Underneath my yellow skin

Tag Archives: Eurogamer

Steam Next Fest aagain, and other (grim) industry news

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I want to talk more about the Steam Next Fest because I played a demo that actually didn’t completely frustrate the fuck out of me (yes, I know that’s damning with faint praise, but I’m just happy that I could actually play it and that I enjoyed it more than it frustrated me).

Before I get to that, though, there was another layoff in the industry, and it’s one that hurt personally. Briefly, IGN bought Eurogamer in May, 2024. Once they did, the changes were immediate and obvious. Obviously, I don’t know anything about what happened in the background, but from a fan’s perspective, it really sucked.

Now, let me back up a bit more than that. I only cared about the video side of Eurogamer. I started watching when it was Johnny Chiodini, Aoife Wilson, Ian Higton, and Chris Bratt. I hung through it when Chris Bratt left. They added another member for a bit, but she did not work out. Then Then Johnny left. Did they leave while the other member was there? I’m not sure. Anyway, Zoe Delahunty-Light joined the team. I’m not going to lie. I struggled with her at first, but then I came to appreciate what she brought to the team. It was Aoife, Ian, and Zoe for quite a while, and it was good. Then, Aoife left to work for Larian Studios. Ian and Zoe held it down while bringing in occasional freelancer. One of them was Jim Trinca, and he eventually became the third fulltime member. This was in October of 2024 (so Google tells me). I stopped watching for the most part once Aoife left, but I always wanted them to do well.

Side note: Huh. Apparently, there was a fourth person added later–Alix. I can’t find out who that is in my light research, so I’m just going to leave it at that.

Fast-forward to two days ago. IGN announced that they had cut the whole Eurogamer video team. Even though I hadn’t watched them in quite some time, and the industry is littered with layoffs left and right, it still hit hard. I don’t know if it’s because I’m nostalgic for the days I used to watch them on the regular or what, but it really bothered me.

I mean, obviously, it’s terrible that they lost their jobs. I don’t want to undercut that point. It’s awful, and I really feel for them. Especially Ian as he’s been there from the start. It’s a grim time in the games industry, and I honestly don’t know how anyone does it. I understand why anyone who is a games journalist would find a different job.

Back to the Steam Next Fest. It seems almost hollow talking about it in light of the news I previously mentioned, but there’s no way to not make it awkward.

I finally played a demo of a game that I then put on my wishlist. Hm. I was going to say what it was, but I’m not sure I’m going to do that. Why? Because I don’t like to be negative about a game before I’ve even played it. Ok, I have done that in the past, but that’s the rule I made up for myself right now. I’ll review it when/if I play the actual game.


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I don’t think I actually like video games

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I came to a realization a few weeks ago that I may not actually like video games. Hear me out. I’ve been playing ‘hardcore’ games for roughly seven years. The first one was Torchlight, which I absolutely loved. I loved the protagonist who looked Asian if you squinted. I really loved that she came back as a voiced NPC in the sequel, and her voice was low and husky like mine. I loved that I could have a pet whom I could name and feed fish. The game was very addictive, and I immediately had the ‘just one more level’ feeling about it.

Diablo III was right after that, and I really dug that as well. Then the Borderlands, original and sequel, which I played for hundreds of hours. Then, I played Dark Souls, and everything changed. I could no longer play hack ‘n slashes afterwards because the combat was empty and unsatisfying. Yes, I played Skyrim afterwards and enjoyed it*, but I was a caster (of course), so I didn’t have to do much of the melee combat.

In all this time, I played dozens of games that I didn’t like. At all. Some that I really wanted to like and should have been up my alley, such as Alan Wake, and others that I just didn’t like at all. Like Arkham whatever. I’m not sure which game, but I hated the combat. I gave it a fair shake–a few hours–but I just didn’t click with it at all. Others, I liked, but there was one aspect that I just couldn’t stand that made me fall off it, such as Sleeping Dogs, which I call Sleepy Dawgs for reasons that should be obvious. I really liked it, not in a small part because of the badass Asian male protagonist, but the driving suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. I can’t emphasize that enough. I didn’t love the combat as it’s similar to the Batman combat, but I could hack that. It was the driving that I haaaaaaaaaaated. I distinctly remember the incident that made me quit. I had to follow a wedding cake truck (long boring story) to get the cake back. After failing it twice, I was DONE. When I went back to try it again much later, I accidentally erased my saved game because United Front Games, the devs, made the inexplicable decision to put New Game at the top of the queue rather than Load Game like everyone else, and there are no saved files in the game–at least when I played. That was it for me. No way I was playing the game again, and I have not.


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Let’s talk about Life is Strange tangentially

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Life is Strange is a game that should be up my alley. It’s an immersive story about a disaffected young woman named Max Caulfield who is at a private school for photography. I don’t know if that’s the official explanation, but that’s what I garnered. By the way, I spent the first ten minutes or so of the game thinking that Max was named after the protagonist of Catcher in the Rye until I remembered his name was Holden.

Anyway, it’s a critically-acclaimed indie game by Dontnod Entertainment. Well, the studio is indie, but it was published by Microsoft. And apparently Squeeeenix (Square Enix) was involved at some point. It was released in episodes, and I waited until it came out in one game to buy it because, sale, and I don’t like to buy things episodically. What if they fold before the final episode? I don’t want that to happen to me as I have a hard enough time with endings.

The game, as I said, is about Max Caulfield, and she’s in a small town in Oregon after having been away for several years. When we join our young heroine, she is in a photography class. The teacher is someone who was a big photographer in the past, and he’s the reason Max wanted to go to the school. He irritated me from the start, but I tried to suspend my irritation and give him the benefit of the doubt. He continued to irritate me because he reminded me of countless hipster white dudes with a modicum of talent who thought they were way better than they actually were.

Side note: I have very strong reactions to things, and I rarely change from my immediate impression. Especially if the immediate reaction is negative. I have liked things and gone off them, but if I hate something from the start, it’s very difficult to change my mind. If I’m not crazy about something, but there’s a spark there, then I might change my mind over time.

For example, during their 7-hour Dark Souls livestream, Rory from RKG mentioned Aoife Wilson and Johnny Chiodini from Eurogamer and that they were also doing a Dark Souls playthrough. DS III, I believe. He said they were lovely (and friends of RKG) and if you liked Dark Souls playthroughs, you should check them out. Someone said they came to RKG after hearing them mentioned by Johnny and Aoife. I just reached that episode, and it’s hilarious that they cite one of my favorite early-on moments from the current season of DS II. After the creation of Mama Finchy, Gav wants to see what she looks like, so Rory has her in her bra and bloomers from the back. Then he starts humming the beginning of Man! I Feel Like a Woman by Shania Twain, turns Mama Finchy to face the camera, and Gav and Rory shout, “Let’s go, girls!” I laughed out loud at that.


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