Shawn McDowell

Shawn McDowell

@turboshawn.com

Producer & Editor for Giant Bomb. Producer & Occasional Co-host for Jeff Grubb's Game Mess. Lifelong Pokémon & fighting game nerd. (He/Him)

4.9K followers268 following1.1K posts

Shawn McDowell reposted

I haven't been able to finish it or do proper review coverage yet due to timing, but I've been playing Phantom Blade Zero and having a fantastic time. So far, it's been the character action game that sickos like me have been waiting for. You'll hear my full thoughts on it on the Bombcast this week.

I haven't been able to finish it or do proper review coverage yet due to timing, but I've been playing Phantom Blade Zero and having a fantastic time. So far, it's been the character action game that sickos like me have been waiting for. You'll hear my full thoughts on it on the Bombcast this week.

Shawn McDowell reposted

I have been meaning to write about this for a month or so now but it breaks my heart. AI has infected every hobby. Everything is noise. It's hurting existing communities and trudging through the slop is exhausting.

Aftermath@aftermath.site

Every single hobby I love has has been infected by slopped up and unserious software. It's exhausting. aftermath.site/ai-slop-hobbie...

Shawn McDowell reposted

I had to go on Twitter to confirm this was real because Ship Awesome Games In A Weekend having a hand with six fingers was so on the nose I was about to pass out

Cale Michael@xjustified.bsky.social

This shit just writes itself at this point. Just the name "Epic AI MegaJam" is a joke that best describes what is going on with these companies.

Shawn McDowell reposted

See now we're fucking talking One of the only weapons we wield in this fight is our money and attendance, and if everyone involved with an event says "I'm not going unless you stop using AI" there's only two outcomes: *No AI or No Convention* Conventions are made by and for the community

dexerto.comFighting game legend SonicFox pulls out of gaming event over AI-generated art - DexertoThe competitor was advertised as a special guest at Nexcon 2026, taking place November 14–15 in Norman, Oklahoma.

I am SO fucking tired of techbro assholes writing puff pieces about Asha Sharma. Every time, it's just them taking her "Don't worry, everything's gonna be great! Eventually!" attitude and using it to somehow glaze the awful things Microsoft has done to their employees and this industry.

Wario64@wario64.bsky.social

'the price of the [Xbox] Helix console has internally been projected to cost consumers between $1,200 and $1,800, unless Microsoft decides to subsidize the cost' -Game Pass planning major overhaul (a la carte) -next-gen handheld by 2027 holidays, console 2028 holidays fortune.com/2026/10/20/t...

Wario64@wario64.bsky.social

new Epic Games Launcher in preview - "Programming is hard. So, instead of doing that, we vibe coded a new Epic Games Launcher that’s way faster and more responsive than the current one, and has a new look." store.epicgames.com/news/epic-ga...

Shawn McDowell reposted

Replying to @authorblu.es

I shit you not, every single day I read about retro video games and discover the names of 5 more video games I've never heard of that the mere description threatens to rip my fucking face off. I'm set for life. If the AAA industry wants to burn to the ground, I couldn't possibly give less of a shit.

Shawn McDowell reposted

The only Christopher Columbus you should be celebrating today is the one who made Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire. And even then you should probably only count the stuff he did in the 20th century

Okay, so far I've learned that Soma Cruz is a high school kid who rules over monsters but still gets stuck in a castle with topless spider ladies shooting him with machine gun boobs and literal Death wanting to chop his punk-ass head off, let's see how this plays out: www.twitch.tv/turboshawn

The Igavania Castlevanias are a huge gaming blind spot for me, and the Metroidvania fans in my life tell me is the best one. Let's continue the spooky month streams with a first-time playthrough of Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow! 🙂 www.twitch.tv/turboshawn

Shawn McDowell reposted

this is the face I'm make when Jan, Mike, and Chuck give me three different poses for the one pose I am supposed to pass on to Jerf.

Shawn McDowell reposted

Hey Mat why are fewer younger and less affluent households investing in consoles or buying $80 video games right now? Idk man call Sherlock Holmes cuz it's a real gd mystery.

Shawn McDowell reposted

Sega is like your friend who struggles from time to time. yeah they mess up but ultimately you support them and celebrate their success when you can SNK is some stranger who is wearing your friends face. They talk about the good ol' days and try to fit in but deep down you know something is wrong

This post is unavailable.

Shawn McDowell reposted

If you leave short story-sized comments in your code, it should be to explain something so messed up that you need to leave a message to yourself, Memento-style See: the first half of a comment block I left in the weapon code of Reelism 2

David Katze (vtuber)@davidkatzevt.bsky.social

SLOP WATCH: The Sonic Adventure recomp is vibe coded. You can tell because they say so and also because every code comment is a 4+ line short story and people who have actually done real decomp work (SPEEPSHighway) have no clue what it's even doing despite this. gj clod i mean claude #slopwatch

Shawn McDowell reposted

Oh yeah Titanfall 2 is on mega sale right now on PC if you don’t have it.

Zack Zwiezen@zackzwiezen.com

Somehow, I've never played this on PC. Only on console. But it was $5, and this seems so rad.

Shawn McDowell reposted

today marks a whopper of an anniversary as we released the very first episode of Retronauts on October 4, 2006. Twenty years of podcasts! Thank you for listening for two entire decades. What's your favorite episode or Retronauts memory?

Shawn McDowell reposted

Jacob Geller is no longer a part of MinnMax. He won't be on content moving forward and we won't be publicly airing this week's episode of The MinnMax Show. We're in shock and deeply hurt. Thank you for your patience during this sensitive time.