Iain Mew
@superchartisland.com
Writing a British history of popular video games one UK sales chart #1 at a time. Now in 1986. Also into pop music and writing on The Singles Jukebox. He/him. http://www.superchartisland.com
Pinned
Over the last two months on my blog, I've written about the history of each of the nine computer games to reach #1 in UK sales charts during 1985.
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 36
Sasami - Honeycrash
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAMU...
Pop as a means to making dramatic rock moves into a better singalong
Day 36
Sasami - Honeycrash
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAMU...
Pop as a means to making dramatic rock moves into a better singalong
SASAMI - Honeycrash (Official Video)
YouTube video by SASAMI
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 6:46 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 36
Sasami - Honeycrash
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAMU...
Pop as a means to making dramatic rock moves into a better singalong
Day 36
Sasami - Honeycrash
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAMU...
Pop as a means to making dramatic rock moves into a better singalong
Reposted by Iain Mew
sidenote that if I had played Öoo (store.steampowered.com/app/2721890/...) before I wrote my IGF thread it absolutely would have been on it. genuinely one of the best platformers I've played. 3 hours of all killer no filler and does more with two buttons than most games do with a full controller
Öoo on Steam
A Bomb Caterpillar's Big Adventure! "Öoo" is a charming yet mysterious exploration puzzle platformer where you discover creative ways to use bombs!
store.steampowered.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:38 PM
sidenote that if I had played Öoo (store.steampowered.com/app/2721890/...) before I wrote my IGF thread it absolutely would have been on it. genuinely one of the best platformers I've played. 3 hours of all killer no filler and does more with two buttons than most games do with a full controller
Reposted by Iain Mew
In 1984/5, a spectacular Konami arcade game carved out genre norms for what we'd now call fighting games. Ocean had conversion rights, but were stretched enough that one version ended up subcontracted to a 14-year-old. It still became the UK's bestselling game of 1986.
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
Yie Ar Kung-Fu – “Hot fighting history”
Ocean’s contract with Konami to port their arcade games under the Imagine label had quickly worked well with Hyper Sports. Even if it did end up competing with Ocean’s own Daley Thompson’s Decathlo…
www.superchartisland.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:16 AM
In 1984/5, a spectacular Konami arcade game carved out genre norms for what we'd now call fighting games. Ocean had conversion rights, but were stretched enough that one version ended up subcontracted to a 14-year-old. It still became the UK's bestselling game of 1986.
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
Reposted by Iain Mew
"The result is that you can win through quite a few rounds simply by holding down the button plus a direction to high kick again and again"
I remember it as being able to beat the game by just holding the low kick, but it's been decades. The C64 version of Sensible Soccer has a similar problem.
I remember it as being able to beat the game by just holding the low kick, but it's been decades. The C64 version of Sensible Soccer has a similar problem.
November 10, 2025 at 9:15 AM
"The result is that you can win through quite a few rounds simply by holding down the button plus a direction to high kick again and again"
I remember it as being able to beat the game by just holding the low kick, but it's been decades. The C64 version of Sensible Soccer has a similar problem.
I remember it as being able to beat the game by just holding the low kick, but it's been decades. The C64 version of Sensible Soccer has a similar problem.
In 1984/5, a spectacular Konami arcade game carved out genre norms for what we'd now call fighting games. Ocean had conversion rights, but were stretched enough that one version ended up subcontracted to a 14-year-old. It still became the UK's bestselling game of 1986.
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
Yie Ar Kung-Fu – “Hot fighting history”
Ocean’s contract with Konami to port their arcade games under the Imagine label had quickly worked well with Hyper Sports. Even if it did end up competing with Ocean’s own Daley Thompson’s Decathlo…
www.superchartisland.com
November 10, 2025 at 7:16 AM
In 1984/5, a spectacular Konami arcade game carved out genre norms for what we'd now call fighting games. Ocean had conversion rights, but were stretched enough that one version ended up subcontracted to a 14-year-old. It still became the UK's bestselling game of 1986.
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
New post on Yie Ar Kung-Fu:
Reposted by Iain Mew
I have a deep and abiding appreciation for every game developer who makes the credits accessible from the title screen. You make my work in game history so much easier.
November 10, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I have a deep and abiding appreciation for every game developer who makes the credits accessible from the title screen. You make my work in game history so much easier.
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 35
Billie Eilish - Chihiro
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY_X...
Sounding at her most otherworldly, the tiny details and the wave of sound that washes over all of them are equally effective
Day 35
Billie Eilish - Chihiro
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY_X...
Sounding at her most otherworldly, the tiny details and the wave of sound that washes over all of them are equally effective
Billie Eilish - CHIHIRO (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by BillieEilishVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:12 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 35
Billie Eilish - Chihiro
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY_X...
Sounding at her most otherworldly, the tiny details and the wave of sound that washes over all of them are equally effective
Day 35
Billie Eilish - Chihiro
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY_X...
Sounding at her most otherworldly, the tiny details and the wave of sound that washes over all of them are equally effective
Reposted by Iain Mew
If you often find yourself forgetting to luxuriate in the wind, just carry the case to Kaze no Notam with you at all times as a reminder
October 31, 2025 at 2:48 PM
If you often find yourself forgetting to luxuriate in the wind, just carry the case to Kaze no Notam with you at all times as a reminder
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 34
Debbii Dawson - Happy World
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5oa...
The distance between a strand of Susanne Sundfør-style Singles Jukebox bait arty pop and actual ABBA is not big, but hearing someone inhabiting the midpoint so confidently is still new and exciting
Day 34
Debbii Dawson - Happy World
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5oa...
The distance between a strand of Susanne Sundfør-style Singles Jukebox bait arty pop and actual ABBA is not big, but hearing someone inhabiting the midpoint so confidently is still new and exciting
Debbii Dawson - Happy World (Visualizer)
YouTube video by Debbii Dawson
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 5:56 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 34
Debbii Dawson - Happy World
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5oa...
The distance between a strand of Susanne Sundfør-style Singles Jukebox bait arty pop and actual ABBA is not big, but hearing someone inhabiting the midpoint so confidently is still new and exciting
Day 34
Debbii Dawson - Happy World
(2024, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5oa...
The distance between a strand of Susanne Sundfør-style Singles Jukebox bait arty pop and actual ABBA is not big, but hearing someone inhabiting the midpoint so confidently is still new and exciting
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 33
Illit - Magnetic
(2024, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-...
Taking the candied music box "Boy's a Liar"/"Super Shy" sound and energising it with 2010s stuttering and fizzy 16-bit swoops and pops.
Day 33
Illit - Magnetic
(2024, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-...
Taking the candied music box "Boy's a Liar"/"Super Shy" sound and energising it with 2010s stuttering and fizzy 16-bit swoops and pops.
ILLIT (아일릿) ‘Magnetic’ Official MV
YouTube video by HYBE LABELS
www.youtube.com
November 8, 2025 at 6:14 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 33
Illit - Magnetic
(2024, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-...
Taking the candied music box "Boy's a Liar"/"Super Shy" sound and energising it with 2010s stuttering and fizzy 16-bit swoops and pops.
Day 33
Illit - Magnetic
(2024, Korea)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-...
Taking the candied music box "Boy's a Liar"/"Super Shy" sound and energising it with 2010s stuttering and fizzy 16-bit swoops and pops.
Reposted by Iain Mew
perhaps the most egregious thing that happened with the Future Class was when The Game Awards took money from Old Spice in the name of the FC & simply... pocketed it
it wasn't used to fund Future Class initiatives, it wasn't used to help lift marginalised developers
they just profited from us
it wasn't used to fund Future Class initiatives, it wasn't used to help lift marginalised developers
they just profited from us
November 7, 2025 at 5:59 AM
perhaps the most egregious thing that happened with the Future Class was when The Game Awards took money from Old Spice in the name of the FC & simply... pocketed it
it wasn't used to fund Future Class initiatives, it wasn't used to help lift marginalised developers
they just profited from us
it wasn't used to fund Future Class initiatives, it wasn't used to help lift marginalised developers
they just profited from us
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 32
Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
(2024, UK)
youtu.be/tHxEQ1oaYig?...
The inverse of "Super Shy" - a shifting energising racket that serves to emphasise the stillness and poise at its centre
Day 32
Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
(2024, UK)
youtu.be/tHxEQ1oaYig?...
The inverse of "Super Shy" - a shifting energising racket that serves to emphasise the stillness and poise at its centre
Nia Archives - Silence Is Loud
YouTube video by NiaArchivesVEVO
youtu.be
November 7, 2025 at 6:48 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 32
Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
(2024, UK)
youtu.be/tHxEQ1oaYig?...
The inverse of "Super Shy" - a shifting energising racket that serves to emphasise the stillness and poise at its centre
Day 32
Nia Archives - Silence is Loud
(2024, UK)
youtu.be/tHxEQ1oaYig?...
The inverse of "Super Shy" - a shifting energising racket that serves to emphasise the stillness and poise at its centre
Reposted by Iain Mew
If you're wondering how this will go Square Enix handed off their mobile Octopath game to NetEase who immediately started using ChatGPT to translate everything resulting in text like this. When players complained they started asking fans to fix their translations in exchange for in-game currency
November 6, 2025 at 8:06 PM
If you're wondering how this will go Square Enix handed off their mobile Octopath game to NetEase who immediately started using ChatGPT to translate everything resulting in text like this. When players complained they started asking fans to fix their translations in exchange for in-game currency
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 31
Ryutist - 君の胸に, Gunshot
[Kimi no Mune ni Gunshot]
(2024, Japan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-K...
Gorgeous pastoral meets Knife-sharp electronica to bewitching effect
Day 31
Ryutist - 君の胸に, Gunshot
[Kimi no Mune ni Gunshot]
(2024, Japan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-K...
Gorgeous pastoral meets Knife-sharp electronica to bewitching effect
RYUTist - 君の胸に、Gunshot【Official Video】作詞・作曲・編曲 : Daigo Sakuragi
YouTube video by RYUTist
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:57 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 31
Ryutist - 君の胸に, Gunshot
[Kimi no Mune ni Gunshot]
(2024, Japan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-K...
Gorgeous pastoral meets Knife-sharp electronica to bewitching effect
Day 31
Ryutist - 君の胸に, Gunshot
[Kimi no Mune ni Gunshot]
(2024, Japan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2o-K...
Gorgeous pastoral meets Knife-sharp electronica to bewitching effect
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 30
Nailah Hunter - Strange Delights
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4wK...
Rich and dreamy mystical indie folk with a nod to the best bit of Joe Hisaishi's Spirited Away soundtrack
Day 30
Nailah Hunter - Strange Delights
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4wK...
Rich and dreamy mystical indie folk with a nod to the best bit of Joe Hisaishi's Spirited Away soundtrack
Nailah Hunter - Strange Delights (Official Video)
YouTube video by Nailah Hunter
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:26 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 30
Nailah Hunter - Strange Delights
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4wK...
Rich and dreamy mystical indie folk with a nod to the best bit of Joe Hisaishi's Spirited Away soundtrack
Day 30
Nailah Hunter - Strange Delights
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4wK...
Rich and dreamy mystical indie folk with a nod to the best bit of Joe Hisaishi's Spirited Away soundtrack
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 29
Babymint - 2023: BBMeme Odyssey
(2023, Taiwan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9o...
Thus memed Zarathustra
Day 29
Babymint - 2023: BBMeme Odyssey
(2023, Taiwan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9o...
Thus memed Zarathustra
2023：BBMeme ODYSSEY
YouTube video by babyMINT - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 4, 2025 at 7:05 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 29
Babymint - 2023: BBMeme Odyssey
(2023, Taiwan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9o...
Thus memed Zarathustra
Day 29
Babymint - 2023: BBMeme Odyssey
(2023, Taiwan)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH9o...
Thus memed Zarathustra
Reposted by Iain Mew
![(Showing the tcrf.net page for Hello Kitty Picnic with Sanrio Friends.)
Regional Differences
"By the time of the European release, Hello Kitty was no longer friends with her Sanrio colleagues. [...]."
US: [https://tcrf.net/File:HelloKittyPicnic_Title.png || The game's title screen, notably reading "Hello Kitty PICNIC with Sanrio friends".]
Europe: [https://tcrf.net/File:HelloKittyPicnicEU_Title.png || The game's title screen, instead reading "Hello Kitty PICNINC WITH SANRIO CHARACTERS".]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:3mrjblg7toe5op6fnac2bivg/bafkreicm2fyhuj7nm7umpeketxbqlc27brue54domw4pq7ec3dgjc4pem4@jpeg)
Reposted by Iain Mew
There were not many UK #1 games in 1985 thanks to Soft Aid and The Way of the Exploding Fist taking up more than half of the year between them. So I thought I'd have a look at the set of games that stopped at #2 behind them... (thread)
Over the last two months on my blog, I've written about the history of each of the nine computer games to reach #1 in UK sales charts during 1985.
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:32 AM
There were not many UK #1 games in 1985 thanks to Soft Aid and The Way of the Exploding Fist taking up more than half of the year between them. So I thought I'd have a look at the set of games that stopped at #2 behind them... (thread)
Fascinating thread on the responses to the game Raid Over Moscow in Finland, which were rather more serious than the protests in the UK.
(and which led to it being Finland's bestselling computer game of 1985)
(and which led to it being Finland's bestselling computer game of 1985)
BTW those protests were deliberately stoked by the publisher.
BUT the game also caused a very real diplomatic crisis in #Finland.
THAT is what #finlandization was in practice.
A thread, to help understand why most Finns are critical of oblivious foreigners pushing the same for, say, #Ukraine.
BUT the game also caused a very real diplomatic crisis in #Finland.
THAT is what #finlandization was in practice.
A thread, to help understand why most Finns are critical of oblivious foreigners pushing the same for, say, #Ukraine.
Raid Over Moscow (Access/U.S. Gold, 1984, C64/Spectrum)
#2 for one week in March 1985
Follow-up to Beach-Head. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament protested against its insensitivity.
#2 for one week in March 1985
Follow-up to Beach-Head. The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament protested against its insensitivity.
November 3, 2025 at 10:54 AM
Fascinating thread on the responses to the game Raid Over Moscow in Finland, which were rather more serious than the protests in the UK.
(and which led to it being Finland's bestselling computer game of 1985)
(and which led to it being Finland's bestselling computer game of 1985)
Reposted by Iain Mew
With adventure games specifically, the idea that adventure games are a "dead genre" is almost baked into the received narrative about adventure games to the point of distracting people from the fact that more adventure games are coming out now than ever were in the 90s
Been seeing an interesting thing on social media with both fighting games and adventure games, where people who haven’t played them since the 90s will say “I wish they still made X genre” or “there aren’t any indie games in X genre”, when they’re more active than they’ve ever been
November 2, 2025 at 10:06 PM
With adventure games specifically, the idea that adventure games are a "dead genre" is almost baked into the received narrative about adventure games to the point of distracting people from the fact that more adventure games are coming out now than ever were in the 90s
Reposted by Iain Mew
Ha, I remember trying this on my Amstrad CPC 464... and the disappointment once I slowly realized it isn't about the movie Alien. (Which had a Finnish subtitle "Eighth Passenger"; hence my confusion.
Alien 8 was Ultimate's final UK #1. The magazine Your Spectrum featured one reader’s Spectrum program which displayed an Alien 8 “comic book” with emphasis on the game’s mouse-dalek character
www.superchartisland.com/alien-8
www.superchartisland.com/alien-8
November 3, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Ha, I remember trying this on my Amstrad CPC 464... and the disappointment once I slowly realized it isn't about the movie Alien. (Which had a Finnish subtitle "Eighth Passenger"; hence my confusion.
There were not many UK #1 games in 1985 thanks to Soft Aid and The Way of the Exploding Fist taking up more than half of the year between them. So I thought I'd have a look at the set of games that stopped at #2 behind them... (thread)
Over the last two months on my blog, I've written about the history of each of the nine computer games to reach #1 in UK sales charts during 1985.
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
Here is a thread with links to those posts, plus one thing I learned for each of them
www.superchartisland.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:32 AM
There were not many UK #1 games in 1985 thanks to Soft Aid and The Way of the Exploding Fist taking up more than half of the year between them. So I thought I'd have a look at the set of games that stopped at #2 behind them... (thread)
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 28
Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj9q...
Well-harnessed chaos with a great combination of musical and lyrical punchlines
Day 28
Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj9q...
Well-harnessed chaos with a great combination of musical and lyrical punchlines
Olivia Rodrigo - bad idea right? (Official Video)
YouTube video by OliviaRodrigoVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 6:42 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 28
Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj9q...
Well-harnessed chaos with a great combination of musical and lyrical punchlines
Day 28
Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dj9q...
Well-harnessed chaos with a great combination of musical and lyrical punchlines
Reposted by Iain Mew
In 1921, acclaimed author Robert E. Sherwood declared that a film he reviewed was the world's worst movie. Cinematographer Byron Haskin said it was the most awful thing Hollywood ever made.
It made Avengers: Endgame money.
This is that movie.
moviessilently.com/2025/11/02/m...
It made Avengers: Endgame money.
This is that movie.
moviessilently.com/2025/11/02/m...
Man-Woman-Marriage (1921) A Silent Film Review
A young woman must choose between marriage for love and marriage for money. She is helped in her decision by flashbacks to womanly struggles throughout time. Mostly notable for being deemed one of …
moviessilently.com
November 2, 2025 at 7:42 PM
In 1921, acclaimed author Robert E. Sherwood declared that a film he reviewed was the world's worst movie. Cinematographer Byron Haskin said it was the most awful thing Hollywood ever made.
It made Avengers: Endgame money.
This is that movie.
moviessilently.com/2025/11/02/m...
It made Avengers: Endgame money.
This is that movie.
moviessilently.com/2025/11/02/m...
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 27
Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8V...
A breakup song via a doll's existential crisis, all the more effective for being sung by someone whose usual vocal style is lightness but whose every breath is suddenly audibly heavy
Day 27
Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8V...
A breakup song via a doll's existential crisis, all the more effective for being sung by someone whose usual vocal style is lightness but whose every breath is suddenly audibly heavy
Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For? (Official Music Video)
YouTube video by BillieEilishVEVO
www.youtube.com
November 2, 2025 at 6:50 AM
#TheTwen2ie5
Day 27
Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8V...
A breakup song via a doll's existential crisis, all the more effective for being sung by someone whose usual vocal style is lightness but whose every breath is suddenly audibly heavy
Day 27
Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For?
(2023, USA)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=cW8V...
A breakup song via a doll's existential crisis, all the more effective for being sung by someone whose usual vocal style is lightness but whose every breath is suddenly audibly heavy