Happy Friday; you've got me, Riley, in your inbox again, bringing you all the goings-on from this week in Aftermath. If you'd like to be part of those goings-on, consider becoming a subscriber. On to the blogs! | The 'Sustainable' Studio That's Risen From Volition's Ashes
Nathan talks to the founders of Shapeshifter Games, who are building something new in the aftermath (hey!) of Embracer Group.
| | You Can Just See All The Baseball Players' Dicks Now
Gita catches you up on the awkward scandal rocking Major League Baseball's new uniforms.
| | PlayStation's London Studio, Creators Of The Revolutionary SingStar, Deserved Better Than This
Luke revisits the meteoric rise of karaoke game SingStar, whose studio was shuttered by PlayStation this week.
| | |  |  |  |  | Note To Self: Pay Attention To The Tutorials
I have a problem, one that's surfaced this week in Balatro and Cobalt Core and Pacific Drive: I boot up a new game I'm excited to play, and I'm so eager to play it that I blast through the tutorial sections. Then, of course, I'm confused by something that was very clearly explained to me but which I refused to pay attention to, and I get indignant and frustrated.
This is 100% a me problem, and I feel really bad about it! I know that developers work very hard on their tutorials, which are necessary to teach people how to play their games. Nobody loves them, and they're hard to get right, but they are a necessary part of a video game and very worthy of my time and attention. And yet! I feel the same about games that start with cutscenes: I'm so impatient to play, to actually experience the game for myself, that I set myself up for heartache down the line. Every time I start a new game I tell myself to take a deep breath and pay attention, but sooner or later my impetuousness gets the better of me and I think, "I'm sure I'll just figure this out."
I never just figure it out! It's been a real problem for me in the above-mentioned card games, where I'll find myself flummoxed by some system or surprised by what a card does because somehow, despite having two Master's degrees that both involved a lot of reading and loving to read in my daily life, I am incapable of taking a moment to read the text so thoughtfully crafted to prevent me from having the problem I stumble my way into by refusing to read. The game will still be there in the minute it will take me to read this text, but I just... don't! Bless games like Pacific Drive that keep it all in some compendium you can revisit, surely put there for jerks like me.
If you're a game developer who makes tutorials and are reading this: I'm sorry, and I swear I'm trying to do better. If you're someone who has mastered the art of paying attention to the important facts a video game is trying to teach you so you can actually enjoy it, please let me know how you did it. | Here's some cool stuff I saw on the internet this week:
| Aftermath has two podcasts: Aftermath Hours, where we discuss the week's biggest gaming news, and 52 Pickup, where Gita Jackson and Alex Jaffe take you through the world of the greatest DC Comics series you've never heard of. Check them out on Spotify, Apple, or wherever you get your podcasts. | And there you have it! Enjoy the weekend! | | | | |
