Aidan Moher

Hugo Award-winning editor and author of "Fight, Magic, Items: The History of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and the Rise of Japanese RPGs in the West." Bylines for WIRED, Washington Post, IGN, and more.

Features

Angry Robot and Angry Writers

Angry Robot publisher Eleanor Teasdale speaks out about controversial use of AI tools

Paid-members only

Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 040824

Publisher Angry Robot reveals and then shutters an AI revolution, Commodore 64 finally hits Analogue Pocket, and a whole bunch of retro games sold for a whole bunch of money at auction

Features

Akira Toriyama (1955 - 2024)

Dragon Ball, Dragon Quest, and Chrono Trigger was an art legend who changed the world

News

I wrote a thing! How Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Unites Parents and Kids Across Generations

I was absolutely tickled to speak with Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's director Naoki Hamaguchi about his experience as a father, and how games like Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth are using nostalgia to reach a whole new audience through the original generation of Final Fantasy VII fans: our kids.

Features

Avatar: The Last Airbender is brilliant

Avatar: The Last Airbender is a remarkably consistent piece of storytelling that retains its quality from the first episode to the last.

Features

Yoshitaka Murayama (1969 - 2024)

Suikoden and Eiyuden Chronicle creator Yoshitaka Murayama has passed away at age 54. He leaves behind a legacy of unforgettable games.

Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 013124

A Final Fantasy VI remake would take how long? Spec Ops: The Line suddenly removed from Steam and other digital storefronts. Persona 3 Reload ditches the original game's transphobia for conspiracy theories.

Flagship Issues

Astrolabe 36: Panic! At The Hugos

Another Hugo Awards controversy, all the seas of the world, and the one that (sorta) got away

Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 011824

Is Elden Ring's DLC imminent? Kotaku's got a layoff tracker, and it's super Grim. Tor.com is relaunching as Reactor.

News

Substack has a nazi problem, so Astrolabe has a new home. Again.

For the third time in its short existence, Astrolabe has a new home—hopefully a permanent one this time.

Features

Here are a few of my favourite things in 2023

From new Makoto Shinkai to Chained Echoes, The Bear, Sea of Stars, and R.F. Kuang, 2023 was PACKED

Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 121923

The gargantuan Insomniac Games leak, that Goodreads one star thing, and why you should never sue the Tolkien estate

News Featured

Here's my 2023 Award Eligibility post!

Plus recommendations, because recommending other people's work is sexy.

Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 120423

YouTube plagiarism, how a 17 year old convinced Nintendo to go 3D, and nitty gritty Hugo ballot stats

Promo

Black Friday Astrolabe Sale!

Support a year of Astrolabe at 50% off! Just $2.50/month

Gift Guides

2023 Holiday Gift Guide for Geeks!

A gift for every nerd on your list! Books! Video Games! D&D! A... basketball?

Free Fiction

Astrolabe Fiction: Youngblood

LOST 🏝️ meets Jurassic Park 🦖 fueled by the Dead Kennedys 🤘🏻

Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 110723

Worker-owned websites are here to save games media, summer vacations, and pronoun meltdowns

Flagship Issues Featured

Astrolabe 35: Is 2023 the best year in video game history? Or the worst?

Fuck capitalism. Oh, and handheld gaming rules.

Features

VGHW Excerpt: How Kazuko Shibuya's survived the "end times" and changed pixel art forever

"Gamer Girls" author Mary Kenney explores the Shibuya's groundbreaking work, the end of the end times, and the creative freedom of technical limitations

Features

VGHW Feature: And that's how you get “Shigeru Miyamoto once tried to make a Donkey Kong dating sim.”

Monster Kids author Daniel Dockery digs into the realities of writing video game history

Features

VGHW Feature: 13 Books for Japanese RPG fans

From Final Fantasy to NieR, Suikoden to Xenosaga, there's a great book for every kind of RPG lover

Video Game History Week

VGHW Feature: Retro eight-bit RPG storytelling, but make it super gay.

How this award-winning SFF writer is turned to retro video games for his next story

News

Fight, Magic, Items is a year old!

The history of Japanese RPGs is a year older, but my book's just getting started

Features Featured

VGHW Excerpt: Japanese RPGs journey to the west with a bang in Fight, Magic, Items. Literally.

From chain smoking in a Denny's, to a volcanic explosion, and a massive Nintendo Power giveaway, this Fight, Magic, Items excerpt chronicles Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest's tumultuous journey west