Matt Leone
@mattleone.bsky.social
I write stories about the games industry. Formerly at 1UP and Polygon. Now working on @designroom.site.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Big new story! The best 8,000 words you'll read on Vib-Ribbon today.
Vib-Ribbon: An oral history
Almost 27 years later, we round up the team behind NanaOn-Sha's procedurally generated playground to look at the legacy of PlayStation's wireframe rabbit.
www.designroom.site
October 5, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Big new story! The best 8,000 words you'll read on Vib-Ribbon today.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Seems like a good day to ring this bell.
We're open for freelance pitches! Have any ideas for oral histories, roundtables, Q&As, or other stories that feel in line with what we've published so far? Feel free to DM. Rates typically range from $250-$750.
September 30, 2026 at 8:43 PM
Seems like a good day to ring this bell.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Hi, we're a new video game oral histories site.
Want to read the story of Shadow of the Colossus, as told by 11 people who worked on it? Or hear what Will Wright has to say about Spore in retrospect? Or see previously unreleased footage of Nintendo's Sound Fantasy?
Check us out at designroom.site
Want to read the story of Shadow of the Colossus, as told by 11 people who worked on it? Or hear what Will Wright has to say about Spore in retrospect? Or see previously unreleased footage of Nintendo's Sound Fantasy?
Check us out at designroom.site
July 31, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Hi, we're a new video game oral histories site.
Want to read the story of Shadow of the Colossus, as told by 11 people who worked on it? Or hear what Will Wright has to say about Spore in retrospect? Or see previously unreleased footage of Nintendo's Sound Fantasy?
Check us out at designroom.site
Want to read the story of Shadow of the Colossus, as told by 11 people who worked on it? Or hear what Will Wright has to say about Spore in retrospect? Or see previously unreleased footage of Nintendo's Sound Fantasy?
Check us out at designroom.site
Reposted by Matt Leone
Namco's exercise bike-powered flying contraption is almost 30 years old, so we tracked down the game's director to look back.
How Namco built 1996's best arcade cabinet
We talk with the director of the bike-powered Prop Cycle about how the game came about, its international success, and sidelined sequel plans.
www.designroom.site
May 15, 2026 at 2:58 PM
Namco's exercise bike-powered flying contraption is almost 30 years old, so we tracked down the game's director to look back.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Learn about the making of Samurai Shodown and life at SNK in the "arcade action" era of the late 80s in this massive interview with alumni Yasushi Adachi and Tomoaki Fukui!
shmuplations.com/samuraispiri...
shmuplations.com/samuraispiri...
The Samurai Craftsmen of SNK - shmuplations.com
This massive interview with SNK alumni Yasushi Adachi and Tomoaki Fukui originally appeared in the SNK Anniversary Fan Book.
shmuplations.com
September 23, 2026 at 4:06 PM
Learn about the making of Samurai Shodown and life at SNK in the "arcade action" era of the late 80s in this massive interview with alumni Yasushi Adachi and Tomoaki Fukui!
shmuplations.com/samuraispiri...
shmuplations.com/samuraispiri...
Reposted by Matt Leone
We're open for freelance pitches! Have any ideas for oral histories, roundtables, Q&As, or other stories that feel in line with what we've published so far? Feel free to DM. Rates typically range from $250-$750.
September 9, 2026 at 5:53 PM
We're open for freelance pitches! Have any ideas for oral histories, roundtables, Q&As, or other stories that feel in line with what we've published so far? Feel free to DM. Rates typically range from $250-$750.
Reposted by Matt Leone
For our latest big story, @duncanfyfe.net dives deep the bestselling pinball game of all-time, The Addams Family.
The Addams Family pinball: An oral history
We talk to the team behind the 1992 breakout hit to learn about licensing, magnets, and how it designed the most popular pinball game of all-time.
www.designroom.site
July 22, 2026 at 2:11 PM
For our latest big story, @duncanfyfe.net dives deep the bestselling pinball game of all-time, The Addams Family.
Reposted by Matt Leone
i wrote about pokemon cards for teen vogue!!! a big, 5,000 word story about how we got to this point, and how the community has changed (and stuck together!) through it all
www.teenvogue.com/story/pokemo...
www.teenvogue.com/story/pokemo...
Pokémon Cards Became a Billion-Dollar Industry. Then Came the Armed Robberies
How an innocent hobby became a target of armed robbery, break-ins, and six-figure heists.
www.teenvogue.com
September 17, 2026 at 7:05 PM
i wrote about pokemon cards for teen vogue!!! a big, 5,000 word story about how we got to this point, and how the community has changed (and stuck together!) through it all
www.teenvogue.com/story/pokemo...
www.teenvogue.com/story/pokemo...
Reposted by Matt Leone
Over 40 years of cutting edge cinema.
Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️
400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻
Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️
400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻
September 15, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Over 40 years of cutting edge cinema.
Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️
400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻
Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️
400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻
Reposted by Matt Leone
I've spent the last 2 years working on this:
(Post)[Culture] @lostincult.co.uk's new pop culture imprint.
And I couldn't be more excited to announce our first project: ARCHIVE: Shinya Tsukamoto, a collaboration with, well, Shinya Tsukamoto. I've never been more proud of anything I've ever done.
(Post)[Culture] @lostincult.co.uk's new pop culture imprint.
And I couldn't be more excited to announce our first project: ARCHIVE: Shinya Tsukamoto, a collaboration with, well, Shinya Tsukamoto. I've never been more proud of anything I've ever done.
Over 40 years of cutting edge cinema.
Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️
400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻
Introducing our (Post)[Culture] premiere, Archive: Shinya Tsukamoto 🎞️
400 pages. Limited extras. Signed by Tsukamoto himself. Only 500 signed copies available! 🔗🔻
September 15, 2026 at 5:02 PM
I've spent the last 2 years working on this:
(Post)[Culture] @lostincult.co.uk's new pop culture imprint.
And I couldn't be more excited to announce our first project: ARCHIVE: Shinya Tsukamoto, a collaboration with, well, Shinya Tsukamoto. I've never been more proud of anything I've ever done.
(Post)[Culture] @lostincult.co.uk's new pop culture imprint.
And I couldn't be more excited to announce our first project: ARCHIVE: Shinya Tsukamoto, a collaboration with, well, Shinya Tsukamoto. I've never been more proud of anything I've ever done.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Forty-eight new pages have joined the party. The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Ultimate Works expands the original Collected Works with newly discovered artwork, design documents and material from Sega’s 16-bit era.
Available in two editions on readonlymemory.com
Available in two editions on readonlymemory.com
September 15, 2026 at 4:03 PM
Forty-eight new pages have joined the party. The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis: Ultimate Works expands the original Collected Works with newly discovered artwork, design documents and material from Sega’s 16-bit era.
Available in two editions on readonlymemory.com
Available in two editions on readonlymemory.com
Reposted by Matt Leone
Since we published our Spore oral history in June, we've been talking to members of the mod community about how they've kept the game going for the past 18 years.
The modding community keeping Spore alive
We talk to three members of the Spore modding community about their efforts to continue Maxis' work and keep the game active for new generations of fans.
www.designroom.site
September 11, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Since we published our Spore oral history in June, we've been talking to members of the mod community about how they've kept the game going for the past 18 years.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Capcom is on a generational run. But this is no renaissance: the company has never been greater.
I reported on the secret of its success, from "Crapcom" in the early 2010s to its one-banger-after-another present, speaking to many of its most illustrious producers.
www.theringer.com/2026/09/03/v...
I reported on the secret of its success, from "Crapcom" in the early 2010s to its one-banger-after-another present, speaking to many of its most illustrious producers.
www.theringer.com/2026/09/03/v...
How Capcom Cracked the Code of Game Development
The video game industry is in turmoil, but 2026 could be Capcom’s career year. How does the company behind ‘Resident Evil Requiem,’ ‘Pragmata,’ and ‘Onimusha: Way of the Sword’ keep pumping out hits?
www.theringer.com
September 3, 2026 at 12:26 PM
Capcom is on a generational run. But this is no renaissance: the company has never been greater.
I reported on the secret of its success, from "Crapcom" in the early 2010s to its one-banger-after-another present, speaking to many of its most illustrious producers.
www.theringer.com/2026/09/03/v...
I reported on the secret of its success, from "Crapcom" in the early 2010s to its one-banger-after-another present, speaking to many of its most illustrious producers.
www.theringer.com/2026/09/03/v...
Reposted by Matt Leone
Almost 20 years after Sam & Max Season One's release, six Telltale team members look back on the time they made a group of Secret Service agents dance the can-can.
Sam & Max's War Song: An oral history, 20 years later
Six former Telltale Games team members look back on the time they made a group of Secret Service agents dance the can-can.
www.designroom.site
August 26, 2026 at 2:33 PM
Almost 20 years after Sam & Max Season One's release, six Telltale team members look back on the time they made a group of Secret Service agents dance the can-can.
All this MGS4 talk is bringing back memories of reviewing it at Konami while being handed an NDA saying we couldn't talk about most of the game...
August 27, 2026 at 7:48 PM
All this MGS4 talk is bringing back memories of reviewing it at Konami while being handed an NDA saying we couldn't talk about most of the game...
Reposted by Matt Leone
I'm in ESSES again, with a piece on the strangest Formula 1 video game ever made - or not made, as the case may be.
This is a career highlight; never before have I reported a story by enlisting a F1 driver to ask another F1 driver about Austrian hackers *during the Monaco Grand Prix*
This is a career highlight; never before have I reported a story by enlisting a F1 driver to ask another F1 driver about Austrian hackers *during the Monaco Grand Prix*
August 25, 2026 at 12:49 PM
I'm in ESSES again, with a piece on the strangest Formula 1 video game ever made - or not made, as the case may be.
This is a career highlight; never before have I reported a story by enlisting a F1 driver to ask another F1 driver about Austrian hackers *during the Monaco Grand Prix*
This is a career highlight; never before have I reported a story by enlisting a F1 driver to ask another F1 driver about Austrian hackers *during the Monaco Grand Prix*
Reposted by Matt Leone
Beyond the NES is ready to share with the world!!!
--Coming August 18th to Kickstarter--
www.kickstarter.com/projects/syn...
--Coming August 18th to Kickstarter--
www.kickstarter.com/projects/syn...
Coming soon: Beyond the NES: Rediscovering 8-bit on the Japanese Famicom
Discover the 8-bit games you missed. A curated, 300+ page collector's guide to the Japanese Famicom library.
www.kickstarter.com
August 3, 2026 at 3:05 PM
Beyond the NES is ready to share with the world!!!
--Coming August 18th to Kickstarter--
www.kickstarter.com/projects/syn...
--Coming August 18th to Kickstarter--
www.kickstarter.com/projects/syn...
Reposted by Matt Leone
With Galactic Racer on the way, I gathered the creative leads of Star Wars Episode 1: Racer together for an in-depth roundtable-style chat on the original Star Wars racing game.
The Making Of: Star Wars Episode 1 Racer - "Maybe We Can't Make A Great Racing Game, But We Can Make An Excellent Toy".
The Making Of: Star Wars Episode 1 Racer - "Maybe We Can't Make A Great Racing Game, But We Can Make An Excellent Toy"
With Galactic Racer on the way, we revisit a N64 (and Dreamcast) classic
www.timeextension.com
August 3, 2026 at 4:07 PM
With Galactic Racer on the way, I gathered the creative leads of Star Wars Episode 1: Racer together for an in-depth roundtable-style chat on the original Star Wars racing game.
Reposted by Matt Leone
I forgot to share this when it went live last week, but that's okay, because it's a great weekend read!
I really enjoyed copy editing this piece. I've definitely played The Addams Family before, but I didn't realize how much of a phenomenon it was. Great quotes in here, as always!
I really enjoyed copy editing this piece. I've definitely played The Addams Family before, but I didn't realize how much of a phenomenon it was. Great quotes in here, as always!
For our latest big story, @duncanfyfe.net dives deep the bestselling pinball game of all-time, The Addams Family.
The Addams Family pinball: An oral history
We talk to the team behind the 1992 breakout hit to learn about licensing, magnets, and how it designed the most popular pinball game of all-time.
www.designroom.site
July 31, 2026 at 6:30 PM
I forgot to share this when it went live last week, but that's okay, because it's a great weekend read!
I really enjoyed copy editing this piece. I've definitely played The Addams Family before, but I didn't realize how much of a phenomenon it was. Great quotes in here, as always!
I really enjoyed copy editing this piece. I've definitely played The Addams Family before, but I didn't realize how much of a phenomenon it was. Great quotes in here, as always!
Reposted by Matt Leone
Design Room: very good. Addams Family pinball: very good.
For our latest big story, @duncanfyfe.net dives deep the bestselling pinball game of all-time, The Addams Family.
The Addams Family pinball: An oral history
We talk to the team behind the 1992 breakout hit to learn about licensing, magnets, and how it designed the most popular pinball game of all-time.
www.designroom.site
July 24, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Design Room: very good. Addams Family pinball: very good.
Reposted by Matt Leone
Following yesterday's Addams Family oral history, we have a story on how pinball licensing exploded in the '90s.
How licensing changed the pinball industry
Roger Sharpe, Ken Fedesna, Pat Lawlor, and others discuss how licensed games took over pinball around the time that The Addams Family released.
www.designroom.site
July 23, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Following yesterday's Addams Family oral history, we have a story on how pinball licensing exploded in the '90s.
This story gave me the perfect excuse to stop by a few arcades and take a bunch of photos.
July 22, 2026 at 4:58 PM
This story gave me the perfect excuse to stop by a few arcades and take a bunch of photos.
One of my favorite stories on the site to date!
For our latest big story, @duncanfyfe.net dives deep the bestselling pinball game of all-time, The Addams Family.
The Addams Family pinball: An oral history
We talk to the team behind the 1992 breakout hit to learn about licensing, magnets, and how it designed the most popular pinball game of all-time.
www.designroom.site
July 22, 2026 at 2:12 PM
One of my favorite stories on the site to date!