Feature: Nintendo Life eShop Selects – October 2020
Another month has flown by with another bunch of quality games launching on Switch eShop in October, including an eccentric little game which managed to earn a coveted 10/10 score from this very website.
These awards aim to celebrate the best of Nintendo’s digital store, giving some love and attention to the games that could so easily be missed in the Switch’s ever-growing library.
So, let’s get started. Here are the best Switch eShop games of October 2020!
Honourable Mentions:
While these titles didn’t quite make our top three this month, they’re still certainly worth checking out.
Publisher: Headup Games / Developer: Nicolas Meyssonnier
Release Date: 23rd Oct 2020 (USA) / 23rd Oct 2020 (UK/EU)
In third place we have a seasonal surprise that warmed our cockles as the nights get colder. Pumpkin Jack‘s confident platforming and mischievous spirit won us over, and we highlighted its slick controls and combat mechanics in our review. As a debut title from developer Nicolas Meyssonnier, it’s a particularly impressive treat and the perfect spooky game to enjoy at this time of year.
Publisher: Plug In Digital / Developer: Flying Oak
Release Date: 21st Oct 2020 (USA) / 21st Oct 2020 (UK/EU)
A roguelite delight from Flying Oak Games, ScourgeBringer does very well to invoke the likes of Dead Cells and Hyper Light Drifter and come off brilliantly in comparison to those classics. We called it “a wonderfully slick and addictive roguelite adventure” in our review, with fantastic performance and a gorgeous graphical style. It’s another addition to the roster of brilliant run-based games on Switch, and this particular one struck a chord with enough of Team NL to make it to number two on our monthly list.
Publisher: 505 Games / Developer: Paul Helman
Release Date: 21st Oct 2020 (USA) / 21st Oct 2020 (UK/EU)
Was there ever any doubt? The latest entrant into the hallowed ‘NL10’ club is Horace, a quirky narrative-based platformer which defies easy categorisation. The game is filled with heartfelt nods and winks to video game history and features loads of mini-game homages to games past in amongst its tight, world-twisting platforming and touching story. Following on from A Short Hike in August, and Hades in September, this is incredibly the third month in a row we’ve awarded a 10/10.
Nintendo Life going soft, you think? It’s probably got more to do with all the great video games coming out. The world might be in a tough spot right now, but life’s pretty good when it comes to video games!
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released primarily as a digital Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
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Retro-Style NHL 94 Rewind Mode Available Now For NHL 21 Preorders
NHL 94 Rewind, the retro-inspired hockey game mode that takes the current NHL roster and throws them into the trappings of NHL 94 but with modern controls, is now available for those who preordered NHL 21 on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.
NHL 21 launched on October 16, and those who preordered can now take their skills into the retro-styled throwback mode. All current NHL players will take on 16-bit styled graphics while retaining the controls featured in the main NHL 21 game.
Publisher EA said that those who missed the preorder period but still want NHL 94 Rewind can get the mode sometime this holiday. An exact release date has not been announced yet. EA said more details on how to get NHL 94 Rewind will be revealed in "early December."
Some have gone much further, putting the game’s performance under the microscope. And if the demo is anything to go by, it looks like the frame rate will be up and down like a yo-yo. VG Tech – the same YouTube channel that ran performance tests on the Pikmin 3 Deluxe demo ahead of its release has also taken a look. As you can see below, it jumps between 20-30fps:
As for the resolution, VG Tech has provided a thorough breakdown of both docked and portable modes:
Docked mode uses a dynamic resolution with the highest resolution found being 1440×810 and the lowest resolution found being approximately 1013×570. Pixel counts at 1440×810 are common in docked mode. Docked mode renders the UI at 1920×1080.
Portable mode uses a dynamic resolution with the highest resolution found being 960×540 and the lowest resolution found being approximately 676×380. Pixel counts at 960×540 are common in portable mode. Portable mode renders the UI at 1280×720.
Performance in portable mode is similar to docked mode. Docked mode has a longer draw distance and improved LODs compared to portable mode
It’s worth noting that this demo may not necessarily be representative of the final release, which arrives later this month on 20th November. How have you found the performance in Age of Calamity so far? Tell us down below.
Switch Version Of Horrifying ’90s-Style Shooter Dusk Delayed
There’s been a lot of Nintendo Switch game delays this year, and another that won’t be released on time is the horrifying first-person shooter, DUSK. In short, it’s inspired by ’90s favourites like Doom, Quake, Hexen and even Half-Life.
It was originally scheduled to arrive on Halloween, but according to the game’s developer has been held back at the last minute:
The new release date was hoped to be the game’s anniversary (10th December), but the developer isn’t so sure now, as CD Projekt Red’s game Cyberpunk 2077 has been pushed back until then.
When DUSK does arrive on the Switch, it’ll feature a brand new Endless Level, full gyro aiming and HD Rumble support. It’s also getting a physical release, courtesy of Limited Run Games.
Is this a game you’ll be checking out when it arrives on the Nintendo Switch? Tell us down below.
Review: Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty – A So-So Remake Of A Legendary Game
What a difficult game to review. Yes, yes, you’re thinking. It must be so hard for you to review a well-received remake of a beloved classic. But, you see, it is, because Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty does so much wrong and is in many ways so utterly redundant that it’s difficult to keep a cool head when approaching it.
Here’s the thing; there was no reason to remake the original 1997 Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. At the time New ‘n’ Tasty originally launched (the halcyon days of 2014), its source material was widely available on PlayStation 3 and Steam. And it still is. But, no, folks wanted their Abe action to get some sort of spit-shine, so in comes New ‘n’ Tasty “fixing” everything that wasn’t broken and stripping the game of a good deal of its precision, atmosphere and general appeal.
Is it bad, then? Should we cut to the chase and just give it a low score? No, no, no. New ‘n’ Tasty doesn’t deserve that. It’s fun to play and the basic components that make Abe’s Oddysee so good are here. Some of the quality of life improvements are smart ones, most crucially the implementation of Abe’s Exoddus’ valuable “All o’ ya” command, which allows you to engage multiple Mudokons in Gamespeak at once, meaning no more painstakingly ferrying them back and forth one at a time.
Gamespeak? What’s that? Whoops, we got ahead of ourselves. I suppose we ought to explain what Abe’s Oddysee is, or was, but quite frankly you should already know and shame on you if you don’t. A cinematic platformer akin to the original Prince of Persia, the game took place in a flip-screen world with pre-rendered background environments, focusing on timing-critical action, tense stealth and light puzzle-solving. The widely-touted Gamespeak feature saw Abe able to command his fellow slave workers around using basic commands such as “Hello”, or “Follow me”. Simplistic, yes, but also fresh, exciting and organic. While the single-screen compositions were dated even in ’97, they served the action brilliantly, making each new area stick in the mind. It helped that it was (and still is) gorgeous.
And New ‘n’ Tasty is gorgeous, too. It looks fantastic in places, and the fidelity is enormously impressive even in handheld mode. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for many other aspects of the game when compared to Oddysee. Adding full scrolling gameplay to the experience seems like a no-brainer, but without adapting the level design it leads to a game that feels markedly less carefully designed.
In the original, you’d encounter sleeping enemies you’d need to sneak past. The transition between screens was just that – a transition, and it would give you pause. You’d think, hang on, I have no idea what’s coming next, and you’d sneak onto the screen just in case there was a Slig in the land of nod. Here, you never know what’s coming up, so you could find yourself just running headlong into a situation that you’re not prepared for in the slightest. The screen divisions made each space stand alone; it made you, as a player, consider what you were faced with. Here, it’s all muddied by this simple change. Some of the level designs have been altered to account for this. Others, not so much.
There’s also the animation – Abe seems much lighter and fleeter-of-foot here. The weight and energy of the original is gone. It’s not nearly as absorbing – you’re no longer at the mercy of a hostile world, you’re simply playing a game. More yammering, pointless dialogue has been added. The change of game feel has rendered some sections ridiculously trivial, others far harder. A quicksave feature has been added, but when you die it loads your last checkpoint rather than your last save. Abe’s Exoddus got that part right in 1998.
But we could be negative all day long if we focus on the minutiae, if we consistently compare this remake to its inspiration. As a game, New ‘n’ Tasty is good. Better than good, in fact. It’s a lot of fun, still, and if you’re not familiar with the original Abe’s Oddysee, it’s going to impress. The level design is still good, there’s still atmosphere here (though far less), the controls are slick enough and the multiple difficulty levels a sensible concession – though only the hardest mode is really worth playing, frankly, as this game was never that difficult in the first place.
It’s good because Abe’s Oddysee was good, but that’s the only reason. And that may seem petty, but really, why remake a game only to strip it of precision and atmosphere like this? What’s the point, ultimately? A nice port of Oddysee and Exoddus would have been far more desirable, and their “limitations” barely register today in a world where even more “primitive” indie titles have been wholeheartedly embraced. Abe’s Oddysee hasn’t aged, and this is a less good version of it. But it’s a less good version of a great game, and it looks and runs great, so it’s still plenty of fun. Just… why?
Conclusion
We realise it’s not a popular outlook. Games should generally be appreciated for what they are rather than blasted for what they’re not, but that’s very difficult to do in this case. New ‘n’ Tasty is an acceptable imitation of Abe’s Oddysee, but nothing more. It has its moments of inspiration – the Stockyards stage is so beautifully realised that it can momentarily trigger that “this is what I remember the original looking like!” false memory – but it’s not enough to make up for the frustrations that come from the many, many unnecessary changes. Even the sound of Abe’s chant, which once sounded mystical and otherworldly, now just sounds like babbling. We’re very torn. As this is the only way to play Abe’s Oddysee on Switch, we begrudgingly recommend it. But we do so with our arms folded, and pouting. Harrumph.
Jordan Peele Is Remaking Wes Craven's People Under The Stairs - Report
The huge success of Get Out and Us has made Jordan Peele one of the hottest filmmakers in horror, enabling him to produce movies for other directors too. The Peele-produced Candyman reboot is set for release next year, and it's been reported that he's developing a remake of Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs.
According to Collider, Peele will produce a new version of Craven's movie for Universal, through his company Monkeypaw Productions. As with Candyman, which is helmed by Nia DaCosta, Peele won't direct. However, it's possible he and co-producer Win Rosenfeld might have input into the script, as they did with Candyman.
The original People Under The Stairs was also written by Craven and released in 1991. It combined horror with a dark social satire, and focused on a young man who breaks into the house of his married landlords when he learns he is being evicted. He discovers that the couple are keeping dozens of disfigured children in the basement of their house. The movie starred Everett McGill and Wendy Robie, best known for their roles as Big Ed and Nadine Hurley in Twin Peaks, plus A.J. Langer and Ving Rhames. Craven himself was reportedly working on a new TV version of the film before his death in 2015.
Jordan Peele Is Remaking Wes Craven's People Under The Stairs - Report
The huge success of Get Out and Us has made Jordan Peele one of the hottest filmmakers in horror, enabling him to produce movies for other directors too. The Peele-produced Candyman reboot is set for release next year, and it's been reported that he's developing a remake of Wes Craven's The People Under The Stairs.
According to Collider, Peele will produce a new version of Craven's movie for Universal, through his company Monkeypaw Productions. As with Candyman, which is helmed by Nia DaCosta, Peele won't direct. However, it's possible he and co-producer Win Rosenfeld might have input into the script, as they did with Candyman.
The original People Under The Stairs was also written by Craven and released in 1991. It combined horror with a dark social satire, and focused on a young man who breaks into the house of his married landlords when he learns he is being evicted. He discovers that the couple are keeping dozens of disfigured children in the basement of their house. The movie starred Everett McGill and Wendy Robie, best known for their roles as Big Ed and Nadine Hurley in Twin Peaks, plus A.J. Langer and Ving Rhames. Craven himself was reportedly working on a new TV version of the film before his death in 2015.
Freelance Software Development in the United States (US)
The next disruption is about to happen in the freelancing space. Freelancing platforms such as Upwork and Fiverr grow double-digit per year.
But what if you’re living in the US? Is freelancing still a great opportunity for you—given the worldwide competition? How much can you earn in the US?
In this article, we’re going to answer these most common questions!
What’s the Hourly Rate of an US-Based Freelance Developer?
What’s the hourly rate of a freelance developer? If you’re like me, you want to peek into the potential of a given profession before you commit years of your life to any profession like freelance developing.
The average freelance developer in the US earns $56 per hour with conservative estimates ranging as low as $31 and aggressive estimates ranging as high as $82.
The following table compares the hourly rates of employed developers and freelance developers:
Job Description
Status
Hourly Rate
Web Developer
Employee
$31.62
Freelancer
$34.78
PHP Developer
Employee
$46.28
Freelance
$50.90
.Net Developer
Employee
$55.06
Freelance
$60.56
Python Developer
Employee
$56.90
Freelance
$62.59
About the Data. Our data is based on various online sources such as indeed.com, neuvoo.co.uk, and other portals where professionals can report their earnings. We state the sources below in the image captions.
We modified the expected earnings of a freelancer by increasing the average earnings of an employed professional by 10%. This is based on the findings of this study: the average freelancer earns about 10% more than his employed counterpart. We found that in practice, the difference is often much higher than that—freelancers earning much more than employees. One of the reasons may be that freelancers have more control of their earnings—an ambitious freelancer tends to earn a higher percentage more than an ambitious employee in the same profession. This is because there are no caps in freelance earnings.
If you want to earn your full-time income working in your part-time freelancing business, check out our course “Become a Python Freelance Developer”.
The average hourly rate of an employed web developer is $31.62 per hour in the US. The average hourly rate of a freelance web developer is $34.78 in the US.
The average hourly rate of an employed Python developer is $56.90 per hour in the US. The average hourly rate of a freelance Python developer is $62.59 in the US.
The average hourly rate of an employed PHP developer is $46.28 per hour in the US. The average hourly rate of a freelance PHP developer is $50.90 in the US.
The average hourly rate of an employed .Net developer is $55.06 per hour in the US. The average hourly rate of a freelance .Net developer is $60.56 in the US.
How Do You Compete with Cheap Labor Countries as an US-based Freelance Developer?
In the following video, I discuss little-known but very effective strategies to compete in a globalized economy as a US-based freelance developer.
How Many Freelance Software Developers Are There in the United States?
How many freelance developers are there in the US? There’s no official and precise answer. However, based on three credible sources—Upwork, Freelancer Union, McKinsey—I calculated an estimation stemming from each source.
Here are our estimations for the number of freelancers based on three independent data sources:
Upwork Data: 12,500,000 freelance developers in the IT sector.
Freelancer Union Data: 1,740,000 freelance developers in the IT sector.
McKinsey Data: 5,400,000 freelance developers in the IT sector.
The median of these three data points—Upwork, Freelancer Union, McKinsey—is 5,400,000 freelance developers working in an IT related field and the average is 6,560,000 freelance developers. Thus, the number of freelance developers is between 5 and 7 million.
A more in-depth explanation of these estimations is given in my detailed blog article.
To become successful in coding, you need to get out there and solve real problems for real people. That’s how you can become a six-figure earner easily. And that’s how you polish the skills you really need in practice. After all, what’s the use of learning theory that nobody ever needs?
Practice projects is how you sharpen your saw in coding!
Do you want to become a code master by focusing on practical code projects that actually earn you money and solve problems for people?
Then become a Python freelance developer! It’s the best way of approaching the task of improving your Python skills—even if you are a complete beginner.
[www.indiegala.com] Future wars, apocalypses and lots of indie noms await! Your Future Self, Backspace Bouken, Nom Nom Apocalypse, Trigonarium and more indie games are fighting the good war...the war on boredom...borenom? And you can help!
FREE Dashing Dinos
[freebies.indiegala.com] Play against a couple of friends on your couch Dashing Dinos, the latest fast-paced, physics-based, local multiplayer FREEbie!
The 001 Game Creator game engine is currently featured in the Game Dev STEM Humble Bundle that just launched. 001 Game Creator was previously featured in a Humble, so be sure to check your library to make sure you aren’t purchasing it twice. If you are interested in learning more about 001 Game Creator, check out our hands-on review available here.
As with all Humbles, this bundle is organized into tiers:
1$ Tier
Misc design documents
10$ Tier
001 Game Creator Engine
001 Basics E-Book
001 Resource E-Book
20$ Tier
Point and Click Adventure Kit
Dragons Den Resource Pack
Retro Fantasy Music Pack
Sound Effects Pack Vol 1
25$ Tier
Enhanced RPG Kit
FPS Kit
MMORPG Kit
Visual Novel Kit
As with all Humble Bundles you get to decide how your money is allocated between the publisher, charity, Humble and if you so choose (and thanks if you do!) to support GFS using this link. You can learn more about the bundle in the video below.
