The Week In Games, 7th May, 2015
Well, it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster all around this week… Konami drama came to a head with the removal of PT, Warner Brothers have offered a Season Pass that folks are leery of, The SPJ statement (Which I’ve already talked about, to some extent)… Yep, it’s been a hell of a week. So, let’s get the bad out of the way.
AAAwfulness
One of the things we talk about a lot is how advertising for video games has always been a targeted thing, and one of the effects of this is… Well, it’s hard not to take things personally. This has been proven in the case of both Konami and Warner Brothers, who’ve both made decisions that have caused a bit of a to-do. In the case of Konami, this has been a slow shift away from video games coming to its most obvious point, with the removal of even the teaser demo of Silent Hill PT (Causing, itself, a justifiably irritable reaction from the archival community, who not only have to advise folks how to keep their copies preserved, but have to go to extra effort now to keep said demo preserved.)
Warner Brothers have not exactly been exemplary either, as their marketing has focused on the Season Pack DLC aspect over, you know, the actual game. Steps have been taken to rectify this, so they’re at least aware it’s been a boo-boo, but questions have been asked about this DLC, such as whether it’s really worth the money, and why this content is gated off behind a six month pass that… May not actually encompass all the promised DLC? The answer to that can basically be summed up as business, but I hope I’m forgiven if I say something that’s been said many times in the industry, with justification: Don’t Preorder. That’s not saying Arkham Knight will be bad, that’s saying “We don’t actually know how it’s going to be until it’s out. So save those shiny coins until you’re sure. It’s less than two months away, I’m sure folks can restrain themselves till then.
Right, badness out of the way, let’s move on to nicer things. Like interesting announcements, releases, and the like!
The Fun Stuff
First off, something with a disclaimer: I’m backing the project I’m about to mention. Not too much (£20, enough for a copy, not the shiny stuff), but there’s a reason. You see, the name of the game is Formula Fusion, and I’m backing it because it’s a spiritual successor to Wipeout, by some of the folks who worked on Wipeout 3 (AKA – The Best Wipeout, as far as I’m concerned). Go take a look if you like future racing games.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater once again appears to be coming to our machines, although I see no mention of a PC release at the present time (XBox 360, XBox One, PS3, PS4). Shame, I quite liked the series, and it looks pretty fun. Ohhhh well!
Also rearing its head is a first teaser trailer for Battlefleet Gothic, the latest game as part of Games Workshop’s push to see quite a few of their licenses in video game format. Considering it’s only a teaser, and shows nothing GW fans wouldn’t already know about Battlefleet Gothic (There are Imperial Battleships that look like flying cathedrals. They have powerful weaponry. Space is pretty, and possibly deadly), I’m just going to link it rather than embed it.
In nicer news, Itch.IO has added a few new features to allow devs to create collaborative bundles. We’ve seen at least one bundle pop up already, and I look forward to seeing more devs working together on good causes.
As far as new game releases goes, Chroma Squad came out on the 30th, and the review will be up next week, Black Mesa finally released on the 5th of May, and the day before showed the release of Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, which is apparently a bit of alright. Other potentially interesting releases of the week include Dex, a sidescrolling cyberpunk RPG, and the release of the imaginatively named Project CARS, which, as you can see from the store page, doesn’t involve racing the chopped liver you’d expect it would.
Oh, and Invisible, Inc. officially releases on the 12th, next week. Why is that this week’s news? Because the full build is available to Early Access backers today. Which gives me plenty of time to get my teeth stuck in before its official release.