Sundays are for doing things you haven't done in a long time, like a long stretch after years trapped in a languorous hunch.
Former Edge designer Andrew Hind has launched On, a premium print magazine in which he and editor-in-chief Nathan Brown invite writers to produce their dream article.
Weekends are for walks in the woods, washing your whites, wolfing down waffles, and other domestic pursuits that start with "w" - please, continue the list. Alternatively, play some video games. I will not insist that you alliterate your video game picks, but I won't tell you not to, either. Here's what the Treehouse are up to.
Windblown looks rad. It's an action-roguelite for 1-3 players in which you dash-and-slash in rapid combat on floating islands, and I am extremely interested in feeling its game-feel for myself. Good news! I can get my game-feelers on it now because it's out in Early Access today.
If you watch its launch trailer below out of context however, you might be fooled into thinking it's actually the emo second half of an Isekai anime series.
A huge scary bearded man has just kicked down my door. His face and shoulders are doused in tactical Dorito dust. His eyes are heavily redacted. He's got assault rifles and comparison screenshots poking out of his ribcage, which are making an absolute mess of the hallway plaster. He says he is Call Of Duty Man, and he is here to let me know about Black Ops 6's day one patch. The new Activision FPS is out tomorrow 25th October, I gather. Call Of Duty Man speaks only in three-syllable bursts and rolling bombardments, but I think if I listen carefully I can make out the highlights. Here's what that patch involves, in nickel-plated bulletpoint form.
In order to make Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 enjoyable, Saber Interactive had to make the Space Marines less like Space Marines. That's to say, less like "semi-lobotomized, hypnotically indoctrinated slave-soldiers in thrall to an uncaring (and possibly non-existent) god", in the words of Rick Priestley, primary writer for the original Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader rulebooks back in the 1980s.
Over the past week or so, you may have caught wind of Denuvo - the makers of anti-cheat and anti-piracy software - embarking on a PR campaign of sorts, intended to combat negative public perception of their software. In case you're unfamiliar, Denuvo's wares have become infamous for allegedly sabotaging the performance of all sorts of video games, from Resident Evil: Village to Tekken 7, though accounts of the severity vary, and there is an on-going shortage of independently supplied raw data. >
Denuvo's attempts to clear the air include opening a Discord, which they say “ is a key step in fostering closer relationships with game developers, publishers, and players, offering a dynamic, real-time platform for meaningful interaction”. On Monday, Denuvo’s media team reached out to me to offer an interview with Denuvo’s product manager, Andreas Ullmann. Here’s that interview, edited for brevity. >
RPS: In a recent public statement you said “we will stop letting every claim about our product go unanswered". What claims are you referring to?
Andreas Ullmann: It's basically really about the stuff that's posted by the community. So you just need to check out Steam forums, for example. Very toxic, very hostile environment. If a game announces to use any of our products, if you check out the Steam forums, all the claims are popping in. SSDs are destroyed by our solution. The usual performance topics, and we simply don't want to leave the floor to these people who are posting all things about us anymore. We want to also be there for a person who has not heard about us before. We also want to share our view, our opinion on these topics, and also act as a trusted source of information.
Not many people hit the refund button on Sonar Shock, the indie immersive sim that’s rated Very Positive on Steam. But those that do tend to complain they couldn’t get the hang of the controls. You can understand why. Try to strafe left to dodge an attack from a blubber monster, and you’ll instead rotate on the spot. Attempt to turn the camera with a flick of the mouse, and you’ll discover that your view remains fixed in place - the cursor moving across the screen as if searching for an icon on your desktop.
"The controls are actually one of the biggest points that make people bounce off the game," developer Raphael Bossniak admits.
And yet they’re also a unique selling point. Where last year’s extraordinary System Shock remake embraced the interface and keyboard conventions of modern gaming, Sonar Shock leans into the experimentation of pre-Quake control schemes - long before WASD and mouselook became standardised for the sake of ease and sanity.
No cool industry person this week, I’m afraid, but I do have a consolation prize for you. A comment from valued RPS community member #1694 a few weeks back reminded me that I once spent a long time tracking down good SF/Fantasy/Horror short story magazines. Partly for pitching purposes, and partly because I was just really excited such things still existed.
Sundays are for reconnecting with old friends, reminiscing about good times, and eventually going to bed feeling an unbelievable sense of calm, contentment, and a newly invigorated sense of self. Lol nah I’m going to play Mechabellum and eat gnocchi from a packet. Asda’s vegan pumpkin pesto is very good though. Here’s some writing I personally found interesting about games (and game related things!)
This weekend marks the last chance to stuff your hands into the giant plastic tub of loose Lego that is Steam Next Fest, until the next one in like February or something. We’ve been smushing all our demo recommendations up against those of Eurogamer and VG247 in the Wishlisted hub, so there’s no shortage of us-approved tasters to catch up with.
As for what we’re playing this weekend, well...