Great Games Journalism of 2024

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Intro - 0:00
Kenneth Shepard, Romance In Games - 1:42
Bryant Franics, Phoenix Labs Closure - 8:36
Stephen Totilo, A Horse Game Went Viral - 12:30
Nathan Grayson, AI NPCs - 16:47
Nathan Grayson, How Phantom Liberty Reshaped CDPR - 23:58
John Walker, Star Wars Outlaws Is A Crappy Masterpiece - 26:34
Cole Kronman, Astro Bot & Branding - 31:19
Jason Schreier, Play Nice - 42:08
Alyssa Mercante, Sweet Baby/Shaun, Stellar Blade - 43:08
People Make Games, Games Industry Silence On Palestine - 44:14
Noclip, Heart Machine & Hyper Light Breaker - 45:33
Noclip, Terrible Year To Look For A Publisher - 50:44

Links:
Kenneth Shepard, Kotaku: The Industry Is Divided On How To Write Romance In Games
https://tinyurl.com/47ttaxfd
Bryant Franics, Game Developer: What happens when a secretive blockchain company buys your game studio
https://tinyurl.com/ap68nnta
Phoenix Labs Layoffs
https://tinyurl.com/ycxsc78v
Stephen Totilo, GameFile: A horse game went viral, and a horse game expert feels vindicated
https://tinyurl.com/y6hydd7d
Horse Games - History of a Neglected Genre
https://tinyurl.com/4j5uxc92
Nathan Grayson, Aftermath: AI NPCs Have Potential, But Not The Kind Big Video Game Companies Want
https://tinyurl.com/5cskuacn
Nathan Grayson, Aftermath: How CP:L Reshaped CDPR
https://tinyurl.com/b6d87tb8
John Walker, Kotaku:Star Wars Outlaws is a Crappy Masterpiece
https://tinyurl.com/3kv5cdyv
Cole Kronman, Kotaku: Astro Bot’s Soulless Devotion to the Sony Brand is a Real Problem
https://tinyurl.com/2be4d865
Alyssa Mercante, Kotaku: Sweet Baby Inc Doesn’t Do What Some Gamers Think It Does
https://tinyurl.com/ms3vpbst
Shaun, Stellar Blade: The Fake Outrage
https://tinyurl.com/4hu8rk8s
PMG, The Games Industry Must Not Stay Silent On Palestine
https://tinyurl.com/yw773ffj
Noclip, Embracing Chaos
https://tinyurl.com/nu6hr753
Game Developer, Heart Machine Layoffs
https://tinyurl.com/33e75dch
Noclip, 2023 Was a Terrible Year to Look For a Publisher… (and 2024 is Worse)
https://tinyurl.com/3fwks29d
Dreams On A Pillow
https://tinyurl.com/5a63yvch

Important Notes:
1-I tried to do this without a script, which I’ve never done before. There are a couple times I misspeak or mispronounce a word. I apologize! I wanted to try and experiment with having a more ‘natural’ conversation. I think the attempt was pretty good, but I’ll definitely need to refine the process a bit.
2-I called Heart Machine ‘Heart Machine Games’ a few times. This is a silly/stupid habit I have. Sorry!
3-In his story, Bryant Francis says Phoenix Labs was entirely shut down, so that’s what I put in my notes. However, live ops for the company's games are (as far as I know) ongoing. But I’m not sure if Phoenix’s live ops are contracted out or something? I wasn’t able to find an answer here.
4-A little more on Stunt Derby: It’s not unreasonable that a game like Stunt Derby could have updates and new features. But there’s a distinction between that and live service stuff, which to me means retention and monetization. The deck O’Dwyer shows does not mention monetization. I assume publisher thinking was/is more in-line with retention/monetization than just general new updates. Maybe that’s too cynical on my part, but I don’t think so.
5-What’s that symbol at the bottom right hand corner of the screen? Well, I capture footage mostly through Nvidia Shadowplay, which was recently updated. Now, when recording my desktop (and some games) the indicator that I’m recording shows up in the recording itself. I’m unable to fix this at the moment, but hopefully I’ll be able to find workarounds for future vids.
6-I know this may be a little late for something about 2024, but I’ve had a few delays and other things I couldn’t control get in the way.

Trailer/Gameplay Footage:
-Dreams on a Pillow
-Hyper Light Breaker
-Super Smash Bros Ultimate
-MultiVersus
-Ground Branch
-Death Stranding
-Red Dead Redemption 2

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