We’re back again! Regarding this week’s header pic, the Japan Retro Game Association is refurbishing Super Famicom (Super Nintendo) consoles “to [provide to] 100 households with kids who have to stay at home due to the coronavirus.” How wholesome.
Otherwise, I hope everyone is still dealing OK (enough) with the super weird real-life situation still playing out. I’m still on sabbatical, working on my game discoverability newsletter & this one, and wrestling a small child who is definitely not at preschool. Wish me luck!
- Simon, curator
The Current: Recent Games In The Spotlight
Cloudpunk (Steam, PC - pictured) is “a story-driven delivery game set in a stunning voxel metropolis”, and looks gorgeous.
Surprise stand-alone mini-sequel XCOM: Chimera Squad (PC) “achieves greatness by disassembling the turn-based formula.”
The raytracing tech of Minecraft RTX (PC) is super-impressive - the engineers behind it explain how they did it. (BONUS: a more detailed deep-dive.)
Industries Of Titan is out on Early Access (PC, on Epic Store) & is “a sci-fi Sim City” with a surprising two-level playfield.
Out next week, Fancade (iOS, Android) is a really endearing-looking ‘make your own game’ game - one to watch.
The Culture: Game Culture & Deep Dives
Meet the storm chasers of Red Dead Redemption 2, streaking across the map in search of lightning strikes.
Going deep on the design of Peggle-like dungeon crawler Roundguard (pictured). [Interview by me!]
Visiting the offices of Serious Sam creator Croteam, ‘Croatia’s game dev pioneers’.
The legacy of fy_iceworld, Counter-Strike's divisive and hugely popular custom map.
Animal Crossing’s Nook Miles Tickets have become a weird trading currency.
Itch’s ‘games that help you stay inside’ free (but PWYW!) sale has ended up being a big hit with those stuck in the house.
The Past: Game History
The history of the bizarre Bungie ‘game’ (OK, in-joke) Pimps At Sea, pictured.
Deconstructing 8-bit arcade fonts with type designer Toshi Omagari.
The making of spectacularly ahead-of-its-time sandbox game Stunt Island.
Auto Museum 64 is a virtual museum featuring cars, boats, and other vehicles from 20 racing games in the Nintendo 64 library.
Somebody unearthed an English cartridge of a Pokemon Sapphire bootleg - with ‘unconventional’ bootleg text - translated between the JP & EN release dates.
The Other Goodness
Why Fortnite might surreptitiously be the first step towards the Metaverse. (Related: the Travis Scott x Fortnite in-game concert - pictured - was/is just amazing. Go check it live before it disappears.)
