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

2/20/16-2/26/16

I know this isn’t video game related, but it’s Oscars weekend! Who do you think will win? This is the first year in the past few that I feel like I have only seen a small handful of the nominated films. Oh well. Awards shows are always fun to have on in the background!

Now onto News & Views, a weekly curation of the best video game writing, stories, opinions and more! Check out the links below for the trails of a female eSports champion, how Firewatch calls back to dating during the early internet, undressing Kratos, and how no one really know what games cost.

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 man who made 'the worst video game in history'

Richard Hooper, BBC

Worth Reading

How Beyond Good & Evil 2 Died

Zack Hage, Medium

No One Really Knows How Much Games Cost

Graham Smith, Rock Paper Shotgun

In Play: Games' relationship with nature is weird

Oli Welsh, Eurogamer

Skin to Screen

Janine Hawkins, Giantbomb

The benefits of integrating a writer: Rhianna Pratchett makes the case

Christian Nutt, Gamasutra

Undressing Kratos

G. Christopher Willamas, popmatters

With Comments

'Game Snack' Went on Hiatus Because It's Hard to Be in YouTube's Middle Class

Nicholas Deleon, VICE

The middle class is disappearing in nearly all aspects of gaming. The gamedev middle class disappeared midway through the last console generation with the loss of studios like THQ. Just last week we saw the closure of GameTrailers, the middle class of mainstream / old-school games media. And now, as Nicholas Deleon writes, YouTube is losing its gaming middle class too. It’s sad.

The trails of a female eSports champion

Kevin Roose, Fusion.net

I enjoy watching Hafu stream. She really knows what she’s talking about when it comes to Hearthstone’s arena mode. I cannot even begin to imagine all of the harassment she has had to deal with over her many years as a known professional gamer. Though Roose’s interview dwelled too long on the negative, Hafu eloquently paints a horrific picture of being a female eSports champion.

How Firewatch hearkens back to relationships on the early internet

Katerine Cross, Gamasutra

Cross writes an fascinating piece describing the relationship at the core of Firewatch’s experience. It’s about two people who’ve never met, never seen each other, trying to feel each other out through sparse vocal interactions. I never really participated in a romantic relationship in the early internet, but the comparison seems apt. Firewatch continues to provide great platforms for discussion. I love it.

Steph Curry Is So Good, NBA 2K Can't Depict Him

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

The Impact Factor is talking about a sports game? You bet I am! This story is hilarious. Steph Curry’s real life NBA performance cannot be replicated in NBA 2K. That’s insane. He’s too good to be properly simulated in a video game. I think it works to reinforce what I’ve heard from the sports media world: Steph Curry is redefining the NBA. The parallel with that sentiment and video games is awesome. 

News & Views

1/2/16-1/8/16

Welcome everyone to a very abridged News & Views! I apologize for the brevity—it’s been a busy week getting readjusted to lab work in the new year. That, and I assume a lot of video game writers are getting adjusted to working again too: not too many articles beating down my door this week.

Check out below for some great stories about the dualism of Golden Sun, a tale of a man who brought an IP back from the dead, and an argument that all stories in all media are the same.

If you follow me on Twitter you would know that this week’s The Impact Factor podcast will be delayed by a couple days. But that’s because my co-host Charles Fliss is joining me in person to do our Game of the Year 2015 discussion! So keep checking out the usual places to see when the episode drops: iTunes, SoundCloud & YouTube

Spotlight

All Stories Are the Same

John Yorke, The Atlantic

Worth Reading

The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone is an even better Game of the Year choice than the main game

Jake Lear, Polygon

How Satoru Iwada Helped Bring Pokemon to America

Eddie Makuch, Gamespot

Undertale Has One Of The Greatest Final Boss Fights In RPG History

Jason Schreier, Kotaku

The Dualism and Morality of "Golden Sun"

Willie Clark, Kill Screen

Meeting Yoshinori Ono, the Man Who Brought Street Fighter Back From the Dead

Andi Hamilton, Vice