Tech,Space,Gaming, and Science Fiction News to wet your whistle
'Semblance' makes history on the Nintendo Switch on July 24th
Get link
Facebook
X
Pinterest
Email
Other Apps
Semblance, the squashy platformer from independent studio Nyamakop, will hit the Nintendo Switch, PC and Mac on July 24th, 2018 -- a date that will go down in video game history. Semblance is the first South African-developed game to ever make its way to a Nintendo platform, and it comes from a small studio run by designer Ben Myres and programmer Cukia "Sugar" Kimani.
In Semblance, players bounce a purple blob named Squish around 2D, side-scrolling levels, shaping the terrain to create platforms and solve spatial puzzles. Since players actually form the game as they go, Semblance is the world's first true platformer, according to Myres.
After nearly three years of development, Kimani says he's "excited AF" to finally have a release date for Semblance. Now the Nyamakop developers have to wait just a few weeks until their game is out in the wild.
"It'll definitely be tricky not careening off the anxiety cliff face, but we're just going to try and have fun with it," Myres says. "Talk about the game in fun ways and be playful with people who are keen to play -- lots of memes and jokes probably. It's been a long haul to get the game here, so we're mostly just excited to get the game into people's hands."
Semblance wasn't originally designed to be a Switch title, but after Nintendo revealed its new console in October 2016, Kimani and Myres plotted to get on the system. Since there were -- and are -- no big video game conventions or publishers based in South Africa, they bootstrapped their way around the globe to network and show off the game. They ended up demonstrating Semblance to a Nintendo representative outside of a San Francisco restaurant during GDC 2017, and Nyamakop was approved to develop for the Switch on the spot.
Nintendo has been actively courting indie developers to the Switch over the past year, and Semblance is one of many new games made by small teams to hit the system. However, thanks to Kimani and Myres' hustle, it'll be the only game out of South Africa on the Switch or any other Nintendo console.
"You don't have reps that live in your country," Myres told Engadget at E3 2018 in Los Angeles. "The press that matter are all here. There isn't a big enough market locally to sell to, so you have to make works to sell to the West, which means you have to go to Western shows and you have to meet Western press. So basically, if you're not traveling a ton, you're not going to be able to make it."
Note-taking app Evernote has fallen on hard times of late, culminating in its latest spate of job cuts impacting 15 percent of its workforce (54 employees). CEO Chris O' Neil -- an ex-Googler who took the reins in 2015 -- announced the firings at an all-hands meeting earlier today, reports TechCrunch . In a message on the Evernote blog , O' Neill admitted he'd set "incredibly aggressive goals" for the company in 2018. He continued: "Going forward, we are streamlining certain functions, like sales, so we can continue to speed up and scale others, like product development and engineering." The layoffs follow an exec exodus just weeks ago and the company's recent brand refresh (complete with a refined logo and wordmark). But critics are more concerned about its product, especially the free tier, which they claim lacks the perks to...
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter . When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the full article here . After six summers of researching, testing, and recommending window air conditioners, we've learned that quiet and affordable ACs make most people the happiest—and we think the LG LW8016ER will fit the bill in most rooms. This 8,000 Btu unit cools as efficiently and effectively as any model with an equal Btu rating, and runs at a lower volume and deeper pitch than others at this price. Little extra features like a fresh-air vent, two-axis fan blades, and a removable drain plug help set it apart, too. The LG LW8016ER is a top choice for an office or den, and some people will find it quiet enough for a bedroom, too. If our main pic...
Pre-loaded cartridges of cannabis concentrate are currently among the most popular means of consumption, and for good reason. They're discreet to use and easy to handle, a far cry from the dark days of 2016 when we had to dribble hash oil or load wax into narrow-mouthed vape pens by hand. But, frustratingly, an ever increasing number of oil cartridge manufacturers employ one-off design standards so that their products won't work with those of their competitors, thereby locking customers into proprietary ecosystems. We've already seen this with nicotine vaporizers -- which has a seen a massive rise in "pod systems" in the last few years, each outfitted with a unique canister and battery built to be incompatible with those of their competition. Is it too late for the burgeoning cannabis industry to set a universal standard for their product designs? ...
Comments
Post a Comment