53. Poke Poke Literature Club

On this episode of Total Pebble Knockdown:

• Once upon a time, Nathan backed a Kickstarter for a game called Coral Island. Although he did not play the alpha when it released a year ago, he has been playing the early access version that released on Steam and other platforms 2 weeks ago. But it has become evident over 30+ hours that big chunks of the game are not actually developed yet. So, let’s discuss what it does, what it doesn’t do and why Nathan may be stepping away from it for awhile.
• Game length is always a discussion for the gaming community, but rarely do we weigh the difference between quality versus quantity in content. So, let’s talk about that. Why would someone want a 3 hour game over a 300 hour game? Are the empty carbs of open world games really considered game time at all?
• Well, it’s happened: we are now old and are starting to say things like “back in my day.” Here we find ourselves doing so with the way games are made now compared to the past. What changed focus from the early days of video gaming to the present AAA market? Are there limits to nostalgia-based pixel graphics? Where are our priorities now?