Oliver Brandt
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chocobalt.bsky.social
Oliver Brandt
@chocobalt.bsky.social
Deputy editor @ Vooks
▫️Previous bylines @ DBLTAP, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, Newsweek, The Sun, Men’s Journal, Parade, USA Today, NCA
▫️DM or email me hot tips
▫️ (they/he)

[email protected]
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I find myself in the unenviable position of needing to find work so

Hiya. I’m a writer with a decade of experience writing about video games, tech, film and TV, and more.

News reporting, interviews, guides, reviews, features — you name it, I can do and have done it.

Please hire me 🙏
Do you think Catly will be at The Game Awards next week
Do you think it’s a good or a bad thing that the definitely real and not at all AI cat game from The Game Awards has not tweeted in seven months
December 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
As young Filipinos recently flooded the streets of downtown Manila in protest, one symbol stood out. Erielle Sudario (@cutiejea.bsky.social) reports.

www.thecitizen.org.au/articles/jai...
“Jail the corrupt”: One Piece and revolutionary fervour in the Philippines
As young Filipinos recently flooded the streets of downtown Manila in protest, one symbol stood out. Erielle Sudario reports.
www.thecitizen.org.au
November 28, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
Bandai Namco Singapore to become Nintendo Studios Singapore in shares acquisition www.vooks.net/bandai...
November 27, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Okay nobody send me any more emails, I just landed on a perfect, round, clean number
November 26, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
Game Boy Classics latest update has hidden Boot Screen Easter Egg www.vooks.net/game-b...
November 26, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Breaking news
November 25, 2025 at 1:52 AM
I cannot stress enough how much my life has been positively impacted by wanting to block somebody and then suddenly deciding not to at the last second. Not just in this case either lmao
Fun fact, my first real interaction with Vooks was seeing @vook64.bsky.social pop up on the twitter algo often and getting annoyed by him. I don’t really know why, something about him just rubbed me the wrong way.

One day, I went to block him, but clicked on his site instead and loved it.
November 23, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Fucked my knee up, couldn’t do my old job anymore, spent a lot of time on twitter and got annoyed by low effort SEO-bait games journalism, decided to put my university degree to good use.

And here we are almost a decade later.
What’s the lore behind choosing your career path ?
November 23, 2025 at 9:58 AM
Job searching is exhausting. LinkedIn is a hell platform, cover letters are draining af, and there just aren’t enough jobs out there.

I’ll be glad when this is all behind me.
November 23, 2025 at 9:50 AM
When I visited the NetEase campus in Hangzhou earlier this year, every single PC monitor I walked past had ChatGPT, deepseek, or some other AI tool open. Staff wouldn’t comment on how much gen AI makes it into the company’s games, but it was very clear everyone was using it in some capacity.
China is arguably adopting GenAI at a faster pace across all facets.

Sure, it’s not putting all its eggs into one basket and the space has greater regulation and direction. But it’s very much adopting the tech in ways that are also seen as negative here.
America putting most of its eggs in the generative AI basket, China going hard into green tech. When history looks back on this period, someone is going to look awfully stupid.
November 23, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
What do the critics say about Kirby Air Riders?

Here’s a round-up featuring quotes from @loganjplant.bsky.social, @jmariye.bsky.social, @solfleet.bsky.social, @chocobalt.bsky.social and @scully1888.bsky.social.

➡️ youtu.be/Z1lmAMYS7Bk?...
Kirby Air Riders: BETTER than Mario Kart?
YouTube video by Hanafuda Report
youtu.be
November 22, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
In this economy???
November 22, 2025 at 3:59 AM
They finally updated the KFC app for Australia
November 21, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
A Christmas Gift Guide for the Nintendo Fan www.vooks.net/a-chri...
November 21, 2025 at 1:51 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
Hi everyone, check this out.
January 21, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Kirby Air Rider’s story mode ties together an otherwise jumbled, chaotic mess of Stuff To Do, and I liked it a lot.
“Kirby Air Riders is a fascinating game that walks the line between being a chaotic, unfocused mess and one of the most enjoyable party games and single-player campaigns on the Switch 2.” Find out more in our review 💫 www.vooks.net/kirby-...
November 19, 2025 at 11:02 AM
I’ve been saying this since day one. Cutting off marginalised youth from their support networks is dangerous and neglectful. It’s fucked to even consider doing so.
'There will be deaths'

That's the fear of a youth worker thinking about the consequences of Australia's teen social media ban.

I wrote about their concerns for their clients, some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged teens, and about their ability to work with them.

www.crikey.com.au/20...

November 18, 2025 at 12:30 AM
November 14, 2025 at 1:25 AM
Hell yeah, go play the best version of the best point-and-click game ever made
Broken Sword - Shadow of the Templars: Reforged gets 4K graphics, mouse controls with Switch 2 edition (and its out now) www.vooks.net/broken...
November 12, 2025 at 2:43 AM
November 11, 2025 at 5:11 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
Just a silly doodle comic of my brother @chocobalt.bsky.social and his coworkers playing @rvthereyetgame.com bc they made me cry laughing 😂 #comic #RVthereyet #digitalart #videogameart #practise
November 10, 2025 at 10:49 AM
What a guy
November 8, 2025 at 3:09 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
I need to share this accidentally amazing screenshot I took in Pokemon ZA.
November 7, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Reposted by Oliver Brandt
I find myself in the unenviable position of needing to find work so

Hiya. I’m a writer with a decade of experience writing about video games, tech, film and TV, and more.

News reporting, interviews, guides, reviews, features — you name it, I can do and have done it.

Please hire me 🙏
November 5, 2025 at 12:47 AM