Readily distracted minds and alternative timelines
This month our 30th anniversary celebrations continue with a calendar featuring a year’s worth of classic game artwork. (If you’re reading the digital edition, here’s the opportunity you’ve been waiting for to double up on the old-fashioned physical version – it’s worth it.) As we looked back across the decades to pick out a series of iconic visuals, we also discussed how the game industry might have turned out differently. Where would Sega be nowadays had it stayed the course with hardware production? How much healthier would Microsoft’s console business be had 2013’s Xbox One reveal not been such an abject disaster? (Would it still feel compelled to scrabble together $69bn to acquire Activision Blizzard? Would Phil Spencer even be running the show?) And what about if that Sony and Nintendo PlayStation partnership had actually worked out?
On a broader level, the ‘what if’ has been the foundation of many a quiet afternoon’s pondering ever since the human brain evolved beyond the capacity for simply steering the body towards food. Surely we’ve all spent the odd hour idly considering what might’ve transpired had we summoned the balls to tell Mr Sutcliffe in Computer Studies that he was a bully of the most contemptible variety, and that he really should consider taking his admonishments and sticking them up his stupid arse. Haven’t we? OK, so your own what ifs are obviously unique to you and therefore extremely personal – which is what makes them so engaging.
It’s the endlessly fascinating appeal of what might’ve been that exists at the centre of this month’s cover game, The Alters. It’s easy to convince ourselves that things could go better if we had the opportunity to just try that bit again – just one more time – and 11 Bit Studios’ game tests the theory via lead character Jan Dolski (pictured right), in all of his many manifestations. Since this is a game, though, with challenge built in, it’s safe to assume that there’s no guarantee of a happy ending, even with retries. Our report from 11 Bit, also taking in Frostpunk 2, begins on p52.