Jon Bailes on Muck Rack

Jon Bailes

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Cyprus, United Kingdom
As seen in: Edge (Magazine), Medium, The Guardian, New Musical Express (NME), Polygon, GamesRadar+, GamesIndustry.biz, Junkee, VGC, Electronic Gaming Monthly(EGM), Byline Times and
Covers:  video games, film, social theory, ideology
Games Editor at @edgeonline PhD in European Studies from UCL. Author of Ideology and the Virtual City. Freelance bylines: WaPo, Wired, Eurogamer, Guardian

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Jon Bailes’s Biography

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I am a freelance writer and researcher. I write about social theory, and about video games. I have a PhD from University College London.

My work includes:
The book, Ideology and the Virtual City: Videogames, Power Fantasies and Neoliberalism (Zero Books, 2019)
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ideology-Virtual-City-Videogames-Neoliberalism/dp/1789041643/ref=sr_1_1?s=books
Reviews, commentaries and retrospectives on videogames
Online articles about neoliberalism and popular culture
Academic journal arti…

Jon Bailes’s Journalist Portfolio

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'Mortal Shell' review: a compact action RPG that's often overly familiar

'Mortal Shell' review: a compact action RPG that's often overly familiar

By now it's become a lazy cliché to compare an RPG game to Dark Souls. But sometimes there's no way around it…

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Review: Peaky Blinders Mastermind is an inventive but lightweight take on the show

Review: Peaky Blinders Mastermind is an inventive but lightweight take on the show

At times playing Peaky Blinders: Mastermind you could easily forget it had any connection to the hit BBC seri…

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Review: Jet Lancer (print)

Review: Jet Lancer (print)

Jet Lancer’s blue skies recall classic scrolling shoot-‘em-ups like U.N. Squadron and Aero Blasters, but its …

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One Step From Eden review - mind-merging - Wireframe Magazine

One Step From Eden review - mind-merging - Wireframe Magazine

Some games demand instinctive reactions, while others call on conscious thought processes. One Step From Eden…

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COVID-19 Could Mark the Beginning of the End for Obsessive Consumerism - Byline Times

COVID-19 Could Mark the Beginning of the End for Obsessive Consumerism - Byline Times

'Pubs Shut Till Xmas' screamed an April headline on the front page of the Sun. Loitering next to it was a sma…

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Review: Ghost of Tsushima is another open-world game let down by filler

Review: Ghost of Tsushima is another open-world game let down by filler

Riding through the lush fields of Tsushima Island, we draw near a fox den. Its occupant emerges then hops awa…

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Articles

"We want you to feel like it's the game you remember playing, not necessarily the game that you did play": System Shock and Dead Space devs on the art of the remake

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By Jon Bailes 
| Inkl
(Image credit: Prime Matter) (Image credit: Future, EA) This feature originally appeared in Edge magazine #415. For more in-depth features and interviews on classic games delivered to your door or digital device, subscribe to Edge or buy an issue! It's a story that Stephen Kick, head of Nightdive Studios, should be able to relate to. Starting 12 years ago with the rerelease of System Shock, Kick's aim was to rescue games from obscurity so that people – not least himself – could play them again.
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2023 Preview: Wo Long bridges the gap between Nioh and Ninja Gaiden

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By Jon Bailes 
| VGC
At a glance, Team Ninja’s next action RPG doesn’t look much different from its last. Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty could almost pass for another entry in the Nioh series, with a similar cocktail of exploration, RPG progression and brutal close quarters fights. Rather than a continuation, however, Wo Long promises to be more of a sidestep, forging its own identity with different lore and systems.
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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion has plenty to offer as a remaster

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By Jon Bailes 
| VGC
As remasters go, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is one of the more carefully considered examples. To make a title originally built for the PSP feel at home on current generation machines, Square Enix hasn’t merely given it a HD facelift; it’s significantly updated visuals, audio and even a few game mechanics. The result is a kind of halfway house between the flashy production values of Final Fantasy VII Remake, and the compact ambitions of the 2007 game.
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Interview

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How do you prefer to be pitched on stories?

By email.

Why did you become a journalist?

Because I love writing.

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?

My book, Ideology and the Virtual City: Videogames, Power Fantasies and Neoliberalism.

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