By all accounts, the Nintendo Switch had an amazing 2019. Its sales momentum hasn’t shown any signs of slowing and it has been blessed with some truly amazing video games. If you’re a Switch owner, then you have plenty of reasons to be cheerful as we head into 2020 – but what about the people who make the games we play?
We asked a group of Switch developers for their opinion on the console in 2019, and the hopes they have for 2020.
Paul Bettner, Founder & CEO, Playful Studios
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Seems to me it’s been their best year yet. Fastest-selling console in history – surpassing 40 million units earlier this year, easily 60 million by year-end I’d imagine – launching the Switch Lite at $199, incredible new games with Zelda, Luigi, Mario Maker, Pokémon. Any of these by itself would be a lifetime achievement for most companies. For Nintendo, it’s just the natural outcome of their relentless courage. They know that video games can be even more fun, and even more accessible, for even more people. And they continue to lead our industry because they never lose sight of these goals.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
Working with Nintendo has been a dream come true for us. The Switch itself is a great piece of hardware. It is surprisingly powerful and easy to work with, and has great developer/engine support. Initially getting New Super Lucky’s Tale up and running on the Switch platform happened in just a few weeks. What we didn’t expect was that this would end up being the best-playing and best-looking Lucky game we’ve ever produced. Our partnership with Nintendo inspired the team to do their absolute best work. To bring Lucky and his friends to Nintendo players for the holidays (especially on Nintendo’s fastest-growing console) is, for many of us, the culmination of years of hopes and dreams.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Absolutely, 2020 and beyond. Our core mission – to build beloved entertainment the whole world can enjoy – is truly at home on Nintendo’s platforms, and our partnership has just gotten started. All of us at Playful very much look forward to our next Nintendo collaboration, and to continuing to build our relationship with the Nintendo gaming community.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
Personally, I’m looking forward to the continued evolution of the eShop. With the Switch, Nintendo has created one of the most compelling platforms for digital and downloadable content. The eShop is now the storefront for thousands of unique titles, with many more launching each week. I’m personally hoping for new ways to find and surface compelling content, so that as a gamer I can better discover interesting new games to play, and as a developer, we can reach even more players. Other than that, I’m hoping for more homes to become multi-Switch households! It’s such a great device to play with others, and I’m very excited about more multiplayer experiences coming to the Switch in 2020 and beyond.
Daley Johnson, Engagement Director, Playtonic Games
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Absolutely! A new Pokémon game and Luigi’s Mansion 3 coming out in the same year almost sounds like fan fiction. Nintendo are great at banging out top-quality titles packed with charm, and they really hammered that home this year. Super Mario Maker 2 came out as well, didn’t it? Piping hot line-up.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
We were really pleased to launch Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair on Switch on day 1 – and throughout development, we were incredibly excited about the fact. The fact the Switch offers docked and portable gameplay shouldn’t be understated; it’s awesome to know that people can play our game at home or on the move. Ignore your loved ones anywhere!
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
You’ll see. Nice try!
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
eShop music. Give us something kooky to listen to while we make questionable financial choices.
Tim Stoddard, Indie Game Developer, Gamepopper
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
I believe so! Nintendo themselves had a really good run on the console, plus a lot of really good indie and niche titles have found life on the system.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
Gemstone Keeper was only released on the Nintendo Switch less than a month ago, but so far it’s already doing better than it did on Steam previously. The sales for the first few weeks was already three times greater than that on PC during the same timeframe. Developing for the console has been a great experience for myself and other developers; Nintendo does require a good expectation for games to function and run optimally.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
I’m hoping to build my game fully for the Nintendo Switch in mind. It’s currently in the pre-production phase so maybe there will be something to show in the second half of the year.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
I’d definitely like to see more exclusives from the indie/third-party side. It’s great to see games that I already like on the console but I’d like to see stuff I wouldn’t see on any other platform.
Andy Pearson – Group Strategic Development Manager, PQube Games
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Yes, very good.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
Very strong, continuing to bridge the gap between our Steam sales and what used to typically be PS Vita sales (for our common genres of visual novels for example – perfect for Switch).
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Massively; it’s a huge factor of our 2020 revenue forecast and we hope to exceed that plan.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
While the eShop is a tremendous sales platform, it would be great to see improvements to discoverability for the consumer, as well as tools for publishers to target users who have shown an interest in their titles and other potential customers.
Absolutely. Switch is the system to be on right now and everyone knows it. The explosion in the number of games in the eShop in 2019 shows it.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
We designed our first game, Hexagroove, explicitly for the Switch and are quite satisfied with how the platform delivered on the kind of gameplay we envisioned.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Yes, we just launched in Japan in late December, and are looking forward to growing our Switch customer base in new ways in 2020.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
As an indie, the biggest improvements we’d like to see in 2020 is in the eShop. Developing for the Switch is pretty painless, but the volume of titles that customers have to navigate now is overwhelming. Having a store experience that presents the diverse catalogue of the Switch in a number of slick, effective ways to connect indies to the burgeoning customer base would help small developers focus on creating great products and minimize the marketing overhead.
Matt Phillips, Director, Big Evil Corp
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
It’s had a fantastic year. Lots of old favourites ported across, new big-name 1st party titles, Untitled Goose Game broke the world…
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
It’s been a game-changer, we’re very excited to be working with a new system which has been good for productivity, and got the ideas juices flowing again.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Yes, heavily so. We’re releasing a port of our first game early next year, we’ve been experimenting with new Switch-oriented ideas, and have plans to release our new middleware for the platform on the horizon.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
Same answer for every platform – let students on board. Microsoft’s XNA project back in 2008 let unlicensed indie devs run and debug code on their own home consoles, which was a huge game-changer for education and looks great to potential employers. A program like this for Switch would change the world for graduates.
Fabio Ferrara, Game Developer, Chubby Pixel
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Yes, especially for indies. Cadence of Hyrule, for example, gave to the indie community a great boost.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
Our games performed best on Nintendo Switch than on other platforms in the last 2 years, probably due to the fact that our games were designed specifically for this platform.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Yes, we have 2 new upcoming titles designed for Switch that I hope will be released in 2020.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
In the world of Switch, I would like to see a new console edition with better hardware; that would help to improve our next releases!
It’s pretty clear that Nintendo Switch had a banner year for both hardware and software. Of course, as a developer, what we’re most concerned about is third-party support and promotion. Nintendo had huge headlines this year, but that affected third parties too; independent games, especially, saw a lot less press attention on the platform.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
The launch of our third game (Worse Than Death) marked our first release on Nintendo Switch. It was our #2 platform for the game in terms of both units sold and revenue earned. We have been very happy with the reception of the game, but it was tough to really stand out on the eShop in a crowded market. Without feature support, we didn’t get as much traction as we hoped.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Yes, absolutely. The Nintendo Switch is still a great fit for the kinds of games we make – compact adventures with deep stories that push narrative over pure graphical muscle. However, publishing a Mature-rated game on Switch has its challenges; titles like that definitely receive less attention than youth- or teen-focused games, and that has given us a lot to consider.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
Two specific things: One: an improvement to the eShop so titles are given more ways to be featured; right now even the smallest games are competing purely against Nintendo’s first-party output, and have little other ways to shine unless customers go digging. Other platforms have feature events to highlight content of higher variety (especially in regards to indies), and we’d love to see Nintendo get more focused this way too. Two: the elimination of the current tactic whereby developers discount their games to a ludicrous degree to artificially climb charts for short-term games. It’s probably worked for a lot of devs by now, but it’s going to hurt us all in the end as players get wise.
Jack Davis, Director, aPriori Digital
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Switch had an amazing 2019 – both for AAA and Indies! It was good to see third party developers bringing their titles to switch and making that jump, as it opens the doors to more titles being viable on Switch.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
We didn’t release any titles in 2019 for Switch, unfortunately, but we had a steady income from Aperion Cyberstorm and having boosts when sales happened like the ‘Gaming on the Go’ sale. The demo also got a lot of love from the public and hopefully introduced more players to our work.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
We have quite a few projects in the works for Switch in 2020 – the main one being Double Pug Switch which we are publishing on behalf of The Polygon Loft, about a dimension-switching pug trying to find his owner. We also have a new IP in the works with a 2020 release planned and we will be doing something special with Aperion Cyberstorm for all the support from the Switch player base.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
The main thing we would like to see changed is the storefront for the eShop to have better discoverability of titles; as at the moment, once you come out of new releases you are on the bottom of the pile. Also would be great if they added background music to the Switch eShop, like our beloved Wii U eShop!
Howard Tsao, CEO, Muse Games
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Overall, I think Switch had a great year. The first party as well as significant third-party titles remained big hits and drove the sales of the console.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
For us, the Switch was a major release platform for Hamsterdam. It was our first time releasing a game on the Switch, and there was a learning curve for us to get through certification. Nintendo gave Hamsterdam a bit of a push along with posting the release trailer on its official YouTube channel, and that helped with Hamsterdam’s release. Overall, releasing on the Switch had been exciting and fruitful for us. With the gestural controls of the Joy-Con, we were able to bring Hamster martial arts to life and craft a unique beat’em and fighting experience, and that wasn’t possible on other game platforms.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Definitely. With our upcoming game Embr, we’re excited to bring this genre-bending co-op fire-fighting (un)simulator to the Switch. Switch players can expect to fight fires, save lives (sometimes), and make money (most of the time).
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
I think some more optimization of the eShop to feature and enhance discoverability of indie titles would be a positive. More instructions on test and edge cases for developers during the certification process would be helpful as well.
Nick Tannahill, Marketing Director & Jack Massey, Programmer, Firefly Studios
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Nick: Definitely! I think a lot of really hardcore fans were slightly deflated at the end of last year and start of 2019. It was made clear Metroid Prime 4 was miles off, we weren’t getting a full-fat Zelda for a while and there was no new Mario on the horizon. Looking back, however, it’s been an incredible year whether your Switch is an indie machine or a Zelda box. Indie releases have been outstanding and between Pokémon, Luigi, Link’s Awakening and Fire Emblem, 2019 has been a pretty stellar year in terms of first-party IPs.
Jack: As a system, I think the Switch had a very strong year. The addition of the “Boost Mode” that increased clock speeds by 75%, allowing users to trade battery life for load time improvements, was actually a huge help for us.
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
Nick: As an indie who admittedly missed the Switch gold rush of 2017 and early 2018, this has been an interesting year for us. Launching on Switch is no longer a case of getting something high quality on there as fast as possible, succeeding because you’re one of 30 games available. That said it’s nothing like as impenetrable as mobile or other, increasingly crowded digital storefronts.
Effective marketing and knowledge of how the store functions can be enough on the eShop, meaning indies actually stand a chance! Sure there are a crazy number of games on there versus year one, but compared to the App Store or Steam it’s still far less crowded.
If you can come up with a neat trick for your launch and build up a community beforehand success is possible. Bravely launch the same day as a massive Nintendo title and you might take the number two or three spot. Be smart with discounts and you can brute force your way to visibility. Build serious, long-term relations with people at Nintendo, with the knowledge that a feature on the eShop is definitely worth your time.
Jack: Given our background as PC developers, the Switch has been interesting to develop on over the past year, as our first offering on the platform. It’s required a great deal of optimisation, but that has actually brought about unexpected improvements for our PC build that can be introduced more broadly in other any other ports.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Nick: I think like a lot of independent developers and indie publishers with multiple titles in development we’re definitely hoping to release something! The people curating the eShop are, despite the flood of Switch titles over the past 18 months, still hungry for content. So if you’re an indie with a unique title that features something lacking on Switch or a small publisher ready to port your strong back catalogue to Switch there’s still a greater potential return here than on PlayStation or Xbox. Unless you have a healthy six or seven-figure marketing budget this is still the sane choice in terms of where to invest your time and energy.
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
Nick: As a developer, we’d definitely like to see more routes to improving visibility for your games on the store that don’t revolve around units shipped! The eShop has pretty basic curation in terms of design and how robust the whole thing is. In the beginning, this was great as it meant new titles were guaranteed their time in the sun, but now it means many developers simply discount their games by crazy amounts just to stand a chance of being noticed. This is neither sustainable nor effective. Outside of the eShop, Nintendo’s occasional Indie World showcase features are fantastic. More of that kind of thing and a transparent application process for submitting to these would be a huge boost to completely novice developers.
Jack: Personally I’d be interested to see if the rumoured generational power-up occurs and what form that takes. We’ve seen Nintendo pivot heavily towards portable users with the Switch Lite to great effect, so seeing what the Switch “Pro” looks like and what flexibility that may afford us is something I look forward to. Much like how the 3DS to New 3DS allowed for a greater scope in graphical fidelity, control and sheer CPU heft.
Krzysztof Janicki, Story Designer, 7Levels
Do you think Switch had a good 2019?
Good? Over 40 million consoles sold life to date, hundreds of great game including an awesome Zelda remake and Luigi’s Mansion 3… It was unbelievable! There were weeks when three or four dozen games released at once and at least half of them were worth playing. What other platform could claim that this year?
How good has Switch been for your company as a platform over the past year?
2019 was an important milestone for us as we managed to publish three games in one year: Warplanes: WW2 Dogfight, critically acclaimed Golf Peaks, and our internally developed Jet Kave Adventure, which is soon getting a meaty content update. Nintendo really made the Switch a perfect console for indie developers. Going forward, we still see it as our main platform.
Do you expect Switch to figure in your plans for 2020?
Definitely! We have a few great Switch projects already scheduled for 2020. You can expect more news on that early next year – actually in a matter of weeks!
What changes would you like to see happen in the world of Switch in 2020?
A 7Levels game featured in the Nintendo Direct… yeah, that would be nice! On a more serious note, everything seems to be going in the right direction for the platform, but of course, we’d love to see some evolutionary changes in the Nintendo eShop, which is getting flooded with games. New interface solutions and functionalities that would help players find games they might enjoy would be really welcome.
Video game winter sales are live all over the place, including Steam and Green Man Gaming, but if you want to try a game before you buy it, then Microsoft has a selection of titles that are available to play for free all weekend. The free-play weekend is available to all Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers--Ultimate includes Gold in its subscription.
Gold subscribers can play Valkyria Chronicles 4, Goat Simulator, and Puyo Puyo Champions for free until December 22 at 11:59 PM PT / December 23 at 2:59 AM PT. If you want to keep playing these games after the weekend, Microsoft is offering special discounts for Gold subscribers, which you can see below.
If you want to become a Gold subscriber, Microsoft has an offer that gets you your first three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $1. The offer comes with three months of Discord Nitro, one month of EA Access, and six months of Spotify Premium. Unfortunately, the latter is only for new Spotify Premium subscribers. However, if you're already subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can extend your subscription with an awesome deal: 6 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $40.
Hey Xbox Insiders! Did you know that you can “Report a problem” through Alexa skills?
Detailed reports on Xbox One features and experiences help us provide meaningful feedback to Xbox engineers. But we know some prefer to submit reports without the controller and virtual keyboard on the console.
Team Xbox is improving speech-to-text to make your Xbox One experience the best it can be. In an age that allows us to work and play hands-free, your smart device holds the key to easily provide feedback to Xbox engineers. If typing with the virtual keyboard and controller isn’t your preferred method, now you don’t have to!
“Alexa, tell Xbox…”
Last September, Xbox’s family got a little bigger with Alexa, but we haven’t spoken much about what this AI can do for you as an Xbox Insider. Before we begin, however, make sure you have set up Alexa for your Xbox One device with these steps:
Sign into your Xbox One console
Install the Alexa app on your mobile device and search for Xbox in Skills
Sign in with your Microsoft account after selecting the Xbox Skill
On your Xbox One console, make sure “Digital assistants” is enabled under Settings
Follow the instructions on the Alexa app to pair your console with your Alexa-enabled device
Got your devices paired? Excellent. Now comes the fun part. Just say, “Alexa, tell Xbox to file a bug.”
Once you’ve answered the questions (by voice, no hands required!), select the correct category and subcategory on your Xbox One. Your transcribed report will appear onscreen on your console for you to confirm before submitting.
The Alexa app is available on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, for Android and iOS devices respectively. Find out what else it can do for you while you’re on your Xbox One console.
Helpful Resources from Amazon
We’re always looking for ways to make Xbox One the best console experience for you. Do you have ideas for how to improve this service, or other great ideas for Xbox One features and experiences? Make sure to post them in the Xbox Requests subreddit thread.
As always, thank you for your participation as an Xbox Insider!
More information on providing feedback can be at Xbox Support.Follow us on Twitter at @XboxInsider and this blog for release notes, announcements and more. And feel free to interact with the community on the Xbox Insider subreddit.
Video Game Deep Cuts: 2019’s Best Best Best Best & Other Animals
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 yet more best-of lists, both for 2019 and for the whole decade in a couple of cases – as well as neat pieces on hypercasual, Trico, video game cookbooks, creepy collectibles, & tonnes more.
Since this is the last newsletter before Xmas, just wanted to send a warm holiday greeting to all readers. Though I have a lot of other responsibilities & things to care about/for (dayjob, family, lots more besides!), I genuinely enjoy compiling these link roundups.
There’s a lot of great writing & videos out there that it’s kinda, well, impossible to dig out otherwise. So let me use my galaxy brain* (*speed-reading wise, not intelligence-wise, lol) to unearth all the interesting stuff for you. Then you don’t have to go hunting around on a billion websites & read the same vanilla news stories 30 times.
Top 20 games of 2019(Keza MacDonald & Keith Stuart / The Guardian – ARTICLE) “Take an intergalactic camping trip, shoot zombies in the face and go full battle royale on, er, Tetris … with the best games of the year.”
Why Lando Norris thinks sim racing holds real value to F1 teams(Jamie Hore / The Loadout – ARTICLE) “The origins of most F1 drivers are rooted deeply in karting as youngsters and it’s where many are scouted and develop their skills and love for racing. And while Norris has gone through the physical racing ranks, his journey actually started on the virtual track, playing games like iRacing and Real Racing on a home driving simulator setup.”
Tim Rogers Presents The Games Of The Decade 2010~2019(Tim Rogers / Kotaku – ARTICLE) “The end of a decade looms. I succumbed to the irresistible lure of making a ranked list video chronicling the best games of the decade. I made the first decision instantaneously: for 10 years, I’d pick 10 games. Then I froze. How would I pick the 10 games? Days later, I’d somehow made a 50-minute video. [SIMON’S NOTE: the half-second ‘my previous jobs’ subtitle, about 3 seconds into this video, makes it worthwhile all on its own.]”
How a sex toy company ended up making a creepy video game figurine(Patricia Hernandez / Polygon – ARTICLE & EMBEDDED VIDEO) “Critically-acclaimed indie game Inside announced a collector’s edition last year, and while the $375 sticker price was high, developers Playdead refused to tell anybody what was in the release. All the Danish studio said at the time was that it was teaming up with iam8bit, a company known for high-end physical releases, as well as RealDoll, the infamous people behind life-sized sex dolls.”
The Best Video Games Of 2019(Simon Parkin / The New Yorker – ARTICLE) “In the face of criticism, one can say that games are mere entertainment, incapable of causing harm; in the face of praise, the same games can be presented as ways to change hearts and minds for the better. These contradictions inhere in every medium, of course. But, for those who think games have the capacity to take us to novel, joyous, or illuminating places, here are eleven that, this year, seemed to light a way forward.”
Roleplaying in Video Games (and why I barely do it)(Razbuten / YouTube – VIDEO) “Roleplaying is something I really enjoy doing in games like Dungeons and Dragons, and I feel like it should be something I enjoy in video games as well, but it always seems to fall short. This video takes a look at some of the barriers that get in the way of good roleplaying in video games along with me trying to overcome those barriers.”
‘Civilization’ and Strategy Games’ Progress Delusion(Gabriel Soares / VICE – ARTICLE) “And what do we find in most historical 4X games? A largely uniform tech tree that all factions will progress through in a unilateral direction. Even non-historical 4X games feature uniform tech trees, they just use the present as a starting point and not an endpoint. But what is progress in an historical 4X game?”
Keeping History Alive(Jeff Cork / Game Informer – ARTICLE) “Cifaldi is in town to take on what he says is the organization’s biggest task yet: cataloging and preserving a section of the Game Informer’s archives. A small army of out-of-town volunteers has been hard at work scanning flyers, sorting and organizing boxes of unmarked CD-ROMS, and ripping discs of promotional images and press materials.”
How Trico Was Animated(Dan Root / Video Game Animation Study / YouTube – VIDEO) “One of the most anticipated games for nearly ten years had one of the most memorable characters, but how was Trico [from The Last Guardian] animated?”
The 10 best video games of 2019(Verge Staff / The Verge – ARTICLE) “It’s never easy narrowing down a list of the best games of the year, but 2019 seemed particularly difficult. There wasn’t a single blockbuster that dominated the conversation, games along the lines of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or God of War that everyone seemed to have on their list. That doesn’t mean it was a bad year for games — in fact, the depth and breadth of titles was impressive.”
Portraits of Roblox: The view from the platform(Alex Wiltshire / RockPaperShotgun – ARTICLE) “After having spoken to four of Roblox’s leading developers, I wanted to understand how Roblox sees itself, how its been changing, and how the company aims to continue developing it. So I got to talk with Craig Donato, Roblox’s chief business officer. In charge of developer relations, he’s directly responsible for managing the world in which Roblox’s creators build.”
The Audaciously Simple ‘Desert Golfing’ Taught Me to Cope With Grief(McKay Hartwell / VICE – ARTICLE) “Now I was finally pursuing my passion and I was frustrated knowing all my classmates were freshmen with their whole college career ahead of them. I felt angry that these kids got to follow their dreams while mine were dying in front of me. And Charles had suggested a mobile fucking golf game?”
Four Reasons Why the Hypercasual Gold Rush is Coming to an End(Abhimanyu Kumar and Michail Katkoff / Deconstructor Of Fun – ARTICLE) “Fast forward 10 months, hypercasual downloads are at an all-time high – as you’ll see in the data ahead. Moving in perfect lock-step, hypercasual ad revenues are also peaking. At this point, it would make sense to retract the prediction and admit to incorrect judgement. But in this particular case, we’re going to double down on our initial prediction. [SIMON’S NOTE: some of the download/player numbers in here are INSANE – in the hundreds of millions.]”
I went Christmas carolling in Rust with a real piano – and got shot a hell of a lot(Emma Kent / Eurogamer – ARTICLE) “Oh boy. Did this mean I could hook up an entire electric piano to a computer, and play live piano in Rust? I had to try it out. And, of course, it’s the Christmas season – so to make it festive, and my life extra complicated, I announced to my editors that I would go carolling. Live. In Rust. I had mixed results.”
30 little touches in The Witcher 3 that show its amazing attention to detail(Samuel Horti / PC Gamer – ARTICLE) “The joy of The Witcher 3 isn’t just in its winding story and sweeping landscapes—it’s also in the little details, some so small that you might not even notice them on your first playthrough. Considering the size of the open world, you almost certainly will miss most of them.”
The 10 best VR games of 2019(Harold Goldberg / The Washington Post – ARTICLE) “For a medium that was supposed to be forged in artfulness and creativity, virtual reality’s last few years have been good enough but not astounding. It’s this past year, however, that the medium’s promise is finally being met.”
How Video Game Cookbooks Are Helping Us Taste Digital Worlds(Rebekah Valentine / USGamer – ARTICLE) “Over a decade after he graduated college with a chemistry major, Bryan Connor’s life went in an unexpected direction. Rather than his imagined plan of “standing in a lab all day,” Connor has created his own delectably weird career track involving glow-in-the-dark brownies, sticking Pop Rocks in caramels, and turning burgers inside out. And it’s all because of video games.”
Meet ‘Wattam,’ The Newest Absurd Video Game Playground From Keita Takahashi(Vincent Acovino / Morning Edition/ NPR – ARTICLE/AUDIO) “Takahashi’s games are funny and absurd at the surface, but kind and earnest at their cores. Although he originally studied to be a sculptor, he became upset when his classmates were throwing out their work after receiving grades on their projects.”
*Press A* 2019 ~ The Year’s Best Videogame Soundtracks(Shredfearn / A Closer Listen – ARTICLE) “Another interesting detail from 2019 related to the proliferation of excellent indie releases: the emergence of even more diverse styles and innovative ideas than before, as our list hopefully shows. (We’ve kept our genre splits but it was certainly harder to place some this year.) Careers also emerged or blossomed for many young composers, from whom we can soon expect a deluge of commission.”
Ars Technica’s ultimate board game gift guide, 2019 edition(Aaron Zimmerman, Nate Anderson & Tom Mendelsohn / Ars Technica – ARTICLE) “To aid you in your quest, we’ve once again updated our massive board game buyer’s guide for the year by adding new entries, pruning some old ones, and bringing things in line with our current thoughts. This isn’t necessarily a list of our favorite games of all time; it’s just a big list of games we’re recommending in 2019.”
Hypertext Transfer: How Wikipedia and its Forerunners Inspired a New Kind of Game(Alexis Ong / EGM NOW – ARTICLE) “In 2016, writer and narrative designer Joannes Truyens decided to try fleshing out an idea he’d had since he was seventeen. This was the birth of a new hypertext project, Neurocracy, that has been taking shape over the past three years. At its core was Truyens’ idea about transmitting prion disease through fish, which grew into a world-changing fictional condition that he named Cariappa-Muren disease.”
Gaming’s biggest trends of the past decade(Colin Campbell / Polygon – ARTICLE) “While previous decades have generally been marked by changes in technology, the span from 2010 to 2019 has been marked by massive shifts in how games are made, played, discussed, challenged, and championed. We spoke to 16 people who’ve had a significant impact on gaming in the past decade to ask them about some of the biggest trends in gaming during that period.”
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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!]
Gamasutra’s Best of 2019: Katherine Cross’ Top 5 Games
Video games had an incredibly strong year, casting a bright spotlight on some genuine artistic beauty amidst a burning world. One takes hope where she can these days, and there are such vivid greenshoots in video gaming that one cannot help but feel a bit less despair when beholding them.
With my end-of-year lists I always strive to highlight games beyond the triple-A sphere, but triple-A gaming also had an unaccountably good year despite its rapidly accelerating self-consumptive tendencies. The Outer Worlds, Control, and Jedi: Fallen Order all merit great praise and remind us that there is a bright creative spirit in gaming, in spite of the industry’s ructions.
But if there was a trend that was really amplified this year, it’s the fact that many indie games were resurrecting and redefining genres that were either written off or oversaturated. That, too, is worth ample critical praise. There is a whole universe of life waiting for us in puzzle games, adventure games, RPGs, and visual novels that leave me excited for what’s coming next year.
Without further ado, and, as always, in no particular order, here are my five:
A game that takes so many cues from a classic film ought not have felt this fresh or inspired, but Observation–which wears its 2001 inspiration on its sleeve–has proven to be one of the year’s most incredible gaming experiences. Its strikingly original premise is to put you in the role of the out of control space-station AI. Now you get to be HAL-9000, creatively manipulating a sequence of station functions in order to waste some hapless astronaut. Except, as with Arthur C. Clarke’s original story, there’s an intriguing twist to all of it that complicates the morality of the story–a tale that is at once rich in detail and Spartan in its simplicity. There are stunning cinematic moments as well that offer a brilliant lesson in how to use cutscenes to spectacular effect. It all comes together to make Observation a pearl necklace of terrors and wonders.
In acting as a postmodern deconstruction of RPGs Disco Elysium became the highest celebration of them. Literally–this is an extraordinary baked game. There were a lot of ways that the game could have the equivalent of a pretentious philosophy bro on LSD reclined in a beanbag whilst slurring about how profound Zizek is. That it manages to avoid this while still teasing along some very serrated edges indeed is nothing short of a triumph. Disco’s dialogue plays with some classic RPG mechanics in ways that are truly artful–choices can lead to everything from fuges to wild lunges at elderly women to shooting yourself in the foot to repetitive motions that eventually kill you. It’s a luridly strange sci-fi noir murder mystery that probes existential territory none too delicately–and yet manages to feel graceful all the same.
This was my earliest contender for game of the year. My expectations were managed after I first previewed the game at GDC some years ago, but the final product has a flavor that reveals more complexity the longer you sit with it. This adventure game about a space archaeologist trying to find her mentor’s missing colleague goes to so many astounding places with its mechanics and story. Much of the game is built around deciphering an ancient language, a surprisingly revelatory exercise that contributes to the look and feel of an ancient world that manages to be both Medieval and sci-fi all at once. But its story, cunningly thematic in its loop-like shape, is just incredible. The world of Heaven’s Vault is charming and adventurously original, peopled with intriguing characters who are far more than the 2D cutouts that define the game’s distinctive pop-up aesthetic. Inkle surpassed themselves with this one. Heaven’s Vault is a 21st Century take on the classic adventure game genre that not only proves it’s not dead, but affirms its wild and wondrous afterlife.
In the game’s relatively short development cycle, its story about being the last human rideshare driver in a fictional city dominated by driverless cars has only felt more current and more urgent. IfHeaven’s Vault gives us a fresh take on the adventure game, Neo Cab is a radiant revision of the visual novel. Told through a sequence of vignettes in the form of different fares, and with a dash of resource management thrown in, you exercise choice in part through who you pick up, where, and when you decide to stop, as well as whether you prioritize personal contacts over fares. It’s slick, beautifully done, and shockingly well written at times with biting satire of tech culture, urban progressivism, late capitalism, gender norms, and much besides caught in the game’s low cyberpunk glow. On that note, this is a game that remembers what that punk part of “cyberpunk” means and lays the stress on it. Neo Cab a neon satire of the gig economy that is not to be missed.
I almost hesitated to put this one here because this game has pole vaulted its way into the top tier of so many peoples’ recommendations and I prefer to highlight those games that don’t benefit from widespread mainstream media coverage. But it nevertheless deserves to be highlighted as a plucky, creatively simple affair with humble origins that has now brought joy and HONK to millions of people. It is also a triumph for Australia’s vibrant video games sector, which I’ve had the pleasure of writing about on and off for a few years now, and for its model of government funding. Without the aid of Film Victoria, as the creators have noted, this dorky game couldn’t exist. That, too, deserves to be highlighted. But what else can we say for UGG? As a minimalist puzzle game, it’s incredibly cute and fun, blessed with memetic qualities while also being a perfect little party game. Only in 2019 could an obstreperous goose brought the world this much joy.
Nintendo And Your Favourite Game Developers Share ‘Happy Holiday’ Messages
Merry Squidmas!
The holidays are well and truly upon us and the developers behind all of our favourite games have been sharing festive messages for fans, friends, and everyone in between.
We’ve gathered a handful of these for you to check out below, hopefully getting you into the festive spirit ahead of the big day, and also reminding us just how wonderful this little hobby of ours really is.
We’ll kick things off with some official Nintendo messages, of course:
The lovely folks over at Image & Form have joined in the fun, too:
The official Sonic account shared a new animated short this year:
Yooka-Laylee developer Playtonic Games has even shared a poem:
And now for some postcards, starting with Team17, Psyonix, Blizzard and EA Sports:
[Last Chance] Pokemon Go Ho-Oh / Lugia Raid Event Now Live
Virizion has arrived in Pokemon Go, but that's not the only Legendary Pokemon you can encounter right now in Niantic's hit mobile game. The Gen 2 mascots Ho-Oh and Lugia have both returned for a special Raid weekend event, giving you another chance to capture the fan-favorite Legendaries.
Until 1 PM PT / 4 PM ET on Monday, December 23, players around the world will be able to encounter Ho-Oh and Lugia in five-star Raids. Each Legendary is part-Flying, so Rock and Electric Pokemon will prove to be effective regardless of which one you face. Water Pokemon will also be helpful against Ho-Oh, while Dark and Ghost types have an advantage over Lugia.
During the Raid weekend, you'll also still be able to encounter Virizion, Pokemon Go's newest Legendary, in five-star Raids. Virizion is the third member of the Swords of Justice trio from Pokemon Black and White and is a dual Grass/Fighting Pokemon, so you'll want to bring along Flying, Fire, Psychic, Ice, Poison, or Fairy Pokemon when challenging it. Both Ho-Oh and Lugia will be especially effective against it if you can capture one of them before they leave Raids again.
Shortly after the Raid weekend ends, Niantic will kick off Pokemon Go's annual holiday celebration. This year's event runs from December 24 to January 1. During that time, you'll be able to encounter holiday versions of Pichu, Pikachu, Raichu, and Stantler, as well as two new Gen 5 Ice Pokemon: Cubchoo and Cryogonal. You'll also have your first chance to catch a Shiny version of Snover.
In other Pokemon Go news, Niantic recently rolled out a new Buddy Adventure feature, which gives you new ways to interact with your Buddy Pokemon. Once you've fed your Buddy enough berries, it will follow you around on the game's world map. You can also raise your friendship level with your Buddy Pokemon the more you interact with it, which in turn will unlock other bonuses.
Niantic has also announced the date of Pokemon Go's January 2020 Community Day. The event takes place on Sunday, January 19, and runs from 11 AM-2 PM local time in the Northern Hemisphere and from 3 PM-6 PM local time in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the featured Pokemon for next month's event has not been revealed yet.
The year 2019 is coming to a close and there were several interesting events in the world of game development. What follows is a highlight of some of the most interesting stories from the world of game development. We skip over some details like regular releases to Unreal, Unity, Lumberyard, Max and Maya as they occur multiple times throughout the year.
With iOS 13, Apple has made it easier than ever to pair your iPad or iPhone with a great game controller through Bluetooth. This, combined with the release of several heavy-hitting console and PC ports leads me to declare 2019 the Year of the Controller in iOS games.
So what’s it like going from playing exclusively via touch to playing like a True Gamer? Let’s take a look at some of the best games from 2019 to play with a bluetooth controller.
What are the best iPad games for controllers?
Dead Cells
Hyper Light Drifter
Rogue Legacy
Crypt of the Necrodancer: Amplified
Gris
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
Journey
Best Controller for iPad
I picked up an Xbox One S controller, and although I am loathe to continue to contribute to Microsoft’s empire, it’s the best choice if you’re doing most of your gaming on PC in addition to your iDevice. The Xbox One S pad pairs as easy as any other Bluetooth device on the iThing and instantly with Windows PCs. What’s more, most games on both platforms will change their button prompts to match the Xbox controller’s layout, making it a cinch to pick up and play. If you already have a PS4, no need to run out and buy a new controller because those will work just fine too. For a dedicated iWhatever controller, most people like the SteelSeries Nimbus, but it’s not that much cheaper than the Xbox pad.
Pocket Tactics is an Amazon Affiliate.
Dead Cells
A platforming hybrid of Dark Souls and a procedurally-generated death labyrinth, the roguish Dead Cells requires both careful planning and lightning reflexes. If you’re leaning more towards the careful planning strategy, the touch controls are pretty good – a swipe-anywhere pad controls the game with virtual buttons and touchable menus. For twitch gaming, you need buttons. There’s just too many options in this game to remember where are the virtual buttons are by muscle memory. Then you’re dead, again.
Hyper Light Drifter
A stylish top down action game with a vast world, Hyper Light Drifter reminds me of a cyberpunk Zelda on acid. Beautifully animated and devilishly challenging, this game demands a lot from the player. The touch controls are okay — the game has fewer options than Dead Cells — but when the plasma bolts really start flying they’re not enough. With a joystick, Hyper Light Drifter‘s tight, lightning-fast movement shines. (For similar gameplay that works in one-handed portrait mode, Immortal Rogue is basically Hyper Light Drifter stripped down for mobile, and it’s pretty good!)
Rogue Legacy
The vintage NES-style platforming displayed in this game is best served by a classic d-pad rather than a joystick. I found the Xbox pad fairly comfortable but those with shorter thumbs may prefer a PS4-style controller with the d-pad placed at the top. Rogue Legacy was in the first wave of the platforming roguelike revolution on the PC, and it’s main innovation was adding random mutations to your hero, not all of which are helpful. Hypochondria, for instance, exaggerates the damage you take, while near-sightedness makes everything far away blurry.
Crypt of the Necrodancer: Amplified
Likewise, the grid-based movement in this rhythm-game/roguelike hybrid really benefits from a directional pad. This is one of the games that still worked pretty well with touch controls: basic swipes move your avatar and that’s it — combat and other interactions are handled automatically. Still, swipes aren’t the most precise motion to try to time to a beat. The game takes full advantage of its simplified control scheme to build interesting challenges that are all the more challenging for being executed on a beat. Your weapons hit automatically, but in unusual patterns; some enemies aren’t a threat on every other beat; you only have until the end of the song to finish the floor.
Gris
It takes something special for a narrative puzzle-platformer to stand out in this day and age, but Gris has that special sauce. A combination of a delicately-told story and beautiful music and animation makes Gris a journey worth taking, even though the puzzles and platforming isn’t the most challenging. It’s not a twitchy game, so the onscreen controls work okay, but it’s worth pulling out the gamepad just so you don’t have your fat thumbs covering up the gorgeous artwork.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
A really truly classic platform game, Wonder Boy is a remake of a 1989 Sega Master System title. The old-school platforming challenge has survived the adaptation intact, with awesome new animated art replacing the original pixel graphics. The touch controls are not great in this case, with buttons that are too big for a phone screen and too small for a tablet. You’re better off playing the game it was meant to be played thirty (!!) years ago: with some real buttons.
Journey
Another recent iOS port from a previous generation, this Playstation 3 hit is a great fit for iOS, even with touch controls. However, controller support was added after launch, and it makes a big difference in the Journey experience, especially for controlling the camera in the platforming sections of the game. If you liked Sky: Children of the Light by the same developer, you should definitely pick up this one too.
Best Apple Arcade Games to play with a Controller
If you’re an Apple Arcade subscriber, there’s several games there that do great with a gamepad:
Bradwell Conspiracy‘s first person puzzling benefits from joysticks
EarthNight is a very cool endless runner
Hot Lava is unplayable with touch controls
Sayonara Wild Hearts will hit the beat much more easily with buttons
Shantae is another great traditional platformer
Exit the Gungeon‘s bullet-hell arena is much more fun with your thumbs off the screen
Do you have any games you enjoy playing with a controller? Or a controller that you enjoy using with your tablet? Let us know in the comments!
It’s not too late to grab these last-minute gifts for the holidays
Those on the hunt for a fun last-minute gift can pick up one of these digital gift ideas just in time for Christmas.
Disney Plus
Star Wars and Disney fans can enjoy new and original content with a Disney Plus subscription, with more titles added weekly. Friends will delight in seeing baby Yoda in The Mandalorian, or re-watch favorites like Avengers: Endgame and the original Star Wars trilogy.
A useful gift that can save recipients money year-round thanks to exclusive deals and free shipping upgrades, an Amazon Prime membership is an excellent choice for everyone from co-workers to close relatives.
Along with exclusive access to Prime Day deals and the shipping upgrades referenced above, Prime members can access a variety of movies and shows through Prime Video, as well as unlimited access to 2 million songs through Amazon Music. Annual plans run $119, offering recipients benefits for an entire year.
Adobe Creative Cloud
With apps for photographers, videographers and business professionals alike, an Adobe Creative Cloud All Apps plan is great for a variety of content creators. Enjoy access to over 20 creative desktop and mobile apps with the All Apps plan, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro and InDesign.
Annual plans can be prepaid for the entire year or broken down into monthly payments, allowing for easy gift giving.
B&H SmartGift
B&H Photo offers a neat SmartGift feature that gives gift recipients the ability to review, customize or exchange the gift you choose.
Once the gift has been accepted, you’ll be prompted to pay for it and B&H will ship it out for a quick and easy way to get friends and family the items they really want. And with deals going on now on everything from iPads to Apple Watches, saving on the perfect gift is a snap. Just look for the SmartGift button on corresponding product pages to get started.
Amazon gift card
From household essentials to accessories for your home or office setup, Amazon has something for just about everyone. And an Amazon gift card is great to use after the holidays for cables, chargers and stands to enhance other gifts received for the holidays.
Available for email, text or print-at-home delivery, Amazon gift cards are available from $1 to $2,000.
Sling TV subscription
Gift recipients will love not having to pay for a TV subscription each month when given a Sling subscription. Select from Sling Blue, Orange, or Blue + Orange plans depending on the desired channels, with popular favorites, such as HGTV, Food Network and A&E available with any plan. Monthly rates start at $20, with the combo plan running $35 per month.
Sling works on a variety of platforms, from Apple TV to iOS.
