Reconnect Recap - w/e 17th August

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

Aug 18, 2025

Kia Ora folks

I spent my week constantly rewatching K-Pop Demon hunters, getting into the new Cyberpunk DLC, and smashing my head against the wall with this new Fortnite season. Primarily because the new update runs like garbage on my gaming PC and it’s infuriating to have to put the game into potato mode just to get something close to 30fps.

Talking of infuriating, the new Cyberpunk DLC, Phantom Liberty, has a lot more vertical traversal than the base game, and I have fallen to my death more times than Id like. Makes me realise how horizontal the base game.

Welcome back to another edition of the Reconnect Recap, the only newsletter in the world combing through hundreds of articles a week written by folks all over the internet to provide you with a sweet and interesting summary piece right to your inbox.

If you didn’t know, this is a companion newsletter, I run a website called Reconnect which aggregates over 300 video games writers work into a one stop shop for you to enjoy. It has over 24,000 articles on it and updates multiple times a day, so if your ever in the mood to read something awesome, or want to keep your pulse on whats going on, in the games industry, head on over and check it out.

This weeks edition is going to dive right into cheating in games, game design principles, King Kong, lots of hand helds, and so much more!

Enjoy!

Great Write Ups

Monopoly Go to the Bank: MGO as I’m not calling it has been a runway financial success on phones and so Games Alchemy by Antti Kananen very kindly teaches how we to could make a game as successful as MGO.
Winning on the Battlefield: It’s clear EA have high expectations for BF6, but are they realistic? The Game Business analyses how likely it will be for BF6 to ‘boot stomp’ COD.
It’s tough for writers: As dire and competitive the games development job market is right now, the problem isn’t equally spread across roles. Amanda Lynn looks into which roles have the most and least competition for jobs.
Needs more clowns: Multiplier sits down with Ruby Innes to discuss what makes a game funny, it’s definitely clowns with horns.
Feeling Cheated: I don’t play a heap of online games, but my recent foray into Fortnite has shown me a plethora of people willing to game the system for their own endeavours. GameDev Reports has the results from a survey about how many players experience cheating in games and the impacts it has on them.
Porting King Kong: I’d forgotten about Peter Jacksons King Kong, I vaguely remember their being a video game for the movie, but I was not aware that a cut down version of it got ported to the PSP, The Video Game Storyteller is here to explain just how baaaaad the port was.
Saving the Robot: Chibi-Robo is a forgettable character from the Nintendo Lore, but it could have been more forgotten about, had it not been for Miyamoto who took a liking to the little guy and made sure its troubled game came out. (TimeExtension)
Success on the Rim: In an interview with Rimworld’s creator, The GameDiscoverCo newsletter talks about their DLC strategy and the choices they make around free and paid expansions as well as user generated content.
Understanding interdependency and Friendslop: Ramin Shokrizade explains how the friendslop genre is loudly screaming about what social type games people want, despite AAA’s desire to ignore them. They also dive into explaining the world of player retention.
Spelling out F U N: Games are meant to be fun right? But what flavour of fun is your favourite game? Roger Renfro explains the different buckets of fun that you may experience with a game.
How STALKER came to be: I don’t do scary games, life is scary enough for me, but I do know what S.T.A.L.K.E.R is, my dad loved that game. Trip Harrison gives us the background story of how the game came to be, amongst all the turmoil Ukraine has dealt with in that time.

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For the first time in history, mobile users spent more money on apps than on games, Dmitriy Byshonkov covers how in app purchases break down accross mobile phones.
Silksong has 4.8 million Steam wishlists, more than any other 2025 game.
18 years after release, Mo reviews Mass Effect 1, and I do genuienly enjoy reading these reviews as it takes me on a trip down memory lane, and makes me want to fire up another playthrough. (I never do though, I simply don’t have the time)
We’re getting a space invaders movie…..
Loved Hardspace Shipbreaker, the perfect little cozy game for those who love space, and their developers have successfully split from the publisher but have retained the Hardspace IP, with some new Hardspace projects in the works.
I LOVE the playdate, do I play it much? No. Do I tinker with it heaps? Yes, do I dream of making a game for it? Also yes, but it sits in my draw loosing power more often than not. Now it turns out that someone has created a gameboy emulator for the yellow handheld, and I’m excited to try out Pokemon Red on the little thing.
Modder Builds Windows 98 Handheld Using Original Hardware
“🎵 Heels, Nails, Blade, Mascara 🎵 ” is a catchy line that is stuck in my head every day, especially the following line about Napalm. I’ve watched K-Pop Demon Hunters three times now and listen to the soundtrack daily, I'm happy to hear that Boss Fights and his daughter are enjoying the movie as much I did.
Clear consoles are a common aesthetic for hand held consoles, but normally it’s just a clear shell around some internal guts. One person went whole hog and made a transparent game boy color, that even the PCB is transparent, which is not an easy feat.
Retro Dodo gives us a ranking of the 20 Best Retro Handhelds Of 2025

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