The Iterative Digest #90
Purrfect Cat Games, Grand Theft Auto 6, and Blue Light Blocking Glasses.
Hello and welcome to issue #90 of the Digest! This week we dive into eight purrfect titles to accompany you and your feline friend, recent rumors surrounding Grand Theft Auto 6, and whether blue light blocking glasses actually work.
So without further ado, sit back, relax, and enjoy this week’s latest - curated by yours truly! Remember, if you like what you see then don’t forget to share and subscribe. Have a great week!
Last week saw the launch of the open beta for Warner Bro’s new free-to-play crossover fighting game, MultiVersus. Featuring a ton of various characters from Warner Brothers, DC, HBO, Turner Entertainment, and Cartoon Network, the game saw a peak of 140k players, making it the four most popular game on Steam that day.
The Xbox Series X|S will soon be able to boot up quicker, as the engineering team has cut down the animation for cold start-up time. The shorter boot-up time clocks in at ~4 seconds while the original boot animation was ~9 seconds.
Claims have circulated that Grand Theft Auto 6 will feature a female playable character and will take place in an area based on Miami, with Bloomberg stating that the title is “at least two years away.” The game has reportedly been in development since 2014.
Steam has released support for the official NES, SNES, N64, and Mega Drive/Genesis controllers, which currently are only on sale to Switch Online Subscribers. These controllers can be used for titles with a limited number of buttons, including indie titles and retro compilations.
EA is reportedly making a single-player open-world Black Panther game, at a studio led by former Monolith Productions boss Kevin Stephens. The game is rumored to be about the player taking on the “challenges of becoming a new Black Panther.”
Legendary pro skater Tony Hawk surprised fans by turning up unannounced to a video game cover bands gig this weekend. The 900 describes themselves as a Tony Hawk Pro Skater cover band that covers all the bangers from “THPS1” to “American Wasteland.”
You’re a game dev. You’re on the computer constantly. Your eyes are tired. Do you think maybe it’s time to get those blue-light glasses? Well, don’t start shopping for new eyewear just yet. Science says that blue-light glasses may not be effective at preventing eye strain after all.
According to Dr. Mark Rosenfield, a professor at the College of Optometry at the State University of New York who conducted two studies on the effects of the glasses, “the blue-blocking filters have no effect, no significant effect on digital eye strain” according to both studies. “This didn't really come as a major surprise to us,” Rosenfield continues during his interview with NPR, “because there really is no mechanism whereby the blue light should be causing digital eye strain.”
You can read (or listen) to more discussion on this topic here.
August 2nd
Frogun is an old-school platformer that takes inspiration from the PS1/N64 era. Join Renata as she adventures across the world of mystical ruins with the titular FROGUN, a frog-shaped grappling hook that’s also her best friend! It’s grappling onto PC, Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PS5 and PS4.
August 4th
In Camp Canyonwood build and maintain a summer camp, and enjoy the outdoors as you learn to chop, fish, hike, and more while protecting campers from threats both natural and supernatural. Keep an eye camper, as it’ll launch on PC.
August 5th
GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA! Papers Please is coming to mobile devices this August! The game follows you playing as a border guard of a fictional country. To advance you must review documents and make decisions on who is allowed to cross, while slowly taking in the game’s deeply emotional story.
Recipe for Disaster is a management sim that captures the fast-paced drama filled environment of a professional kitchen and dining room. Build your dream restaurant, design menus, and manage staff, all while contending with demanding customers and disastrous situations. It’ll be served up and ready to go on PC!
With the recent success story of Stray, a third-person cyberpunk-style adventure title that lets you see and interact with its world as a lost cat, we thought it would be a great idea to explore eight other titles purrfect for you and your friendly feline family member. These games come from a range of genres, so we hope you find one that’s the cat’s meow! Check them out over on the TIC blog.
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We are The Iterative Collective - an indie games incubator & publisher! Each week, we shed light on the latest gaming trends for all folks interested in the scene by going through a summary of the latest news from the industry as well as promising upcoming game releases! Click to learn more about us below!