Retrospectiva săptămânii 17 - 23 mai 2020

Multe aniversări săptămâna aceasta: pe lângă Pac-Man care împlinește 40 ani, îi mai sărbătorim pe Solitaire (30 de ani), Perfect Dark și Daikatana (20 de ani) și Witcher 3 care a făcut deja 5 ani. Pe lângă acestea, System Shock 3 a fost preluat de Tencent, CD Projekt e (aproape) cea mai valoroasă companie de jocuri din Europa, G2A vinde chei de jocuri furate, iar jocul multiplayer românesc Bossgard a ieșit din early access.

Linkuri rapide:

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

Știri

• Magazinul de cd-keys G2A a recunoscut, în urma unei investigații interne, că unele dintre cheile pentru jocul Factorio vândute pe platforma lor au fost obținute ilegal, astfel că au plătit dezvoltatorilor despăgubiri de aproximativ 40.000 dolari, conform unui angajament public pe care-l făcuseră anterior. ^{(Ars Technica, Polygon, Kotaku, Eurogamer, Gamasutra)}
• Licența pentru dezvoltarea System Shock 3 a fost preluată de Tencent de la OtherSide, care anunțase că nu mai poate continua lucrul la System Shock 3 după problemele financiare ale publisherul-ului anterior, Starbreeze. Dreptul de proprietate asupra francizei System Shock rămâne în continuare la Nightdive Studios. ^{(GamesIndustry.biz, VideoGamesChronicle, PC Gamer, IGN)}
• CD Projekt are o valoare de piață apropiată de Ubisoft, pe care chiar i-a depășit temporar săptămâna aceasta fiind, pentru scurt timp, cea mai valoroasă companie de jocuri din Europa. ^{(PCGamesInsider.biz, VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Clubul Manchester United au chemat în judecată pe Sega și Sports Interactive pentru folosirea fără drept a numelui clubului în jocul Football Manager. ^{(The Guardian, RPS, Eurogamer)}
• Un nou trailer pentru viitorul film al lui Christopher Nolan, Tenet, a fost prezentat în premieră în Fortnite. ^{(Wccf tech, Kotaku, GamesRadar+)}

Articole (critică, dev, design)

• Cosplay Is a Business and It Is Suffering ^(Gizmodo)

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Actualitate

• CD Projekt’s market cap rivals Ubisoft – but not for much longer ^{(GamesIndustry.biz)}

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Not-a-review

• It’s ludicrous that Terraria still costs just $10 ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Doom Eternally Better ^(Unwinnable)
• If Found Finds Liberation in the Painful Act of Erasure ^(Paste)
• Quarantine Games: Umurangi Generation ^{(DEEP HELL)}

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Industrie

• Interview: PlatinumGames on next-gen and its next steps ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• The DeanBeat: It’s time to hurry up and build the Metaverse ^{(VentureBeat)}
• Why game companies are touting the number of games in the works ^{(VentureBeat)}

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Istorie, retrospectivă

• When SimCity got serious: the story of Maxis Business Simulations and SimRefinery ^{(The Obscuritory)} (cu TL;DR pe Ars Technica)
• You forgot all about Nox, and should probably put that right ^(RPS)
• The Game Archaeologist: McDonalds’ McWorld MMO is a thing that existed ^{(Massively OP)}
• The Land of Obscusion: Home of the Obscure & Forgotten: Obscusion B-List: Forgotten Publishers, and the Interesting Games They Published ^{(The Land of Obscusion)}
• Psychonauts' Milkman Conspiracy Is the Perfect Platforming Game Level ^(Escapist)
• The longest card game in the world: Microsoft Solitaire is 30 ^{(The Register)}
• Celebrate Daikatana's 20th Birthday With Its Weird Game Boy Color Port ^(Fanbyte)
• Perfect Dark: the oral history of an N64 classic ^(Eurogamer)
• Perfect Dark: 20 Years Later ^(Kotaku)
• Why The Witcher 3 endures, five years later ^(Polygon)
• What The Witcher 3 got right ^(Eurogamer)
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is five - some of our favourite pieces ^(Eurogamer)

Pac-Man

• The game that ate the world: 40 facts on Pac-Man’s 40th birthday ^{(The Guardian)}
• Pac-Man, the Japanese Game That Took Over the World, Turns 40 ^(Kotaku)
• Pac-Man at 40: The eating icon that changed gaming history ^(CNN)

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Dev, making of, mecanici

• Tactics games in 2020: game design notes about Horizon’s Gate and Gears Tactics ^{(Radiator Blog)}
• Final Fantasy VII Remake Creators Answer Our Questions About Summons, Combat, And Dance Scenes ^{(Games Informer)}
• Q&A: Designing the gorgeous metroidvania Ori and the Will of the Wisps ^(Gamasutra)
• Revisiting the AI of Alien: Isolation ^(Gamasutra)
• From pen-and-paper to blockouts: How level designers craft iconic stealthy encounters ^(Gamasutra)
• How Amazon’s Crucible went from being a battle royale to a team-based shooter ^(Eurogamer)
• Louis Castle interview: How Amazon labored for 5 years to make team shooter Crucible ^{(VentureBeat)}

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Design, world-building, artă

• Game art, art game, indie game ^{(First Person Scholar)}

Made în România

• Bossgard a ieșit pe 21 mai din Early Access. ^(Steam)

Anunţuri şi lansări de jocuri

• Rockstar parent company Take-Two plans to release 93 games by March 2025 ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}

Anunţate

• Mafia Trilogy anunțat oficial ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• The Molasses Flood ^(GameSpace)
• Street Power Soccer ^(EGM)
• Just Die Already ^(DSOGaming)

Acum cu dată de lansare

• Valorant: 2 iunie ^(Polygon)
• Sea of Thieves vine și pe Steam pe 3 iunie ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}

Amânate

• Kerbal Space Program 2: toamna 2021 în loc de martie 2020 ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}

Lansate

• 19 mai: The Wonderful 101: Remastered ^(Steam)
• 19 mai: If Found… ^(Steam)
• 19 mai: Neversong ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 19 mai: Umurangi Generation ^(Steam)
• 19 mai: Mafia II: Definitive Edition ^(Steam)
• 19 mai: Mafia III: Definitive Edition ^(Steam)
• 21 mai: Embr ^(Steam)
• 21 mai: Space Haven (early access) ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 21 mai: Observation a ieșit și pe Steam & GOG ^{(Steam, gog.com)}
• 21 mai: Monster Train ^(Steam)
• 21 mai: Crucible ^{(Steam, PC Gamer)}
• 21 mai: Bossgard (iese din early access) ^(Steam)
• 21 mai: Timelie ^(Steam)
• 22 mai: Family Man ^(Steam)
• 22 mai: ShellShock Live ^(Steam)
• 22 mai: Saints Row: The Third™ Remastered ^{(Epic Store)}
• 22 mai: Maneater ^{(Epic Store)}
• 22 mai: I, Dracula: Genesis (early access) ^(Steam)
• 23 mai: Gunfire Reborn ^(Steam)

Prăvălii de jocuri

Știri

• Epic Games Store now offers self-service refunds ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Show your backlog some love with Steam’s Spring Cleaning Event ^{(Destructoid)}
• The Epic Games Store has given away more than $2K in free games since launch ^(PCGamesN)

Update catalog

• Four more games coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC ^(EGM)

Jocuri gratis și free weekends

• Civilization VI is now free on the Epic Games Store ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Star Citizen is free to try for 11 days ^{(PC Gamer)}
• TimeOut is a stylish free noir detective game with a dystopian sci-fi twist ^{(PC Gamer)}

Reduceri și promoții

• PlayStation reveals Days of Play 2020 deals ^{(VideoGamesChronicle)}
• Get Tekken 7, Tales of Berseria, and Man of Medan in the new Humble Bundle ^{(PC Gamer)}
• Weekend PC Download Deals for May 22: DayZ free Steam weekend ^(Shacknews)
• Weekend Console Download Deals for May 22: Free Final Fantasy 14 Online for PS4 ^(Shacknews)
• Best PC gaming deals of the week – 22nd May 2020 ^(RPS)

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