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

Probably good you didn’t ask about this one, I think my thoughts are… not popular for some. ;)

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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

“Actually, I was there for the agonising waits between the PAL and NTSC releases of both Frequency and Amplitude, my boy.”

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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

a) yes, we did it too, b) it's not very cool to use a clip from nu-Frasier, I know that as well

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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

Personally doubt it also needed a total rebrand, or to basically drop the word ‘developer’ (wtf), or add the claim of ‘festival’ (ahem). But that’s how big corps think. If next year works conceptually maybe they will move city once the Moscone deal has expired.

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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 · 17/09/2025

And a USA SNES there on the table before it officially came out. His uncle must work at Nintendo, I guess

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

Shall I lean over and warn him about the games industry?

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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 · 07/09/2025

Never met an investor or publisher who thought they were investing in just a tiny team to see a game, product or company towards launch.

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

I actually understand that one more given the horror/scary sub category on there, obby culture, the way horror characters get referenced by kids without even seeing the films, and so on.

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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 should write some clearer thoughts out eventually but: what is the point of this place except nostalgia bait? Why go all the way to Kyoto if you will learn nothing about one of the most influential creative forces of the last century? I did however spend £150 in said shop...

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

It would be bold if the venue addressed this opacity head-on... but rather than build a mystique, it's just belligerence. To cushion the blow there's a fantastically crafted shop at the end to spend your cash. Taking your money/printing money is what Nintendo does best, after all.

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

(This isn't a revelatory observation btw - anyone that has watched how Nintendo is struggling to name and credit the development studios of games *it is publishing right now* knows this is a feature not a bug. But at a museum it's strange behaviour.)

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

The main thing I took from the Museum is that Nintendo does not want to credit the individuals behind its success. It's not interested, or just unwilling, to tell a story explaining how its creative process evolved. Visitors will not even learn the motivation for this secrecy.

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

Yet doing the same for actual concept art seems... feeble. It looks like (tho hard to tell from pics) these artworks are similarly divorced from time & context - and, in most cases I assume, the human being that created each work (I can spy one or two signatures maybe).

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

In the main hall, Nintendo's creations/products are shown without explanatory text to "encourage you to form your own unique thoughts". Nonsense, of course - what other museums do this? But it sorta makes sense for a glorified showroom for attendees from many different nations

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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

Cannot fathom how the comedy Vulcan episode had a runtime of nearly 60 minutes but the one about a documentary that (poorly) examined Starfleet (and ripped off B5 and BSG) barely scraped 40. To think we've got two more seasons to put up with!

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