Jason Hawreliak
@profjay.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Game Studies. Brock University, dept. of Digital Humanities.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
I feel this way about pretty much all vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. You shouldn't be allowed to dump cyanide into municipal drinking water and you shouldn't be allowed to recreationally spread viruses around shared public spaces.
My most authoritarian opinion is that the MMR vaccine should be mandatory, with only medical (not religious or floofy) exemptions allowed. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...
This Is How a Child Dies of Measles
When your family becomes a data point in an outbreak
www.theatlantic.com
February 13, 2026 at 5:09 PM
I feel this way about pretty much all vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. You shouldn't be allowed to dump cyanide into municipal drinking water and you shouldn't be allowed to recreationally spread viruses around shared public spaces.
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
💾The Games & Storage special issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication is officially out!
📚Thanks to editors @nickttaylor.bsky.social, @thechristinet.bsky.social, and Robyn Hope for putting this together.
📡Be sure to check out my article on Satellaview restoration, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴!
📚Thanks to editors @nickttaylor.bsky.social, @thechristinet.bsky.social, and Robyn Hope for putting this together.
📡Be sure to check out my article on Satellaview restoration, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴!
Critical Studies in Media Communication
Games & Storage. Volume 42, Issue 5 of Critical Studies in Media Communication
www.tandfonline.com
February 13, 2026 at 3:18 PM
💾The Games & Storage special issue of Critical Studies in Media Communication is officially out!
📚Thanks to editors @nickttaylor.bsky.social, @thechristinet.bsky.social, and Robyn Hope for putting this together.
📡Be sure to check out my article on Satellaview restoration, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴!
📚Thanks to editors @nickttaylor.bsky.social, @thechristinet.bsky.social, and Robyn Hope for putting this together.
📡Be sure to check out my article on Satellaview restoration, 𝘚𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘈𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴!
Hell yeah
Over 1,000 Ubisoft workers around the world have walked off the job.
In response to a return-to-office mandate, layoffs, and the cancellation of several games, workers launched a three-day strike.
The workers walked out in response to five French unions issuing the strike call.
In response to a return-to-office mandate, layoffs, and the cancellation of several games, workers launched a three-day strike.
The workers walked out in response to five French unions issuing the strike call.
Ubisoft workers are on strike: 'We are treated like children'
The strike comes after the publisher revealed plans to cut up to 200 jobs and ordered remote workers back into the office
www.polygon.com
February 12, 2026 at 6:50 PM
Hell yeah
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
The NYU Game Center's hiring! A senior, tenure-track professor post for an experienced game designer, artist or industry pro with a notable body of creative work. Experience finishing games and mentoring/teaching more important than any kind of academic credential!
gamecenter.nyu.edu/were-hiring-...
gamecenter.nyu.edu/were-hiring-...
We're Hiring! Join the NYU Game Center Faculty as an Associate Professor! - NYU | Game Center
Description Associate or Full tenure professor position for the NYU Game Center New York University, Tisch School of the Arts Position Overview The NYU Game Center is seeking applicants to join its fa...
gamecenter.nyu.edu
February 11, 2026 at 10:42 PM
The NYU Game Center's hiring! A senior, tenure-track professor post for an experienced game designer, artist or industry pro with a notable body of creative work. Experience finishing games and mentoring/teaching more important than any kind of academic credential!
gamecenter.nyu.edu/were-hiring-...
gamecenter.nyu.edu/were-hiring-...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Unwinnable subscribers saw an excerpt of this last month, but here's the much, much longer convo I had with Autumn back in December about cultural criticism, my process, and a long, ongoing battle with alienation from my own taste and craft. A little rambly, apologies
unwinnable.com/2026/02/11/a...
unwinnable.com/2026/02/11/a...
February 11, 2026 at 5:38 PM
Unwinnable subscribers saw an excerpt of this last month, but here's the much, much longer convo I had with Autumn back in December about cultural criticism, my process, and a long, ongoing battle with alienation from my own taste and craft. A little rambly, apologies
unwinnable.com/2026/02/11/a...
unwinnable.com/2026/02/11/a...
That's ok guys tackling isn't that important anyway
February 6, 2026 at 7:07 PM
That's ok guys tackling isn't that important anyway
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
My co-author Dr. Megan Condis and I gathered nearly 3,000 print ads from the console wars era to analyze whether the popular narrative that "Sega was for rad teens and Nintendo was for babies" actually holds up.
The results paint a slightly more nuanced picture.
Read about it on @aftermath.site!
The results paint a slightly more nuanced picture.
Read about it on @aftermath.site!
The Console Wars, As Told By '90s Nintendo And Sega Advertisements
'The way you come to understand [anything] inside and out is by seeing how it evolved over time'
aftermath.site
February 4, 2026 at 5:14 PM
My co-author Dr. Megan Condis and I gathered nearly 3,000 print ads from the console wars era to analyze whether the popular narrative that "Sega was for rad teens and Nintendo was for babies" actually holds up.
The results paint a slightly more nuanced picture.
Read about it on @aftermath.site!
The results paint a slightly more nuanced picture.
Read about it on @aftermath.site!
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
"rich dipshit owner doesn't understand the industry he's bought into and clumsily destroys what made it good" feels less like a narrative unique to the washington post and more like the music that's been playing in the background of all our lives for at least 40 years
February 4, 2026 at 2:53 PM
"rich dipshit owner doesn't understand the industry he's bought into and clumsily destroys what made it good" feels less like a narrative unique to the washington post and more like the music that's been playing in the background of all our lives for at least 40 years
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
February 4, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Bezos isn't destroying the Washington Post because it isn't profitable. He's destroying the Washington Post because he's calculated that a robust free press threatens the ability of his class to warp society around their interests
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
A Day for Gaza
Today, The Nation is turning over its website exclusively to stories from Gaza and its people. This is why.
www.thenation.com
February 3, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Media coverage of Gaza has plummeted. So today on @thenation.com, we're doing something pretty special: we're only running pieces by people in and from Gaza.
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
We're calling it "A Day for Gaza." You can find links to all of the incredible pieces here. Please read! www.thenation.com/article/worl...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Finally! My book Super Nintendo is out TODAY in the US + Canada. Here's where to buy it: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753986...
"MacDonald is one of the best games journalists... Here is a book bursting with love. Bop your head against it and see if a shower of gold coins comes out." -The Times
"MacDonald is one of the best games journalists... Here is a book bursting with love. Bop your head against it and see if a shower of gold coins comes out." -The Times
February 3, 2026 at 1:54 PM
Finally! My book Super Nintendo is out TODAY in the US + Canada. Here's where to buy it: www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753986...
"MacDonald is one of the best games journalists... Here is a book bursting with love. Bop your head against it and see if a shower of gold coins comes out." -The Times
"MacDonald is one of the best games journalists... Here is a book bursting with love. Bop your head against it and see if a shower of gold coins comes out." -The Times
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
“Notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein played a role in convincing Bobby Kotick to embrace loot boxes, essentially gambling for children” what is this sentence, what is this world
February 1, 2026 at 1:54 AM
“Notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein played a role in convincing Bobby Kotick to embrace loot boxes, essentially gambling for children” what is this sentence, what is this world
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
"technologists, reactionaries, and seething upstarts are brought together by decadent parties on a wealthy idiot's pedophile island, laying the groundwork for a digital-first fascism" sounds like a cyberpunk plot but you know it's real life because they did it with the style of people in bumper cars
January 31, 2026 at 3:58 PM
"technologists, reactionaries, and seething upstarts are brought together by decadent parties on a wealthy idiot's pedophile island, laying the groundwork for a digital-first fascism" sounds like a cyberpunk plot but you know it's real life because they did it with the style of people in bumper cars
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
In the 90th episode of GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES, we journey all the way back to 1984 to discuss the first published textbook on video game development, Atari legend Chris Crawford's pointed, prescient, and idiosyncratic THE ART OF COMPUTER GAME DESIGN: rangedtouch.com/2026/01/31/9...
January 31, 2026 at 3:21 PM
In the 90th episode of GAME STUDIES STUDY BUDDIES, we journey all the way back to 1984 to discuss the first published textbook on video game development, Atari legend Chris Crawford's pointed, prescient, and idiosyncratic THE ART OF COMPUTER GAME DESIGN: rangedtouch.com/2026/01/31/9...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
For decades the Right has daydreamed about saving their country from monsters, they finally got the chance and it turns out they love the monsters. The monsters are even monstrous in the exact ways they fantasized about! You never have to listen to these guys about anything again
January 30, 2026 at 9:52 PM
For decades the Right has daydreamed about saving their country from monsters, they finally got the chance and it turns out they love the monsters. The monsters are even monstrous in the exact ways they fantasized about! You never have to listen to these guys about anything again
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable.
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
IDF accepts Gaza Health Ministry death toll of over 71,000 Palestinians killed in the war
Although Many International Experts Have Accepted the Health Ministry's Data as Reliable, and Even Conservative Relative to the True Death Toll, Israel Had Refused to Accept the Health Ministry's Coun...
www.haaretz.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:29 PM
I cannot tell you how much doubt was consistently directed at the Gaza Health Ministry’s casualty numbers and how much pressure was put on news organizations to couch those numbers as unreliable.
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Biden himself said they were fabricated!
www.haaretz.com/israel-news/...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
new blog post: notes on level design workflows for the 3D platformer Big Hops www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/01/note...
Notes on level design workflow for the 3D platformer Big Hops
A behind-the-scenes look at some of the tooling, level design methods, and metrics use for this cartoony 3D exploration game I helped make.
www.blog.radiator.debacle.us
January 28, 2026 at 12:57 AM
new blog post: notes on level design workflows for the 3D platformer Big Hops www.blog.radiator.debacle.us/2026/01/note...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
There is not a lot Canadians can do about ICE, but we can ask Parliament to investigate Canadian companies doing business with them, like Hootsuite. Call or email your MP - or contact the INDU House committee MPs. Will post link below. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Hootsuite CEO says ICE contract will stand as long as agency honours terms and conditions
‘We did nothing wrong here,’ head of Vancouver social media company said in internal call with employees
www.theglobeandmail.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:49 PM
There is not a lot Canadians can do about ICE, but we can ask Parliament to investigate Canadian companies doing business with them, like Hootsuite. Call or email your MP - or contact the INDU House committee MPs. Will post link below. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/art...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
rightwingers see people caring about others in their community and instead of finding that inspiring they think it’s some sort of grand conspiracy because they don’t understand what it means to care for others you don’t personally know
January 25, 2026 at 7:57 PM
rightwingers see people caring about others in their community and instead of finding that inspiring they think it’s some sort of grand conspiracy because they don’t understand what it means to care for others you don’t personally know
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Really hard to look at this and all the other examples of bravery and kindness from ordinary people in this moment not think also of the tremendous cowardice exhibited over the past year by some of the richest, most well-protected people in business, media and politics
Let us all have the courage displayed by the residents of Minneapolis.
January 25, 2026 at 2:24 PM
Really hard to look at this and all the other examples of bravery and kindness from ordinary people in this moment not think also of the tremendous cowardice exhibited over the past year by some of the richest, most well-protected people in business, media and politics
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
By who? Who shot the person dead? You saw the video. We all know a federal agent shot a man dead who was prone on the ground. Also, it's not "according to officials." It's according to verified video seen with your eyes. Not saying what anyone can obviously see with their eyes is a form of lying.
January 24, 2026 at 6:28 PM
By who? Who shot the person dead? You saw the video. We all know a federal agent shot a man dead who was prone on the ground. Also, it's not "according to officials." It's according to verified video seen with your eyes. Not saying what anyone can obviously see with their eyes is a form of lying.
Almost like the whole "freedom of speech" thing was a rightwing ruse and everyone who fell for it are giant marks...
I'll say yet again: Trump & his party do something virtually every day that constitutes a more violent & alarming suppression of speech than anything that happened during the entire alleged tyranny of woke. Every day. Yet the entire Free Spech army has just vanished into mist.
I wrote on the shameful situation re: the recession of a deanship to Emily Suski at the University of Arkansas Law. What was the reason? Prof. Suski signed an amicus brief supporting trans rights. The Arkansas legislators admitted that was it! Horrible outcome. ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cultur...
January 22, 2026 at 7:16 PM
Almost like the whole "freedom of speech" thing was a rightwing ruse and everyone who fell for it are giant marks...
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
Speeches are great but a reminder that what we're getting here in Canada so far is:
* Tax cuts for the wealthy
* Militarization and more surveillance powers
* More oil, less action on climate change.
* Austerity and cuts to the public service
* Deals with authoritarian regimes
* Tax cuts for the wealthy
* Militarization and more surveillance powers
* More oil, less action on climate change.
* Austerity and cuts to the public service
* Deals with authoritarian regimes
January 21, 2026 at 12:45 PM
Speeches are great but a reminder that what we're getting here in Canada so far is:
* Tax cuts for the wealthy
* Militarization and more surveillance powers
* More oil, less action on climate change.
* Austerity and cuts to the public service
* Deals with authoritarian regimes
* Tax cuts for the wealthy
* Militarization and more surveillance powers
* More oil, less action on climate change.
* Austerity and cuts to the public service
* Deals with authoritarian regimes
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
If a conservative anywhere has to hear, encounter, or be subject to judgement based on an opinion they disagree with that’s maoism but if conservatives use state power to prosecute, defund, or censor you that’s fine because they’re just entitled to do that for reasons
January 17, 2026 at 3:17 PM
If a conservative anywhere has to hear, encounter, or be subject to judgement based on an opinion they disagree with that’s maoism but if conservatives use state power to prosecute, defund, or censor you that’s fine because they’re just entitled to do that for reasons
Reposted by Jason Hawreliak
It exposes directional alignment; you still seek to limit, not expand, who is allowed to be human. Yes, you have set your limitation more inclusively than our fascist gang of white supremacists; it doesn't mean you're not also setting limitations & they'll use your limit as long as it serves them.
I can't trust politicians who are anti-trans. Not because I'm "only searching for perfection" which is what centrists will be accusing me of for the rest of my life, it's because if you're not pro-trans you'll be garbage on lots of other issues too. Being anti-trans NEVER exists in a vacuum.
January 17, 2026 at 12:57 PM
It exposes directional alignment; you still seek to limit, not expand, who is allowed to be human. Yes, you have set your limitation more inclusively than our fascist gang of white supremacists; it doesn't mean you're not also setting limitations & they'll use your limit as long as it serves them.