Apple Not Likely To Have “Conventional” Promotion For New Handheld
With Nintendo's Connect and Apple's Gemini handhelds both approaching their seventh birthday, many expected announcements about potential next-generation successors to these devices during June's E3. However, both Nintendo and Apple were totally quiet about their next generation handheld plans, choosing instead to focus on upcoming games, mostly for their main consoles. Nintendo has been extremely quiet about the subject of a Connect successor, with not even a rumor slipping out from the veil of secrecy surrounding new Nintendo products. However, the same cannot be said for Apple, with rumors abounding concerning their new gaming handheld, when we might see it, and just how we might learn about it.
For the moment, most rumors are focused on Apple's new gaming handheld being something akin to a new model of iPhone, and it's actually not much of a leap of logic to make. Current model iPhone units are considerably more powerful than Apple's Gemini, and would be far more capable of playing games if they were optimized for such purposes (with cooling being the major preventative factor keeping the current iPhone 8 models from being able to run something like Doggerland or Vegas, which, if going by CPU and GPU specs alone, the iPhone 8 should be able to do). It wouldn't be so simple as just slapping a cooling fan on an iPhone 8, but making an iPhone that plays current-generation games wouldn't be terribly hard if one other factor wasn't in play.
The other factor, of course, is price. At $599, the iPhone 8 is considerably more expensive than even a Reality Neo, and would be an unacceptable price for a handheld game console, even one from Apple (who has had success with handhelds at the $299 price point, but not more than that). However, the iPhone SE, which is currently sold at $299, is also significantly more powerful than the Gemini on paper, and something like that that plays games wouldn't be much of a leap either.
Sales for Apple's Gemini have significantly slowed over the past two years, despite a glut of well received games, that have not only been successful with critics, but have topped digital sales charts as well, especially in Japan, where the Gemini is an exceptionally hot commodity that, until the sales slump, was keeping up with and even exceeding sales of the Connect at times. According to industry analyst Jenna Robbins, who recently published an article in Business Week detailing Apple's handheld woes: “People who have Gemini units love them, and are buying lots of games for them, but people who have Connect consoles or who are content with their phones don't want to pay an extra $200 for another device, and while the Gemini has a lot of great games, it's lacking a true killer app.” Another problem is the fact that most Gemini games can be played on iPhones, something which Apple initially touted as a feature but which some within the company's games division now regret, as they consider it to be “cannibalizing” Gemini sales.
If the rumors that we're not getting a dedicated next-gen gaming handheld, but instead, an alternative iPhone model are true, then rumors that Apple may choose to debut this device at next year's MacWorld or even earlier could also be true, and if so, Apple may once again choose to go against the grain with its gaming devices (it may also be looking to avoid competition with Nintendo's new handheld, which many now expect to be unveiled at E3 2019). Whatever Apple chooses to do going forward, it appears that they may be abandoning the dedicated handheld market to Nintendo, and instead may be trying to compete with Google in the mobile market, pitting their next generation mobile games against Google's Stadia platform.
-from an August 12, 2018 article on Gamespot.com
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Country and techno are two genres that make strange bedfellows, and not since the days when the niche Swedish band Rednex swung their way onto the charts with their version of "Cotton Eye Joe" have we seen so much collusion between the two genres. Now, acts such as Avicii and Skrillex are teaming up with superstars like Keith Urban and Florida Georgia Line to produce some of the biggest songs on the charts today, with one, Avicii and Florida Georgia Line's "Raindance", making it to #1 on the Billboard Top 40, dethroning M.S.'s hit "Catatonia" in the process. Meanwhile, Keith Urban and Skrillex have put together an entire album's worth of hits, making for one of the most unique concept albums in years, and one that's expected to top charts around the world. We've seen more and more collaboration between artists all across the map, but the idea of American country artists teaming up with internationally-known DJs is born from the experimental nature of musical artists in the 2010s, and a desire by many of them to break free from the expectations set for them by their record labels.
"These collaborations, a lot of people think it's just the labels slapping two different artists together and hoping to bring in fans of both, but it's not, not most of the time," said former studio executive Sathlan Hall. "These artists hang out, they talk, they talk online, they call each other, they stream chat, and they bounce ideas off each other. Lots of times, when it's a strange genre mix or a unique collaboration, it happens because talented musical artists genuinely want to make something new together, even if they just want to hang out in the studio for a few days and record whatever comes to mind, a lot of music comes out of it."
For Keith Urban and Skrillex, the idea for a collaboration came after Skrillex performed a series of concerts in Australia, and Urban took some friends down to see him perform. The two then met backstage, and as Urban tells it, "one thing led to another."
Other collaborations between country music stars and dance and techno artists in recent years include the series of stream-exclusive songs by Kevin Winston and the Japanese DJ duo Pixie/POMPOM, called the Sparkly Cowboy Series. None of those songs cracked the Billboard charts, but proved to be huge hits in Japan and Europe, and eventually did find streaming chart success in North America after appearing in a commercial for a Toyota SUV that turned into a meme.
The meme potential of unique collaborations can't be overstated, and Urban himself said that even though he's not the most websavvy person, he wasn't surprised to see his songs pop up in popular Youtube and Videocean videos soon after their release.
The rise of collaborations between country artists and Asian DJs in particular, described by some as the "East Meets South" phenomenon, is said to be attributed to the popularity of 3-time NASCAR champion Mihoshi Koizumi, whose popularity in Japan has driven a massive wave of NASCAR popularity in the country, which in turn has led to a rise in the popularity of American country music there...
-from an August 14, 2018 article on Billboard.com
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Kennedy's Space Initiatives Continuing "Slightly Ahead Of Schedule", Would See Moon Return Before End Of Possible Second Term
When inaugurated into office back in 2017, President John F. Kennedy Jr. made human spaceflight a major policy initiative upon taking office, and after easily passing several bills later that year that increased funding for NASA and initialized numerous projects, two of those projects are close to fruition: the next generation Orion spacecraft, which is expected to take astronauts back to the Moon and later on to Mars, is projected to be completed in 2019, with progress on the Orion 1 nearly finished. NASA is providing weekly updates on the construction of the new craft, with online videos detailing the different phases of the project, allowing the American people to see the spacecraft as it comes together. Progress has also begun on a replacement for the Hubble Space Telescope with a next-generation space telescope expected to provide views of the cosmos hundreds of times clearer than have ever been seen before. This new telescope, set for completion in 2021 or 2022, is expected to be launched soon after it's finished, while Hubble itself is expected to remain in orbit for a few years afterward before being de-orbited back to Earth. Kennedy's projects have seen the largest investment in space exploration by the United States government since the Apollo missions of the 1960s, and mankind's return to the Moon is projected to take place sometime in 2024, though no exact timetable has been given.
Overall, the American people have consistently approved of space travel funding in recent years, both during the Huntsman administration and the current administration. Polls taken on the subject typically had more bipartisan support during the Huntsman administration, while more recent polls have shown Democrats to be slightly more enthusiastic on funding NASA and returning to the Moon. Even so, Republicans are essentially split, while Democrats tend to favor NASA funding by a 75-25 margin. Even as President Kennedy continues to fund NASA projects, there's also been an uptick in private spaceflight interest as of late. Richard Branson, billionaire owner of the Virgin corporation, has been pouring a considerable amount of his personal fortune into private spaceflight projects for the past several years, and both Mark Cuban and Elon Musk have also expressed interest in spaceflight, with Musk's company Tesla launching numerous experimental rockets and spacecraft in the hopes of going to the Moon sometime in the 2020s.
-from an article on Yahoo News, posted on August 19, 2018
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Game Spotlight: Metal Gear Black
Metal Gear Black is an action/stealth title published and developed by Ubisoft. It's a crossover between the Metal Gear and Blackheart franchises, and takes place after the events of Metal Gear Solid IV and Blackheart: Lucky 7. Hideo Kojima worked on the game in somewhat of a "consulting" role, but left most of the development to the team responsible for the Blackheart series, with a few Konami programmers and writers also along for the ride, making the game a true collaboration but one leaning slightly more toward the Blackheart team overall. Combining elements from both the Metal Gear Solid games and the Blackheart series, Metal Gear Black is a stealth game that allows for a wide variety of different approaches from players, ranging from full stealth to guns blazing, and while it doesn't allow for as much exploration and moving around the mission areas (which are a bit more linear when contrasted with mission areas in other recent games in the series), it does allow for flexibility in how missions themselves are completed. The game is split between its four primary protagonists: Raiden and Zax from Metal Gear, and Sadira and Messiah from Blackheart. Rather than allowing players to choose between the characters, instead, each is playable for three missions a piece, with the narrative alternating between one of the four after each mission, and the game's final, 13th mission has segments for each character. The other protagonists do occasionally make appearances in each other's missions as part of the narrative, at times serving as "assist" characters", and even once or twice serving in an antagonistic role for that particular mission. Each character, though controlling and operating fairly similarly, has their own unique playstyle and quirks, with missions somewhat suited to their strengths and weaknesses.
Raiden: Known as "The Ninja", Raiden operates with both stealth and speed, and is probably the most similar character to how Solid Snake controls, though Raiden is somewhat faster. Specializes in getting quietly close to enemies and incapacitating them with stealthy melee.
Zax: Known as "The Soldier". Zax is probably the most combat-ready of the four protagonists, usually coming heavily armed, and able to complete missions either with stealth or with a "shoot first, ask questions later" style. Slower, but with a more heavy-handed melee package, his missions tend to operate more like third person shooters than stealth games, though the player can be plenty stealthy with him.
Sadira: Known as "The Assassin". A coldhearted mercenary who kills without qualm, Sadira has a balanced approach between stealth and frontal combat, and as someone who still enjoys causing pain and suffering, she's most capable of striking fear in the hearts of her foes. Probably the best character offensively, but often bites off more than she can chew and can end up surrounded often.
Messiah: Known as "The Agent", Messiah is the most pacifistic of the four and still has her abilities to sense the emotions of others and imprint her own emotions onto people. Her missions are most attuned to a stealthy approach, and though capable of combat and killing, she can be quite fragile, so discretion and careful use of her abilities is advised.
Each of the game's missions consists of numerous phases and objectives, some of which can be failed without causing a Game Over. These successes or failures can slightly alter the game's story and can grant certain rewards or punishments, though the overall narrative continues forward, keeping track of these successes and failures for the game's ending. Metal Gear Black is a story-focused game, and thus is quite linear, but still allows the player to feel very much like they're in control in the way they approach each mission, with variations of dialogue for many characters that respond to how the player performs across the course of the game, encouraging replay value (missions can be repeated, even phases within missions can be replayed and revisited if the player chooses, allowing them to see different dialogue and outcomes). Though the game does a decent job of explaining the history behind each character, it is recommended that previous games in the series have been played first (if not, the game has a handy dandy encyclopedia included where they can look up the plot and characters from every Metal Gear and Blackheart game). Metal Gear Black boasts excellent graphics and animation, some of the best of its generation, and a strong soundtrack featuring musical motifs from both franchises and a strong symphonic and techno suite. The game also boasts an excellent voice cast, with most of the actors from previous games returning. There are two major exceptions: Quinton Flynn has stepped down from the role of Raiden, and has been replaced by Ray Chase, while longtime Sadira Blackheart voice actress Lana Parrilla also stepped down from her role due to other commitments, and has been replaced with Julia McIlvaine. Cody Christian did return as the voice of the young soldier Zax, while Grey Delisle once again reprises her role as Messiah.
The game takes place a while after the events of both Metal Gear Solid IV and Blackheart: Lucky 7. Solid Snake is still dead and buried (the game teases his return at times, but unfortunately it's not to be, he had a hero's funeral in Metal Gear Solid IV and Kojima doesn't want to ruin it by bringing him back), and the world is mostly at peace, thanks to the actions of Zax, who now leads a secret FOXHOUND unit dedicated to neutralizing threats. Raiden has returned to a life of domestic tranquility with his wife Rosemary, and is still close with Otacon (and his adopted daughter Sunny), and Meryl, who now works as an intelligence consultant. Lyra Marin (AKA Vapor Snake) still serves as the Secretary of Peace, and still commands Zax's secret unit. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the world (it's quickly confirmed that Metal Gear Solid and Blackheart do indeed take place in the same world, no dimensional shenanigans here, and the game actually does quite a good job of explaining how the events of both games could've taken place alongside one another, though there are a few little handwaves here and there that the game asks the player to ignore), Sadira Blackheart and her wife, Mariska "Messiah" Zobrist, are still married and still together as a twisted, messed up couple who go around stopping evildoers together, though occasionally they still work against one another (think Mr. and Mrs. Smith, except Sadira and Messiah are into that shit). The main plot begins with Raiden, reluctantly called back into service to stop an assassin who turns out to be Sadira, a mission which eventually is connected to the activities of Zax's FOXHOUND unit and Sadira's efforts to stop a series of strange and highly illegal weapons components from being delivered to a series of straw purchasers. The game's first mission has the player controlling Raiden, while the game's second mission switches to Messiah, a much more conventional-style mission in which Messiah is infiltrating a base full of fugitive militia men turned terrorists, eventually tracking down the leader, who worked under Slagg in Metal Gear Solid IV. Messiah's mission segues straight into Sadira's first mission, in which Sadira eventually captures Lyra, this mission segues right into mission four in which Zax tries to rescue Lyra and eventually meets and teams up with Messiah and Raiden for a spectacular boss fight against a prototype Metal Gear. Mission five starts out with Sadira attempting to interrogate Lyra, who goes full Vapor Snake, leading to a ferocious one-on-one boss fight at the start of the mission which leaves both women injured and exhausted, but also gives both of them the respective answers they want. Lyra, still committed to being an agent of peace and living up to her mother's legacy, refuses to fight Sadira any further, while Sadira, respecting Lyra's fighting skills and courage, backs down, and the rest of the mission sees her using the information she got to learn a great deal about another Metal Gear being constructed. The sixth mission gives the player control of Zax once again, who works with Messiah on tracking down some more information about the new Metal Gear. Eventually, the two of them reunite with Lyra, and also with Sadira, who Zax attacks until Messiah convinces both of them to back down. The seventh mission has Messiah take over, and she and Sadira work together briefly before she goes to find Raiden to pass along more information, eventually leading to the capture of Messiah and Raiden both. Mission eight is primarily an escape mission in which Raiden has to free himself and rescue Messiah, only for Sadira and Zax to both arrive separately, causing all hell to break loose. We're then formally introduced to the game's villain, a figure who was previously mentioned and at times seen in shadow or heard in vague dialogue: a man who calls himself Material Snake, and who has Solid Snake's appearance and voice (giving David Hayter a chance to be in the game in another badass role). Material Snake, who was cloned from Solid Snake as part of the FOXHOUND project, is attempting to create something known as Metal Gear SHADOW, which can control the minds of others to do its bidding, and which Material Snake plans to use to create an army of obedient soldiers. He tests the technology, and it's able to take over the minds of Zax and Sadira, forcing Raiden to fight Zax and Messiah to fight Sadira. Mission eight ends with a boss fight between Raiden and Zax, which Raiden barely wins (but Zax escapes), and Mission nine, in which the player controls Messiah, begins with a fight in which Messiah must defeat Sadira. Even if the player wins, Messiah can't bring herself to finish Sadira off, and is captured, and must use Messiah's empathic abilities to get through to Sadira to break Metal Gear SHADOW's control on her mind. Messiah is able to do so, but Sadira is left a badly injured and broken mess, and Messiah must get Sadira to safety, then the mission concludes with her tracking down a possible way to block Metal Gear SHADOW's hold on people. Mission ten gives the player control over Raiden, who must catch up with Zax before he completes his programmed mission of slaughtering Raiden's loved ones: Rosemary, Otacon, Sunny, and Meryl. Fortunately, Raiden is able to stop Zax and break the hold over his mind, and mission 11, in which the player controls Zax, sees Zax and Raiden teaming up to inflict a crippling blow on Material Snake's plans. Finally, mission 12 sees Sadira recover from her injuries, and after learning that Messiah has been seemingly killed, goes on a roaring rampage of revenge in order to save her, only to learn that Messiah is very much alive and has been deep undercover, gathering the final piece of the puzzle and the component to break Metal Gear SHADOW for good. Mission 13 sees the four teaming up in a raid on Material Snake's compound to stop Metal Gear SHADOW once and for all, and the final boss fight against SHADOW has four phases, in which the player can choose which order to have the four take down the robot. We even see Vapor Snake show up to land a final blow on Material Snake, allowing the four heroes to finish off SHADOW once and for all. With SHADOW defeated and the world saved, the heroes part with one final goodbye, which, consistent with the tone for both series, has plenty of in-jokes and references and gives all four characters a chance to shine.
Released for the Reality, Virtua, and Nexus in August 2018, Metal Gear Black is extremely well received by critics, who praise the game's near perfect blend of the lore, playstyle, and tone of both franchises, calling the game a worthy follow up to Metal Gear Solid IV AND Blackheart: Lucky 7. As one of the most highly anticipated crossover games of all time, hype is through the roof, and it would become one of the year's fastest selling titles at the time of its release, trailing behind only Madden NFL 19 in overall sales during the month of August. While considered a one-off event at the time, the success of the crossover leaves many wondering if Ubisoft will go back for another try. Another Blackheart game is already in production, however, while there are also tentative plans for a new Metal Gear. The Blackheart game would come first, in 2020, while the next Metal Gear, which would focus entirely on Zax and have somewhat of a blend of FPS and stealth elements, would be released in 2021. The second crossover would follow both, and both it and the next Metal Gear would be beyond the scope of this timeline, but rest assured that both games would share much of the success of their predecessors, and that, despite whatever misgivings one might have about Ubisoft, the Metal Gear franchise is in much better hands than it is IOTL.
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Other Significant Titles For August 2018:
Drone Pro-Am: Developed by a small but talented team at Rare, this Reality exclusive game takes the simplistic fun of the RC Pro-Am series and modernizes it for the modern remote controlled drone circuit, allowing players to create, purchase, and fly their own drones in races on a variety of courses based on real life drone racing circuits. The game itself does an excellent job of simulating modern drone racing, and even features realistic commentary, while also featuring a robust campaign mode in which the player starts out in a garage with some spare parts and can rise to become the world champion of drone racing. An outstanding effort by Rare, the game enjoys excellent review scores and only slightly less excellent sales figures.
Sonic Rockets: A Sonic spinoff title for the Gemini, this game is less a platformer and more of a flight-based Sonic game in which Sonic and friends fly on miniature rockets through courses filled with enemies and hazards, based on classic Sonic stages and featuring classic enemies. It wasn't hyped as much as most Sonic games usually are, and was noticeably absent from the Virtua-focused E3 presentation (though it did have a heavy presence at Apple's booth, and was extensively covered by game news websites for months), it actually enjoys fairly solid sales thanks to strong reviews for the game's graphics and gameplay. Those expecting another Sonic platformer on the Gemini are a bit disappointed, but for fans of the franchise itself, it's a pretty fun diversion.
The Whisper In The Trees: A horror themed game for the Google Nexus, this game is a somewhat narrowly themed title, and in it, a man must rescue his wife after he witnesses her being dragged off into the woods by a terrifying humanoid monster. The game mostly focuses on the man's pursuit of the monster, and the strange psychological phenomena it leaves in its wake as he gets closer to it. A short game, but a very good one, and a lot different from many other horror games on the market, it has the feel of an indie game but has a bigger budget and some of the Nexus' best graphics to date. It achieves decent sales.
Resident Evil: Mansion: The other big horror game of the month, and obviously a much bigger one, Resident Evil: Mansion is one of two remakes of the original Resident Evil set for release over a 12 month period. The one coming in 2019 is a full-on remake of the original game, much like OTL's remakes, but this is more of a "gaiden/what if" title, and asks the question "what if, instead of STARS coming to the mansion, it's a young civilian woman, and slightly different things happened?" The result: a game that actually turns out to be extremely good, as the compelling new protagonist, with little in the way of survival skills, must survive even worse horrors than the STARS team from the original game, giving the player a much greater sense of dread and foreboding. The game actually starts off with the exact same mansion layout and events, so for players familiar with the first title, it's somewhat comforting... then things start changing and you no longer have the gift of familiarity. With some of the most terrifying scares in a Resident Evil to date, and a protagonist who proves to be quite interesting despite her lack of survival skills (we learn about her throughout the game, and as it turns out, she has a great deal of hidden abilities that come out the more the player progresses), the game proves to be both a critical and commercial success, paving the way for next year's remake.
Rise A Knight: Avarice: THQ's latest spinoff in the acclaimed Rise A Knight series of RPGs is another open world role playing epic about a customizable protagonist who must defend his realm from invaders seeking gold and treasure, forging alliances and discovering hidden artifacts to increase your chances of survival. It's very much inspired by the struggles between the indigenous civilizations of the Americas and the invading conquistadors, with numerous parallels drawn. Overall, the game is a decent RPG, and fans of the series do enjoy it, but it's a bit of a disappointment, lacking the epic scale of previous games in the series (particularly the mainline titles). THQ would put Rise A Knight on the backburner for a while as they tried to figure out a new direction for the series.
Starlink: Battle For Atlas: Ubisoft's space-themed open world game comes to TTL, with two major differences from the OTL game: the first big difference is the lack of physical components, with no ship models to buy: while there's DLC, none of it is physical, and there's a much more organic feel to the acquisition of new ships and weapons. Secondly: no crossovers, including with Star Fox like in the OTL game. Due to the lack of physical components to purchase, the game actually succeeds slightly better ITTL, but unfortunately, sales still do eventually fizzle out, and the game is considered a failure, though not to the same degree as OTL.
