Thomas Nickel
@tapirfortuna.bsky.social
Writer, teaching game design & history. M!- & book-author, occasional Retronaut and dabbling in localization. Also somewhat making games - http://coria.itch.io/coria! Fck nazis, fck bigots. he/him
Pinned
So many new people here! So... who am I and what do I do? Well, my name´s Thomas and I´ve been writing about games since the late 90s in English and German. I localized various cool games, supported and worked on a few projects and I´ve also been teaching game-design and history for many years now!
30 years of Romancing SaGa 3 - the cover-art of this game alone is as amazing as it is inspiring. Back then a localized western release didn't happen, but a pretty neat remaster finally came out in 2019. And I would say: It certainly was worth the wait!
November 11, 2025 at 5:10 PM
30 years of Romancing SaGa 3 - the cover-art of this game alone is as amazing as it is inspiring. Back then a localized western release didn't happen, but a pretty neat remaster finally came out in 2019. And I would say: It certainly was worth the wait!
Well, and I thought my respect for Keighley and his stupid game awards couldn't sink any lower... the industry really, really needs to get rid of this grifting leech. But then he is all a CEO could ever want - spineless, dull and malleable. www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
‘We were effectively props’: young stars of game development feel let down by the ‘gaming Oscars’
Announced in 2020 by the Game Awards as an inclusive programme for the industry’s next generation, the Future Class initiative has now been discontinued. Inductees describe clashes with organisers and...
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Well, and I thought my respect for Keighley and his stupid game awards couldn't sink any lower... the industry really, really needs to get rid of this grifting leech. But then he is all a CEO could ever want - spineless, dull and malleable. www.theguardian.com/games/2025/n...
Out today on Steam: Verhin - Curse of Faces - a dark first-person RPG in the style of From Software's King's Field. I had the please to do the German localization for this! youtu.be/FjWR2qemuJk?...
Verho - Curse of Faces - Release Trailer
YouTube video by CobraTekku Games
youtu.be
November 10, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Out today on Steam: Verhin - Curse of Faces - a dark first-person RPG in the style of From Software's King's Field. I had the please to do the German localization for this! youtu.be/FjWR2qemuJk?...
I finally found and bought this record and I regret NOTHING.
November 9, 2025 at 8:06 AM
I finally found and bought this record and I regret NOTHING.
Here's something nice for #randomgamesaturday: my copy of Burai Fighter for Famicom which I just bought yesterday. A friend's NES-version was maybe the first shooting game I ever played back around 1990 or so. I later got the excellent Game Boy port and now I finally have the original!
November 8, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Here's something nice for #randomgamesaturday: my copy of Burai Fighter for Famicom which I just bought yesterday. A friend's NES-version was maybe the first shooting game I ever played back around 1990 or so. I later got the excellent Game Boy port and now I finally have the original!
After a succesful day of teaching game history at Hochschule Offenburg, I went over to Strasbourg in france for a bit of walking, shopping and Flammkuchen. 100% worth it.
November 7, 2025 at 8:34 PM
After a succesful day of teaching game history at Hochschule Offenburg, I went over to Strasbourg in france for a bit of walking, shopping and Flammkuchen. 100% worth it.
For my game-romance-elective, I had a student play and prepare a presentation on Sakura Wars. After that, we discussed the game and its mechanics and took a look at later games in the series. The audience was duly impressed at SW2&3's intros - but they really cheered when they saw Sagitta from V!
November 6, 2025 at 8:07 PM
For my game-romance-elective, I had a student play and prepare a presentation on Sakura Wars. After that, we discussed the game and its mechanics and took a look at later games in the series. The audience was duly impressed at SW2&3's intros - but they really cheered when they saw Sagitta from V!
Reposted by Thomas Nickel
We have a new website as of today! All the old content and lots of new stuff on the way. Give it a look!
Proud and excited to share that the new Digital Foundry website is live - please do check it out at www.digitalfoundry.net. Read our opening post about what we're doing and why: www.digitalfoundry.net/news/2025/11...
Digital Foundry
Digital Foundry was founded in 2004 and specialises in technical analysis of video games and hardware, using our own bespoke tools for frame-rate analysis – covering everything from console, PC and be...
www.digitalfoundry.net
November 6, 2025 at 6:10 PM
We have a new website as of today! All the old content and lots of new stuff on the way. Give it a look!
Straight from Japan: The beautiful @sdxgames.bsky.social - version of @yuzokoshiro.bsky.social 's and Makoto Wada's brilliant STG Earthion! I love that game and the whole SDX-package is once again top notch! Love their work!
November 4, 2025 at 11:58 AM
Straight from Japan: The beautiful @sdxgames.bsky.social - version of @yuzokoshiro.bsky.social 's and Makoto Wada's brilliant STG Earthion! I love that game and the whole SDX-package is once again top notch! Love their work!
Happy 30th birthday, Beyond the Beyond! I replayed a bit of it not too long ago and it didn't feel as bad as it's made out to be.
November 3, 2025 at 7:35 PM
Happy 30th birthday, Beyond the Beyond! I replayed a bit of it not too long ago and it didn't feel as bad as it's made out to be.
Crazyness!! It's legendary Virtual Boy Puzzler Virtual Lab for Mega Drive... Who could have expected that!! www.plutiedev.com/blog/20251103
November 3, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Crazyness!! It's legendary Virtual Boy Puzzler Virtual Lab for Mega Drive... Who could have expected that!! www.plutiedev.com/blog/20251103
It's finally here - I´ve been following John's plans for this podcast for a long time, the search for music and the chance to finally do it once DF got rid of IGN's corporate shackles. Great to see/hear it at last!
When Digital Foundry went independent, one of the new things we wanted to do was a brand-new retro podcast. Thanks to the massive efforts of John and his friends, the DF Retro Super Show goes live today, revisiting the launch of PlayStation 2. youtu.be/DqtLH0MOkgI
*NEW* DF Retro Super Show #1: PlayStation 2 25th Anniversary - Launch Titles Revisted
YouTube video by Digital Foundry
youtu.be
November 2, 2025 at 8:25 PM
It's finally here - I´ve been following John's plans for this podcast for a long time, the search for music and the chance to finally do it once DF got rid of IGN's corporate shackles. Great to see/hear it at last!
The new M! Games @maniaconline.bsky.social is out - if you read german, take a look, there's cool stuff in there! Like my article on my visit to Tokyo Game Show. And a look back at Terranigma und Secret of Evermore which were both released 30 years ago - I'm looking back at both of them. And then...
November 2, 2025 at 8:06 PM
The new M! Games @maniaconline.bsky.social is out - if you read german, take a look, there's cool stuff in there! Like my article on my visit to Tokyo Game Show. And a look back at Terranigma und Secret of Evermore which were both released 30 years ago - I'm looking back at both of them. And then...
Reposted by Thomas Nickel
Remember all the breathless reporting of Nintendo “banning” RTA in Japan (speedrunning event) from using Nintendo games? That was demonstrably untrue.
RTA in Japan just unveiled their Winter 2025 lineup, and 30 selected entries are Nintendo games: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
1/
RTA in Japan just unveiled their Winter 2025 lineup, and 30 selected entries are Nintendo games: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
1/
November 2, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Remember all the breathless reporting of Nintendo “banning” RTA in Japan (speedrunning event) from using Nintendo games? That was demonstrably untrue.
RTA in Japan just unveiled their Winter 2025 lineup, and 30 selected entries are Nintendo games: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
1/
RTA in Japan just unveiled their Winter 2025 lineup, and 30 selected entries are Nintendo games: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
1/
10 games to get to know me
November 2, 2025 at 9:20 AM
10 games to get to know me
Arc the Lad 2 is turning 29. Like its predecessor, I really love this game. While 1 was short and simple, Arc 2 expands on almost every aspect. The adventure is long, complex and in parts pretty difficult. I finished it in japanese and later in english and enjoyed both playthroughs tremendously.
November 1, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Arc the Lad 2 is turning 29. Like its predecessor, I really love this game. While 1 was short and simple, Arc 2 expands on almost every aspect. The adventure is long, complex and in parts pretty difficult. I finished it in japanese and later in english and enjoyed both playthroughs tremendously.
A dungeon-crawler on Vita for #randomgamesaturday. It's one of the many, many dungeon-games made in the wake of Etrian Odyssey's success. And while it can't match EO, I think it's one of the better ones. For whatever reason, I put quite a few hours into this. It also came to PS4 and PC a bit later.
November 1, 2025 at 9:40 AM
A dungeon-crawler on Vita for #randomgamesaturday. It's one of the many, many dungeon-games made in the wake of Etrian Odyssey's success. And while it can't match EO, I think it's one of the better ones. For whatever reason, I put quite a few hours into this. It also came to PS4 and PC a bit later.
I finally got around to play Draftosaurus and this is really a lot of fun. Also love the cute wooden dinosaurs!
November 1, 2025 at 6:50 AM
I finally got around to play Draftosaurus and this is really a lot of fun. Also love the cute wooden dinosaurs!
They keep on coming! It's late october, but it's still mostly sunny so I'm still getting a lot of these small, but intense vietnamese peppers.
October 31, 2025 at 9:27 AM
They keep on coming! It's late october, but it's still mostly sunny so I'm still getting a lot of these small, but intense vietnamese peppers.
Landstalker is turning 33 today. I was incredibly hyped for this games' EU-release - and it certainly didn't disappoint. The isometric graphics still are beautiful and the game is bursting with charme, especially characters by the late Yoshitaka Tamaki. Just the ending is a bit underwhelming...
October 30, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Landstalker is turning 33 today. I was incredibly hyped for this games' EU-release - and it certainly didn't disappoint. The isometric graphics still are beautiful and the game is bursting with charme, especially characters by the late Yoshitaka Tamaki. Just the ending is a bit underwhelming...
I've been playing a bit of Thousand Arms for my dating-game-elective. TA is an PS-RPG designet by Red Company, developed by TOSE and published by Atlus before they were the big name they are today. It really feels like they took a lot of cues from Working Designs for the western release.
October 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
I've been playing a bit of Thousand Arms for my dating-game-elective. TA is an PS-RPG designet by Red Company, developed by TOSE and published by Atlus before they were the big name they are today. It really feels like they took a lot of cues from Working Designs for the western release.
Some systems age like fine wine. The Mega Drive was released 37 years ago on October 29 1988 alongside Space Harrier II and Super Thunder Blade and it's still going strong! Today, the Mega Drive is THE system for homebrew with games like Earthion, Xeno Crisis & Darius Extra Version. Happy Birthday!
October 29, 2025 at 7:35 AM
Some systems age like fine wine. The Mega Drive was released 37 years ago on October 29 1988 alongside Space Harrier II and Super Thunder Blade and it's still going strong! Today, the Mega Drive is THE system for homebrew with games like Earthion, Xeno Crisis & Darius Extra Version. Happy Birthday!
Reposted by Thomas Nickel
I reworked the camera, improved clipping and rewrote the physics with acceleration and drift, the feel is better now
October 23, 2025 at 5:24 PM
I reworked the camera, improved clipping and rewrote the physics with acceleration and drift, the feel is better now
Reposted by Thomas Nickel
43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.
October 28, 2025 at 12:23 PM
43 years ago today, readers the world over opened their newspapers and gazed upon cow tools for the first time. happy birthday cow tools. you look great.