Another year, another new(ish) attempt to package up all the drama and hype from a typically stacked June hype season. Most of the usual suspects have shown up over the last three weeks to state their intent for the next 12 months or so, and even more than most years, each major videogame showcase holder now feels like their public position can be summed up by just a few words. So let’s start there and expand out a bit.

We’ll view each publisher through the lens of their presence over the whole news period where applicable, rather than just within their own individual showcases.

PLAYSTATION

STUCK BETWEEN TREND-CHASING AND CREATIVITY

Playstation’s modern showcase branding is a great idea on paper: the “State of Play” shows are meant to be shorter and smaller in scale than the full-on “Playstation Showcase” presentations, and this divide is meant to help manage expectations. But the wide range of lucrative partnerships Sony can call on these days, in conjunction with the company’s understandable desire to appeal to casual fans and shareholders, have meant the reality doesn’t always line up that way. The limited PS Showcases this decade have felt bloated in places, and yet State of Play line-ups are often packing megaton reveals the calibre of Resident Evil and Final Fantasy.

So when you announce that a State of Play is set to air mere days before Summer Game Fest gets into full swing, people are going to look at it with a strong degree of hype – unfairly or not. And using a third of your runtime on a derivative first-party hero shooter and the third-party competitor destined to cannibalise it is certainly a choice that is going to earn the ire of a fair few viewers.

Concord may look like it has the funding and ex-Destiny development talent to hit big for Sony, but there is just nothing about the last few years in online PvP gaming trends to suggest that it will do anything but flounder upon release. The rules for what succeeds and what fails in the live service game space seem increasingly luck-based every year, so maybe its distinctly Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired character energy will hit with players. In the year of Helldivers II, the fact that it isn’t free-to-play may not be the problem it once was, either. But odds are still against it in the face of fierce competition, not least of which will likely come from another hero shooter shown in the very same conference: Marvel Rivals.

When you are the console publisher that gave the world Uncharted, The Last of Us, Horizon, the rebooted God of War, and Ghost of Tsushima among other stellar single-player stories, choosing to open your big summer show with a lengthy look at a live-service multiplayer title, you are going to look like you’re chasing trends.

Luckily, this first cab off the showcase rank also gave us one of the biggest highlights of the entire season: Astro Bot. That’s right, just Astro Bot. The adorable mascot-in-waiting carries no subtitle for his third adventure, and that’s a clear statement of intent to go along with the game’s near-full-price release strategy and primetime September 6th release date. As a former Nintendo kid I do not say this lightly, but this looks like it could be Mario-level good. The PS5 has been crying out for another family-friendly exclusive to go with 2021’s excellent Ratchet entry, and the choice to close the State of Play with such a wildly creative project indicates that old golden-age Sony is still in there.

The sheer contrast in tone between the opening and closing first-party segments of the show may have dominated the headlines, but there was more tasty third-party stuff in there worth keeping an eye on too. We saw yet another incredible-looking Chinese action game in the form of Where Winds Meet, the first of many, many new “Soulslikes” for the season with the multiplayer-focused Ballad of Antara, and a gnarly gameplay preview of the highly-anticipated Path of Exile II.

Omega Force also showed up with what will be the first new mainline Dynasty Warriors entry in seven years, titled Origins; it was an appearance almost as out-of-the-blue as the massive increase in visual quality over prior instalments. Silent Hill 2 also got an appropriate October release date, but opinions are apparently still mixed on that one. I never played the original, but I adored Bloober Team’s The Medium so I’ll be there.

As for Playstation’s presence outside its own branded presentation this season, the biggest eyebrow-raiser came with the title card at the very end of the Lego Horizon Adventures trailer that opened the Summer Game Fest main show. The unlikely family-friendly collaboration launching on PC is hardly surprising given Sony’s recent public comments to investors about widening the reach of their games, but the unmistakable red Nintendo Switch logo was an additional layer almost no one was expecting – all the juicier for the lack of an Xbox jewel to go alongside it. The game looks great, by the way, and that brings us to…

GEOFF

LIGHT ON BIG HITS BUT SELF-AWARE AND IMPROVING

Geoff Keighley’s big Summer Game Fest kickoff showcase was certainly a stark reminder that 2024 is a hangover year of sorts for big expensive third-party gaming fare, but it still brought its fair share of worthwhile moments as well as meaningful improvements to Keighley’s well-worn show format.

There’s a discussion to be had as to whether all his presentations need to be over two hours in length, but 2024’s SGF show still leveraged one of his now-famous close professional connections for a truly beautiful Alan Wake II double-reveal: a much-appreciated physical (and collectors) edition of the game alongside an unhinged triple-barrelled “out in 24 hours” DLC announcement that wiped out the disappointment of 2023’s relative lack of June shadow drops in one clean hit. Throwback beat-em-up Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind also went off for me personally, as did the super-weird gameplay debut for Slitterhead (from a bunch of ex-Silent Hill devs) and the announcement of Fatal Fury characters coming to Street Fighter 6.

The widest-reaching announcements were probably the CG teaser for Civilization VII, the surprising reveal of Valorant console ports, and the first attempt at a Quidditch game in decades. Aside from those, the flavour of the show was largely release dates and updates on games we already know about (October 11th is looking stacked for Japanese games) and a more indie-centric presence than usual, which is no bad thing – especially this year. Geoff’s opening monologue focused on job losses in the industry and the success of breakout indie projects on Steam so far in 2024 may have been a little stiff, but it’s not the kind of shout-out you’d find from any of the other big American summer gaming conferences.

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In just over 10 days the decade comes to an end.

As far as the stuff I write about here, 2019 did a pretty decent job of closing that decade out. It wasn’t quite a year of all-time classics, but the duds were few and far between. Despite the fact we are now under a year away from the next videogame console generation, 2019 still hit hard and often with giant releases, surprisingly good games, and quite a few instances of both at once. K-Pop finally started to give proper attention to the potential of solo performers, and Disney had its biggest year ever, releasing enough movies to fill an entire Top 10 list all on its own. But don’t worry – I won’t be doing that. Even though I seriously considered it. But no. Anyway, there was plenty to enjoy and plenty to discuss with friends. Which is what it’s all about, really.

Aside from one necessary movement of a point and a renewed attempt at semicolon usage, the 2019 lists are going to feel pretty familiar. The line-up is unchanged for the first time in years and I feeling pretty settled about it for now. However little you read this year, thank you for indulging me in one of the things that gives me life.

On that note, disappointments list up tomorrow.

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VR BEST OF 2019 DISCLAIMER

These lists represent my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting them as I have. My opinion is not fact. To agree with me 100% is rarer than an EA game without microtransactions. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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It’s mid April once more, and that can only mean one thing! Vagrant Rant’s third annual

GUEST

GUEST

GUEST

WRITER

WRITER

WRITER

WEEK!

WEEK!

WEEK!

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Normally this would be my chance to take a break from blogging, but I’ve just been so busy lately that this will be the most posting activity I’ve had on my blog all year. I am super grateful to the seven writers you are about to read over the next week. This is absolutely one of my favourite times of the year.

Please enjoy.
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There are many opinions floating around on and off the internet about the merits (or lack thereof) of Kickstarter, the crowdfunding website designed to help people get their creative ideas off the ground and into the hands of those who wish to benefit from said ideas, by relying on donations from fans. Plenty of projects have failed (some before they get funded, others afterwards – see the OUYA Android game console) while others, like the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and the recently released Veronica Mars movie, have reached their desired funding goals and then some, really taking off in a big way.

As of now I have only ever donated to two Kickstarter campaigns. One is the multi-platform WayForward videogame Shantae: Half Genie Hero, which looks rad. The other is Zach Braff’s long-awaited (by some) Wish I Was Here, the spiritual successor to his directorial debut film Garden State from 2005. The first teaser trailer for the film just dropped, and it hasn’t yet been sent to any major news outlets, so here it is:

Garden State is one of my all-time favourite movies, as it did a great job of capturing the emotional highs and lows experienced by the average Western twenty-something. Braff promises that Wish I Was Here will do something similar with the thirties, and by the looks of things, he’ll be telling his story in a similarly quirky way this time around. The soundtrack of Garden State won a Grammy award, so I see no reason why Braff’s music choices won’t markedly enhance the onscreen action here as well. It appears, at least, that he still adores The Shins.

Man, I hope this movie is good.