Retrospectiva săptămânii 22 - 28 martie 2020

Puține știri în această săptămână, dintre care demnă de remarcat ar fi doar anunțul Epic Games că se va implica și pe partea de finanțare a dezvoltării jocurilor. În rest, primul joc Half-Life după 13 ani a dominat titlurile în presa digitală - chiar dacă poate fi jucat de numai o minoritate a jucătorilor - astfel că aveți destul material de citit.

Linkuri rapide:

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

Știri

• Companiile din industria jocurilor donează bani pentru eforturile de combatere a coronavirusului ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}, printre care Ndemic, creatorii jocului Plague, Inc. ^{(Site oficial Ndemic Creations, Gamasutra)}, CD Projekt Red ^{(Game World Observer)} sau Riot Games.
• Netflix va realiza film live-action Dragon’s Lair cu Ryan Reynolds în rolul principal. ^{(VideoGamesChronicle, Shacknews, Eurogamer, Destructoid)}
• Epic Games devine acum și publisher, anunțând un program pentru finanțarea completă a dezvoltării de jocuri și apoi împărțirea profiturilor cu studiourile participante. Iar primele companii cu care a încheiat parteneriate sunt Remedy Entertainment (Control, Alan Wake), Playdead (Limbo, Inside) și Gen Design (The Last Guardian). ^{(The Verge, VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Sony va reduce vitezele de download pentru jocurile din rețeaua sa pentru a contribui la prevenirea congestiei traficului de internet, atât în Europa ^{(Games Informer, GamesIndustry.biz)}, cât și în SUA. ^{(EGM, The Verge, VideoGamesChronicle, Gamasutra)}

Articole (critică, dev, design)

• The Messenger and the Myth of Progress ^(EGM)
• Video Games Are More Important Now Than They’ve Ever Been ^(Escapist)
• Bad netcode is killing many of your favorite fighting games ^(Polygon)
• Towards a Carrier Bag Theory of Videogames ^(Unwinnable)
• Re-entangling Science and Technology ^{(Play The Past)}

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Actualitate

• Nintendo Direct Mini March 2020 announcements and reveals ^(Shacknews)
• Is Epic’s publishing deal good? ^{(PC Gamer)}

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Not-a-review

• The joy of travelling together in Pyre ^(RPS)
• Playing Animal Crossing has helped me see what I love about Stardew Valley ^{(PC Gamer)}

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Industrie

• Half-Life: Alyx and the Rebirth of Consumer VR ^{(GameDaily.biz)}
• Devolver on adapting to a world without events ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}

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Istorie, retrospectivă

• Unreal (1998) is the FPS you have been missing ^(RPS)
• Half-Life 2 Teaches You Everything You Need to Know with 4 Iconic Words ^(Escapist)
• Kojima’s GBA experiment—and the sunny island childhood it changed forever ^{(Ars Technica)}
• How Games Marketing Invented Toxic Gamer Culture ^(Vice) (TL;DR pe The Verge)
• The Protestant Reformation of the First-Person Shooter ^(Fanbyte)

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Dev, making of, mecanici

• How American Truck Simulator recreates the grand American west ^(RPS)
• Deep Dive: Making a cozy, therapeutic experience in Coffee Talk ^(Gamasutra)
• How Lair of the Clockwork God blends the world of platformers and point-and-clicks ^(Gamasutra)
• How Skookum Arts built The Pedestrian puzzles out of urban signage ^(Gamasutra)

Half-Life: Alyx

• We talk Half-Life: Alyx with Valve in “the meanest interview ever” ^(RPS)
• Interview: Valve on Half-Life after Alyx ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• The big Half-Life interview ^(Eurogamer)
• Valve Wants You to Enjoy Searching Every Corner of Half-Life: Alyx ^(Escapist)
• Half-Life: Alyx Behind the Scenes, Part 1: How Valve Found Its New Alyx ^(USgamer)
• Half-Life: Alyx Behind the Scenes, Part 2: "We're About to Pitch You This Ending, and You're Gonna Hate it" ^(USgamer)

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Design, world-building, artă

• Meet the GIF Makers Who Craft Art out of Pinpoint Gameplay ^(EGM)
• Half-Life: Alyx takes City 17 to the next level ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Why Half-Life’s City 17 was pivotal to gaming’s post-Soviet obsession ^{(The Verge)}
• Dying video games and the people who continue to play them ^{(The Face)}

Anunțuri şi lansări de jocuri

Anunţate

• Beyond the Wire, un FPS multiplayer plasat în Primul Război Mondial ^(Kotaku)
• O versiune îmbunătățită de NieR pare să fie în lucru ^{(YouTube Square Enix)}

Acum cu dată de lansare

• Shantae and the Seven Sirens: 28 mai ^(Eurogamer)
• Outer Wilds se lansează și pe Steam pe 18 iunie ^(Eurogamer)

Lansate

• 23 martie: Half-Life: Alyx ^(Steam)
• 23 martie: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel III ^(Steam)
• 24 martie: Bleeding Edge ^(Steam)
• 25 martie: Iron Danger ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 25 martie: Bright Memory (iese din early access) ^(Steam)
• 26 martie: Control: The Foundation (DLC) ^{(Epic Store)}
• 26 martie: Assemble with Care ^(Steam)
• 26 martie: Borderlands 3: Guns, Love, and Tentacles (DLC) ^{(Steam, Epic Store)}
• 26 martie: One Step From Eden ^(Steam)
• 27 martie: Biped ^(Steam)
• 26 martie: Last Oasis (early access) ^(Steam)

Prăvălii de jocuri

Știri

• Humble Brag recap: Humble Bundle announces five new game partnerships, including an old school FPS and a turn-based RPG ^{(Destructoid)}

Articole

• Game Discoverability: The Steam & Epic Stores, Circa Early 2020 ^(Gamasutra)

Update catalog

• Epic Games Store reveals another bunch of exclusives coming this year ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Nvidia adds Control to GeForce Now and promises new games every week ^{(The Verge)}

Jocuri gratis și free weekends

• Try Predator: Hunting Grounds this weekend on PS4 and PC ^(Shacknews)
• Ghost Recon Breakpoint is free to play this weekend on PC and consoles ^(Eurogamer)
• World War Z is now free on the Epic Games Store ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• The Council’s first episode is now free on PC and consoles ^(EGM)
• Castle Crashers and BattleBlock Theater are free to play for a week on PC ^{(Destructoid)}
• Cities: Skylines is free to play this weekend on Steam, and you can download it right now ^(DSOGaming)
• Insurgency: Sandstorm is free to play for a limited time ^(EGM)
• Fantasy 4X game Endless Legend is free to play on Steam for a week ^{(PC Gamer)}
• If you’re in the mood for a mobile puzzle game, Monument Valley 2 is free ^{(Destructoid)}

Reduceri și promoții

• Weekend PC Download Deals for Mar. 27: Multiple Steam free weekends ^(Shacknews)
• Weekend Console Download Deals for Mar. 27: Free Ghost Recon Breakpoint weekend ^(Shacknews)
• Best PC gaming deals of the week – 27th March 2020 ^(RPS)

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