Five things on Friday #403
Strategy! Animals! Nerds!
Things of note for the week ending Friday October 24th Sunday October 26th, 2025.
#403
INTRO
It’s been a week.
First both - BOTH! the kids were off sick with the same bug. Tricky that. And then work was reasonably full on with early Danish starts and late UK finishes. But it is that time of year. And come December time, I will be hopefully be pointing at some work and go ‘Hey y’all, I worked on that’.
As I write to you now, it’s Sunday October 26th. 1106. The kids are playing Minecraft (after a morning of creating DnD characters - we’ll come back to that), the Mrs is out doing the big shop, so I’m here writing to you.
We’re having a lazy day today due to spending all of yesterday walking around London’s Excel Center (see Thing 3) and our legs are tired.
That said, I still might make a bolognese this afternoon because it’s Sunday and I just like to cook on Sundays. Let’s see how we go.
I hope you’re having a decent weekend and whenever and wherever this reaches you, you are relaxed, chill, and taking it easy.
Because sometimes, that’s just all we need.
Shall we crack on with the things?
Let’s.
—
TO THE THINGS!
THING 1. FREE STRATEGY TOOLS AND RESOURCES
Are you a strategist? Junior? Mid? Senior or director? If you are then you’ve probably almost certainly heard of Mark Pollard, strategy friend, and his work as Sweathead - as events, get togethers, and of course the podcast (I was even on it once).
Whether you’ve heard of Mark and Sweathead before or not - he is a great source of strategy insight.
And this week he dropped a HUGE Google Drive monster ton of free strategy resources.
Look at it!
And it’s available right here.
Fill yer boots.
THING 2. IT’S… THE 2025 COMEDY WILDLIFE PHOTOS OF THE YEAR AWARDS!
Here are two of my faves…
..and there are loads more over on The Guardian. Enjoy!
THING 3. THIS WEEK IN… NERDERY.
We went to the MCM Comic-Con meets EGX event at London’s Excel Centre yesterday and it was super fun.
And while it was very much an MCM Comic-Con event with, like, an EGX corner (not too dissimilar to how they put GAME in Sports Direct now), for a day out with the kids to see amazing toys, huge display stands, and pretty epic cosplay - we had a great time.
LEGO and Hasbro were probably the stand outs of the show.
The former (run by the UK/EMEA team - so nothing to do with me!) delivered everything from brickset reveals to new LEGO Batman previews - and playtime - as well as an on-site shop partnership with Smyths where you could buy the biggest and best LEGO sets from Minecraft to Fortnite and every Mario Kart in between.
Hasbro’s had a great stand that covered Beyblade (never played before - but the kids enjoyed it), Transformers (amazing), and probably my favourite thing at the entire show: a choose your own character builder experience with Dungeons & Dragons.
Once you’ve been through and visited different areas to figure out your character, you could then wait a tinsy bit longer and have someone ACTUALLY DRAW YOUR CHARACTER ART.
Look!
So much to love. After that we got the boat back to central, and then train home. But what a lovely day out. Barely any games to play but lots of nerds to hang out with and cosplay to enjoy. I wonder what next year’s will bring.
Gaming News Bites
The road to next-next-gen consoles has begun. Here’s Xbox’s head, Sarah Bond, dropping hints about their next gen hardware, and only a week or before that, everybody’s favourite PlayStation nerd Mark Cerny, was chatting about the future with AMD - implying what might the PS6 might do too.
Which is odd, given the PS5 still feels so new. Xbox similarly. We’re 18-24mths off maybe. So maybe things will change.
Speaking of Xbox, the Rog Ally doesn’t seem to be selling that well. $999 for the top model I can’t think why :/
Last edition I talked a bit about GREAT conceptual creative. What it is, what it looks like etc etc. This week Activision did… er.. not do that? This is what ‘spend it all on talent’ looks like, I guess.
‘Why can’t Sony make more multiplayer hits?’ - counterpoint: given its dominant place in the console market, it doesn’t need to. But still, this is a good read.
‘More than 1200 games journalists have left the media in the past two years’
VGIM on the Online Safety Act’s impact on gaming is compulsory reading.
What is James playing?
Hades 2 is life. There is nothing else but Hades 2. Cronus is dead, once. Typhon is next. But then the game keeps offering more.
What are you playing?
THING 4. EPIC PREDATOR BADLANDS OUT-OF-HOME IS EPIC
Nothing but love for this amazing twinned/linked Predator OOH.
More.
THING 5. YOU LOUVRE TO SEE IT
A lot has been said, reported, and conjectured about the recent robbery. Hell, there’s even been an ad about it (lol).
I’m not going to add to any of that. Instead I wanted to highlight this excellent piece of diagrammatic reporting from the BBC.
Step by step, moment-by moment, the article walks through the overview, the building, the corner… because, unlike so much other reporting, the beeb doesn’t assume that its readers automatically know everything there is to know about The Louvre.
Great licence-fee usage. Keep it up x
BONUS SECTION
THIS IS THE BONUS SECTION. BONUS LINKS THAT BUMP US OVER FIVE THINGS BUT DUE TO TIMING AND SELF-IMPOSED WRITING RESTRICTIONS ARE LIMITED TO PITHY COMMENTARY ONLY.
ENJOY.
Today Do This has published a FREE research report on why driving sustainability action in the workplace is so hard. This is free! So read it.
Meta Just Admitted They Could Have Saved Your Kids All Along.
How to get better reviews (hint: ask for them)
Four ways to counter narratives of AI Inevitability. I really like the accompanying diagram on this one. Might print it out.
Kpop Demon Hunters’ lead singer, EJAE, has released a new song which is a) amazing and b) for now at least, is the closest we’ll get to a new Kpop Demon Hunters song - so I’ll take it.
Yeah, so maybe don’t use the new Atlas browser from Open AI.
‘The Hunt for Ben Solo’ was greenlit by Lucasfilm and ready to go - but Disney said no. God DAMMIT you guys!
Sick yet understated projection mapped art is both sick and understated.
Make your own Linkedin profile ribbon (fun).
Teamwork lessons from Geese (via Saatchi NZ)
Pluribus looks interesting. I’m in.
YOU ARE REACHING THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER. MIND THE GAP.
And I think on that note, we’re going to sign this edition off. I’ve still got a ton more links to share (so expect some luke warm takes next edition) but a) it’s 1312 on a Sunday afternoon, b) I don’t want to drown you in Chrome tabs and c) I have a bolognese to make.
Until next time,
Whatley out x
i think about this every time i cook
— @wwxwashere.bsky.social 2025-10-21T00:43:49.558Z
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