This week’s roundup includes a classic postmortem of Sega’s seminal Panzer Dragoon series, impressions of the eagerly awaited Heaven’s Vault, as well
[Video Game Deep Cuts is a weekly newsletter from video game industry ‘watcher’ Simon Carless (GDC, Gamasutra co-runner), rounding up the best longread & standout articles & videos about games, every weekend.
This week’s roundup includes a classic postmortem of Sega’s seminal Panzer Dragoon series, impressions of the eagerly awaited Heaven’s Vault, as well as secret MMO servers, homebrew Game Boy Games, the return of D&D, and much more besides. Until next time…
– Simon, curator.]
——————What to expect from Sony’s next-gen PlayStation (Peter Rubin / Wired – ARTICLE)
“Mark Cerny would like to get one thing out of the way right now: The videogame console that Sony has spent the past four years building is no mere upgrade. You’d have good reason for thinking otherwise. Sony and Microsoft both extended the current console generation via a mid-cycle refresh, with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 spawning mini-sequels (the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro). [SIMON’S NOTE: definitely the surprise article of the week – a little outlet-exclusive spoiler to whatever Microsoft might announce at E3?]”How Earth Defense Force went from bargain bin to blockbuster (Sam Byford / Polygon – ARTICLE)
“There is perhaps no more decadent sight in gaming than a well-executed Earth Defense Force attack. Maybe you’ll fire your jetpack northwest, maybe you’ll fire your rocket launcher southeast, and maybe you’ll detach 10 giant alien ant thoraxes from their abdomens all in one move. Maybe you’ll destroy a skyscraper in the background at the same time.”Heaven’s Vault review – a rich web of possibility (Christian Donlan / Eurogamer – ARTICLE)
“Like 80 Days, Inkle’s previous game, Heaven’s Vault is a piece of interactive storytelling that drops you into a dense mesh of narrative choices. The whole thing’s as intricate and inter-connected, perhaps, as one of the tiled abstract patterns that decorate the walls and doorways of the game’s Middle-Eastern and North-African-inspired environments. [SIMON’S NOTE: see also this Polygon review.]”Classic Game Postmortem: Panzer Dragoon, Panzer Dragoon Zwei, and Panzer Dragoon Saga (GDC / YouTube – VIDEO)
“In this 2019 Game Developers Conference talk, Panzer Dragoon developers Yukio Futatsugi and Kentaro Yoshida discuss the concepts for the art and design of the Panzer Dragoon series on the Sega Saturn. [SIMON’S NOTE: it took us multiple years to line up this Classic Postmortem, but am delighted we did – lots of undiscovered details on the series in here.]”Wrestlemania! Games Under Five Hours Q1 2019 (First Five / YouTube – VIDEO)
“It’s time at last for another quarterly wrapup! I had to reach a bit, but there’s an awful lot of wrestling going on in these games: physical, mental, and emotional. But whether you’re grappling with the cops or the metaphysical, I’ve got a new batch of quick, awesome games under five hours from the last quarter. [SIMON’S NOTE: cute, underappreciated idea!]”Apex Legends has lost its huge momentum (Austen Goslin / Polygon – ARTICLE)
“Apex Legends had the smoothest and most successful launch of any battle royale game. While games like Fortnite took months to build up a player base and a Twitch presence, Apex shot to number one in its first day. But a lack of updates, a litany of bugs, and some fierce competition has destroyed Apex Legends’ launch momentum. [SIMON’S NOTE: may be a bit early to count this one out, but it’s interesting to see someone try.]”Akira Yasuda – 2003 Developer Interview (Style Of Games / Shmuplations – ARTICLE)
“In the first half of this lengthy 2003 interview, legendary designer and illustrator Akira “Akiman” Yasuda looks back at his origins as an artist and the early titles to which he lent his talents as a Capcom employee, including the popular and influential brawler Final Fight and the era-defining and canonical fighting game Street Fighter II.
