Games industry veterans across the UK are calling on the British government to champion the sector by officially recognizing and funding a British Games Institute (BGI). 

The BGI campaign was launched earlier this year, and is now looking to gather more momentum through petitioning website Change.org. 

Games Workshop co-founder and former Eidos CEO Ian Livingstone is leading the charge, and says it’s time the government showed its support for an industry that contributes over £1.2 billion ($1.58 billion) to the UK economy each year. 

The proposed BGI would be modeled on the British Film Institute, and would look to “support future growth by driving innovation and opportunities in the sector.”

“Some of the most creative and competitive games studios in the world are based in the UK, yet almost all UK games companies struggle to raise finance and access skills, and have to fight against low public recognition of our amazing art form,” said Livingstone.

“The BGI’s programmes will help address these challenges. I’m convinced that the BGI can increase the level of investment, widen games’ cultural impact and source the skills our studios need to stay world-class.”

The BGI has been backed by trade bodies UKIE and TIGA, along with over 500 senior games, investment, arts, and education figures. 

You can find out more about the campaign, including how to show your support, over on the BGI website.

As much as I’m enjoying Star Trek: Discovery I have often wondered what a new Star Trek television series, set after the events of Voyager and Deep Space Nine, would look like. For a decade and a half it’s seemed like Thar Be Dragons in those deep waters of the series’ chronology. 

Somehow I’d forgotten about Star Trek Online, however–at least until an io9 article that described the game in exactly these terms came across my feed. I have to say it really is the unofficial heir to the television series’ mantle of canon, and in the weeks I’ve played the game I’ve truly come to appreciate its storytelling and unique take on its source material.

The quality of its narrative is uneven, but mostly good and mostly very Trek-y. The best parts of the game are those that manage to go beyond mere combat to tell an interesting story about Trek’s weird, wonderful galaxy. Helping a species new to warp drive take their first steps out beyond their homeworld, for instance, or traveling back in time to stop a comet from attracting transphasic ghosts. 

There’s also no small joy to be had in how the game takes minor plot points from the old TV shows and spins them out into grand stories in their own right, often bringing back the original actors to provide voice work for the continuation of their stories. An obscure species that featured in a single episode of Voyager becomes the big bad for an entire satisfying arc about the Delta Quadrant; the fate of Tasha Yar spools out into an entire series of quests, and her half-Romulan daughter became a world historical figure. In the meantime, an epic and moving mission sees you help Captain Harry Kim make peace with a clone of himself created by a temporal rift. Yes, it’s all really weird–and that’s as Star Trek should be.

“Star Trek Online really is the unofficial heir to the television series’ mantle of canon, and in the weeks I’ve played the game I’ve truly come to appreciate its storytelling and unique take on its source material.”

But it’s worth paying tribute to what makes this possible in STO. It’s the way each mission is structured as an “episode” of a television show. If you look, most missions in the game follow the narrative beats of an hour-long network TV show, which makes the game’s switching between its space and ground phases feel natural and even necessary. It’s, of course, a lot more combat heavy than The Next Generation, but that doesn’t stop the story from being told. 

Many missions start with a certain goal that is quickly superseded by rapidly evolving events. A quiet series of lunar scans turns into a search and rescue operation which turns into a race against time to stop a planetary superweapon from going off; it’s an old narrative trick but it’s used to stunningly great effect here in a way that has the added benefit of thoughtfully expressing Trek-y themes. Having these wild, sometimes improbable narrative jump-cuts makes STO feel like the show.

Like most of these games, of course, combat can become a tedious and pointless grind–which feels especially prevalent in the away team missions. These third person combat sections, which most resemble traditional MMO combat, are the weakest part of the game in nearly every measure; gooey controls, ugly graphics, repetitive and uncreative combat. But the game shines in both its space battles (where there’s a surprising amount of replayability due to the fully 3D nature of it, permitting a kind of strategic thinking I’ve not toyed around with this much since Homeworld) and in its non-combat bits. 

Making a successful videogame that ties into a popular, non gaming IP relies on capturing the feel of the original work to some degree. STO manages this quite neatly in a number of simple, cost-effective non-combat puzzles in many of its missions. I am always pleasantly surprised when a game forces me to sit up and actually pay close attention to what I’m reading, where I’m asked to remember key facts and details, or names, or a certain order of operations for a later task. It’s almost always all multiple choice menus; STO gets a surprising amount of mileage out of its dialogue box, which does duty as everything from a frequency tuner to a warp core to an alien artifact. One gets the sense that this was a cost cutting measure. It forces a single, simple UI to do so much; that it’s done with such finesse is a testament to the skill of Cryptic’s developers.

“These wild, sometimes improbable narrative jump-cuts makes STO feel like the show.”

In another mission, you have to question a prisoner. Your officers advise the most culturally-sensitive path to building a rapport with the prisoner–a medic who participated in an assault on a defenseless ship. You need him to tell you how to safely remove a horribly invasive neural device he’d implanted in one of the survivors. Your dialogue choices, which are not always wildly different from one another, determine whether he opens up to you or walls himself off. It’s a relatively rare moment in this game, but it’s the sort of thing that really pays off. There’s a frisson that comes from these sorts of non-combat/dialogue puzzles where reading comprehension, empathy, and emotional reasoning are the primary skills you bring to bear. It’s also highly appropriate for a Star Trek game.

STO succeeds in large measure because it manages to nail Star Trek’s tone so well, using its limited suite of mechanics and UI tools in creative ways to capture that spirit. By fitting this into a narrative structure that mimics a 60 minute episode of a TV series, Cryptic manages to do this while also creating a satisfying series of missions that make this one of the best story-rich MMOs out there. The “page turner” effect I look for in in-game stories was definitely there. I wanted to do the next mission just to see what happened. I was, dare I say, engaged.

In any event, the game offers some surprising lessons on doing a lot with a little, especially where text is concerned. It’s almost like a visual novel was grafted onto this graphically intensive, explodey game–and I mean that as nothing but the highest of praise.

Now if we could just get working holodecks on our ships…

Katherine Cross is a Ph.D student in sociology who researches anti-social behavior online, and a gaming critic whose work has appeared in numerous publications.

Welcome to another edition of Next Week on Xbox! The Fall season of gaming continues with more of the biggest games of the year coming to Xbox One, like Assassin’s Creed Origins sending us back to Ancient Egypt to uncover the brotherhood’s mysterious origins, and Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus putting us back in the boots of BJ Blazkowicz as he fights back against the Nazi scourge. Or you could get down and boogie with Just Dance 2018, terrorize campers in Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut, or enjoy the retro-inspired side scroller The Mummy: Demastered. Read on for more details on these games and more below!

Games

October 24, 2017

No matter where you come from, how old you are, if you’re a panda or a carrot: turn up the volume and get ready to unleash your inner dancer! Just Dance 2018 returns with over 40 tracks at launch, and more than 300 songs available with Just Dance Unlimited.

Games

October 24, 2017

Compete in world-class tournaments and daily challenges, all to improve your skills by earning bonus money to climb the ranks and become a professional angler for the #1 fishing brand in the world. Build your reputation, gain sponsors, battle for awards and trophies as you try to catch the top 17 species of fish from Large Mouth Bass to Northern Pike in some of the most iconic fishing locations in North America.

Games

October 24, 2017

Deer Hunter: Reloaded will provide an authentic hunting experience for players as they venture to some of the top-rated hunting regions in North America from the plains of West Texas to the rugged terrain of Alaska. Keep your guard up as the potential for dangerous animal encounters is present in every region with mountain lions, wolves and bears!

Games

October 24, 2017

Featuring the hottest songs from the world’s biggest artists, including their official HD music videos, We Sing Pop! brings the award-winning party experience, direct to the comfort of your living room. Sing together or competitively with up to 4 friends at the same time, or go solo to top the online leaderboards and become the star you were born to be!

Games

October 24, 2017

Featuring the most prestigious teams and leagues of the 2017-2018 season like Aviva Premiership Rugby, PRO14, and All Blacks, master all the game phases using intuitive controls and innovative gameplay that faithfully reproduces each situation of a rugby game. Lead your favorite club to the top in Career mode, play full seasons in League mode, and re-write history in the Match of the Week.

Games

October 24, 2017

A killer puzzle game where you control Skullface, a psychotic slasher hell-bent on revenge. Slide this adorably demented murderer around hundreds of isometric puzzle levels to squash, flay, and decapitate hapless victims in this darkly comic homage to 80s horror movies.

Games

October 24, 2017

A powerful ancient evil has arisen, and the war to save humanity has begun! The Mummy Demastered throws you into a 16-bit-inspired battle against the undead in a 2D, nonlinear, action-packed adventure. As an elite agent in the monster-hunting Prodigium organization, you must use a variety of weapons, upgrades, and magical artifacts to defend mankind against the supernatural hordes of Princess Ahmanet.

Games

October 25, 2017

The gods of old are forgotten, lost in the events that shattered the world, leaving only fragments of islands in the sky. This mystic world of endless skies, colorful islands and ancient ruins is in danger of falling into darkness. As one of the last few shapeshifters, you are sent on a pilgrimage to the Land of Gods. Uncover the secrets that will help save reality itself.

Games

October 25, 2017

Units, heroes and battles inspired in real events in this hex-based, turned-based strategy game. With a deep narrative linked to the historical evolution of the conflict, Numantia features two different campaigns with their own heroes, troops, settlements and armies.

Games

October 27, 2017

Journey to Ancient Egypt, a land of majesty and intrigue, where a ruthless fight for power is taking place. Unveil dark secrets and forgotten myths as you go back to the one founding moment: The Origins of the Assassin’s Brotherhood in this exciting next entry in the Assassin’s Creed series.

Games

October 27, 2017

Return as BJ Blazkowicz and recruit the boldest resistance leaders to fight the Nazis in iconic American locations, equip an arsenal of badass guns, and unleash new abilities to blast your way through legions of enemies in this definitive first-person shooter.

In the wee hours of the morning (UK time, at least) Nintendo lifted the lid on its next mobile title, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

It’s not officially coming until November, but the app has gone live on the Australian Google Play and iOS App Stores, which means you can download and play it right now if you happen to live in that part of the world.

If you don’t, then your options are a little more limited; there are means of side-loading the app on Android devices but if you do this you cannot currently link your Nintendo Account to the game, as it only supports Australian accounts at present.

If you decide to take the plunge, let us know by posting a comment.

Some observant readers will have seen, in our recent ‘Out Today’ post, that we were both amused and baffled by the ‘Just Mario’ song that’s found in Just Dance 2018. Ubisoft’s trailer for the routine certainly caught our eye, in any case.

If you want to know just how Mario dances when trying to impress Princess Peach, NintenDaan has posted the routine on his channel so that we can all see those funky moves. Although the iffy effects suggest the dancer was wearing normal motion-capture gear when performing this for the game, we like to think someone did it in one of those oversized mascot outfits.

Enjoy.

This song isn’t on the disc, is should be noted, but has to be accessed via the Just Dance Unlimited service; there are free trial periods available.

Now excuse us, we need to practice some moves.

The Gallery – Episode 2: Heart of the Emberstone is Now Available on Steam!

After receiving your Gauntlet, a mysterious new power in the palm of your hand, you must travel to Ember, a long-forgotten world whose past holds many secrets. Find Elsie, uncover the history of Ember, and reveal the true intentions of the dark figure in the Starseed.

[unable to retrieve full-text content]