Marc Normandin
@marcnormandin.bsky.social
Newsletters on retro video games and sports labor, regular at The A.V Club and Baseball Prospectus. Editor at FOX Sports. he/him
https://retroxp.beehiiv.com
https://marcnormandin.com
https://www.avclub.com/author/marc-normandin
https://retroxp.beehiiv.com
https://marcnormandin.com
https://www.avclub.com/author/marc-normandin
Pinned
Retro spotlight: Vic Viper: Battle Racing
Konami spun Gradius out into other genres, but in the mid-90s, they nearly went somewhere they should still really go.
retroxp.beehiiv.com
In 1995, multiple video game magazines discussed a game that was less than halfway finished, shown off at that year's JAMMA show. That was Vic Viper: Battle Racing, a Gradius spin-off in the vein of F-Zero and Wipeout featuring Gradius vehicles and, you guessed it, battle racing. It never released.
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Reposted by Marc Normandin
it's a damn shame this game got canned like a day before release..
November 30, 2025 at 1:45 AM
it's a damn shame this game got canned like a day before release..
Reposted by Marc Normandin
fighting for my life against the persistent and insistent intrusive thought
November 30, 2025 at 1:47 AM
fighting for my life against the persistent and insistent intrusive thought
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Hey it’s the weekend. Get cozy and read some deeply nourishing art and culture commentary. Unwinnable is a great magazine and you can read it on your phone or tablet for less than the cost of a coffee per month.
ICYMI: "I’m not sure what I expect from Lack of Love, but what I find is a videogame with an earnest message and uniqueness oozing from every pore."
Unwinnable Monthly Feature Excerpt: @jamestocchio.bsky.social connects L.O.L.: Lack of Love to Ryuichi Sakamoto's activist legacy:
Unwinnable Monthly Feature Excerpt: @jamestocchio.bsky.social connects L.O.L.: Lack of Love to Ryuichi Sakamoto's activist legacy:
Ryuichi Sakamoto and the Heart and Soul of Lack of Love - Unwinnable
Peace and environmentalism in a Dreamcast-exclusive evolutionary life-sim.
buff.ly
November 30, 2025 at 1:26 AM
Hey it’s the weekend. Get cozy and read some deeply nourishing art and culture commentary. Unwinnable is a great magazine and you can read it on your phone or tablet for less than the cost of a coffee per month.
I have definitely hit the "these college players look like children" phase of my life
November 29, 2025 at 8:34 PM
I have definitely hit the "these college players look like children" phase of my life
Oh maybe that's why Michigan kept throwing behind the line of scrimmage
November 29, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Oh maybe that's why Michigan kept throwing behind the line of scrimmage
Reposted by Marc Normandin
top notch mascottin'
November 29, 2025 at 8:06 PM
top notch mascottin'
[folksy voice that can't pronounce r's] Now I'm just a simple football appreciator from New England, but I don't think you can leave Carnell Tate with 15 yards of open space around him in every direction
November 29, 2025 at 7:27 PM
[folksy voice that can't pronounce r's] Now I'm just a simple football appreciator from New England, but I don't think you can leave Carnell Tate with 15 yards of open space around him in every direction
If you need slow-motion replay to see a bobble there wasn't a bobble, this is the football equivalent of popping up from the bag for 1/10th of a second after a slide
November 29, 2025 at 6:14 PM
If you need slow-motion replay to see a bobble there wasn't a bobble, this is the football equivalent of popping up from the bag for 1/10th of a second after a slide
How did they call that a touchdown no part of his body is in the endzone
November 29, 2025 at 5:51 PM
How did they call that a touchdown no part of his body is in the endzone
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Barham getting a mere half-the-distance unsportsmanlike call instead of getting thrown out and suspended an extra game should buy the Big Ten at least 15 minutes of Michigan fans not claiming the league office is out to get them
November 29, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Barham getting a mere half-the-distance unsportsmanlike call instead of getting thrown out and suspended an extra game should buy the Big Ten at least 15 minutes of Michigan fans not claiming the league office is out to get them
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Honestly very generous and diplomatic of the ref not to boot that man for trying to head butt him lol
November 29, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Honestly very generous and diplomatic of the ref not to boot that man for trying to head butt him lol
My first-ever college football game that I attended was an Ohio State-Michigan matchup, and it did an amazing job helping me get college football because duh, the game itself, but also the Ohio State crowd loudly booed Michigan's band. Truly a sport for haters.
November 29, 2025 at 4:50 PM
My first-ever college football game that I attended was an Ohio State-Michigan matchup, and it did an amazing job helping me get college football because duh, the game itself, but also the Ohio State crowd loudly booed Michigan's band. Truly a sport for haters.
Walked by two people in Michigan gear at Costco, Maddie and I are in Ohio State shirts, a melee was avoided. For now.
November 29, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Walked by two people in Michigan gear at Costco, Maddie and I are in Ohio State shirts, a melee was avoided. For now.
I'm glad to see Fair ran the WNBA version of something I did for them during the last MLB lockout. These outlets should be doing better!
November 29, 2025 at 12:47 PM
I'm glad to see Fair ran the WNBA version of something I did for them during the last MLB lockout. These outlets should be doing better!
Reposted by Marc Normandin
HyperZone by HAL Laboratories would go nuts with our modern expectations.
November 29, 2025 at 10:12 AM
HyperZone by HAL Laboratories would go nuts with our modern expectations.
Reposted by Marc Normandin
The additional context is that Valve is still killing a beloved games studio, still tried to weasel out of making a press statement, still didn't allow a second review, and still did not communicate with the developer beyond vague references to their terms.
www.eurogamer.net/valve-respon...
www.eurogamer.net/valve-respon...
Valve responds with "additional context" following Horses Steam ban controversy
Following Valve's decision to ban first-person horror adventure Horses from distribution on Steam, the company has provided "additional context" in a statement.
www.eurogamer.net
November 28, 2025 at 2:48 PM
The additional context is that Valve is still killing a beloved games studio, still tried to weasel out of making a press statement, still didn't allow a second review, and still did not communicate with the developer beyond vague references to their terms.
www.eurogamer.net/valve-respon...
www.eurogamer.net/valve-respon...
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Reposted by Marc Normandin
If you're the kinda jawn who has discretionary newsletter spending this Black Friday, you can get a full year of BIG EGG for $30 today.
www.bigeggwrestling.com/black-friday
www.bigeggwrestling.com/black-friday
BIG EGG
The Great Sport of Professional Wrestling, as seen by Joseph Montecillo and Colette Arrand
www.bigeggwrestling.com
November 28, 2025 at 6:06 PM
If you're the kinda jawn who has discretionary newsletter spending this Black Friday, you can get a full year of BIG EGG for $30 today.
www.bigeggwrestling.com/black-friday
www.bigeggwrestling.com/black-friday
Reposted by Marc Normandin
F355 Challenge is so difficult that it rolls credits if you finish 3rd
November 28, 2025 at 5:07 PM
F355 Challenge is so difficult that it rolls credits if you finish 3rd
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Still thinking about Lane Kiffin looking in the mirror and wondering
…am I a hoe, though??????
…am I a hoe, though??????
November 29, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Still thinking about Lane Kiffin looking in the mirror and wondering
…am I a hoe, though??????
…am I a hoe, though??????
These Feast Week tourneys are reminding me that court designs where there are random graphics on the court that visually obscure what's out of bounds and what's court are awful. This UMBC vs. FIU game has a huge court graphic split across out of bounds, beyond the arc, and part of its interior. No!
November 28, 2025 at 4:38 PM
These Feast Week tourneys are reminding me that court designs where there are random graphics on the court that visually obscure what's out of bounds and what's court are awful. This UMBC vs. FIU game has a huge court graphic split across out of bounds, beyond the arc, and part of its interior. No!
Reposted by Marc Normandin
Spent too much time editing this, but it's so worth it
November 28, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Spent too much time editing this, but it's so worth it
Reposted by Marc Normandin
This is inevitability propaganda by an AI company made to make you feel like you must use AI & it's bullshit. This methodology is bullshit, for many reasons, not least of which is, it is reliant on common crawl, now blocked by many of the biggest content producers online graphite.io/five-percent...
November 28, 2025 at 12:54 PM
This is inevitability propaganda by an AI company made to make you feel like you must use AI & it's bullshit. This methodology is bullshit, for many reasons, not least of which is, it is reliant on common crawl, now blocked by many of the biggest content producers online graphite.io/five-percent...