iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Nick Calandra @nickjcal.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

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Useful article. Nothing I haven’t been saying for almost the last decade now. I would add that a lot of people that found success on social media weren’t able to turn that into a sustainable audience which is why a lot of former institutional knowledge is out of work. Gotta have unique work.

knowledge.edge-online.com

"A lot of great, talented people and institutional knowledge will be lost": The shifting landscape of independent game media

The videogame industry newsletter, in association with Edge.

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

Hilltop Studios @playhilltop.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

THE NEW CURSE OF RESTHAVEN DEMO IS LIVE! Just in time for Next Fest, you can now play the first full time loop and get a massive taste of what awaits you on the island. And YES, your save carries over when the full game launches October 29. Check it out! store.steampowered.com/app/3796150/...

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Nick Calandra @nickjcal.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Yea, taking 5-7 years to make your first game is a common theme among these studios that have fallen through.

Nick Calandra @nickjcal.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Man, another studio that was started up during the COVID boom has lost their funding and had to lay off most of their staff. Another team by former Respawn veterans. Just can't catch a break that lot.

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Good team, good planning and a great community go a long way!

Also the fact it has been three years already blows my mind every time I think about it. Time has flown by.

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Year 2 and 3 of Second Wind was getting the business stable. We’ve achieved that. Year 4 is gonna be about making sure that, but also getting back to doing bigger exciting projects again to grow the audience. Fun plans coming together for our third anniversary in November.

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Stewie Griffin: I Hate It Here!

Drove 40 min to my rec game to get a text the second I pulled into the lot that it was rescheduled… in this gas economy.

static.klipy.com

ALT: Stewie Griffin: I Hate It Here!

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Nick Calandra @nickjcal.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

In no way do I agree with “rape culture” you dunce.

Shinobi602 @shinobi602.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Reposted by Nick Calandra

Draga's Wake | Official Trailer ▶️ youtube.com/watch?v=PW_a... ▪️New action horror IP coming to PS5, Xbox and PC ▪️Takes place on the "Ormora", a 'nightmare colossal steamship' in an alternate 1900s ▪️Play as Draga, a smuggler and pirate whose last heist has gone horribly wrong

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Nick Calandra @nickjcal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Gears, Ace Combat, Well Dweller, Witcher, Galactic Racer, [Redacted], Onimusha, Zero Company, Dragonwilds, DiceVaders, [Redacted], Control, Townfall… my god we are eating so good right now. And literally all of these are good to great games.

static.klipy.com

Garfield: Ready To Eat Lasagna

ALT: Garfield: Ready To Eat Lasagna

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Nick Calandra @nickjcal.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Social media is a constant stream of people trying to tell you what you think, and who they think you are and if you don’t wanna interact with that then they think they “got you” and I swear those types of people have never had a real social interaction even once in their life.

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Jack has an incredible talent as a storyteller and DM and I knew from the moment they showed me the pilot that this show would be a big thing for us. The plan wasn't to release that pilot, but I loved it so much I said let's just go for it. And that was that and here we are.

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I remember when I asked for Omar and Jack to find a way to make the ZP artstyle work for a D&D campaign... little did I know how incredible that would end up looking as the show developed over the next five years. The show that really has been the culmination of the team built.

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Don’t put words in my mouth. I support people not working with him if that’s their decision as he did not disclose this with them and should have.

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Every update on this case is like watching Mac from It’s Always Sunny in the scene where he’s supposed to jump out of the car before it hits the wall but chooses to stay in it because he’s an idiot lol.

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No, but I am judging you slightly less!

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We are back. Fall nights and hockey are the best nights.

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Depends. Did you have them in the coffee or with the coffee.

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The online parasocial relationships people make with you has always been my greatest fear of building bigger audiences. That fear was realized when all that went down and so I'm super selective about any personal things I reveal anywhere online today, and to whom.

When Frost made his videos about me with so much bad info, I had thousands of people basically retelling my life story in their own words. It's the weirdest shit and I have never felt more personally violated. Had never even met Frost in-person and yet he "knew" everything about me.

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Jack Packard @jackpackard.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Great piece. Lot of complicated thoughts on how this has been handled, but I agree with your sentiment that so often it feels like people make these things about them and what they want for retribution and that’s never felt right to me. Lot of disregard for the victim’s wishes and agency in this.

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

Tomorrow. The story we've been telling for the past 5 years... comes to an end. Watch Here:

youtube.com

So What Had Happened Was... | Adventure Is Nigh! - The Slow Walk Home | Ep. 11

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Wolverine and the 300 Million Dollar Question | Unpacked

This week on Unpacked I dug into the 300 million dollar talking point around Wolverine. And complained about IPAs in the process.

youtu.be

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I’m only a couple hours into Galactic Racer, but can already tell you it’s one of my favorites this year. Super fun and the races literally feel like they have the intensity of when you watched them in the movies. So much Criterion DNA in there.

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Unreal Engine games and stuttering on PC. It’s almost every game. Some might say it’s… unreal.

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Yup. Always helps to remember you have a job you enjoy, and you’re not wasting your life away begging for attention and money by looking like a fool on the internet every day.

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Blue Prince @blueprincegame.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

You can tell how stressed I am by how long I let my beard grow out… and having to plan my next year around a major operation and insurance is certainly not helping that.

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

Blue Prince is now 40% off as part of the Steam Autumn Sale until 8 October. bit.ly/41AwPsB

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

MinnMax @minnmax.com · 01/10/2026

Jacob Geller is no longer a part of MinnMax. He won't be on content moving forward and we won't be publicly airing this week's episode of The MinnMax Show. We're in shock and deeply hurt. Thank you for your patience during this sensitive time.

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Take care of yourselves crew ❤️

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Second Wind @secondwindgroup.com · 01/10/2026

Played a good chunk of this demo and it's like if you took Metroid Prime and added mixed martial arts combat to the mix. Needless to say, I was impressed with it!

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

Silksong fans need to check out Well Dweller, especially now that it’s October. Marty’s latest video on the excellent new metroidvania from @kylethompsondev.bsky.social is live — www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvcg...

youtube.com

Well Dweller Fills the Silksong-Shaped Hole in My Life

Lara S. Ramblings (The S Stands for Silly) @larasramblings.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

I'm late to this but phenomenal work as usual from Darren, articulates very well what makes Cregger's RE so special. (Also more mercenarily reminds me that I really should post that piece I wrote about Gus van Sant's Psycho and AI "film criticism.")

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Matthew Reynolds @mattreyn.games · 30/09/2026

Fucking hell media executives are such slimeballs. They always surprise me with how much lower they’re willing to sink to. MS Now was the last corporate outlet I paid attention to and after this I’m out. Independent only going forward.

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Reposted by Nick Calandra

A reminder there's these Bluesky Starter Packs if you want to follow independent games media: By @oloman.bsky.social: bsky.app/starter-pack... By @aidanmoher.com: bsky.app/starter-pack...

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Hm, no, I'd rather keep my career lol.

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How about 8BitEric and his 8K(!) videos and his viewcounts lol. Like my god, just a wasted life.

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Far Cry 3: Vaas Montenegro - Definition of Insanity

No, and the amount of dorks that have thousands upon thousands of videos and have made NOTHING doing it, and yet still do it would make Vaas even question their methods.

static.klipy.com

ALT: Far Cry 3: Vaas Montenegro - Definition of Insanity

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You mean this guy, the guy that has been YouTubing for over a decade and can't crack 1000 views on his videos even after the view counter change? A guy so dumb he can't even game the YouTube system properly with the most low-effort bullshit possible?

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I didn’t say there was no basis. I said it’s not a fact.

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Nah he gets it, he’s been around the channel for a long time. Comment history is a pattern haha

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Entitled comments to work are my biggest pet peeve in media. Conditioned for everything to be free means people don’t work to make the thing you’re watching for free. Anyway, that’s the life. Fight for every $ you earn while people who don’t pay for the work at all complain lol.

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