Coming Out Swinging Recently, the Punished Backlog team looked at the best video game end sequences in gaming. But an impressive opening level is just as important as a triumphant close. Whether it be an…
PJ Manning
PJ Manning
PJ's played games for the better part of 16 years. His earliest gaming memory involved going to his neighbor's house to play GTA Vice City way too young. His second was being thoroughly unamused at a demo in Target. It was weird and hard. You had to keep swinging on ropes. That game was The Wind Waker, his favorite game of all time.
He speedruns. He writes about speedrunning.
He plays music. He writes about music.
He Tweets. Find it here: @HashtagPManning
Super Mario Sunshine: The Pianta Project While I forgot when my fascination with speedrunning began, I can safely say it exploded after rooming with the illustrious Jbop1626 in college—a phenomenal Ocarina of Time and GoldenEye…
Honoring the Best Publisher, Developer, and Game of 2017 The time has come. After weeks of deliberation, voting, and award coverage, we have arrived at the fourth and final wave of our Best of 2017…
The Best of Each Platform in 2017 January has come and gone, and though it’s a new month, our Best of 2017 coverage continues! Having already shared our Industry Awards and Storytelling and Presentation Awards,…
Let’s Play Some Doki Doki! Doki Doki Literature Club recently won The Punished Backlog’s award for Best Indie of 2017. In celebration of the game’s win, three Punished Backlog writers recently played through DDLC’s roller-coaster ride…
Xenoblade’s Love Interest is a Sword Hey everybody, this game is bad; I can’t stress this enough. It’s bad, and I love almost every minute of it. This is my first time, hands on, with…
Our Industry-Specific Winners (And Loser) of 2017 We kick off our Best of 2017 feature with our Industry Awards. On New Year’s Eve, The Punished Backlog revealed its nominees for the best games of 2017. While…
Ending on a High Note You’ve spent the entire game learning new mechanics, upgrading your skills, fighting boss after boss after boss. It’s finally time to face the head honcho, the final boss, your game’s…
All About Them Bells A credible twitter account recently posted that we’re due for another Animal Crossing themed Direct 10/24 at 8 PST. This Isabelle-themed account (New Leaf’s dutiful secretary) had previously been inactive for…
BotW’s Rain is the last thing to worry about My love of Zelda started when my parents first brought home that iconic, purple lunchbox. There’s a saying that your first Zelda game is likely your…