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Mike Diver

@mikediver.bsky.social

2.3K followers 510 following 2.6K posts

Mostly works in marketing. Mostly. Author of gaming books inc. From Coin-Ops to Table-Tops, The Console, Indie Games, Retro Gaming. Aliens: The Video Games out in 2026. Ex-music industry. Semi-professional tea drinker. #saintsfc

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · Apr 26

It's #alienday.
And Independent Bookstore Day.
So here's a thing.

Aliens: The Video Games.

Games old and new, licensed and unofficial, crossovers, fan projects, unreleased titles.

Loads of new interviews covering games from the 1980s to the 2020s.

Cover by @sammgreer.bsky.social

Out in 2026.

The cover to Aliens: The Video Games. Features a character playing a game with an alien-like silhouette behind them.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 2m

Idk, author seems legit to me...

The Amazon biography for Tim Higdem sure sounds unconvincing.

The author's three books: one about retro game cheats, two about ChatGPT.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 34m

It is!

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 37m

Watching the football, but to a different soundtrack.

Two D'Angelo albums on CD: Black Messiah and Voodoo.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1h

Idk where folks find the energy to throw themselves at this sorta thing over, and over. One slide, I'd nope right back to the title screen.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 3h

Treasure!

(I can't use it. But it sure unlocks some memories.)

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 4h

Oh fuck off.

Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 4h

D'Angelo has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer, his former manager says. He was 51

D'Angelo Dead at 51

Grammy-winning R&B soul singer D'Angelo is dead from pancreatic cancer ... TMZ has learned.

www.tmz.com

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 6h

A short history of why your console FPS controls the way it does.

(Alien Resurrection is featured in depth in my book of next year, Aliens: The Video Games.)

GoldenEye 007 on N64 (1997) allows twin analogue stick gameplay using two controllers.

Medal of Honor on PS1 (1999) included a control option using the right stick to look around/aim, like modern FPS games, but makes it a fourth control option, not the default.

Alien Resurrection on PS1 (2000) makes what is today's conventional FPS control scheme the default, and it throws off reviewers who hate it. But the system sticks.

Halo: Combat Evolved on Xbox (2001) is a mega hit using the controls previously seen in Alien Resurrection... and the rest is history.

Reposted by Mike Diver

Charlotte Reynoldson @charreynoldson.bsky.social · 10h

Any games journalists that are also football/soccer fans, please lemme know ⚽️👇

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 8h

a referee wearing a green shirt with the word fifa on it .

ALT: a referee wearing a green shirt with the word fifa on it .

media.tenor.com

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 10h

Deducted 10 points for 'soccer'.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 11h

That's more like it. My PS1 era knowledge aint great. I remember a piece I commissioned about the game while at VICE, its one-hit kills etc. But never played it.

Reposted by Mike Diver

Andy Robertson 🔜 London ComicCon @geekdadgamer.bsky.social · 14h

I'm working on a Roblox story for a national outlet and keen to talk to parents of older teens (12-16) who play Roblox games:
✅ Which games do they play?
✅ Why play that rather than a console game?
✅ How do they find new Roblox games?

Shares appreciated #JournoRequest

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 14h

Ages ago. We briefly had Magic Whistle in the Old Market, which could be great for a rummage, but it didn't last long. 1up Cafe - not a store, but a place for retro games - also closed. The city seems to hate old video games businesses.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 15h

Can't imagine any human, of any age, not being fascinated by dinosaurs. Look at these things, that lived where you live. Just amazing creatures. Gigantic idiot wonders.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 22h

It's basically the toy version of the stylised Predaking seen in the classic(?) episode, Call of the Primitives. 16 mins in.

youtu.be/mwSfiiZsQrU?...

Call of the Primitives | Transformers: Generation 1 | Season 3 | E26 | Hasbro Pulse

YouTube video by Hasbro Pulse

youtu.be

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 23h

If any local(enough) Transformers likers fancy a Jinbao OS Feral Rex - aka Predaking - for 40 squids, I'm selling. Brighton/Hove area. A bit of damage, can detail if interested, but it displays super well. A proper chunky unit for your shelves.

Here's the box the robots come in. It's big!

Here are the six robots, and accessories, packed in their plastic. Instructions are also included, as is some sort of upgrade kit with nicer hands.

The back of the box. All five regular 'Predacons' are in great condition. The extra, sixth one, not a legit member of the team anyway, has a broken hip joint.

When it's all put together, it looks like this.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Solo? No way. But if there were a few likeminded folks... maybe.

(Looks at how other stores have fared.)

Yeeeeah, maybe not.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

It remains a crime that there's no retro shop here in Brighton - or anywhere nearby.

And happy birthday!

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

@worthingfc.bsky.social post your updates on Bluesky challenge.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

This E3(?) booth photo will live forever.

Andy Robinson @andyrobinson.bsky.social · 1d

According to a new report, the next Xbox console may be more powerful than the PlayStation 6, but it will be more expensive as a result.

vgc.news/news/the-nex...

The next Xbox ‘should be stronger than PS6’ but more expensive, report claims | VGC

A look at the next Xbox’s alleged processor suggests a “PC-console hybrid”…

vgc.news

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Remaining assets to follow.

🏰meg⚔️ @Birthright Audiobook! @impavid.us · 5d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand

I'll go first: Six page commercial lease.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

And, obviously, loads of words on how Alien: Isolation happened, how Colonial Marines became a clusterfuck, how a game from 1984 made its NPCs misbehave, and how some cheeky developers slipped inappropriate material past 20th Century Fox's approval process.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Some of the games featured in Aliens: The Video Games...

👾 A virtual reality experience hosted at a shopping centre

👾 A student project combining movie talent with a toyline

👾 An unofficial title from the 80s with strangely Alien: Earth-like vibes

👾 A flash game nobody can find, and we tried.

Aliens: The Video Games is published in 2026 via White Owl. Pre orders will go up late 2025/early 2026.

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Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

Reading through the linked piece:

This is (just one reason) why we need proper editors checking articles before they go live.

Alice Roberts @profaliceroberts.bsky.social · 1d

Um. There’s a woman presenting this too.

ok.co.uk @ok.co.uk · 7d

Rylan Clark is set to delve into the eerie world of witchcraft in his new show, The Witches Of Essex.

Mike Diver @mikediver.bsky.social · 1d

If you see this, QRT with a game released the year you were born.

It's Namco's famous pill-popper, Pac-Man... or Puck Man, as he was initially known in Japan.