Issue 9 October 19th 2019

Xbox Game Pass Leads To Gamers Playing More Indie Games

The more news I see about Game Pass, the bigger fan I become. From the start, I was a fan of Game Pass for giving small games a platform to be experienced by a large crowd. I also loved the fact that a deal with Game Pass often meant financial security for these game devs. Now, even more games are being discovered through Game Pass. Not only are they being discovered, they're being bought on all different platforms. I can see this being a result of word-of-mouth and influencers playing lesser-known games on stream and in videos. Imagine how many people go out and buy a video game when they see their favorite YouTuber having a great time playing it. I can't wait to join Game Pass, either on Xbox or PC, and see where Xbox is taking this awesome service! Have you ever played a favorite game thanks to a service like Game Pass? Valiant Hearts: The Great War was one of my favorite games of 2014, and I was able to play it because of PlayStation Plus. I would have never picked it up if it wasn't one of the free games of the month, so I'm glad that I had the opportunity to experience such a heart-warming game thanks to that service.

Xbox Game Pass Twitter

Congress Members Write Blizzard and More Updates About The Hong Kong Situation

An update on what I'm calling "The Blizzard Boo Boo," partly because they messed up, partly because it's Halloween season. In all seriousness, it's important to remember that the video game industry doesn't operate inside a vacuum, so decisions like these have international repercussions. It's interesting to see both Democrats and Republicans voice their opinion on this issue. If both parties agree on something, you know you really messed up. The latter half of this article highlights everything else that's happened with the Blizzard situation, like Blizzard cancelling events. I think Blizzard will continue to operate, but it will be interesting to see the total monetary hit that this situation has caused. Again, I would love to hear your opinion on this. Email me or tweet me and we can discuss how dumb Blizzard's decision was, and the role of free speech in gaming.

Blizzard Twitter

Hearthstone Pro Blitzchung Releases Statement About Blizzard Debacle

This deserves its own link because its from a completely different angle than the Congress letter article. After the blunder of Blizzard's decision to punish Blizchung and their sloppy statement, Blitzchung has responded to the situation in a well-worded manner. Blitzchung does a good job of addressing the multiple aspects of this complex situation and even takes some of the blame on himself. He states that he will be more careful to voice his views on his personal platforms next time, which is a mature decision that is respectable in its own right. This still brings up the discussion that the original story brought about: is it right and fair to voice your personal beliefs and views when you're given a platform like this? Blitzchung was awarded the interview, in a sense, when winning the Hearthstone match, so was he also awarded the ability to fight for a cause that he believes in? I'm not sure if there's a right answer to all of this, but it's still a great discussion topic. I would love to hear your opinions!

Image credit: Ng Wai Chung Twitter

Next-Gen From The Perspective of An Indie Dev

We always talk to each other about next-gen and and listen to big publishers and developers about their opinions about it, but what about the small-fry? That's probably not the best term, seeing as indie devs like Devolver Digital have some big hits like Hotline Miami (a game that slaps like no other), but it is interesting to an unadulterated view of next-gen. It's a little disappointing to see that a few indie devs see next-gen as "more of the same," but, I've had fun with the same PS4 for the past six years, so more of the same doesn't bother me too much! What do you think? Were you hoping for a huge innovation in next-gen?

The Calm Before The Storm

This week was light on news. Blizzard's shrapnel is still affecting the industry and we have two articles detailing the aftermath of their terrible decision. The biggest news to me this week was the final preview event for Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, each article I read gives me more hope for this game! I've been on a big Star Wars kick recently and I have a hunch that this Holiday is going to be filled with Star Wars shows and movies. As always, reach out to me through any social platform or respond to this email with any opinions you have about the news this week! A good friend responded to the "Fortnite Being Sued For Being Addicting" article last week, and we had a great discussion about it! So, don't be shy!

Enjoy the read!

Development

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Could Be The New Hope We've Been Looking For

My heart was pounding as I read this article. The mere thought of a Star Wars Jedi game playing anything like God of War got me excited, then Brian Altano said it had Zelda-like dungeons. My heart went into overdrive. To add to the excitement, Gamespot published an article about difficulty in combat, and it sounds super fun. If this is all true and is maintained throughout the game, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order might be the biggest turn around of the year. After E3 gameplay, fans were left slightly disappointed by gameplay that is seen in every third-person adventure game. We expected something mediocre, we haven't had many stellar Star Wars games in the past few years. But then, A New Hope arises. There's stories of behind closed doors gameplay showing a Metroid style gameplay that involves visiting and revisiting multiple planets. Could this be the game that the galaxy needed? Now we have Final preview thoughts, which add to the hope of this game. We have about half a month until it releases, but I'm hoping that this game will blow people away. I'll be neck-deep in Death Stranding when it launches, but I may have to turn my attention to it after DS. What do you think? Are you still skeptical or are you hoping it's a GOTY contender?

p.s. I'm pretty proud of myself for the double Star Wars reference I put in one title.

Image credit: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order EA Page

Classic PC Games Could See Remasters with Ray Tracing

Ray Tracing is the most beautiful graphics innovation that I've seen this generation. Yes, video games still look great on Playstation and Xbox, but Ray Tracing brings a whole new level to appearance. Here's evidence of the use of ray tracing in Metro Exodus' new DLC. This really excites me because it could mean a future of classic PC game remakes making their way to PS4/Xbox Scarlett with that incredible ray tracing look. If they don't, I'll have to "ooh and ah" from the sidelines because my PC is not nearly good enough to handle that kind of stuff. Fingers crossed for continuing the break down the walls between platforms! What PC game would you love to see remastered? I would love to see an official Half-Life remake with ray-tracing. How incredible would that be?

Image credit: Minecraft With RTX NVIDIA YouTube Video

Reviews

Why Call of Duty: Mobile Caught My Attention

I have never been a big mobile game player. I would rather have the security of a charged battery rather than a few minutes of a video game. Now with the Switch, I have even less reason to play mobile games. But Call of Duty: Mobile has caught my attention. Out of sheer boredom one evening (in which I did not have my Switch), I downloaded COD Mobile to try it out. Within the first tutorial area, I was having a blast. Fast forward to now, I'm still having a good time. It's great to play for 5-10 minutes when you need a break from working on something, and it's totally free. There's no restriction to playing, and the only ads are those trying to sell you on the "Battle Pass" of the game which are easily ignorable. I plan to keep this game around for the foreseeable future and I'm happy that I have the opportunity to scratch my FPS itch whenever it arises. If you haven't give this a try! If you end up enjoying it, feel free to add me @MrMccurry!

Community

EA Launches No Room For Racism Jerseys and Stadiums In Response To Racism in FIFA

Of all the sports, I would have never thought that soccer would have been the one that had a racism issue. EA made a good call with implementing the "No Room For Racism" jerseys and stadium themes. I'm glad that this newsletter has allowed me to know more about what's going on around the world, and I hope it does the same for you. Let me know if it does or what I can do to help us know more about what's going on internationally!

Image credit: EA SPORTS FIFA Twitter

Before You Go

Big Releases Next Week!

Expect to see a lot of reviews next week! All on October 25th, we'll have MediEvil, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Outer Worlds in our hands! Well, maybe not literally because ya boi is broke. But, I'll be playing vicariously through people who have the game! I can't wait to see if Outer Worlds is the next open-world game for me of if it's just a Fallout reskin. Thank you for checking out the newsletter, I'm so grateful that I get to do this. Thank you if you've been following for a while or if this is the first one you've seen!

Thanks for stopping by, I'll see you next week!