Retrospectiva săptămânii 19 - 25 aprilie 2020

Fortnite e din nou pe Google Play Store, în ciuda luptei împotriva comisionului de 30% din industrie, viitorul Xbox are și un logo nou, Kickstarter are tot mai puține proiecte noi, Steam are o ediție nouă a festivalului LudoNarraCon dedicat jocurilor bazate în principal pe poveste și avem și niște anunțuri interesante de jocuri: un RTT bazat pe serialul Peaky Blinders și un nou joc Tintin.

Linkuri rapide:

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

Știri

• După 18 luni în care a distribuit pe cont propriu versiunea de Android a Fortnite, Epic Games cedează și aduce jocul înapoi pe Play Store (acceptând deci să plătească și comisionul de 30% pe care-l percepe Google). ^{(Ars Technica, Kotaku, PC Gamer, GamesIndustry.biz, Gamasutra)}
• Probleme pentru compania Magic Leap, nevoită să concedieze aproape jumătate din personal. ^{(GameDaily.biz, Variety, GamesIndustry.biz)}
• La fel și pentru Patreon, care își reduce numărul angajaților cu 13%, în ciuda încasărilor mai mari. ^{(TechCrunch, TechSpot)}
• Iar Kickstarter se confruntă cu o scădere de 35% a proiectelor noi pe platformă și, cel mai probabil, se pregătește de concedieri. ^{(PCGamesInsider.biz, Game World Observer)}
• Xbox Series X are un logo nou, care, deși brevetat, nu a fost încă anunțat oficial de Microsoft. ^{(Destructoid, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+)}

Articole (critică, dev, design)

• How video games consistently fail Gandhi ^(RPS)
• Reviewing the Concept of Professional Reviews ^(Gamasutra)
• Why Video Game Rivalries Can be Beautiful ^(USgamer)
• How A Niche Dev Community Is Improving Self-Isolation ^(Gamespot)
• Burnt out by abuse over a game he didn’t make, the creator of Jalopy is trying to move on ^(Eurogamer)

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Not-a-review

• Supergiant’s Pyre Is Built Around the Strongest Game Mechanic of All: Choice ^(Escapist)
• ‘Sekiro’ Is an Endlessly Frustrating but Uniquely Gratifying Experience ^{(The Ringer)}
• The Messenger ^{(DEEP HELL)}
• Tabletop Simulator Isn't Perfect, but It's Keeping My Board Game Night Alive ^(USgamer)

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Industrie

• Epic’s crusade against 30% takes a tumble ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• The uncertain, unflinching future of games media ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• LudoNarraCon is proof that the future of gaming conventions is to go digital ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Physical events are in doubt for 2020 – it’s time to dive into digital ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}
• How Blizzard, Ubisoft, and other studios went remote in the time of COVID-19 ^(Gamasutra)
• The DeanBeat: Digital gaming events aren’t easy, but they may be the future ^{(VentureBeat)}
• Coronavirus leads to 35% growth for the video games industry ^{(GameDaily.biz)}

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Istorie, retrospectivă

• 1987’s Rainbow Islands boasts more great ideas than most modern platform games ^(RPS)
• Stare Into The Scrying Pool – A Guild Wars 15th Anniversary Developer Interview ^(GameSpace)
• Member Lollipop Chainsaw? ^{(Hardcore Gamer)}
• BioShock 2 Is the Best BioShock ^(Escapist)
• Realm of Impossibility ^{(The Obscuritory)}
• The Video Games About Nothing ^(Kotaku)
• The Game Archaeologist: The history of play-by-email games ^{(Massively OP)}

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Dev, making of, mecanici

• How Untitled Goose Game made a game out of everyday items ^(RPS)
• An extended interview with Homeworld designer Rob Cunningham ^{(Ars Technica)}
• Black Mesa project lead Adam Engels on Half-Life, remote work, and game design philosophy ^{(Game World Observer)}
• Video: The origin story of Void Bastards ‘ striking art style ^(Gamasutra)
• From kazoos to trash cans, how animal sounds are made in games ^{(PC Gamer)}
• The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike’s divisive and hugely popular custom map ^(RPS)
• Who made fy_iceworld? A forensic investigation ^(RPS)
• (video) Minecraft RTX Deep Dive: How Nvidia Delivered A Game-Changing Ray Tracing Upgrade ^{(YouTube DigitalFoundry)}

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Design, world-building, artă

• Stardew Valley looks well cute as a Polly Pocket toy ^(RPS)

Anunţuri şi lansări de jocuri

• There’s a Tintin game in development for consoles and PC ^(Eurogamer)

Anunţate

• Autopsy Simulator (păi de ce nu?) ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Peaky Blinders: Mastermind, un RTT ce servește drept prequel serialului ^{(Destructoid)}
• Paradise Killer ^(Kotaku)
• Minimal Affect ^{(go4games.ro)}

Acum cu dată de lansare

• Wildfire: 26 mai ^(Escapist)
• Beyond Blue: 8 iunie ^(DSOGaming)
• Desperados 3: 16 iunie ^(Eurogamer)
• Hardspace: Shipbreaker: 16 iunie (early access) ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Trackmania Nations Remake: 1 iulie ^(DSOGaming)
• Windbound: 28 august ^(GameSpace)

Amânate

• Death Stranding (PC): 14 iulie în loc de 2 iunie ^(Eurogamer)

Lansate

• 21 aprilie: The Shattering ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 21 aprilie: Help Will Come Tomorrow ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 21 aprilie: The Flower Collectors ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 22 aprilie: ITTA ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 23 aprilie: Cloudpunk ^(Steam)
• 23 aprilie: Filament ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 23 aprilie: Iratus: Lord of the Dead (iese din early access) ^(Steam)
• 24 aprilie: Trials of Mana ^(Steam)
• 24 aprilie: XCOM: Chimera Squad ^(Steam)
• 24 aprilie: Predator: Hunting Grounds ^{(Epic Store)}

Prăvălii de jocuri

Știri

• Story game celebration LudoNarraCon kicks off today ^(RPS)
• Steam upgrades its search functionality with Query Expansion ^{(GameDaily.biz)}
• Google abandons Stadia Base branding as it launches free tier ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}

Articole

• With its free service, Stadia is starting to make sense ^(Eurogamer)
• Steam Gets ‘Editorial’ When We Weren’t Looking ^(Gamasutra)

Update catalog

• GeForce Now suffers further publisher exits including Xbox Game Studios ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Ubisoft, Epic and Bungie among companies bringing games to GeForce Now ^{(PCGamesInsider.biz)}
• Red Dead Redemption 2 replacing GTA 5 on Xbox Game Pass ^(Eurogamer)

Jocuri gratis și free weekends

• Play Call of Duty Modern Warfare multiplayer free this weekend ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 is free until May 10 ^(Polygon)
• XCOM 2 is free to play on Xbox & Steam for a week through 2K’s Give Back Project ^(Shacknews)
• Sega is giving away Total War: Shogun 2 ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• For The King is currently free on PC ^(EGM)
• Brave Project Winter’s sub-zero subterfuge for free all weekend ^(RPS)

Reduceri și promoții

• Best PC gaming deals of the week – 24th April 2020 ^(RPS)
• Weekend PC Download Deals for Apr. 24: Borderlands Steam sale ^(Shacknews)
• Weekend Console Download Deals for Apr. 24: PlayStation is Big in Japan ^(Shacknews)

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