iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Two more long conversations down about how useful AI tools are to narrative design. This conversation has happened so many times that I made a graphic to summarize it.

A chart showing a "Marketing" bar with the label "PROMISED genAI VALUE" above a "Reality" bar, where most of the bar is marked "THE SAME WORK DONE THE SAME WAY" except for a tiny square that says "some AI stuff maybe"

140

Your victimhood, real or perceived, is not a justification for bad behavior.

Jack The Generalist @jackgutmann.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Reposted by Westin Lee

More and more indie devs I talk to are considering a loan over a publisher deal.

5203

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 29/09/2026

Lanterns feels like they made the show for the stuff happening now

000

Reposted by Westin Lee

If you have the Anthropic S-1, please message me at ezitron.76 on signal, i will protect your identity

436958

I somehow missed that g_saberrealisticcombat made into Academy. I thought they disabled it.

Luke Plunkett @lukeplunkett.com · 28/09/2026

Reposted by Westin Lee

Hi, I'm looking to speak to people who have left games journalism in the last few years and have gone onto do something else. DMs are open, or luke@aftermath.site, thanks!

7439270

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 28/09/2026

Solid and essential essay for creative pros from Cory today about why IP is an exploitive term. And yeah, the New York Times going after AI companies for IP theft is nice, but also, it's two giants arguing over who gets to eat the largest number of us.

1306

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 28/09/2026

you can get AMC tickets with your ClassPass points and it’s like 30% cheaper

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 28/09/2026

This sloppy misrepresentation of the last five years skips an awful lot of other things happening. Like, the whole streaming bubble is in the chart

130

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 27/09/2026

I've been curious for a while now if this whole running amok hacking the internet thing was a way to slow down cash burn. www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

theverge.com

OpenAI pauses training of its ‘most capable models’

OpenAI keeps uncovering incidents of its models behaving in ‘unexpected or concerning’ ways.

000

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 27/09/2026

There’s a 2000s game trope that I would describe as “what if the husband was bad”

000

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 26/09/2026

The weapon in Control Resonant leaves broken pieces everywhere as you fight. Love that.

100

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 26/09/2026

If Hades 2 1.0 is turning 1 it’s the perfect time to rewatch that banger animated trailer The Line did. youtu.be/U8lJRcUeEMs?...

youtu.be

Hades II – v1.0 Launch Trailer

YouTube video by Supergiant Games

D.W.A.P. (Ben) @andwap.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Reposted by Westin Lee

When your gamedev friend shows you progress on their new engine.

2648541696

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 25/09/2026

extremely excited for this

020

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 25/09/2026

Still a little sore from mine. Hooray!

000

Reposted by Westin Lee

bryobyte @bryobyte.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

I constantly think about how amazing and creative the games we get are under this horrific industry that I simply cannot even fathom the quality of games we'd see if the industry actually had the worker protections to provide creatives living wages and residuals.

1333

Reposted by Westin Lee

Mr. Moo Sky @bricebowl.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Disable gambling ads:

Discord Settings. "Sponsored Content" button is pressed

Sponsored Content settings. "Manage Sponsored Content" button is pressed

Manage Sponsored Content settings. "Real Money Gambling" radio switch is "off" (disables gambling content)

8387036044

lol currently doing a massive recovery on the PC because I was foolish enough to install ASUS Armoury Crate. Serves me right.

000

It’s neat that the Muppets are a found family and the Looney Tunes are at best suspicious of each other

You would think the way that party treats their dead and near dead would be a warning

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 23/09/2026

In old Mario games, it felt like there was way more danger, right? Like, first level of Super Mario they’re shooting huge bullet bills at you. Bowser wants you DEAD

000

Sunlight contains the full spectrum of light colors, so technically the sun does emit bisexual lighting

013

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 23/09/2026

See this is nice because I didn't want to know more about the web developer either

020

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 23/09/2026

Let’s see the tech demo. I want to see your well thought out tech demo for your AI system. I’m so excited to see if it does anything or has any meaningful design intent behind it. I’m sure it will be the first good, actually thoughtful AI wrapper narrative tool.

100

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 22/09/2026

Hey game writers? Is there a term out there for when you give a player a meaningless dialogue choice? We're talking like 2-3 differently worded but functionally identical choices, with zero or minimal branching feedback? -No idea! -Yeah, but I can't remember it. -Hmm...

100

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 22/09/2026

Fairly impressive spam recruiter email hit the ole inbox today. The pitch is more personalized and the (probably vibe coded) website was competent enough, but in the end it's still just phishing for a login.

000

Reposted by Westin Lee

Sam Barlow 🔥 @mrsambarlow.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Organizing my developer portfolio like a game of bejewelled

1464

Reposted by Westin Lee

L.A. TACO @lataco.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

If you want to cut through the campaign hype and see what the mayoral candidates actually plan to do, this article is for you. The full story: lataco.com/karen-bass-n... By Sam Ribakoff

Headshots of Nithya Raman and Karen Bass next to each other and placed over a photo of the L.A. City Hall.

Headline reads "The No-BS Guide to What Karen Bass and Nithya Raman Plan to Do If They’re Elected"

37636

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 22/09/2026

Apple, your auto-correct can’t even figure out I’m trying to type the word “river”, what gives you the right to guess at what I want to text to my friends and family?

100

Reposted by Westin Lee

The Ankler @theankler.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

For months, the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger faced something recent Hollywood megadeals rarely have: real resistance. Then it all collapsed. Monopoly expert Matt Stoller tells Richard Rushfield who was pushing for the fight to end mrf.lu/2SQwL

147

Reposted by Westin Lee

Game Devs of Color Expo @gdocexpo.com · 21/09/2026

The global game community is diverse. The industry isn't. GDoCExpo is an online conference that exists to close that gap. Celebrate creativity & culture in games w/ us! This week: talks, panels, interviews, networking, community demos, Direct, grant awards & watch parties! Who we are & what we do👇🏽

214689

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 21/09/2026

This and boosterism are the only reasons AI gets used in games outside of massive stuff like Fortnite

110

Westin Lee @westinlee.itch.io · 21/09/2026

A bunch of these are super compelling… Nick and Nora Charles?