Retrospectiva săptămânii 30 decembrie 2018 - 5 ianuarie 2019

Jocul Star Control: Origins e retras de la vânzare din cauza unui litigiu pe drepturile de autor, se anunță o nouă consolă cu suport pentru VR, continuăm retrospectivele anului care tocmai s-a încheiat și privim spre ce va urma anul ăsta. Și începând de anul acesta nu mai avem Recomandarea Săptămânii, dar avem copertă.

Ştiri

• Scenaristul Erik Wolpaw se întoarce la Valve ca colaborator part-time. El a lucrat la cele două episoade Half-Life 2 și la Portal 2 și părăsise compania în 2017. ^{(PC Gamer, Games Informer, Polygon, Gamasutra)}
• Steam și GOG au retras jocul Star Control: Origins de la vânzare în urma unei cereri DMCA (blocarea conținutului pe motiv de copyright) primită de la creatorii originali ai seriei, Fred Ford și Paul Reiche III, aflați într-un litigiu cu compania Stardock, cea care deține în prezent drepturile pentru Star Control ^{(Ars Technica, Destructoid, DSOGaming )}. Ford și Reiche explică, într-o postare pe site-ul lor, motivele pentru care au trimis cererea ^{(Polygon, Gamasutra).}
• Japonia interzice revânzarea de chei digitale pentru jocuri fără permisiunea autorilor. ^{(Destructoid, Shacknews, PCGamesN)}
• Slightly Mad, studioul din spatele seriei Project CARS 2, anunță că vrea să dezvolte o consolă… pardon, „cea mai puternică consolă construită vreodată”, denumită „Mad Box”, cu suport pentru VR. ^{(Ars Technica, PCGamesInsider.biz, Variety, GamesIndustry.biz, Wccf tech)}
• Jocul de browser Town of Salem a fost victima unei scurgeri de informații care a expus datele a 7,6 milioane de utilizatori. ^{(USgamer, TechRaptor)}
• Carmen Sandiego devine serial animat produs de Netflix. ^(Polygon)
• Au fost anunțate nominalizările la premiile Game Developers Choice Awards ^{(USgamer, Destructoid)} și Independent Games Festival ^{(Games Informer, PC Gamer)}, ambele evenimente având loc în cadrul GDC 2019 pe 20 martie.

Articole (critică, dev, design)

• Tales of an aging gamer: Why don’t I pick up a controller as often as I used to? ^{(Ars Technica)}
• A bewildered, far-from-conclusive look at the state of public gaming in Tokyo ^{(Ars Technica)}
• Soulmates - How The Souls-Like Genre Has Changed Combat In Gaming ^(TechRaptor)
• Gaming and Game Dev on Linux ^(Gamasutra)
• Walt Disney's Public Domain Works ^(Tedium)
• The Importance of Preservation ^(Unwinnable)
• As Games Continue To Get Longer, They Need To Better Accommodate Lapsed Players ^{(Finger Guns)}
• Game Design and Bandersnatch ^{(Super Jump Magazine – Medium)}

Not-a-review

• The Sims Is Teaching Me To Appreciate Architecture ^(Kotaku)
• World of Goo is still magnificent 10 years on ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Woah There: Embracing Slow Travel In Red Dead Redemption II ^{(Games Informer)}
• Professional Bird Watcher Gives a Fascinating Review of Red Dead Redemption 2's Wildlife ^(USgamer)
• It's Surprising How Much of 'Red Dead Redemption 2' Doesn't Actually Matter ^(Waypoint)
• Shacknews Best PC Game of 2018 - Subnautica ^(Shacknews)
• "Richly Deserved," by Reid McCarter ^{(Bullet Points Monthly)}

Industrie

• I'm Richard Garriott, aka Lord British, and This Is How I Work ^(Lifehacker)
• The indie spirit behind the rebirth and growth of the Australian games industry ^{(Pocket Gamer)}
• A Conversation With Sega's Localization Team On Censorship, Consistency, And Comedy ^{(Games Informer)}
• Talking To Yoko Taro, PlatinumGames' Takahisa Taura, And Composer Keiichi Okabe About Life, Death, And Opportunity ^{(Games Informer)}
• Moving platforms forward in an Epic Games world ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• Let people know what they’re buying - A New Year’s resolution for gaming ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• Discord is ready to take over the gaming world ^(Medium)

Istorie, retrospectivă

• Life on the Grid ^{(The Digital Antiquarian)}
• The Game Archaeologist: Project Copernicus ^{(Massively OP)}
• Screamingly Good Fun: Bringing The Mystery of the Druids to Life ^(Kotaku)

Dev, making of

• How developers create cinematics ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Devs weigh in on the best ways to use (but not abuse) procedural generation ^(Gamasutra)
• (Video) Ducking up the game design of Mutant: Year Zero ^(Gamasutra)

Design, world-building

• The best levels, maps, and locations 2018 ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Game Box Art Critique January: Resident Evil 2, Tropico 6, Kingdom Hearts 3 ^(VideoGamer)

Retrospectivă 2018

Jocuri

• The Games We Missed and Recovered During 2018 ^{(Into The Spine)}
• The best PC games of 2018 ^(PCGamesN)
• Damn, 2018 had a lot of really great indie games ^{(Destructoid)}
• The 10 best game reissues of 2018 ^(Eurogamer)
• The weird and wonderful patch notes of 2018 ^{(PC Gamer)}
• The best writing in games in 2018 ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Best PC games of 2018 ^(RPS)
• The 10 Best Games of 2018—and Yes, They're Ranked ^(Wired)
• The Best Games of 2018 ^(Unwinnable)
• 10 Under Appreciated Video Games Of 2018 ^{(Finger Guns)}
• The Best New Videogame Characters of 2018 ^(Paste)

Industrie

• Most Influential in Video Games 2018: Esports Stars, Union Leaders, Iconic Indies ^(Variety)
• Best of 2018: Gamasutra’s top games, devs, events and trends ^(Gamasutra)

2019

• 44 most anticipated games of 2019 ^(Shacknews)
• Predicting the big stories of 2019 ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Ready player one: the most anticipated games of 2019 ^{(The Guardian)}
• The RPS hivemind presents: The most anticipated games of 2019 ^(RPS)
• The 50 most anticipated games of 2019 ^(Polygon)
• Opinion: Here’s what 2019 will be like for the game biz ^(Gamasutra)
• What lies ahead? Analysts make 2019 predictions ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• The State of Sports Gaming in 2019 ^{(Hardcore Gamer)}

Anunţuri şi lansări de jocuri

• Batalj beta extended to the end of January, keys are now available to everyone ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Part Live-Performance Art, Part Video Game, ‘Meditations’ Takes 365 Days to Experience ^(Variety)

Anunţate

• Ediții remasterizate pentru Hitman 4 și Hitman Absolution, doar pentru PS și Xbox ^{(Variety, Games Informer, Eurogamer)}

Acum cu dată de lansare

• Bloody Spell: 16 ianuarie ^{(DSOGaming )}
• Arc Savior: 31 ianuarie ^{(DSOGaming )}

Anulate

• Skytorn ^{(Destructoid)}

Lansate

• 3 ianuarie: Braveland Heroes (early access) ^(Steam)
• 3 ianuarie: Medieval Kingdom Wars ^(Steam)
• 5 ianuarie: The Eternal Castle [REMASTERED] ^(Steam)

Prăvălii de jocuri

Știri

• Twitch Prime Gave Away More Than $3,000 Worth of Games in 2018 ^(Variety)
• Lego Lord of the Rings games removed from Steam, Xbox and PS4 stores ^(Eurogamer)
• Steam Windows XP Support and Windows Vista Support Comes to an End ^(TechRaptor)

Jocuri noi în catalog

• Xbox Game Pass adds Life is Strange 2 to its lineup ^{(Destructoid)}
• EA adds third-party games to Origin Access Premier, including Darksiders 3 ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Hyper Light Drifter headlines January’s free Twitch Prime games ^(Shacknews)
• January Xbox Games with Gold includes Celeste for free ^(Shacknews)

Jocuri gratis și free weekends

• What Remains of Edith Finch will be free on Epic Games’ store next week ^{(Destructoid)}

Reduceri și promoții

• Explore Fantastic Sci-Fi Games in the Humble Stardock Bundle 2019 ^(TechRaptor)
• The Division and Yakuza 0 head February Humble Monthly offerings ^(VG247)

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