| Happy Wednesday, everyone! We're back with another WIRED Games newsletter, because of course we are—it's Wednesday. We have a lovely array of treats on offer for you today! Help yourself, take as much as you like, just try to eat what you take, OK? First, don't miss Julian Chokkattu's review of Nintendo's brand new OLED Switch, which, while it may not have been the "Switch Pro" many of us thought was on the way, it's definitely a pleasant upgrade, and the brighter screen is a welcome improvement. Before you add one to your holiday wish list though, make sure to read the full review to see if you should trade in your existing Switch or Switch Lite for it. Next, in order to combat the issue of hate raiding and bot activity on the platform, Twitch has added a phone verification option to its accounts and given streamers the option to allow only accounts with verified phone numbers to chat or interact with their communities. My colleague Cecilia D'Anastasio has the whole story. It's a start … but a far cry from the real work Twitch needs to do to put a stop to the issues its facing, especially considering some streamers I follow have lambasted the effort as just another way to shift responsibility onto creators by giving them a tool that Twitch itself could use to greater effect. Speaking of services that could do much better at serving their communities, Junae Benne has an excellent story this week (one of two!) about how electronics manufacturers and retailers have essentially left Jamaica to be a tech desert, but Jamaican gamers are persevering anyway and finding ways to get the gear they need to be top-tier streamers, esports athletes, and more. It's a fantastic read about the challenges of being a gamer in a country that big tech doesn't think is worth their attention. Also please check out Mike McClelland's essay on how powerful it can be to visit places in video games that you've been in real life. I'm sure you know the feeling of finding a place you've been in a game with a world map that looks like ours—McClelland did it with his old New York apartment in Spider Man: Miles Morales, and personally, one reason Fallout 3 has a special place in my heart is because it came out and I played it largely while I lived in the Washington, DC, area, where the game takes place. Have you tried it? Let me know at games@wired.com! Now, let's talk about some games you should pick up—or maybe at least consider for the holiday shopping season. First of all, Jennifer Barton has an excellent rundown of coding games for kids, especially young girls. The goal of this new generation of coding games isn't to mindlessly hammer code into kids' brains, but to help them understand how to apply technology to their own interests and passions that may have nothing to do with tech in the slightest. Oh! And while I'm at it, our friends over at Bon Appétit took a look at some great Nintendo Switch games for food lovers, and trust me, they're all excellent games. Finally, but by no means least, please read Junae Benne's second story of the week, about afrofuturism in video games, and one game in particular that I can't wait to play, called We Are the Caretakers. She spoke to the development team behind the game about how they made afrofuturism a central theme in the story of the game, and what it was like to build that game—available now on Steam Early Access mind you—from the ground up. Now then, we have some more amazing things in the works over here, especially for our Twitch channel. I'm dropping a time slot in order to make room for a new streamer coming soon (I hope!), and we're eagerly planning birthday celebrations for WIRED Games, coming later this month. So stay tuned, OK? I'll see you all back here next week. |
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