Sony really just couldn’t fucking help themselves, could they? Yes, I saw the news that the Sony Corporation would be discontinuing production of physical discs for PlayStation consoles by 2028 , pursuing an all-digital approach to the release of their games from then on. It’s a profoundly anti-consumer and anti-culture decision, stripping away agency from people to control how they enjoy the media they purchase and ensuring that any art that does emerge from this future status quo is ephemeral and able to be revoked – or outright erased – at any time. It is, put simply, a bad look to support Sony in its pursuits at this point and time. So what, then, does one do when one has spent weeks preparing a round-up of the very titles that might be subjected to this dystopian approach to media distribution? I watched the June 2026 State of Play, finding it adequate as a showcase and therefore sufficiently worth my time to cover. There were some good-looking games in that presentation, made by ...
As other, brighter folks have pointed out, 2019 seems a key transitional year for the games industry as all hands prepare for the next (maybe last?) console generation. Questions abound about the future, about the culture in and around the medium, and about the responsibilities those in power must face. Let us turn, then, to the titles I felt stood strongest (in my own experience) during this past year. These works not only impressed and endeared themselves to me, they illustrated the thankless labour and dedication of people in the industry who - let's not beat around the bush - deserve far better. 5) Blazing Chrome Is it shameless in building itself upon the foundational gameplay and sci-fi action imagery of the Contra games? Yes. Does that make it any less of an impressive r endition of that same style of run-and-gun action? Not one bit. Blazing Chrome starts off with absurd excess and never really lets up, thoroughly basking in over-the-top frenzied gunfights agains...