Matt S. is the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of DDNet. He's been writing about games for over 20 years, including a book, but is perhaps best-known for being the high priest of the Church of Hatsune Miku.
Hello everyone, and Happy Holidays! What a year it has been, too. An impossible number of great games were released. It has been totally impossible to keep up with the release schedule. We also made significant inroads in our own visual novel project, formally announcing it and getting it so close to being ready to release. It’s going to be…
It’s that time of year again! We’re counting down the days to Christmas with our own little “advent calendar” – one new game to play over the holiday season each and every day. As the year winds down, things get really busy. We’ve got Christmas parties to attend, the end…
It’s that time of year again! We’re counting down the days to…
It’s that time of year again! We’re counting down the days to…
The difference between a very fine game, and an inferior, derivative pastiche can at times be very slim. Mato Anomalies is an excellent example of just how fine this line can be. Clearly inspired by Persona, and a novel attempt and bringing a kind of neon-noir approach to the genre,…
Read More
I love Zen Studios’ approach to pinball. I’ve been playing the company’s games for the past 13 years, and naturally, I was very keen to check out the new Pinball FX (which is actually Pinball FX4). The core pinball action is even better than ever. Sadly, though, there are some…
Read More
In 2016, a study by Paul J. C. Adachi and Teena Willoughby was published in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence that found that of people aged 17-25, playing sports video games increased involvement in real-life sports. “Sports video game play may be an effective tool to promote real-life sports…
Read More
There is a problem when you make something subversive: how do you back it up with a sequel? If the sequel is too familiar and follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, it is no longer subversive by definition. It has lost its creative identity. This is unfortunately the case…
Read More
We don’t hear as much about the Eastern Front during World War 2. This is, of course, largely because the heroes of the piece were Soviets. Anything that could be perceived as lionising the heroics of Soviets doesn’t play well with the West’s official propaganda line on what happened during…
Read More
I love real-world escape room experiences. You’ve got an hour or so to sort out an extended puzzle, find your way through a couple of different challenges and, ultimately (and usually with the assistance of a group of friends), make your way out in time. Escape rooms prove that a…
Read More
There are so many ways that Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon could have fallen flat. Being so utterly different from the existing Bayonetta trilogy it could have disappointed players. It also offers a form of gameplay that is very hard to get right, too. And yet, it is…
Read More
Catan’s trajectory has been incredible, given that it’s only 28 years old. Initially, it was something of a disruptor, helping the “Eurogame” become a dominant approach to board games. From there it became a Monopoly-like thing – a game that absolutely everyone owns a copy of and is aware of…
Read More
I was very impressed with my first experience with Soundcore earbuds when I tested a unit last year. For a modest price, they offered quality sound and noise-cancelling features, all in a tiny form factor and slim, light case that made it so easy to throw into a bag and…
Read More
It was a surprisingly strong week for horror games this week, with an excellent remaster of a Project Zero game joining the spectacular visual novel by Square Enix, Paranormasight. In reading some of the reviews of these games I was reminded that far too often people treat Japanese and Western…
Read More