This, by my rough estimation, is edition number 199 of the Video Game Deep Cuts newsletter (now on Substack), crazily. That’s a few links - probably towards 50,000 over the entire life of the darn newsletter. But what’s going to be different for issue 200? Well, different links, for starters…
- Simon, curator
The Current: New Games To Consider
The Last Of Us Part II (PlayStation 4) is out next week, but spoiler-free reviews just hit, & with a 96% average on Metacritic, reviews seem hyper-enthused.
Little Orpheus (Apple Arcade, pictured) is the latest game from Dear Esther devs The Chinese Room, & looks like a lush, adventurous 2D side-scroller.
Also out next week, Desperados 3 (PS4, Xbox, PC) is an anticipated return to the long-dormant Western stealth strategy game franchise.
Just leaving Epic Store exclusivity, Atomicrops (Switch, PS4, Xbox, PC) is a messed-up ‘bullet hell’ farming game, quite an intriguing combo.
Disintegration (PC, PS4, Xbox) is an FPS/RTS hybrid from one of Halo’s creators which is getting mixed reviews for not quite winning at either of the genres.
The Culture: Game Culture & Deep Dives
What game devs can learn from controversial Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren about promoting & hyping their game. (I wrote this!)
A photo-taking game themed around environmental decay & government incompetence from a Maori perspective? That’s Umurangi Generation.
A history of the (often-weird) attempts by Nintendo to convert their games to TV and movies? Don’t mind if I do.
Talking to the YouTuber (featured on VGDC a few times!) who recreates iconic game mechanics to teach game development.
How an eSports (real-life) photographer is using in-game captures to entertain fans instead of snapping at live events.
The Past: Game History
This gigantic feature-length ‘history of Killer Instinct’ doc is excellent.
An overview of Ken’s Labyrinth, an extremely weird Wolfenstein-style PC shareware game with an almost ‘outsider art’ vibe.
Checking in on Settlers Of Catan as the seminal board game reaches its 25th anniversary.
Game Boy hacking (for aesthetics & extra light!) is still a big thing in 2020.
Here’s some fun Vectrex modding - both a ‘buzz off’ kit for speaker hum & a really impressive light pen.
The Other Goodness
An inspirational (and, OK, stat-filled) story of a dev who did the ‘single-person route to Steam success’ thing.
Inside the wars, triumphs and petty thefts (pictured) of hardcore Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord roleplayers.
How AAA third-party titles are starting to get ported to Nintendo Switch, and the technical ups and downs there-in.
