Over the past few years there have been a number of instances where individuals with a strong internet following have effectively ruined their self-made careers. Through hateful comments, improper conduct, or general misuse of their platform, it is very easy for acclaim accumulated by individuals to be demolished in a matter of days, if not hours, and for their reputation to be effectively tainted by their misactions. It’s something I am very well aware of, have been for years, and after seeing this process undergo so many iterations, it’s all too easy to view every creator, if not every human being, to be a ticking time bomb of troublesome activities. Or in other words, the longer anybody exists, the more likely it is that they will become racist, sexist, hateful, psychotic, or try to exchange pornographic images of themselves with children.
Starting with the big-ish news, Sony held yet another State of Play event, their take on the whole livestreamed digital news showcase that Nintendo popularized over the years, to the point where people actively pine for the next installment. Sony, however, has yet to earn such a following after their initial showing, which was only a month and a half ago, and what they had this time was… pretty good, I suppose.
It featured the Monster Hunter World: Iceborne expansion due out on September 6th, the remake of Medievil, which is due out October 25th. A teaser trailer for Predator: Hunting Grounds, an asymmetrical humans versus monster shooter from the people behind Friday the 13th: The Game, who seem to have a good grasp on this gameplay loop. Away: The Survival Series, a game about playing as an animal while fighting off other wildlife and escaping from various natural disasters. Which sounds very interesting, but I cannot help but feel a twinge of disappointment over how the title will seemingly only follow the journey of a single animal, when I initially assumed it would follow several.
Oh, and they ended things off by showing off Final Fantasy VII Remake again, which looks good, but after 4 years I’m just waiting for finite details and a lengthy gameplay walkthrough. …And my goodness am I going to be fed up with hearing about this game and the merits of modern Square Enix even attempting to remake this ‘life influencing work of art’ by the time it comes out, or rather the first part. Hell, I’m already sick of it.
So yes, the event had a couple surprises, a good pace, and was more reserved with its presentation, so overall I’d say it was a step in the right direction. I mean, Nintendo’s first few Directs were prefer weak looking back on them, and I do prefer this format over just about any other when it comes to game announcements. A direct information blowout of multiple titles makes routine news feel like an event, and draws in the attention of people who would otherwise ignore certain titles. It’s why E3 is still considered such a big deal.
Oh, and on the same day Ubisoft revealed the latest entry in their series of military fiction author licensed open world shoot bangs in the form of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, a title that seems to be building off of 2017’s Wildlands, which I remember being received fairly tepidly at the time, but wound up being one of the most financially successful games of that year. Honestly, this type of stuff isn’t for me, was never for me, and all of these games tend to blur together in my mind. Good news for those who enjoyed it, and for me, well, I guess I’ll passively listen to some buzz about the game once it comes out on PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 4th. Also, despite having a single player campaign, the title will require an always online internet connection, and will be releasing on Uplay and the Epic Games Store, but not Steam, because Ubisoft is kind of a crummy company like that.
Returning to things I am less apathetic towards, last year Microsoft released the Xbox Adaptive Controller, a non-traditional controller that enabled people with a variety of disabilities to play games they otherwise would not be able to. However, Microsoft is seemingly not content with having the most accessible system and have patented the design of a braille controller for the visually impaired. More specifically, a controller with dynamic braille text on the back of the controller along with a paddle system that will apparently be able to translate speech into braille and be used in conjunction with livestreams. It’s all a concept I don’t fully understand, but I look forward to hearing about it going forward, as the most inclusive gaming can be, the better, because gaming is for everyone.
Also the Switch is perfect for just about everything that can run on it, boasting incredibly high attach rates from users the likes of which I don’t believe have been seen since the PS Vita. Which would have been a great segway, but this title also launched on PS4… Anyways, two Spanish retailers listed that Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth – Hacker’s Memory for the Switch, and retailers tend to only list games that are real. To jump ahead to the point, I was really excited to check out the first Cyber Sleuth, but never wound up getting it for my Vita because, well, I put it in a box and didn’t want to take it out, and then Cyber Sleuth was delisted from PSN, so I bought a PS4 copy so I could play that version when and if I ever get a PS5. But I am hoping all of that will be proven pointless with an announcement that both Cyber Sleuth and Hacker’s Memory are coming to the Switch. Please let me give you money Bandai Namco so I can play Shin Megami Tensei-esque Digimon games on my Switch, because that sounds like it would be a grand old time.
That about covers it unless I want to delve into news about companies abusing their employees, which is really popular this year, but I don’t have anything to say other than how this is a systemic issue that probably won’t be changed given how things have been going these past few years.
Header image is from the recently released Press-Switch v0.5c, which I’ll post a review of on Wednesday. Oh, and here is my flowchart as per usual.
