iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Charli XCX’s album cover for Music Fashion Film but its Music Fashion Film Games and it’s got Miyazaki looking a bit miffed in the kitchen too.

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Reposted by Michael French

London Games Festival @londongamesfest.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

🎮 SAVE THE DATE: London Games Festival returns 12-19 April 2027! From 15-17 April, New Game Plus, Games Finance Market, industry conferences and networking will head to a new central home at the Business Design Centre. 🔗 games.london/london-games...

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Unreasonably annoyed that 007 First Light gets wrong which direction north is during the level set in the V&A.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

I'm quoted in this piece - but one thing we certainly don't need is more bloody digital showcases 😴

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Christopher Nolan's too busy on another creative plane to use email or a smartphone... but I'm certain he is delighted to see Universal Studios launch a Discord Quest - "Journey with Telemachus to earn 700 Discord Orbs!" - and will be online playing with the rest of us proles.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Credits rolling on Metroid 4. In the curious state of having persisted with it, but being furious with myself for doing so. If you had said it was a HD remake of a GameCube game, you could forgive its flaws. But so much of it is actually unforgivable.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

I know the Metroid 4 discourse is over but some of the decisions in this game are unfathomable. Eg. Fifth boss is best defeated using a very specific control scheme, needs fighting via a solution that is actively undermined by the game’s signature lock-on controls.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

The games thought leader lads now think it’s insightful to post on LinkedIn and say ‘maybe DON’T use AI to write emails, fellas’ if you’re wondering where we are in the AI enterprise slop cycle.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 29/03/2026

Got an audience survey for Saturday Night Live UK and had to fight every cell in my body from just typing WHAT KIND OF IRISH IS YOUR GRANDAD under ‘Other’ for every question.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Veteran! Anyway, this was a nice closer to 2025.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

You know what's good for a curled-up-at-home-with-food-poisoning Hate Watch? Tron: Ares. And as for that Daft Punk t-shirt 'easter egg'? Don't get me started...

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

What I'm seeing overnight out of Birmingham is plenty of food for thought, but... 😶

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

GTA6 delayed cleanly OUT of the GCSE exam period. Thank you, Rockstar Games!

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 02/11/2025

OH GOD IT'S HIDEOUS *immediately preorders*

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Aged a million years and expired when my son decided to show me - *ME* someone with an import copy of Guitar Hero PS2 (2005) and the full Rock Band instrument set in the loft - the Fortnite Festival game mode as if I’d ever seen this type of game before.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

GDC just unveiled a 'Game Changers' ticket that costs $2.5k 😶

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

The games industry naming literally anything - books, podcasts, talent programmes - these last few years

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

25+ years ago Electronic Arts was rich enough to pay Norman Foster's agency to design its Euro HQ building in UK countryside. It was shaped like an 'E'! Today, it's taking on $20bn in debt in a sale to private equity. Back then, EA was in the game. Now, EA is in the small print.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Hope the clothing sizes are, er, Western-friendly. 😶 I bought a lovely XL Zelda button-down shirt in Tokyo, but caused a diplomatic incident when I returned it after realising the cm measurement. I don't think anyone had the gall to ask Nintendo Store for a refund until then...

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Reposted by Michael French

London Games Festival @londongamesfest.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

🌟 SAVE THE DATE🌟 London Games Festival returns Monday 13 - Sunday 19 April 2026 Applications NOW OPEN 🕹️Official Selection submissions 💸Games Finance Market submissions 🎉Ensemble nominations 🏙️Side Events 👉 Apply here: festival.games.london #LGF26

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

👀 *he says as his team prepare to announce festival dates later today*

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

GDC finds itself in a ‘horse has bolted’ situation. Increasingly unpopular host city in a country on no one’s bucket list and an audience that doesn’t necessarily pay for an official ticket. But it’s a high-quality audience nonetheless. A repositioning was needed.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

I often think this company will take any position contrary to reason - 'let's sue our fans', 'no we are a toy company', 'games aren't art!' - on the path to profit.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

Coming up to ten years in the job end of this week. It’s only in the last few days I realise could have got a lot more done more quickly if I’d just looked a few more people in the eye and said “Are you fucking thick?”

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Trains delayed. Standing room only. But I’m watching over the shoulder of a man, someone at least 10 years older than me, with his laptop open… getting ready to publish his very first game to Roblox.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 16/09/2025

Who is it that's responsible for this diabolical trend of roll-top backpacks? Wondering if we can use cancel culture for good for once and get them for crimes against fashion.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 13/09/2025

Forcing myself through the embarrassing fantasy dross that Strange New Worlds' finale has become, only to be deeply, deeply amused by the implication that this IKEA kids play kitchen will still be in production in 230 years time.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Cait Sith. Is there a more insufferable video game character? Bought a PS5 Slim recently to get FFVII Rebirth finished. He's got cliche, irritating dialogue + voice, and then you're forced to play as him with some of the clumsiest controls and design.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Who on earth is 'Beavis and Butthead in Fortnite' for?

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the Nintendo Museum when visiting Japan in July - and today's addition of an 'art gallery' reminds me what a peculiar place it was. I am still unsure if I adored or despised the place.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

GDC is on mission to maintain relevance amongst an audience who - according to its State of Industry survey - shows some antipathy to genAI. But it is posting tweets... written by AI. (If the em dash wasn't a big enough clue then 'Elysia' is a bit of a giveaway!)

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

No one sets out to make a bad movie, so they say. But I've just just watched The Thursday Murder Club and wonder if some people really DO set out to make a bad movie sometimes.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Watching Star Trek has become a form of self-torture at this point. Strange New Worlds has veered so off course, stunt episode after stunt episode trying to subvert a formula and characters it's spent no time building to start with.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/08/2025

Horrendous, but the rumour is it opens up and has a fun thing inside. But it better not have that Genesis logo on the non-US box! (The one on the controller is an optional sticker) 🤮

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 27/07/2025

I can shrug off New Star Trek's obnoxious obsession with show lore but I will never forgive this recent scene where Young Scotty orders two pints of Guinness, gets served THIS flat-headed hate crime, and then Capt Pike hires the bartender to work full time on the Enterprise?!

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 18/07/2025

Imagine having enough money to sponsor *most* games events… and then rocking up with this genAI junk image as your asset to show a crowd of developers.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 12/07/2025

In my life I've seen Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, Superman Returns, Man of Steel and Superman (2025) all at the cinema at the time of release. With the latest one I can update that sentence to 'I have finally seen a good Superman movie at the cinema.'

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

First time in Japan next week. Heading to Tokyo and then BitSummit in Kyoto. Even had the business card + logo localised.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

An important point not celebrated enough in this Salt Path controversy is the masterpiece of passive aggressive revenge wrought by the victim's daughter.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

I hope whoever runs my local gym is ok. Rejoined a month back only to learn the morning music is miserable throwbacks like Travis (‘Why does it always rain on me?’), Manics (‘If you tolerate this your children will be next’) & Radiohead (‘Karma police’). Dire vibe

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Reposted by Michael French

Mike Cook @mtrc.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

You should read this article but the tl;dr is that it was used in *fairly* minor ways, according to the developers. However I think people underestimate how wide this kind of usage is. My impression from people studying this is that it is a lot more prevalent than you'd guess, just unreported.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 23/06/2025

A significant moment for the entire UK games industry and it's in barely any of our industry publications? What a sorry state. Anyway, in case you missed it, from somewhere that *has* posted about it: pocketgamer.biz/uk-governmen...

pocketgamer.biz

UK Government launches £30 million Games Growth Package

The UK Government has launched a new £30 million Games Growth Package aimed at boosting the country's games industry on the global stage.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

London Games Festival confirmed to be part of the Games Growth Package in this new Creative Industries Plan. Big investment into our programme will help us scale up the event, grow industry & consumer audiences, add more showcasing for games + generate business. www.independent.co.uk/news/busines...

independent.co.uk

Creative industries to get £380m boost ahead of industrial strategy launch

The investment was announced by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy.

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Michael French @michaelfrench.bsky.social · 18/06/2025

If you hate celebrities then will you LOVE podcasts. You can, right now, hear the likes of Amy Poehler, Penn Badgley, David Duchovny & other I’m-post-TV-hit-and-not-sure-where-work-will-come-from-next stars reading the ad copy for their podcasts’ sponsors like they want to die

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