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Dr. José Zagal

@jzagal.bsky.social
675 followers 805 following 379 posts

Game scholar, professor, & director of Interactive Games and Media (IGM) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Author: Seeing Red: Nintendo's Virtual Boy mitpress.mit.edu/author/jose-p-zaga… www.pillowfort.social/jpzagal Comics

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Reposted by Dr. José Zagal
Molleindustria FUTURE? NO THANKS! OUT NOW @molleindustria.org · 14h
The new issue of @jacobinmag.bsky.social just arrived!
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Ian Bogost @ibogost.com · 18/09/2026
I wrote about how American college, a bundle of competing and largely unrelated missions, became incompatible with itself. (Gift link)
theatlantic.com
College Is Coming Apart
Successive, overlapping crises reveal that American higher education makes no sense.
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Nathan Altice @altice.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Ian's analysis about a longstanding internal tension in American universities, increasingly laid bare in the past years due to external pressures, is astute, and rings particularly true with my own experience as a 'teaching professor' in the UC system over the past 10 years.
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Curious about getting a PhD here at @rittigers.bsky.social doing technically oriented games research? - Check out www.rit.edu/events/gccis... Feel free to DM if you have questions!
rit.edu
GCCIS PhD Information Sessions | Events | RIT
The Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences (GCCIS) at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) invites prospective students interested in applying for Fall 2027 to join our upcoming Ph....
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Hi @ckunzelman.bsky.social Enjoyed your deckbldng paper (escholarship.org/uc/item/2gt8...) Was surprised by: "[...] everyone seems to agree that deck building is not part of gameplay" Maybe I misunderstand. Deckbldng seems obviously gameplay in: MtG draft and sealed, Dominion,Slay the Spire,etc?
escholarship.org
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Simon Parkin @simonparkin.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
1988. New York. Invention, betrayal and a court case brought by Nintendo that profoundly reshaped the video game industry in ways that have, until now, been kept secret. Read more about ‘Trial of the Space Invaders’ here: www.patreon.com/myperfectcon...
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Molleindustria FUTURE? NO THANKS! OUT NOW @molleindustria.org · 04/09/2026
Future? No Thanks! IS OUT NOW ON STEAM An open-world comedy adventure about workable utopias, the twilight of patriarchy, revolution, and the horrifying possibility that the younger generations might be right. 💀 Windows + Mac 💀 6+ hours of gameplay 💀 20% off at launch futurenothanks.com
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Molleindustria FUTURE? NO THANKS! OUT NOW @molleindustria.org · 04/09/2026
Solidarity with my fellow games-and-politics scholars who will have to play these racist slop games because they represent some kind of landmark in the form.
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psudonym @psudonym.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Found it! it's not exclusively about that trauma tho, it's about the other big thing people remember kirk for medium.com/@GregPogorze...
medium.com
The thing about the Kobayashi Maru
“The thing about the Kobayashi Maru,” said Jim, “is you have to remember it’s a simulation.”
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Richard Fisher @richardfisher.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Recently I went to Chile to see the Extremely Large Telescope being built in the Atacama. The BBC just published my feature about its construction challenges, the discoveries to come, and its fun name...the result of what I call telescopic "nominative magnification". :) www.bbc.com/future/artic...
bbc.com
In the otherworldly Chilean desert, this huge telescope could reveal alien life
In Chile's Atacama Desert, the biggest telescope ever built is taking shape – and it could radically change our view of the Universe.
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
Hey, I know that game! @rittigers.bsky.social
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patrickcarlson @pjcarlson.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
GTA VI, sure, but have you ever played Steve Jackson’s SORCERY?
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Marcus Carter @marcuscarter.com · 26/08/2026
We have a new game on Ludolio today , The Masters Pupil by Pat Naoum, a hand-painted puzzle game set inside Claude Monet's eyeball. Think Limbo but beautiful and calm, rather than harrowing.
screenshot from the game The Masters Pupil, a hand-painted puzzle platformer.
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Bobby™ @schwbby.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
I'm bad at promoting my work. So, in addition to saying "buy my book!" (a chill game design textbook using Bitsy) I'll share some of my favorite writing from the book. www.amazon.com/Storytelling... link.springer.com/book/10.1007... (save 20% with code PALAUT and I earn a pittance of commission!)
Pixelated clouds and mountains blanket a landscape punctuated by a dragon soaring above a castle decorate the cover of my book Storytelling for Video Games Using Bitsy: A Guide for Aspiring Designers.
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Jeremiah McCall (he/him) @gamingthepast.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Hey friends, how about a Designing Historical Games for the Classroom edition of ask-me-anything ? So that would be designing boardgames, interactive choice-based history texts, rpgs, (videogames of course but that is not core to this book)and/or helping students design them in for classes.
routledge.com
Designing Historical Games for Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Educators
Designing Historical Games for Classrooms: A Practical Guide for Educators is a complete introductory guide for designing analog games and interactive choice‑based historical texts for history classes...
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@DiceinMind @diceinmind.bsky.social · 11/08/2026
Join us as we chat with Dr. José Zagal about games research...and RPGs in Chile! @jzagal.bsky.social @rittigers.bsky.social #gamesresearch podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/d...
Photo of José Zagal
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Konstantinos Dimopoulos @konstantinosd.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Making a proper FPS fit in 64 kilobytes... youtu.be/qht68vFaa1M?...
youtu.be
How I made a shooter game in 64 KB
YouTube video by daivuk
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
Getting buzzed on my way to @rittigers.bsky.social campus today! Am I saying it right? Buzzed by jet planes!
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Phil Salvador @philsalv.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
@kelslewin.bsky.social all the way back in 2019
A presentation slide that says "Oh my god, shut up. No, he was not killed by the Yakuza. This is the dumbest rumor."
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Nintendo of America [Twitter/X Mirror] @nintendoamericax.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
These previously unreleased Virtual Boy games are now available to play on Virtual Boy – Nintendo Classics for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members: ☑️ ZERO RACERS ☑️ D-HOPPER
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Molleindustria FUTURE? NO THANKS! OUT NOW @molleindustria.org · 23/07/2026
For every day Steam delays the release of Future? No Thanks! I will add another derpy little vehicle to the game. Your move, Valve.
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 25/07/2026
Congrats Aditya K. for your work on Demon Slayer 2! It arrived just in time as I was almost done at the U of Utah (notice the empty window). Thank you! I hope it's not the last @utah.edu alumni I can celebrate - though I'll now also be cheering @rittigers.bsky.social game alumni achievements!
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ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories @romchip.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
🎮📜 A new issue of ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories is here! 📜🎮 This summer we're traveling from 1980s China to the 1990s cable wars, with stops in Switzerland and the UK along the way! 🕹️📖 www.romchip.org 🌟 Get cozy. Get reading. SUBSCRIBE: eepurl.com/crCul1 DONATE: bit.ly/4wmQqKC 🧵⬇️
romchip.org
ROMchip
ROMchip: A Journal of Game Histories is a platform designed for the advancement of critical historical studies of games.
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Greg Costikyan @costik.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Weird Game Designer Facts #62 Noah Falstein Noah got his start at Milton Bradley's short-lived videogames division; his first published game was the arcade title SINISTAR (Williams Electronics, 1983), famous from the eponymous opponent's synthesized audio, "I live! Run run run beware coward, run!"
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
Love this paper by Ellie Cohen - compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Also, "loyalty mongering" is a great term to describe the exploitation of attachment or loyalty. @marcuscarter.com, @leonxiao.com, and others in the videogame ethics space - you might find it interesting?
compass.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Video Game Design Ethics
This article introduces video game ethics as an emergent field. It then focuses on some of the pressing issues distinctive of video game design, issues which arise predominantly from the making rathe...
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Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
My favorite thing at the start of videogames is adjusting brightness until the image at the side is barely visible and then always feeling like I’ve somehow answered wrong
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blaine @jblainefoster.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
need you all to see this deeply indescribable cooking video
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Greg Costikyan @costik.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Weird Game Designer Facts #53 Mike Pondsmith I've known Pondsmith for many years, because everyone involved in TTRPG design in the 80s knew each other. He was CA based, and I in NY, and I imagine we first got to know each other at a GenCon.
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Greg Costikyan @costik.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Weird Game Designer Facts #52 Reiner Knizia Reiner Knizia has designed more than 800 commercially published games. Let that sink in for a minute. I do know of designers with more than 100 credits to their name, including George Parker and Jim Dunnigan, but 800 is astonishing.
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United Videogame Workers-CWA @videogameworkers.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Proud to announce our HARDSHIP FUND: uvw-cwa.org/hardship-fun... If you've been recently laid off and need support, we got you.
A red poster with a white logo (a polygonal heart lifted by 2 hands) and the title "United Videogame Workers – Hardship Fund", followed by this copy:

"UVW-CWA stands for every game worker: for those still employed and fighting for union contracts and those who have been callously treated as disposable by executives who've never shipped a title. 

We are proud to announce our launch of a hardship fund for game workers across the US and Canada who have been subjected to layoffs. If you are a game worker in need of support, please apply."

Below the text is a link to the initiative (as in the post) and the UVW-CWA logo.
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Jon Ingold @jon.inkle.co · 06/07/2026
once a week, 1 billion players should buy an itch.io game for 99c; after a year the entire industry would be radically changed forever
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Greg Costikyan @costik.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Weird Game Designer Facts #50 Janell Jaquays All right, I'm going to (again) violate rule #1 for talking about trans people, which is "don't mention the dead name." This was pretty easy with Danielle Bunten Berry, because she was quite open about her transition.
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Elizabeth Hargrave @elizhargrave.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Every game I put out gets "1" ratings on BGG before it is for sale. For funsies I'm gonna track the 1s on WS Pocket in real time. What are these people up to, who feel so strongly about a game they haven't even played? Game details were announced yesterday, and the first "1" is up. LET'S GO! 🧵
The number 1 in a red hexagon, as it appears on a game's ratings page for Board Game Geek
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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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Timeproof Games @timeproof.games · 30/06/2026
Run Saber (SNES, Hori Electric, 1993)
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Video Game History Foundation @gamehistoryorg.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Back in Summer 1996, Nintendo's poor old Virtual Boy got a price cut to $99 as it was being discontinued. (Ad via U.S. Nintendo Power.)
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Molleindustria FUTURE? NO THANKS! OUT NOW @molleindustria.org · 30/06/2026
Future? No Thanks! is part of The Power of Play exhibition at the Indra and Harry Banga Gallery in Hong Kong. This is how I announced it to my 6 TikTok followers:
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The Salt Lake Tribune @sltrib.com · 28/06/2026
“We want immigrant-run businesses on campus,” one student said. “We want friendly faces at the counter.”
sltrib.com
He built his coffee shop out of a closet on the University of Utah’s campus. These students fought to save it.
“We want immigrant-run businesses on campus,” one student said. “We want friendly faces at the counter.”
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Dr Stephanie Farnsworth-Meek @mutanttheorist.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Call for book pitches! Our Bloomsbury series, Video Games in Focus, is seeking pitches for mini monographs. We are particularly keen for texts focused upon the influence of critical games and their enduring legacies. Pitches on classic games are particularly welcome right now.
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Richard Moss @mossrc.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Final cover (front and back) for the paperback version of my latest book, coming out as soon as it's printed. The hardcover edition will have photos and dev materials. Both can be preordered via Kickstarter at www.kickstarter.com/projects/gab...
kickstarter.com
Age of Empires: How Ensemble Studios Made History
The creation & legacy of the 1997 real-time strategy game, based on interviews w/ 29 former Ensemble & Microsoft staff.
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Nine games I want to spread. (from here 9games.pages.dev)
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I thought I’d wrap up my touristy day in Dublin with a MtG draft at a local store. Apparently the Irish aren’t too keen on draft as a format. I guess they prefer their drafts in beer form? (Store locals thought this was hilarious)
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
DiGRA27 in New Zealand! Theme is Roots and Routes: Place, Belonging, and Game Worlds #DiGRA27
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Guess which @utah.edu games' alumni works designing and shipping ships for Star Citizen? Thanks Lee N. for dropping by, congrats again, and sorry my office was a bit of a mess. :-)
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
While in Japan my hotel was (by pure coincidence) next to a gallery where Takumi Yokooka, who did some videogame art in the late 80s/early 90s, was doing a pop-up exhibition. I got to meet him! How lucky was that? ありがとうございますhttps://www.instagram.com/Takumi_Yokooka/
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
I'm leaving @utah.edu for @rittigers.bsky.social. As I take down the signed game collection, I've reflected on how lucky I've been to have met and taught so many great students. Thx alumni! Hearing from you always makes my day. Plz let me continue to celebrate you even if I'm not at the UoU. 😀
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Lis @thewritegame.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Hey folks! If you’re an experienced game designer who enjoys working with people, check out our new role at 20th Century Games! Come work with me!
disneycareers.com
Senior Game Designer at DISNEY
Learn more about applying for Senior Game Designer at DISNEY
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Dr. José Zagal @jzagal.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Claw machine with grenades feels very much like a gag in a Cyberpunk game (as seen in Night City! but this one’s real (grenades are toys though) as seen in Tokyo.
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MJ Weise @mjweise.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Peter's the best collaborator a Narrative Designer could want, and was a blast to work with in crafting the main story campaign. Check out his interview here if you want to know what makes #ChaosGateDeathwatch unique from its predecessor. www.ign.com/articles/war...
ign.com
'The Leman Russ Will Make Sure It Fits!' — How Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Deathwatch Packs a Bigger, More Flexible Punch
IGN interviews Complex Games on Warhammer 40,000: Chaos Gate - Deathwatch.
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Dave Gilbert @wadjeteyegames.com · 23/05/2026
Greg fails to mention that his Manifesto Games shop was the first online distributor to take a chance on my work. Back in 2006, absolutely NOBODY took me seriously, but he did. I’ve always been grateful for that.
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