A dull Games Fest gives indies room to shine

#18: A day for the devs

So the latest edition of Summer Geoff Fest... sorry, Game Fest aired last night and was the usual mix of trailers, reveals, industry back-patting and endorsements. Now, I know Geoff Keighley has his critics, but I do at least think his desire to celebrate video games for a couple of weeks in June every year is a genuine one, despite the fact that - a couple of big reveals over the years aside - Game Fest has never come close to matching E3 at its best. There was a good amount of actual gameplay in this one for a change, which was nice. But it was all very grim. Definitely one for the dark, shiny, sci-fi corridor crowd.

Indeed, watching Summer Game Fest with someone who doesn’t play video games did little to back up my constant claims that the medium is home to clever, unique, inventive, and often poignant works of art. Of course, not every game has to be Journey, but this was very much a case of shooty-shooty stabby-stabby with little in between to cleanse the palette.

The show did end with the long-rumoured and leaked-just-hours-before Last of Us Remake. Very shooty-shooty stabby-stabby itself I know, but also one of the greatest narrative experiences of modern times. The sequel wasn't quite as good in my opinion (although it's still a phenomenal game), but it did boast better visuals, combat and enemy encounters. All of which have been rolled back into this remake. It’ll be fascinating to see how much this (hopefully) improves an already near-perfect game.

Sadly, Game Fest was a pretty drab games showcase overall. Thankfully then, it was followed by something a little bit special.

Day of the Devs aired immediately after and proved just how wildly inventive and brilliantly, well, brilliant games can be. It was a relentless barrage of quality indie games and clips of the the devs making them that surely warmed the hearts of even the most jaded of gamers.

It showed that you don’t need WORLD PREMIERS and name-drops to make a good showcase. Just a consistent stream of interesting, excellent games. As shiny and impressive as those rain-soaked Modern Warfare oil rigs were, they didn’t raise anywhere near the kind of smile that show-opener Time Flies did. A game made by just a couple of people that looks as if it would probably run on a Game Boy. The same goes for the majority of the 15 games that followed. It was a lovely showcase presented by Double Fine's Tim Schafer that hopefully brought a bit of joy to everybody who had stuck around long enough to see it.

So, if there was one good thing to come out of a dull Game Fest, it was that the Indies which followed were allowed to shine all the brighter, and made the 10th anniversary of the Day of the Devs a truly brilliant day for the devs.

A warm welcome to the new subscribers this week, and thanks those who have supported The Week in Games with a membership, by sharing it online, or just by reading this right now.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

Take care everybody!

NEWS

Heads-up: PlayStation 5 owners have until Tuesday 14th June to grab a free copy of Grand Theft Auto Online from the PlayStation Store.

The brilliant Read Only Memory has announced its latest book Videogame Atlas "A beautiful and information-rich graphical journey through twelve modern videogame environments." It isn't cheap, but looks predictably lovely.

You can pre-order here for shipping in November.

NEW RELEASES:

Another slow couple of weeks when it comes to releases of note, unfortunately. We did get a new Mario Strikers though, which is currenlty sitting on a pretty decent 75 Metacritic score.

Hopefully once t game reveal events are out of the way next week we'll start to see things picking up again a little.

(PS4, PS5, Xbox) – June 7

(Switch) – June 8

(PC) – June 9

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC) – June 9

(Switch) – June 10

(Switch) – June 10

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC) – June 10

UPCOMING RELEASES:

(PS4, PS5, Xbox, Switch, PC) – June 16

(PC) – June 16

GAME OF THE WEEK

A randomly selected game each week! Any and all games are eligible for selection regardless of age, platform, popularity, or otherwise.

This week, the honour goes to…

ISS: Pro Evolution (1999)

Arguably the birth-place of the modern football game as we know it, the more realistic ‘Pro Evo’ spin-off of International Superstar Soccer was so good it ended up eclipsing and ultimately killing the main series.

During the PlayStation 2 era Pro Evo dethroned even the mighty FIFA in both critical consensus and sales, causing EA to drastically rebuild its series into what it is today.

RECOMMENDED READS

Geoffrey Bunting - GamesIndustryBiz

Now converted into a hotel, we take a look at the former headquarters where the Mario maker transformed into the company we know today.

Lewis Packwood - The Guardian

No one believed he could make a light gun that worked on modern TVs. But Andrew Sinden persevered with his dream to revive a dying game genre.

Patrick Klepek - Vice

How a plucky 14-year-old nerd convinced his parents to meet a bunch of online strangers in Atlanta - and it changed everything.

CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGNS

The VM2

Chris Diaoglou - campaign not yet launched

The VM2 is a from-scratch remake of the original Dreamcast VMU with new electronics and upgraded functionality. Register your interest now!

Perfect Organism: An Alien: Isolation Companion

By Andy Kelly / Unbound

Calling all Alien superfans! This is the ultimate unofficial guide to Alien: Isolation, considered to be part of the Alien franchise canon

The Legend of Final Fantasy X

By Third Editions - Campaign ends June 13th

Third Editions is raising funds for The Legend of Final Fantasy X! A new Third Editions book: behind the scenes, lore and analysis of Final Fantasy X.

50 Years of Text Games

By Aaron A Reed - Campaign ends July 7th

50 Years of Text Games: From Oregon Trail to A.I. Dungeon! A definitive book about the first half-century of interactive fiction.

INBOX

Last week's main topic was Sony's surprisingly decent State of Play event, a show that doesn't usually contain too many big-hitters. Thanks to everybody who commented!

Dan on Twitter enjoyed the show. "FFXVI is a system seller, but despite some questions, Street Fighter 6 has me most excited. A great way to start reveal-o-season."

Jake agreed. "I thought it was a solid show! Pumped about Tunic, Stray, RE4, and FFXVI!"

Ben, who has mentioned his backlog struggles a few times around these parts already, still has one thing on his mind. "My general state of play right now is that I'm drowning in a backlog."

If you have any thoughts about this newsletter or gaming in general then please reply to this email directly, write to [email protected], or catch me on Twitter!

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...and that's it for this week!

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