News & Views

9/10/16-9/16/16

In honor of the BioShock Remastered collection releasing this week, would you kindly check out this News & Views?

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts it all into convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the quest to make new games run on very old computers, the crazy story how Microsoft sent out an Xbox One before it was even announced, and what UNDERTALE means one year later.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

BioShock's Jordan Thomas Discusses the Acclaimed Trilogy

Ed Smith, VICE

Worth Reading

The past, present and future of League of Legends studio Riot Games

Phil Kollar, Polygon

Maybe This Is Why Dragon Quest Never Took Off In The West

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

One Man's Quest to Let People Play Games on Their Crappy Computers

Patrick Klepek, VICE

Microsoft Accidentally Sent An Xbox One To A Random Customer Two Months Before It Was Announced

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

A short history of food in videogames

Bhernardo Viana, Kill Screen

Retrospective on UNDERTALE's Popularity

Toby Fox, Undertale.tumblr

Undertale, One Year Later

Peter Lido, Kill Screen

Why A Million People Still Play Multiplayer Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Every Month

Richard Moss, RockPaperShotgun

News & Views

8/6/16-8/12/16

We’re living in plentiful times, folks. Everyone expects summer gaming to be slow and boring, but I’ve had an experience quite the opposite. Summer 2016 has been a fantastic time for indies & other smaller games. I recently finished I Am Setsuna, a nice throwback to the JRPGs of yesteryear. Early this week I finished and platinumed Double Fine’s Headlander. And now I’m deep into Hyper Light Drifter (which is freakin’ fantastic so far.) Once that’s done, I still have ABZU, Bound, and Batman: A Telltale Series to get to. It’s a good time to be playing video games.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games. Check out the links below for stories about how food can evoke a particular brand of fantasy, why putting a score on your video game review is useless, and the galaxy-wide quest to find No Man’s Sky’s giant sand serpent.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Patch the Process

Rami Ismail, Ramiismail.com

Worth Reading

The More You Know: Making Decisions Interesting In Games

Jon Shafer, Gamasutra

Furi is Difficulty Done Right

Matt Sayer, Unwinnable

Food Is the Secret Ingredient in Vanillaware's Games

Todd Harper, VICE

Sonic boom: Ellie Gibson on nostalgia, novelty, and that 9/10

Ellie Gibson, Eurogamer

The Elder Scrolls: Legends is Too Similar to Hearthstone

Holly Green, Paste

Why Video Game Scores are Useless

Josh Bycer, Gamasutra

With Comments

The Game Germany Deemed 'Harmful to Minors'

Patrick Klepek, VICE

Klepek’s investigative reporting gives us insight into something we almost never see: the reasoning behind why a game gets its content rating. This article takes a look at the German video game review board and their decision to not rate the controversial Criminal Girls 2. If nothing else, this is worth reading for insights into the previously only speculated.

The Hunt For No Man's Sky's Mysterious Giant Snake

Patricia Hernandez, Kotaku

I love stories like this. No Man’s Sky had a lot of trailers, but even I remember the giant sand snake that slithered its way into the hearts & minds of fans around the world. The procedural generation in the game means that it is unlikely for a giant snake to spawn that perfectly resembles the one in the trailer, but that hasn’t stopped the hunt. Fans across the world are scouring No Man’s Sky’s billions of worlds in search for the elusive creature. I hope they find it!

News & Views

7/30/16-8/5/16

Summer Games are afoot. Rio’s opening ceremony airs tonight and Lucioball is talking folks by storm in Overwatch. While you wait, why not sit down to read a few pieces of great gaming writing?

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games and puts it into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the relationship between goats and DOOM, the insane fan culture that’s arisen around No Man’s Sky, and the less than stellar race politics of the new Deus Ex game.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Should eSports be in the Olympics?

Patrick Stafford, Polygon

Worth Reading

'No Man's Sky' Isn't Out Until Next Week, But This Guy May Have Already Beaten It

Austin Walker, VICE

Farewell, Kotaku

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

"Augs Lives Matter": The hollow race politics of the new Deus Ex

Maddi Chilton, Kill Screen

The Goat, the Devil, and DOOM

Reid McCarter, Kill Screen

The Relationship between Monetization and Gamer Behavior

Mantin Lu, Gamasutra

With Comments

Is 'Easy Mode' Possible In Dark Souls?

Matt Sayer, Unwinnable

As a long time Souls fan I’ve long wondered if there was a way to make the games more accessible without compromising their unrivaled design. The answer to my own question was typically a resounding no. Matt Sayer also investigates this question. He provides some possible avenues to consider: like directing the player to focus their attack on a specific part of the boss via glowing limbs, or warnings for players about to fall to their deaths. I like what he’s trying here, but disagree that these would work. More thought is needed.

Furi: some tough design decisions striving to make a memorable game

Emeric Thoa, Gamasutra

I quite enjoyed Furi. I really appreciated how dedicated that game was to its core principles, for better and worse. Emeric Thoa, one of the game’s designers, writes about their philosophy for the game. Of the most interesting aspects is The Game Bakers’ goal to make a ‘triple I’ game. It centers around the idea that you cannot compete with AAAs in terms of scope, so you must focus on one feature and make it exceptional. This will help your game stand out among indies. Thoa also writes about how, in doing so, you cannot worry about alienating a large audience—you can’t please everyone. 

News & Views

7/23/16-7/29/16

News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about how Pokémon GO does a terrible job teaching players how to play, why annoyance is a key part of great game design, and how VR is more about control than immersion.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

VR is a revolution in control more than immersion

Tom Francis, Eurogamer

Worth Reading

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Video Game Sequels

Josh Bycer, Gamasutra

The Importance of Overwatch's Newest Hero, Ana Amari

Nico Deyo, Paste

Bloodborne begone: a hardcore gamer lets go

Rich Stanton, The Guardian

The Motherhood in Pokémon

Bhernardo Viana, Mammon Machine

Pokémon GO isn't the solution to Nintendo's problems. It's a symptom of them

Chris Kohler, Wired

How Pokémon Go Fails to Capture Learnability

Sebastian Long, Gamasutra

Meet Bill Ciaramelli, the man behind LI Joe's Street Fighter success

Michael Martin, Yahoo eSports

The secret to Overwatch's success? Annoyance

Rowan Kaier, Polygon

The Solution to Our Political Problems Lies in 'Dungeons and Dragons'

Cameron Kunzelman, VICE

News & Views

7/16/16-7/22/16

And that does it for another crazy July week. My heart isn’t at full strength today given all of the ugliness that’s come out of the RNC, but I digress—nothing stops the quality Impact Factor content from flowing!

News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing into one place. Check out the links below for stories about DOOM’s powerful gamedev tools, ageism in the video game industry, and life after your game has failed on one of the world’s biggest platforms.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Grassroots Movements Vs. Gaming's Corporate Inevitability

Jeremy Parish, US Gamer

Worth Reading

Easy Mode Ain't Easy (When You're Disabled)

Bec McKenzie, Deorbital

Doom and game design in 2016: The influence of hellbound user-gen content

Bo Moore, Gamasutra

No Consoles For Old Men: Ageism In The Game Industry

David Mullich, Gamasutra

Exploring Graveyards and our Feelings about Death with Pokemon Go

Gabby DaRienzo, Medium

What Happens After An Indie Games Fails On Steam

Nathan Grayson, Kotaku

With Comments

DOOM's Credits: A Cut Above the Rest

Matt Sayer, Unwinnable

I watched DOOM’s credits roll this morning. Matt Sayer puts it well – the credits are definitely a cut above the rest. As I assume most people do, I try my very best to make it through to the end of a game’s credits. Indies are easy. AAA’s are another story entirely. Adding apt visual appeal and interactivity is a great way to have more people see the names of the folks who’ve poured themselves into making the game a reality. Good on ya, DOOM.

How do you explain the phenomenon of watching videogames?

Reed Underwood, Kill Screen

Reed Underwood’s piece on Kill Screen really spoke to me. Even as few as six years ago, I was an unabashed skeptic of watching video games. Twitch, while intriguing, baffled me. Why would anyone sit down and watch someone play for 5 hours straight?! But then, suddenly, it clicked. Watching games offers so much: viewiing players of exception skills, time capsule competitive events, and personality-based entertainment. To the last point, it’s like when you were a kid hanging out in your friends basement, only the controller never gets passed to you. It’s community, it’s friendship, and its conversation. What’s not to like?

Valkyria Chronicles is a different kind of war story

Alexander Kriss, Kill Screen

Valkyria Chronicles is a game I’ve been meaning to get to for nearly a decade. This turn-based strategy RPG explores themes of war and the people who wage it. The game has been long praised for its battle systems and world, but only recently have I been made aware the quality of the narrative. Valkyria Chronicles, as Alexander Kriss writes, is not about right vs. wrong or good vs. evil, but person vs. person and ideology vs. ideology. My favorite part of this article: “If dehumanization is a means to wage war simplification is a means to rationalize it.” Very well said. Give this one a read.

News & Views

7/2/16-7/8/16

Happy Friday everyone! As I wrap up my vacation, I’m bringing you all one last brief News & Views. It’s going to be a real kick in the pants to go back to lab, but I’m excited to have more time to spend on The Impact Factor stuff, too!

News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing and puts it all into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about how gaming can make impatience worth billions, how the underplayed Battleborn is all about kickass women, and what the reality TV show Survivor can teach us about emergent game design.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

What Survivor can teach us about emergent game design

Matt Perez, Kill Screen

Worth Reading

Unlocking the Truth, Video Games, Metal and Being an Awkward Black Kid in NYC

Yussef Cole, Medium

The design origins of drifting in Mario Kart

Bryant Francis, Gamasutra

The changing face of game demos

Ryan Hamann, Fanpup

From Dragon Age to games that foster behavioral change

Brian Crecente, Polygon

BioShock 2 is the underrated human heart of the BioShock trilogy

Richard Cobbett, Eurogamer

E3 2016: One Last Dance at the Videogame Trade Show

Holly Green, Paste

With Comments

Zarya From Overwatch Has Become A Gay Icon, Ironically

Cecilia D’Anastasio, Kotaku

Zarya is awesome.

Clash of Clans proves that our impatience is worth billions

Casey Johnston, The New Yorker

Even I, as a seasoned and skeptical lifelong gamer, have been seriously tempted to spend money on Clash Royale. Whereas spending money on Hearthstone feels like a value (akin to buying cards in real life) spending money on Clash Royale would feel way to much like funding impatience. I hold steadfast. For now.

You Probably Didn't Play It, But the Story of 'Battleborn' Was All About Badass Women

Kaitlin Tremblay, VICE

What a bummer. Battleborn was a huge flop. Gearbox is one of the best big game devs in the business that focus on having strong women, LGBTQ characters and minorities featured prominently in the games. I’m glad to see Battleborn continues that trend. If only it were a better game, too. Still, well worth commending.

News & Views

6/25/16-7/1/16

Hey everyone, I’m vacationing this week so I’ll keep this brief. News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing and puts it into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the man behind the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter, how the fighting game community might handle top-down management, and why visibility is not enough for underrepresented grounds in video games.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

ON THE END OF ALL THINGS: Dark Souls on the GBA in 2003

Rafeal Montero, Mammon Machine

Worth Reading

Visibility is Not Enough

Heather Alexandra, Giantbomb

How Mother 3 Escaped Development Hell to Become a Modern Classic

Bob Mackey, US Gamer

Talking to the man behind Sonic the Hedgehog's incredible Twitter

Andrew Webster, The Verge

"N****r" and other words I learned while playing Overwatch

Marcus Garrett, Top Shelf Gaming

We eSports Now? Capcom's Sponsor Ban Introduces the FGC to Top-Down Governance

Luis Baez, Shoryuken

How WASD became the standard PC control scheme

Tyler Wilde, PC Gamer

'Its the age of the self': how Kim Kardarshian gamified her life and made $100 million doing it

Kwame Opman, The Verge

News & Views

6/18/16-6/24/16

I'm so excited for this week to be finally ending! It was my first full week back at lab after E3 and it felt like it. On top of all that, next week I'll be heading out to vacation so working on my experiments felt even longer! I know what you're thinking -- don't worry! The Impact Factor never skips a beat. We'll have TIF Plays on Monday, a new article on Tuesday, and a brand new episode of the podcast on Friday. Please be excited.

News & Views compiles the week's best video game writing into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about how millennial gamers may be shaping Las Vegas, Konami's living death at E3 2016, and how DOTA2 eSports might be nearing its Moneyball moment.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

The World As We Know It Has Changed, But Let's Think About Video Games I Guess

Keza MacDonald, Kotaku UK

Worth Reading

How Gaming Millennials Are Forcing Las Vegas' Hand

Guest Post, Unwinnable

Animal Crossing's Strange, Unresolved Conflict

Ian Bogost, Gamasutra

You may never look at the Super Mario series the same way again

Allegra Frank, Polygon

The Reasons Behind God of War's Bold New Direction

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

What does Clash of Clans maker's $10 billion sale say about the future of gaming?

Kyle Orland, ars technica

Konami's state of living death at E3 2016

Jordan Minor, Geek

With Comments

Are 4K visuals really the best use for Project Scorpio and PlayStation Neo?

Richard Leadbetter, Eurogamer

E3 2016 brought about the first official announcement of this next (new?) console generation. Microsoft bragged about Project Scorpio and how it will deliver 4K visuals for both movies and games alike. Rumored specs for the PlayStation Neo suggest it too will be going into 4K. Richard Leadbetter of Eurogamer argues that maybe pushing for 4K isn’t the best use of the power in these machines. I know I don’t really care so much about 4K, especially if it is at the expense of running games at 60FPS. I guess we’ll see in the year to come.

DOTA 2 might be nearing its Moneyball moment

Will Partin, Kill Screen

I love this. I loved what Oakland did to make the A’s relevant all those years back, and it’s fascinating to see the same ideas take shape in DOTA eSports. The notion that you could assemble a statistically strong squad, just going by in-game performance and role filling, and have that team be exceptional? So cool. I’ll be keeping my eye on the DOTA scene, looking for that Moneyball moment.

Guns, games and violence: The real questions you should be asking

Brian Crecente, Polygon

Crecente’s piece must have taken courage to write. In it, he suggests guns' depictions in video games may not be as innocuous as we’ve been led to believe. The argument is a complex one with no real answer. Many studies have been done showing no link between playing video games and real life gun violence, but nothing de rigeur has been performed. I strongly believe there is no correlation, but the guns in games could have any number of other effects. For example, I can tell the difference between a FAMAS and a UMP-45 and a M4A1 just by looking, and that’s insane. Why should I know anything about these deadly weapons? As games continue to get bigger, maybe we’ll get a better view into the bigger picture. Until then, just game responsibly and be actively engaged in what your children are playing. It couldn’t hurt.

News & Views

6/4/16-6/10/16

We are only days away from E3, one of the biggest video game shows in the world! I’ve got my tweeting fingers ready for two solid days of new game announcements, trailers, gameplay reveals and more. In the meantime, why don’t you take a second a read some great gaming writing?

News & Views collects the best gaming writing from around the web and puts in into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the underground fight clubs of Dark Souls III, the benefits of unsurprising characterization in games, and how minority characters should not be relegated to DLC.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

How Blizzard built the Overwatch hype train and rode it to success

Zoran Cunningham, Gamasutra

Worth Reading

Downloadable Diversity: How AAA Games Monetize Minority Representation

Veve Jaffa, Model View Culture

Final Fantasy II Retrospective: The Black Sheep Of The Series

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

Ridealong: The Underground Fight Clubs Of Dark Souls III

Brendan Caldwell, RockPaperShotgun

The incredible journey to build EVE Online's first Death Star

Steven Messner, PC Gamer

Sony's PlayStation 4 Neo: Bad news for Microsoft, great news for you

Ben Kuchera, Polygon

With Comments

The Strange, Wonderful, Non-Commercial Games of alt.ctrl.GDC

Jason Imms, Giantbomb

I was lucky enough to attend GDC 2015. Alongside excellent talks and a developer-rich show floor was the alt.ctrl.GDC display. I didn’t know what I was getting into when I approached. But I am so glad I did. Games like Butt Sniffin’ Pugs redefined the way I interacted with a video game, and I loved seeing the creative energy of game devs manifest through non-traditional controls. Alt.ctrl.GDC is wonderful and I’m glad Jason Imms spotlighted it here.

After 10 years of waiting, Half-Life 2: Episode 3 seems further away than ever

Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer

Even as not the biggest fan of Half Life, something remains off about the franchise seeing no new releases in over a decade. I get that Valve has found plenty of other ways to make money, and I understand the pressure to deliver an unparalled game doesn’t match the fiscal risk vs. reward. But still. It is crazy over a decade later we’re still missing the conclusion of a trilogy.

Overwatch: The benefits of unsurprising characterization

Anthony Burch, Destructoid

It should come as a surprise to no one that I am not a fan of Reaper’s character design. He is so Hot Topic it hurts. Burch, however, praises the unsurprising characterization of heroes like Reaper or Genji in that they act to further draw out just how creative and just how exceptional Overwatch’s other heroes are. Food for thought.

My Mother's Games

Janine Hawkins, Giantbomb

Janine Hawkins takes us down a journey of reminiscence. Instead of reliving memories by looking through old photos, Hawkins reconnects with her deceased mother by booting up her old game saves. A wonderful piece that is well worth reading.

News & Views

5/28/16-6/3/16

This week went by in an instant. I had a great time relaxing with my fiancée, got some nice experiments done in lab, and of course I played the hell out of Overwatch. It has been years since I got this sucked into a multiplayer shooter.

News & Views collects the week’s best video game writing. Check out the links below for stories about how Rocket League strategies have made it clear that the game is more than just soccer with cars, how Final Fantasy IX handles the inevitability of death, and why crafting that perfect ending to your game might not be worth it.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Learning About Life and Death From a Little Black Mage

Gino Grieco, Giant Bomb

Worth Reading

Soccer tactics and the evolution of Rocket League

Bhernardo Viana, Kill Screen

Growing Esports: Inspiration From Other Industries

Jake Parmley, Gamasutra

How To Stop Worrying And Love Overwatch

Nico Deyo, Paste

Melee players can develop different physical ailments depending on their main character? Understanding the hand health epidemic in competitive Smash

John Macone, Eventhubs

Doom is asking important questions that FPSes aren't

Greg Kasavin, PC Gamer

With Comments

Overwatch cheaters are having a hard time

Angus Morrison, PC Gamer

Blizzard came out early and aggressively against Overwatch cheaters. In fact, they promised to permanently ban a player after their first offense. Little did we know how serious Blizzard was. I’ve copied an anecdote from the article that summarizes it perfectly: You cheat, you lose. Period.

"Got banned one day after the official release," one enemy of fair play recounts. "Thought I got detected for using RPM tools, because the game was crashing for it at that time.

"Bought the game again... didn't hack on it at all, just wanted to enjoy the game a bit. Two days later—banned again.

"Bought the game... again. But before doing that, I deleted Overwatch and launcher completely. Enjoyed it again without cheating only for a day."

            On his fourth attempt, he purged his PC, changing hard drive IDs, MAC address, BiosDate and buying a VPN to throw Blizzard's anticheat off. It didn't work.

Uncharted 4 Solves The Series' Identity Crisis

Evan Narcisse, Kotaku

When the term “ludonarrative dissonance” was common parlance in the greater games discussion, Uncharted was always the first title named. People weren’t wrong for naming it, either. How can Nathan Drake be a loveable rogue when he literally kills hundreds of people each and every game? Part of what I touched upon in my review, but it written much better by Evan Narcisse over at Kotaku, is how Uncharted 4 leans into this dissonance – co-opting it to serve as the narrative foundation. Beware spoilers, but thoroughly worth reading.

Endings Won't Be Remembered

Matt Sayer, Unwinnable

It astounds me how few game owners finish the games they buy. Since the advent of trophies / achievements, it has been possible to ascertain completion percentage on a game-to-game basis. As Matt Sayer writes, laughably few players manage to finish games. Even when a game is just a few hours long the completion percentage remains sub 50%. It’s insane. Maybe it’s not so important to have that perfect ending to your narrative game. Chances are no more than 30% of players will even get to it.

News & Views

5/21/16-5/27/16

Memorial Day weekend is upon us! I hope everyone has made some plans to enjoy their extra day off. I know I have. Got some movies slotted to watch with the finacée, shopping to do, and of course, more Overwatch to play. It should be a good weekend.

News & Views is your weekly dose of great gaming writing. I find great editorials, stories, essays and more and put them all into one convenient place. Check out the links below for stories about the biggest online troll in Dark Souls, how DOOM represented gaming’s punk movement, and how environmental storytelling in roguelikes can be gripping.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

The irresistible appeal of roguelike storytelling

Ana Valens, Kill Screen

Worth Reading

Why Adults Are Drawn To Teenage Stories

Sharang Biswas, Kill Screen

What Happened to All the Black Games?

Alexandria Marie, Medium

Doom was video gaming's punk movement

Keith Stuart, The Guardian

How Blizzard turned me into a salesperson for Overwatch

Ben Kuchera, Polygon

The Depleted World: how Dark Souls III comes to terms with being a sequel

Bruno Dias, Zam

With Comments

How Overwatch Tries to Create Friendly Competition

Delilah Sinclair, Paste

Playing Overwatch has surprised me. I thought I had moved past playing competitive online first-person shooters, but here we are. But for as much as I like the game, it has been hard putting my finger on exactly why Overwatch is so great. Perhaps the answer can be found in Delilah Sinclair’s write-up on Paste in which she details how the game creates a friendly competitive space for all.

Meet Iron Pineapple, The Biggest Troll In Dark Souls

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

Klepek continues spotlighting some of gaming’s most fascinating stories. This first I found this week was about a notorious troll in the Dark Souls online community. Unlike so many trolls that try to kill the fun for others, Iron Pineapple is all about creating ludicrous situations that you can’t help but smile about. Iron Pineapple’s story is a unique one, and worth reading for Souls fans and non-fans alike.

The Wild Theory That Connects All The Doom Games

Patrick Klepek, Kotaku

More Klepek! This was is a doozy. Aparently, Doom fans can assembled a theory that links the narrative of every single game. A Doom cinematic universe, if you will. Who knows if the theory has any merit, but it was a great story to read. I love these kind of deep dives into video game lore, world building, and environmental storytelling.

News & Views

5/7/16-5/13/16

Hello and happy Friday! I know that I’m looking forward to the weekend, what about you? My last few have been relatively busy, so I can’t wait to just relax with the fiancée, watch some K Dramas, and play the heck out of Uncharted 4. It has been fantastic so far.

News & Views collects the week’s best writing about video games. Check out the links below to stories about the best hand animations in first-person games, the artists and art that inspired Dark Souls, an argument for better systems in place to stop racist Twitch chat, and an opus on Lionhead studio from origin to closure.

And of course please check out the brand new episode of The Impact Factor podcast that was posted today! You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, or if you prefer other methods, check out our SoundCloud. We’re on YouTube too!

Spotlight

Lionhead: The inside story

Wesley Yin-Poole, Eurogamer

Worth Reading

The creator of Persona on life, Japanese culture, and the unconscious

Zack Kotzer, Kill Screen

Hero Shooters: Charting the (re)birth of a genre

Alex Wawro, Gamasutra

Visions of Hell: Dark Souls's Cultural Heritage

Gareth Damian Martin, Kill Screen

Uncharted 4 is the best (and possibly last) game of its kind

Chris Plante, The Verge

TheFallout 4 Survival Permadeath Run That Turned Preston Garvey Into A Monster

Patricia Hernandez, Kotaku

With Comments

The best hand animations in first-person games

Christopher Livingston, PC Gamer

What a fascinating spotlight article. Hand animations are an essential part of so many games today. In my experience I don’t tend to notice when they are bad, but holy cow do you notice when they are done well. One of 2016’s best games, Firewatch, features great hand animations. The article is worth reading for the gifs alone.

"Enough is enough": Confessions of a Twitch chat moderator

Carling Filewich, GosuGamers

I’ve had it with Twitch chat for large gaming tournaments. An unacceptable level of “trolling” i.e. racist, sexist, disgusting vitriol is allowed to happen. I was so excited to see TerrenceM play at Dreamhack this past weekend – and he was playing great. To see what was happening in the chat every time he was spotlighted made me sick to my stomach, though. Enough is enough. If Twitch users can’t responsibly chat, there shouldn’t be chat at all.

8 Reasons Why Final Fantasy XII is the Most Underrated Game in the Series

Alex Gilyadov, Paste

Alex Gilyadov presents some compelling arguments as to why you shouldn’t immediately write off the much-maligned Final Fantasy XII. I enjoyed playing XII contemporary to its release, but the game never really clicked with me. Do I think it is the most underrated game in the series? Actually? Maybe. There are several overrated Final Fantasy titles (VIII comes to mind), but not too many that are underrated. So congrats, Final Fantasy XII. At least you have that going for you. (P.S. The Zodiark fight is still bullcrap)

Dark Souls Is A Metaphor For These Things ONLY

Philippa Warr, RockPaperShotgun

Philippa Warr’s piece on RPS is the Dark Souls of articles. Haha, joking. I, too, am guilty of describing things as the “Dark Souls of ____.” Warr’s comedic take on this now common gaming jargon is great and well worth reading. Not that I agree with all her points, of course. But I supposed I couldn’t fully agree, since The Impact Factor is the Dark Souls of gaming blogs. Ok, sorry. That’s the last one I promise.