Kill Screen Magazine's Blog, page 473

The quest for the sequel to the weirdest game ever made is over

But what do we do now?

Boston is the ideal setting to bring Fallout 4 into the modern day

Boston, they say, is the ruined locale for the next Fallout game. As with any substantial piece of news coming by way of the blogosphere, this should be taken with an iodine pill, but placing a new Fallout game in Beantown—the historical home to Sons of Liberty and the Minutemen—makes sense. It's a popular setting recently with games like Assassin's Creed 3 and The Last of Us. The city has a burgeoning development scene. And it has relevance, thematically.

The series' social commentary doesn’t run very deep, with the extent of it being that a nuclear attack has occurred in a place very much associated with America, such as Washington, D.C. in Fallout 3. As Boston has been emblazoned in the national-security subconscious since the Boston Marathon Bombing, this could be a sign that Bethesda, the game’s purported developer, is interested in giving the series a makeover with contemporary issues. While the game’s retro-future post-World War grandeur contrasts nicely with the visions of ruination, a few things aside from the setting need to change. For example, with the emergence of narrative design, stories told through audio-files, the way Fallout is known for, have become old-fashioned, like ragtime. 

Also, nuclear weapons haven’t been a major threat since the end of the Reagan era. We’ll see if Fallout 4 in Boston can usher in a new kind of apocalypse. 

(img via prsaboston)

While YouTube pulls Let's Plays, Wasteland 2 devs urge you to make them

Wasteland 2, the long-awaited followup to a classic brought back to life by the miracle of Kickstarter, is now out in beta version, and the developer inXile is strongly encouraging those who have it to stream its post-apocalyptic vision of terra cotta sands. This is a sign that times are a’changing. Traditionally—and often it’s still the case—getting your paws on a game before it was released required a vow of secrecy by way of non-disclosure agreements, or else receive a disgruntled automated letter from said game company.

This is because companies like to maintain a tight marketing message over their games, as we’ve seen this week with YouTube pulling a ton of content. But with the emergence of Kickstarter projects and successful games like Minecraft, which spent a viable chunk of its life in beta, we’re seeing game-makers being more upfront about the content of the games that they are making. This trend of transparent development is partly an admission that with the advent of instantaneous networked communication no secret is safe. But it’s also opportunistic, as a devoted mob of gameplay video producers is a great way to generate buzz. 

That’s why we’re seeing the no-holds-barred beta approach more frequently, such as with Valve turning loose early Steam Machines to the world (the game console, not the 18th century invention). Events like these is another example of why the Internet is awesome. 

The Walking Dead's Clem turns the tables on the adolescent male power fantasy

The Walking Dead game has this thing with vulnerable protagonists. The first season was played from the perspective of an ordinary black man—which is great. In season two, available later this month, you are cast in the role of a helpless female grade-schooler with a purple backpack—again, cool. But this is a slippery slope, as Telltale is squeezing every drop of tension from the plot by placing outmatched personages in risky situations. What’s next, a lost and lonely ovum?

The narrative designer Mark Darin revealed that that is exactly what they’re up to in an interview with PC Gamer yesterday. “The core of this whole game, too, is making [Clementine] the opposite of a space Marine. So, she doesn’t have different guns. She doesn’t have special powers. She’s not super-oddly strong for a young girl. We really try to make you feel like you are a young girl in the zombie apocalypse.” While running from cankerous cadavers as a child who is homeless will certainly have me sleeping with the lamp on, this strikes me as a little too obvious. 

One criticism of the first season is that grizzly choices were forced on you too frequently. We’re talking about a game where hacking off the leg of a guy who stepped in a bear trap or letting him be eaten by zombies was a nonchalant decision, relatively speaking. And it sounds like there is plenty more where that came from. “A lot of Clementine’s biggest struggles are going to come from . . . interacting with people, and that space that you have as a young girl dealing with new people that you’re meeting. How do they trust you? Do you trust them? What level of manipulation is going on, and how do you perceive those things?” says Darin. Oof! Internet, get ready to test your mettle.

Is the Kinect (still) the next big thing?

We talk to writer Tim Carmody about what Kinect is doing right and what it still needs to do.

Why YouTube's crackdown on PewDiePie is anti-social

YouTube has been cracking down on Let’s Play videos, sending unfriendly emails to many users who earn money from uploading videos of themselves playing games online. While I’ve never been much for people screaming in falsetto at their computer monitor, it’s sad to see the community come under fire, as the site has been a haven for people who want to share their gaming experiences with the world. 

A point brought up in the PBS Game/Show video on the subject is that, before the Let’s Play movement, gaming was often a solitary incident. It was you sitting alone in front of the screen. And while defeating, say, a tough-as-nails golem in a game like Dark Souls is an incredible feeling, it is your moment and yours alone. That is, unless you’re sharing it over the internet. These recent developments illustrate the uncomfortable tension between games and the business of games, and while copyright law is what it is, hopefully we can find a workaround where our play experiences are freely streaming. 

Playlist 12/11: Peggle 2 rekindles the flame, DataJack hacks inside, and Radial Runner (colorfully) infuriates

Some videogames to warm you up, depending on where you live. 

The Zelda archetype will outlive us all

In games, we face strange questions that don’t tend to come up in other mediums. Here’s one. When did The Legend of Zelda become a genre? 

Hack ’n’ Slash is a rather blatant homage to the series starring a stubby elf in the green tunic who’s saved the world with a bow, boomerang, and hookshot on numerous occasions—but there's a twist. Instead of the normal stockpile of bombs and arrows, your very familiar-looking lad and his fairy-friend will deconstruct the dungeons using computer skills, namely hacks, cracks, and cheating. Thus, Hack ’n’ Slash, get it?

The concept is definitely inventive, but the wrapping paper has been used and reused. This is the latest example of the continuing fetishization of Zelda, a trend which includes titles such as Ittle Dew, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP,  and Oceanhorn. This is a very recent thing, introduced when Okami directly mimicked the format in 2006. Even Nintendo have been guilty of making games that are too Zelda-y, a common criticism of the rut that that series has occassionally fallen into. I find it wistful and peculiar that people want to keep playing the same game forever, and have to wonder what magic the Zelda archetype has over us.

Doki-Doki Universe: the game for no one

What’s that chestnut about trying to make everyone happy?

Novelty Dark Souls Cafe looks to be From Software's darkest and most brutal experience yet

Dark Souls: Prepare to Dine Edition