In this edition of the Speculator, we talk about potential late ports from Square Enix and Rockstar, as well as some interesting stuff brewing over at Valve. READ MORE
July 2013
This has been an ongoing discussion for quite a while now, but certain company policies have made the topic of game preservation something worth talking about again. I originally began writing this after Microsoft’s Xbox One debacle involving its online requirements and game installs. Things were pushed back once the issue was resolved and Microsoft did a complete turnaround on the policies that made seemingly everyone despise their upcoming console. With the potential threat of our current downloadable games disappearing and the all-digital future companies want to push, though, this is something worth examining regardless of policy changes. READ MORE
Dungeons & Dragons casts a large shadow over the modern gaming hobby, both as a gateway to paths beyond the usual Parker Brothers or Milton Bradley fare and as a high fantasy experience delivery vehicle. The “dungeon crawl” genre ranges from Munchkin-style parody to Descent: Journeys in the Dark epic missions, but few if any can be played in under an hour until now. Billed as “your lunch break dungeon crawl” on its Kickstarter page, Dungeon Heroes (from Michael Coe’s Gamelyn Games) pits one player as the dungeon versus another as the traditional group of four heroes (warrior, cleric, rogue, and wizard) searching the dungeon for treasure. READ MORE
A year is never enough time to overhaul everything, and this usually makes annualized sports titles like NCAA Football exercises in plodding iteration. Even still, small changes can make big differences. In NCAA Football 14, the development team at EA picked its spots wisely, making changes that seem small but significantly alter the gameplay experience. Are all of these modifications for the better, though? READ MORE
Blackguards, a turn-based RPG based on the Dark Eye role-playing license, is set in a suitably unsavory world. We got to check out the game with executive producer Kai Fiebig, and learn more about what makes it different from others in the genre. READ MORE
