image with a picture of food that hops slightly…
Some shovelware devs at least *try* to include game-like elements to mask the lack of any redeeming qualities in their games, but not ThiGames. Each one is just a different still image with a picture of food that hops slightly…
November 2, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Mini-Review: The Jumping "food" series (PS5)
Some shovelware devs at least *try* to include game-like elements to mask the lack of any redeeming qualities in their games, but not ThiGames. Each one is just a different still image with a picture of food that hops slightly…
Some shovelware devs at least *try* to include game-like elements to mask the lack of any redeeming qualities in their games, but not ThiGames. Each one is just a different still image with a picture of food that hops slightly…
Capsule Review: The (Animal/Food/Sports) Quiz (PS5)
Second of two egregious "easy platinum" shovelware quiz series on PlayStation. L1/R1 to answer, and it ignores wrong answers. Just press/toggle rapidly to mine all trophies. PSN Quality Control is asleep at the wheel, I think.
Second of two egregious "easy platinum" shovelware quiz series on PlayStation. L1/R1 to answer, and it ignores wrong answers. Just press/toggle rapidly to mine all trophies. PSN Quality Control is asleep at the wheel, I think.
November 2, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Capsule Review: The (Animal/Food/Sports) Quiz (PS5)
Second of two egregious "easy platinum" shovelware quiz series on PlayStation. L1/R1 to answer, and it ignores wrong answers. Just press/toggle rapidly to mine all trophies. PSN Quality Control is asleep at the wheel, I think.
Second of two egregious "easy platinum" shovelware quiz series on PlayStation. L1/R1 to answer, and it ignores wrong answers. Just press/toggle rapidly to mine all trophies. PSN Quality Control is asleep at the wheel, I think.
Capsule Review: Quiz Thiz (PS5)
First of 2 "easy platinum" shovelware "quiz" series. They even re-release the same games multiple times (gold, silver, etc.) for extra trophy sets. No way to lose - just press X/O rapidly to mine all trophies in a matter of seconds. Utter garbage.
First of 2 "easy platinum" shovelware "quiz" series. They even re-release the same games multiple times (gold, silver, etc.) for extra trophy sets. No way to lose - just press X/O rapidly to mine all trophies in a matter of seconds. Utter garbage.
November 2, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Capsule Review: Quiz Thiz (PS5)
First of 2 "easy platinum" shovelware "quiz" series. They even re-release the same games multiple times (gold, silver, etc.) for extra trophy sets. No way to lose - just press X/O rapidly to mine all trophies in a matter of seconds. Utter garbage.
First of 2 "easy platinum" shovelware "quiz" series. They even re-release the same games multiple times (gold, silver, etc.) for extra trophy sets. No way to lose - just press X/O rapidly to mine all trophies in a matter of seconds. Utter garbage.
…a Flappy Bird rip-off that's crude and very easy (Lirili Larila), one where you jump over slow-moving icons (Tung Tung Sahur Runner) and one where you just click on the right character floating around (Italian Brainrot). All junk, each an easy four-minute Platinum. Shovelware.
November 2, 2025 at 9:24 PM
…a Flappy Bird rip-off that's crude and very easy (Lirili Larila), one where you jump over slow-moving icons (Tung Tung Sahur Runner) and one where you just click on the right character floating around (Italian Brainrot). All junk, each an easy four-minute Platinum. Shovelware.
…all of these come from Oiven Games. There's a "pong" that doesn't work right (Br Br Patapim), one where you score by dodging left and right (Tralalero Tralala), one where you catch falling tiles (Chimpanzini Bananini), a simplistic "light gun" shooter (Cappuccino Assassino),…
November 2, 2025 at 9:24 PM
…all of these come from Oiven Games. There's a "pong" that doesn't work right (Br Br Patapim), one where you score by dodging left and right (Tralalero Tralala), one where you catch falling tiles (Chimpanzini Bananini), a simplistic "light gun" shooter (Cappuccino Assassino),…
Mini-Review: "Italian Brainrot" games (PS5)
Now we're getting into the truly egregious of the shovelware slop littering the PSN digital shop. Several different devs are using these absurd AI-generated characters (stick man "Tung Tung Sahur" seems to be a popular choice), but…
Now we're getting into the truly egregious of the shovelware slop littering the PSN digital shop. Several different devs are using these absurd AI-generated characters (stick man "Tung Tung Sahur" seems to be a popular choice), but…
November 2, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Mini-Review: "Italian Brainrot" games (PS5)
Now we're getting into the truly egregious of the shovelware slop littering the PSN digital shop. Several different devs are using these absurd AI-generated characters (stick man "Tung Tung Sahur" seems to be a popular choice), but…
Now we're getting into the truly egregious of the shovelware slop littering the PSN digital shop. Several different devs are using these absurd AI-generated characters (stick man "Tung Tung Sahur" seems to be a popular choice), but…
…you then use to upgrade and add components, which increases your income even more. Just keep doing that, and within a few minutes, you'll have a completed "engine" and the PSN platinum trophy. These are a marginal step up from others, but still exist only for cheap trophies.
November 2, 2025 at 9:14 PM
…you then use to upgrade and add components, which increases your income even more. Just keep doing that, and within a few minutes, you'll have a completed "engine" and the PSN platinum trophy. These are a marginal step up from others, but still exist only for cheap trophies.
…"jumping food" games, all those "stroke the animal" games, and two different "quiz" series games are still listed. Go figure. The five games (Alien Engine, Cyber Engine, Organic Engine, Steam Engine, and Windmill Engine) work the same way. You gain "money" every second, which…
November 2, 2025 at 9:14 PM
…"jumping food" games, all those "stroke the animal" games, and two different "quiz" series games are still listed. Go figure. The five games (Alien Engine, Cyber Engine, Organic Engine, Steam Engine, and Windmill Engine) work the same way. You gain "money" every second, which…
Mini-Review: Engine / RandomSpin Games (PS5)
It was only a few weeks ago I bought these five silly "easy platinum" shovelware games on PS5, and now they've been delisted. PlayStation has reportedly been cracking down on slop, yet those dumb "Italian Brainrot" games, all those…
It was only a few weeks ago I bought these five silly "easy platinum" shovelware games on PS5, and now they've been delisted. PlayStation has reportedly been cracking down on slop, yet those dumb "Italian Brainrot" games, all those…
November 2, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Mini-Review: Engine / RandomSpin Games (PS5)
It was only a few weeks ago I bought these five silly "easy platinum" shovelware games on PS5, and now they've been delisted. PlayStation has reportedly been cracking down on slop, yet those dumb "Italian Brainrot" games, all those…
It was only a few weeks ago I bought these five silly "easy platinum" shovelware games on PS5, and now they've been delisted. PlayStation has reportedly been cracking down on slop, yet those dumb "Italian Brainrot" games, all those…
…replay levels to avoid taking damage, in order to earn the platinum trophy. The second to last stage was tricky, with rocket launcher guys and simplistic aiming, but I finally did it. It's crude and janky, yes, but there's a real game here, not just egregious PSN Platinum slop.
November 2, 2025 at 9:06 PM
…replay levels to avoid taking damage, in order to earn the platinum trophy. The second to last stage was tricky, with rocket launcher guys and simplistic aiming, but I finally did it. It's crude and janky, yes, but there's a real game here, not just egregious PSN Platinum slop.
…I played through this weekend, and aside from the bizarre Hoodie Survivor (which I got addicted to for about 4 hours and might review later), it's my pick for the "best" (a low bar to meet) of this solo dev's offerings (at least among the ones I played). In this one, I *did*…
November 2, 2025 at 9:06 PM
…I played through this weekend, and aside from the bizarre Hoodie Survivor (which I got addicted to for about 4 hours and might review later), it's my pick for the "best" (a low bar to meet) of this solo dev's offerings (at least among the ones I played). In this one, I *did*…
Mini-Review: Lady in a Leotard With a Gun (PS4)
If you've ever browsed the PSN store on PS4 or PS5, either for games on sale or just sorted by price from lowest to highest, you've probably seen this weird-looking $0.50 third-person shooter. This is the third of The Voices Games…
If you've ever browsed the PSN store on PS4 or PS5, either for games on sale or just sorted by price from lowest to highest, you've probably seen this weird-looking $0.50 third-person shooter. This is the third of The Voices Games…
November 2, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Mini-Review: Lady in a Leotard With a Gun (PS4)
If you've ever browsed the PSN store on PS4 or PS5, either for games on sale or just sorted by price from lowest to highest, you've probably seen this weird-looking $0.50 third-person shooter. This is the third of The Voices Games…
If you've ever browsed the PSN store on PS4 or PS5, either for games on sale or just sorted by price from lowest to highest, you've probably seen this weird-looking $0.50 third-person shooter. This is the third of The Voices Games…
…(although I did avoid dying in some of them) and a couple levels started lagging down to single-digit frames per second. I found the last boss to be really tough, starting with no special ammo, but I finally beat him. It's not a *good* game, but at least effort was put into it.
November 2, 2025 at 8:59 PM
…(although I did avoid dying in some of them) and a couple levels started lagging down to single-digit frames per second. I found the last boss to be really tough, starting with no special ammo, but I finally beat him. It's not a *good* game, but at least effort was put into it.
…a real game here, not just an easy platinum like some of the other stuff I'll be writing about in the next VGGN issue. The game has several levels with PSN trophies awarded for not dying, which will ultimately unlock challenge levels. I have no desire to replay these levels…
November 2, 2025 at 8:59 PM
…a real game here, not just an easy platinum like some of the other stuff I'll be writing about in the next VGGN issue. The game has several levels with PSN trophies awarded for not dying, which will ultimately unlock challenge levels. I have no desire to replay these levels…
Mini-Review: Multigun (PS4)
The second of three "The Voices Games" games I played through this weekend is Multigun, a janky first-person shooter where ammo cubes get used in the order you pick them up. While your $0.50 could be spent towards something far better, there's actually…
The second of three "The Voices Games" games I played through this weekend is Multigun, a janky first-person shooter where ammo cubes get used in the order you pick them up. While your $0.50 could be spent towards something far better, there's actually…
November 2, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Mini-Review: Multigun (PS4)
The second of three "The Voices Games" games I played through this weekend is Multigun, a janky first-person shooter where ammo cubes get used in the order you pick them up. While your $0.50 could be spent towards something far better, there's actually…
The second of three "The Voices Games" games I played through this weekend is Multigun, a janky first-person shooter where ammo cubes get used in the order you pick them up. While your $0.50 could be spent towards something far better, there's actually…
…a lot of some of my own games from years ago. While Spectrewoods lacks the challenge of the other two I'll review next, and it's super short (a few minutes, unless you don't realize you should follow the flowers like I did) it's a minimalistic third person shooter with a story.
November 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
…a lot of some of my own games from years ago. While Spectrewoods lacks the challenge of the other two I'll review next, and it's super short (a few minutes, unless you don't realize you should follow the flowers like I did) it's a minimalistic third person shooter with a story.
…under a dollar and somehow look even cheaper than their price tag. I wasn't wrong about most of them, but the ones from The Voices Games are actually real games. They're not necessarily *good* games, but they have a crude indie charm to them that reminds me…
November 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
…under a dollar and somehow look even cheaper than their price tag. I wasn't wrong about most of them, but the ones from The Voices Games are actually real games. They're not necessarily *good* games, but they have a crude indie charm to them that reminds me…
Mini-Review: Spectrewoods (PS4)
Next week's issue of the VGGN is all about shovelware. In the interest of doing additional research, I decided to buy several games that seemingly fit the definition. These are games that are almost always on sale on the PlayStation store for…
Next week's issue of the VGGN is all about shovelware. In the interest of doing additional research, I decided to buy several games that seemingly fit the definition. These are games that are almost always on sale on the PlayStation store for…
November 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Mini-Review: Spectrewoods (PS4)
Next week's issue of the VGGN is all about shovelware. In the interest of doing additional research, I decided to buy several games that seemingly fit the definition. These are games that are almost always on sale on the PlayStation store for…
Next week's issue of the VGGN is all about shovelware. In the interest of doing additional research, I decided to buy several games that seemingly fit the definition. These are games that are almost always on sale on the PlayStation store for…
The many ways food has a role in games is the main topic in Issue #26, out now. Also: my thoughts on the US government co-opting Halo (tl;dr it's a clown show) and mini-reviews.
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November 1, 2025 at 3:15 PM
The many ways food has a role in games is the main topic in Issue #26, out now. Also: my thoughts on the US government co-opting Halo (tl;dr it's a clown show) and mini-reviews.
Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
Archive: vggpodcast.com/news
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Issue #25, on October 25, in the year '25. What are the odds? This week, it's "How Xbox Lost Me", 54 games and franchises in my horror backlog, and some horror-adjacent mini-reviews.
Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
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October 26, 2025 at 3:26 AM
Issue #25, on October 25, in the year '25. What are the odds? This week, it's "How Xbox Lost Me", 54 games and franchises in my horror backlog, and some horror-adjacent mini-reviews.
Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
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Read it: vggpodcast.com/news/vggn-02...
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