At least there aren't any videos this week (gaming thread)

Typical post E3 lull but there were a few things. Apple added a notch in their hamfisted treatment of gaming by pulling wargames that had a Confederate Flag and WB pulled sales of the PC port of Arkham Knight.

There won't be a gaming post next week as I get to spend a bunch of time with my parents in the same car as we head down south to a family gathering for the Fourth of July. If I'm lucky, I'll get blown up by a firework

Also when writing, remember to save often

Apple has a long and storied past of not getting it when it comes to denying games and censoring stuff so them pulling any game with the Confederate Flag didn't surprise me. These are the same people who initially denied HexWar from releasing their Tank Battle: East Front 1941 game because it is Nazis against Russians. Heck, this past week wasn't even the first instance of a flag tripping up game developers in releasing a game on iOS as they denied Pacific Fleet because it had the IJN flag to signify the frigging Japanese Navy. I mean, Hello. So if you've been paying any attention, it shouldn't have surprised anyone

Frankly, everything comes back to the lack of anything in concrete in what devs can and cannot have in their games to pass cert. Having a big marketplace ran on feelings and arbitrary rules that change day by day is madness. And they can claim all they want in not caring about gaming on iOS but they're full of it just on the basis of how much money is in it. Even someone of Apple's size can't just not notice the $20b and rising market with them collecting the lion's share. That being said, consumers don't care as the games that get gummed up in the works are stuff that isn't going to be in any of the top revenue lists as these devs are just filling a niche. All the while devs have to walk a fine line to not upset Apple. And it's not like devs can just focus more on Android over iOS as Android owners don't spend money on gaming (they just pirate it as it's very easy to do). And until Apple actually makes stuff clear cut, it's horrible dance that devs must endure.

Big kudos for Ultimate General for milking the situation for all it's worth in getting sales for their game. When people read the story, all the focus was on Gettysburg and it shot their game into the top 20 on Steam for full price (not bad considering it was down to $3.50 during the Steam sale).
HexWars HexWars Hexwars. This was the third game of yours that you had trouble with and you once again failed to capitalize on earnings potential from controversy. When you are given an opportunity, you really need to use and abuse it.

Two games in a row, WB have shit the bed when it comes to PC ports. Mortal Kombat X has been broken for over 2 months now with just now an end in sight as High Voltage have been taken off the project to be replaced by QLOC who has done God's Work in making PC have the definitive release of Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition. Of course, who knows when it will actually be in a playable state but it was a good move.

Considering the awful PC port of Arkham Origins that Iron Galaxy did, I'm still flabbergasted why WB went back with them for one of the premiere titles of 2015 but they did and it's worse than Arkham Origins. That being said, outside of these and their Borderlands 2 port for the Vita (which shouldn't have been tried in the first place), I really like Iron Galaxy but for being at least a year working on the project, I don't know how anyone signed off in releasing in the current state it's in. It's not the worst PC port ever (still think Saint's Row 2 holds that distinction) but it's straight garbage. How they got rain to go in slow-motion when you're physically not in the rain is breathtaking. And...so...much...micro...stutter that it runs like you're running the game in SLI. What can go wrong, obviously went wrong after it was shown last year during the PS4 conference.

• Flatout I just want to say that if you have $12, I implore you to buy the this bundle of zines and books. The Unofficial Guide to Castlevania and Designers & Dragons are extremely solid books but the crown jewel in the bundle in my opinion is all 12 issues of Scroll. Each issue tackles something something interesting be it the history of the Dragon Quest series, the history of seminal Jaleco who pumped out so many games of the 80's & 90's or something very weird like a look at the hugely popular Dating Sim genre. You don't even need to know anything about what Ray Barnholt is writing about going (and considering his writing style, it's for the better as he's very good at getting people up to speed). Straight up, if you like reading, this bundle of books and zines is the best money you can spend.

• I talked about Her Story quite a bit over the months and I have to say that I'm glad that it's an awesome experience. Notice I say "experience" and not game as to call it a game would be stretching the term past it's breaking point. Watching clips of a one man play while picking up keywords to search for more clips isn't exactly "gaming"... at least in my opinion. To say much of anything of the story outside of the general premise of reopening a case of a woman accused of murdering her husband is to say too much. It's very much something that you need to go into cold. By doing so, you're rewarded with some top notch writing as you peel the layers back all acted by one girl who is very believable. And you don't even need caveats of "good for a videogame" as it's legitimately good. Only thing I will say is when you've watch all the clips, you really want more which means it's the right length (5-6 hours) as it doesn't overstay it's welcome. Only thing I can say that I would have liked is they had thrown in some crime scene photos. I personally think it's worth the $6 (it's down to $5 for release week) but it's up to you if you want to take the ride.