I think I’m on the cutting edge of game releases, mostly focused on indie games. I have a huge Steam collection. This is also my nerd hobby.
Im subscribed to a bunch of game sales (like isthereanydeal) and casually browse steam pages every few days. I often play a genre then search for “games like X”. Lately it was metroidvania games. I found a game called Rabi-Ribi, which looks really uncomfortable to play. But the reviewers said to skip the dialog and ignore the loli, because it has really strong game mechanics. (And it does!)
Searching for indie games using steamdb with under 5000 reviews (lately I’ve been searching for games under 500 reviews), and checking them out.
I also make indie games as a hobby (nothing fancy!), so I like to look for inspiration from other indie game developers.
Lastly, Rock Paper Shotgun or Giant Bomb covers any big budget games I should know about.
I bought the DLC a month ago and chip away at the game whenever the kids are asleep. I’ve spent 80 hours already and nearing the finish line. It’s crazy.
I was in middle school when I had fond memories of gaming mags, and that’s probably when I was the most infatuated by the publications.
And by high school (2000s) it was getting weird and slowly dropping off.
At some point was the whole Kotaku gamergate BS and completely checked out of gaming news because it wasn’t just weird, but then it got real racist/sexist.
I remember absolutely being a fanboy in the 90s. It was so much better than it’s rivals like EGM and GamePro.
But around 2005, either I aged out of it or the magazine got worse. Then I remember GameStop giving it for free at some point. I just remember it being a shell of a shell of a magazine, as the rest of the gaming industry moved to gaming blogs.
The Microsoft Store and how to redeem games is so mind-numbly stupid. GamePass wowed me with their library and the subscription service. But how they do everything, from DRMing their games in a absolute mindfuckery app folder, to locking it into your Microsoft account and ecosystem, was so frustrating. Modding? Eat a Microdick. Hell, save files don’t even transfer between Steam and Microsoft GamePass games because FUCK YOU PLAYERS.
I’m glad Steam was extremely proactive at moving off of Windows.