“The mid-summer dry spell”? My friend, your naivete is exceeded only by your boorishness. You should be ashamed of yourself! This week is anything but dry. It’s the week of another Steam Next Fest – a period of carefully abbreviated, wishlist-baiting bounty, in which we cram the Maw’s many jaws with demos and playtests.
Claude Guillemot, a notable persona in the video game sector and one of the five siblings who established Ubisoft in 1986, has tragically passed away in an aviation accident in La Baule-Escoublac, France. The incident, involving a Cessna 421 airplane, took place on June 19, 2023, resulting in the deaths of Guillemot and the unrecognized owner of the aircraft.
As per statements from local officials, the Cessna 421, a twin-engine propeller plane, went down while approaching the La Baule airfield. Observers reported that the aircraft made a turn before plunging into a field. The crash caused a fire that engulfed a large area of vegetation, leading to a substantial emergency response comprising 60 firefighters and 30 ambulances. Despite their attempts, search efforts for a possible third victim proved unsuccessful. Flags at the La Baule airfield were lowered to half-mast to honor the deceased.
At the moment of his death, Claude Guillemot held the position of Chairman and CEO of Guillemot Corporation, which was established in 1985 as a distributor of computing hardware and later branched out into developing gaming and audio accessories. The Guillemot family has retained ownership of Ubisoft since its founding, successfully navigating through difficulties, including a hostile takeover bid and recent organizational restructuring associated with falling sales.
Co-founded by Claude and his siblings, Yves, Michel, Christian, and Gérard, Ubisoft has evolved into a significant force in the gaming world, known for renowned franchises such as Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry. The legacy of the Guillemot brothers persists through their impact on gaming, as Ubisoft continues to be a critical publisher in the international market.
Back when I first tried a G-Sync Pulsar monitor at an Nvidia shindig in February, I clung to the hope that maybe, finally, gaming display tech had made its first real breakthrough in years. Dozens, if not hundreds of samey screens would be revealed as incompetent fools in the searing light of Pulsar’s innovative genius; Nvidia’s own frame generation systems would weep in shame that they once tried to mock up the fluidity and motion clarity that Pulsar could deliver for real.
Now, I have one such Pulsar monitor – an identical 1440p, 360Hz Asus ROG Strix XG27AQNGV to the one from that demo – to test at length, and can at last say with certainty: yeah, s’alright. Pretty decent. Doesn’t make much of a difference in some games but it can look quite nice. Probably too expensive, mind. Why can’t I hear any weeping?
The UK government have announced a ban on social media platforms for British people under the age of 16, encompassing Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and X.com (known hereabouts as MechaHitler.com or Xitter, among other lousy putdowns). The ban is expected to come into force in spring 2027, and will have far-reaching impacts on ye olde videogame discourse, because people do so love to share and talk about games on social media.
The under-16s ban will also directly apply to certain gaming “services”, though prime minister Keir Starmer and his minions have yet to specify which. It won’t, apparently, “affect the ability for children to participate in multiplayer games online”.
Xbox Games Studios boss Craig Duncan and chief of staff Louise O’Connor have left Microsoft, according to reports, with all the studios under Duncan’s watch now operating under Xbox chief content officer Matt Booty until a replacement is found.
“There is a hole in the world,” writes Ursula K Le Guin in The Farthest Shore, “and the light is running out of it.” Alas, The Farthest Shore contains no terrible mechanical instruments of hole-digging. For that, we must turn to MOLE, “a psychological horror experience with tactile simulation elements about madness, faith, and the depths we choose to dig”.
Out now on Steam, it makes me think of Mike Klubnika’s clicky torture instruments, of Iron Lung‘s unseen exteriors, and of Mouthwashing‘s workaday cabin fever. In brief, it seems like an effective delivery system for some extraordinarily bad vibes.
Make a purrfect home
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Saturdays are for realising that there are ASMR playlists for Frictional’s Amnesia games. ASMR playlists, for games that make use of subliminal crackling noises to suggest mounting delirium, and Shepard tones to create the impression that a life-saving generator is always just about to run out of fuel.
What on earth is wrong with you people? And why can’t I stop listening to the Rebirth one? What is it about the sound of a thousand ghoul talons raking a blackboard that goes so well with a bowl of Shreddies? It is too late for me, I fear. Here’s what the rest of the team are up to.
Online play is built around rollback netcode
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Xbox are reportedly closing or spinning off Psychonauts developers Double Fine, Hellblade studio Ninja Theory, and South of Midnight creators Compulsion Games, as Microsoft commence efforts to yet again “reset” their billion dollar gaming business after already laying off thousands of staff, cancelling games, and closing several studios over the past couple of years.
