This Month's Soundtrack

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Lord knows what I'll do for these when I run out of Bluesky music polls. I'm taking part in #THEN0UGHTIE5 and picking favourite tracks from 2000-2010, and I expressed at the beginning it's not a favourite decade (as arbitrary as a marker decades are) but I do have to admit it contains a lot of songs I hold really close to my heart. Anyway, here's Ever (Foreign Flag) by Team Sleep, which would prefigure what Chino Moreno would go on to do with †††.

This Month On exp.

Subscriber Posts: Match Day (Ritman/Clarke, 1984) / UFO 50 #6: Mortol (Perry, 2024)[subscriber exclusive]

It's the (Men's) World Cup, and that means, lots and lots of football for me, and, whether you like it or not, you too. I'll have a new article on a footy game each week for the rest of the tournament, and the good news is that at least one of them is actually good!

Unlocked Posts: The Three Stooges (Mylstar Electronics, 1984) / Wild Gunman (Nintendo, 1974) / Kurohyō: Ryū ga Gotoku Shinshō (Sega CS3/Syn Sophia, 2010)​

A big month. I share an excerpt from The Journal of Stoogealogical Studies Vol. 2, Will Sloan's zine that I was absolutely thrilled to take part in (you should get it, the piece I'm keeping exclusive to it is particularly good.) Some proper journalism, sort of, because I go up north and play a recreation of Nintendo's early more-or-less lost FMV arcade shooter, and I talk about the best Yakuza game you probably haven't played—a necessary reminder that there are always games you can play instead of the latest one especially when the team's casting has gone to hell so badly they're engaging in digital necromancy.

From The exp. Archive: Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious (Playground Games, 2015) / Groove Coaster (Matrix Software, 2011) / Mass Effect 3 (BioWare, 2012) / FIFA 17 (EA, 2016)​

Bit of football sneaking in at the end there.

exp. Du Cinéma

​The Mandalorian And Grogu (2025)​

Another month low on cinema—there's just so much football to watch—but at least I didn't limit myself to just this, getting out to see The Furious, which I enjoyed a great deal more.

Zine News

​‘This is injustice’: how leftist zines were used to sentence anti-ICE protesters to decades in prison​

A chilling read. Sure, I just write a video game zine, or for one about The Three Stooges, but this affects everyone. Solidarity.

​The Journal of Stoogeological Studies Vol. 2​

"You’ll find historical studies of the boys’ classic films, from their first (Soup to Nuts) to their last (Kook’s Tour)! Deep-dives into the strangest Stooge esoterica, including cartoon shows, video games, music, and erotica! Personal essays about the team’s lasting legacy! Interviews with Stooge expert Gary Lassin and legendary comedian Tim Heidecker! Plus art, comics, poetry, and fiction so beautiful it would even bring a tear to Moe’s eyes."

Sorry, yes, I know I already mentioned it, and I am in it, but come on. It's the zine release of the season!!! Also want to make a point that if you're in Toronto, there will be a zine release party at Eyesore Cinema on the 30th, and you should definitely come. I'm doing a reading!

​How Amazon Powers ICE​

"How Amazon Powers ICE is big on info, provides a bit of reflection, & clarifies what some big tech companies purposefully obfuscate. I hope this is a helpful & educational resource for folks who want to learn & an encouragement to those who want to change their purchasing habits."

Feels only fair to follow a link to Amazon with this, especially with the prior context. It's a challenge for self-publishers—Amazon is absolutely the best print-on-demand option for self-publishing to get your book into people's hands (my own book is published that way) never mind just as a consumer (the amount of times I've been driven mad trying to find something anywhere else). It might not mean much, but one of the best things you can do is be educated about the reality.

​The Oath #2​

"Over 10,000 words of brand new and extremely opinionated games writing from Stuart Gipp, with additional material by David Lloyd. Features on Hyrule Warriors, Yoshi on Switch 2, Mega Man, Shin Megami Tensei, Mina the Hollower and more. Coverage of Summer Games Fest, the State of Play, Xbox and Nintendo Direct events."

And Finally…

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With the Steam Machine turning out to be completely unaffordable (I was saving up for one, too...) and every other console receiving further price increases (heck, even Apple putting their price up) It's obvious that we're all stuck with the hardware we've got. Unless... we all decided to really get into the GX4000. I've been really pleased to see the reappraisal of Amstrad CPC, and the GX4000/Plus range fixed its issues as a games machine (hardware sprites!) but was hampered by a late release and some iffy business decisions. Kim Justice does a great job here talking about the system and some of the games.

My great "what if?" is wondering why Amstrad made new Spectrums after buying the brand in 1986, instead of selling off the old stock and then releasing the Plus range as the Amstrad Spectrum (or something.) I know the dates don't line up and hindsight is 20/20 but surely they were just diluting their own market.

Next week on exp.: Nyuk, nyuk nyuk!