Reconnect Recap, w/e 6th April - Did something happen this week?

Connecting you to incredible games writing.

Apr 07, 2025

Kia Ora folks.

Feels like something huge happened this week, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. I know it wasn’t GTA 6, nor Ubisoft, definitely wasn’t Half Life 3…..

Ah well, It’ll come to me later in the shower.

Once again, you are receiving the Reconnect Recap, the companion newsletter for the website Reconnect, a games writing discovery platform.

Today, we are going to peruse through some of the best articles to feature on the site in the past week. Let’s see what’s in store!

If you’re on Bluesky, 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.

The Recap

PICTURE

The Homie Big Picture Mode
pens an extremely eloquent and rapturing piece about how a special game helped them fight off the cynicism deep inside of us. I might have to go on my own journey of healing after that.
Kimimi The Game-Eating She-Monster, winner of weirdest and longest blog name on the platform, gives us an in-depth review of Shining Force III.
Gamedev Relay
has some great fun tidbits in their latest newsletter, what stood out to me the most was the motivation behind Monolith’s Nemesis system….
TimeExtension brings us news of an obscure Taiwanese fighting game for DOS that’s getting a somewhat modern port.
Johto Times
has an interview with the webmaster of a Pokémon TCG archival website called Pokumon and dives into all the fun stories or running such a popular, albeit not profitable site, and how it has evolved over the years of collecting.
TimeExtension summarises a GDC talk from Playstation about how they are approaching preserving their games, and it involves vaults and tapes.
GameDev Reports - sponsored by Neon
has the numbers to show how Steam refunds are impacting developers and how it impacts Early access games, and it doesn’t break down the way you’d expect.
GameWisdom talks through how behavioural psychology is used to influence K users playing online gambling games.
GameDev Reports - sponsored by Neon surveyed QA’s devs, the unsung heroes of the entire history to break down how they use the tools and how supported they feel.
The Dreamcast Junkyard has news of an unexpected port, GTA Vice City, on the dreamcast, that’s one of my favourite entires in the series.
The Game Business
brings us the inside story of Helldivers 2, and how they brought the game back from near ruin post launch, and the plan involved millions of call of duty players.

Ah, I remember now! The Switch 2 was announced this week, and below writers have their thoughts:

1UP Vault
gives us their take on the new Nintendo Console.
Big Nerd Gaming’s response to the S2 is to get a Steam Deck.
Crossplay
has the parents guide to the Switch 2, which given it is primarily for the kids, very poignant.
Overkill has news on Dbrand’s new case for the S2, which given the controversy around the first Switch and Dbrand let’s hope they hit it out the park.
Scanlines’ Journal
pens a love letter to the first Switch console, admist the news of it’s predecessor.

Something Extra

Nataliethenerd came across my desk as a modder who puts a USB-C port in every device she can get her hands on, primarily old consoles like the GameBoy Micro.

After some more sleuthing I discovered she sells all sorts of modding tools, providing guides and videos of some awesome mods.

Writer Recap

Pixel Fix

is a publication from my very own country of Aotearoa. Writing about games current and retro, and gaming peripherals no one knew existed, their writing is often very in depth but carries with it a level of humour and familiarity that have had me reading full articles about subjects I didn’t think I would be interested in.

Go subscribe!