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Jon Irwin on Muck Rack

Jon Irwin

  • Visiting Lecturer, Georgia Gwinnett College
  • Writer, Freelance
Atlanta
As seen in: Medium, MSN, MSN Canada, MSN UK, OneZero, The Washington Post, Aol, The Atlantic, Variety, Crossplay and
PEN New England Discovery Award winner in... 2009. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Writes about games, culture, health &c. Words in @MensHealthMag @Variety @Billboard + more #GoBlue

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Jon Irwin’s Biography

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I'm a teacher and writer with over a decade of experience writing long- and short-form essays, columns, profiles, interviews, and reviews. My work has been featured in Billboard Magazine, Down East: The Magazine of Maine, GamePro, Longreads, and The Atlantic, among other fine (and less savory) publications.

I'm a frequent contributor to Kill Screen and Paste Magazine.

My first book, Super Mario Bros. 2, is about the videogame Super Mario Bros. 2. and was published by Boss Fight Books, a small p…

Jon Irwin’s Journalist Portfolio

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On the Other Hand

On the Other Hand

When Jim Henson died in 1990, the world lost a genius. Kermit lost a pair of hands. This is the story of the …

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Nintendo Might Just Redefine Entertainment-Again

Nintendo Might Just Redefine Entertainment-Again

Over the years, Nintendo has sold instant rice, cards, love hotels, and video games. Now in financial trouble…

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Long Live Grim Fandango

Long Live Grim Fandango

Inside the resurrection of the videogame classic Grim Fandango.

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Satoru Iwata, 1959 - 2015

Satoru Iwata, 1959 - 2015

A eulogy for Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's fourth president.

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If You Want to Be the Best, You Must Lose Your Mind: The Story of Dean Cameron...

If You Want to Be the Best, You Must Lose Your Mind: The Story of Dean Cameron...

You know Dean Cameron. But he's not who you think. This profile of the cult film actor known for late-night r…

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That She Wooed Me Was Inconsequential

That She Wooed Me Was Inconsequential

In which the author observes a subway rider eating a bagel.

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Articles

Yoshi and the Mysterious Playstyles of Children

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By Jon Irwin
| Crossplay
Earlier this year, scores of critics in their 20s, 30s, and 40s reviewed the new Yoshi game, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book. They enjoyed it generally but often questioned the lack of difficulty, the aimlessless of its structure, and the repetitive nature of its goals. They also scored it from an adult perspective. And adults, with our impending mortality and looming mortgage payments, tend to have finish lines on the mind.
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Nintendo Switch Just Quietly Released the Toughest '90s Sci-Fi Action Game

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By Jon Irwin
| Inverse Verified
I hate Mega Man. As a kid, when the NES originals were shiny and new, I would go to my friend’s house and gape at the colorful robot action as his older brother plowed through level after level. The lack of smooth scrolling meant each new screen held a surprise. And often, that surprise ended with a life-ending pit of spikes, the Blue Bomber falling and exploding into a slow-motion firework of 8-bit shrapnel. Fun to watch? Oh yeah.
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10 Years Later, Nintendo’s Most Underrated Platformer Is Still A Step Above The Rest

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By Jon Irwin
| Inverse Verified
Donkey Kong has had a long and fruitful career as a mainstay of Nintendo’s playable menagerie. After early rounds of spaceships and generic cowboys, DK was the first named character of Nintendo’s modern era, one that now boasts the most valuable stable of I.P. this side of Disney. But it was his Donkey Kong Country games, first developed by Rare and then Retro Studios, that gave him a franchise of his own to run and jump through.
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