Jesse V
@jessev
Writer, Game Designer, sometimes authority figure. I’ve been a journalist, a publisher, a producer, a designer, and more. Attractions, alt controllers, audio games, films, etc. These days I teach at USC Games. Cohost @everydamnframe
So it turns out our old podcast hosting service and its AI helper were LYING to me and gaslighting me deeply about whether or not they were compressing and altering the audio I uploaded even to their own AI’s specifications. I spend this morning migrating us and finally had proof. 1 is RIVERSIDE.
I am currently waiting in line to be allowed to use the @amctheatres.bsky.social app for anything at all. I am given to understand this is Christopher Nolan’s fault? www.yahoo.com/entertainmen... But I don’t care about that movie. I just wanted to use my A-List today on my only afternoon off
You know… I haven’t auditioned for anything in ages. I think that means I’ve got a lot of good auditioning saved up. My usual song is from Little Shop, do we think that works?
I still need to add some sound, but as a stage prop this is ridiculous. I’m so pleased all my stupid life skills have made me an awesome dad who gets to stage a theatrical adaptation of an incredibly influential film in my life.
Once again going a little too hard on directing and staging the elementary school play.
FWIW I believe Welles didn’t intend to hoax but hoped it was going to sound convincing. Listen to his non-apology at the conclusion of the episode and you can hear his smirk, also seen here: c8.alamy.com/comp/HD1TGR/...
Me, fighting my own SA telling a student to use better LLM prompting to fix a problem in their GenAI broken ass code instead of the $15 plugin I’ve been using since 2009, which has been used in work for fucking theme parks which always just fucking works.
So. Uh. I am literally spending my day canceling subscriptions to things I don’t need for basic survival.
Quick stupid update. My vending machine lives and I’m already very pleased with the *magic trick* I’m gonna do with the display.
This already rocks. I can now scan objects into my vending machine by scanning their upc code.
Look at this cool ass vending machine and know that I am already in Unity laying out a cursed vending machine. I’ve also ordered $250 worth of hardware. Where the hell did I put the barcode scanner I bought? (This mania brought to you by finally feeling creatively viable again)
I like how all of the animals in this shot are checking to see if you, the reader, also feel like the AP should have workshopped that headline
Hey. Genuinely could use some help. It’s the middl of the night here in Los Angeles. I’m listening to the rain outside and I can’t sleep because I can’t stop thinking about the many good games my alt control/attractions/arcade games class have been whiteboarding. Here’s what I need help with: 🧵
First playtest of alpha 2 with the 10 year old. I literally designed, built, and fabricated a one of a kind custom toy just to feel any joy or purpose in 2026. Two rotary encoders, 77 RGB LEDs, an Arduino uno, and (coming) one speaker and one battery pack. Lots of refining to do, BUT it’s Fun!
Actually! Got some decay on the “ball” spin and I can now hit it back and forth (still need to tune it and feedback it and implement the rest of the game. But what playground pastime am I building a 1979 throwback electronic game version of?
Actually, OpenAI, when you say “You Can Just Build” let me tell you the building is kinda the hard part. I’d vastly prefer you come do all the tedious soldering and let me write my own damn novel.
Controls mostly work. I think the FEEDBACK COULD BE BETTER? I might want to design a different knob that shows the LED position better
Need to up the infill on the knob to make it more opaque. But I’m mostly pleased with the setup.
Welp! Finding the one tiny little error causing the short circuit meant even more fiddly soldering, but I did manage a success, and I have code that correctly jumps to the inner ring at the same spot each time
Version 2 ! Everything fits slightly better. And the lens snaps pleasingly into place. Unfortunately the next step is some extremely fiddly soldering that I am not looking forward to.
I’m building some “new retro” electronic portable games, like from the pre-screens era of the 70s and early 80s. As a thee I’m designing them based on playground games. The first one was tug-o-war, with dueling pressure sensors. This one will be tetherball.
Welp. It took forever and I got really freaking close, but not enough room for batteries, need to re-engineer the lens, move some stuff around for stability. But at least I nailed all the measurements and the screw placement. Power switch fits perfect too!