By Ronald Gordon 

Hello and welcome to the Roundup, where we gather up the articles of our Interns and Members and give them the recognition that they deserve! Summer is coming to an end and with, that the experiences we’ve had are closing as well. I had an amazing time this Summer, especially after my first ever Flame Con, which you can read about on the site! Enough about me, this week we’ve got news of our newest intern Aeth, Dustborn and the empathy it brings, recent rocky roads for Concord and Xbox, Black Ops 6 already being hectic, and so much more! 

First and foremost, let’s all give a warm welcome to our newest intern Aeth Finch! As a High Schooler who grew up with technology and gaming, Aeth is looking for an impact to make on the world, and now he has his chance. “Overall as a kid, it always felt like I had a deep connection to technology and digital media, and as the time went on, this connection grew more and more. A few years later, I got a PlayStation 4, and a phone. This not only strengthened my connection to technology, but led to my love of gaming.” His love of gaming led him down the road to writing, which helped him win our Minecraft Writing Challenge this year. He earned not only prize money, but a spot amongst our Interns, and we couldn’t be happier to have him. Welcome to the Circle, Aeth!

For The New York Times, founder Harold Goldberg talks to Xalavier Nelson Jr., a developer who’s shaken up the market with his outrageous ideas through the company Strange Scaffold. Harold describes Nelson as “a fearless experimenter with a talent for narrative.” Which is true considering he’s the brains behind bizarre titles such as Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator, An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs, and the most recent oddity Clickholding. After an interview with Nelson, Harold writes “Nelson has thrived in a world where the indie studios behind a buzzy game can struggle to create successful follow-ups. He demystifies the gamemaking process in TikTok videos, in which he recently observed that the industry views efficiency and quality as opposing forces — that good games require years of development. Strange Scaffold exists to challenge that mind-set, he continued. Its motto is “Better, Faster, Cheaper and Healthier.” He emphasizes the idea that Strange Scaffold is unlike any developer out there, hoping to bring newer games that are not only fun for the player, but easier on the developer when it comes to the creation process. Strange Scaffold’s new game, I Am Your Beast, is a self proclaimed fast-paced covert revenge thriller FPS which seems to feature wacky antics and even crazier kills, which sounds a lot like my cup of tea! It drops next week!

“In Dustborn, the saying, ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me’ is turned upside down, taking players into a future where language is not just communication but a formidable force of change.” That’s Khloe taking no time talking about the most important aspect of Dustborn, using words as more than just figures of speech. She says, “Developed by Red Thread Games, this single-player action-adventure game redefines how we perceive words. In Dustborn, communication becomes a weapon, a shield, and a means of survival in a fractured, dystopian society.” Dustborn brings a new but familiar look at the story of combatting a dystopia, as Khloe writes, “Dustborn echoes Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 book, exploring censorship and the power of language. Just as Bradbury’s novel critiques a society that burns books to suppress dissent, Dustborn depicts a world where controlling language and information drive the struggle for resistance and freedom.”

As a longtime fan of the Xbox console, with it being the first real console I had all to myself, Juan Guzman of The Iron Lords’ article on The Xbox Erosion, and their console’s future offered a look at the projected future of the console. Doubt first arose when Black Myth: Wukong wasn’t released for the Xbox Series consoles, driving many fans to wonder what sort of deals could be happening behind the scenes. “Recent allegations have surfaced that the exclusivity deal for Black Myth: Wukong between Game Science and Sony was kept secret, possibly misleading the public into believing it was an issue with Xbox hardware. This has only fueled the frustration among Xbox fans. They feel that porting Xbox games to other platforms indirectly supports Sony’s exclusivity deals which in turn hurts Xbox customers.” Xbox and PlayStation have always been at odds when it comes to console exclusives, with some of the greatest belonging to PlayStation and Xbox only having a few well known titles (although that’s an arguable statement. Don’t ‘at’ me).

Alyssa Mercante finds herself stuck in Black Ops 6, and the infuriating joy it can bring. Black Ops 6, the most recent installment to the long running Call of Duty franchise, has rocked the internet thanks to footage from its closed multiplayer beta. The game is a different beast, redefining how players can engage in warfare with one another through the use of movement. Warning potential players of these changes Alyssa writes, “The sixth installment in the long-running Activision sub-franchise is faster than ever before, and full of players who have already gotten the brand-new omnimovement system down to a science, which means every match goes one of two ways: fun or frustrating.” Which is a much-needed signal to those who might jump into the game when it launches. Alyssa does talk about the joy it brought her during her playtime, as she goes onto mention how good the new movement actually feels, stating, “All of this is done without any involved or laborious animation, and trust me, you’ll notice how fast and seamless this is—after going through a quick tutorial on the movement system, I found myself sliding and diving all over my first match with ease, as if I’d been doing it for years. The fact that omnimovement feels naturally baked in already is a testament to Treyarch’s tremendous work—it’s hard to imagine any future Call of Duty game without it.” 

Giovanni Colantonio got his hands on the new Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom demo, the first LoZ game to feature Zelda as the main playable character instead of Link. “The only constant in the Legend of Zelda series is change.” Giovanni starts off with a very true statement; Legend of Zelda has reached a state where each new game is almost expected to be different than the last, and that’s a great thing! With Zelda as the focus, one might wonder what makes Echoes of Wisdom so different from any other top-down LoZ game, and the main thing is its approachability. Giovanni explains, “By the end of the demo, I’m solving puzzles and beating bosses in ways that go against the most obvious solutions. It’s the same small thrill I get whenever I complete a shrine in Tears of the Kingdom in some inventive way. Where Echoes of Wisdom feels more approachable is that it doesn’t require players to engineer machines to achieve that. Summoning is a quick process that makes trial and error easy. Echoes aren’t resources that go away either, so there’s no punishment for experimentation.”

Beyond the Circle

Concord, Sony’s attempt at a hero shooter like Overwatch or Marvel Rivals, is dead in the water. Confirmed on the official blog for everything PlayStation, Concord will be shutting down its online servers and issuing refunds to everyone who has purchased the game thus far. Considering there wasn’t much positive reception around Concord since its launch, and that its player count has only dropped since launch day, it’s no surprise that Sony is making the decision to pull the plug. What is surprising is the sudden turn around on refunding players who purchased Concord, which is a move that doesn’t happen very often within the industry. While it is sad that Concord never really got to show off everything it had after the years of development, it at least serves as proof that fans won’t just play anything, and there should be at least some form of attention paid towards what gamers want. 

Ronald Gordon is a New York Videogame Critics Circle Member & Mentor. He was the first of our writers – or any intern anywhere – to complete an internship at Rockstar Games.

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