Black Friday 2019: Deals On Nintendo Switch Online Service
The new Nintendo Switch Online service has become a growing part of the Nintendo Switch package in the last year. For $20 a year, you get access to the online components of multiplayer games, as well as treasure trove of classic NES and SNES games you can play for as long as you're a member. If you're planning on buying a new Switch or Switch Lite you should definitely consider picking it up, since some of the console's best games, like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Splatoon 2, all require it. At $20 the service is pretty cheap compared to its competitors Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus, but that doesn't mean you can't find a couple of discounts on Nintendo Switch Online this holiday season.
The best (and only) Nintendo Switch Online subscription deal announced so far is at Target. You will be able to buy a 12-month subscription for $15, five bucks off the list price. That's a reasonably good deal, and it'd be surprising to see other retailers offer much better considering the relatively low price of the membership to begin with.
If you're more interested in a Switch Online family plan, which normally go for $35 and support up to eight users, it's likely we'll see that discounted as well. Target has a track record of offering Switch Online family memberships for $28 during major sales, so it's possible that deal will make an appearance at Target or elsewhere during Black Friday weekend.
Membership bundled with games
Walmart will have the Overwatch: Legendary Edition on sale for $25, which comes with a three-month subscription of Switch Online. One other game to look out for that could be on sale is the retail edition of Tetris 99 (which comes with the paid DLC). The Switch Online exclusive comes with a 12-month subscription of Switch Online for $30. It's possible that bundle will get discounted on Black Friday too.
Console bundles with Switch Online membership
Google Shopping will have a console bundle that comes with a Nintendo Switch Online 12-month family membership. Google hasn't announced when the deal will be available, but for $305 you'll get the Switch console with upgraded battery life, Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, and the 12-month family membership ($374 overall value).
Where to find Switch Online deals during Black Friday
We'll be updating this article as more Nintendo Switch Online Black Friday deals are announced, but keep an eye on Walmart, Best Buy, GameStop, Amazon, and the Eshop, the Switch's digital storefront.
In addition to gaining access to online multiplayer, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can play dozens of classic NES games and 20 SNES games, including Super Mario World, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, and Super Metroid. Switch Online members also get cloud saves for most games, which is an incredibly convenient feature.
Only a few months after the massive Blender 2.80 release, the Blender foundation have just released Blender 2.81. Blender is an open source 3D application that is gaining a ton of traction in both film and games media. The 2.81 release brings several new features including several quality of life improvements such as outliner and file dialog modernization as well as excellent new features like vastly improved sculpting and grease pencil brushes.
Highlight features of interest for game developers in this release include:
Massively improve sculpting with new brushes, masking support, better usability and more
Poly Build tool for rapid polygon creation and editing, excellent for retopology
Quadriflow and Voxel remeshing
Improved and more powerful mirroring support
UI improvements including:
Outliner selection improvements, easy to select, multiselect and deselect objects
Modern file browser that opens in a floating dialog window
Powerful regex powered rename feature (F2 key)
Grease pencil improvements including several new brushes
Denoising improvements
NVIDIA RTX support for realtime raytracing in Cycles
and much, much more.
You can learn more about the release in the Blender 2.81 release notes available here. Additionally CGCookie have put together a nice introduction to new features in this article. Blender 2.81 is available for download here.
If you want to see Blender 2.81 in action, including the new Poly Build, sculpting tools, file dialog, outliner and more be sure to check out the video below.
Nomad Games parts ways with Asmodee Digital, returns to Self-Publishing
By Joe Robinson21 Nov 2019
If you’re into digital board games, chances are you’re a fan of Nomad Games. They don’t always get it right, but generally they’re a decent company who know their way around a table-top game and know how to bring it to digital platforms, mobile or otherwise.
Since 2017 they’ve been in a publishing partnership with Asmodee Digital, who’ve also been aggressively active in the digital board games space. It seems that collaboration is now at an end, however, as Nomad yesterday announced they were flying solo once more.
There’s a press release where Asmodee and Nomad say nice things about each other, as you do, but it looks like Nomad’s being expanding their publishing department on their side. Despite still having the partnership with Asmodee Digital at the time, Nomad self-published their digital adaptation of Mystic Vale. I suspect it’s at a point where neither side need each other as much as what makes a deal like this worth it, although hopefully they’ve partnered on as good terms as is suggested.
What does that mean for you guys? Probably not much. The partnership actually ended on November 14th, it seems, so you’ll likely notice that Nomad Games will be listed again for certain games. The full breakdown as has been shared so far is as follows…
Nomad Digital will be self-publishing:
Talisman: Digital Edition
Talisman: Origins
Smash Up
Fighting Fantasy Legends and Portal
Asmodee Digital will continue to publish Love Letter. This might mean that Nomad will prioritise support of the games their publishing themselves, so I doubt Love Letter will get more than the most necessary of bug-fixes. I seem to remember there was some kerfuffle over using an Asmodee account to unlock certain things in Talisman. I imagine that’ll no longer be the case (if it even still was, I never checked).
Obviously any future Nomad-developed games will also be published by Nomad, bar any further publishing agreements.
As the holidays approach, everyone is on the lookout for the perfect gift for their family, friends, and coworkers. Here, we’ve compiled our favorite gifts under $100 that will be perfect for the Apple fan in your life.
Anker PowerPort III Nano
If your special someone has an iPhone or an iPad, they’ll likely love the Anker PowerPort III Nano (review). This compact charger is about as small as it gets but has enough power to fast charge their iPhone to 50% in only 30 minutes. With up to 18W of power, that will also fast charge their iPad or iPad Pro.
Priced at $19.99 on Amazon, this budget-friendly gift can be used as a stocking stuffer or Secret Santa gift easily. Just make sure they have a USB-C to Lightning cable if being used for their iPhone.
The 18W Anker PowerPort Nano III is a great gift idea, offering faster charging compared to Apple’s 5W charger
For even more power, there is the PowerPort III Mini which can output 30W of power in a similarly small design. That is easily enough to not only power an iPhone or iPad, but a 2018 or newer MacBook Air in a size smaller than what Apple bundled. The beefier high-speed charger is currently on sale for $25.99 on Amazon.
Anova Precision Cooker Nano
The Anova Sous Vide Cooker can be paired with an iPhone or iPad for enhanced precision
The Anova Sous Vide Precision Cooker Nano (review) is a fantastic sous vide cooker that can work on its own, or by being paired to an iPhone or iPad for more control and notifications.
Throw some protein or other food into a bag with seasoning and submerge it in a bath of water with the Anova set to the desired cooking temperature and wait. Not long after they’ll have a perfectly cooked piece of meat without losing any of the flavor.
There are a lot of sous vide cookers out there as the technique grows in popularity, but Anova was one of the first to bring it to the masses and the new Nano model makes it even more compact. The Anovoa Precision Cooker Nano is currently on sale for $97 at Amazon.
DJI Osmo Mobile 3
The powerful DJI Osmo Mobile III is a perfect gift for Apple iPhone users
Technically, the DJI Osmo Mobile 3 is a bit above our $100 price point but it is such an excellent device we couldn’t help but include it. It received raved reviews when we looked at it earlier this year and it still holds up as a great iPhone accessory.
While photographers and videographers will surely love it, casual uses will find use too as it stabilizes videos and helps shoot cinematic timelapse scenes. Retailing for $119, the DJI Osmo Mobile III is available at Amazon and B&H, with accessories also available bundled as a kit for $139.
Mophie Juice Pack Access
Mophie Juice Pack Access is available for all recent iPhones, including the new iPhone 11
There are a few battery cases available for iPhone users, but the Mophie Juice Pack Access is one of few available for almost any iPhone from the past few years.
It charges itself and the phone wirelessly and leaves the Lightning port at the bottom free for wired charging, headphones, or CarPlay. Now available for the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max, the Mophie battery case retails for $99.99, but is currently 20% off with exclusive promo code INSIDER20 at ZAGG.
Twelve South HiRise Wireless
Twelve South HiRise wireless 3-in-1 charging pad
Twelve South’s HiRise Wireless is a creative multi-use Qi charging stand that works well vertically, but can also be removed and used horizontally as a charging pad or tossed in a bag as a travel charger.
When we reviewed it, we were impressed with the build quality and unique design that simplifies the user experience.
Everyone loves AirPods, and like phones, many like to adorn their AirPods with protective cases. We looked at a huge variety of cases that will surely fit your giftee.
All of these cases fit both the original AirPods as well as the second-generation with wireless charging case.
Prices for AirPods cases can be found for as low as $7 with premium models covered in our roundup retailing anywhere from $29 to $79.
Nomad Base Station
The original Nomad Base Station wirelessly charges current iPhones with ease
Nomad has always produced some of the most sought Apple accessories and in 2019, its Base Station was top of our list.
The Nomad Base station has an aluminum body with a Horween leather pad for charging up an iPhone. A second USB-A port fits around back for connecting a second device such as an Apple Watch charging puck.
If you don’t mind shelling out a little more, Nomad also offers a version with an integrated Apple Watch charging puck as well as one made of genuine leather and walnut.
Prices for the charging stations start at $84.95 with exclusive coupon code INSIDER15 at HelloNomad.com.
Eve Light Strip
The Eve Lightstrip is the brightest of the bunch
Lightstrips are rampant on Amazon but when it comes to Apple-friendly HomeKit-enabled ones they don’t get better than the one offered by Eve.
It connects over Wi-Fi, can be controlled via Siri or scheduled to turn on and off when desired, and is the brightest of the lot.
Plus, light strips are incredibly versatile. It can illuminate under countertops, along baseboards, up stairs, under the sides of the bed, and more. The Eve Light Strip that works with Apple HomeKit sells for $77 at Amazon.
BentoStack Charge
BentoStack Charge is a useful Apple accessory
BentoStack Charge is a great accessory for dealing with all existing accessories. It has repurposed a traditional Bento Box into a travel case that can hold cables, chargers, memory cards, Apple Watch bands, an Apple Pencil, and more.
Compared to the original BentoStack, BentoStack Charge integrates a battery pack into the lid and allows to charge over USB or Qi, with a price tag of $89.95.
It won’t make it in time for the holidays, but Function101 did just launch an updated model with a USB-C hub as well.
Ember ceramic mug
Ember ceramic mug keeps itself, and beverages, warm with an iOS app
As the temperatures drop, more people turn to coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. Ember improves the experience by always keeping your drink warm. It comes in both a tumbler as well as a mug and can be controlled and monitored through Bluetooth and its corresponding iOS app.
It was even updated earlier this year with a thicker ceramic wall that helps keep it warmer for longer. Priced at $99.95 on Amazon, the Ember mug makes a great gift for coffee and tea enthusiasts, as well as those looking to curl up with a good book this holiday season.
UpperCase Space Saving MacBook Stand
The UpperCase Kradl saves space by holding Apple MacBooks in a vertical position
For the business professional or home office user that finds space ever elusive, the Aluminum Vertical MacBook Stand from UpperCase is the perfect solution. Available in your choice of Space Gray or Silver to coordinate with Apple finishes, the UpperCase Kradl is made to fit 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros from 2016 onward.
Designed in California and machined from a single piece of aerospace-grade aluminum, the Kradl is up to 60% smaller than other vertical stands on the market.
Holiday shoppers can pick up UpperCase’s Kradl Aluminum Vertical Stand for $29.95 with free shipping on Amazon.
Langrisser I & II Lands A 2020 Release Date In The West
It has been confirmed that Langrisser I & II will launch on March 10th, 2020 in North America and March 13th in Europe, while Australia and New Zealand will get the game on March 20th.
A double-pack which remasters two classic Mega Drive SPRGs from the ’90s, this collection features new visuals and voice acting, as well as the chance to toggle between ‘Classic’ and ‘Remastered’ art styles, as demonstrated in the trailer above.
Originally developed by Masaya Games, the Langrisser series began life in 1991, and would make its way to North America under the title Warsong. Subsequent entries – which would arrive on the Super Famicom, PC-FX, Saturn and PlayStation – have remained exclusive to Japan. However, Langrisser Re:Incarnation Tensei changed all of that in 2015 when it was localised for western release (sadly, it was largely awful).
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The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Nintendo Switch
Narcos: Rise of the Cartels(Curve Digital, Today, $29.99) Welcome to Colombia, 1980’s – the fires of El Patrón’s empire have been lit, its influence spanning borders, and expansion unabated. Influence and corruption is rife; cops, guards, politicians and those in between are falling into the pocket of the Medellín Cartel, and after years of production, America is finally taking notice. Narcos: Rise of the Cartels tells the story of the hit Netflix TV series, of the rise and fall of El Patrón. Choose your side and ally with the DEA or conversely side with the Narcos. Explore recognisable locations from the show and take a role in pivotal world-altering events and battles that will define and shift the war on drugs. Form your team from a variety of class-specific roles, join leading characters, upgrade your skills and take part in brutal turn-based combat, where your actions will have consequence. Plata o Plomo?
Switch eShop
The Touryst(Shin’en Multimedia, Today, $19.99) You are just arriving at the Monument Islands. Want to go swimming? Or rather take a dive into the deep sea? Or do you want to visit the amusement arcade, do some shopping, dance at the beach party? Fancy some surfing? Or will you talk with the strange old tourist and listen what he has to say about these ancient mysterious monuments.
Black Future ’88(Good Shepherd Entertainment, Today, $19.99) Black Future ’88 is a Synth-Punk roguelike 2D action Shooter. Vertically climb an always evolving procedural tower to reach the top and kill its insane owner…before your heart explodes. Shoot, slash, dash and upgrade yourself to survive the endless waves of deadly traps, homicidal AI and colossal Wardens standing in your way in a stylish alternative version of 1988. The world is reeling from a nuclear cataclysm, created by Duncan, the tower architect. The First of his bombs fell in the summer of 1988, and by December they had blacked-out the sun with endless rain. We decided to stop keeping time after this, and it’s been 1988 ever since. Everything that lived through the initial attack will die in the extreme floods that followed. These are the times after, where there are no more months, or even weeks…everything is measured in minutes left to live.
Arcade Archives Yie Ar KUNG-FU(HAMSTER, Thu 14th November, $7.99) “Yie Ar KUNG-FU” is an action game released by KONAMI in 1985. The main character, Oolong, joins a high-level kung-fu contest in order to avenge his father’s death. The game is one of the pioneers of the fighting game genre today. Players can enjoy authentic battles against martial artists who use different fighting styles. The “Arcade Archives” series has faithfully reproduced many classic Arcade masterpieces.
Baobabs Mausoleum Ep.3: Un Pato en Muertoburgo(Zerouno Games, Today, $5.99) After the macabre and horrific events suffered in the second chapter of Baobabs Mausoleum, here comes the final episode full of sordid stays in limbo, golf courses watched over by enchilada-shaped clouds, trips to the internet of the Marianas and a final outcome with a high risk of causing you very negative effects both in the eyesight and in the brain; the final episode of Baobabs Mausoleum is here ready to make you completely crazy. Welcome to Flamingo’s Creek. 64 inhabitants.
Biolab Wars(Forever Entertainment, Fri 15th November, $1.99) An alien lab experimenting on Earth? It’s time to call the mercenary team on duty to sweep the invaders by firing, beating and bombing. Inspired by the 8-bit games and by the movies from the 80’s, your goal is to blow things up, defeat aliens and fight bizarre bosses in this platformer 2D with classic mechanics.
Castle of no Escape 2(QubicGames, Fri 22nd November, $7.99) Countless heroes have tried and failed to destroy the ancient spell that holds the castle walls. Meanwhile, hundreds of monsters are roaming inside, guarding the sword shards — the last known thing to be capable of defeating the demonic castle owner, thus shattering its magical structure. Although you are not alone — some help could be obtained from the merchants, who, for reasons not truly understood, offer their services right inside the lair of evil. Though, it seems to be only a matter of time for them to disappear. . . Plan your every step carefully, because save points aren’t a thing in a rogue-lite game!
Chameleon(UFO Interactive, Tue 26th November, $4.99) Play as one of four magical sisters as you battle to conquer your territory for the chance to play against the ultimate puzzle master! Utilize unique special moves, power ups, and combos to get one step closer to becoming the champion!
Color.Motif Deluxe(Kodobur Yazilim, Fri 15th November, $3.49) New, polished, relaxing, artistic puzzle game with lots of motifs and various difficulty. Color. Motif Deluxe is an artistic puzzle game. It is a sequel of previous game award-winning Motif. Relaxing puzzle environment, create your color-motif with given pieces.
Fractured Minds(Wired Productions, Thu 14th November, $1.99) Fractured Minds is an immersive artistic short game, exploring anxiety and mental health issues. Winner of a 2017 BAFTA Young Game Designers Award, Fractured Minds is a game created by 17-year-old Emily Mitchell, with the hope of aiding understanding and awareness of mental illness. Embark on a journey through the human psyche and experience six atmospheric and thought-provoking chapters, each symbolising a different aspect or challenge associated with mental health issues; from isolation to anxiety, with everyday situations being distorted beyond recognition.
GREEN(Studio Green, Today, $2.99) Survive in a world overrun by genetically altered vegetation. Humanity is an endangered species and only you can save it. Welcome to G. R. E. E. N. The Life Algorithm, an adventure through spectacular natural scenarios in which you will face the threats and challenges of lethal plants that dominate the earth. But beware, you can’t kill your enemies here, just petrify them and use them to your advantage, so choose wisely to survive. Use your skills to progress.
Groove Coaster Wai Wai Party!!!!(Taito, Thu 14th November, $59.99) Rhythm Game x Roller Coaster! Ride a roller coaster of sound with simple controls, and get grooving in this exhilarating rhythm game! Exhilarating active controls! With Active Controls, you can play by shaking the Joy-Con controllers. Experience the groove in a variety of songs, only possible on Nintendo Switch! You can also play with Standard Controls, using the buttons and control sticks! Groove together! Play together with up to 4 friends and family members in Play With Others mode!
Lots of Slots(Dispatch Games, Fri 15th November, $7.99) Start with 25,000 coins – win more with free bonus spins and huge rewards when you level up. Plenty of big wins, free spins and amazing themes to choose from. 15 different machines to play including, Gladiators, Aliens vs Slots, Cats and Dogs plus many more! Just sit back, spin and win, win, win!
Marblelous Animals(BLG Publishing, Fri 22nd November, $4.99) Marblelous Animals is a fun and cute adventure in which you’ll be in charge of leading these chubby animals to their home.
Monster Bugs Eat People(QubicGames, Fri 22nd November, $1.99) You are a bug and you’re born in a laboratory. Your purpose is to look for food to grow bigger. Beware – other monster bugs are also on the hunt and will fight you. In Monster Bugs Eat People you can play as 3 types of bugs: Deadly Red that draws strength from eating people, Vegetarian Green who feeds on flora and Terrifying Steel that eats… steel. Outside of your standard diet, you can eat other bugs. To gain an advantage over them, use your skills: quick dash and poisonous venom that immobilize your prey.
Monster Jam Steel Titans(THQ Nordic, Tue 26th November, $29.99) Real Trucks. Real Action. Monster Jam! Monster Jam Steel Titans delivers the complete Monster Jam experience for everybody to enjoy! All the trucks, stunts, stadiums, racing and massive air in one game! Play in various game modes including Stadium and outdoor Racing, various Stunt Challenges and Destruction modes!
Pine(Kongregate, Tue 26th November, $24.99) A STORY OF HUMANS Pine is an open world action adventure simulation game. Set in the beautiful world of Albamare, you take on the role of Hue, a smart young adult who will have to explore, trade, and fight his way through a vibrant world filled with creatures much smarter than humans. THEIR STORY BECOMES YOURS
Real Heroes: Firefighter(Golem Entertainment, Wed 27th November, $14.99) For the first time on Nintendo Switch™, Real Heroes: Firefighter gives you a realistic point-of-view experience of the challenges firefighters face. Experience raging infernos and explosive environments in this truly unique action game. Use the firefighter tools of the trade, like axe, hose and saw to rescue survivors and control fires.
SoccerDie: Cosmic Cup(Pipeworks Studios, Today, $6.99) SoccerDie: Cosmic Cup is a love-letter to classic arcade and bullet hell titles that features the most accurate soccer simulation specifically created to support land mines, giant brains, stompy dinos, colorful ghosts, unreasonable tanks, and at least one vampire. WIN AND YOUR PLANET BECOME FREEDOM!
Story of a Gladiator(Brain Seal Entertainment, Wed 27th November, $10.99) Story of a Gladiator is an arena beat ’em up where you take the role of a man in search of his destiny, only to find it in the sands of the colosseum. You are a common man who has lost everything in the war against the Roman empire. Your family is dead, your friends are dead, your house has been burned down and your land is now under Roman rule. Despite such misfortune you have managed to escape slavery or worse. You spend much of your time in the streets of Rome looking for some sort of meaning in your life and wondering why the gods have spared you. One day fate finally reveals itself, are you ready to accept it?
Strike Force – War on Terror(Polygon Art, Today, $13.99) Strike Force – War on Terror is a action oriented tactical shooter. Where you are a member of the Strike Force Unit. Your objective is to battle terrorism around the world! Nothing stands in your way. From vast outdoor environments to narrow bunker corridors, you are deployed to take out targets in the middle east and snowy mountains. Gear up with a modern arsenal of machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles and pistols and fulfill your objective.
The Unicorn Princess(Bigben Interactive, Tue 19th November, $39.99) From your village, the Dream World is just a step away! Befriend Unica the unicorn while exploring the real world and the world of dreams. You’re the only one who can help Unica save her world!
Tiny Gladiators(BoomBit Games, Fri 22nd November, $14.99) Tiny Gladiators swings you back and forth like a battleaxe: crush your rivals in 1-on-1 combat, then set out on your road to revenge, building up your magical arsenal as you seek your father’s killer. Now charge back into the fighting arena, armed with fearsome powers, to strike your rivals down! The more fights you win, the more weapons you can afford, and the further you can venture into the fantastic world of Tiny Gladiators. Grow your powers and skills, and watch your Tiny Gladiators rise into legends!
True Fear: Forsaken Souls – Part 2(Digital Lounge, Tue 19th November, $9.99) True Fear: Forsaken Souls combines the best of the psychological thriller with intuitive gameplay mechanics for a mind-bending mystery escape game. If you’re looking for a horror game that doesn’t sacrifice the story, this is the game for you! Skeptical that a point and click adventure can be compelling or scary?
Widget Satchel(Undefined, Wed 27th November, $14.99) You are Sprocket, an adorable ferret on a remote space station. Escape your playpen and make your way to the shuttlebay with the most stuff! Widget Satchel is a thrilling adventure for one little thief, with fiendish puzzles, joyous platforming, and dozens of hidden collectables. As you stumble deeper though the station evading your human caretakers, you steal things like widgets and socks. And you stash them, because you’re a ferret. It’s a ferretroidvania!
Switch eShop Demos
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020(SEGA) Join Mario, Sonic and friends for their greatest adventure yet at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, exclusively on Nintendo Switch! Go for gold as you compete in action‐packed sports games, including 4 brand new events to Tokyo 2020 Skateboarding, Karate, Surfing, and Sport Climbing, as well as a large selection of classic events. Read our Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 review.
True Fear: Forsaken Souls – Part 2(Digital Lounge, Tue 19th November, $9.99) True Fear: Forsaken Souls combines the best of the psychological thriller with intuitive gameplay mechanics for a mind-bending mystery escape game. If you’re looking for a horror game that doesn’t sacrifice the story, this is the game for you! Skeptical that a point and click adventure can be compelling or scary? Try the free demo!
Nintendo Mobile
’Tis the Season to Put Your Keys in the Ignition – A beautiful blanket of snow has descended in Mario Kart Tour during the special Winter Tour event, which runs until Dec. 3. Mario looks quite jolly in his Santa suit while staying warm with a Fire Flower. Meanwhile, Pink Gold Peach spreads some wintertime joy as she speeds past sparkling decorations. Additionally, with a new update, players can now drive with a dedicated “Drift” button now added in Automatic Drift mode, and a “Steer” button added in Manual Drift mode, there’s never been a better time to join the race!
Happy Second Anniversary, Animal Crossing Campers – Mail call! Your special invitation to Pocket Camp Club has arrived, a new optional paid subscription service exclusive to Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Have you ever wanted your own personal assistant to help around the campsite? With the Happy Helper Plan, priced at $2.99 a month, you’ll be able to set your favorite animal friend as your camp caretaker to help with animal requests and events like Scavenger Hunts, Fishing Tourneys and Garden Events. Or, with the Cookie & Depot Plan, priced at $7.99 a month, you’ll receive access to the members-only Cookie Shop where you can choose five fortune cookies each month.
So that’s your lot for this week’s North American Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and comment below with your hot picks!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 11-22-2019, 03:14 AM - Forum: Lounge
- No Replies
Half-Life: Alyx VR - Everything Valve Announced Today
Out of nowhere, Valve earlier this week confirmed that a new Half-Life game--the first in more than decade--was on the way. It made us wait until today, November 21, to get any details beyond the name, Half-Life: Alyx, and it's had a lot to share. But that information has come spread across numerous sources: different Valve websites, including Steam's store page, and interviews, such as one for Geoff Keighley's The Final Hours series.
With that in mind, we've rounded up all of our coverage from today's big announcement of the new virtual reality game. You can also stay tuned to our roundup of everything we know about Half-Life: Alyx, which we'll continue to update in the months leading up to the game's release next year.
As Half-Life: Alyx goes on sale as part of a special pre-purchase promotion through March 30, 2020, there's a way to get the game for free before it launches.
The first new Half-Life game in more than a decade is coming next March, and you can get some exclusive bonus content for it if you pick up an Index in 2019.
With development on Half-Life: Alyx beginning over a decade after the release of Half-Life 2, Valve did not want to tackle to expectations fans have for Half-Life 3.
Following the apparent silence with In The Valley Of The Gods, it's been revealed that the Firewatch devs are working on the upcoming Half-Life VR game.
Video: Game design insights from the GDC 2019 Failure Workshop
In this set of talks from GDC 2019 set of talks, three modern game makers share real talk and lessons learned from some of their recent failures.
It was a great session because speakers Jon Remedios, Juan de la Torre and Charley Price each, with rare honesty and transparency, shared earnest stories of recent game projects gone awry. Together they encouraged fellow devs to reflect on their own missteps, and created space for all to learn from the slings and arrows of indie game development.
This is a talk you’ll want to see if you have any interest in indie games, so if you didn’t have time to catch it at GDC this year take advantage of the fact that you can now watch the whole thing completely free via the official GDC YouTube channel!
In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page.
Don’t Miss: Inside the narrative design of Control, Remedy’s least linear game
Last month Remedy Entertainment launched Control to the world, its latest game in a lineage of narrative-driven experiences, from Max Payne to Quantum Break.
Protagonist Jesse Faden is trapped inside an ever-shifting environment called The Oldest House, looking for answers about the past and current events in the Federal Bureau of Control, an entity dedicated to studying anomalies.
In an effort to better understand the making of the game’s critically-acclaimed narrative Gamasutra chatted with Brooke Maggs, a narrative designer at Remedy who has previously worked on The Gardens Between, Florence, and Paperbark, about her experience working to craft Control‘s eerie setting.
Working in a new IP of this scale opened up an extensive playground for experimentation, and posed some new challenges for the team at Remedy.
Maggs says that previously the studio focused on fairly linear games, where players just followed the story through, getting to know the narrative and engaging in combat from time to time. But this time it was different, since the design of The Oldest House encourages players to plot their own routes through the world. Along with the main story path there are side missions, videos playing on TVs, and audio logs to find, all of which had to be wrapped up neatly alongside Control‘s core narrative.
“We had to make decisions about what key concepts to introduce in the main story, and how to build out the world in the side missions. An example [for this] is getting to know more about characters just by interacting with them, doing favors and helping get things under control with the Bureau,” Maggs explains, noting that the Control team are counting on curiosity driving players to seek out more narrative content in the corners of the game.
“They can choose just to power through the main missions or they can follow it during side missions… and not a lot of the these are actually super clear either, so it encourages discovery,” she adds. “If you’re curious about a red light in a room, that will link to something. And that’s really nice too. We’re encouraging players to be curious and then rewarding that curiosity with narrative, as well as some [character] abilities on the side, things like that.”
Control also relies on environmental objects (think: documents and tapes lying out on desks) to give players the backstory of characters and small details of the world in short doses, but making them available in a game punctuated by room-destroying combat proved to be tricky, considering Jesse can levitate and use telekinesis to rip fixtures off walls, lob desks or other heavy furniture, and generally make a mess of the place.
Maggs explains that, because everything is reactive and dynamic in the environment, they had to plan how to avoid game design pifalls like making a single table in a room static and immovable because it has a valuable narrative document on it. Instead, they worked to place those narrative bits in parts of the game world that weren’t likely to be disrupted, but were also easy to find.
Some of the bigger narrative payoffs were instead transmitted through live-action video of actors that plays during the game (and can also be accessed from an in-game menu), minimizing the odds of players being distracted by combat.
“So when [Director Zachariah] Trench appears to Jesse, that’s happening while the player is still moving around the environment, so we don’t actually take control and show a cinematic in that point,” adds Maggs. “we leave the freedom [to] the player so they can still look around.”
Filling the nooks and crannies
Though Maggs didn’t write them specifically, she was also involved in the design of Control‘s audio logs from the beginning. The Control team had a spreadsheet where they would decide what they wanted to include that wasn’t already covered in the main story, and then go from there. This covered topics like everyday life in the Bureau, objects of interest, and other quotidian day-to-day happenings in a paranormal environment.
Notably, Maggs says the team spent significant time ironing out the reason why characters would record specific audio logs in order to add to the realism, a concern that hasn’t been as significant in some of her prior work.
“[The setting] was really interesting because the world in Control, I guess has a different purpose? So, the world in The Gardens Between is very metaphorically, because the whole fantasy was created by [the characters] memories’ together, and everything that you were doing was uncovering what had happened in this friendship. Whereas the world in Control, first and foremost [during] development we looked at questions like ‘what is the Oldest House, how does it work, how was the Bureau?’ and this was actually creating a realistic narrative world in a much larger scale.”
She compares it to Florence, Mountain’s 2018 mobile hit about the main character’s relationship and the ways it’s reflected in the micro-world arounder. But in Control, the world is much larger and can be considered a character in itself; according Maggs, the same applies to the Oldest House.
On paper, this process involved asking herself questions of what stories each location could tell, about both when the player is traversing such spaces and what happened before. Something as mundane as the game’s safe rooms, for example, required a lot of brainstorming beforehand.
“We’ve had some things put in the safe room by the level designers and we were like ‘that’s a great idea but realistically these would not be in a safe room,” says Maggs while laughing. “All of that was awesome. I remember sitting with environment artists and level designers talking about how to put more of the story into the world.”
Often, these artists and designers would come up with better ideas than the narrative team once they actually had the narrative context for these spaces. “That’s their art form, telling story in the environment and thinking that through,” adds Maggs. “Environment artists know exactly what works, what color to put on the floor in a certain sector, because there was a design document for that… I mean these people don’t mess around. Working with people who have that level of detail to the world was super cool.”
According to Maggs, creativity and attention to detail is common at Remedy. “The Threshold Kids”, a live-action puppet show presented in Control, was hand-crafted by a cinematic designer. The idea came from the narrative team, but it was the designer who actually built the puppets himself, using a studio downstairs as a set to record the scenes present in the game.
A career in narrative design
Maggs’ role intertwines with basically all other sectors at Remedy, as she focuses on the overall story and the player’s experiene of it. While writers have to focus on characters, thinking about the words they use and how they articulate them, or authoring a backbone for a mission and how that’s going to work, Maggs’ job is to bring together all the people who have touched said mission. This involves sound design, lighting, VFX effects, level design, environment art, animation, and writing.
“We all go through a side mission together and say ‘Jesse needs to say something here, we need an animation of her opening a door, we need a sound effect for the door opening, we need lighting on the door so people can see it’ and that’s [usually] what I do,” Maggs explains. “Then, I follow up and answer questions about the story that might help…that’s where we come in, sort of like a walking dictionary for the world [of Control].”
Some of the new skills Maggs picked up while working on Control involve working with actors, recording and pacing dialogue, and getting people inspired to contribute to the story.
“When we were sort of saying like ‘we’ve got this narrative idea’ and people would be ‘that’s very strange, what are you doing?’ we were like ‘well, bear with us!’” she tells Gamasutra. “I think I’ve learned a lot about championing the story and helping guide people to sort of all have the same idea of something in their heads, which is a challenge. I’ve also learned about attention to detail in a world, especially from Sam Lake. He really thinks through everything meticulously, and I thought that’s the kind of craftsmanship that comes from years of working in narrative games. So that was really incredible.”
To anyone wanting to get into narrative design, Maggs’ advice is to understand story and story structure. She adds that her background in writing and editing has been really helpful. Even if she doesn’t directly do those things in her job, she has done a lot of writing regarding design documents. All of it has to be clear to convey an idea, and whether that’s fiction or non-fiction, it’s an important skill to have.
“I’d also encourage people to play games that have a strong narrative design to them, like Her Story, which is a good example of a story that’s told with the way you interact with the game. Understanding game mechanics and what those make players feel it’s important,” she says. In addition, thinking and looking at ways other media tell stories — that it’s not to do with words but rather images, color, and sound — is key. Maggs mentions Journey as a prime example of this, since there is no text or speech in the game, and how they examined that aspect when she was working on The Gardens Between.
“Pursue what you’re really interested in, because narrative design can be a lot of different things, from interactive text games to puzzle or action adventure,” she concludes. “Find the games that you love, dissect them and see how their work.”
Review: Thief of Thieves: Season One – More Of A Snore Than A Score
It’s not hard to see what Rival Games was thinking with Thief of Thieves. Take a long-running comic series by Robert Kirkman, co-creator of The Waking Dead, give it the Telltale Games treatment with fancy cel-shaded comic book stylings, add some Hitman-lite sneaking about in trendy European locations with a gang of smart-mouthed Ocean’s Eleven-esque characters and bingo! You’ve got a surefire thing on your hands.
Except no. Not if you only manage to nail the aesthetic and then proceed to layer it on top of tediously basic gameplay, broken AI, dire acting, a pain-in-the-ass main protagonist and by-the-numbers storyline. We’re sorry to report that Thief of Thieves is a bad game; one that was rough enough on PC but is made even worse here by a shoddy, buggy Switch port that’s an absolute slog to play through.
From the moment we’re introduced to Celia, the central protagonist of the story and protégé of Conrad Paulson, the titular Thief of Thieves from the comic books, things aren’t looking great. Apprehended at an airport and taken away for interview, Celia is immediately unlikable. She’s overly cocky with a terrible line in sarcastic humour which colours the response choices you’re given during her conversations. Almost every time we were presented with a selection of her answers to straightforward questions, we baulked at the fact we had to be so terribly unwitty with our inquisitors, our sassy responses far more cringe-worthy than in any way cool. It’s bad, and in no way enamours you to the character you’re playing, but it’s a situation made much worse once the gameplay kicks in.
Over the course of the handful of short missions included in season one – this is a game you’ll polish off in four hours if you stick around to the ending – you’re forced to partake in some very basic and clunky Hitman-style breaking and entering; gathering info at a fancy cocktail party, blackmailing a train worker, infiltrating the exact same train station twice at different times of the day and doing some sneaking about on a train full of your adversaries.
Every single one of these missions is hamstrung by bad dialogue, clunky controls and constant stuttering and framerate problems. There’s a bug which crashes you to the homescreen, absolutely dumb AI (at one point a guard caught us infiltrating an off-limits area, threw us to the ground then just walked away because they forgot what they were doing as they were doing it) and a terrible camera that can move between two viewpoints in a scene at any one time – both of which often make it impossible to see any of the important elements of the scenario you’re currently embroiled in.
You’ve got an intuition mode, initiated by a press of the L button, which throws up hints, tips and little bits of dialogue – stylishly splashed across the background scenery of the level you’re playing – that take away every single ounce of challenge or actual thinking you might have been expected to do in order to complete your current mission. Intuition will tell you where to walk, what to think and exactly how you should go about retrieving whatever it is you’re in need of at any given time, and you’ll use it, because the nonsensical story does a terrible job of informing you what’s going on for the most part, and you’ll be wanting to get through things as quickly as possible by any means necessary. There’s no feeling of achievement or pride in completing anything here; it’s just a clunky mess that you’ll bumble your way through like Inspector Clouseau, sans the comedy.
Let’s talk about some other aspects of the gameplay. You can vault over walls and other obstacles – except sometimes you can’t, the game picking and choosing at random when it feels like having its most basic mechanics work. There are empty cans that you can throw to distract guards as you sneak around the pixelated and blurry levels, but they’re awkward to use and essentially useless as the guards don’t get distracted for long enough for you to sneak past a lot of the time, often turning around as you’re crouch-walking by – but it’s fine, as there’s a good chance they won’t notice you anyway because somebody forgot to program the AI properly.
On one occasion we fell off the roof of a museum – a very high roof – tumbled down the side, smashing through some scaffolding and crashing noisily into a floodlit area patrolled by a few security guards. Celia didn’t get hurt, perhaps cushioned somehow by her overwhelmingly annoying personality, and the guards still didn’t react; we were free to get on with milling about, pushing and pulling at random bits and pieces until we gave up, hit intuition and proceeded on our merry way, Celia snapping her fingers and giving it “piece of cake” as she waltzed out of the level.
There are QTEs that you’ll fail because speech bubbles pop up in front of the command prompts, horrendous stuttering every time you change camera angles and lots and lots of overly long loading times breaking up the levels, so you have plenty of time to think about all the other games you could have been playing instead of wasting your time with this.
Conclusion
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. Avoid.
