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The Post-E3 Games Showcase Era, Summer 2024 Highlights: Part II

In the ashes of the Electronic Entertainment Expo, amid the bloat and pretense of the games industry, always must there be a presentation... always must there be game trailers... and always must there be those who commentate. So it is that we find ourselves in the aftermath of this year's collected summer showcases, a cavalcade of announcements and information to parse in its wake. For my part, I set forth to note the games that stood out among the pack. Today, we go over the high points of the Future Games Show , the Xbox Games Showcase , the PC Gaming Show and, yes , even the Ubisoft Forward . Heaven help us all... Future Games Show The High Point: Duck Detective: The Secret Salami The premise of “riffing on the hardboiled detective story with talking cartoon animals” would be a fine selling point for a game in itself. The choice to also lean into a sticker book aesthetic, complete with characters hobbling around as barely moving objects in a scene? Now that's a fun time ...
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The Obligatory (Not) E3 2023 Round-Up, Part 2: Sifting through the Slop

Alright, it's been a while but we're back again to cover the PC Gaming Show, the Xbox Showcase and the Ubisoft Forward. After this, that's it, that's all, we're done here. PC Gaming Show The Most Questionable Stuff 3. Road to Vostok (???) Choosing to look down on a game for overt familiarity from the word ‘go’, even if all it has done at this point is have its existence announced to the world, is not inherently an act to be proud of. Much of gaming iterates and builds upon what came before, much of the medium as it stands (for good or ill) exists because someone looked at a past work and were inspired to develop their own take on the material. How many excellent games would cease to be if people decided that “it’s just a clone of X” was a valid argument in itself? I establish this now to make it clear that I do not roll my eyes at Road to Vostok for taking the form of a sparsely-populated shooter set in a post-apocalyptic wilderness area… but rather because it loo...
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The Obligatory (Not) E3 2023 Round-Up Part 1: Sony & Summer, Oh My!

On March 30th, it was made public that this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo would be cancelled. This decision was attributed to the strain of the ongoing plague and an increasing number of studios electing not to attend.  This would be only the latest in a line of troubles faced by the long-running trade show. Setting aside that two of the previous three shows were also cancelled for similar reasons, the 2021 expo faced criticism for pivoting to an online-only interface that had technical issues, lacked vital information and came across as irrelevant in the face of individual game publishers' digital showcases. The last pre-pandemic show in 2019, meanwhile, was embroiled in controversy over the leaking of personal information for thousands of media professionals attending E3.  It's not unthinkable that this latest cancellation will prove to be the fine point capping off a larger industry narrative: the decline and impending death of E3. Nevertheless, the gears of ind...
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Critical Round-up Volume II: An Assortment of Films

It's been a hot minute since I've had cause to discuss and critique films on here. Granted, my bread and butter tends to be writing about video games, so that's where my focus tends to gravitate. But that doesn't mean I don't view my fair share of movies OR that I lack things to say about them. So, to keep things varied around these parts, let's take a look back at some films I've had cause to view as of late...   Thor: Love and Thunder The Basic Premise Some time after Avengers Endgame , Thor has set out in search of a new purpose while continuing to aid various worlds in his own unique way. He soon discovers a new threat in the form of Gorr the God Butcher, a malicious figure who (as the name suggests) has set about murdering all the gods in the known cosmos. When Gorr successfully carries out a bold attack - and child abduction - on the colony of New Asgard, Thor sets out on a rescue mission alongside Asgard's new king Valkyrie, his old rock-based fr...
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From the Archives: Squidlit Review

Still have some newer writing in the works, but for now enjoy this trip down memory lane with another review from the archives. This time: the delightful throwback platformer about a cartoon squid... Developed by Alex Barrett & Samantha Davenport (Squidlit Ink. LLC) Released on March 2nd, 2018 Version Played: Windows PC (also available for Nintendo Switch)   So I’m a fairly easy lay for the mascot platformer – partially of because the child-like whimsy it evokes in me, partially because these tend to be rather interesting games on multiple levels. Mechanically there’s various divergences that have come about in the post-Super Mario Bros space, from exploration-centric “Metroidvania” games to those works which toy with more specific gimmicks (like Sonic the Hedgehog’s speed or Sparkster’s rocket pack). And then there’s the variation in aesthetics, sound design, graphical detail, presence of an overarching narrative or themes… in short there's a lot to love there. But they also ...
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2023 in Gaming: The Most Promising Games

Last time, we talked about the least good looking games set for release in 2023. This time, it's more hopeful as we examine the handful of titles that - based on available visual and written information - appear primed for success this year. Starting from the bottom... The FOURTH MOST PROMISING: Killer Klowns from Outer Space Releases sometime in the first quarter of 2023 The Basic Premise: We know at this point that it closely resembles the 1988 sci-fi comedy of the same name, bringing with it the unique design of the clowns themselves. Beyond that and the basic concept of a competitive multiplayer game being at its core, not much is readily apparent. How Am I Feeling? I'm newer to the fandom for this particular 1980s cult curiosity, but I adore its goofy digressions and visual gags that serve to give life to an otherwise familiar monster movie structure. Killer Klowns is delightfully singular in its twists on well-worn sci-fi horror tropes, and it runs exactly long enough ...
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2023 in Gaming: The Five Least Promising Games

New year, new chance to hope against hope for good things before being crushed by the inevitable heartbreak of video games being a mess right now. In all seriousness, despite how easy it is to be cynical about the state of the industry, I still find value in examining the forthcoming slate of titles and offering my perspective on how much - or little - they have to offer. For today I have elected to pinpoint the five games whose marketing leaves much to be desired. Time will tell if I prove correct in my predictions here, but at this moment these are my feelings as to how entirely not enticing these games appear.  The FIFTH LEAST PROMISING: Dead Space Releases January 27th The Basic Premise: It's the future, everyone's miserable and doing contract work like cracking planets for minerals. One such ship, the Ishimura, goes dark and eventually worries people enough to send a rescue crew to try to fix the situation. Enter the Necromorphs, space zombies of maybe supernatural origin...
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