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Press Start: a series of unfortunate events

By Owen S. Good
Owen S. Good is a longtime veteran of video games writing, well known for his coverage of sports and racing games.

It may have been the week following E3 but the previews continue to roll in as if the show still is going on. News in the rest of the gaming world didn't take much of a break, either.

Batman: Arkham Knight followed its critically acclaimed reviews on consoles with a complete embarrassment for a PC port, which is precisely not the constituency you want to half-ass it around. The screwup evidently made DriveClub nostalgic for its own botched launch, so it made one last blunder before finally launching the free version promised to Playstation Plus subscribers.

Rust, having randomized everything else about character creation, decided to introduce variable dick length for those wish would hold their manhood cheap. Destiny decided to make a new quest conditional on popping a can of Red Bull (or waiting until after Jan. 1.) Dying Light mercilessly mocked the promotion. Bungie also apologized to diehard Destiny fans for holding out some new content saved for a Collector's Edition reissue, promising they would get it in a digital package later in September.

Well! Did anyone do anything, I don't know, normal this week? Polygon did, with previews galore from E3 (for ReCore, Volume, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and many others.) See our E3 2015 hub for a full list of coverage. Meantime, welcome back to Press Start, a recap of the week in games and gaming culture to get you ready for the one ahead.

Last Week in Five Stories




  1. Whatever happened to Robbie Bach?

    It's been five years since the head of Xbox retired. Now he's back, with a book about his time running Xbox, the errors he made and the lessons he learned.





  2. Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and the end of the beginning

    At E3 2015, we played an hour of The Phantom Pain. It is impossible to disentangle the product from the soap opera drama surrounding it. It feels inextricably like a swan song. And as farewells go, this one looks and feels amazing.





  3. Batman: Arkham Knight is why Steam refunds were so necessary

    "You should never preorder a PC game that's also coming to consoles." That was my first thought when I heard that Batman: Arkham Knight was experiencing serious issues, and that they were serious enough that the developer itself issued a statement. This sort of thing is sadly common for fans of PC gaming, and we should learn by now that buying any PC version of a big-name console game at launch is a high-risk way to spend money.





  4. How Uncharted 4 will give you the freedom to explore Nathan Drake's final journey

    The bleak scenario does have a happy ending that I won't spoil here, but the real takeaway from the demo is the crazy, action-packed chase sequence that Naughty Dog has lovingly crafted. According to lead designer Kurt Margenau, taking the wheel has been a "natural evolution" for the Uncharted series — something they've always wanted to do.





  5. This is the future of first-person shooters, but it's not quite ready for you

    What a difference a plastic rifle makes in virtual reality. This is how I'd love to play all first-person shooters from now on, but it's also completely impractical.


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