It's September, which means the air is thick with the promise of fall, school is back in session, and Apple just revealed a new Apple Watch. This year, at its annual fall event, the company is showing off the Apple Watch Series 9.
I’ll admit that, between Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport, I’m more of a Horizon player. I’m interested in driving and crashing beautiful cars in exotic locations, and occasionally entering a low-stakes race, rather than perfecting my times on professional tracks with top-tier equipment. Despite this predilection, I’ve had a lot of fun tinkering around in the first few hours of Forza Motorsport’s serious, car-obsessed world.
Patience. Starfield is a huge game set in a universe of newly inhabited planets, and it combines interstellar travel with furious gunplay, alien exploration, spaceship management, character customization and interpersonal strife, and it takes a moment for all of these layers to merge into a coherent experience. But, give Starfield time, approach its systems with grace, and you’ll be rewarded with a big, generic sci-fi RPG.
Panic is an odd little company. It started out in the late 1990s as an app developer, and in 2016 it pivoted to video game publishing with Firewatch, followed by Untitled Goose Game in 2019. Both of these were breakout indie hits, resulting in significant success for the developers and Panic itself. And then, in 2022, Panic debuted the Playdate, a tiny yellow game console with a crank on the side and a monochromatic display.
Not only does Little Nightmares III exist, but it's also bringing two-player co-op to the series for the first time. Little Nightmares III is due out in 2024, and it's heading to PC, Switch, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Developers from Supermassive Games announced the new entry in the horror franchise at the very beginning of Gamescom Opening Night Live today.
Imagine a game that might be described as the opposite of Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead or Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. These are first-person shooters set in wartorn, post-apocalyptic cities, so their inverse might be a third-person game with no weapons at all, set in a warm, buzzing metropolis of friendly characters, maybe starring an adorable cat. Weirdly, the result could look a lot like Little Kitty, Big City, the first project from former Valve designer Matt T. Wood.
Call Devolver Digital whatever you want — except a liar. The indie publisher's inaugural Devolver Delayed showcase delivered on its promise, featuring five games whose release windows have been pushed out of 2023 and into 2024. Which, of course, kind of means Devolver was lying when it initially announced these games, but let's live in the now.
Baldur’s Gate III is available right now — partially. To be clear, the game itself is complete, but its rollout is fragmented, with different release dates for each of its planned platforms. Following a lengthy Early Access period, the PC version of Baldur’s Gate III went live today, August 3, while the PlayStation 5 and Mac versions are due out on September 6. The game’s developer, Larian Studios, hasn’t provided a release date for the Xbox Series X and S edition.
For anyone with an eye on video game news, it’s been hard to ignore the recent rise of names like Annapurna Interactive, Devolver Digital, Private Division, Humble, Epic Games and Netflix tied to independent projects. The distribution process for indie developers has shifted over the past few years from a self-publishing-first model, to one that prioritizes deal-making and acquisitions. For the moment, this shift is powering a small but highly visible boom in the world of indie games.
“I don't think I ever want to self-publish again.”
The Resident Evil 4 remake starts out strong. Updated aiming mechanics and a fresh infusion of processing power make this the most exciting version of RE4 Capcom has ever delivered, and Leon Kennedy looks better than ever, even with his new chin implant. The remake performs well for the first few hours, as Leon shoots and stabs his way through the misty Spanish village where las plagas has transformed the locals into murderous tentacle monsters.