Josh Coulson

Josh Coulson focuses on the consumer side of gaming, tracking how players buy, access, and experience games, hardware, and collectibles. He works as an editor at TheGamer, covering the industry since 2018 with a remit that blends news, deals, and product coverage. His day-to-day work revolves around hunting down deals on video games, consoles, toys, and collectibles, alongside reporting on new product reveals and upcoming releases. Across thousands of articles, he has built a beat that connects major platforms and franchises with the practical realities of pricing, availability, and value for players.

Hardware, Accessories, And Subscription Deals

Josh’s core output centers on tracking hardware availability, accessories, and subscription changes for the major gaming platforms.

He regularly reports when key items like PlayStation’s PS5 disc drive return to stock and, importantly, when they stay available rather than selling out instantly. His coverage of upcoming hardware, such as Switch 2 accessories and their prices surfacing in retailer systems, highlights how he follows backend listings and leaks to map out imminent console launches.

He reports on retro and niche hardware, including devices like the Gamestation Retro collection loaded with Capcom classics, giving readers a clear look at what these products offer before release. On the services side, he writes roundups of every game coming to PlayStation Plus across Essential, Extra, and Premium tiers, and covers Amazon Prime Gaming monthly free titles, showing how subscription libraries change over time. His reporting on Xbox console price hikes and the fact that the platform still loses money on hardware sales underlines his interest in the business model behind consoles, not just the devices themselves.

Lego, Pokemon, And Collectible Crossovers

Another defining strand of Josh’s work is the intersection of games with collectibles, especially Lego sets and trading card games.

He covers major Lego gaming tie-ins, from a Lego NES to a Lego Game Boy, and large crossover sets like One Piece’s 3,400-piece floating restaurant, detailing prices, scale, and what fans can expect from each release. Pokemon trading cards and related merchandise appear frequently in his headlines, including stories on Journey Together Elite Trainer Boxes selling out and reappearing on resale sites for hundreds of dollars. He reports on scalpers targeting unusual items, such as a Magikarp cat toy, and on unofficial adult-focused Pokemon products that include trading cards, capturing how demand and scarcity drive behavior around these brands.

His coverage of Pokemon TCG Pocket events, early launches of Wonder Pick bonuses, and the return of “Owner’s Pokemon” cards in the TCG shows a close watch on card reveals and limited-time promotions. Outside formal articles, his newsletter promotion emphasizes his focus on Lego, trading card games, and other collectibles, reinforcing that this is a sustained area of interest rather than an occasional story.

Game Reviews And Narrative-Focused Picks

Beyond news and deals, Josh writes reviews and longer-form pieces that highlight his preference for strong, sometimes branching, game stories.

His author bio notes that if a game has a strong story - especially one shaped by player decisions - there is a high chance he will be drawn to it. His reviews span indie and mid-budget titles like Heave Ho 2 and The Knightling, where he emphasizes inventive ideas and condensed RPG design that can appeal to a wide audience. He also reviews nostalgic and licensed games, including remasters such as Croc: Legend of the Gobbos, children’s titles like Bluey: The Videogame and Peppa Pig: World Adventures, and collections like Rugrats: Retro Rewind, often focusing on how they balance faithfulness to the original material with modern polish.

Racing titles like NASCAR 21: Ignition and F1 2021 add a simulation angle to his portfolio, where he highlights accessibility for players without deep technical knowledge of motorsport.

His Game of the Year lists for TheGamer show a broad taste across adventure, platforming, and RPGs, with editor’s picks that include games such as Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 among his top choices. Those lists are structured and balanced, underscoring his role in evaluating the year’s catalog rather than only chasing daily news.

Industry Stories And Human Angles

While much of Josh’s work is product-driven, he also writes pieces that foreground the human and narrative sides of the games industry.

His coverage of Yves Guillemot’s tribute honoring his brother after a sudden passing shows his willingness to focus on personal stories involving major industry leaders and the impact of loss on a family-run publisher. In other editorial work referenced in his social feeds, he highlights characters like Roger to argue that games can be more than outsiders often assume, using specific examples to illustrate the medium’s emotional range. He engages with sales data and platform strategy, including analyses of why Xbox Series X was always likely to sell fewer units than PS5 and how Game Pass subscription growth fits into that picture. This mix of human stories, character-focused essays, and business context adds depth to a portfolio otherwise dominated by practical coverage of hardware, services, and collectibles, giving him a broader lens on how the industry operates and is perceived.