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January 26, 2015

Sunday Almanac: Beta than Ever Edition

From "Disobedient Objects", a collection of art from protests and demonstrations currently showing at the V&A.

From “Disobedient Objects”, a collection of art from protests and demonstrations currently showing at the V&A in London.

January is always a slow month for new game releases and this year follows suit. There’s been a few eyebrow raisers. The much-buzzed-about Hero Emblems is, like a levitating Gilbert Gottfried, something I can admire without wanting to spend a lot of time with. Clancy has given the highest possible recommendation to Hadean Lands, but it’s the sort of thing you have to be in a very particular mood for.

But there are a hell of a lot of good games just over the next hill. I’ve been knuckle-down in some projects I can’t tell you about just yet (wait until I do) but I’ve found the time to mess around with some very promising pre-release betas for games that are nearing launch.

  • The Curious Expedition is a short-session adventure game that plays a bit like a Victorian Strange Adventures in Infinite Space and it’s conceptually perfect for tablet gaming.
  • I’ve played the iPad beta of Ultimate General Gettysburg and it’s very impressive so far — necessarily nowhere near as pretty as its PC counterpart but it’s a sharp wargame that anyone with fond memories of Sid Meier’s Gettysburg will adore.
  • And over the weekend I got in a little time with the recently-revealed Title Challenge, which is exactly as advertised: a low-complexity football management sim does for the beautiful game what Motorsport Manager did for auto racing.

So don’t fret, people. There’s a lot of worthwhile stuff coming — I’m not even getting into some of the other games I’ve seen because it’s movie night here high atop Mount Hexmap and I think I’ve almost got my lady wife convinced about watching the Director’s Cut of Das Boot. Almost.

Sunday links, anyone?

  • Sign of the times: meth-smuggling drones. Could have milked a good Breaking Bad arc out of these.
  • Before Steve Hogarty tells you his impressions of PC puzzler Infinifactory, he needs to make some disclosures. Deliriously funny.
  • “The Sun is a star. Is the Moon really a planet?” QVC presenters struggle mightily with some cosmological questions. (via Jon Ingold)
  • The future of language: by 2115, 90% of the languages spoken today will be dead.
  • Apple hardware rumour du jour: out-sized iPad “Pro” that includes a stylus.
  • Here’s a handy meditation aid: 100 minutes of rolling seas, shot from the bow of a container ship.

post from sitemap

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