Kindness? In A Battle Royale Tournament?
It's more likely than you'd think. Plus Gamescom, Lego sales, and the passage of time.
Hello Button Buddies,
Can you believe it’s almost September? To quote Australian band Waikiki “here comes September, and we both know what that means”; all the big games and technology are about to start being unleashed at an alarming rate. For three months there will be an onslaught of more games than anyone could possibly play in that amount of time. We’re still catching up from the last games season.
Before the avalanche begins, though, this week’s newsletter is all about a kind gaming tournament, Tim’s picks for game trailers to watch after Gamescom, Alice’s picks from the Lego Super Mario sale, and Tim once again reminding us of the passage of time and soon we too shall succumb to old age. Plus we recommend some games to play this weekend! You know, the usual. Enjoy!
It’s cool to be kind
By Alice
Quick, what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the words “young people” and “online multiplayer” together? Was it “bullying”? First up, congrats on being old. Secondly, tomorrow there is going to be a ‘kind’ gaming tournament where 66 streamers will compete to see who can make the “kindest gaming environment” to win $3000 in an attempt to discourage cyberbullying and encourage kindness online.
My knee jerk reaction as someone who was raised in the time of South Park and The Simpsons is that that sounds incredibly lame, and like it will lead to a lot of performative kindness without depth or actually addressing any of the problems.
However, turning off the automatically sceptical part of my brain, this actually sounds lovely, and like something that could make a real difference in a smaller corner of the internet.
There’s been so many “heated gamer moments” where streamers “accidentally” started spewing racial epithets in the middle of a game, and there’s a reflex many people have to see other player’s mistakes as a sign of weakness that has exclusively inconvenienced them. There are even some streamers who have told their young viewers that if they don’t get angry after losing they’ve “lost twice”. This is ridiculously unhealthy, and doesn’t create a kind atmosphere to play in.
Patience and kindness are skills, which means they need to be practiced. Being fake kind because you’re trying is different from being fake kind to humiliate, and it’s totally fine to fake it until you make it if it’s not hurting anyone.
While I doubt this kind of stream is going to suddenly cure the human propensity for cruelty in anonymous spaces, something is better than nothing, and I’m really interested to see how the event is handled and what comes from it. If you want to tune in, it’ll be on Nova’s Facebook page (the streamer, not the radio station).
What to play
It’s almost September which is one of the most glorious times of year for those who love sports games. But, here’s the thing: these games are basically the same every year. I (Alice), love the little updates to game modes and teams in NBA 2K, but if you don’t plan on sinking 1000 hours into it each month, and instead want to take your time and just play some digital basketball/soccer/golf, and don’t need the rosters to be 100% up to date, you can save up to $100 by just getting last year’s sports games as the new ones are released. Haven’t gotten around to NBA 2K22 yet? Grab it second hand, or on a digital storefront in the next two weeks and you’ll save a bundle. Can’t wait for FIFA23? Don’t. Get FIFA22 and get a sneak preview of 23. They’re also on subscription services now.
Is Amazon bad? Yes. Do they have a good deal on The Quarry at the moment? Also yes. You can pick up this fun choose-your-own-adventure game for $59 now in the 2K store. If you’d prefer to own it digitally, the PS4 version is $66 in the PlayStation Store now. I (Alice) really enjoyed it when it was released earlier this year, and I highly recommend it, especially if you play with a friend.
Coming this week to Apple Arcade is… Hanx101 Trivia. A trivia game by Tom Hanks, because why not? Who knew Tom Hanks was super into trivia? The man already has a typewriter hobby, so I (Alice) guess there are few things that could make him more of a nerd. On the one hand, this seems like a very weird celebrity tie-in. On the other hand, I have already pre-saved it and am counting down the days to the 2nd of September.
After being in early access for more than two years, cuteness overload Ooblets finally launches its full version this week. If you haven’t played before, it’s like a 3D Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley but with heavy Pokemon vibes, hipster dialogue and a card-based combat system where your captured monsters compete in dance battles.
It's a big week on Game Pass, headlined by new release Immortality from Her Story creator Sam Barlow. The game revolves around aspiring movie star Marissa Marcel, who has gone missing after starring in three films that were never released. It's your job to solve the mystery, by poring over lost footage from the films. Also hitting Game Pass this week is the brand new adorable 3D platformer Tinykin, a HD remaster of 2003 real-time tactics game Commandos 3, and Immortals Fenyx Rising which was one of my favourites of 2020. It's like Assassin's Creed Odyssey meets Breath of the Wild with a cartoony Greek mythology style.
Amazon currently has a few pretty good deals on physical PS5 games, with Ghostwire Tokyo, Dying Light 2, Rider's Republic, Far Cry 6 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla all down to $30 from $100.
If you or your kids are into both Marvel and Lego, and you've yet to delve into that particular video game rabbit hole, you can currently get a bundle of all three games and all DLC on Xbox for just over $30, which is down from the usual $90.
Seven must-watch trailers from Gamescom
By Tim
The show may be over, but if you weren’t paying that much attention and just want some sweet-looking new games for your eyeballs we have you covered.
Where Winds Meet. An open world martial arts game set in an ancient Chinese land of myth and mysticism, the reveal trailer shows off heaps of faced paced armed combat but also what looks like quite a deep system of magic as well, plus obligatory monster fights.
Lies of P. Have you ever wanted a grimdark action RPG based on the tale of Pinocchio, where I guess the titular character is a battle robot with a gun arm rather than a wooden puppet? No, me either, and previously I might have said that sounds terrible. But it actually looks kind of great.
The Last Case of Benedict Fox. This Lovecraftian Metroidvania continues to look incredible, with a great mix of platforming, combat and puzzle-solving to go with the wonderful art. But in this trailer we also get a glimpse at Fox’s tattoo-powered abilities and a few interesting new biomes.
The Devil In Me. I’ve really enjoyed every interactive horror movie from The Dark Pictures Anthology, but this fourth annual entry looks like it comes with some much-needed upgrades to the actual game mechanics. The Saw-like premise may especially lend itself to gaminess as well.
Atomic Heart. This game has had great trailers consistently for half a decade at this point, so I’m starting to worry it won’t live up to them when it finally arrives. But here’s another, focused on all the weapons you’ll use to tear a bunch of rolling, screaming, and/or horny soviet robots apart.
Fall of Porcupine. This one took me by surprise, because it appears to be a really raw and distressing narrative about an awfully ineffectual healthcare system, but also you play as a cute pigeon man and everyone else is also adorable animals. Stop trying to make me feel things.
Worldless. Here’s a pick purely for art style. The character being rendered as six spots of light allows for some very interesting-looking animation and interfaces, plus the exploration and turn-based combat looks like a lot of fun.
Bricks, Boards and Beginnings
by Alice
The official Lego Store almost never has sales worth looking at. Sometimes you might get 10% off if you’re super lucky, maybe 15% if a set particularly bombed. But right now the Lego store is offering *30%* off some Lego Super Mario Sets before the new Princess Peach sets are released tomorrow. Does this bode well for the Super Mario theme in general? Who can say. But probably not.
My picks from the 30% sale are:
Bowser’s Airship Expansion Set, reduced to $104.99. It’s a really cool build, and is one of the few Lego Super Mario playsets that makes for a good display piece, especially when expanded out to show the full details.
Luigi’s Mansion Haunt-and-Seek Expansion Set for $83.99. I haven’t built this one personally, but at 877 pieces, that’s decent value (especially in this economy), and there are lots of really cool parts. Built as expected, it wouldn’t make a good display piece, but with a little creativity and some more brown 1x2 bricks, you could make a truly excellent mansion MOC, thanks to those rare parts in the box.
Finally, Lakitu Sky World Expansion Set for $41.99 is a great buy. Again, it’s not a good display piece. But, last year I had to build a lot of things for the TV show I was working on, and when I didn’t have access to my full parts collection, this set had all the random bits I needed to jazz up a phallic spaceship or Olympic scene. There’s so many great parts there. It’s an adorable playset for kids, as well as a source of brightly coloured bits.
The non-Mario set I would consider in the sale is the Queer Eye – Fab 5 Loft. I do not know why this set exists, but I also really like it. At $169.99 for 974 parts, it was massively overpriced, which is probably why it didn’t sell and is now 40% off at $101.99, which is only slightly overpriced. If you like Queer Eye, now is the time.
Retro Esoterica
by Tim
As August comes to a close, it’s time for our monthly look at games that have just celebrated a major birthday.
Now 15: BioShock There’s not much left to say about this, one of the most-discussed games of all time, except that it remains an incredible feat of interactive narrative and design. Engendered by and going on to engender that tasty pool of magical but stealthy immersive sim type games like System Shock, Thief, Deus Ex and Dishonored, BioShock is the rare game that holds a collection of fully-realised ideas, mechanics and stories. It’s not a sequel nor was it ever outdone or expanded upon by its own successors. The impeccable underwater dystopian setting, the perfection of its late-game narrative twist and the never-ending joy of its guns-and-plasmids (and wrench) combat make BioShock a truly timeless creation.
Now 25: GoldenEye 007 As a film adaptation GoldenEye is somewhat inscrutable. It invents so much that was never present in the movie and yet makes barely any narrative sense without it, not to mention it was released a full two years after the fact. But the brilliance of this game has little to do with Pierce Brosnan’s sweaty escapades, and everything to do with turning the guns, gadgets and subterfuge of the James Bond fantasy into a miraculous shooting sandbox. The sprawling levels and mandatory objectives (which differed depending on chosen difficulty) made this a revelation for console players in 1997, and the multiplayer mode lives in countless memories as one of the greatest social gaming experiences of all time.
Now 30: Super Mario Kart 1990’s F-Zero was a stunning showcase of the Super Nintendo’s Mode 7 capabilities, which skewed and rotated the 2D images to give an impression of moving through 3D space. Two years later, a desire to create a Mode 7 racing game that two people could play simultaneously gave us Super Mario Kart, and the foundations of what is today one of the best-selling series of all time. Most of what we love about the series was there from the start — offensive and defensive weapons, battle mode, an all-star cast, Rainbow Road — but the racing wouldn’t begin to hit its full potential until 1996’s Mario Kart 64.