Time for humanity to get Excited again.
If you don’t remember Excitebots: Trick Racing on Wii, you’re not alone; very few picked up this wacky racer, dooming any chances of an Australian release (sorry, mates). After finally giving it a second life on the Wii U’s eshop late last year, Nintendo has decided to bring the series to Switch in a hot new direction.
F**k 2016.
It’s the last Nerds Without Pants of the year, and in one last screw you from 2016, we’re a man down. Worry not, because we recruited Mike Fallek from the Go to Hell Podcast to chime in on the state of the gaming generation for 2016. So let’s jump right in!
It's time to shake things up a bit!
I enjoy watching E3 every year and trying to see the “theme” of each show. From second screen experiences to asynchronous multiplayer, there is always something that ties everything together. For E3 2016 that theme seemed to be that of change. While there may not have been a lot of surprises at this show thanks to a lot of companies pulling out and a record number of leaks, we did see a lot of high profile projects that looked, well, different. So let’s take a look at some of those well-worn properties looking to impress us by shaking things up.
Also, a lot of new hardware announcements.
I think it’s safe to say that the unveiling of the Xbox One a few years ago was one of the most tone-deaf, poorly received debuts of a video game console since, well, Sony commented that people would get a second job to afford their $599 PlayStation 3 all those years ago. Since then, Microsoft has been doing everything in its power to right those wrongs and bring their console up to the user base that the PS4 currently enjoys. This E3 continues that trend and, while there were very few surprises, the Microsoft press conference put the emphasis squarely on exclusive games and community.
Numinous Games presents us with a gut-wrenching experience that elevates the interactive medium.
"That Dragon, Cancer," is a game about hope -- its presence, and its absence. While forged in the anticipation of triumph, the end result is a meditation on failure and loss that is pretty hard to take, and without a doubt breaks new ground for the interactive medium. Created by Brian Green and his company, Numinous Games ("numinous" means "having a strong religious or spiritual quality"), this "game" (we have no other word for it that's adequate) is both gut-wrenching and an incredibly simple exploration of a young boy's four year battle with cancer. But while it takes on loss in a new way, it is also a commentary on games in general that is both surprising and profound. It is not without flaws, but the all-encompassing heart of it more than compensates for its failures.
