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
Jeremy Parish, US
Gamer
Worth Reading
Bec
McKenzie, Deorbital
Bo Moore,
Gamasutra
David
Mullich, Gamasutra
Gabby
DaRienzo, Medium
Nathan
Grayson, Kotaku
With Comments
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.
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?
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.
