Tag: Video Games

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The ESA announced that E3 is dead, again, but it seems like the annual video games showcase might actually be gone for good this time. The news comes after ReedPop, an events company the ESA partnered with to make E3 happen, dropped the showcase and ended the partnership without offering a statement as to why.

The ESA posted a brief, rather abrupt message on Twitter and the event website

“After more than two decades of E3, each one bigger than the last, the time has come to say goodbye,” the statement reads. “Thanks for the memories.”

That was it. While the ESA didn’t elaborate on the reasons behind the decision, the convention’s decline comes as little surprise. Publishers such as Nintendo began hosting their own showcases to communicate directly with audiences outside of E3, a move that others, including PlayStation and Xbox, adopted during COVID-19 lockdowns when in-person conventions were impossible to hold. 

pic.twitter.com/y6dtVkBvNI

— E3 (@E3) December 12, 2023

The ESA tried reviving the showcase with a digital event, with middling success. Not only did it fail to reach the same heights, but major publishers such as Sega chose Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest to air their announcements, leaving digital E3 with a mismatched assortment of reveals. The organization planned for another in-person showcase in 2023, but after Ubisoft and others backed out to host their own events, that, too, ended up falling by the wayside.

Whether this is truly the end or just another extended postponement remains to be seen, but even if the ESA manages to find another partner to host E3 with, it seems like the broader industry has already moved on.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Moon Studios, makers of the hit Metroidvanias Ori and the Blind Forest and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, are doing something a bit different next. The studio is working on a Diablo-like action-RPG called No Rest for the Wicked, and they announced their new project during The Game Awards 2023.

Private Division, a label under Take-Two, will publish No Rest for the Wicked, though there’s no anticipated release date just yet. You can check out the trailer below.

While No Rest for the Wicked seems like a pretty drastic departure for Moon, it likely comes as no surprise for those who follow the studio closely. Moon started hiring for a hack-and-slash RPG in 2019, though four years and one pandemic later, this is the first we’ve heard of the project since. 

It’s also the first we’ve heard from Moon Studios since the founders, Thomas Mahler and Gennadiy Korol, responded to accusations of harassment, sexism, racism, and bullying by former employees, some of whom said that these incidents took place in open, public settings. Mahler and Knohl denied all allegations and suggested they were simply misunderstood jokes that were taken out of context.

There’s no word yet on when No Rest for the Wicked will release, but Moon promised more info in the coming months.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

Dontnod, makers of the award-winning Life Is Strange and Life Is Strange 2, have another video game in the works, and it’s not Banishers. The new Dontnod game is Lost Records, a ‘90s-inspired adventure game with big Stranger Things vibes and, of course, plenty of Life Is Strange feels as well.

Dontnod unveiled a first look at Lost Records during The Game Awards 2023, and you can check it out below.

Lost Records follows a group of teenagers who find themselves in some kind of supernatural conundrum. We don’t see much of it, but the set of kids end up in the woods – always a sign of something ominous to come – and then a giant chasm opens, with eerie, purple light spilling into the real world.

” In Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, the magical summer of 1995 is one of self-discovery and forging unbreakable bonds for high school friends Swann, Nora, Autumn, and Kat. 27 years of no contact later, fate reunites them to confront the long-buried secret that made them promise to never speak again,” the game description reads.

It’s all very Life Is Strange, unsurprisingly, but we’ll have to wait a while longer to see what it’s all about. Lost Records is slated for launch sometime late in 2024 for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X|S.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Video games often miss the mark when it comes to representing non-white hair, particularly Black hair, styles, and textures. You might get an afro, cornrows, and dreadlocks – all three, if you’re lucky – though Dove and a team of dedicated designers are aiming to improve representation for indie and AAA developers alike.

Dove partnered with the Open Source Afro Hair Library on Code My Crown, an extensive new resource offering models, in-depth explainers, and even coding guides to help developers and designers accurately create Black hair in their projects. The Open Source Afro Hair Library already includes a broad selection of models and textures that are free for anyone to download, but Code My Crown’s guide takes it further by giving creators the tools and education to actually build their own models from the ground up.

Dove said in its Code My Crown announcement that the project fits with the company’s goal of  building a “world where beauty is a positive experience for everyone.”

“The importance of accurately and respectfully depicting textured hair in video games cannot be overstated, and we are proud to play a small part in taking action to set a new standard for diversity and representation in video games,” Leandro Barreto, senior vice president of Global Dove Masterbrand, said in a press release. “There is more to be done to ensure Black gamers see themselves in the games they play, but we can’t do it alone. We are calling on gaming developers and industry leaders to join us to help make virtual beauty a reality with Code My Crown.”

Data showing that a large majority of Black gamers feel dissatisfied with the current state of representation also inspired Code My Crown.

It’s not hard to see where the dissatisfaction comes from. Cozy games like Palia and even The Sims offer few or no options for Black hairstyles. Character creators in major games, including Monster Hunter and Baldur’s Gate 3, occasionally give players a few more choices, though these either fall into established tropes or don’t accurately represent the style or the culture unless players mod their own styles.

You can download the Code My Crown style guide for free from Dove’s website and check out a large collection of models and textures on the Afro Hair Library’s database.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is like no Yakuza game RGG Studios has created before, director Masayoshi Yokoyama said, and it’s not a Yakuza game you should mainline. Yokoyama made the comments in a recent interview with Game Watch, where he called Infinite Wealth a “monster class game, bigger than anything we’ve made so far” (thanks, GamesRadar).

Yokoyama recognizes that the prospect of such a long game might put some people off, though.

“A lot of people are going to hesitate to play the game or will end up having it wait on their shelves,” Yokoyama said. “I found the possibility of that kind of outcome sad, so I thought, we have to get everyone hyped up enough to play it. I’ve thought this way for the past year or two – for a game like Infinite Wealth, we have to get a festival going on. It would feel kind of rude to just drop such a long game and be done with it.”

Hence the steady stream of marketing and reveals, like the Animal Crossing-like island builder mode, where the recent Like A Dragon Gaiden had comparatively little before its launch. 

Yokoyama didn’t mention how long the main storyline was or what additional side activities might be waiting for Ichiban and the gang in Hawaii. We don’t have long to wait before we find out, though. Infinite Wealth launches for Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam on Jan. 26, 2024.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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Shenmue 3 might have ended with more questions than answers, but Yu Suzuki wants to look back instead of forward for the next action game. In a recent interview with IGN, Suzuki said he’s considered taking an approach similar to what RGG Studios did with Yakuza 0 and creating a prequel that served as an onboarding point for new players.

Suzuki said he can’t go into detail yet, but the prospect of making a Yakuza–style prequel is something he’s given considerable thought.

“I want Shenmue 4 to be enjoyable for newcomers,” Suzuki said. “To make that possible, the most important thing is to make it enjoyable without knowing previous events in the story. I think recreating the streets of Dobuita with modern visuals on a new engine alone would make it worth doing. It also connects to the topic of not simply expanding in size. Making an even more detailed Dobuita than the original Shenmue is an interesting idea, especially if it’s not a remake but a prequel with a new story.”

Calling something “for the fans” is usually pretty trite, but it’s true for Shenmue 3. Fans crowdfunded the project, like they often do with indie games and projects that don’t have full backing, and IGN says Suzuki felt he had to honor their wishes and make the game they wanted, rather than the one he wanted to create.

Whether Shenmue 4 actually happens is another matter. Suzuki didn’t say whether production or even planning had begun on such a project, and he mentioned he has other games he’d like to make anyway.

Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF

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November is here, and although not as packed with big game releases as the last two months, there are plenty of interesting titles launching just in time for the holiday season.

In October, we got some serious Game of the Year contenders with Super Mario Bros. Wonder,  Alan Wake 2, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but even after those, what is left of this year’s release schedule looks promising.

One of the most popular first-person shooter series is getting a new entry, while Harry Potter fans on the Switch will finally receive that Hogwarts acceptance letter.

Sports fans are getting the latest annual release of Football Manager, and a remake of a classic Super Mario game will hit the shelves this month.

Also on the menu are a space adventure inspired by Stanislaw Lem’s sci-fi novel The Invincible, and a new RoboCop game.

Plenty of games to look forward to, so let’s go through the biggest upcoming games releasing in November 2023.