Max Nichols
@maxnichols.bsky.social
He/him. Game designer. I make worlds that you want to explore. Sr. Tech Design in AAA. Prev: Bungie, Turbine. I run @HyruleInterviews.bsky.social
Blog: namelessquality.com
Portfolio: maxnicholsdesign.com
Blog: namelessquality.com
Portfolio: maxnicholsdesign.com
#55: Beatmania IIDX 15: DJ Troopers
I'm cheating. It's a rhythm game. Think DDR. House, Trance, rock, all over the place
Check out:
- 湘南族 -cannibal coast-
- madrugada
- 少年A
- the trigger of innocence
- Digitank System
- quell -the seventh slave-
- THE LAST STRIKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBxv...
I'm cheating. It's a rhythm game. Think DDR. House, Trance, rock, all over the place
Check out:
- 湘南族 -cannibal coast-
- madrugada
- 少年A
- the trigger of innocence
- Digitank System
- quell -the seventh slave-
- THE LAST STRIKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBxv...
November 13, 2025 at 4:07 AM
#55: Beatmania IIDX 15: DJ Troopers
I'm cheating. It's a rhythm game. Think DDR. House, Trance, rock, all over the place
Check out:
- 湘南族 -cannibal coast-
- madrugada
- 少年A
- the trigger of innocence
- Digitank System
- quell -the seventh slave-
- THE LAST STRIKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBxv...
I'm cheating. It's a rhythm game. Think DDR. House, Trance, rock, all over the place
Check out:
- 湘南族 -cannibal coast-
- madrugada
- 少年A
- the trigger of innocence
- Digitank System
- quell -the seventh slave-
- THE LAST STRIKER
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBxv...
Brutal, lol
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
![Iwata: Compared to Kondo-san, you may not have worked on development of The Legend of Zelda that long, but you've been playing it forever, right?
Yokota: You can say that again! Talking about it could take forever! [laughs] I love The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time beyond all reason!
I have, of course, played all the Zelda games since the first one, and played them all the way through, but Ocarina of Time was an eye-opening experience to how great video game music can be. I played song after song on the piano.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreiblrzbs5gyvzk6bxrugaxqjai5lmwzomrpyloow5mgxjst7f4ffcq@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 1:22 AM
Brutal, lol
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
The only other composer for SMG is Mahito Yokota, so when Miyamoto says this he is saying it about a very specific person’s work.
Yokota is a big Kondo fan
![A screenshot of the wikipedia page for Michelin Guide. It says:
"History:
In 1900, there were fewer than 3,000 cars on the roads of France. To increase the demand for cars, and accordingly car tyres, the car tyre manufacturers and brothers Édouard and André Michelin published a guide for French motorists, the Guide Michelin (Michelin Guide).[3] Nearly 35,000 copies of this first, free edition were distributed. It provided information to motorists such as maps, tyre repair and replacement instructions, car mechanics listings, hotels, and petrol stations throughout France.[citation needed] The founders thought the Guide might encourage car owners to drive more, which would increase tyre wear and in turn boost replacement sales."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreiatgunqkm76lkjuphcmj2fprreayrqvrpsquf5z2to47iqxyaypjq@jpeg)
#54: Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
Imagine if someone crammed the drama of ten war movies' worth of last stands and suicide missions into an operatic rock OST
Well, imagine no more!:
- The Unsung War
- Reprisal
- Four Horsemen
- Supercircus
- Hanger 2
- Closure
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjY6...
Imagine if someone crammed the drama of ten war movies' worth of last stands and suicide missions into an operatic rock OST
Well, imagine no more!:
- The Unsung War
- Reprisal
- Four Horsemen
- Supercircus
- Hanger 2
- Closure
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjY6...
November 6, 2025 at 5:03 AM
#54: Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War
Imagine if someone crammed the drama of ten war movies' worth of last stands and suicide missions into an operatic rock OST
Well, imagine no more!:
- The Unsung War
- Reprisal
- Four Horsemen
- Supercircus
- Hanger 2
- Closure
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjY6...
Imagine if someone crammed the drama of ten war movies' worth of last stands and suicide missions into an operatic rock OST
Well, imagine no more!:
- The Unsung War
- Reprisal
- Four Horsemen
- Supercircus
- Hanger 2
- Closure
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjY6...
My friends are very supportive
November 3, 2025 at 11:23 PM
My friends are very supportive
Trying to identify this artist/NPC designer who worked on Skyward Sword.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
November 3, 2025 at 5:35 AM
Trying to identify this artist/NPC designer who worked on Skyward Sword.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
None of the credit databases list anyone with the family name of “Kinouchi”, nor is there anyone in my own database, which covers all Zelda games. I wonder if this name got mistranslated?
The quote is from Hyrule Historia.
Idea: bullets apply physics force. You can’t kill but must instead knock enemies off the edge or into traps.
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
November 1, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Idea: bullets apply physics force. You can’t kill but must instead knock enemies off the edge or into traps.
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
Enemies balance and distribute weight in different ways and at different points in their (it would have to be procedural) animation, so it’s a bit of a puzzle each time
Final boss:
Huh. I guess I really HAVE played FFTA2, lol. I have absolutely zero memory of this.
November 1, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Huh. I guess I really HAVE played FFTA2, lol. I have absolutely zero memory of this.
All this talk of baseball has got me thinking about the incredible, dynamic, mesmerizing character designs and art of @mosqi.bsky.social
This is what baseball is like, right
This is what baseball is like, right
October 31, 2025 at 5:29 PM
All this talk of baseball has got me thinking about the incredible, dynamic, mesmerizing character designs and art of @mosqi.bsky.social
This is what baseball is like, right
This is what baseball is like, right
Now that I’ve finished FFT, I find myself wanting more, and to compare…
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
October 31, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Now that I’ve finished FFT, I find myself wanting more, and to compare…
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
Hmm, which to play next… I don’t think I ever played FFTA2. I have played Knight of the Lodis, but not for almost 25 years. It was actually the first of that style of Tactics RPG I ever played.
#53: Catherine
Same composer as Personas 3-5. Similar sound to the jazz tracks from those games. If you liked them, you'll like this.
See:
- It's a Golden Show
- Also Sprach Brooks
- Battle on Stage
- Up Up Up!
(Not-quite-SFW album cover)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjbT...
Same composer as Personas 3-5. Similar sound to the jazz tracks from those games. If you liked them, you'll like this.
See:
- It's a Golden Show
- Also Sprach Brooks
- Battle on Stage
- Up Up Up!
(Not-quite-SFW album cover)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjbT...
October 30, 2025 at 4:03 AM
#53: Catherine
Same composer as Personas 3-5. Similar sound to the jazz tracks from those games. If you liked them, you'll like this.
See:
- It's a Golden Show
- Also Sprach Brooks
- Battle on Stage
- Up Up Up!
(Not-quite-SFW album cover)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjbT...
Same composer as Personas 3-5. Similar sound to the jazz tracks from those games. If you liked them, you'll like this.
See:
- It's a Golden Show
- Also Sprach Brooks
- Battle on Stage
- Up Up Up!
(Not-quite-SFW album cover)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjbT...
I temember seeing this photo in history books in grade school.
Ruby Bridges is still alive today. She’s only 71. She has an instagram account.
Ruby Bridges is still alive today. She’s only 71. She has an instagram account.
October 27, 2025 at 8:44 AM
I temember seeing this photo in history books in grade school.
Ruby Bridges is still alive today. She’s only 71. She has an instagram account.
Ruby Bridges is still alive today. She’s only 71. She has an instagram account.
From the _very_ beginning they have been trying to make dungeon makers in Zelda, and in doing so they always end up making good stuff that is NOT a dungeon maker
Because making a dungeon maker is a cursed and unsolvable problem
Because making a dungeon maker is a cursed and unsolvable problem
![PEOPLE:
- Shigeru Miyamoto, age 60. Creator of Zelda, Mario & more.
QUOTE:
Miyamoto: I thought that we should take advantage of the [Famicom] Disk System’s ability to rewrite data by making a game that allowed two players to create dungeons and then explore each other’s creations. We designed that game, and the overall response was that playing through the dungeons was the best part. We made a one-player game with dungeons under mountains that surrounded Death Mountain, but we couldn’t shake that ‘I want to play aboveground, too!’ feeling, so we added forests and lakes, and eventually Hyrule Field.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreif7f52q2szsrrptwwc2agkhiqxdfzk4kdiob26hdj4pzya6e7ytom@jpeg)
![PEOPLE:
- Satoshi Terada. Co-Director of Echoes of Wisdom.
- Eiji Aonuma, age 61. Producer of Echoes of Wisdom.
QUOTE:
Terada: We were exploring a few different ways to play [Echoes of Wisdom] in parallel. In one approach, Link could copy and paste various objects, such as doors and candlesticks, to create original dungeons. …
Aonuma: I started thinking that while it's fun to create your own dungeon and let other people play it, it's also not so bad to place items that can be copied and pasted in the game field, and create gameplay where they can be used to fight enemies. That was the beginning of gameplay using ‘echoes.’ The gameplay was shifted from creating dungeons up until then to using copied-and-pasted items as tools to further your own adventure.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreictlsxjxvv3tso2o5qhqigrwoo5eniy3am2xtjzgd4xf7vw37fvia@jpeg)
October 23, 2025 at 10:21 PM
From the _very_ beginning they have been trying to make dungeon makers in Zelda, and in doing so they always end up making good stuff that is NOT a dungeon maker
Because making a dungeon maker is a cursed and unsolvable problem
Because making a dungeon maker is a cursed and unsolvable problem
They were soooo good
October 22, 2025 at 4:19 PM
They were soooo good
You can really tell
October 21, 2025 at 5:36 PM
You can really tell
Well this is terrifying, lol
My first thought: So many crystals!
My second thought: i don’t stand a damn chance against THIS random encounter
I after a couple brutal curbstompings I fled to the overworld
My first thought: So many crystals!
My second thought: i don’t stand a damn chance against THIS random encounter
I after a couple brutal curbstompings I fled to the overworld
October 20, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Well this is terrifying, lol
My first thought: So many crystals!
My second thought: i don’t stand a damn chance against THIS random encounter
I after a couple brutal curbstompings I fled to the overworld
My first thought: So many crystals!
My second thought: i don’t stand a damn chance against THIS random encounter
I after a couple brutal curbstompings I fled to the overworld
#9:
There are things you can represent with text but not in spoken dialog. You can play with line spacing, create the "gap" that comic writers talk about. You can represent untranslatable dialog. You can represent text-based communication. Probably tons of stuff I'm not thinking about.
There are things you can represent with text but not in spoken dialog. You can play with line spacing, create the "gap" that comic writers talk about. You can represent untranslatable dialog. You can represent text-based communication. Probably tons of stuff I'm not thinking about.
![A poem by e. e. cummings, called "[l(a]"](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreiecn7ddyqehcgsrbh2lxgp6yutvtd56rr7mmjfgoznmpjs5bm3s6a@jpeg)
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 AM
#9:
There are things you can represent with text but not in spoken dialog. You can play with line spacing, create the "gap" that comic writers talk about. You can represent untranslatable dialog. You can represent text-based communication. Probably tons of stuff I'm not thinking about.
There are things you can represent with text but not in spoken dialog. You can play with line spacing, create the "gap" that comic writers talk about. You can represent untranslatable dialog. You can represent text-based communication. Probably tons of stuff I'm not thinking about.
Sooo long story short: the more freedom you can preserve for the closing stages of production, the better your game will be. Full stop. This is a _huge_ factor in whether games have that human spark in them at the end.
Localized VO? It almost always has to get locked down earlier than other content
Localized VO? It almost always has to get locked down earlier than other content
![PEOPLE:
- Shigeru Miyamoto, age 58. Creator of Zelda, Mario, & more.
- Satoru Iwata, age 51. President of Nintendo.
QUOTE:
Miyamoto: It's a characteristic of mine to change the game right before final delivery. [laughs] … Pre-rendered movies and the way I make games just don't mix.
Iwata: Back then [around Ocarina of Time’s development], it was popular to use pre-rendered movies—videos prepared ahead of time for play at determined spots in the game—but once you made them, you couldn't easily correct them later.
Miyamoto: If I wanted to fix something, they might tell me, ‘We'll need at least a month to fix that.’ In the worst case, they might say, ‘The movie's done, so it can't be changed.’](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:f2mmt5cpordy27x4kx4ng5u2/bafkreibdgeqyjoibxde2oitx6eei56u5w6y7anvtbyzrcef26wttdayuzq@jpeg)
October 18, 2025 at 4:13 AM
Sooo long story short: the more freedom you can preserve for the closing stages of production, the better your game will be. Full stop. This is a _huge_ factor in whether games have that human spark in them at the end.
Localized VO? It almost always has to get locked down earlier than other content
Localized VO? It almost always has to get locked down earlier than other content
When we moved into our house we kept getting the previous owners’ subscription to Garden & Gun magazine for a year after
October 16, 2025 at 11:49 PM
When we moved into our house we kept getting the previous owners’ subscription to Garden & Gun magazine for a year after
Kernel-level cheat detection on non-PVP games has the same energy as CVS's shoplifting meltdown
October 16, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Kernel-level cheat detection on non-PVP games has the same energy as CVS's shoplifting meltdown
#52: Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer
German-made shmup. Pounding sci-fi synth soundtrack. Kinda standard sound for this genre—It sounds like Ikaruga—but well-executed.
See
- Hyper Space Assault
- Mercenary-X
- Soldier Unleashed
- Massive Attack Syndrome
- Lurking Evil
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNm...
German-made shmup. Pounding sci-fi synth soundtrack. Kinda standard sound for this genre—It sounds like Ikaruga—but well-executed.
See
- Hyper Space Assault
- Mercenary-X
- Soldier Unleashed
- Massive Attack Syndrome
- Lurking Evil
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNm...
October 16, 2025 at 4:03 AM
#52: Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer
German-made shmup. Pounding sci-fi synth soundtrack. Kinda standard sound for this genre—It sounds like Ikaruga—but well-executed.
See
- Hyper Space Assault
- Mercenary-X
- Soldier Unleashed
- Massive Attack Syndrome
- Lurking Evil
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNm...
German-made shmup. Pounding sci-fi synth soundtrack. Kinda standard sound for this genre—It sounds like Ikaruga—but well-executed.
See
- Hyper Space Assault
- Mercenary-X
- Soldier Unleashed
- Massive Attack Syndrome
- Lurking Evil
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uNm...
It's a fun idea to be honest, but frankly I expect much better-executed street fashion from the company that brought us The World Ends With You xD
October 14, 2025 at 4:17 PM
It's a fun idea to be honest, but frankly I expect much better-executed street fashion from the company that brought us The World Ends With You xD
This timeline feature is very cool
October 14, 2025 at 7:36 AM
This timeline feature is very cool