Reconnect Recap - w/e 14th December

A weekly recap of some of the best video game articles to feature on Reconnect.

Kia Ora folks

Welcome to the last Reconnect Recap of 2025, or is it……

I’ve spent the last week tinkering with my new ROG Ally X, been loving playing some Destiny in bed, and whilst I did sink some decent hours into Outer Worlds 2, It just didn’t catch me, so instead I installed the Wabbajack edition of Fallout New Vegas and been having a blast.

As always this is the Reconnect Recap, your companion newsletter to Reconnect, the games writing discovery platform.

This week, we’ve got new handhelds, games analytics, narrative design, composers, emulation, and much much more.

Lets dig in.

Holiday Note: I’ll be taking a month off over the Xmas / New Year period and so the last Recap of the year will go out on the 16th of December, the first one of the 2026 will go out on the 20th of January.

---

Great Write Ups

• I object!: TimeExtension dives into the journey Masakazu Sugimori went through to create the iconic Phoenix Wright soundtrack, and it was not an easy ride.

• November Indies: SuperJump Magazine does a monthly Indie round up, I really enjoyed this latest edition and I recommend you keep a watch out for future editions.

• Autism at risk: Stevivor writes up a recent discussion by Tony Attwood, a specialist in autism, who expresses concern over the growing risk of gambling in video games and the impact to those with Autism.

• Starting Solo Dev: José Pérez has 5 things to know before starting solo game dev.

• Adults Plight: Katya Ryabova connects with the stress that adulthood brings and the guilt that comes with having some personal gaming time.

• A need for speed: Games are getting faster, faster to get into, faster to complete and faster to hold our attention. But what’s being sacrificed here? Game-Wisdom explains.

• The beast: AI and Games games sits down the developers of Amnesia The Bunker to explain how the monster of the games AI works.

• Narrative AMA: Amanda Lynn shares her nearly 20 years of experience in narrative design and answers one of the most common questions she gets asked.

• Panic about Horses: It’s just a game, an art form, as Narrative Gravity dives into the recent controversy.

• Deck Emulation: Margot who loves her Steam Deck a lot, has taken the next logical step we all do with our handhelds, and dipped their toe into Emulation.

• How games are helping the youth: We like to think we grew up on games, but Gen Alpha really are growing up with games integrated in their lives, and Mindful Gamer explains the benefits it’s having.

• Ignoring the games: SuperJoost dives into the new Warner Bros acquisition and notes the lack of interest by either parties in the games division.

• 2025 Graduates: The GameDiscoverCo newsletter takes a look at all the games that came out of early access this year and how they did.

---

---

Fun Tidbits

• Psikyo’s Delisted Shoot ‘Em Ups Are Coming Back To Steam, Rights Holder Confirms

• The Legend Of Zelda Meets Mad Max In New Car-based Dungeon-dwelling RPG ‘RoadOut’

• A Fan Translation Is Currently In The Works For A Sega Dreamcast Game Based On The Japanese Anime ‘Love Hina’

• The AYANEO Pocket Play Takes Inspiration From Sony’s Failed “PlayStation Phone”

• Modder Creates Switch-Style Dock For The Nintendo 3DS

• More Old Capcom Mobile Games Have Been Saved From Digital Oblivion, Including A Breath Of Fire IV Card Game

• These Fan-Made WipEout Lego Sets Are Amazing, And You Can Build Them Yourself

• Xbox Prototype Follow-Up

• Shenmue Fangame ‘Dreams Of Saturn’ Is Getting Another Christmas Update & It Looks Like A Total Fever Dream

• “Never Played A Game Like It Before” - John Romero’s New FPS Isn’t Dead, It’s Just Smaller

• Xbox Hardware Outsold by Motion Controlled Nex Playground During Black Friday

• After 34 Years, This Abandoned NES Game Is Finally Getting A Cartridge Release

• Atari’s Lost ‘80s Precursor To Beatmania Has Been Recovered

• Yuzo Koshiro’s Failed Streets Of Rage 4 Pitch Was Inspired By Team Fortress Classic

• Analogue 3D Is Getting Some “Funtastic” Case Options

• Unofficial Dreamcast Port Of Star Fox 64 Now Available

• “That’s Something That I Would Definitely Like To Revisit” - Suda51 Wants To Revive One Of Grasshopper’s Early PS2 Titles

---

Housekeeping

• 🟨 Want to see more? Visit Reconnect and bookmark it, the site is updated multiple times a day.

• ⏰ Missed a previous Recap? Check out the full catalog here.

• ✍️ Like how I write? I occasionally write my own thoughts on the games industry, find those articles here.

• 🦋 On Bluesky? Give me a follow, I share all the best articles on my profile every day, if you’re curious about following more games writers, I’ve made a starter pack so that you can follow all the Reconnect writers in one spot. Not 100% complete yet but I’ll keep adding to it.

• 📘 I pen another newsletter, called Barely Managing, that is a survival guide for new and up and coming managers. Check it out!

• 💸 I develop, and pay for the costs of hosting Reconnect out of my own pocket, and everything I do from managing the site and writing these articles are things in do in my personal time. If you're feeling generous feel free to give me a tip.