Hit Points by Nathan Brown Profile
Hit Points by Nathan Brown

@nathan_brown

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A newsletter about the game industry, by consultant, writer and former Edge editor Nathan Brown. Sign up for free 👇

Bristol
Joined March 2009
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
8 months
Wrote a big bunch of stuff about the decline of online games media (and the internet in general), the existential threat genAI poses, and where we go from here. (I never post my work here anymore bc this website stinks but shares v much appreciated)
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 months
London Studio, five days ago
@izzyfoley94
Izzy ❤️‍🔥
4 months
Farewell Jim Ryan 👋 🫡
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
There's no review of Death Stranding in the next issue of Edge because the embargo insisted we finish the game before we could review it. Print deadline was a factor, but we ran out of enthusiasm long before we ran out of time.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 months
Ka-POW
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@GIBiz
GamesIndustry
7 months
E3 is dead. Now what? Publishers, developers and journalists reflect on the show's downfall, the current state of game events, and whether anything can (or should) fill the void
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Did the Smash community ask for Minecraft Steve bc they needed help dealing with all the creepers
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Hi @KeitaTakahash please don’t ever change, thank you
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
Microsoft's median salary is $162k If it pulled out of the Activision deal, that $68.7bn could keep the 10,000 staff it laid off today on the books for over 41 years Get absolutely fucked
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Ok, this is the greatest round of Street Fighter that ever existed.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
6 years
Hello, Edge 303 vs Edge 327, Andrew Hind is a genius, cheers
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Or put it this way: I told my wife this morning that the Death Stranding reviews were out and she said, 'Oh, is that the game about backpacks that you hated?'
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
You want to know how we got code early? We spent two decades building a thing that's respected the world over. Then we asked for it.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
6 years
Sounds like @KeitaTakahash had a pretty fun, enjoyable and motivating E3
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 months
Zangief
@gavinthomas2015
Gavin Thomas
4 months
Apparently, if you can see a panda, you're left-brained, and if you can see two turtles swimming, you're right-brained. What do you see?
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
My leaving cover. And I was just about holding it together
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
The next issue of Edge will be my last as editor. After nine wonderful, fulfilling and absolutely exhausting years on the best videogame magazine there ever was, I will sail off into the sunset next week.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Edge 339, on sale next Thursday, has a four-page preview based on 40 hours with Death Stranding. There is no number at the end.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Put it this way: we probably won't be reviewing it in the following issue either.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
And y'all say print doesn't matter
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
PvP turn-based strategy with unit permadeath. Tight, if austere, core design and some smart inversion of gender tropes, but modest production values, dismal onboarding and overlong match times suggest Chess may struggle to find an audience in a highly competitive space. [6]
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Ybarra gets called into Phil Spencer's office. He's furious and spoiling for a fight. He rips off his Cuphead t-shirt, revealing a Braid t-shirt beneath it. Rips into that: Below. Then Battletoads, Bastion, Alien Hominid. 'Dear god,' Ybarra whispers, 'they're alphabetical'
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
Geoff Keighley drafting a tweet going 'I loved Home Alone 2 as much as anyone, but'
@BNONews
BNO News
1 year
BREAKING: Grand jury indicts former U.S. President Donald Trump - NYT
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Well, here we go. My final issue as Edge editor goes on sale today. There’s no copy at retail because *waves hands madly*, but subs have been taken care of, the digi version’s out today and there’s a limited amount of physical copies at the link below.
@edgeonline
Edge
4 years
In this very special issue of Edge, we curate and celebrate the games that offer something more than a trigger pull or a clenched fist – they make you feel better. E345 is on sale now:
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Today on Hit Points: Praise for Xbox, a hard dad-stare for its absent rival, sympathy for Square Enix and some jokes.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Hands up if you’re staying locked down because you wouldn’t trust these Eton frauds as far as you could throw them (except Rees-Mogg who looks light and aerodynamic, a sort of haunted Victorian javelin, on reflection I will quit lockdown if we can all take turns throwing him)
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Can’t believe he’s forgotten his own lyrics.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
This chutney on Forbes slyly accusing us of being paid off. Amazing.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
So I guess she's just called Theresa now
@SkyNewsBreak
Sky News Breaking
7 years
Prime Minister Theresa May says she is "dismayed" at U.S. decision to leave Paris climate agreement
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Oh for fuck's sake
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Hello! Today I am delighted to unveil Hit Points, a daily-ish newsletter about the videogame industry. You can sign up for it for free right here: I have been working on this in secret for a while, and am unreasonably excited about it. RTs appreciated!
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
'Balance' is a word we throw around a lot, but there's a difference between what we say, or think, we want in a game and what we really mean. Tried to make some sense of it here and accidentally ended up writing too much about Elden Ring again. Sorry
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Every corporate games media outlet is a bunch of well-intentioned, talented creatives surrounded by dead-eyed career-obsessed capitalists fretting over P&L and nothing else. Here’s your latest peek behind the curtain
@Kotaku
Kotaku
3 years
IGN Takes Down Article And Tweet Sharing Palestinian Aid Groups
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Organising an alternative E3 for the UK where a bunch of us have melatonin for breakfast, old fashioneds for lunch and three burgers for dinner, start every conversation with ‘so sorry I’m late’ and write 400-word op-eds at 2am about why all the new videogames are racist
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Yes, the internet was a terrible mistake. But every so often it gives us something like this
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
"Edge magazine, which is still printed on dead trees..." It's OK Erik you'll get your copy soon I'm sure
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
Our two Rime cover-feature openers side by side. Edge 273 on the left, Edge 305 on the right. Perfection.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
SOURCES: Microsoft is also in late stage talks to acquire Joss Whedon
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
lol
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Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 months
Fucking clownshoes. Newsletter tomorrow once I’ve hopefully calmed down a bit
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Once again 3.5 people just made 132 pages of the best videogame magazine that ever existed in four weeks. I'd be proud if I wasn't so exhausted
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
❤️
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
Tips for surviving winter in an energy crisis -wear thermals and multiple thin layers -keep curtains closed -use hot water bottles -rise up -overthrow the government -control the means of production -guillotine the profiteers -I dunno, candles or something
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Unsure whether we look like the detectives here, or the murderers
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
The Streets Of Rage 4 DLC is outrageously good. Essential addition to a brilliant game. I now realise every game should have a survival mode with perks/relics given at the end of each stage, a wonderful idea
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Sometimes I get a bit down, and then I remember I somehow managed to get Gitaroo Man on the cover of my final issue of Edge.
@edgeonline
Edge
4 years
In this very special issue of Edge, we curate and celebrate the games that offer something more than a trigger pull or a clenched fist – they make you feel better. E345 is on sale now:
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Whoa, we’re halfway there
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
@dieworkwear This Dunn & Co Harris Tweed coat, £65 on eBay. It is the British winter in fabric form.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
Washington Post goes in studs up on Battlefront II.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
The day before preorders open. You have to respect it
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Important to remember that, win or lose, this England team is managed by the writer of this exceptionally inspiring paragraph
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
@Qwik @AndyPlaytonic Why u polling it then homie
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
6 years
It’s a 12-rated game my loves
@krishgm
Krishnan Guru-Murthy
6 years
Tonight on #C4News what is it about #Fortnite that’s making it so addictive? Why are some calling for it to banned? And should all video games have a Child Impact Assessment? We created Gaming Heaven for a bunch of 11 year olds in the studio to find out.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
10 years
Still loving Ben Kuchera's thing on preorders in which he accidentally admits to having no idea what restaurants are http://t.co/oVb9LC7Wgl
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
Delighted to speak to the legendary Tetsuya Mizuguchi for the latest installment of Max HP. Tried to find a new perspective on a story that's been told many times, and really chuffed with how it came out. Huge thanks to @Mizuguchitter for taking part ❤️
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Got a new job. Had a little five minutes running round the lounge flicking Vs at the kids
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Outrageous. Dreams is amazing
@tsukanko16
伝説級のつかんこ ★ ★
3 years
中くらいの敵。なかなか手強くて楽しい #MadeInDreams #DreamsPS4 #PS4share
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Sent the final page of my final issue as Edge editor and immediately knocked a glass of beer over my keyboard, for all you fans of dark omens
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Jen is amazing, has been a delight to work with and see develop, and is going to make a brilliant editor. Side note: that photo of me is 300 years old. I would get a new one done, but I look even worse now.
@itsJenSim
Jen Simpkins
4 years
For once in my life, I have no idea what to type. I am honoured to be the new editor of Edge.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
@eurogamer
Eurogamer
1 year
Geoff Keighley says woman was due to appear on Summer Game Fest stage
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
He killed two people
@pitchfork
Pitchfork
5 years
A month ago, YNW Melly was a rising star with a breakout hit and a Kanye cosign. Now, he's in jail on double murder charges. What happened?
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
kneel before your god #MK8D #NintendoSwitch
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
This is the mother of all puff pieces. You can almost taste the boot
@Variety
Variety
1 year
This week’s Variety cover: Bobby Kotick Breaks His Silence: Embattled Activision CEO Addresses Toxic Workforce Claims as Microsoft Deal Hangs in Balance
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
A few years ago I asked David he was so fond of sporting analogies when talking about making games. I was expecting him to be like ‘I like football’. And then this.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
1 year
Me, after failing to do the gutters for a 53rd consecutive weekend
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
I'll do a ridiculously self-indulgent thread with all my favourite bits at some point, but now is not the time. For now, whether you've bought, read, worked on, been featured in or just grumpily muttered about Edge over the past nine years, I offer my heartfelt thanks.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
9 months
Naive of me to think that this would be followed by an apologetic paragraph detailing some form of personal sacrifice, rather than the abrupt layoff of one-sixth of Epic's workforce.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
I went to Japan and came back and wrote two features in three days and it almost killed me. For every copy sold I regain 0.005% of my will to live.
@edgeonline
Edge
7 years
Why Capcom's colossal Monster Hunter: World is poised for global domination. Edge 313 is on sale now:
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 months
@gamedevdotcom
Game Developer
5 months
Embracer says it's looking out for shareholders after cutting almost 1,400 jobs "Our overruling principle is to always maximize shareholder value in any given situation"
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
For all my fellow parents struggling with the first day of homeschooling, thought I'd share the timetable we're using for our 6yo
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Edge 338 will have the largest review section of any issue in my entire time on the mag. It's September. This is too much. Herewith announcing the formation of the STOP VIDEOGAMES campaign.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
Instead of putting NFTs in games, how about making the games themselves NFTs so we have resale rights on digital games and *Andrew Wilson puts a hood over my head and Yves Guillemot bundles me into the back of an unmarked car*
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
This is such a haunting photo. Whatever you think of Cruela De Vil’s record as a dog owner, it’s impossible not to feel sorry for her as a person.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Sunday, they said. Day of rest, they said. I give up. The children are now in charge. The next issue of Edge will be edited by an 18-month-old.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
@edgarwright @guideguardian Haha, there's no way it's 21 years old, that would mean my age i- OH GOD NO
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
10 months
Really looking forward to Starfield tomorrow but suspect I’m going to be unable to stop looking at it as the work of a trillion-dollar multinational that was afraid of Edge magazine being a bit mean to it. Wusses of the highest order.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Have to say Panic’s handling of this whole thing has been masterful. They’re even being wholesome with the wrong’uns
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
This is unrelated to both coronavirus and Future's latest round of cutbacks – I handed my notice in a couple of months ago – but both have made it a little easier to go. The future is freelance and consulting and, oh god, more time with the children
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
3 years
An education in life’s fundamentals
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
Yoko Taro 💔
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
6 months
Hit Points has binned off Substack, a platform which got progressively more annoying and embarrassing to be on until the day its founders said they thought it was important they hosted Nazis. The push I needed to get gone. More detail here:
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
Wrote slightly too much about this week's games-media bloodbath. And the Renaissance, somehow
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Tetris Effect was a 10, wasn’t it.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
I mean you’re not wrong Lakitu but sheesh, children are playing this game
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
Delighted to be partnering with Eurogamer to (hopefully) spread the good word about Hit Points. Here's the previously subscriber-exclusive profile of the immense @kinojabber , which I think, with tremendous modesty, is the best thing I've written for the newsletter. RTs please!
@eurogamer
Eurogamer
2 years
Introducing Hit Points on Eurogamer - starting with a look at unsung story of the remarkable Tracy Fullerton
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
And *the day after* Spencer told Xbox staff that MS was “evaluating all aspects of our relationship with Activision Blizzard and making ongoing proactive adjustments.” Obviously I see the business POV but this is so so gross
@Andy_VGC
Andy Robinson
2 years
Microsoft reportedly started acquisition talks with Activision Blizzard 3 days after a report alleged that CEO Bobby Kotick had long known about allegations of sexual misconduct at the company.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
Bryan Cranston cosplaying as Mike from Spaced
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
Atsushi Inaba here, unused quote from the Nier Automata visit. Doesn't name a publisher but, well...
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
2 years
"If Phil Spencer and the Microsoft executive team aren’t spending today locked in a meeting room, assessing the financial impact of an immediate, global, 10% price cut for Xbox Series X and S, then they need their heads examined." On the PS5 price bump
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
This Game Informer business is a rotten thing to wake up to. Hope those affected land on their feet. Edge is in no way hiring (laughs, cries) but we’re always open to freelance pitches. edge at futurenet dot com
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
If you're going to EGX and are good enough to write for Edge, send a hello and some samples to nathan dot brown at futurenet dot com. Ta
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
It is also currently £5 for five issues of Edge. We announce the new issue tomorrow and it's one of the best I've worked on in my seven years on the mag. We're looking in to releasing the digi edition early to help stave off lockdown boredom.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
6 years
Polite reminder that 8 is a very good score
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
7 years
Lads I accidentally found the Yakuza bridge and lost my mind a bit
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
4 years
@schillingc @disappointment Ubiquitous theme-tune man W.G. Snuffy Walden.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
5 years
Lovely email in response to the extract from @GameAnim ’s book in our latest issue. Edge readers are the greatest.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
6 years
I'm relieved this industry takes plagiarism seriously.
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@nathan_brown
Hit Points by Nathan Brown
10 months
Best E3 in years, this
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