By Malcolm Owen
Saturday, December 28, 2019, 01:36 pm PT (04:36 pm ET)

Apple is continuing to highlight the high-speed capabilities of the iPhone 11’s front-facing camera, by releasing four videos showing how a ‘slofie’ could be taken on the smartphone with a wide variety of different results on the same theme.

Introduced at the launch of the iPhone 11, a “Slofie” is the same as a self-portrait “selfie,” except that instead of bring a single shot, it’s actually a slo-mo video of the subject. Combining “slow” and “selfie” in a portmanteau, it takes advantage of updates to the front-facing camera, which allows it to record at 4K resolution at up to 60fps, and in slo-mo at up to 120fps.

The four videos published to the official YouTube account on Saturday show how the concept can be explored in different ways, while also pointing out how making the videos can be funny. The first has a man with loose skin move his face from side to side, with the slofie capturing the wobbling jowls.

The second has a man dancing under a sprinkler, simultaneously advertising the iPhone 11’s water resistance.

A third is a group slofie where three girls move around a smoke-filled and neon-colored room, which turns out to be a walk-in freezer at a store.

The fourth is not new, as it is the same video Apple itself played to the audience at the launch of the iPhone 11. In it, a girl in front of a foil backdrop has air from a hairdryer blasted at her face as she moves around.

At the start of the year, Switch fans got a shock when Nintendo announced the development of Metroid Prime 4 had been entirely restarted. This followed later on in the year with the delay of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

With this in mind, it’s nice when we do get regular updates from developers about how their upcoming projects are going. In this case, the latest one is about the anticipated Switch exclusive, Bayonetta 3. A Twitter user reached out to PlatinumGames’ Hideki Kamiya recently and asked when fans could expect to hear more. Kamiya responded with the following line: “Development is going really well. There you go” (translation by Nintendo Everything).

Sure, it’s not much, but after all of the other delays and setbacks this year, it’s nice to know Bayonetta 3 is still on track, especially after it wasn’t shown at this year’s E3.

Are you looking forward to the third chapter in this series? Leave a comment down below.

The Gamasutra Job Board is the most diverse, active and established board of its kind for the video game industry!

Here is just one of the many, many positions being advertised right now.

Location: San Diego, CA

PlayStation’s Visual Arts Services Group (VASG) provides world-class content, development and services to Worldwide Studios. Our team is always at the cutting edge of technology and partners with the industry’s best minds and first-party studios.

We are looking for a Rigging Supervisor to join our sunny San Diego, CA development team. This role requires expert Maya rigging/scripting skills as well as strong knowledge of anatomy and realistic deformation to deliver the industry-leading quality PlayStation’s award-winning lineup is known for. This hands-on position will also require leadership and communication skills to ensure output is efficiently executed, timely, and meet the technical/animation requirements.

Role responsibilities

• Set up and maintain character (humans & animals) rigs and systems
• Work with art team to develop models that meets technical requirements
• Work with animation team to create artist-friendly rigs that satisfy animation/gameplay needs
• Design and set up character dynamics (i.e. cloth, hair)
• Develop new techniques and processes to further advance quality/realism
• Collaborate with TDs in on-going facial and muscle simulation research
• Create tools to streamline workflow/pipelines for multiple projects.
• Work with team directors and production to identify/prioritize tasks
• Provide and maintain technical documentation
• Work with and mentor character riggers to provide clear direction and set expectations for aesthetic and technical requirements; instill best practices

Required Experience & Skills

• Expert knowledge of Maya, with minimum of 5 years of production experience in game or film/vfx fields.
• At least 1 year as a Lead or Supervisor on AAA
• In-depth knowledge of character/prop rigging technique and principles
• Strong understanding of figure and facial anatomy
• Python scripting
• Experience with adopting production pipelines and make improvements that respect guidelines and system requirements
• Strong troubleshooting skills and the ability to find pragmatic solutions
• Proven ability to be self-sufficient and take initiative to seek answers and address issues
• Effective communication skills

Bonus Skills

C++ experience (Maya API)

Familiarity in runtime performance efficiency and optimization

Sony is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All persons will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, legally protected physical or mental disability, covered veteran status, status in the U.S. uniformed services, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information or membership in any other legally protected category.

We strive to create an inclusive environment, empower employees and embrace diversity. We encourage everyone to respond.

We sincerely appreciate the time and effort you spent in contacting us and we thank you for your interest in PlayStation.

Interested? Apply now.

Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.

Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.

Looking for a new job? Get started here. Are you a recruiter looking for talent? Post jobs here.

Hey game makers, hope you’re closing out the year in style! Today, Game Developers Conference organizers have confirmed that the popular GDC Pitch event will return next year as part of the GDC Play showcase of emerging and independent developers!

If you’ve never been, know that GDC Pitch is a very special event designed to help select participants practice their game-pitching skills with experienced professionals — as well as a live audience of GDC attendees!

It’s a fun and valuable experience for both presenters and spectators, since a great pitch can be the key that secures the future of your studio, or ensures your game has the resources to reach the players who will appreciate it most.

Interested in participating? Here’s how it works: Game developers who register to exhibit their game in GDC Play 2020 by Wednesday, February 12th may be selected to receive pitching advice and coaching, then pitch their game to an opinionated panel of investors and publishers in front of an audience.

(No pressure!)

All told, 10 selected teams will each be offered pitch prep and training, then get 5 minutes to pitch, followed by questions, advice, and feedback from the judges. The judges will declare a “Best Pitch” on each day, and award each a complimentary All Access pass to GDC 2021.

What is GDC Play, you might ask? It’s a special area at GDC (open Wednesday through Friday, March 18th through 20th) that showcases emerging and independent developers, with room to show off your game and meeting rooms to conduct business. It’s a great place to drum up interest in your game, and it’s still open to potential exhibitors (but it fills up quick) so register now!

As part of the ‘Best in Play’ awards program all GDC Play exhibitors will be judged on their in-development or complete games by a panel of veteran GDC organizers and Gamasutra editors. The top 8 will be named ‘Best in Play’ winners, and all 8 winners will receive 2 All Access Passes to the 2021 Game Developers Conference. In addition, special ‘Best in Play’ designations will be attached to the honorees’ GDC Play tables at GDC 2020, where their games will be playable to all GDC attendees.

For more details on GDC 2020 visit the show’s official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent company Informa Tech

From now until the end of 2019 we’ll be celebrating the coming year by looking back and republishing some of our finest features from the past twelve months, in addition to our regular output. This article first appeared on the site back in November. Enjoy!

A few weeks ago while scrolling through Twitter, a particular video clip caught our eye. It showed Slipstream, a 1995 F1 arcade game from Capcom. Using Sega’s System 32 board, it was produced in very limited quantities for the Latin American market and never saw wide release.

As you can see from the tweet below, it’s a beautiful looking, colourful game with some nifty sprite scaling techniques, but at a time when 3D racers like Virtua Racing, Daytona USA and Ridge Racer were showing the potential of polygons, sprites – however cleverly scaled – were viewed as a backwards step and Slipstream was destined to be ignored. Looking back now, it looks remarkable and we’d love to take it for a spin on Switch or any other modern system.

So, how do we get our hands on it? With every game in history seemingly coming to Switch, surely there’s space for this beautiful-looking curio amongst all the mobile ports and 99 cent downloads. Unfortunately, if you’re not au fait with ROM hunting on the internet, you’re out of luck.

Cue angry gamers decrying Capcom and the vast back catalogue of games it’s hoarding while churning out REmake after RErelease. Capcom, Sega and the rest seem happy enough to pump out the old standards again and again – the Sonic the Hedgehogs, the Street Fighters – but ignore a trove of gaming treasures locked away in their vaults. Why won’t they let us play these games legally? Why won’t they take our money?

We’d be happy enough with a bare-bones ROM package for the right price. The Resident Evil Switch ports show us that companies like Capcom aren’t too precious about showcasing the games at their very best – good enough is invariably good enough. Dumping Slipstream into an emulator package and throwing it on eShop would be right up Capcom’s alley, no?

Unfortunately, gamers frequently ignore the business realities that accompany bringing any kind of software to market. “If a game is still out of print, it’s because its owner doesn’t know how to make it profitable,” says Frank Cifaldi, video game historian, preservationist and developer with Digital Eclipse, the studio behind retro revivals including the excellent Street Fighter 30th Anniversary, Mega Man Legacy and Disney Afternoon Collections as well as the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection. “Money’s always the issue. I can’t think of any situation where a game is out of print for any other reason. But money can mean more than just ‘we don’t know if we can recoup the development cost,’ there are a lot of hidden costs to consider.”

In addition to Quality Assurance, certification from the platform holder, ratings certification with various global bodies and other requirements, there are often licencing issues to consider and simply investigating the possibility of a potential release can present a sizeable barrier. “Researching whether a company still has the rights to a game can be a tremendous legal cost,” Cifaldi continues. “Or sometimes the rights to a game are split up. Let’s say a game’s composer is owed royalties every time you sell their game. If you’re the company that owns it, actually tracking that person down, renegotiating the rights, etc. is a cost. As would be actually doing the accounting work to pay that person, which is especially difficult if you’re a company that doesn’t already have that accounting machine in place.”

It’s this risk-averse environment that means we see the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog repeatedly rereleased

It’s not unusual for publishers themselves to be hazy regarding exactly what rights they have retained or sold through the years, and these issues only get murkier as time goes by. Things are further complicated – often intentionally so – by companies who acquire IP in order to ‘sit on’ it with a view to taking legal action should a confused party green-light a project blindly assuming they have the rights tied up. In the process of writing this piece, we spoke to a senior member of staff at one major third-party publisher (who will remain anonymous) who was recently surprised to learn that it no longer owns the rights to republish one of its most famous games from the early ’90s, and that the original developer, when contacted, had sold the rights to another company for a tiny fee only a few months previously. As time passes, rights are sold and resold and old, paper-based contracts get lost, so even checking terms can be tricky, time-consuming and costly. Simply put, many publishers don’t even know what they own, and taking the time to find what they do own has a cost attached to it.

With profit margins on many ‘niche’ retro titles already extremely slim, the risk of having to fork out a licensing fee to a previously unknown rights holder or face potential litigation creates an atmosphere of risk to an already-questionable venture. No wonder so many games remain locked away; uncertainty makes such projects untenable from a business perspective.

And remember, this is before any development work can take place – this is preparation for a reheated ROM to be ‘lazily’ thrown on digital storefronts sans frills. It’s this risk-averse environment that means we see the Genesis Sonic the Hedgehog repeatedly rereleased – SEGA knows Sonic has the pop-culture cachet to sell on every platform, every generation. That affection is a huge part of the success of Sonic Mania, for example; a Kickstarter campaign from one of that game’s co-developers looked to tap into a similar vein of 16-bit nostalgia with a new IP and ran aground almost immediately. Would a retro release like Slipstream make enough to even cover the most basic costs of unearthing it?

In the case of Slipstream, there’s the additional issue that it features real-world brands. Whether Foster’s, Mobil and the other brands adorning the billboards were consulted at the time of release is immaterial now (they probably weren’t, given the standards of the time – Sega was famously sued by tobacco firm Philip Morris due to unauthorised Marlboro cigarette advertisements in Super Monaco GP); licences would need to be (re)negotiated or those assets removed – more work and, crucially, more money.

In order for developers to be able to go above-and-beyond and provide added value and modern features, further investment is necessary – financially, of course, but also by providing access to archival resources and not closing down potential outside avenues. “SNK was a really great partner,” says Cifaldi of the company’s willingness to engage with its past. “What we loved about them is that not only do they acknowledge past employees as having contributed to the company, they go as far as to talk to and even pay them. Yoshino-san [Kasatoshi Yoshino, SNK veteran] for example, is someone who worked at SNK in the ‘80s and hasn’t been there in a long time. SNK actually paid him as a consultant to work with us, and to scan a lot of his vintage material that you see in the game’s museum. It’s a rarity for game companies to do that, we were blown away by the level of respect they give to the people who actually built their legacy.”

If beloved classics have to fight tooth-and-nail to scrape a rerelease, what chance do unloved, average games have of seeing the light of day

Over the years, bankruptcies, acquisitions and name changes mean that SNK as an entity has fractured several times. The company as it is today had an interest in assembling and archiving its history, preserving its brand at the same time as documenting a prestigious past. The SNK 40th Anniversary Collection brings together a large number of games that were previously unavailable, and the company even coughed up for free post-release updates including more games. Not every title included is a classic, which is noteworthy; if beloved classics have to fight tooth-and-nail to scrape a rerelease, what chance do unloved, average games have of seeing the light of day apart from in these sorts of packages? Suddenly these collections become important archival documents themselves.

Of course, many would argue that most things are only a web search and a right-click away, and there’s a notion that the proliferation of ROMs online deters companies from doing the work to bring games back. Does the idea that Slipstream is probably already sitting on the hard drives of hardcore devotees discourage companies from releasing them in an official capacity? Cifaldi isn’t convinced. “I haven’t heard anything from the clients I’ve worked with that re-releasing an old game is hopeless because of ROM availability. If that were the case obviously companies like Hamster with its Arcade Archives could not possibly flourish.”

In a sense, emulation has already ‘preserved’ Slipsteam and anyone can dive into MAME, tinker on their PC and sample its delights for themselves. There is, though, a group of gamers either unable or unwilling to bother with that process and its inherent hurdles (however easily negotiated). There are fans who lack the time or inclination to recreate the absolutely ‘authentic’ experience; they just want convenient access and a decent level of accuracy. How else can the success of the various plug-and-play mini consoles be explained? They strike a balance between authenticity and practicality which clicks with the vast majority of gamers. Even enthusiasts have to compromise; CRTs, Framemeisters and bulky original hardware often don’t mix well with kids, pets and mortgages in a three-bedroom semi-detached. No wonder we’re rebuying all the classics on Switch.

Taking all these factors into account, don’t expect to see Slipstream on the eShop soon, however, well we believe it would fit alongside the likes of Virtua Racing. If stone-cold, sure-selling classics like GoldenEye 007 are stuck in licencing purgatory, what chance has an obscure Brazil-only arcade racer got?

In the old days we made the exact same mistake that the film industry did

We are slowly seeing progress, though, and there are examples of companies going above and beyond when it comes to game preservation that manages to make repackaging old games, classic or otherwise, attractive to all parties. “Screaming Villains is taking vintage video game remastering to the next level,” says Cifaldi. “Its version of Night Trap is now the definitive version of the game, and the extras they included are absolutely amazing.”

With devs like M2 and Digital Eclipse ready and willing to do the work, the onus inevitably falls on the big companies to greenlight retro projects and have the foresight to archive materials appropriately, something every dev should be endeavouring to do, whether tiny indie outfit or huge video gaming institution. On the face of it, Nintendo appears to have a decent record when it comes to preserving its history, as evidenced through the archived tidbits glimpsed in Iwata Asks interviews and the Hyrule Historia and the vein of material it taps into occasionally, often while promoting classic franchises like Zelda and Mario. Cifaldi cautions against having too much faith, though. “We really don’t know what Nintendo’s archiving practice is like, and I don’t think any of us in the archiving world are comfortable with just assuming they’ve got their stuff taken care of.”

On the topic of the general state of archiving and awareness among developers, he believes it’s a mixed bag. “I think it’s both better and worse. It’s better in the sense that companies are making a much better practice of archiving actual video game source code, because we finally live in a world where there’s a secondary market for a game. In the old days, we made the exact same mistake that the film industry did. In the 1930s, there wasn’t really a secondary market for a film. You made it, you sold it to theatres, you moved on. There wasn’t ‘home video’ yet – hell, there wasn’t TELEVISION yet – so the idea of archiving a movie for the future made no sense. That’s why almost all of those are gone now. Video games went through a similar time in the old days, but today the idea of doing a ‘remaster’ on a new console is so commonplace that it seems like source archiving is taken more seriously. On the flipside, almost no games are standalone, offline experiences anymore – they’re these living, breathing things that are updated, that have online communities, etc., so I feel that in some ways archiving a game is harder than ever.”

What is clear is that games and peripheral materials are inevitably being lost and it’s a race against the clock to preserve many games, especially the lesser-known ones, for future generations. Everything might be available if you know where to look, but there’s a wealth of context in the form of materials and information being lost, whether passing with the people who made them or simply being disregarded because ‘who’d want to play a weird Brazil-only F1 racer, right?’

Well, we would. Cifaldi has discussed in his excellent GDC talks how he is striving to create ‘documentaries you play with a controller’ or ‘coffee table books you play on a video game platform’. Making games themselves the document or ‘museum piece’ would seem to be the best way not only to present the software with some historical context (pretty much a necessity if you’re going to get much enjoyment from the NES version of Ikari Warriors, for example), but also put them into a profitable package. After all, it’s always about the bottom line.

There are many ways games could be adapted to also incorporate curated museum ‘tour’ features. Digital Eclipse incorporated a ‘jump in’ mechanic in the SNK Collection whereby players could watch a playthrough of the game and take control whenever they wished. Nintendo has done this in the past, although with its Luigi ‘Super Guide’ mode, and there are many ways this could expand in the future. For example, imagine a Mario Maker where you could not only flip between game styles, but also overlay original level templates, schematics, post-it notes and other design doc materials as you play. Perhaps ‘gamifying’ the museum exhibit is the best way to educate and preserve, and we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible.

In the meantime, we should do our best to support titles like the SNK 40th Anniversary Collection and the Disney Afternoon Collection (given the chance, eh Switch owners?!), as well as all the retro delights that are coming to Switch and other platforms. There are plenty more games out there deserving of some archival love, and companies ultimately need to see profit in revisiting the past. “My two favourite games of all time are Mother 3 and The Secret of Monkey Island,” Cifaldi concludes. “I think both are deserving of deeper explorations than we’ve seen.”

Mother 3, eh? Never heard of it.

Many thanks to Frank for his contribution to this feature. You can find him on Twitter or via the Video Game History Foundation.

Christmas is over, Boxing Day’s been banished for another year and now you’re left combining three-day old scraps of turkey with whatever other leftovers and condiments are lying around the house. Yes, the inter-holiday lull has set in, and while it’s not quite up there with the January blues, it’s easy to slip into a turkey-induced funk between Christmas and New Year.

You should count your blessings, though – things could be so much worse! 2019 has been a bountiful year and lucky Switch owners will find a huge library of brilliant games to choose from to occupy themselves over the holiday period. Take care, though. The eShop is clogged with plenty of less accomplished efforts, and we’ve collected ten of the worst below for your reading ‘pleasure’.

Of course, it’s tough to say definitively what the absolute worst Switch game of 2019 was – the avalanche of software hitting the eShop prevents us from reviewing everything, but the following 10 titles are the lowest scoring games we’ve reviewed in the year 2019. All except number 10, that is. Numerically that entry scored slightly higher, but we’ve included it because, given the heritage of the series, we found the game so crushingly, demoralisingly disappointing, we simply had to feature it. A crying shame.

Okay, buckle up and brace yourselves – it’s going to be a rough ride…

Publisher: Konami / Developer: Konami

Release Date: 24th Sep 2019 (USA) / 26th Sep 2019 (UK/EU)

Contra: Rogue Corps has some good ideas. The twin-stick action could have worked if it hadn’t been so fussy and inaccurate, the choice of characters could have been great if they’d had a bit more variety and the deep customisation and online game modes could have added longevity if they hadn’t been attached to such a drab and messy-looking game. In the end, nothing about this endeavour feels in any way related to the Contra games you know and love, and you’d do much better to grab the Contra Anniversary Collection at a much lower price – or try out one of the many excellent retro twin-stick shooters or side-scrolling action games already available on the platform. Blazing Chrome should be your first port of call.

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Publisher: Rising Star Games / Developer: Amplify Creations

Release Date: 28th Nov 2019 (USA) / 28th Nov 2019 (UK/EU)

Despite looking promising before release, Decay of Logos is a disappointing mess. It looks bad, has some crippling performance issues and is stuffed full of nonsensical and overly-punitive gameplay systems that make every minute you spend with it feel like a slog. The world that Amplify Creations has created here does occasionally feel like it could be an interesting and worthwhile place to explore, but there are just far too many bugs and problems that get in the way of you settling down to enjoy this game in any way whatsoever. Avoid.

Publisher: Rival Games / Developer: Rival Games

Release Date: 12th Nov 2019 (USA) / 12th Nov 2019 (UK/EU)

Thief of Thieves is an awful video game. It’s tedious and clunky, has broken AI, awful dialogue, miserable characters and a boring story that has absolutely nothing of interest to say or add to the heist genre. Its cel-shaded, comic-book style graphics are a strong point, but they’re compromised here by a weak Switch port that’s too blurry in handheld mode and horribly pixelated when you dock it to play on a big screen. There are also a handful of unforgivable technical issues; noticeable framerate problems, a bug that crashes you back to your console’s homescreen and overly long loading times that break up the gameplay far too often. In short, this is a crime-heist caper that’s out to rob you of your time and money and is, in every conceivable way, much more of a snore than a score.

Publisher: PQube / Developer: Kadokawa Games

Release Date: 3rd Sep 2019 (USA) / 30th Aug 2019 (UK/EU)

If you’re new to visual novels, and curious, then go somewhere else first; Root Letter: Last Answer could put you off the genre for life. But if you’re a visual novel fan, you’ve played all the other interesting ones on the Switch and you absolutely cannot wait for another – and if you’ve considered maybe just going outside or watching TV or lying on the floor and staring at the ceiling and you still can’t wait for another – then you could take a look at Root Letter and just hope you find it so bad it’s good. Root Letter? On balance, we’d opt for Root Canal (Surgery).

A naked old man farts in your bath, so there’s that. Still, probably more fun to eat some beans and jump in the tub yourself, no?

Publisher: Polygon Art / Developer: Polygon Art

Release Date: 23rd Apr 2019 (USA) / 23rd Apr 2019 (UK/EU)

Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is an Early Access game that came of the oven less than half-baked. The good intentions of the developer are clear to see in the open-ended nature of each map and the way you approach each objective in your way by opening locked doors and hacking computers rather than shooting your way into a facility, but none of the mechanics in place ever make these conditions feel reliable or rewarding. It’s a purely single-player experience that really needed more time to work out its considerable number of kinks before enlisting on the eShop.

Publisher: TROOOZE / Developer: TROOOZE

Release Date: 6th Jun 2019 (USA) / 10th Jun 2019 (UK/EU)

Bullet Battle: Evolution does not bode well for the future of online shooters on Switch. With it looking increasingly unlikely Call of Duty will ever return to Nintendo hardware, it falls to other studios to fill that gap. Unfortunately, undercooked messes like this one don’t help the cause. A free-to-play shooter that’s riddled with disabled microtransactions that bottleneck progress, this is a clunky effort that’s in dire need of some proper optimisation and a complete overhaul of its progression systems and balancing. You’re far better off sticking to Fortnite, Realm Royale, DOOM and Paladins for your online shooting needs.

Publisher: Snail Games / Developer: Snail Games

Release Date: 31st May 2019 (USA) / 31st May 2019 (UK/EU)

PixARK on the Switch is a poorly optimized, unenjoyable, and otherwise weak approximation of the Minecraft experience that in no way delivers value equivalent to the money you’re paying for it. Your time could be so much better spent on just about anything else you can think of. It offers a lacklustre survival experience that’s not even worth the memory it’ll take up on your SD card; life’s much too short to be wasted on poorly made games such as this.

Publisher: Atypical Games / Developer: Atypical Games

Release Date: 13th Jun 2019 (USA) / 13th Jun 2019 (UK/EU)

Radiation City is shovelware, to put it bluntly. Within the entirety of its (admittedly large) open world, there isn’t a single original idea to be found. The ideas it copies from its contemporaries aren’t well implemented either. If you’re looking for an enjoyable open-world zombie game, look somewhere else. If you just want a thrilling undead experience, check out Resident Evil.

Other more fun activities include stubbing your toe on the corner near your bathroom with the super pointy skirting board, and then one hour later doing exactly the same thing with the same mangled and swollen toe. At least you you can sit back at a later date and appreciate the comedy value of that.

Publisher: Digital Crafter / Developer: Digital Crafter

Release Date: 18th Jan 2019 (USA) / 18th Jan 2019 (UK/EU)

Somebody, somewhere, thought we needed an answer to the question of ‘Could Santa take Jesus in a fight?’ As questions go, we’ve heard worse down the pub of an evening, but in the context of a video game it’s laughably thin. With such a wealth of fighting games on Nintendo Switch, a cheap and poorly executed example such as this simply doesn’t make the cut. Even without its questionable choice of characters, you’re much better off spending your money on one of the many other 2D fighters available on Switch than wasting a cent on Fight of Gods.

Publisher: Microids / Developer: Microids

Release Date: 19th Nov 2019 (USA) / 7th Nov 2019 (UK/EU)

And here we are. Garfield Kart Furious Racing was the biggest turkey we had the misfortune of clogging our micro SD with this year. Until we wiped it from our Switch’s memory, of course. If only it was that easy with our own memories!

We always knew Garfield was something of a rebel, but taking a bad six-year-old game, making it even worse to play, pretending it’s a sequel and charging Switch owners more than double the price to suffer it is some pretty subversive stuff. A broken mess of a game where somehow collision detection on the track itself periodically fails, causing you to fall though into the polygonal nightmare that exists below, not even everyone’s favourite curmudgeonly kitty can save this travesty. No guilty pleasures to be had here – this one’s so bad, it’s bad.

Which so many great games on the system, there’s no need to sample these turkeys, but have you had the misfortune of playing any of these games this year? Feel free to commiserate below, or perhaps offer an alternative take on any of the games above. Alternatively, add to them with your personal 2019 gaming disappointments…

In this series of end-of-year features, we’re summing up some of 2019’s biggest talking points.

2019 was a big year for Pokémon fans, with the arrival of Gen 8 in the form of Sword & Shield. However, for many players, the game was something of an anticlimax; for the first time in the franchise’s history, a mainline Pokémon title launched with an incomplete Pokédex, something which caused quite a bit of discomfort for vocal portions of the fanbase. This led to many fans boycotting the game and review-bombing it on sites like Metacritic.

The great ‘Dexit’ debate threatened to completely overshadow the release of Pokémon: Sword & Shield, but robust sales have proven that even when you’ve lost the support of the most rabid fans of the series, you can still achieve commercial success.

While the performance of the game will have pleased Nintendo’s executives, the team at Game Freak will have been left slightly dazed by the whole experience, and it will be interesting to see how the studio reacts with its next Pokémon release. Will it bow to player pressure and fix the issues highlighted by dedicated players, or will it look at the sales figures and decide that what’s not broke doesn’t require fixing?

What did you make of Dexit? Do you think it will influence future Pokémon games? Let us know with a comment.