I don’t just mean in terms of next-gen console releases or new games, because there were plenty of high-end titles on offer that fell short.
No, this year has seen the way we look at games and what we perceive games to be change.
No longer do consoles rule the roost.
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With much untapped potential and new titles for the next-gen consoles – I can’t wait for 2014 |
Personally, I think something in the gaming world has stirred. The air of pretencion and elitist snobbery is starting to thin and indie developers and companies are offering up something new an industry which has, though I hate to admit it, stagnated and become predictable in recent years.
Though, the big three companies – Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo – all seem to forget that we don’t give a damn about a console that lets us connect with other people. If we want a social network, we’ll login to Facebook or Twitter on other devices.
Our games consoles need only be about one thing; games.
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Will you kill this woman so your family can eat? These are the dilemmas you face in this game! |
It paints a bleak picture of life in an oppressive, totalitarian, fictional Eastern Bloc country. You have one objective – to check the papers of everyone who crosses the border and stamp them with either a denied or admitted. Every one you stamp correctly, earns money so that you can feed your family. You are required to meet a certain quota every day and if you fall below it, or if you accidentally stamp something incorrectly you lose 5 credits. Though at first it’s easy to admit and deny people like the good, worker drone you are, moral dilemmas start appearing, forcing you to make hard decisions.
This time travelling, 2D side-scrolling nostalgia trip is something that every kid who grew up in the late 80s and early 90s will enjoy. If you long for the days of Back To The Future, classic beat ’em ups and Jurassic Park then this game is definitely for you.
Originally a Kickstarter project, Fist Of Awesome managed to raise over 200% of it’s original goal and you can certainly see why. It’s the sole creation of indie developer, Nicoll Hunt (I Fight Bears) and it’s a love letter to games of a bygone era. The fact that many crowd funded games are making their way into mainstream consciousness speaks volumes for the evolution of the games industry. It makes me excited for whats to come in 2014!
Fist Of Awesome is ultimately a very silly game but at it’s core, is fun and incredibly entertaining. Did I mention the part where you get to punch bears in the face?!
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If everyone stuck their head in an oven, would you do it too? …Maybe |
My reason for this is quite simply that on release date and the months that followed, practically everyone on my Twitter feed were sharing their AC:NL codes and tweeting endlessly about their towns and harvests and gardens and hat collections and freaking sharks!
At a time when the Xbox One and the PS4 are pushing the boundaries graphically and dominating the market, mobile games and indie games are also thriving, perhaps 2014 will usher in a new dawn where indie titles and next-gen titles can co-exist happily?
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