The winner, a talented video game photographer, received a very special bundle from the Federal Bureau of Control.

Photo modes have become a popular addition to games. They’re not always in at release – developers have to prioritise bug fixing and polish in the run-in to release – but they tend to get patched in fairly quickly.

Why? Because people absolutely love them.

It makes sense for developers, too. Giving your fans an easy way to not only share your game, but make it look brilliant? It’s a marketing no-brainer. And there are some very talented virtual photographers out there, making games look very pretty indeed. (They’re certainly far better at capturing the beauty of video games than a reviewer trying to hit a deadline, that’s for sure.)

Remedy, developer of the brilliant Control, added a photo mode soon after release (after performance and bug fixing). It was the first piece of post-release content for the game. And why wouldn’t you when your game is as visually striking as Control?

Remedy also ran a photo mode contest, with prizes on offer for the top three, including t-shirts, posters, and other cool contraband from the Federal Bureau of Control. The overall winner, Stefanie McMaken, has now received her prize. It’s a bit special.

Words fail me. So carefully packaged, put together with such loving detail & one seriously strong frame – Thank you! 🙏🏻🔻 @ControlRemedy #Control #ControlRemedy Never known a more caring and down to earth gaming company! This is an honor! pic.twitter.com/IjGnPCmi9m

— Steffi Syndrome 🏳️‍🌈 (@StefanieMcMaken) January 25, 2020

(That’s a framed print of her winning entry, signed on the back by over 50 of the crew at Remedy, plus a letter from the Federal Bureau of Control. Suitably redacted, naturally.)

This might be Steffi’s first competition win, but she’s no stranger to virtual photography.

“I’ve always liked to take screenshots before – to me, it’s like taking pictures on your journey through a video game,” Stefanie told Thumbsticks via direct message. “I like to look at them later, remembering a certain mission perhaps, a really emotional moment or an epic boss fight. But Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was the first game I’ve played that had an actual Photo Mode. That’s what also made me go back to check out Twitter, and, to my pleasant surprise, there really was such a thing as virtual photography! I was delighted to see people sharing what amazing moments they managed to capture!”

Steffi also hosts #PhotoModeMonday, a Twitter hashtag (like #AdventureGameFriday or #ScreenshotSaturday) that celebrates the best of virtual photography. On Mondays, obviously.

“Strictly speaking, I am just temporarily hosting it,” she said. Stefanie is minding the store while the hashtag’s originator, Twitter user @PhotoModeAddict, is out of action through illness. “I promised I would keep it alive until he returns.”

“With Control, what fascinated me immediately was the different genre. As wonderful as it is, we’ve all ridden horses through beautiful landscapes by now, we’ve raced cars through numerous cities and travelled through space (not that any of that ever gets old) but being in a… basically, possessed house? Where all kinds of crazy sh*t can happen? Now that sounded intriguing! Plus – big bonus – it came with a photo mode!”

“So, when Remedy held that #CaptureControl contest, it was a no brainer,” Steffi said. “The photo mode they put in is also so nice and simple to navigate and manoeuvre! It also comes with some really sweet filters – that’s how I got my shot to look like that.”

“I am still psyched over it, they certainly put in an effort to frame it so nicely, too,” she continued. “I am utterly impressed with Remedy!”

We always had our suspicions that Remedy was one of the good guys. Talking to Steffi about how much this very personal package means to her, we couldn’t be surer of our instincts.

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Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition headlines this week’s lineup of new eShop releases for the Nintendo Switch.

Cardboard Computer’s Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is our eShop release of the week by some distance. The game debuted way back in 2013 and has received four acts – plus a few interludes – in the years since. The TV Edition includes all content released to date and the concluding fifth and final act. It’s a remarkable piece of game design and storytelling, and another essential Switch purchase.

Other new releases include Coffee Talk, an interesting new adventure game from Toge Productions. Set within a fantasy Seattle coffee shop, players meet a colourful cast of characters – including orcs, aliens and mermaids – and endeavour to solve their problems with warm conversation and cups of tasty java.

Finally, in the week that Brexit arrives, cheer yourself up with Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition, a “time-pressure RPG” set against a backdrop of political turmoil in Europe.

Here’s the current lineup of confirmed new Switch games. We’ll update the lineup if things change throughout the week.

Nintendo Switch releases: January 27-31, 2020

Monday, January 27, 2020

• Motorcycle Mechanic Simulator
• Super Tennis

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

• Actual Sunlight
• Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
• It came from space and ate our brains

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

• Coffee Talk
• Horse Farm
• Music Racer

Thursday, January 30, 2020

• Arcade Archives Tecmo Bowl
• Arc of Alchemist
• Ascendant Hearts
• Aviary Attorney: Definitive Edition
• Bookbound Brigade
• Code Shifter
• Eclipse: Edge of Light
• Never Again
• Prison Princess
• Sisters Royale
• Skellboy
• Speaking Simulator
• Uoris DX

Friday, January 31, 2020

• Ash of Gods: Redemption
• Bridge Constructor: Ultimate Edition
• Heroland
• Hypercharge Unboxed
• Indie Gems Bundle: JRPG Edition
• Milo’s Quest
• Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition
• Reknum
• Super Battle Cards
• Touchdown Pinball
• Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge

If none of these new games are to your liking, take a look at this week’s new Nintendo eShop discounts.

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Kentucky Route Zero and Journey to the Savage Planet are the highlights of next week’s new PlayStation 4, PS VR and PS Vita releases.

Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition is our PlayStation 4 pick of the week. The new edition encompasses all five acts – and the ‘interludes’ – of Cardboard Computer’s acclaimed adventure game. It’s an atmospheric subversion of a time-worn genre, and one to be savoured. Enjoy the journey.

Speaking of which, Typhoon Studio’s debut, Journey to the Savage Planet, is a promising science-fiction adventure with a comedic edge. If the likes of No Man’s Sky and The Outer Worlds are too daunting, this could be the perfect trip.

And speaking of games by Obsidian, the studio’s 2018 RPG Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire also arrives on PlayStation 4 next week.

Other new releases include Coffee Talk, It Came From Space And Ate Our Brains and Code Shifter. An early 80s classic also gets an update in shape of Lode Runner Legacy.

Here’s the complete lineup of next week’s new PlayStation Store releases.

New PlayStation 4 releases – January 27-31, 2020

Monday, January 27, 2020

• No releases

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

• Coffee Talk
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
• Pro Deer Hunting
• Shadow the Ronin
• Vigilante Ranger

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

• Lode Runner Legacy
• Music Racer
• Sisters Royale: Five Sisters Under Fire
• Top Run

Thursday, January 30, 2020

• Arc of Alchemist
• Autobahn Police Simulator 2
• Bookbound Brigade
• Code Shifter
• The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing III
• It Came From Space And Ate Our Brains
• Mad Age & This Guy
• Milo’s Quest (+ PS Vita)
• Throw Anything

Friday, January 31, 2020

• The Inner Friend
• Kwaidan
• oOo: Ascension
• Saboteur!
• Willy Jetman: Astromonkey’s Revenge

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Journey to the Savage Planet and Kentucky Route Zero headline next week’s lineup of new Xbox One releases.

Cardboard Computer’s striking point-and-click adventure game, Kentucky Route Zero, comes to an end this week with the release of its fifth and final act. Seven years in the making, it’s rightly acclaimed as a stunning example of what video games can be. It’s pretty much essential.

Comical space adventures also beckon in Journey to the Savage Planet. The debut game from Typhoon Studios is a colourful exploratory adventure in the Douglas Adams vein. Google is evidently impressed and has acquired the studio – which was set up by Ubisoft and Electronic Arts alumni – to make exclusive games for Stadia.

Other new releases include licensed motorcycle racer Supercross 3, Milo’s Quest, and Coffee Talk, a game about helping people with problems from the comforting haze of a Seattle coffee shop.

Each new release can be purchased from the Xbox One digital games store and Microsoft online store. Here’s the confirmed lineup.

New Xbox One games – January 27-31, 2020

Monday, January 27, 2020

• Stone

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

• It Came from Space and Ate Our Brains
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
• Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire – Ultimate Edition

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

• Milo’s Quest: Console Edition
• Music Racer

Thursday, January 30, 2020

• Code Shifter
• Monster Energy Supercross 3 – Special Edition

Friday, January 31, 2020

• Coffee Talk
• HyperDot
• Sky Rogue

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Wasteland Remastered will upgrade the 1988 RPG’s look just in time for Wasteland 3.

inXile Entertainment announced the remaster back in 2018, with a scheduled 2019 release. But with release dates prone to slipping, instead, Wasteland Remastered will launch on February 25 2020. That’s my birthday if you’ve been wondering what to get me. [Duly noted – Ed.]

The game will simultaneously launch on Steam, the Windows Store and GOG, inXile said. Additionally, Wasteland Remastered will be available via the console and PC versions of Xbox Game Pass.

“Wasteland Remastered is an overhaul of the 1988 title that brought the post-apocalypse to video games,” inXile said in a post on its website. “The Remastered title brings new graphics, audio, music, and digitizes the physical paragraphs book from the original with brand new artwork.”

Here are the before and after pictures. It’s like weirdly-specific time travel.

The remaster is being handled by Krome Studios. That’s a name I haven’t heard in years. Krome developed the Ty the Tasmanian Tiger games in the PS2 era and rebooted the Spyro franchise in 2006. It also remastered the Bard’s Tale games.

Wasteland 3 is set to launch on May 19. Its predecessors were recently free on GOG.

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