Retrospectiva săptămânii 15 - 21 martie 2020

O săptămână cu mai multe evenimente majore: mai întâi avem primele detalii complete despre specificațiile viitoarelor console Xbox și PlayStation 5, pornind astfel cursa comparațiilor și previziunilor, s-au lansat mult-așteptatele Doom Eternal și Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Gabe Newell dă un interviu video pentru IGN, iar GDC s-a desfășurat anul acesta exclusiv online. Pe lângă acestea, avem mai multe retrospective, printre care și câteva mega-articole dedicate lui Doom (originalul și Eternal).

Linkuri rapide:

• Știri
• Articole (critică, dev, design)
• Made în România
• Anunţuri şi lansări de jocuri
• Prăvălii de jocuri

Știri

• Începe concurența între consolele viitoarei generații:
  • Microsoft dă detalii despre ce poate Xbox Series X ^{(Eurogamer, EGM, VideoGamesChronicle)}
  • Și, în premieră, Sony prezintă specificațiile PlayStation 5. ^{(Eurogamer, Shacknews, Kotaku, Polygon, EGM, Ars Technica)}
  • Everything that happened at the PS5 deep dive event, including the fact that we haven’t even seen the damn thing yet ^{(Destructoid)}
• Netflix oprește producția la sezonul 2 din The Witcher, care avea loc în Marea Britanie, din cauza pandemiei de coronavirus.^{(Eurogamer, PC Gamer)}
• Compania Razer se alătură eforturilor de combatere a coronaviruslui și va fabrica, în loc de periferice, un milion de măști chirugicale pe care le va dona țărilor din toată lumea. ^{(DSOGaming, PCGamesInsider.biz)}
• Microsoft și-a atins - cu ceva ani întârziere - estimarea de a avea Windows 10 instalat pe 1 miliard de dispozitive. ^{(PC Gamer)}
• S-a desfășurat ediția 2020 a GDC, de data aceasta exclusiv online. ^{(Shacknews, RPS)}
• Și s-au decernat și premiile IGF, marele câștigător fiind A Short Hike. ^{(Destructoid, GamesIndustry.biz)}

Articole (critică, dev, design)

• How a would-be priest explores the horror of God in videogames ^(RPS)
• Against the Hegemony of Hit Points ^(EGM)
• Online Gaming in Sub Saharan Africa with No Local Servers ^(Escapist)

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Actualitate

• Going for speed: The load-busting, lag-limiting tech of the Xbox Series X ^{(Ars Technica)}
• Sony and Microsoft are playing different card games ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• PS5 vs. Xbox Series X: a complicated battle of SSD and GPU speeds ^{(The Verge)}
• 28 great GDC talks you can watch for free right now ^{(PC Gamer)}

• What the heck is DirectX 12 Ultimate and what does it mean for PC gaming? ^(RPS)

• All The Announcements From Today's Nintendo Indie Direct ^(Kotaku)

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Not-a-review

• The joy of playing a great game before its superior sequel ^(RPS)
• The Outer Worlds continues Fallout’s 20-year-old ‘dumb’ mode tradition ^(Polygon)
• A Dystopian, David Lynch-Inspired Video Game That Leaves Its Meaning Up to You ^{(Hyperallergic)}
• Vanquish and the Joy of Movement ^(Unwinnable)

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Industrie

• Gabe Newell a dat un interviu video pentru IGN: Gabe Newell Opens Up About Valve’s Past, Present, and (Unexpected) Future (găsiți detalii pe scurt pe VideoGamesChronicle sau VG247)
• From AAA to Indie: Kitfox Games Is Carving Its Own Quirky Path to Success ^(Escapist)
• The developer of Journey bucks the trend of "predatory" monetisation ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• Making games in lockdown: How Italy’s developers are coping with COVID-19 ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}

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Istorie, retrospectivă

• The man who made the NES ^(Eurogamer)
• King’s Quest VI is as good as the King’s Quest series got ^(RPS)
• Game over, man: How Aliens—not Alien—shaped decades of gaming history ^{(A.V. Club)}
• A short history of banned games in Germany ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• ASCII art + permadeath: The history of roguelike games ^{(Ars Technica)}
• Best Box Art (Part 2): Computer Games On Printed Paper ^{(A Critical Hit)}
• Lemmings 2: The Tribes ^{(The Digital Antiquarian)}

DOOM!

• Stairway to Badass: The Making and Remaking of Doom ^(Shacknews)
• Hell Razer: The Making of Doom Eternal ^(Shacknews)
• Super Doom: How id Software’s Opus Made the Jump to Super NES ^(Shacknews)
• Apollo 11 Situations: John Romero on Porting Doom and Wolfenstein 3D ^(Shacknews)
• The Doom Multiplayer Fans Still Ripping and Tearing 25 Years Later ^(EGM)

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Dev, making of, mecanici

• War Stories: How Prince of Persia slew the Apple II’s memory limitations ^{(Ars Technica)}
• How lost classic Doom 64 was revived for modern platforms ^{(The Verge)}
• The Unbearable Silliness of Doom Eternal ^(Paste)

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Design, world-building, artă

• Understanding world-building in games ^(Eurogamer)
• The Art Of Ori and the Will of the Wisps ^(Kotaku)
• The Origin Story Of A Very Sharp Outfit ^(Kotaku)
• Our Favorite Photos From Cosplay's All-Star Weekend ^(Kotaku)
• Game Box Art Critique March: Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Doom Eternal ^(VideoGamer)

Made în România

• Jocuri 100% româneşti pe care le poţi juca cu prietenii, cât staţi în izolare ^(Adevărul)
• The Equinox Hunt are acum demo. ^{(Romanian Game Developers)}

Anunțuri şi lansări de jocuri

Anunţate

• I Am Dead, un joc despre viața după moarte publicat de Annapurna Interactive ^(Polygon)
• Shadow Man Remastered ^(Shacknews)
• Sin remasterizat ^{(PC Gamer)}
• The Signifier ^(Gematsu)
• American Motorcycle Simulator ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Sea of Stars, un retro-JRPG de la creatorii lui The Messenger ^(Eurogamer)

Lansate

• 17 martie: Exit the Gungeon ^(Steam)
• 19 martie: TT Isle of Man: Ride on the Edge 2 ^(Steam)
• 19 martie: Panzer Corps 2 ^(Steam)
• 19 martie: Ostriv (early access) ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 20 martie: Doom Eternal ^(Steam)
• 20 martie: Animal Crossing: New Horizons ^{(Nintendo Store)}
• 20 martie: Lumote ^(Steam)

Prăvălii de jocuri

Știri

• Steam breaks new record with over 21 million concurrent players, 6 days after setting its previous record ^(DSOGaming)
• Steam’s Interactive Recommender is now built into the store to help you find hidden gems ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Humble Bundle is the latest company to adopt Nintendo Direct-style news format ^{(Destructoid)}

Update catalog

• A new batch of forgotten classics is now available on GOG ^{(PC Gamer)}

Jocuri gratis și free weekends

• Battle monsters and puns in this stylish, free roguelike ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Goat of Duty is free to keep for a limited time ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Football Manager 2020 is free to play for the next week ^(EGM)
• Loads of “games to help you stay inside” are free on Itch.io right now ^(RPS)
• The Stanley Parable and Watch Dogs are this week’s Epic Games Store freebies ^(RPS)
• Tomb Raider, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris & Headsnatcher are available for free on Steam ^(DSOGaming)
• GOG's "Stay at home" promotion offers 27 free games that you can download and play ^(DSOGaming)
• Drawful 2 is free on Steam for three weeks to help those at home ^(Shacknews)
• Mysterious metroidvania Mable and the Wood is free right now ^{(PC Gamer)}

Reduceri și promoții

• Steam Game Festival Spring Edition offers 40+ games from GDC 2020 ^(Shacknews)
• Humble’s Capcom Mega Bundle is packed with Mega Man classics ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Bored? 'The Sims 4' is just $5 for a limited time ^{(Business Insider)}
• Weekend PC Download Deals for Mar. 20: Free Tomb Raider on Steam ^(Shacknews)
• Binding of Isaac creator’s Stay Inside bundle gathers up a stellar bunch of games for £15 ^(Eurogamer)

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