We reviewed 12 months full of unforgettable games, announcements of new consoles and platforms, key moments, devastating stories and magical memories.
It has been a year of comings and goings, of good and bad times. Of surprises, exclusive, announcements of new consoles and delays of great games. A year of changes in the digital market, streaming, distribution models and personal freedom. There have been so many stories, news and moments that we do not want to forget, that in FreeGameTips we have prepared a small yearbook with some of the most important. There goes a list with everything we cannot lose. With the topics that have marked 2019 and will surely influence and will continue in 2020. A review of what has been repeated in our headlines and what has most triggered your interest. We wish you a great entry and exit of the year, a happy 2020 and may the next twelve months bring us even more ups and downs, video games and fun.
The war between Steam and Epic Games Store
There have been many alternatives to Steam in recent years, such as Origin, but none has been worthy of being called "competition" and no one has been able to really question Valve's hegemony about the digital market. At least until now. Epic Games has declared war on Gabe Newell's company for its distribution policy and has become the most fearsome rival it has ever faced. Using as backup the money (infinity?) Generated by Fortnite and the Unreal Engine, Tim Sweeney's company has made an important part of the cake based on exclusive and free games. Not only does he give indies practically every week, but titles of the caliber of Borderlands 3, Control, Detroit: Become Human, Journey and The Division 2, among many others, have been appearing before in the Epic store, through books and agreements Temporary exclusivity.
This war between the two services has been full of controversy and has counted on the sabotage of users to some of the games that have agreed with Epic Games. It is the so-called review bombing, which has sprinkled releases such as Metro Exouds. An extreme case was the one that caused the exclusivity of Shenmue 3, which was financed via kickstarter and yet, by surprise, notified its investors of the agreement with Fortnite's parents. The crossings of declarations, the incessant signings and the continuous confrontations in forums, which have brought the console wars of a lifetime to the PC world, have marked 2019. Epic Games is determined that it will not stop giving away free games every week, nor to buy exclusivities, until Steam does not change its conditions and gives developers 88% of the money resulting from each sale (the rest being for the store itself and its distribution). This royalty proposal, far removed from what Valve's platform offers today, which does not give its arm a twist, places the end of the conflict on a very distant horizon.
Google Stadia, the future of video games?
Google's arrival in the video game industry has been one of the most followed topics of the year … and rightly so. The Mountain View giant introduced itself as "the future of video games" and has been the great champion of the streaming game. Its premise was overwhelming: play any game anywhere with Wi-Fi and also do it on any device (a tablet, a computer, mobile …). And above "play it well" (by command and technical level, understand). Without installing or configuring anything. No downtime for menus and settings pages. The idea of the console can not be more attractive and even its price is feasible (129 euros for a Chromecast Ultra, a Stadia remote and three months of Stadia Pro subscription, which includes several titles such as Destiny 2 or Rise of the Tomb Raider) . Too bad that after its launch, on November 19, it has seen a technology as promising … as green today. Many of their games have problems, much of the characteristics of their subscription arrive late and the promised 60 images per second at 4K resolution are not achieved as easily as they claimed (it only required 25 Mbps of internet connection …) . Even so, the beginnings are never easy and we are sure that Google has not said the last word in this matter. It has ahead of 2020 to paddle and catch up before the arrival of PS5 and Xbox Series X. At least he has made decisions about it, such as opening his own video game studio and signing his first exclusives (in the case of Gylt, the new Tequila Works game). As we said, it has been one of the topics that has given more to talk this year … but we are sure that it will give even more of itself in the future.
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X; the future, on everyone's lips
Their respective companies are no longer afraid to talk about them and are gradually sharing more data than the new generation will be. Anticipated by the end of 2020, the duel between PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X seems huge. In recent months they have shown this, with both developers trying to make more headlines than the other. If Sony announced its first exclusive launch (Godfall) at The Game Awards, Microsoft presented the form and final name of the platform. And if Microsoft is committed to continuity in its controls, Sony begins to drop patents and impressions of other studies that speak of substantial and futuristic changes in ergonomics, the touchpad and the back.
For now, from Xbox Series X we only know that it will have a customized CPU based on the Zen 2 and Radeon RDNA architecture of AMD (direct competition from Nvidia itself), which will have an eight times more powerful GPU than that of Xbox One and twice above the one that Xbox One X had, and that will add an NVME SSD with which it wants to significantly cut load times. A cocktail that seeks to offer as a result support for resolutions of 8K, rates of 120 images per second, ray tracing and 120 Hz in games of the caliber of Hellblade 2 or Halo Infinite. And even less is what we know about PlayStation 5, still not presented in society. The only thing we can hold on to is the first thing Mark Cerny, the console architect, commented on her. As he said, he will have an AMD Navi GPU and a custom Ryzen Zen 2 CPU, accompanied by a graphic variant of the Navi family. All seasoned by a series of features that will allow "acceleration of ray tracing in the GPU" and a top-of-the-range SSD that, in its first tests, reducing the loading times of games like Marve's Spider-Man from 15 to 0.8 seconds, what it seems, along with the peculiar Dualshock 5, one of the crucial changes of the next generation.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, GOTY 2019
Even those who didn't have it as a favorite accepted the coronation of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice as Best Game of the Year at The Game Awards. The award felt like a sense of recognition, not only to Sekiro, but also to Hidetaka Miyazaki and all From Software. To his previous works (Demon’s Souls, the trilogy of Dark Souls and Bloodborne) and his enormous legacy. His proposal has marked both players and the industry in general that we are tired of seeing the expression "is the Dark Souls of games …" and similar comparisons. Sekiro has conquered critics and audiences with the features that have made his predecessors great: an exquisite setting and a tremendously deep, technical and challenging gameplay. A challenge to grit your teeth and throw one game after another until you defeat that final boss who resists us. Addictive, long and, in short, tremendously well done. Long live the GOTY 2019.
Passion for remakes … and for Resident Evil
It has been a great year for remakes. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, Virtua Racing … and above all, Resident Evil 2 Remake. All of them have marked differences with the grossest and easiest remastering, causing us to lose our fear of the so-called refried ones. Its developers gradually dare to reimagine the original games and, without losing the essence, polish their weaknesses, add content, expand the story and even update the gameplay. The case of Resident Evil 2 Remake has stood out above all of them and has achieved what seemed impossible: to be better than the original and to live up to the first REmake. Capcom, which continues to show its great fitness, has won the Best Game of the Year award as drafted by FreeGameTips and has given us long teeth for 2020 with that Resident Evil 3 Remake, but all of them and Continuous compliments to them have been one of the most repeated stories of the year in headlines and news.
Half-Life returns; Valve goes to virtual reality
First they were their own VR glasses, Valve Index, and then, the reason to buy them: Half-Life: Alyx. Valve has woken up from the lethargy in which she was mired (she had not launched a game developed by her since 2013) and has also brought an old friend, Gordon Freeman, from the world of dreams. Finally we will have a continuation of the saga that will reinvent the shooter genre, thirteen years after its last installment (Half-Life 2: Episode 2). It is not the expected Half-Life 3, but we all know the mania that Gabe Newell has to that number. The company intends to take a little step beyond the way of conceiving videogames and for this it has moved to virtual reality. A reinvention at the playable level (as the first Half-Life: Alyx trailer demonstrates) and at the technological level (the Valve Index are full of small details and modifications, which are still to be seen if they are worth the 1,079 euros they cost, which include the viewfinder, the controls and two base stations). The awakening of a sleeping giant has alerted everyone and points to 2020.
PlayStation Now arrives in Spain
After years of waiting, Sony dared to take the step and took PlayStation Now to a new list of countries, Spain included. The company's subscription service, now available to everyone, offers access through streaming (or via download) to more than 600 PlayStation 4, PS3 and PS2 games. A proposal for the future that not only offers a real alternative to the absence of backward compatibility of its console, but also allows us to play exclusive exclusive games on PC, such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Uncharted 4. It has a price of 14.99 euros per month (99.99 per year) and has a free 7-day trial for those interested. While it is still rolling, PS Now is called to become one of the great pillars of the brand.
Quantic Dream is again a multiplatform studio
"You won't need a PlayStation to play our games." That lapidary phrase of David Cage has become one of the statements of the year. A phrase that puts an end to the romance between Quantic Dream and the PlayStation brand. A love dive that has lasted more than 13 years and from which three beautiful creatures were born: Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls and Detroit: Become Human. The developer was denounced last year for harassment, abuse of power, homophobia and sexism, being involved in multiple trials in which, even defending her innocence, she has not had the public support of Sony. Therefore, the relationship between the two companies has cooled and Quantic Dream has gone from wanting to be a Sony first party studio to claim its cross-platform status, launching all its latest works in the Epic Games Store, something unthinkable a few years ago. The toughest and most traumatic break of the year.
Activision and Bungie (Destiny) separate
We go from separation to separation. At the beginning of January, Activision and Bungie separated their paths after more than 8 years of relationship and still having signed two others ahead. The commercial performance of Destiny, which was still good, was below the expectations of the distributor; the fall in shares of the latter, in need of money; and the attention and dedication that Activision demanded from its heavyweights (Blizzard and Call of Duty), led to a divorce by mutual agreement. Neither of them seemed too affected and their future remains to be seen, because the decision could have been good for both parties. Of course, Destiny's IP is in the hands of Bungie, who paid 164 million dollars for her and trusts, now that she is free, to be able to work at her pace in the third installment, for which “we will still have to wait” for a a little more.
Labor exploitation in the sector, an alarming reality
One of the most alarming news in the industry in 2019 has been the number of crunch cases that have been released. We understand by "crunch" the labor exploitation that forces the members of a video game company to work above the stipulated hours to meet the deadlines. This year we have had cases like Mortal Kombat 11, whose developers have had to do between 90 and 100 work hours per week. But they have not been the only ones. Similar situations have also come to light in companies such as Rockstar (which did not pay and promulgate the culture of fear), Epic Games (with 70 hours a week), Naughty Dog (where days of more than 14 hours were reported in the office) and Telltale Games (which ended up closing for the happy crunch). Although some companies have taken steps to combat it, many continue to see it as a usual and necessary practice in the sector. Hideo Kojima himself published in his networks that "the crunch phase" began a few months before the release of Death Stranding, as he says "postproduction begins." Stress, salary instability and family uprooting are some of the consequences of a serious problem that must continue to raise awareness and combat.
Video game addiction is a mental disorder
At the end of May, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) in which video game addiction was first recorded. The so-called “gaming disorder” is included in the section on “mental, behavioral or neurological development disorders” and goes right after the “gambling disorder” (the gambling disorder), with which it shares definition and vocabulary, only replacing the word “ gambling ”(gambling) for“ gaming ”. According to the WHO, addiction leads to an "increased desire to play and the degree of priority given to play in relation to other interests and daily activities." Video games occupy a growing role in the lives of people addicted to them, who do not stop or rest despite the appearance of negative consequences in their day to day. For your diagnosis to be valid, some of the symptoms of this behavior must be manifested constantly for 12 months, a period of time that can be reduced if these symptoms are severe. Unlike crunch, many companies have been sensitized to the matter and have begun to take action, having available until a first academic test with which to consult our level of addiction and see what kind of measures we can take in this regard.
The consolidation of Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft made its strategy very clear at the beginning of the year, when it said it wanted to become "the video game Neflix." For this, the Redmond company has launched two plans: Xbox Game Pass and Project xCloud, its streaming service. Although the latter still has a long way to go, the former has already established itself as one of the best contributions ever made to the video game industry. In 2019, Xbox Game Pass has expanded its borders and made the leap to PC, where it slowly begins to offer the spectacular catalog available on the console. There it has more than 100 titles to its credit, including from day one all the exclusive launches of the platform. In addition, the service has also been merged with Xbox Live Gold, being able to sign up for both subscriptions for only 12.99 euros. That is, three euros more. Even though there is competition (EA Access, Uplay + and, saving distances, PS Now), today no other service has such an updated and recent library. It has never been so cheap to play so many different games.
Xbox exclusives make the leap to Nintendo Switch
More than one would have laughed a couple of years ago if we had told him that Microsoft was going to start publishing his games on Nintendo consoles … but that's exactly what happened. Phil Spencer and company gave Cuphead and Ori and the Blind Forest a green light to go out on Nintendo Switch. In a policy of unprecedented opening in the company, two of the most exclusive indies of Xbox One changed system and also triumphed in the hybrid of the joy-con, in which they fit like a glove. A movement with which Microsoft got the unanimous applause of the community and that has also made him win the favor of Nintendo and the studios that created both games. The company is increasingly expanding and erasing borders, having also taken Xbox Live to other consoles and mobile devices. His image washing for the new generation has been total and it remains to be seen what fruits he gathers from him soon.
Nintendo Switch Lite, the first Switch review
28% smaller than the original, 31% lighter, without connection to the TV and only for use in portable mode, a longer battery life, joy-con that do not separate and have no vibration or motion sensor. .. This is Nintendo Switch Lite, the first review of the Nintendo hybrid, which came out last September 20 at a price of 220 euros. In yellow, gray and turquoise, it is a much more compact and durable version, designed for those who only use it outside the home or away from their main television.
Metroid Prime 4 restarts its development and starts from scratch
Announced in E3 2017 and labeled "smoke" for years, many are the ones who feared the worst with Metroid Prime 4 … and many are the ones who got it right. Nintendo had to go out this year to confirm that the development had gone through a lot of problems and had ended up preventing the game from reaching the minimum quality required by the company. The project has been restarted and has started again from scratch, although this time at least it has been done in the hands of a study according to the prestige of Samus, Retro Studios (responsible for the Metroid Prime saga). The situation, caused by the continuous demands of the fans, who kept asking for information about the project, brought out the colors to Nintendo so much that it has further reduced the distance between its Direct's announcements and the launch dates. It is difficult for us to go back to see cases such as those of Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3 and Pokémon Sword and Shield, which are advertised with a logo and mysteriously disappear. A rectified in time that guarantees Nintendo Switch a new exclusive of quality and the franchise a delivery worthy of its legacy.
Reggie Fils-Aime retires
This year has also been the retirement of Reggie Fils-Aime, one of the best known and loved personalities of the video game industry. President of Nintendo of America since 2006, Reggie had been in the company of the plumber for more than fifteen years, throughout which he has given himself with devotion to the community and participated in all his memes and jokes. The mythical phrase "My body is ready" will continue to be the most repeated of each next edition of E3. He has been one of the people who has worked the most in this industry and has given us some of the most iconic images in his short history. From now on, Reggie will teach classes on "leadership, conscious capitalism and services" at the prestigious Cornell University, being replaced in office by Doug Bowser. Never a last name came so well to a job.
The last goodbye to PS3, PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS
It was to be expected, because at the end of the day we have the new generation just around the corner, but it does not stop giving us a little shame (for the good times we spend with them) that Sony and Nintendo are saying goodbye completely PS3, PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS. In 2019 the first two disappeared from PlayStation Plus, which no longer gives free games for them, and the last one lacks the “next releases” section on its calendar, something that had not happened in its eight years of life. In addition, PlayStation Vita has also completely ceased its production this year, something that the others had already done previously and confirming that we must get to the idea that they are heading for their disappearance.
An E3 without Sony is not the same
And we don't say it, says Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division. For the first time in more than a decade we ran out of Sony's conference at E3 and everything had a more muted color. Less pressure for other companies, less time and space on screen to see and talk about games, less spicy in forums and networks … Nor were rumored alternatives, such as a PlayStation Experience, and we have had to settle for three State of Play distributed throughout the year that, why lie, have known little. The Japanese company is focused on the development of PlayStation 5 and has wanted to take a “sabbatical year” on PS4, with which it has still fulfilled and guaranteed several farewell gifts: Death Stranding, The Last of Us 2, Dreams and Ghost of Tsushima, to whom for some time we believed a mirage. The absence of Sony has become palpable throughout the year and his return with charged batteries and a good bag of games and news seems to 2020 by something like the arrival of Gandalf in The Two Towers.
Sony and Microsoft pull books and buy studios
With PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X planned for Christmas of 2020, the exclusive games of each console will be one of the main reasons for decanting the balance of many undecided consumers. That's why the more there are, the better. Sony and Microsoft are aware of this and both companies have increased their workforce again this year. In the case of Sony, to take over Insomniac Games, the creators of Resistance, Ratchet & Clank and the recent Marvel's Spider-Man. In Microsoft, to add Double Fine (Psychonauts, Brütal Legend and Broken Age), which arrived a few months after the purchases of Obsidian (Fallout: New Vegas, The Outer Worlds) and inXile Entertainment (Wasteland). Both have looked sideways to the contrary and have chosen to scratch their pockets to make an effort for the future.
Blizzard erupts
All those who disappointed the Blizzcon 2018 have had to give up before the last edition of the event. In just a couple of days, the developer justified the absence of last year's news based on announcements and new developments. Overwatch 2 (with campaign mode and compatibility with the first delivery), Diablo 4 (with a "totally changed" fault and Diablo 2 as a reference), date for the remake of Warcraft 3 and expansions for World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, Starcraft 2 and Heroes of the Storm. The company stoned all its followers in content and its future is more optimistic and bright than ever. What a way to redeem yourself! One of the biggest celebrations of all its franchises that are remembered and one more reason to pilgrim every year to California to attend the great party of the developer of Irvine.
The year of Keanu Reeves
It was he who won the prize for the best of E3. Keanu Reeves, the actor of Matrix and John Wick, has gone from having no presence in the world of video games to being on everyone's lips. He will be one of the great protagonists of Cyberpunk 2077, the new creators of The Witcher, who fall apart in praise of the actor and his commitment to the character he gives life to, Johnny Guitar. Due to how well he worked with the developer, she decided to increase Guitar's presence in the game and multiplied his recording days and his lines of dialogue. His “You are breathtaking” on the stage of the Microsoft conference has passed to the annals of the event's history and still no one understands how Hideo Kojima could rule him out for Death Stranding.
Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo oppose Trump and loot boxes
Rarely in the industry the three giants with their own console agree on something, and photographs such as the one on these lines are historical because of the number of shooting stars that must be begged to be repeated. However, this year the three companies have agreed twice. The first, to stop the so-called "Trump rate", which wanted to put tariffs on products from China and could have increased the price of video games up to 25%. And the second, to denounce once and for all the loot boxes and establish a series of rules that avoid abusive policies by designers. Now all those who include these in their games must pass the breakdown of probabilities and abide by the current regulations of the ESA (Entertainment Software Association). Two decisions in which they have won and that show that when the three come together they are unstoppable.
Protests in China and repression in video games
The situation in Hong Kong has reached such a critical and absurd point that it has even reached videogames. This year we have attended unbelievers to professional players who were banned from the competitive scene by companies like Blizzard because they were publicly positioned against the Chinese government. The tension between developers and community has been increasing, and sabotage attempts have done the same. Review bombing, spectator falls and even artistic trends that denounced the situation with fan arts of their favorite games. Seeing Pokémon or Overwatch heroes turned into symbols of resistance has been the least surrealistic we've seen these months about it. Unfortunately, we have hardly seen any solutions and, on the contrary, we have had to echo some of the laws established by the country's government, which prohibit playing more than 90 minutes a day, do it at night and spend more than 50 euros per month in contents download them. Sad news for freedom.
Fortnite, simply intractable
There were a couple of months in which it seemed that Apex Legends would be able to stand up to him, but nothing, that there is no way. The game of Epic Gsmes is unrivaled today and has managed to generate around one of the strongest and liveliest online communities that are remembered. His 2019 has been plethoric: yes Thanos, yes Star Wars; now the World Cup, then a youtubers tournament; practically daily changes and additions, promotional content, movie previews and sporting events … Few games are able to "close" their servers, stop serving and still keep people glued to the screen, in this case seeing a Mysterious black hole Fortnite did it in the face of Season 2 and the social phenomenon it caused could not be more interesting. People watched for hours a black screen. Today it is no longer just about battle royale, but about shooters in general. Fortnite remains one of the most complete, competitive and inhabited in the market, and its marketing and promotion strategies would well deserve a separate article. There is a before and after the game of Epic Games.
Mixer, Twitch and Ninja Betrayal
Twitch's most popular Fortnite streamer, Ninja, who had more than 14 million followers on the platform and billed more than half a million dollars a month, starred in the summer soap opera by leaving Twitch and signing exclusively for his main rival: Mixer More than ten million a year (plus bonus) Mixer paid to turn Ninja into the new Figo and bring it with him. A movement that has made the streaming service grow but, in view of the latest data, not enough (and still, Ninja already has two and a half million subscribers in his new home, where he holds the record again). The tension during the summer months reached a point where the spiteful Twitch herself used the channel that Ninja had abandoned and to which her fans still went to advertise, without realizing that what she was announcing was pornography. Karma, what they say. The rest of the story? A Ninja crying for what they had to endure and a Twitch public statement apologizing.
The resurrection of Telltale Games
If in 2018 it was one of the most tragic news of the year, this is one of the most positive. Telltale Games, the studio that won all kinds of Best Game of the Year awards in 2012 on the occasion of The Walking Dead, closed its doors last year, leaving more than 225 employees without their jobs and canceling all their next projects, among which there were licenses of the caliber of Stranger Things. But the developer did not celebrate a year with the blind down and a multinational took her and, magically, resurrected it. Aunque han perdido licencias como las de The Walking Dead y Stranger Things, siguen manteniendo otras como The Wolf Among Us, que ha anunciado nueva temporada, o Batman, que acaba de lanzar una revisión con variso modos y funciones extra. Además, la compañía evitará caer en los errores del pasado y no volverá a publicar un episodio 1 sin que antes estén listos los demás. Se acabaron las prisas, el crunch y los controles de calidad al galope. Incluso sus nuevos dueños han prometido ofrecer un rol de freelance a todos los que trabajaron en Telltale en su día (con opción de convertise en un puesto a jornada completa en un futuro)
Las juegos móviles no dejan de crecer
Quizás ya no sorprenda tanto como cuando Nintendo publicó su primer juego en móviles (Super Mario Run), pero no deja de estar entre las historias del año la aparición en iOS y Android de sagas como Mario Kart, Gears of War y Call of Duty. 2019 nos ha dejado una nueva selección de grandes nombres en formato pequeño, como son los casos de Call of Duty: Mobile, Dr. Mario World, Gears Pop!, Pokémos Masters y Mario Kart Tour, a los que habría que sumar las nuevas ediciones de otros como Minecraft Earth y PUBG Mobile Lite. La importancia del sector a nivel de números y rentabilidad sigue creciendo y cada vez son menos las compañías que están dispuestas a renunciar a él. Además, la aparición de estas franquicias no hace sino subir aún más el listón y mejorar la calidad media de cuanto se publica en la App y Play Store. Un sector joven que no deja de nutrirse y aprender de cuanto llega y que veremos cuál es su techo, si lo tiene. Incluso Bandai Namco ha abierto su propia desarrolladora de juegos de móviles en Barcelona.
Perdiendo el doblaje al español
Como si hubiéramos vuelto a la época de Halo 2, los usuarios de Xbox One han venido sufriendo estos años la pérdida progresiva de doblajes al español. Y lejos de ser algo que ocurre en juegos indie o títulos de carácter nicho, esto ha venido pasando en las grandes superproducciones de Microsoft, que si algo tiene es dinero. Forza Horizon 4, Quantum Break, State of Decay 2, Crackdown 3… La mayoría de ellos han venido o simplemente traducidos, o doblados a español latino. Meses después, dependiendo de la cantidad de quejas y peticiones recibidas, podía llegar un doblaje al castellano vía actualización. Cansados del trato, la comunidad española de Xbox unió fuerzas e hizo trending topic los hashtag #XboxEspañolDeEspaña y #XboxSpanishOfSpain. Una llamada de atención a la compañía de Redmond que volvió a demostrar la fuerza de la comunidad y recordó a los primeros movimientos en redes tras la presentación de Xbox como plataforma televisiva. Microsoft no ha tenido demasiados lanzamientos propios desde entonces y es pronto para saber si ha funcionado, pero al menos su título estrella de 2019, Gears 5, sí que vino de lanzamiento en “spanish of spain”.
Persona 5: Royal hace historia y llegará traducido
Y de doblajes nos vamos a traducciones. Una de las grandes noticias del año la ha protagonizado la nueva reedición de Persona 5, que llegará el 31 de marzo de 2020 y lo hará… ¡completamente traducida al castellano! Será la primera entrega de la saga en hacerlo y acabará con una de las quejas y reclamos más recurrentes en las críticas a la serie. Ya no habrá excusa para disfrutar de esta obra maestra (un 10 en el análisis de FreeGameTips), que incluirá un 30% de contenidos extra en su nueva versión, con más personajes, escenarios, demonios, secuencias y melodías que nunca.
FIFA vs PES; el Piemonte Calcio
La saga Pro Evolution Soccer, que este año ha cambiado de nombre, se ha cansado de ver cómo EA Sports se llevaba todas las ligas, equipos y estadios, así que ha decidido tomar medidas. La franquicia de fútbol de Konami ha empezado su particular reconquista y lo ha hecho realizando una serie de fichajes que han supuesto un varapalo importante para su rival. Desde el superclásico argentino entre Boca Juniors y River Plate, que pasa a ser exclusivo suyo, a campos como el Camp Nou y el Allianz Arena, por no hablar del golpe más sonado de todos: ahora la Juventus de Cristiano se llama Piemonte Calcio en FIFA. La saga de EA Sports respondió renovando las licencias europeas y expandiéndose por Asia y Japón, en un verano de 2019 que ha sido una sucesión de fichajes y exclusivas, mucho más entretenida que la pretemporada de algunos equipos. ¿El resultado? Uno de los enfrentamientos futboleros más interesantes de los últimos años.
Los juegos retrasados a 2020
Sección habitual de nuestros anuarios, los retrasos de juegos están a la orden del día y este año hemos tenido otro buen puñado de ellos. El caso más sangrante (y nunca mejor dicho) es el de DOOM: Eternal, al que esperábamos poder echar el guante estas navidades y ahora nos hará esperar hasta el 20 de marzo de 2020. También están Inazuma Eleven Ares, cuyos problemas de desarrollo han hecho que el proyecto se reinicie y marche a primavera de 2020, cuando llegará bajo un nuevo nombre: Inazuma Eleven: Great Road of Heroes. Otro nombre es el de Two Point Hospital, anunciado en consolas para estas fechas, finalmente se nos va a 2020, como Ultra Age, que visto lo visto pecó de optimista y fechó su lanzamiento en octubre de este año. Pero la lista no acaba ahí. Previstos para 2019 y aplazados de forma indefinida están la expansión de Cuphead, The Delicious Last Course, el remake de XIII, Last Oasis, The Good Life, Conan Chop Chop, Fallout 76: Westlanders, Psychonauts 2, Torchlight Frontiers, Spelunky 2 y Skulls and Bones, aunque lo de este último no sorprenda a nadie.
Tampoco habría que olvidar los juegos que estaban previstos para los primeros meses de 2020 y que, al final, se nos escapan y van a bien entrado el año. Son los casos de The Last of Us 2 (que pasa de febrero al 29 de mayo), el tridente de Ubisoft: Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine y Gods & Monsters (previstos para marzo y ahora englobados en un indeterminado "2020-2021"), o Vampire: The Masquerade (arrojado de la primera a la segunda mitad del año). Nombres que animarán nuestras horas más tarde que pronto y por los que al menos tenemos un futuro brillante y esperanzador.
