Yeah, I’ve been out of it for a while. Honestly, all the stuff about Gamer Gate had me put off the idea of even talking to another person, least of all not even bothering with PAX Prime. It was a terribly destructive period of the industry that morphed from slander to verbal assault to a fundamental debasing of reasoning and decency.
Paste has a nice bookend to the whole ordeal, though the problematic existence of bullies and bigots extends far beyond the terminative boundaries of the end of a bookshelf. That’s all I want to talk about it. Others have spoken on it far more eloquently than I ever will and I don’t want to get dragged into a flamewar.
In fact, let’s just get back to what we do best on a Monday. Let’s watch some god damn trailers.
The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth
NSFW. Maybe? I have no idea. I don’t have a single solitary clue about what most of this trailer is but it certainly feels NSFW even when you take the somewhat naked burlap sack head people out. As weird as The Binding of Isaac actually is (and as weird as this port The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth will similarly be), this trailer takes the cake. Comes out November 4 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, PC, Mac, and Linux.
Slender: The Arrival
Slender: The Arrival is a game that you kind of have to buy fully into to get any joy out of it. It’s very easy to play it, get bored, and stop after about five minutes. And even if you last long enough to encounter a thing to run away from, you have to be willing to play along and get perturbed. This is, however, a rather good trailer, though I’m not sure if you haven’t played this game before, what would convince you to do so now. Comes out September 23 for PSN and September 24 for Xbox Live Arcade.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue
This is an absolutely fantastic trailer for Assassin’s Creed Rogue, and for some reason, I just can’t get behind it. While Black Flag was a great game, it was kind of all I needed to cap off with the best of the series’ gameplay (mostly) and realize that without the Desmond story, I’m just not that interested anymore. I’ll probably still play Rogue since that’s how this job works, but the desire is lacking. Comes out November 11 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Hatoful Boyfriend
Basically, if you like this trailer, you’ll probably like what Hatoful Boyfriend has to offer. It’s a weird game. Like, super weird. It’s a visual novel game about being the only human at a school for sapient pigeons. It’s strange and funny but also surprisingly deep with a branching storyline and complex motives for relationship building. It’s out now on Steam, so maybe give it a try.
Ancient Space
I really like how surprised the voiceover sounds when he says “PEGI 12.” I also really like what Joe Fricano, senior producer on the project with Paradox Interactive, said about Ancient Space being more like NASA and less like Star Wars. I like Star Wars, don’t get me wrong, but I like this idea of a clinical take on a deep space mystery. Sounds cool. Comes out September 23 for PC and Mac.
Wasteland 2
The problem with Wasteland 2, the $2.9 million Kickstarter success from April of 2012, is that the prospect of playing it isn’t very inviting, but playing it will undoubtedly be wholly encompassing. I mean, look at this trailer for combat. It’s a seven-minute trailer about just the fighting portion of the game. That being said, I probably will be one of those people playing. Comes out September 19 for PC, Mac, and Linux.
Firewatch
Now that’s a doozy. No idea what Firewatch is but I’m totally into it. Just read this description and tell me you’re not in, too: “Firewatch is a mystery set in the Wyoming wilderness, where your only emotional lifeline is the person on the other end of a handheld radio.” What a hook. Even the website is slick enough to make you want to find out more. Comes out sometime in 2015 for PC, Mac, and Linux.
Persona 5
God dammit, Persona 5, give me something to work with. I feel like that weird chair teaser from February was more informative than this thing. It has my interest piqued, sure, but at what cost, man, at what cost. Comes out in 2015 for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4.
NBA Live 15
The NBA Live franchise doesn’t die easily, huh. It basically stopped after NBA Live 10 until NBA Live 13 got canceled and then was officially revived with last year’s supremely disappointing NBA Live 14. Considering that the NBA 2K series has been alive and kicking in the intervening years, I wonder if NBA Live 15 will even have enough legs to run and not shit the bed again like 2013. I can’t tell if the song in the trailer is more wishing or telling. Comes out October 7 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
WWE 2K15
Boy, wrestling games seem like a lot of fun to motion capture. Even if you’re still beating the shit out of yourself while actively trying to not quite beat the shit out of someone else, it must be super cool to do all those acrobatic super slams and then watch it go into a game like WWE 2K15. Also, how is Goldberg still alive? Like, as a person. Comes out October 28 for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
New Game Plus 