Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

TJ Denzer

@johnnychugs.bsky.social

410 followers 230 following 1.3K posts

Senior News Editor Shacknews.com & culinary host of tasty indies on Indie-licious. Unofficial Bowser expert/weirdo. contact: tj.denzer (at) http://shacknews.com

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · Apr 9

Yeah, it's a repost, but please play this at my funeral without explanation or context. It's as good of an understanding of who I am as you're going to get and the people closest to me will understand.

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1h

On a long enough timeline, I hope we see a successor carry on Itagaki's work, or that we get some behind the scenes on what he'd been doing with Itagaki Games.

Respect to his wishes if he wanted his unfinished work buried with him, but from his passing message, it seems he was cooking something.

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 3h

Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki passes away at 58

Itagaki also directed the reboot of Ninja Gaiden in 2004 and was working on something new through his personal studio, Itagaki Games.

dlvr.it

Reposted by TJ Denzer

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 3h

Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki passes away at 58

Itagaki also directed the reboot of Ninja Gaiden in 2004 and was working on something new through his personal studio, Itagaki Games.

dlvr.it

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Reposted by TJ Denzer

Grave Guiltyman 💀🗣️🎙️ @davidgiltinan.com · 20h

Ball x Pit is super good for those who need to know (i.e. everyone).

Two word description: roguelike Breakout

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Reposted by TJ Denzer

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 20h

Battlefield 6 review: The game within the game

Battlefield 6 is the FPS that anyone can have fun playing.

dlvr.it

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 15h

Feverishly explaining to Sam why Hard Corps: Uprising is the best Contra game the way a clergy man calls the sinner to repent.

Reposted by TJ Denzer

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 1d

BALL x PIT Launch Trailer #DevolverDigital #indiegames #gaming

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Reposted by TJ Denzer

lex luddy (ichiban appreciator) @lexluddy.xyz · 21h

I played Ananta at TGS.

I wrote about Ananta. And everything bagels. But mainly Ananta.

www.shacknews.com/article/1463...

Ananta's 'kitchen sink' approach to game design is as overwhelming as it is impressive

Somehow Ananta combines GTA, Like A Dragon, Spider-Man, and gacha roleplaying for something hard to define.

www.shacknews.com

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 16h

Nightmare manifestation of a survivor's trauma regarding violent sexual assault or tasteful conversation starter for your coffee table? YOU DECIDE!!! 😀

Wario64 @wario64.bsky.social · 16h

Silent Hill 2 Oshi Works Abstract Daddy Figure up for preorder at BBTS ($70.49) buff.ly/ODWaROu
$64.99 Kotobukiya buff.ly/5LreF0T

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 16h

Ah, but you see, opponent, the battle is over, for I have already portrayed you as the soyjak JP and myself as the chad Marisa. #SF6 #FGC

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

Warwick got that Jubei BlazBlue sprint on his neutral SP1, and that makes him very funny against projectile users, especially when you scout a projectile super. #2XKO

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

Birds of light, TeamLabs Borderless

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

The leadership of #MWWilds and #FF14 spoke to the recent crossover event and my biggest takeaway was just how much these teams have supported each other since Yoshi-P took on A Realm Reborn. Truly about a decade of friendship and trust in the recent collaboration. #TGS2025

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 1d

Plans for Monster Hunter Wilds x Final Fantasy 14 collab started at Gamescom 2024

No strangers to Monster Hunter x Final Fantasy events, Capcom and Square Enix shared at TGS 2025 that they were happy to collaborate again.

dlvr.it

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

I only ever go there to source a story or gain a timeline on industry people that actually use it, but every time I dip my toe, I know I can look forward to a week of "Missed Connections," "You're On a Roll!," and "You Have 18 Invitations" emails for the rest of the week.

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks everyone who tuned into Indie-licious. Spindle is a great top-down Zelda-like with a funny premise. Great music too, and most importantly, idle long enough and you will pet Pig Friend. Out on PC/Switch!
#indiegame #indiegames #indiedev @spindlegame.bsky.social
@deck13interactive.bsky.social

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

live on twitch now! twitch.tv/shacknews

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 1d

Spooky Indie-licious livestreams continue this week with Spindle! A boy wakes up in a mysterious world as the grim reaper with only a pig pal to guide him. Join us as we explore this quirky top-down adventure! #indiegame #indiegames #indiedev @spindlegame.bsky.social @deck13interactive.bsky.social

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 1d

ShackStream: Indie-licious Episode 179 - Spindle

Waking up as Death in strange world sounds jarring, but we're going to give this reaper thing a try in Spindle on this week's Indie-licious!

dlvr.it

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 2d

Gregg Mayles basically directed or had a role in everything you love if you're a Rare fan. Between this and Dan Fordan leaving NetherRealm after like 35 years, lots of guys with careers my age seem to be bowing out. I guess all I can do is thank them for a life of good games.

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 2d

Sea of Thieves director Gregg Mayles leaves Rare after almost 37 years

Mayles was also involved in the design of games in the Donkey Kong Country, Banjo Kazooie, Viva Pinata, and Battletoads franchises.

dlvr.it

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 2d

Oh my goodness, Joe Higashi came out in #COTW, Crimson Viper comes to #SF6, Armor King comes to #Tekken8, and even #GBVSR got a character this week. What a wacky good week for fighting games? #FGC

Reposted by TJ Denzer

Jennifer Sherman @jaasherman.bsky.social · 3d

My team at Square Enix Manga & Books is hiring for a junior editorial position! If you have questions, feel free to ask~

jobsearch.createyourowncareer.com/PRH_US/job/A...

Assistant Editor, Manga (Open to Remote)

jobsearch.createyourowncareer.com

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Reposted by TJ Denzer

thesixler @thesixler.bsky.social · 2d

This cat looks like it’s about to start a fighting tournament to promote the strength of the Mishima Zaibatsu corporation

Tammi, yeah, that one. 2.1 @tammi.bsky.social · 3d

I found a 19th century Cat Villain!

A huge chonk of a fluffy cat sitting on a table near an open fire. The cat is cream and grey and appears to be shaped like a barrel in a fur coat. They are scowling fiercely with their moustache and bewhiskered ears apparently flowing back into the cold wind. There's a definite vibe that this villainous cat twirls their moustache as they evict orphans into the aforementioned blizzard and think Scrooge was an easy-going lightweight. They are magnificent.

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Reposted by TJ Denzer

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 2d

We Caught a Shiny Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A! #NintendoSwitch2 #Pokemon #Gaming

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Reposted by TJ Denzer

Shacknews @shacknews.com · 2d

Pokemon Legends: Z-A review: Lumiose City, je t'aime

The return to Lumiose City brings one of Pokemon's most exciting adventures in years.

dlvr.it

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TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 2d

He comes home to a nice dinner, we drink champagne and talk about the day, then we go to the bedroom, dim the lights, kiss softly as we undress…

And finally I put the music that lets him know the passion is high and I’m about to rock his world. You know the one:

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 4d

All of the money in the world can’t hide a fool once they speak.

Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 4d

thiel, man, what the fuck are you talking about

He describes the plot of Watchmen, a 1986 graphic novel involving superheroes grappling with moral questions about humanity against the backdrop of impending nuclear war:

The antihero Ozymandias, the antichrist-type figure, is sort of an early-modern person. He believes this will be a timeless and eternal solution – eternal world peace. Moore is sort of a late-modern. In early modernity, you have ideal solutions, ‘perfect’ solutions to calculus. In late modernity, things are sort of probabilistic. And at some point, he asks Dr Manhattan whether the world government is going to last. And he says that ‘nothing lasts forever.’ So you embrace the antichrist and it still doesn’t work.

Thiel later finds biblical meaning in the manga One Piece, discussing how he believes it represents a future where an antichrist-like one-world government has repressed science. He believes that the hero, Monkey D Luffy, represents a Christlike figure.

In One Piece, you are set in a fantasy world, again sort of an alternate earth, but it’s 800 years into the reign of this one-world state. Which, as the story unfolds, gradually gets darker and darker. You sort of realize, in my interpretation, who runs the world and it’s something like the antichrist. There’s Luffy, a pirate who wears a red straw hat, sort of like Christ’s crown of thorns. And then towards the end of the story, transforms into a figure who resembles Christ in Revelation.

Thiel, along with a researcher and writer at Thiel Capital, explored these ideas at greater length in an essay for the religious journal First Things earlier this month.

TJ Denzer @johnnychugs.bsky.social · 4d

Romantic moves on a Saturday night, as we do.