Tag: Game Awards

The director of Astro Bot says what we all think: we need more small games

Astro Bot has been recognized again, this time highlighting the vision of its director, Nicolas Doucet, about the video game industry. After winning the Game of the Year award at last year’s Game Awards, Doucet spoke during a panel at the Game Developers Conference that the goal in developing Astro Bot was to create a game that could be completed in a reasonable amount of time. According to him, “from the beginning we had the mindset that it’s okay to make a compact game… it’s okay to make a small game.” We have too many games pending to not want to enjoy more experiences […]

Astro Bot has been recognized once again, this time highlighting the vision of its director, Nicolas Doucet, regarding the video game industry. After winning the Game of the Year award at last year’s Game Awards, Doucet spoke during a panel at the Game Developers Conference that the goal in developing Astro Bot was to create a game that could be completed in a reasonable amount of time. According to him, “from the beginning we had the mindset that it’s okay to make a compact game… it’s okay to make a small game.”

We have too many pending games to not want to enjoy shorter experiences

This approach responds to the current reality of many players who face an overwhelming list of pending titles. Doucet points out that the possibility of finishing a game has become a persuasive argument for both developers and players. In an oversaturated market of large-scale titles, the proposal of shorter games presents itself as an attractive alternative, especially for those who cannot keep up with extensive sagas like Assassin’s Creed.

The author of the article expresses his desire for more small games to be developed, emphasizing how overwhelming long-duration experiences can be. “My backlog can’t handle another massive RPG,” he states, highlighting the growing need for titles that offer more concise and satisfying experiences.

Looking to the future, Team Asobi has big plans for 2024, suggesting that Astro Bot could break free from its exclusive legacy on PlayStation and explore new opportunities within the industry. This move could pave the way for the iconic character to reach a broader and more diverse audience, setting a new standard in game creation that prioritizes gameplay and accessibility.

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Zenless Zone Zero has a big announcement at The Game Awards: a new character

The Game Awards have been surprisingly solid. With an almost impeccable pace, great announcements, and quite reasonable awards, it has been an interesting gala. Long. Very long. But that doesn’t take away from it being interesting. And among awards and major announcements of big games, other things have happened. For example, new announcements from MiHoyo. Among which, the highlight is Zenless Zone Zero. A new character that will have great importance in the game. During the Game Awards, a new character for Zenless Zone Zero was announced. Named Astra Yao, she is a famous singer who will arrive […]

The Game Awards have been surprisingly solid. With an almost impeccable pace, great announcements, and quite reasonable awards, it has been an interesting gala. Long. Very long. But that doesn’t take away from it being interesting. And among awards and big announcements of major games, other things have happened. For example, new announcements from MiHoyo. Among which, the highlight is Zenless Zone Zero.

A new character that will have great importance in the game

During the Game Awards, a new character for Zenless Zone Zero was announced. Named Astra Yao, she is a famous singer who will arrive in the upcoming version 1.4 of the game. The trailer has given us some details about her.

Because in the trailer we can see Astra walking down Sixth Street entering a concert hall, being followed by an unknown character. In addition to the fact that thanks to the trailer we have discovered that she is a celebrity and will have an important role in the story, it has also left us wondering who her pursuer might be. Leaving the door open to another new character in the future.

In turn, version 1.4 of the game will bring some significant changes to the game. The biggest of these will be the removal of the television mode. Therefore, there will be no future missions where we travel through a map made of television screens, while the old missions that have them will allow you to skip them completely. Additionally, this patch will introduce the new characters Hoshimi Miyabi and Asaba Harumasa as we already told you.

Zenless Zone Zero is available on PC, PlayStation 5, and mobile devices. Version 1.4 will arrive on December 18, and Astra Yao, although already announced, we do not know when it will arrive in the game. Therefore, we will have to stay tuned to find out when.

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Zenless, also known as Zenless Zone Zero, is a paid action game from miHoYo. Dubbed as the next Genshin Impact, this role-playing game is set in a futuristic universe where civilization as you know it no longer exists. The world is now overrun by supernatural creatures called Ethereals. In the middle of the chaos, you play as a demon-dimension explorer tasked with shutting down these dimensions and stopping Ethereals.

The Game Awards make a splash: DLCs will be eligible for Game of the Year

When the end of the year approaches, everything is about the Game Awards. This awards ceremony, which is also a major showcase for announcements, is Geoff Keighley’s favorite project. While it’s true that the choice of game of the year is largely symbolic, it still carries weight. When games receive this distinction, they are recognized for their work. And that’s why a change in how the game of the year is chosen and what can be awarded is very important. A rule change tailored for Elden Ring: […]

When the end of the year approaches, everything is about the Game Awards. This award ceremony, which is also a major showcase for announcements, is the brainchild of Geoff Keighley. While it’s true that the choice of game of the year is symbolic, it still carries weight. When games receive this distinction, they are recognized for their work. And that’s why a change in how it’s chosen and what can be awarded as game of the year is very important.

A rule change tailored for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

Keighley has already said that he will announce very soon which games are nominated in each of the award categories. But in addition, he has added a detail that we can see on the awards website that has not gone unnoticed. And that is, starting this year, it is possible to award DLCs, expansions, new seasons, remasters, and remakes in all categories, as if they were new games. Something that opens up a whole new range of possibilities. In addition to not a few controversies and a very clear favorite.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is the game that has led to this change. But Silent Hill 2 Remake and its success probably also pushed this change. Because, whether we like it or not, some of the biggest games this year fall into this category: remasters, remakes, expansions, and DLCs.

The reaction on social media has not been long in coming. And the general sentiment is divided. While it is true that it is reasonable for remasters and remakes to be awarded when they change enough, those that are more of the same can hardly be considered new games. Similarly, Shadow of the Erdtree is an extraordinary DLC that expands and takes everything Elden Ring did much further. But it remains an expansion of the original game and, as such, in the eyes of many, it makes no sense to award it in this way.

Due to this, it seems we are going to have some controversial Game Awards. Once again. But we always have an open question in all of this: can we vote based on what we think. If people believe there are no reasons to award remakes, remasters, DLCs, or expansions, they won’t win even if they can be voted for. Therefore, although it is an important change, it remains to be seen if it will have any effect on the final result. Especially seeing that the debate is already on the streets.

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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is the much-anticipated addition to the award-winning role-playing game from FromSoftware, Elden Ring. Expanding the storyline with a new location, and a host of new content, this DLC brings the player to The Land of Shadow—described as a place obscured by the Erdtree and where goddess Marika first set foot.

The Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 5 will add something that fans have been asking for since day one

Baldur’s Gate 3 Patch 5 will add something that fans have been asking for since day one, in addition to fixing various problems present in the game

Baldur’s Gate 3 is on track to become the most acclaimed game of the year. Nominated for Game of the Year at the Game Awards, selling extraordinarily well, and being a surprise hit both critically and in sales, especially for Microsoft, it’s a game that keeps delivering surprises. And it continues to refine itself over time. Patch after patch, Larian Studios, the game’s creators, have been refining aspects that were causing unpleasant friction among players. And with Patch 5, they’re addressing one of the most discussed issues.

Because Larian Studios has announced that Patch 5 will contain an epilogue. While they haven’t disclosed many details about it, thanks to the image accompanying the announcement, we can get an idea of what it will contain: new scenes of the group at the camp, reminiscing about the time they’ve spent together and what they’ll do in the future. This has been a point of criticism since its release. With an abrupt ending and a real lack of an epilogue beyond the character we choose to romance, the game’s final minutes feel less rewarding than they should. Especially after spending dozens of hours with a set of characters who, in the end, seem to matter very little.

On the other hand, it’s not the only thing that this Patch 5 will include. Another major issue with the game was serious slowdowns in Act 3 following Patch 4, something they have been able to fix with this patch along with other minor issues of lesser importance. Although not necessarily for the public. Because these minor issues include the possibility of Astarion making disgusted faces when kissing us; something that the community didn’t remotely take as a small problem.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is available on PC and PlayStation 5. The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S version should be released before the end of 2023, and Larian Studios told us that we would know more at the Game Awards, which take place on December 7th.

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Geoff Keighley announces that his most famous catchphrase won’t make a return to this year’s Game Awards

Geoff Keighley announces that his most famous catchphrase will not return to the Game Awards this year, in addition to changes in security and his opinion on indies

Even as the year draws to a close, the video game industry remains in full swing. Games continue to be released, announcements for future launches keep coming, and, of course, there are still awards, galas, and ceremonies to look forward to. The biggest event in this regard is the Game Awards, Geoff Keighley’s ceremony where, among other things, awards are presented to the best games of the year. This year’s gala is set to be a bit different from what we’ve seen in previous years.

This year, we won’t hear the tagline “World Premiere” before each announcement at the event. Despite it being a constant feature in all previous The Game Awards, it has become a source of controversy, if not outright mockery, due to the loose way it has been used in recent years.

During the official Q&A session about the event, Keighley himself shared his opinion on this matter. When asked by an attendee about how many new things we would see that could be labeled as “World Premiere,” the host and organizer of the ceremony assured that while the number would be more or less the same as in other years, he wants to move away from that label. Especially because he believes that, given the very different nature of the things they present, they prefer to treat everything as content about games.

In this same Q&A session, he took the opportunity to give his opinion on the controversy sparked by the nomination of the video game Dave the Diver in the Best Independent Game category. A game with a pixel art aesthetic, but developed by Mintrocket, an internal studio of Nexon, a Korean video game company with over 3,200 employees. This is something Keighley responded to by saying that “indie” can mean different things to different people, and that the awards jury is composed of many different individuals, hence it’s normal not to have a consensus on whether a game qualifies as indie or not.

In addition to all this, he has ensured that this year there will be increased security at the event after at the past Game Awards and its previous event, the Summer Game Fest, individuals spontaneously got on stage without being stopped. Whether this will be fulfilled, we will know at the celebration of this event, on December 7th.

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