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John O’Shea

@johnoshea.bsky.social
453 followers 431 following 53 posts

Creative Director & Co-CEO National Videogame Museum, Sheffield, UK Own views.

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Reposted by John O’Shea
The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Thank you! Since launching our Behind the Screens survey, we’ve been very pleased with the positive response from across the games industry. A huge thank you to everyone who has already taken the time to complete it and share their knowledge with us. Take part: forms.gle/bE8YrvrBaMnB...
forms.gle
Behind the Screens: UK Videogame Preservation Survey
The Behind the Screens survey intends to establish a general picture of what videogame related collections already exist in the UK, and to assess levels of awareness towards videogame preservation and...
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The NVM team will also be sharing their experiences of building the Behind the Screens Survey, the UK's first nationwide survey of videogame collections, which was launched last week
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Representatives from the VHS, including NVM’s @johnoshea.bsky.social and @annwain.bsky.social will be talking at the Playable Heritage conference in Edinburgh today! They’ll be joining Brian Baglow to discuss how to collect, preserve, and share videogame heritage. 🔗 my.nms.ac.uk/23690/23691
my.nms.ac.uk
National Museums Scotland
Playable Heritage: Creating a Collaborative Framework for Collecting Video Game Culture
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
We’ve launched the UK’s first nationwide survey of videogame-related collections, and we want to hear from developers, publishers, studios, collectors and industry professionals. Help us preserve the stories, artefacts and archives of our games industry. Take part: forms.gle/z9a1qhVopYMT...
Image of a man and woman looking into a glass cabinet displaying museum objects, within a museum setting.
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
The National Videogame Museum is the home of the Videogame Heritage Society, a Subject Specialist Network for videogame preservation. We host videogame heritage and preservation webinars 👾 you can find out more on the VHS website: vhs.thenvm.org
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
“The 90s was phenomenal for videogames, and I think it’s having a sort of coming-of-age moment in terms of its vintage” We speak to The Times about the rise in popularity of 80s and 90s videogames, and the Museum’s newest exhibition ‘Together We Play'. www.thetimes.com/culture/gami...
thetimes.com
Nostalgia for Eighties and Nineties video games gives them extra life
A Sheffield museum recreates gaming’s formative decades complete with retro computers and teenage bedrooms with period posters — but not the smelly socks
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Ann Wain @annwain.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
As it is my birthday, I decided to upload the first version of the NVM UK island. The museum area is pretty well complete, although not a 1 to 1 recreation (some things are hard to replicate!). Dream address is DA-7919-4041-2531. Please do tag me and/or @nvmuk.bsky.social if you visit!
Screenshot from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Luna the tapir speaks to a dreaming character. The text in the speech bubble reads 'Your dream of NVM UK is filed under the Dream Address DA-7919-4041-2531.'Screenshot from Animal Crossing: New Horizons. A player character emotes joy. She stands in an area decorated with tables, chairs, computers, games consoles, display cases, and wall panels to look like the interior of a videogame museum.
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
We have the honour of hosting the Videogame Heritage Society, and this year the VHS is running a series of webinars. The next free webinar is on 3rd Sept, 11am Yorkshire Games Festival, A Decade On book your free ticket - www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/vhs-webina...
eventbrite.co.uk
VHS Webinar: Yorkshire Games Festival: A Decade On
Nathan Buckley from the National Science and Media Museum speaks about the Yorkshire Games Festival as it enters its 11th year.
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Emily Higgs Kopin @ehkopin.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
example of why digital preservation as a primarily social issue rather than a technical one. I wish discourse about this focused on that piece, the failures of policy and labor outsourcing and technofeudalism. Preservation is people, it is not a hard drive or a NAS or [insert obvious solution here]
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404 Media @404media.co · 17/08/2026
SCOOP: 404 Media placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it. What did we find? It ended up at an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books. Yes. This is literally the logo outside the Amazon warehouse door. Read now:
404media.co
We Tracked a Shipment of Rare Books. It Ended at an Amazon AI Training Facility
We placed a tracking device in a shipment of rare books to see which AI company was buying it, and found an Amazon facility where Amazon scans and destroys books.
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Time Extension @timeextension.com · 22/07/2026
Tomb Raider And Super Mario Come To The National Videogame Museum's 'Together We Play' Exhibition. (Image: @Mario_Museum) (Repost)
timeextension.com
Tomb Raider And Super Mario Come To The National Videogame Museum's 'Together We Play' Exhibition
"Video games are now a huge global industry"
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Dr Florence Smith Nicholls @florencesn.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I'll keep banging the drum for preserving contemporary video game play experiences, especially approaches that don't require technical or even digital methods!
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Video Game History Foundation @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Statement from VGHF director Frank Cifaldi on the discontinuation of physical PlayStation media, and the closure of the PS3 and PSP digital storefronts.
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 14/06/2026
Love seeing these unauthorised early versions of the Mario universe!
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Schera Wyss 💀 SLUG HUMAN @scherawyss.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
This might be one of the most insane scandals in game history When Pokemon Go players scan PokeStops, theyve been unknowingly building a detailed visual model of the world which is being sold to a military contractor to build a no-GPS positioning for the new generation of unmanned killing machines
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Limmy @limmy.com · 03/06/2026
Join me LIVE at 9:30am as I look for new indie games to play, and I'd be very interested to hear if you have a game yourself. No I don't want a freebie or anything.
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Poppy Wilde @poppywilde.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
New FUNDED PhD opportunity with me, @doktornick.bsky.social, and @bomlab.bsky.social on 'Playing in Public: Game-Based Interventions for Sustainability, Community and Environmental Engagement' as part of the CreaTech Frontiers CDA scheme! Deadline: 10 April Details: www.bcu.ac.uk/research/our...
bcu.ac.uk
Playing in Public: Game-Based Interventions for Sustainability, Community and Environmental Engagement
This project explores socio-economic and environmental challenges faced by local communities, contextualised in local histories, through playful interventions with CreaTech, tested through public acti...
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Chris Brandrick @brandrick.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
happy 30th pokemon
Young me (in a questionable bucket hat) playing Pokemon Stadium on the N64 on a CRT TV.
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Lovely article by Gamesmaster legend Dominik Diamond celebrating intergenerational play and the social space games can create: www.theguardian.com/games/2026/j...
theguardian.com
There’s a reason that Wii Bowling remains my mum’s favourite game | Dominik Diamond
At a family gathering over Christmas, I took on my 76-year-old mother once again at virtual bowling. Could I finally best her?
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Where’s the white ball going?
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Quite a cool AI powered thing: #AntiRender “Upload an architectural render. Get back what it'll actually look like on a random Tuesday in November.” antirender.com #architecture
antirender.com
AntiRender - Reality Hits Different
Transform idealized architectural renders into what they'll actually look like. No sunshine. No happy families. Just cold, honest reality.
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
“The Professional Grief of the Creative Industries” A Powerful, must-read, article from Alan Warburton railing against “the very messy, human impacts of tech disruption in the creative industries” #AI #ImageEmpire www.linkedin.com/posts/consid...
A still from “The Wizard of AI” (2023) Alan Warburton showing six creative people looking at the camera with exaggerated expressions of grief (like a cartoon version of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”)
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Exciting to see news about new digital artwork #ImageEmpire emerging on Linked In. The project by Alan Warburton will examine how AI is changing the way media is created and consumed - and the impacts this may have in the world of work. www.linkedin.com/posts/bgi-na...
linkedin.com
In Spring 2026, the National Videogame Museum is delighted to launch Image Empire, a new digital artwork by Dr. Alan Warburton. Image Empire has been developed in collaboration with curator Hannah… ...
In Spring 2026, the National Videogame Museum is delighted to launch Image Empire, a new digital artwork by Dr. Alan Warburton. Image Empire has been developed in collaboration with curator Hannah R...
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Reposted by John O’Shea
Chris Brandrick @brandrick.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Here's @marioprime.bsky.social on revisiting Animal Crossing after years away: "To return now is to open up a digital time capsule and unpack the emotional baggage inside."
polygon.com
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a time capsule full of 2020 anxiety
Get ready to unpack some baggage
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
Still time to apply! Exhibit & Events Technician vacancy @nvmuk.bsky.social closes for applications 20 Jan 10am ⏰
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
just encountered the first edition of #GAMEPOEMS, a free online zine of open-access playable poetic experiences and commentary - beautiful work www.gamepoems.com/issue01/
gamepoems.com
Game Poems #1
An online literary magazine publishing short-form videogames directly in a playable format. Issue #1 features interactive works by international artists and game designers.
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Friends in NYC - nice R&D fellowship opportunity @momanyc.bsky.social working with @paolaantonelli.bsky.social (closes 18 Jan) recruiting.ultipro.com/MUS1002MOMA/...
recruiting.ultipro.com
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 15/12/2025
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
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videogame history @vghistory.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
vampire killer, screenshot, amstrad cpc (1984) www.mobygames.com/game/73527/v...
a green protagonist in a small brick room is being bitten by yellow spider.
green text: a spider bites you to death.
press 'a'
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v buckenham @v21.bsky.social · 18/11/2025
best joke of the day, imo: downforeveryoneorjustme.com
downforeveryoneorjustme.com
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Georgina Voss @gsvoss.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
For @vittles.bsky.social, I wrote about what happens food photography - a practice steeped in stagecraft - meets the synthetic horrors of AI images. Gorgeous original illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath. www.vittlesmagazine.com/p/you-want-t...
vittlesmagazine.com
'You want to imagine what this tastes like? Fuck you, says AI'
Georgina Voss on how AI-generated images impact the way we look at photographs of food. Illustration by Ibrahim Rayintakath.
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
Just boarded a train from Sheffield to Preston (<60 miles) and the return ticket is nearly £50. Seems like a good time to read this account from Mick Lynch of the 30+ year disaster that has been UK rail privatisation tribunemag.co.uk/2023/11/mick...
tribunemag.co.uk
Mick Lynch: Rail Privatisation Has Been 30 Years of Failure
The privatisation of British Rail began this month in 1993. It created a system that prioritises profit above the wellbeing of both workers and passengers — and it's time to bring it to an end, writes...
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
Love today’s spooky Pac-Man themed Google doodle! searchplayground.google/pacman/hallo...
searchplayground.google
PAC-MAN: Halloween 2025 Edition
Today's interactive Doodle features a special Halloween edition of PAC-MAN, celebrating 45 years of this classic game. Click to play.
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Even back the day - top-left, the guy with the cap looks like he’s a ringer, trying to avoid being identified in the team photo!
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🌵Disobey @disobey.gg · 15/09/2025
Are you a #ContentCreator who loves classic shoot-'em-up arcade action & couch co-op chaos? 👀🚀 Platypus Reclayed launches September 18th & we've got Steam keys thanks to @claymatic.games 😍🔑 Fill out the form if you're interested & tag a creator who'd LOVE to play! 👇
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Interesting article in @nowthenmag.bsky.social highlighting independent game makers in Sheffield and asking why videogames are not more widely celebrated as culture -
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The National Videogame Museum @nvmuk.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
One ticket. All summer. Unlimited play. For the first time ever, we’ve introduced a new summer ticket – your key to unlimited visits to the National Videogame Museum until the 1st September. ✅ One ticket ✅ Unlimited visits ✅ All summer long! Book your ticket - thenvm.org
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
One for Friday post-work chatter / Man says HR are getting involved after he called the company AI Chatbot a “clanker” www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdvic...
reddit.com
From the LegalAdviceUK community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the LegalAdviceUK community
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
…And then a flying visit to see the @gameslondon.bsky.social team and collect a mysterious & beautiful object they were looking after, for a future display @nvmuk.bsky.social. (thanks @ustwogames.co.uk - more soon!)
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 06/08/2025
On the road today for a change - returning some loan items to Lumino City makers State of Play (models that starred in @nvmuk.bsky.social’s Art of Play exhibition.)
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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
UK's oldest Flymo inducted into the British Lawnmower Museum in Southport. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
UK's oldest Flymo inducted into British Lawnmower Museum
The 53-year-old blue Flymo has been passed through three generations of the same family.
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Internet Archive @archive.org · 11/07/2025
🎙️ If you missed the most recent episode of FUTURE KNOWLEDGE, now’s a great time to listen. Cory Doctorow talks about THE INTERNET CON: his guide to loosening Big Tech’s grip & reclaiming a more open web. 🎧 Listen & subscribe ⤵️ futureknowledge.transistor.fm/episodes/the...
Illustration for the "Future Knowledge" podcast, Episode #4, The Internet Con with Cory Doctorow. Features a photo of Doctorow in his office set against a surreal, retro-futuristic background that blends past and future elements, including a bust of a Roman figure, an old Macintosh-type computer, etc. At the bottom, bold text reads: “FUTURE KNOWLEDGE.”
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Cat Hobbs @cathobbs.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
"We can have clean water or privatised water but we can’t have both" "The British public is right, the evidence supports them" The new people's commission report is crystal clear that PUBLIC OWNERSHIP is the answer after 35 years of failed privatisation www.theguardian.com/business/202...
theguardian.com
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 07/07/2025
Great post by @zoyander.cc reflecting the uncanny loneliness of the internet and sharing some strategies for escaping the algorithmic void:
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John O’Shea @johnoshea.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
In other news, the train I’ve boarded this afternoon has had to be turned around due to a sinkhole developing in Mirfield. 🕳️ #uktrains #Mirfield #sinkhole
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Pookleblinky @pookleblinky.bsky.social · 24/06/2025
The semiliterate people who use chatgpt like to point to calculators as a precedent of assistive technology but the thing is: calculators actually calculate. A calculator really does let you outsource calculation. It does exactly what it is supposed to do, and marketed as doing, reproducibly.
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Pavel @spavel.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Similar to asbestos or unexploded munitions, the fallout of the LLM era will persist long after the apps are abandoned, because their outputs have been snuck into the corpus by copy-pasting fools. The longer chatbots force themselves into every workflow, the longer it will take to decontaminate.
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Dr. Damien P. Williams, dread portent down from a mountain cave @wolven.blacksky.app · 20/06/2025
This is your reminder that nothing human-made is inevitable and you hereby have all the permission you need to reject bad/harmful social, technological, and political paradigms and to work toward something better.
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Luke Hebblethwaite @lukethehebble.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Am about to walk through these sacred doors for the first time 🤩🎮✨ @nvmuk.bsky.social
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Natalie D Kane @ndkane.bsky.social · 07/06/2025
One last post before I rest for the weekend. Truly a bit overwhelmed to receive this review from a writer who I respect so much. Thanks @lucywebster.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
theguardian.com
Design and Disability review – ‘A world-shaping, boundary-breaking joy of a show’
From self-tightening shoes to an all-purpose hands-free vibrator, this superb exhibition demonstrates that disability-led culture and design is about so much more than ramps
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