Get 3 Months Of Xbox One Game Pass Ultimate For $15--Here's How
For Xbox One owners, there's no better deal than Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft's monthly membership that grants access to a huge library of games, with new games added on a regular basis. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the next step up, combining Game Pass for both console and PC with Xbox Live Gold, which gets you free monthly Xbox One games and exclusive game discounts. The premium membership normally costs $15 a month, but you can pick up three months for the same price thanks to a deal at Amazon right now.
When you buy a one-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription from Amazon, you'll get an additional month of the service free as part of a limited-time promotion. This is available to both new and existing subscribers. To get one more month free, make sure auto-renew is disabled before you take advantage of this deal. When redeeming the first code, you'll be asked to turn on auto-renew to get an additional one month free.
Unfortunately, you'll only get the three free months, not four. According to Twitter user @oketz1, who took advantage of this deal, the bonus code doesn't seem to trigger the additional free month.
The open source 2D game engine GDevelop just released beta 84 of their 5.0.0 branch. Major features of b84 are BBCode formatting support, dozens of new layer effects, improvements to the integrated pixel graphics editor and more.
Thanks @Bouh and @blurymind for porting, trying and setting up these new effects for GDevelop: Black and White, Noise, CRT, Godray, Tilt shift, Advanced bloom, Kawase blur, Zoom blur, Displacement, Color Map, Pixelate, Reflection.
DOTA Underlords has gone from 200K to 18K Peak Players in six months
By Joe Robinson07 Jan 2020
It seems y’all have stopped playing DOTA Underlords. A reddit thread on r/Games has pointed out the Steam Charts listing for Valve’s own Auto Chess take, which shows the game as lost over 80% of its player base since launching mid 2019.
In June peak players were just over 200K, where-as of the last 30 days that’s dropped to around 18,000. It’s worth bearing in mind though that Underlords went from 200K to 100K peak players in the first thirty days, with the decline getting more gradual in the months that followed. The average number of players is around 11K for the last 30 days, which while nothing to sniff at still indicates not as many people are playing as there used to be.
I’m not 100% sure if Steam tracks people who access the game via mobile… I want to say yes, because every-time I bring it up on my phone it then appears in my ‘Most Recent’ played games list within the Steam client, even though I don’t have it installed on my PC. I’d be interested in knowing how many of Underlords’ active players play primarily on their phones or tablets.
Reading the thread in full, you can get some interesting insights as to what core players think of Underlords’ journey since it launched into Beta. Many respect Valve for the experimentation and the better handling of the game versus Artifact, although some haven’t been impressed with the specifics of the updates that have come since. The inclusion of the titular ‘Underlords’ hasn’t really hit home, and the Jailbreak system led to so much confusion that the devs simply dropped it as part of of the December 18th update. Instead they’ve gone for a more direct rotation system, with 14 heroes currently removed from the game.
Some argue that the development team at Valve don’t really know what they want to do with Underlords. You can look at what Drodo is going with the OG Auto Chess game as one route for evolution, but I think Hearthstone Battlegrounds has shown that Auto Chess games can be much more than what we’ve got currently. Underlords was offering its own ‘quick-play’ format called Knockout, and it seems they’ve incorporated the lessons learned from that mode into the Standard and Duo format as well, making all games shorter by default. This will serve as a decent enough short-term solution to help with retention, but I feel like Underlords really needs to step up their thinking.
The ‘Auto Chess Wars’ in general haven’t been as heated as I thought they would be – we had an initial rush of knock-offs and me-toos, but nothing major in the latter half of 2019 apart from Blizzard’s‘ own “Hearthstone but Auto Chess’ experiment. TeamFight Tactics seems to be doing the best out of the ‘big’ auto battler games, and so far no other big-name western publisher has tried to get in on the action.
It will be interesting to see where this new ‘hot’ genre goes in 2020 – I hope it doesn’t die off completely, but a lack of real innovation may lead to stagnation.
Containing all five episodes of the point-and-click adventure, the TV Edition was dependant on the completion of the fifth and final act. While it seems to have taken a little longer than anticipated, the wait is finally over and we’ll soon have the chance to play the entire game through on Switch (and other consoles).
The console version includes all five Acts, plus the Interludes that developer Cardboard Computer released in between the main instalments. Combining elements of magical realism with striking visuals and writing, the game follows the journey of truck driver Conway was he travels Route Zero making a delivery and meeting strange folk along the way. The first two episodes released in relatively quick succession back in 2013, followed by another in 2014 and the fourth in 2016.
With Act V apparently concluding Conroy’s adventure, it’s been a long journey for fans who were there at the beginning, but the plaudits the game has collected along the way suggest the wait will be worth it on console. We’ll be reviewing the game when it’s finally ready, so keep an eye out for our verdict at the end of the month.
Have you played Kentucky Route Zero on PC at any point over the past 7 years? Let us know what we can look forward to and if you’re planning on picking up the Switch version below.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-08-2020, 08:02 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Peacock Is Getting A New Original Show About A Real-Life Murderous Doctor
The upcoming Dr. Death series has found a home on the upcoming streaming service Peacock, as revealed in an interview with one of the stars of the show, Alec Baldwin.
During Tuesday morning's episode of the Howard Stern Show, Baldwin briefly discussed the previously-greenlit series. It was revealed the show would be landing on NBC's upcoming streaming service Peacock, which launches this April.
The story of Dr. Christopher Duntsch garnered national attention in 2018 with the Dr. Death podcast, hosted by Laura Beil--who will produce the new show. The series explored the life of Christopher Duntsch, a doctor who was nicknamed Dr. Death for the death of one patient and maiming of 33 others during his time when he was a practicing surgeon beginning in 2010.
Baldwin is one of the stars of the series, playing spinal surgeon Dr. Robert Henderson, who worked with Duntsch. Dr. Death himself will be played by Jamie Dornan, who is mostly known for his work in the Fifty Shades movies playing Christian Gray.
At this time, there is no release date for the upcoming series, and according to Baldwin, he's not allowed to say much about the show. Peacock has a few other series coming soon, including a Saved By The Bell revival, a Battlestar Galactica reboot, and possibly more from the world of The Office.
Peacock combines the properties of NBC, USA Network, Universal Pictures, Dreamworks, Telemundo, and more, so there will be a wide collection of TV shows, movies, and original content.
Guide: Metroid Prime 4 – Everything We Know So Far
Metroid fans have had some ups and downs when it comes to Nintendo’s haunting space-based series, but it’s been a while since we’d seen everyone’s favourite bounty hunter outside Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The most recent outing for galactic bounty hunter Samus was 2017’s excellent remake of the Game Boy’s Metroid II: The Return of Samus for the 3DS, and the year before that we had the underwhelming spin-off title Metroid Prime: Federation Force.
Since the announcement of Metroid Prime 4 way back at E3 2017, fans have been salivating at the prospect of jumping into Samus’ space suit again, but it’s been a bumpy ride so far for the highly anticipated first-person sequel to Retro Studio’s celebrated Metroid Prime Trilogy.
Below we’ve chronicled the ins and outs of Metroid Prime 4’s story so far, including the game’s announcement, its delay, Retro Studio’s return and every detail that’s been revealed about the upcoming Switch game to this point. We’ll be updating this article as new details are revealed, so be sure to check back for all the latest Metroid Prime 4 information.
So, while we wait for more juicy deets, let’s take a look at everything we know about Metroid Prime 4.
Metroid Prime 4 – The story so far…
We start two-and-a-half years ago. In a move that went against Nintendo’s general rule of only discussing games releasing in the coming year, the company revealed a logo for Metroid Prime 4 way back at E3 2017, just three months after the release of Switch. Confirming that the game was in development, it soon came to light that Retro Studios, the development company who made the original trilogy of games on GameCube and Wii, was not involved with this new game (at that time).
Despite its no-show, Reggie reassured us in July that development of Metroid Prime 4 was “proceeding well” and clarified that its unusually early reveal was intended to reassure Metroid fans that, in addition to Metroid: Samus Returns on 3DS, there was also a Metroid game in development for Switch; the ‘new system’.
So, a year after the initial reveal we’d seen absolutely nothing more of Metroid Prime 4 beside a logo, but Reggie assured us all was well. A photo of the Nintendo of America president wearing a Metroid shirt sent the rumour mill into overdrive, but in November 2018 he once again assured fans that the game was well into development. We had nothing to worry about!…
Or so we thought. In a classic ‘Please Understand’ moment, an official statement and video apology from Nintendo confirmed that the entire project had been scrapped and would be restarted with the involvement of original Metroid Prime development studio, Retro. Shinya Takahashi, Senior Managing Executive Officer at Nintendo thanked fans for their excitement and support and explained that “the current development progress has not reached the standard we seek in a sequel to the Metroid Prime series”.
It was very disappointing news, to be sure, although the fact that Retro Studios was back in the frame helped mitigate ire from fans. Soon job listings started cropping up indicating that Retro would be starting from scratch rather than using any work already done by Bandai Namco. In June, Retro was still seeking an Art Director for the project, with ex-Halo character modeller Kyle Hefley reported to have joined the studio by October – presumably working on Metroid Prime 4, although that remains unconfirmed.
A recent rumour that environmental work on the game might be outsourced to external providers in order to make up for ‘lost time’, coupled with the trickle of hiring news that’s leaked over 2019, indicates that there’s still a long way to go with development of Metroid Prime 4.
What’s been confirmed about Metroid Prime 4?
Very little at present – all we officially know is the name, but obviously that’s subject to change (we wouldn’t be surprised if a sneaky colon crept in).
Looking at the comings and goings of talent to the studio gives us an indication as to the staff involved on the project, but nothing has been confirmed. Approximately half of the development team who worked on the last entry in the proper Prime series are reportedly still at Retro Studios, with fewer than 10 of those having worked on the first Metroid Prime game – the main creatives and project leads left years ago (or have sadly passed away).
Of course, the delay has severely impacted the roll out of information. Nintendo is reluctant to discuss any project until it can deliver concrete details, footage and other information to its audience, and while the reveal of the in-development game was intended to placate Metroid fans wondering why Metroid: Samus Returns was on 3DS rather than Switch, that plan backfired somewhat with the delay resulting in radio silence. We know Metroid Prime 4 is coming, but the lack of information creates room for increased fan speculation.
So, what are people speculating about Metroid Prime 4?
Well, arguably there’s more speculation around what Nintendo will do to plug this Metroid ‘gap’ until Prime 4 arrives. With Retro quite rightfully taking its time with the Switch sequel, Nintendo has a couple of excellent options to help fans pass the time.
What do we think? Well, a Super Metroid remake would be brilliant – it is, after all, one of the greatest video games ever made – but if we’re honest we can’t think of a game that requires a remake less than Super Metroid. The SNES original is a classic which holds up marvellously in 2020, and it’s already available on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Don’t get us wrong – we’d love to see it, but a Switch port of 3DS’ Metroid: Samus Returns arguably makes more sense.
If Nintendo wants to whet the appetite of Metroid fans and potentially onboard new fans who may have missed the original trilogy across GameCube and Wii, Metroid Prime Trilogy HD is the most obvious and plausible option. Originally released on Wii and combining all three Metroid Prime games in one handy package, it introduced motion controls from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption into the two previous entries and, a few missing graphical effects aside, is arguably the best way to play the games today.
Having the entire series on Switch would be a dream come true for many fans, and would act as a perfect apology to desperate fans following the delay of Metroid Prime 4. Metroid Prime Trilogy HD on Switch seems like an open goal, but will Nintendo tap it in? Fingers crossed.
When will Metroid Prime 4 be released?
Well, video games take a long time to gestate. For a game of Metroid Prime 4’s stature, three years would seem to be the minimum amount of time required to get it off the ground and released, although it could easily take longer. It appears that very little if anything was salvaged from Bandai Namco’s time on the game, so assuming Retro started from scratch, Holiday 2021 would seem to be a relatively realistic release window at this point.
That’s not to say Nintendo and Retro won’t be doing their utmost to get the game finished as soon as possible, and rumours that they’re outsourcing environmental art would support the idea that they’re eager to speed things along. Still, assuming the size and scope of the game will be in line with the previous entries in the series (at least), there’s not much more to be done than let the talented folks at Retro get on with the work.
Of course, who can say what the console hardware landscape will look like two years from now. Could Metroid Prime 4 launch alongside some sort of updated Switch hardware or ‘Switch Pro’? It’s certainly not beyond the realms of possibility that it becomes a cross-generational title bridging two consoles similar to how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild did with Wii U and Switch. It really depends on how long development will take.
Ultimately, despite our disappointment and impatience to continue Samus’ adventures on Switch, most Metroid fans will console themselves with that famous quote from Shigeru Miyamoto: “a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad”. Far better that Samus arrives a little late to the party in fine form than bursting in half-ready with a boot missing and her hair caught in her visor, no? We’ll be keeping a close eye on developments.
Remember, we’ll update this page with more information as and when it arrives. If you’re eager for more marvellous Metroid content, feel free to check out our ranking of the best Metroid games of all time.
Talking Point: What We Expect From The First Nintendo Direct Of 2020
It’s the first month of a new year and after gorging ourselves on the very best games of 2019 over the holidays, our appetite for new games is steadily returning as we get into January. Of course, Nintendo announcements come in video-based packages direct to us (and you), and the whispers have already begun. When is the first Nintendo Direct of 2020? That is the question!
Will there be a Nintendo Direct in January 2020?
Well, looking back to last year, Nintendo kept us on tenterhooks until mid-February when it dropped a real whopper of a Direct before following it up at the end of the month with a Pokémon Direct devoted solely to the reveal of Pokémon Sword and Shield. Looking at past years, Nintendo has generally avoided making big announcements in January, preferring to wait until February or March instead (the New Nintendo 3DS reveal and first Switch Direct being notable exceptions).
There’s no guarantee that they’ll follow suit in 2020, though, and with Animal Crossing: New Horizons coming in March, there’s every chance we’ll be getting a Nintendo Direct broadcast sooner rather than later.
So, let’s take a look at our predictions for the first Nintendo Direct of 2020, whenever it may be…
Nintendo Direct 2020 Predictions
New first-party announcements, obviously
Despite the ‘known knowns’ like Animal Crossing, and the ‘known unknowns’ like Metroid Prime 4, Nintendo does like to keep us on our toes with a total surprise. As fun as a huge new IP or new Splatoon would be, a new smaller scale game would be equally welcome. The Stretchers was a unexpected little treat last year, for example, and with this year’s first-party release schedule looking a little light, Switch surely has some tasty treats to fill the gaps in the calendar.
Looking back, 2019’s schedule looked similarly sparse this time last year, so there’s no reason to think Nintendo hasn’t got some aces up its sleeve in 2020. Then, of course, there’ll be the ports…
A Wii U port or two
As they’re wont to do, rumours have sprung up over the last few days of Wii U ports planned for Switch in 2020. No need to call in Columbo to come to that conclusion, of course – Nintendo will obviously be looking to plug holes in its release schedule with choice ‘Deluxe’ ports from its previous console, as it has successfully done since the very beginning with Switch.
We asked you which Wii U titles you’d like to see join their brethren on Switch, and the results were certainly interesting. For our money, Super Mario 3D World and Xenoblade Chronicles X would be very welcome, although we wouldn’t turn our noses up at the Zeldas, The Wonderful 101 or any of the others, either.
Except, perhaps, Devil’s Third. That can stay right where it is.
… and some choice third-party ports
After the total home run that is Witcher 3 on Switch, there are plenty of commentators with egg on their faces as they chew on mouthfuls of their own headgear. When it comes to third-party ports on Nintendo’s console, it would seem that anything is possible given the appropriate resources, time and talent. Games that we thought could never scale to Switch’s mobile chipset suddenly look plausible and only a fool would categorically state that ‘Game X will never come to Switch’.
Rather than pin our hopes on Red Dead 2 or Cyberpunk 2077, though, it might be more fruitful to look to the past. In addition to brand new big hitters like DOOM Eternal, studios like Feral Interactive are bringing excellent ports like Alien: Isolation and GRID Autosport to Switch. These great games might have been around for a few years, but they still show what can be done on the handheld with some know-how and elbow grease. We’d jump at the chance to revisit classics from the Wii U era that skipped Nintendo platforms, provided they got a similar level of care and attention on Switch.
Bayonetta 3 news
It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Platinum Games’ Umbra Witch and finding out more about her third game is one of the things we’re most looking forward to in 2020. E3 2019 feels like the most natural fit for the showboater to reveal more about Bayonetta 3, but we’d expect to see a trailer in any upcoming Nintendo Direct presentation.
The blue hedgehog has been quiet for a suspiciously long time in the realm of video games, although we’ve seen plenty of news concerning his upcoming silver screen debut. We doubt that there’ll be a specific movie tie-in game (unless its a mobile title), but it’s impossible that Sega would let 2020 pass without Mobius’ favourite son popping up on Switch and other consoles. After all, we were promised a new game in 2020 at the very start of April last year…
A deluge of Animal Crossing: New Horizons details
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was delayed last year and unfortunately slipped into 2020, although in hindsight this was probably a good thing, and not just so that the developers had the time to finish the game without grinding themselves into the ground. 2019 was so jam-packed with new games that we struggled to play many of them. If the all-consuming Animal Crossing had been thrown in there too, we’d have likely missed out on a whole lot more besides.
We already know quite a bit about Animal Crossing: New Horizons, but there’s going to be plenty more to come over the next couple of months before its 20th March release date. We wouldn’t be surprised if New Horizons gets its own dedicated mini Direct, either. The first-party schedule might look a little barrem at the moment, but if Nintendo wants to keep April and May free of juicy new releases, that would at least give us some space for our island getaway trip. Bring it on.
The return of a dormant franchise
Last year we looked at dormant franchises we’d like Nintendo to bring back, and now that we’ve seen a Switch entry in most of Nintendo’s big name series, it’s the perfect time to bring back the ‘B-tier’. Longtime readers will be aware of various Nintendo Life staff members’F-Zero fanaticism, but there are plenty of other games which would really fire up hardcore fans and also appeal to the broader audience Switch now enjoys. We can’t help imagining how incredible a new Wave Race could look on Switch. How about something smaller like Pushmo? Where’s the long-rumoured Pikmin 4? Or Picross, perhaps?
That last one’s a joke; Picross is the least dormant series on the planet. There hasn’t been one for at least a month, though, so expect another imminently.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Challenger #5 news
This could come as part of a Nintendo Direct or just as easily make up its own mini Direct presentation. The fifth and final DLC fighter that forms part of the initial Challenger Pack for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is still a secret, but the final piece to this puzzle is scheduled to fall into place by the end of February.
Of course, Masahiro Sakurai has confirmed we’ll be getting even more DLC characters after this lot has wrapped up, so the flame of hope still burns for Waluigi fans. Personally, we think Waluigi would make the perfect final DLC fighter before Sakurai drops the mic and retires.
That is until Nintendo locks him in an iron lung and puts him to work on Super Duper Smash Bros. Ultimater. Poor guy.
Metroid… something
With Retro Studios knee-deep in development on Metroid Prime 4, obviously we’d love to see a little gameplay tease or something more than a temporary logo. On the other hand, any material produced for a Direct would take likely somebody away from developing the game itself, and by all accounts there’s still a long way to go, so probably best not to disturb the team while it’s got its nose to the grindstone.
If Nintendo wanted to throw Metroid fans a bone, though, there’s an easy win just sitting there in the form of Metroid Prime Trilogy HD. We want it, you want it, everybody wants it. Chop chop, Nintendo.
So, that’s what we’re expecting, although when it comes to Nintendo it’s usually best to expect the unexpected. Mother 4? Virtual Boy Classic Mini? A Labo tea set with fully functional teapot and biscuit dispenser? Let us know below when you expect to see the first Nintendo Direct of 2020 and exactly what you’d like it to contain below…
For your convenience, we typically compile the top stories
of each week, along with Major Nelson’s video recap, into a feature we call
This Week on Xbox.
With the year – and indeed the 2010s – drawing to a close, we’ve broadened our look back to include the entirety of 2019. The 12 stories below, one from each month this year, are a collection of informative highlights, announcements, and wrap-ups from some of our biggest events of the year, as well as a few fun features that we loved putting together for you in 2019 on Xbox Wire.
Thanks for reading and we can’t wait to share more stories with you in 2020.
January
Mixer Embers Available Now The first phase of Season 2 launched in November 2018, and it’s been phenomenal to see the Mixer community’s response. From launching fun Stickers and Effects to communities rallying around their favorite streamers’ Sparks milestones, we’ve had a blast seeing the community interact in new ways, and we appreciate all the valuable feedback you’ve given us so far…Read more
February
Welcome (Back) Aboard – 5 Ways Sea of Thieves has Evolved Since Launch When’s the last time you’ve teamed up with a few privateering pals and set sail in Sea of Thieves? If you’ve taken a break from the breakers, you may be surprised at how much more you’ll find floating around the game these days. Rare has continually updated Sea of Thieves (over 30 times in less than a year!), including 4 major, game-altering expansions, delivered for free…Read more
March
Inside Xbox March Episode News Recap Today, on our March episode of Inside Xbox, we made a big announcement about one of the world’s most popular games coming to Xbox Game Pass, revealed some major news regarding Halo: The Master Chief Collection, unveiled some of our plans for E3 2019, introduced a gorgeous new controller, shared info on new modes coming to State of Decay 2, and much more…Read more
April
Introducing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Coming Later this Year In June 2017, we launched Xbox Game Pass – with the goal of empowering gamers all over the world to discover their next favorite game. We also wanted to use Xbox Game Pass as a platform for developers to introduce their amazing games to millions of new people. From the beginning, the service was built based on input from gamers and we’re always listening to fan feedback…Read more
May
Our Approach to PC Gaming We believe the player should be at the center of their gaming experience and be able to harness the unique benefits of the devices they choose to play on. Nowhere is that belief more important than on the PC. As the creators of Windows, we have a unique responsibility to ensure we’re investing in experiences that benefit players everywhere, while respecting the PC…Read more
June
Everything We Announced at the Xbox E3 2019 Briefing Today, Xbox showcased a blockbuster lineup of 60 anticipated games for both console and PC in its Xbox E3 Briefing and shared a glimpse of the future with Project Scarlett, which launches alongside Halo Infinite in 2020. Headlined by the biggest game of 2019, Gears 5, along with over 30 games premiering with Xbox Game Pass, the Xbox E3 Briefing delivered 11 world premieres…Read more
July
How to Get the Most Out of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate This year has seen a number of big Xbox announcements, from our new approach to PC Gaming to all of the news we shared onstage at E3. For many of us, however, the most exciting news was that we created a brand-new membership plan that would benefit gamers in a huge variety of ways. Called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, this program combines Xbox Game Pass for Console…Read more
August
Inside Xbox gamescom News Recap Today, on a special gamescom episode of Inside Xbox broadcast live from Cologne, Germany, we gave fans a closer look at some of the year’s biggest upcoming games, revealed new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, showed off some new enhancements to Age of Empires II DE, pulled the curtain back on new accessories, and much more. For a full recap, read on below or watch…Read more
September
Gears 5 breaks records as biggest launch for any Xbox Game Studios game this generation Thanks to the incredible support from our fans, Gears 5 kicked off the Holiday season strong – attracting over three million players in its opening weekend and setting new records for Xbox Game Pass with the biggest launch week of any Xbox Game Studios title this generation. The performance easily doubled the first week’s debut of Gears of War 4 and made Gears 5 the most-played…Read more
October
Xbox Console Streaming (Preview) Available Now Today, we at Team Xbox are excited to talk about Xbox Console Streaming, our new system feature that lets you play your Xbox One games from your console on a mobile device. If you’re an Xbox Insider in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings in the US and UK, you can now try a preview of Xbox Console Streaming. You’ll be able to play your owned and installed Xbox One games…Read more
November
Everything We Announced at X019 X019 kicked off with the biggest episode of Inside Xbox ever, celebrating all things Xbox with an incredible slate of news, including over ten Xbox Game Studios games on stage, three brand new games revealed from Xbox Game Studios, and four more world premiere titles from developers around the world. Inside Xbox was also home to big news from Xbox Game Pass .. Read more
December
Power Your Dreams with Xbox Series X, Available Holiday 2020 For eighteen years and three console generations, the Xbox community has shown us the power both games and fun can have on all of us. As we enter a new generation of gaming, we see a future where you’re instantly absorbed in your games – where worlds are even more lifelike, immersive, responsive and surprising – and where you are at the center of your gaming experience… Read more
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-08-2020, 12:24 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Video Game Deep Cuts: Doom, Final Doom, Doom 2020
The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutras community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from video game industry ‘watcher’ Simon Carless (GDC, Gamasutra co-runner, No More Robots advisor), rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend.
The latest highlights include two standout articles about id Software’s classic Doom, as well as some picks for the top upcoming games of 2020, some final ‘best of 2019’ charts, some great retro game articles, & lots more besides.
So I’m sure there won’t REALLY be doom in 2020, and I’m just goofing, but I hope everyone has a very pleasant New Year and keeps pushing games as a great pastime & art form. And also isn’t one of those people getting a bit over the top with exploitative F2P, that’s none of you folks, right? Great. Happy New Year!
Vampires, gangsters and Keanu Reeves: our games picks for 2020(Keith Stuart & Keza MacDonald / The Guardian – ARTICLE) “A remake of a beloved classic, long-awaited sequels, alien shooting and Minecraft adventure lead our preview of this year’s most anticipated releases.”
Dear Player: I love you, let’s talk(Jennifer Scheurle / Polygon – ARTICLE) “Dear Player, We don’t really know each other at the best of times. In most cases, we will never get to meet — and yet, our relationship is one of love. At least, I feel this way about you. I’m never quite as sure how you feel about me, either good or bad, due to how many of those emotions are communicated only in the strongest possible terms.”
Gamasutra’s Best of 2019: 8 standout Apple Arcade games(Staff / Gamasutra – ARTICLE) “Apple Arcade’s curated library launched with a number of captivating titles, and those ever-growing ranks include several games that wormed their way into the daily lives of Gamasutra’s editorial team and our various devices. So on top of our usual Best of 2019 coverage, here are editors’ personal picks for the best games currently on Apple Arcade.”
The Roots of Doom Mapping: An Evolution of Level Design Through the Most Influential WADs Ever Made(Not Jabba / DoomWorld – ARTICLE) “As we worked on 25 Years of Doom, we tossed around all kinds of ideas for historical articles: a history of gameplay modding, histories of specific mapping styles, histories of memes. There was even some half-joking discussion about a history of Doom maps featuring helipads with a giant letter H on them. You could probably write that article if you wanted to. There’s been plenty of material. But a history of all Doom mapping…well, that’d be an entire book’s worth of content.”
The Cost Of Being A Woman Who Covers Video Games (Maddy Myers / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “Now that it’s 2020, I keep thinking about how it felt to be a woman writing about gender in video games back in 2010. Ten years ago, the gender imbalance in the video game industry was not seen as a problem to be solved so much as a mundane and largely unquestioned reality.”
The “Zorfon” Mystery: Answers from a Golden-Age Video Game Developer(Rob Wanenchak / Medium – ARTICLE) “Noelie Alito not only answered my questions about the odd cartridge in my possession, ZORFON PATROL, she kindly answered a number of interview questions, allowing me a glimpse into what it was like working for General Computer Corporation doing programming for Atari games in the early 1980s.”
Exploring the Tech and Design of Noita(Petri Purho / GDC / YouTube – VIDEO) “In this 2019 GDC session, Nolla Games’ Petri Purho talks about the technical details of Noita’s physics engine, including scaling up the falling sand simulation to support large continuous worlds and integrating destructible rigid body physics, while demonstrating the emergent physics based gameplay.”
The year in videogame blogging: 2019(Kris Ligman / Critical Distance – ARTICLE) “Sure, we’re still arguing over whether games are capital-A Art and reinventing the (totally fake) ludology-narratology “debates” for the umpteenth time, but I can say without reservation that this year’s writers are the most diverse, talented, and fearless bunch I’ve ever laid eyes on. [SIMON’S NOTE: if you want the ‘social issues around games’ take in 2019, Kris & friends are the best as per usual.]”
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts – 1988 Developer Interview(Shmuplations / Gamest – ARTICLE) “In this interview, conducted at the 1988 AM Show arcade trade event, Makaimura/Ghosts’n Goblins creator Tokuro Fujiwara and greenhorn Hiroshi Yamamoto discuss the making of Daimakaimura/Ghouls’n Ghosts, the impending sequel to Capcom’s 1985 smash hit arcade game, and how both an influx of new blood and new arcade hardware allowed the team to more fully realize the concepts established in the original game.”
How much of a genius-level move was using binary space partitioning in Doom?(Sinclair Target / Ars Technica – ARTICLE) “I’ve also wondered where binary space partitioning first came from and how the idea found its way to Carmack. So this post is about John Carmack and Doom, but it is also about the history of a data structure: the binary space partitioning tree (or BSP tree). It turns out that the BSP tree, rather interestingly, and like so many things in computer science, has its origins in research conducted for the military.”
Surviving GameStop: How Passion, Community, and Novelty Keep Indie Game Stores Alive(Phillip Moyer / EGM Now – ARTICLE) ““You’ll never find this. You’ll probably never see another one of these unless you go online and look at a picture,” said Brian Marks, beaming with pride while waving around his store’s newest purchase. Marks is the owner of Game Repair, an independent game shop in Las Vegas. He just got his hands on a 56k modem for the Nintendo GameCube.”
How the Photo Mode Became a Homogenized Feature of Commodified Games(Dia Lacina / VICE – ARTICLE) “A day of finding those incongruous spaces is what feeds me creatively. It’s what I’m starving for when I consider the game worlds where I try, and so often fail, to get similarly lost. We’ve gotten too good at designing video game worlds. We have best practices, rubrics for successful map design, techniques and technologies to guide players — and we need to guide them — down explicit pathways.”
The Making of Outer Wilds – Documentary(Noclip / YouTube – VIDEO) “We talk to the developers at Mobius Digital Games about the design of their breakthrough hit – Outer Wilds. [SIMON’S NOTE: exemplary work from Danny O’Dwyer and friends, as per usual.]”
The most anticipated video games of 2020(Elise Favis / Washington Post – ARTICLE) “The new year leaves us on the precipice of a new console generation. Titles like Hellblade: Senua’s Saga, Halo: Infinite and Godfall are announced for next gen platforms, while others haven’t revealed PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X versions (i.e. Cyberpunk 2077) and will release for the current generation. Despite this transitional period, we still have plenty to be excited about.”
25 Years With an Invisible Elephant in the Room(Tom James / Medium – ARTICLE) “It’s about time we in Western circles more widely grappled with the place that historical dating sims inhabit within this canon. In the remaining days of this year, one already rife with significant anniversaries in video game history, there’s one paradigm-defining entry in the genre that turned 25 this past May, yet has lamentably gone ignored despite its sheer presence in its homeland and its immense legacy remaining in many of today’s chart-topping hits.”
Blendo Games Has Been At It For 10 Years, And Has Consistently Kicked Ass(Heather Alexandra / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “A decade can feel short, but it’s still plenty of time to build out an artistic catalogue. As AAA studios labored towards creating bigger and more expensive games in the 2010s, one indie developer helped shape how we think of video games stories, using narrative subversion, clever editing, and an overall sense of playfulness. The developer is Brendon Chung and his independent studio, Blendo Games.”
The 100 Best Video Games of the 2010s(Staff / Slant Magazine – ARTICLE) “Comedian Kumail Nanjiani claimed some years back that video games are the only art form that got better solely because of technology. While that’s arguably been true for much of the medium’s history, it ceased to be the case in the 2010s. The decade in gaming didn’t lack for astounding technical achievements, but its arc was defined less by powerful technology than powerful ideas.”
Buzz Aldrin’s Race into Space (and Space-Program Games in General)(Jimmy Maher / The Digital Antiquarian – ARTICLE) “But this article is not about one or more of those interesting cultural outliers. It’s rather about an interestingly scanty subgenre of games which seems like it ought to have been perfect for the demographic I’ve just described, but that for some reason just never quite took off. Specifically, I speak of games based on the realities of space exploration in a contemporary context, as opposed to the outer-space fantasias of Star Wars and the like.”
What Cats Can Teach You About Empathic Game Design(Willem Delventhal / GDC / YouTube – VIDEO) “In this 2019 GDC session, Mew and Me’s Willem Delventhal explains how designing games for house cats helped him think about designing games for humans as well. “
How Unity Of Command 2 balances game design with military history(Alex Wiltshire / RockPaperShotgun – ARTICLE) “But as well as dealing with Europe’s topography, the sequel would also have to be a lot more complex than the first. “It was a much more technically complicated war than the Eastern front,” he says. The war here was heavily affected by intelligence and the Allies’ almost continual air superiority. There were amphibious landings and it involved armies from many different countries. ”Multidimensional. We needed more stuff.””
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[REMINDER: you can sign up to receive this newsletter every weekend at tinyletter.com/vgdeepcuts – we crosspost to Gamasutra later, but get it first via newsletter! Story tips and comments can be emailed to [email protected]. MINI-DISCLOSURE: Simon is one of the organizers of GDC and Gamasutra & an advisor to indie publisher No More Robots, so you may sometimes see links from those entities in his picks. Or not!]
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 01-08-2020, 12:24 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Report: Rumors suggest a new Switch model is due out this year
A new report from the Taiwanese publication DigiTimes (picked up by Polygon) says that Nintendo is reportedly starting production on a new Nintendo Switch model in only a few months time, with plans to release the console before year-end.
Information from “sources from the related upstream supply chain” obtained by DigiTimes suggests that the new system would boast a magnesium alloy body as well as an improved CPU. Current plans reportedly see production starting up at the end of Q1, with the upgraded Switch’s launch planned as a mid-2020 launch.
It’s far from the first leak to cover new Switch models, and several of those past rumors have already come to pass through 2019’s launch of both the cheaper Switch Lite and a slightly upgraded base Switch model. The DigiTimes report appears closer to the rumored Switch Pro release some have speculated Nintendo has in the works, though Nintendo itself has yet to officially confirm any plans for a more powerful Switch system.
