Issue 19

Dreamcast 20th anniversary interview extravaganza | From Issue 4

The Dreamcast is one of those products from the late 90s that you can look back on and think, "what were they on?" From the ads for the system to games like Seaman, the Dreamcast will forever be remembered as a weird system.

Image credit: Gamasutra

Xbox Game Pass users are playing 40% more games | From Issue 9

I know I always sing the praises of the Switch, but Game Pass is a close second for my favorite gaming product to come out of the past few years. Not only do you get a ton of games for a low price, you're also being exposed to more games made by indie companies. This companies are also getting a good cut from Xbox so they're able to continue to make more games. I love it! Cheers to Game Pass for allowing us to broaden our horizons.

Image credit: Xbox

Just For Laughs

Meet Sacramento Stu, the unluckiest cowboy in Red Dead Online | From Issue 12

This is essentially one of those videos of people failing very badly at a task, but in text format with complementary GIFs. Try not to laugh too hard at this one.

Image credit: This article!

Fallout First - If Bethesda was Honest | From Issue 10

While this was technically a link inside the body of the link to the actual announcement of Fallout First, it really deserves its own link. This is the parody of Fallout 76's terrible subscription service. Bethesda was dumb enough to not buy this domain before announcing Fallout First, so a hilarious fan grabbed it. The whole website is worth a read, and shoutout to them for linking a donation to Extra-Life.

While we're talking about Fallout, here's two more articles that I really enjoyed: Fallout 76 paid subscribers have formed a peasant-trashing aristocracy and Looking Back At Fallout Over The Past Ten Years

Image credit: The website!

A Look Back At My Favorite Load Save Links!

To end 2019, I want to take a look back at my favorite articles that I've linked in Load Save. To be fair, this barely scratches the surface of articles from the whole year because Load Save began in late August. But, I still had a good amount of articles to choose from.

I also want to thank you for reading Load Save. Whether you just discovered this newsletter or you've been reading for a while, thank you for checking it out. I'm so happy I can make this newsletter every week and have a platform to share my thoughts. I'm looking forward to a great 2020 and making Load Save better than ever. I hope you have a great New Year!

Thank you and enjoy the read!

Development

Death Stranding's Soundtrack Includes Fans, Pipes, and Hitting Pianos With Sledgehammers | From Issue 13

I love talking about music in video games and I'm always surprised at how powerful it can be. I just found the Legend of the Dragoon OST on Spotify, and I'm shocked that I can remember so much about that game solely based off of the music. Death Stranding is one game that has strong, foreboding music that plays a huge part in building the world. An inside look at the creation of this music was a treat, so give it a read if you didn't the first time around!

Image credit: PlayStation

Reviews

Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey review | From Issue 2

This is one of my favorite articles because of the writing. I don't care about the game itself, I already knew it was going to be bad, but Christopher Livingston's writing made me laugh so hard that I just had to include this in my favorite from 2019. Even if you don't want to read through the whole article, read the first two paragraphs. If that doesn't make you laugh, then we have very different comedy interests. Thank you, Christopher, for constantly making me laugh while reading your articles.

Image credit: Panache Digital Games Twitter

Community

Fortnite has become much more than a battle royale game | From Issue 1

This article is from the first issue of Load Save and it's still one of my favorites. This shows that gaming is a huge force for good, and that's one of the reasons why I do Load Save. I love to share the awesome news of what video games are doing to help communities and Epic continues to do so with Fortnite. No matter what you think about the game, you have to respect it for continuing to provide content and avenues for its players to get paid.

Academic research finds no evidence of gaming as a clinical disorder | From Issue 10

This article should be known by every gamer or anyone who thinks gaming is a disease. Thanks to people smarter than me, research has found no evidence of gaming being a clinical disorder. So next time someone in your family tries to argue that gaming is a disorder, just show them this article. You can thank me later.

Microsoft using Xbox Adaptive Controller to rehabilitate US veterans | From Issue 13

We should always celebrate when video games can help society. Microsoft's Xbox Adaptive Controller was built with that intention in mind and I highlighted a few of them in the Load Save's of the past. This one was by far my favorite. I can't wait to see more stories like this in 2020 and how Xbox will continue to integrate adaptivity into Xbox Series X.

Image credit: Xbox

Before You Go

Saying Hello To A New Decade

Just like that, 2019 is over. 2019 was a great year for gaming and for me personally. This was the year that I finally got to do what I've always wanted to do: create content about video games. I've been able to do it weekly through Load Save and I'm starting to dip my toes into streaming. Thank you again for reading Load Save, it's such an incredible feeling to know that people are interested in what I have to say. 2020 is going to be a great year for Load Save and gaming! It's crazy to think that in a year from now we'll have our hands on the next generation. I can't wait to talk about it with you on Load Save.

Thank you and have a Happy New Year! I'll see you next time