Just for fun, I put together this flowchart detailing how Super Mario Bros. 1 checks for (and handles) player collisions with tiles. Good game design can be deceivingly complicated. Credits to the SMB1 Disassembly.

Not a "buckle up, bozos" fella, but it's the holidays, you all need something low-stakes to yell about, and this is true and of imminent utility: Everyone but me and my students has been playing Monopoly wrong* for 90 years, because Quakers are too nice at games. *see alt text

now is the time for Walkabout Mini Golf to strike while the iron's hot and finally make his dream a minigolf-based reality

My now-perennial 9/11 observation is that it's quite a thought experiment to imagine what would've happened if the median 2020 Covid victim had *also* been a 37-year-old white-collar professional who had been classmates with at least three people in the NYC/Washington media axis.

Every important videogame needs an interactive documentary like The Making of Karateka. pastemagazine.com/games/game-his…

The MST is the most inspiring movement in the world right now. That they’re now running their own candidates—& winning—is outstanding news There are too many good bits in this article to highlight; just do yourself a favor & read the whole thing earthisland.org/journal/index.…

Dylan Williams passed 12 years ago today. It's still hard for me to come to terms with his passing. I & everyone who loved him still think about him everyday as a person, artist and force for good in art & in life. ❤️ A link to all things Dylan: dominobooksnews.com/2021/09/11/dyl…

that settles it: on net, a pretty good day

Just learned of the passing of John Daleske, creator of Empire, the first "massively multiplayer" game. stumpfffuneral.com/obituary/john-… I spoke with Daleske briefly over email and his site is a super important source for early networked games. daleske.com

And with that, Dave Hickey overtakes Douglas Adams as the person I'm saddest to no longer have in our world, observing things.

#MondayMotivation

My friend Joe Matt was a lazy as hell chronic masturbator who wasted his gifts. His death has left me and many others unconsolable. thenation.com/article/cultur…

Matt Christman is one of the best analysts period and anyone who has listened to a second of his stuff knows he’s a genuinely thoughtful and beautiful human being. If you have some room, send him and his people some energy.

Gamebase64 is an extremely important archive for the #Commodore64 , but is now at huge risk of losing its online presence due to the tragic loss of webmaster Steven Feurer. Please check our post for more details - but can anyone help or spread the word? gamesthatwerent.com/2023/09/gameba…

Anybody who doubts Matt Christman's menschness should note his saintlike forbearance while dealing with a pre-pandemic me, trying to figure out how the fuck to get this whole streaming thing to work. Note: there is no other reason to watch this. youtube.com/watch?v=xaR2xI…

my reign of grotesquerie is approaching its end ☹️

One really powerful argument for multigenerational extended-family living is that it allows everyone to play trains the right amount of time, whereas in our current setup nearly everybody is playing too much or too little trains.