Aug 12, 2024 8 min read Digests

Astrolabe Digest: 081224

Tango Gameworks is back from the dead, the 2024 Hugos have been handed out without controvery, and there's drama in the world of retro video games

Hey, hi! Welcome to Astrolabe Digest. This is a new column for paid supporters1 aimed at keeping y’all informed about the best stories in Astrolabe’s orbit. Think of it like a levelled-up version of Quest Markers.

Astrolabe Digest isn’t here to replace main Astrolabe issues (I’ve got a couple cooking and they are doozies!), but to supplement them by bringing you more goodness while the big stories bake.

With freelance games journalism becoming more and more untenable, I’m looking at diverting my time and energy toward providing more value for paid Astrolabe supporters, as a way to keep doing what I’m doing. So, if you appreciate my work here or elsewhere, consider a paid subscription.

2024 Hugo Awards winners announced, thoughts

Nestled within Glasgow 2024 WorldCon, the Hugo Award ceremony occurred and handed out new rockets to the best and brightest* in the science fiction and fantasy world.
The full voting statistics were made available immediately after the ceremony. (And Astrolabe made the longlist for "Best Fanzine," thanks!)
Among the notable winners are Naomi Kritzer, who took home two awards for her short fiction, always-a-bridesmaid-and-finally-a-bride Paul Weimer (seriously, Paul's been the heartbeat of SFF fandom for over a decade and his win for "Best Fan Writer" is well deserved and a long time coming), Adri Joy's fabulous jellyfish hat, and Astounding Award (Not A Hugo®) recipient Xiran Jay Zhao, who was among the high profile exclusions from the 2023 Hugo Awards rewarded late last year.
I was also particularly pleased to see Nerds of a Feather take home another Hugo for "Best Fanzine." Not only do I count several of the editors as friends, but I've published a piece or two there over the years.
Strange Horizons' well deserved win for "Best Semiprozine" (FINALLY!) marks only the second defeat for Uncanny Magazine since its first eligible year in 2016. FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction won in 2021.
*Early signs (including transparent reporting of results, the snuffing of a highly reported case of ballot stuffing, etc.) point to a clean ballot, free of state-sponsored censorship. Phew! More on why that's good here:

Reactor has the full list of 2024 Hugo Award winners.

Romhacking.net closure announced, disputed

On August 1st, 2024, retro gaming fans were surprised and saddened by the announcement of RomHacking.net's closure after two decades. A robust repository of user-created content, RomHacking.net hosted thousands of "hacks"—files and assets that users could apply to video game roms to alter or improve gameplay of the original games.
Site owner Nightcrawler wrote:

I miss the times when I was able to interact with a smaller group of supportive people to collaborate with rather than the entire world. Having gone from an unknown fledgling site to an infinitely growing and globally known one made sustainability very challenging. The site became so busy with 24/7 use, endless queues, and an endless inbox. It’s a very different world than it was in 2005. Copyright pressures increased dramatically with takedowns and legal burden. The site shifted from serving mostly contributing humans to bots and overzealous people abusing resources. They drowned everybody else out. The need for the site has lessened over time. There are now many options for community discussions, open source projects, and file storage across the Internet. For a while, I was looking to find a successor within the circles of site supporters. I asked several potential people, but the stars did not align.

However, what on first glance seemed like a simple instance of a site owner running out of steam after two decades is unravelling into something much more complicated—with accusations levelled at Nightcrawler claiming the site owner was dismissive of ongoing community efforts to find tenable and cost-efficient solutions to keep RomHacking.net alive.
"Staff grew increasingly frustrated. Days would pass without response from NC. He refused to join the Discord to talk about solutions in real-time. Did we vent in private? Sure. Did we dox or threaten? Fucking hell, no! And frankly I'm LIVID at even the suggestion that we did," said Gideon Zhi on Twitter. A prominent member of the fan localization community and a RomHacking.net contributor, Gideon Zhi is among those offering to help with a new hosting solutions. "I'm even angrier at comparisons being drawn between disgruntled staff and the scum-suckers that drove Near to end [their] life. What happened to Near is an absolute tragedy and I sincerely hope there's a special place in Hell for the human garbage that tormented [them]."
Near was a prolific video game historian and fan hacker, best known, perhaps, for their 2021 fan translation of Square's Bahamut Lagoon. They passed away just a few months later.

This is a cool video from @mylifeingaming.bsky.social about useful ROM hacks for retro games. From colourizations to fan translations to quality of life improvements, these help make old games feel new again.
— Aidan Moher (@aidanmoher.com) 2023-08-25T15:54:51.234Z

"So, i guess i can just say it outright: nightcrawler is a coward, and his invocation of Near's death is as tasteless as it is infuriating," said Xkeeper, owner of The Cutting Room Floor, a popular wiki focused on documenting video game content cut from final releases. This corroborates Gideon Zhi's reports that there's more going on behind the scenes than originally revealed by Nightcrawler. "Multiple people offered many times [to take over hosting/running RomHacking.net], both on his staff and off, and he refused every single offer given," Xkeeper continued. "And when he found out that his site staff wasn't happy with him because of his constant refusal to seek or accept help while claiming the site was dying, he shut it all down."
This is a developing story, with members of the fan community continuing efforts to acquire the site from Nightcrawler with the intent of reopening it for the public. Xkeeper is reportedly among those offering to take over hosting.

Cast: Revive, Target: Tango Gameworks

In May 2024, Jason Schreier reported for Bloomberg that Tango Gameworks, the studio behind Hi-Fi Rush, a hit rhythm action game central to Microsoft's cross-console strategy, was among several high profile studios shutdown by Xbox.
But, life comes at you fast. Just three months later, "PUBG-owner Krafton has forged a deal with Microsoft to bring the studio back to life, as well as transfer ownership of the Hi-Fi Rush property," reports Inverse. "It’s an unprecedented deal that stands in stark contrast to the tens of thousands of layoffs that have gutted the industry over the last two years. And for one of the most talented studios out there, it’s a huge win."
In a press release, Krafton said:

As part of this strategic agreement, KRAFTON intends to collaborate with Xbox and ZeniMax to ensure a smooth transition and maintain continuity at Tango Gameworks, allowing the talented team to continue developing the Hi-Fi RUSH IP and explore future projects. KRAFTON intends to support the Tango Gameworks team to continue its commitment to innovation and delivering fresh and exciting experiences for fans. There will be no impact on the existing game catalog of The Evil Within, The Evil Within 2, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and the original Hi-Fi RUSH game.

This integration reinforces KRAFTON’s dedication to expanding its global footprint and enhancing its portfolio with innovative and high-quality content. The addition of Tango Gameworks represents a strategic alignment with KRAFTON's mission to push the boundaries of interactive entertainment.

Inverse reports that while this acquisition includes the rehiring of all former Tango Gameworks employees, about 50 of them will be folded into the parent company's Japan subsidiary.
At a time when Microsoft is struggling to define the Xbox's identity amidst slumping sales, Hi-Fi Rush was almost universally lauded as a feather in the console's cap. "It’s got best-in-class animation, endearing heroes to cheer for, and villains you love to hate, all wrapped in good-natured humor," said IGN's Michael Higham. "Without a doubt stands among the action greats."
In early 2024, Microsoft surprised gamers by announcing several of its exclusive titles would be releasing on Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5. As the time, as reported by Variety, Microsoft explained the reason for releasing their games on competitor consoles was that it would allow them to "invest in either future versions of these games, or elsewhere in our first-party portfolio. There is no fundamental change to our approach on exclusivity." Hi-Fi Rush was among the most anticipated of these titles, so the closure of its studio just weeks later came as a major surprise for fans and investors.
Krafton's revival of Tango Gameworks and Hi-Fi Rush is a rare bit of good news in the generally grim modern gaming landscape. Aftermath's Luke Plunkett wrote:

If Krafton looked at Tango's past, looked at Hi-Fi Rush, looked at how stupid and callous Microsoft has been with its recent closures and figured, huh, we can buy a really cool studio on the cheap and get to own some really cool video games going forward if we just leave these guys alone to do their thing.

Something Microsoft could have also realised, but then, their line must always go up, no matter the cost. Hopefully things go better for Tango now they're owned by quite literally anyone else.

Hi-Fi Rush is available now on Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Steam.

Oh, Also

New Moana 2 trailer is life.
Chad Muska is back home in Lorain.
Games like A Short Hike help remind us why it's important to slow down.
Dark Souls 2 has a new fan-made lighting mod and it rules.
You just couldn't get enough of Sexy Shelob, so now we get Sexy Sauron.
Riley McLeod wants you to know about this website stuffed with gaming UIs.
Robin Sloan called my book "capacious and discursive," which I assume is good.
Game Informer magazine was shut down by GameStop after 33 years because MBAs don't know what they're doing.
Speaking of which, Game Informer alum Alex van Aken has a new video game documentary channel called Viewport.
Borderlands is getting killed.
The new Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook is here and it's real good.