Mar 18, 2018 | Game ON news

Sunday, March 18, 2018

News:: Which monsters are you hoping to see again in Monster Hunter: World?

It's been one and a half months since Monster Hunter: World released and I think it's safe to say it's been a hit. It's standing side to side with other games as a popular choice for highlights and Twitch streaming. The time of Deviljho's return is nigh as we await his arrival in the New World to thrash around Great Jagras or feud with Bazelgeuse. Now that we have a glimpse of World's post-launch plans starting with Deviljho on March 22 and the Spring festival in April, it's time to bring out all of Dtoid's hunters to ask which monsters you're hoping to see return in World's fully realized, HD landscape.

Which monsters are you hoping to see again in Monster Hunter: World? screenshot

News:: Players have agency, and they're not afraid to use it

This week, a piece written by Alfie Bown, author of The PlayStation Dreamworld, was published in The Guardian. The core argument of the piece was that video games inherently, and particularly recently, project far-right tendencies onto players. Through playing the games, players are effectively given an interactive experience of right-wing ideologies, which acts to indoctrinate them and is feeding the swing towards a lack of compassion in the politics of young people nowadays. I'd advise you to read it in full, because while it is a bold argument that I don't really agree with, it makes for interesting reading.

So, as I've just said, the argument didn't quite gel with me. I have to start by saying that I absolutely believe there is a problem with right-wing, xenophobic, and misogynist tendencies in video games, as there is in many parts of society. Many people are living in a state of fear because the world as it stands is quite a hostile place, which only encourages "every man for himself" thoughts and a disgust for anything labelled as "other." Some people don't even need that existential fear to feel hatred for others. The thing is, I don't feel like it is video games stoking the fires of hostile politics. If anything, I feel like people with those politics project their feelings onto games.

The topic is way too large to cover in a single weekend editorial, but I want to give a few responses to specific points made in Bown's article. Some parts of it seemed to jump the gun a little or be too selective in its examples. The points that stuck out for me as not quite right were the following:

"Games are ideological constructions which push a set of values on the user."
"Right-wing ideologies have been overrepresented and dominant throughout the history of video games."
"Video games put the user to work on an instinctual level, making the gamer feel impulsive agreement with these ideologies."
"The rationale of gaming is to unite pleasurable impulse with political ideology, a process which renders gamers susceptible to discourses that urge people to follow their instincts while also prescribing what those instincts ought to be."
"...games can have a concrete ideological effect on us – and make us desire politically charged things on a personal level."

Right – let's get started on unpacking this.

Players have agency, and they're not afraid to use it screenshot

News:: US Navy launches submarine with gamepad-guided periscope

The Navy's fourth USS Colorado attack submarine has recently gone into service with an Xbox controller onboard. No, not so sailors can play Overwatch: they'll actually be using the gaming device to steer the vehicle's two photonics masts, which you can think of as high-tech replacements for typical periscopes. The masts don't require periscope tubes to work and rely on high-res cameras to capture images to display on a big screen instead. When the military first announced that it's using an Xbox controller on the Colorado, it said the device was replacing the joystick and control panel Lockheed Martin originally designed for the sensors.

Via: CNET

Source: AP

via Engadget RSS Feedhttps://www.engadget.com/2018/03/18/us-navy-submarine-xbox-controller/

News:: Forget characters, what stages do you want to see in Smash Bros. Switch?

Whenever a new Super Smash Bros. is hinted at, gamers and the games media gets whipped into a frenzy over which characters should be included in the next game. We all have opinions on that and who’d we like to see. For my part, Bandana Waddle-Dee and Twintelle are my top two choices, and while I’m sure one character from ARMS is making it in, I doubt it’ll be her. But even if those two do make it in, I don't see them taking the place of Peach and Toon Link/Young Link. They’ve been my go-to characters since Melee, and while Pit and Duck Hunt Dog have joined the ranks of characters I routinely play as, I’d be surprised if any new characters in the forthcoming Smash game will dethrone butt-busting Peach.

New characters are great, but after the exhaustive roster of the last game, I’m more interested in an equally important aspect of the series: the stages. Smash stages are easily the most creative fighting arenas in the entire genre and the Wii U/3DS iterations of the series went all out with more than 50 new stages between the two games. And there were some deep cuts in that collection, from Magicant to PAC-LAND. For the next Smash, I’m hoping one of my favorite series from Nintendo gets more love with a Sin & Punishment stage.

Developed by Treasure, Sin & Punishment is a rail shooter that debuted in Japan on the Nintendo 64. It didn’t make it out to the US until it hit the Wii Virtual Console in 2007. Two years later, we were treated to the best game purchased by the least amount of people with Sin & Punishment Star Successor. Was it ugly? Sure, but with the Wiimote pointer controls, it was also a fucking blast. The series has had some representation in Smash with Saki making an appearance as an assist trophy, but that’s it. I get the series isn’t as popular as most other Nintendo franchises, but with the processing power of the Switch, now is the perfect time to give players stage inspired by the series.

I’m thinking one of those static stages with the action backgrounds, like Lylat Cruise from Brawl. The platforms don’t change all that much, but the background is an ever-moving spectacle of space combat. Sin & Punishment is ripe to follow the same formula. You can take any level from either of the games and they’d make the perfect background for a stage like this. While the fighters do battle in the foreground, Saki and Airan -- or Isa and Kachi depending on which game they pull from -- shoot and slash enemies in the background. It might be super busy, but it would absolutely be awesome to watch and just get lost in. Plus, who knows, its inclusion here may convince Nintendo to give Treasure some money for a Sin & Punishment 3.

Forget characters, what stages do you want to see in Smash Bros. Switch? screenshot

News:: Nintendo cleans house at this year's SXSW Gaming Awards

The South by Southwest festivals and conferences have been going down this past week, once again in Austin, Texas, which includes this year's SXSW Gaming Awards, co-hosted by IGN's Alanah Pearce and Blizzard’s Richard Campbell.

The highlight of the night -- and to be expected at this point -- was definitely the Game of the Year award going to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and, of course, Playerunknown's Battlegrounds going home with a few awards as well. But, my personal highlights include the musical performance going on for five minutes too long and watching the incredible pre-recorded videos from Yoko Taro and friends.

As for the awards themselves, it was broken down into 24 categories this year and down below you'll find the full list of winners:

Nintendo cleans house at this year's SXSW Gaming Awards screenshot

News:: 'Yakuza Kiwami 2' set for Western launch on August 28th

While Western fans of the Yakuza series are still patiently waiting for Yakuza 6: The Song of Life's delayed PS4 launch next month, Sega decided to tease further by announcing that Yakuza Kiwami 2, the remake of Yakuza 2 from 2008, is also heading to the West on August 28th. This is surprising considering that there is a 28-month gap between the Japanese debut of Yakuza 6 and its Western counterpart, whereas for Yakuza Kiwami 2 it's just going to be a nine-month wait -- assuming that there will be no delay, of course.

In other news, following the botched release of the Yakuza 6 demo that let folks play beyond the intended limit, Sega said it will finally be releasing the demo back online "early next week." This should keep fans busy until April 17th, at which point their progress in the demo will be carried over to the full game.

via Engadget RSS Feedhttps://www.engadget.com/2018/03/18/yakuza-kiwami-2-western-release-date/

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