Month: October 2020

Space Marshals 3 – Trailer And Release Date

Not quite two weeks ago, ATVG posted news of the third game in Pixelbite’s Space Marshals series. At the time, the studio had still not released an official logo for the game, and so I recycled a stunning mix of art and creativity that ATVG’s art department had come up with back in January.

Impressive, right?

As you can see above, Pixelbite now has an official banner for Space Marshals 3, taking the pressure off my artists to create another original masterwork, and allowing them to go back to doing whatever it is they do in that dark room with their incense and whisky.

Not only is there now an official banner, but also a trailer and a release date – November 5th.

Hit the Continue Reading button below to check out the trailer.

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Space Marshals 3 Should Be Out This Month On Apple TV

When studio Pixelbite made the announcement last week on its blog, it failed to include any sort of logo for the third Space Marshals title. So as you can see above, I sent a brief to The Apple TV Gaming Blog’s art department, and as usual, the crack squad of turtle neck-wearing, whisky-sipping, goatee-stroking deadbeats came through with the goods.

Good job team.

Excited about the tri-quel? Is that a word? It isn’t?

In that case, mash the Continue Reading button below for more made-up words.

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Game Center’s Redesigned Achievements Make Me Want To Achieve Them

Until the recent September update, Game Center’s achievements were little more than just lists of things you’d done in a game, with no design aesthetic at all. After discovering them years ago when I started gaming on Apple’s early iOS devices, I promptly forgot they existed.

I guess I’m the sort of gamer that prefers to play for the fun of the game itself, not driven by ticking boxes in a list. But if I am going to jump through hoops, then I need some visual encouragement, a sense of having collected something for my efforts.

The September update to Game Center definitely fixed that issue.

It’s increasingly difficult to find games nowadays that don’t try to incorporate some sort of card collecting mechanic, and Apple has no doubt taken inspiration from that trend, redesigning Game Center’s achievements as beautiful cards that now exist as happy postcards, momentoes of your journeys through fictional worlds and spaces.

Some developers have put in some real effort, accompanying games with achievement cards that have become beautifully realised must-haves, while others have simply splashed together the same quick run-of-the-mill image to slap onto every one of a game’s achievements.

Hit the continue reading button below to have a look at some examples from both ends the spectrum.

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Trained A Monkey, Cooked A Bat – My First Hour In The Survivalists

Apple Arcade feels as if it’s evolving, and slowly developing an identity, with Apple employing some neat little marketing flourishes to help it on its way.

I love for example, how Arcade is embracing its characters and mashing them together in artworks such as the one above. It makes the service feel cohesive and inviting.

Butter Royale’s characters have been getting Saturday morning-style animations, revealing their backstories on social media. They are well worth seeking out.

Updates continue to come thick and fast, adding new content to existing games, with subscribers effectively holding a never ending season pass to Arcade’s offerings. Little Orpheus, which I finished not long that ago, received one of these updates this week, and I know I’ll head back in sometime, but I don’t know when. Hours are short, games are many.

Today I’ve been distracted by the launch of Team 17’s The Survivalists, which just landed on all the major consoles, PC, and Apple Arcade.

Flip the page to find out how my first hour went (spoiler, it was eventful).

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