Some teams put a little more effort into these than others lol (looking at you Polyphony). Housemarque’s is delightfully twisted in context. ZA/UM’s is really cool but spoiled by…that whole thing. My favorite just on pure aesthetics might be Sucker Punch.

An early proposal for The Last of Us 2.

Fair enough. I love the 80s vibe otherwise, but the brands have the awkward blocking and lingering-too-long-shot quality of bad product placement. Maybe in the final product it will make more sense if it’s supposed to be thematic and not just paid sponsorship.

Really impressed with how distinct a direction they went for this, it looks really promising.

I’m not tapped into the conversation over the show last night but I assume I’m not the only one who thinks the advertisements in this 4-minute video were fucking horrendous though.

“We’ve never been the party that was about checking boxes or identity politics, but the difference is we have women that are qualified to be chairs, and I don’t know why there wasn’t one who was able to become a chairperson of a committee," she added.

They’ve created this cartoonish simulacrum of diversity that they treat like some rabid, overzealous movement so they can ignore it.

Nicole, this thing you’re disappointed about is what that thing you dismiss as “identity politics” is actually all about, you weiner.

Best month I can remember in a long time.

• Forspoken: never planned on paying for it but I’m excited to play it for free.

• Sonic Frontiers: I actually already own this on Switch but we’ve been saving it to give as a Xmas present. Solid addition to the catalog though.

• F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch: never heard of it but I’ve been devouring metroidvanias this year, and apparently this scored well so I’m pumped.

• A Space for the Unbound: looks great, love the art style.

• PHOGS & Biped: two coop puzzle games that sound great to play with the family.

Agreed, and I’m really impressed by how much more appears to have been built on it for the sequel.

I never played them myself and I’m doubtful I have it in me to enjoy ps1-era gameplay at this point, but I’ll try to keep an open mind. I’ve always liked the idea of the series at least.

Absently curious who this is for. I haven’t felt like Legacy of Kain’s relevance persisted long past the PS2 era (where it was already waning) and it’s not exactly like Crystal Dynamics’ reputation is gleaming right now.

Been looking forward to this myself. There’s a demo on the PS Store that I had forgotten failed to download from the app when I tried a bit back. Gonna get that going now.

It also appears to be on sale with PS plus for those who are ready to go all in.

RPS’s quote on the game’s Wikipedia: “A fantastic FPS ruined by a rubbish MMO”, referencing loot and crafting systems.

Red flag for me.

I’m new to this too, but the slide deck they have posted seems a good starting place.

The NGI is an initiative of the European Commission to fund “researchers, developers, startups, and SMEs” who are aligned with the “aim to shape the development and evolution of the Internet” according to the principles of:

• protecting personal data

• ensuring privacy and security

• combating disinformation

• guaranteeing access and freedom of choice

• respecting fundamental rights

• enforcing ethics and sustainability by design.

I’m a little less clear on what the 16 projects are (which are listed on slides 6 and 7), but I gather they might be specific objectives, defined by the NGI, within which their funding is categorized, e.g., if you’re doing research on democratizing search capabilities, that research would serve the NGI’s “Search” project and would qualify for funding.

I’m making a lot of assumptions but I’m reasonably confident in them.

Underrated reason to avoid addiction: if your sibling gets famous everyone will get to see inside your closet.

Sorry, I meant that, having not played the game, I’m not sure how much observations like Curly’s inability to see the details are something the game tells you directly and how much is your interpretation. I guess I mostly meant that your framing of the story is really cool whether you’re just repeating the story beats as they’re given or mixing in a lot of your own analysis.

Thanks for writing this up, never heard of the game and this was really interesting. I’m not sure how much of your write-up is explicitly textual, but the analysis is really cool.

I know the yard sign thing is dorky but I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss it. Feels to me like a helpful way to communicate to your neighborhood and community, especially to marginalized members, that there are people who care and are willing to help. That anyone who is feeling isolated is not alone, especially where there are homes flying fascist flags as there are in my neighborhood.

I only beat Animal Well’s “first layer”, but I was pretty addicted for that period. It’s really, really clever and satisfying.

Is that a Trump “Tim Apple” reference? I wouldn’t have even noticed if you hadn’t called it out.

OSS 117

A goofy, Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker-adjacent spy spoof from France. Stunningly, the same director and male and female leads wouldater collaborate on 2011’s Oscar winning The Artist.

Demo still doesn’t actually seem to be on the store yet, if anyone else was looking.

Update: Hadn’t been able to find it in the PS App but it is downloadable from the store directly on the playstation.