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It’s Friday! Or is it? Time is a social construct, so I could tell you it’s Wednesday today, and how could you prove me wrong? It’s Friday because it’s the fifth day this week, but when did this week start? Can’t prove that either, I’m afraid. Well, the calendar in the bottom right corner of the monitor says it’s Friday. Who told the computer that it’s Friday? Anyone could change that display in the settings. What I can say, for certain, is that events occurred and news transpired in this indefinable time period, and it’s been turned into bite-size chunks, here in the round up…
Justice for Kotora. I’ll admit, it has been an exceptionally exhausting week for us all, but I have not snapped. Yet. I’m referring to the Kotora family, a lost evolution line of Pokemon that was planned for Generations 1 and 2. The leak of the Spaceworld Pokemon Gold and Silver demo unveiled two tubby, electric-type tigers. Kotora means ‘baby tiger’ and Raitora means ‘thunder tiger’. If the names for chubby sprites weren’t enough, everyone is enamoured with the lost family, and they have even become culturally renowned in certain literary circles. Game Freak, I know you have a lot on your plate right now, but I would like the Kotora family to come back. It would make me very happy. Which is reason enough to do it.
An Aladdin and The Lion King remastered collection is coming this year
The original Disney’s Aladdin and The Lion King were released for Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, in 1993 and 1994 respectively. As Disney continues to renew its properties and steamroller the movie industry at large, a remastered bundle for both games will be launched this autumn. It will release for PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch, and offer a new feature to fast-forward or rewind to any point in the game. These games were infamously difficult back in the day, and the remasters will come with a handy guide in which the game will take over control and show how the level can be cleared.
Zoe Quinn accuses Night in the Woods developer Alec Holowka of abuse
In a statement posted to Twitter, Zoe Quinn accused Alec Holowka of verbal and physical abuse, isolation, and imprisonment during their relationship together. Quinn had been sexually assaulted by a high profile game developer and could not go public with the accusation, because it would risk their visa status. Holowka was sympathetic to Quinn’s situation, invited them to stay in Winnipeg, and agreed to pay for Quinn’s return flight back as they could not afford the round trip. Quinn claims that he became abusive and antagonistic, retracted the original agreement that Quinn would leave after a month’s stay, and even ensured Quinn would be blacklisted from industry events after they had broken up. ‘I’m still afraid of him,’ they wrote, ‘I’m afraid that people will care more about their love of Night in the Woods than they will about the safety and truths of women and non-binary people in games.’
Telltale Games will be revived by LCG Entertainment
LCG Entertainment is an American holdings company made up of a veteran industry executives. After Telltale Games shut down in late 2018, the company bought Telltale Games’ key assets, trademarks, technology, and select intellectual properties. LCG Entertainment has plans to pick up the dropped storylines, and purchase new licenses, as a new company based in California. ‘We’re going to stay small over the next six months and we will work for more of a distributed development pipeline than Telltale was known for,’ CEO James Ottilie said to Polygon. As for the ex-Telltale employees, ‘key talent’ will be employed on a freelance basis as the company grows.
Bandai Namco is not interested in Epic exclusivity for its games
‘Epic is just another store,’ said Hervé Hoerdt, the Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe senior vice president of marketing, digital and content. ‘It’s fantastic, they have a lot of strength and [lots of] users, the business model is attractive to us because it’s more profitable but still, their interest is, if I’m correct, exclusivity. And this is not our vision.’ Although the publisher would consider partnering with Epic Games, Bandai Namco strives to engage the widest audience with its current and future games. A Ubisoft executive deemed Steam’s revenue split ‘unrealistic’ for the modern gaming industry, and Metro executive Klemens Kundratitz agreed. ‘As an industry and as a publisher, we should welcome Epic and their business model,’ he said.
Yakuza 7 takes turn-based combat to Yokohama in new trailer
Boy howdy. Yakuza 7: Hikari to Yami no Yukue follows the story of Ichiban Kasuga who takes the fall for a fellow yakuza and serves an 18 year prison sentence. Once he is released, there is no one to welcome him, and Kasuga is shot and gravely injured by his old boss. Along with a new protagonist, it’s set in a new location. Kasuga wakes up in Yokohama, which will be ‘more than three times the size of Kamurocho in Tokyo.’ Yakuza 7 will introduce turn-based tactical combat to the series as Kasuga and his party seek retribution for the disappearance of his family. The game will release for PlayStation 4 on January 16, 2020 in Japan, and at a later date for Europe and North America.
Ion Fury developer will not remove homophobic content due to ‘censorship’
Voidpoint, the developer of retro pixel shooter Ion Fury, released a statement that it would remove the homophobic content in its game. Namely, this would be the hidden room with the word ‘fagbag’ written across it, and a hand soap asset called ‘Ogay’ found in bathrooms. The game then got review bombed on Steam, with fans expressing upset at how Voidpoint had bowed to SJW pressure. After that, the developer published a joint statement with its publisher, 3D Realms, that stated it wouldn’t remove the ‘Ogay’ hand soap because that would be ‘censorship’. Previous critics lauded its revoked decision, but Ion Fury landed another bout of review bombing from people who wanted the jokes cut completely. One review on Steam read, ‘I would've been on team OGAY if I was still a 14 year old, but I've grown up and don't want any part of the culture attached to this game and gaming in general. Punching down is not funny to most decent people. Good bye, from a long time 3DRealms fan from back in the day.’
Cyberpunk 2077 gets new details on companions, enemies, and underwater exploration
Cyberpunk 2077’s lead quest designer, Pawel Sasko, revealed that your companions will have their own unique abilities, but, unlike Skyrim or Fallout, they won’t be taking orders. There are certain circumstances that will allow the player to direct the companion, but they will be pretty independent for the most part. Each zone of Night City will have specific loot to be found, as opposed to a randomised system, and there will be underground zones as well as the streets and apartments above ground. Enemies will possess different strengths and weaknesses based on their augmentations. V is also able to swim, which suggests that there will be deep dives into the mysteries surrounding Night City. Finally, the character customisation will use body types and different voices instead of a binary gender system. Senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers said, ‘We want you to feel free to create any character you want.’
Capcom teases Project Resistance, the new Resident Evil game
Capcom has set up an official website that teases a worldwide reveal for Project Resistance on September 9. Resident Evil Ambassadors had been invited to playtesting sessions for an ‘in development project’, so there was a rumour or few that this project would show up soon. Attendees of the Tokyo Game Show have the chance to get hands on with the game, but it seems that images of the next Resident Evil title have leaked through a YouTube thumbnail grabber. Putting the Project Resistance live-stream link into the tool throws up four images of four characters with their own weapons and a distinctly ‘90s era wardrobe. We could speculate that the next game is a co-op squad shooter, à la Left 4 Dead, but for now we’ll wait until Capcom acknowledges the images or until the reveal, on September 9.
