Psychonauts 2: How Double Fine Cooked Up Its Most Unexpected Level - Art of the Level

When you think of Psychonauts, you may envision large areas with quirky enemies, difficult platforming feats, and special abilities. Psychonauts 2 is full of brilliantly designed levels that make smart use of all these features, but Compton's Cookoff, the second full 'brain' world in Psychonauts 2, is unlike anything that has preceded it - both within the game itself, and platformers in general. To find out more about how it came together, and the changes it underwent during development, IGN picked the brains of members of the Double Fine development team to break down how such a hearty, memorable meal of a level came to life. This is Art of the Level.
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Video Games on Sports Illustrated •

QA workers call Activision's mandatory RTO policy a 'soft layoff'

Several employees tell GLHF that the policy, which is only in place for QA workers, also threatens the well-being of those who remain with the company. Activision Blizzard is implementing a permanent return-to-office policy for QA employees at its Activision campuses in El Segundo, Austin, and Minneapolis, effective Jan. 1, 2024, the ABK Workers Alliance said in a recent statement. The Alliance shared a copy of the statement with GLHF ahead of its publication and said that the decision threaten
For The Win •

Inon Zur on composing Starfield's soundtrack: 'It was really infatuating'

When you think of space, your mind probably goes to something John Williams composed – maybe the theme from E.T. or one of Star Wars’ big pieces. Films and TV have filled the soundless void with specific styles that shaped the genre, from sweeping orchestral arrangements for epic tales and synth-fueled punk in harder sci-fi stories. Starfield composer Inon Zur wanted something different for Bethesda’s space game, however, and he tasked himself with creating a new kind of soundscape representative of a future that’s not so out of reach. The journey took him on a space odyssey of his own that lasted the better part of a decade and produced one of the more ambitious soundtracks of 2023, and Zur spoke with GLHF about the process of bringing it all to life.
Video Games on Sports Illustrated •

CDPR on Phantom Liberty’s soundtrack and ‘Quentin Tarantino moment’

Composing video game music is tough at the best of times, and it's even more daunting when you're departing from an established style and creating a whole new culture and world with your sounds. Such was the task facing CD Projekt Red composers P.T. Adamczyk and Jacek Paciorkowski when they started designing the score for Cyberpunk 2077's Phantom Liberty expansion, and they tell GLHF that while the sounds and styles of Dogtown presented a unique challenge for them, it was also an exciting chance
NPR.org •

How 'Splatoon' carved a welcoming niche in the brutal shooter game genre

When Nintendo launched Splatoon in 2015, it catapulted the ink-splatting game into an environment rife with hostile players and graphic violence. Here was another online shooter, but one seemingly meant for children, with a cartoonish look and what amounts to ink-filled water guns instead of assault rifles and rocket launchers. Seven years later, Splatoon 3 continues to draw fans as likely to celebrate their newest in-game fashion as they are a big win, in contrast to hyper-competitive shooters that once defined the genre.
GameDaily.biz | We Make Games Our Business •

How Easy Allies made Mysterious Monsters, the first RPG game show

While the growing trend in interactive entertainment prefers to blur boundaries between video games and traditional mediaby giving viewers ever more influence in shaping the experience, Easy Allies has a different vision for the future. The streaming group recently launched a new series called Mysterious Monsters that blends traditional trivia-based game shows with role-playing games, and while it’s found success with the gaming crowd, the show’s producers hope it can help start a broader trend
IGN Games •

Psychonauts 2: How Double Fine Cooked Up Its Most Unexpected Level - Art of the Level

When you think of Psychonauts, you may envision large areas with quirky enemies, difficult platforming feats, and special abilities. Psychonauts 2 is full of brilliantly designed levels that make smart use of all these features, but Compton's Cookoff, the second full 'brain' world in Psychonauts 2, is unlike anything that has preceded it - both within the game itself, and platformers in general. To find out more about how it came together, and the changes it underwent during development, IGN picked the brains of members of the Double Fine development team to break down how such a hearty, memorable meal of a level came to life. This is Art of the Level.
Fanbyte •

Bringing NEO: The World Ends With You’s Stylish World to Life in the West

Localizing a video game is a monumental task under the best of circumstances, but there’s an additional layer of pressure when working on a sequel with a devoted fanbase that has held out hope for over ten years. This was the situation Square Enix’s English localization team found itself in while developing NEO: The World Ends With You, a direct follow-up to the 2007 JRPG The World Ends With You. The team went through great lengths to capture and expand the tone of the original, but that was...
GamesIndustry.biz •

"Feast and famine": How the pandemic influenced games public relations

"Feast and famine": How the pandemic influenced games public relations Is the pandemic a blip or the herald of a new age of public relations? 2020 was a real Tale of Two Cities scenario for the games industry. It was the best of times, with record-breaking revenue and significant increases in the number of people playing video games. It was the worst of times, with countless delays, layoffs, and an untold amount of human suffering.