A mystery source leaks Nintendo's secrets and Domino's dunks on Halo
The "Midweek Miscellaneous" link-dump has arrived
[Hi, I’m Chris Plante, and you’re reading Postgame, a newsletter collecting the best games, stories, and videos in the video game community into one welcoming package every Wednesday and Sunday morning. Learn more on the Postgame About page.]
If you reached the end of Sunday’s Postgame, you found a brief note from me on “readability.” And if you didn’t make it to the end, well, that gets us to the same point.
This newsletter is meant for everybody, which means it should be readable in that window of time between your smartphone alarm clock going off and you actually getting out of bed. To keep the Sunday edition from becoming unwieldy, I’ve decided to do a low-lift Wednesday edition, too.
I have my real job, a family, and a couple of side hustles, so I can only work on the newsletter after my son goes to sleep or early in the mornings. For that reason, and for my mental health, these midweek issues will be more of a link dump without as much of my own criticism.
Seen anything that would be good for the newsletter? Share it with me at @plante.
Some of Nintendo’s oldest secrets (and Luigi) are being leaked onto the internet
Massive Nintendo leak reveals early Mario, Zelda, and Pokémon secrets
Patricia Hernandez via Polygon
Patricia answers the big questions, like: What is the leak? Where did it come from? Why is it controversial? And what exactly have people found within this humongous archive of data?
The sheer amount of information coming out of the aptly-named “Gigaleak” is hard to keep track of. But some of the most interesting findings have to do with unused models, sprites, levels, and more.
In a strange twist, the leak has revealed the authorial intent behind some of the most trivial (but important to hardcore fans) details of Nintendo classics.
Apparently, for example, Super Mario World contains assets where it appears Luigi gives the player the middle finger. […] We’ve got further confirmation that Mario is absolutely punching the hell out of Yoshi to elongate his tongue, too.
It's true: Luigi really is in Super Mario 64, and fans are thrilled
Mike Fahey via Kotaku
Mario 64 was supposed to have multiplayer. Mario and Luigi running about together in three dimensions was supposed to be a thing, but as Mr. Iwata and Mr. Miyamoto discussed in 2009, Nintendo wasn’t able to pull it off back then.
The Truth about that Nintendo 64 Leak
Modern Vintage Gamer via YouTube
Modern Vintage Gamer explains why the Nintendo leak is and isn’t as important as the social media reaction suggests.
Xbox showed Halo Infinite and feelings are… mixed
We should talk about how Halo Infinite looks
Wesley Yin-Poole via Eurogamer
Halo is an OG Xbox Game, so its designs come from a time when you couldn't adequately represent the human body and faces and details - Master Chief's whole design is a response to the fact you can't make people look anything else but blocky. It's why he wears armour that makes him look like luggage. The problem is, when 343 take designs from this era and render them with the fidelity possible on modern hardware, you get an art style that's weird and theme-parkish. It's like characters from Halo dressing in Halo-themed monkey suits.
A new challenger appears…
Halo Infinite looks like classic Halo, for better or worse
Patricia Hernandez via Polygon
To some degree, the jokes are unfair. The visuals accomplish exactly what they set out to do, which is remind us of classic Halo. We also can’t yet speak to how well the game plays, which is always the most important bit. At the same time, with Microsoft constantly touting that the Xbox Series X will be the most powerful console ever, expectations have been set high for their flagship game. People want to see what the next-gen console can do, especially if they’re going to drop hundreds of dollars for some new hardware. And right now, some fans don’t think Halo Infinite is moving the needle.
Halo Infinite gameplay trailer analysis: Are the graphics really 'flat'...?
Digital Foundry via YouTube
But why does Halo Infinite look like this? The folks at Digital Foundry have the answer.
Digital Foundry is one of my favorite channels on YouTube (they also post stories at Eurogamer, for folks who prefer text). Their band of experts explains the complex world of video game graphics in layperson language.
A Halo fan reacts to the game reveal… LIVE!
ConnerEatsPants via Twitch
Halo games used to be slow. Like, sloooooooooooooooow.
Some hardcore Halo fans prefer the movement of the early games in the series in which lead beefcake Master Chief can’t sprint. Instead, he casually walks through the world, killing everything in sight like a hybrid of a slasher movie villain and the embodiment of the military-industrial complex.
I find this limited movement excruciating, but hey, I’m no Halo expert. Here’s the full Twitch stream of Halo-fan ConnerEatsPants reacting to the reveal of Master Chief’s walking speed.
If you don’t have time for the full stream, then at least watch this clip.
Halo is important
Noodle via YouTube
This video by Noodle, besides being charmingly animated, gets at the emotional appeal of the series from the POV of a mega-fan. Remember: for a chunk of younger millennials and older Gen-Zs, Halo is their Mario.
Welp, time to dust off my coffin.
Halo is a cartoon
Video games are making more money during quarantine, but not in the areas you’d assume
Digital game revenue increased by 9% year-over-year in June
Sam Desatoff via GameDaily.biz
Today, SuperData, the Nielsen-owned games industry analytics provider, released its monthly report detailing sales and trends in the digital market. According to the data, digital games generated $10.46 billion in revenue last month, representing the second-highest total ever; it trails April’s $10.54 billion by a narrow margin.
Overall, digital revenue increased by 3% over May, and 9% over June of last year. It was the mobile sector that did most of the heavy lifting, as both PC and console segments saw slight declines in revenue. While a 9% year-over-year increase is certainly considerable, it’s not quite as high as April’s 17% jump amid COVID-19 lockdown efforts.
A bundle of stories about how games are created, preserved, and enjoyed
If Found’s Llaura McGee on making a Gay AF Trans Game
Autumn Wright via GaymingMag
The credits for If Found are exceptional. The array of indie talent, almost exclusively coming from Ireland’s queer community, is apparent in the game. But this diversity also extends to their workplace. When I asked about assembling the team, McGee expressed a desire to get “away from toxic workspaces where it’s about dominance and showing off.” Using trial periods in each position, the studio looks for who can work together, as artists and people, to take feedback and iterate. Though individual skill became secondary, this was not for a want of talent. “There’s just so many incredibly talented people,” POC and trans people she specifies, “that get shut out for having a non traditional career path.” People McGee ended up working with, and many more that she hopes to work with in the future.
How fan servers are preserving dead multiplayer games
Anthony McGlynn via UppcutCrit
“Given that many kids play this game, safety is our top priority and we’ve gone as far as implementing brand new systems that make the game in many ways even safer than it was when owned by Disney,” he said. “We conduct background checks on every member of our team before they are allowed to join, so that our players and any onlookers at Disney can trust that the game is in good hands.”
Why games can't abandon the HUD
Jenna Stoeber via Polygon
Analysis: Video game commentary
Core A Gaming via YouTube
I want it
The Analogue Pocket
Analogue
Pre-orders begin on Aug. 3 at 9 AM PST. $199.99.
This week on The Besties
Ephemera
50 key anime films
via BFI
This primer on anime is in chronological order, so no need to argue about ranking. From the blurb on Mind Games:
A mind-bending film made by one of anime’s most prolific, prodigious talents, Yuasa Masaaki’s Mind Game defies both categorisation and summarisation. When a manga artist sees his already short, sad life prematurely curtailed, he cuts a deal with higher powers to avoid death. Finding himself thrown into the belly of a whale, he must overcome a series of surreal challenges in order to escape this limbo space and restart his life.
You can watch one of my favorite new shows, also directed by Masaaki Yuasa, on HBO Max. It’s called Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! It rules.
I went to Disney World
Graeme Wood via The Atlantic
The guests have willingly submitted to the authority of the microstate of Disney World, and their submission is total, because they have judged Disney to be a trustworthy custodian of that authority.
Shrek sprites
As Shrek says, “Be an all-star and wear a mask!”