It's Wednesday, gamers, and you know what that means: It's time for another WIRED Games newsletter! And boy has this past week or so been incredible for games, hasn't it? Last week's Oxenfree II: Lost Signals, which just came out from Night School Studios on Steam, PlayStation, and Switch, is a great example of a game that's worth your time and your money even without the pomp and circumstance of usual big releases. It's excellent, you should pick it up. If you remember, when I was streaming on Twitch (I know, I should get back to that) we played through the original Oxenfree twice, and I'm strongly tempted to fire up the WIRED Twitch channel to play through the sequel. What do you think, should I? Let me know at games@WIRED.com. Let's get started though! First up this week, Ideas contributor Katherine Alejandra Cross looks at the current social media landscape, with Twitter and a bunch of clones that have sprung up with new features and new audiences eager to fix what Elon Musk broke when he took over the platform. She points out that a lot of the people invested in the future of social media could take a lesson from one of the biggest games of all time: World of Warcraft. Namely, the game's dominance in the MMO space and how a world of copycats and competitors sprung up around it, and what the game did (or didn't do) in response. It's a great read. Next up, if you didn't catch Geoffrey Bunting's piece last week about how, when used properly, AI can be used to make the next generation of video games and gaming peripherals more accessible for people who have disabilities (and remember, being able-bodied is a temporary luxury—all of us will likely need some kind of assistive technology at some point in our lives), something I'm happily looking forward to. More games for everyone, including me if I ever suffer an injury or illness that leads to a disability. Also, if you're at all confused about refresh rates and frame rates and what those numbers mean on new generations of gaming monitors, handheld consoles, and other devices, Simon Hill has a great explainer on the topic this week. He explains what 120-Hz refresh rates actually mean, and whether they result in actual in-game improvements that you can see while you're playing. It's not strictly games, but this guide from Omar Gallaga on how to sell your old comics might come in handy for some of you. I don't see myself selling my old comics anytime soon, but that's mostly because they're probably in pretty bad shape. I spent too much time reading my comics and not enough time bagging and boarding all of them for posterity, I'm afraid. Maybe someday some of these will be rare enough to be worth money. What's your collection look like? Also last week, Discord announced a new "family center" set of parental controls and tools for parents worried about who their kids may be talking to on the platform. The platform is excellent for meeting people and having great conversations on a variety of topics, including (and especially) gaming, but we've covered the platform's problems before. Now, wary parents can see the servers their children have joined, who they're talking to, and how often their kids use the service (although what they say, exactly, is still private). Finally, an update from our Gear Team that may be of interest to you: First of all, our rundown of the best TVs (and some helpful buying tips) got some tweaks recently, and as we careen toward the end of the summer and into the holiday shopping season (I know, I know) it might be worth keeping some of those tips in mind when prices start to go back down. Now, on that note, I'm heading out to give Exoprimal a bit more time. I played in a closed beta a while ago and it seemed buggy but fun, and now that it's out, I'm seeing some people picking it up more seriously. Maybe I should give it a try! But then again, there's so much Destiny 2 to play right now, and Oxenfree II, and Dave the Diver … oh well, good problems to have, I guess. See you next week! |
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