Reconnect Recap - w/e 7th September

A weekly recap of some of the best video game articles to feature on Reconnect.

Kia Ora folks

It’s been a busy week for me, not only have I been blitzing through every Becky Chambers Sci-Fi book she’s written but this was the week I finally launched by other newsletter.

Don’t worry I’m not cheating on you, nor will I be reducing my efforts with Reconnect, I simply have always had a lot of thoughts on leadership and getting those thoughts down on paper helps my sanity.

The newsletter is called Barely Managing, it’s a survival guide for new or soon to be managers, If that sounds like your cup of tea please check it out and if you want to share it with your network that would be greatly appreciated.

As always this is the Reconnect Recap where I share a curated list of the best articles to feature on Reconnect in the past week.

This week we’re discussing remakes and demakes, killing your estranged girlfriend, Silksong, Batman and much much more.

Lets get into it!

---

Great Write Ups

• Don’t make me cry: Mindful Gamer explores some of the more tender parts of the Last of Us.

• It takes two brothers: Josef Fares has only made games with two protagonists lending themselves to being the best couch-coop games. Before Split Fiction, It takes Two, and A way out, Fares made A Tale of Two Brothers and ROP and his son huddled around one controller to play it.

• Snaaaaaake!: I’ve never played a Metal Gear, but I find Kojima to be a fascinating person, and the write up, and screenshots, from Scanlines latest peice about the remake has me interested.

• Vroom Vroom: There’s been plenty of long working games developers, and for the most part we know their names. TimeExtension gives us the history on Geoff Crammond, a developer who has worked in the industry for over 30 years, if you like F1 game, you’ve probably played a game he’s touched.

• Drifting among great colours: I’d dabbled with Hyperlight Drifter before, but Margot ‘s review of the title on the SteamDeck has me considering picking it up again, it was a very pretty game.

• Outlaws Remastered: TimeExtension explains that Outlaws' Lead Designer didn’t know about Nightdive's Upcoming Remaster, but is excited.

• New trauma unlocked: Console Creatures looks into the devastating start of Clair Obscure: Exhibition 33 which made me cry.

• Dominating August: The GameDiscoverCo newsletter explains what games did well in August.

• Song of our culture: Video Games Industry Memo explains how we arrived at September 4th where Silksong, a game riding the fastest hype train to ever exist, brought the internet and game store fronts to their knees.

• Double Batman, lots of swear words: 'Why the fuck are we making two Batman games?' former Monolith developer says as TimeExtension looks into the troubled and then canceled Batman open world game.

• Jamming out: If you’ve ever wanted to try game dev, or have dabbled in it in the past it can be quite daunting and you often risk taking on far too large a project as your starting point. José Pérez explains how throwing yourself into the deep end of a game jam is the best way to start, and from personal experience I agree.

• oooooooh!: I’ve had my eye on Öoo for a while now, even though I find it hard to google, and Lucy Yearwood ‘s latest write up on it has me keen to sit down with the partner tonight and check it out.

---

---

Fun Tidbits

• As a committed VS Code fan and someone who uses Godot, this guide on how to make them work together is just want I needed.

• Fallout 1 Reimagined As A 3D Game In New Fanmade Title

• "Lost" Gradius Sequel Nemesis '90 Kai Is Getting A Reissue For The X68000 Z

• OutRun on Game Boy Color

• 'Buzz Bumper' Is A New Pinball-Style Platformer For Your Game Boy Color That's The Opposite Of 'Sonic Spinball'

• The Elder Scrolls III Gets A Companion Title For The GBC

• Turns Out David Hayter Was As Shocked As You About Raiden Being Metal Gear Solid 2's Hero

• The Atari Gamestation Go Launches Next Month

• New Valve trademark for 'Steam Frame', looks like we're getting new hardware

---

Housekeeping

• 🟨 Want to see more? Visit Reconnect and bookmark it, the site is updated multiple times a day.

• ⏰ Missed a previous Recap? Check out the full catalog here.

• ✍️ Like how I write? I occasionally write my own thoughts on the games industry, find those articles here.

• 🦋 On Bluesky? Give me a follow, I share all the best articles on my profile every day, if you’re curious about following more games writers, I’ve made a starter pack so that you can follow all the Reconnect writers in one spot. Not 100% complete yet but I’ll keep adding to it.

• 📘 I pen another newsletter, called Barely Managing, that is a survival guide for new and up and coming manager. Check it out!

• 💸 I develop, and pay for the costs of hosting Reconnect out of my own pocket, and everything I do from managing the site and writing these articles are things in do in my personal time. If you're feeling generous feel free to give me a tip.