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Nintendo’s Indie World showcase features Cult of the Lamb DLC, Oxenfree II, and more

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a:hover]:text-gray-63 [&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a:hover]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-underline-gray [&>a]:shadow-underline-gray-63 dark:[&>a]:text-gray-bd dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-gray”>Massive Monster

In case Tears of the Kingdom isn’t your thing or you need something to tide you over until May 12th, Nintendo put on a 20-minute Indie World presentation chock-full of new games, DLC, trailers, and more. Here are the highlights.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Mineko’s Night Market

In Mineko’s Night Market, you play as Mineko, who’s tasked with crafting all sorts of tchotchkes for the weekly Night Market. There’s also a fun, wide world to explore, allowing you to uncover the ancient secrets of the legendary cat-god. But be careful, as there are dubious-looking government agents who don’t want land’s secrets revealed. Mineko’s Night Market looks like a cuter version of Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin but without all the demon killing. Out already on Steam and Mac, it makes its Nintendo Switch debut on September 26th.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>My Time At Sandrock

In this sequel to My Time At Portia, My Time At Sandrock lets you restore a post-apocalyptic desert town into a bustling community. Along the way, you’ll gather resources to upgrade the local workshop, grow crops, decorate your home, complete side quests, befriend villagers, and even fall in love. There are also cute dog penguins (!!) to befriend. My Time at Sandrock doesn’t have a firm release date but is due out sometime this summer.

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a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Five Nights At Freddie’s: Security Breach

Freddie Fazbear is back, and this time… he’s your friend?? In Five Nights At Freddie’s: Security Breach, you are trapped overnight at Freddie Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex, where, with the help of Freddie, you must evade and outwit his murderous animatronic friends. If you’re keen to experience the terror of being chased down by janky robots who want nothing more than a big ole hug, good news: Security Breach stealth drops on the Switch later today.

Do you secretly hate your friends and want to rip them apart via an innocuous co-op restaurant management game? Then Plate Up! is exactly what you need. From It’s Happening and Yogscast Games, you and up to three soon-to-be-former friends can build and staff your own restaurant. Cook meals, clean dishes, and if you earn enough money, you’ll be able to create Rube Goldberg-levels of automation to make your restaurant run as efficiently as possible. If you’re good enough, maybe your friendships will survive. Plate Up! hits the Switch in October 2023.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Quilts and Cats of Calico

Nothing seems more cozy than comfy blankets and kitties and Quilts and Cats of Calico combine both. Based on the tabletop game Calico, Quilts and Cats lets you construct the perfect quilt that will attract all kinds of fuzzy feline friends. Quilts and Cats of Calico launches sometime in Fall 2023.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Rift of the NecroDancer

Brace Yourself Games, makers of the fabulous Crypt of the NecroDancer and Cadence of Hyrule, have a new rhythm game in the works, Rift of the NecroDancer. Instead of dungeon crawling to the beat, Rift has you fight monsters slowly heading toward you, vanquishing them with strikes timed to the music. When you’re not beating back beasties to a beat, Rift also has special mini-games, each tailored to one of the five character storylines. Rift of the NecroDancer grooves onto the Switch later this year.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>A Little to the Left: Cupboards and Drawers

A Little to the Left is getting DLC? Say no more! Cupboards and Drawers adds 25 new armoire and alcove-themed puzzles. Use your wits and skills to put things back in order, and with some puzzles having more than one solution, you’ll have so much satisfying, brain-scratching fun getting your virtual house in order. A Little to the Left: Cupboards and Drawers DLC releases in June 2023.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Cult of the Lamb: Relics of the Old Faith

Cult of the Lamb was one of my favorite games of 2022, and I’m so pleased to see it’s getting a free update. Check out all the details here.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Animal Well

Bigmode, the new indie publisher founded by gaming review YouTuber videogamedunkey, made an appearance during today’s Indie World to remind us that its first game, Animal Well, is still coming — due out in early 2024.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Crime O’Clock

Crime O’Clock is a great name for a game in which you must solve over 40 crimes across time and space. Explore ancient Egyptian ruins and futuristic cyberpunk cities but beware, your actions in one era affect outcomes in another. Crime O’Clock will be available on June 30th.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Teslagrad 2

Teslagrad, a puzzle platformer celebrating Scandinavian culture, is getting a sequel. In Teslagrad 2, make use of the power of electromancy to solve physics puzzles and explore the world. Teslagrad 2 launches today on the Switch, and in a neat surprise, the developers have also announced a remaster of the original Teslagrad will also be available today.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Shadows over Loathing

Shadows over Loathing is a quirky-looking stick figure RPG set in the West of Loathing universe. In it, you must confront all kinds of eldritch horrors, including… cheese wizards. Interestingly, the game’s accessibility features include an arachnophobia mode that will eliminate the game’s spider enemies. It also features an arachnophilia mode increasing the number of spiders you’ll face. That should tell you what kind of shenanigans you’re in for when Shadows of Loathing launches later today.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Blasphemous II

The Game Kitchen, makers of Blasphemous, have announced a sequel to their 2D pixel Soulsborne Metroidvania. Blashpemous II features more of the same stylish pixel art, punishing combat and platforming. In Blasphemous II, The Penitent One will have more skills at their disposal, a progression system, and a way for players to customize their loudout. Blasphemous II will take you to church this summer on Nintendo Switch.

a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin dark:[&>a:hover]:shadow-highlight-franklin [&>a]:shadow-underline-black dark:[&>a]:shadow-underline-white”>Oxenfree II: Lost Signals

Night School Games, now one of the many companies in Netflix’s stable of game studios, has announced a release date for Oxenfree II. Check out the details here.

 

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Makeup tutorial: Blue and green are great eyeliner alternatives

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Colourful eyeliner is the trendiest way to make the eyes pop this spring.

While black and brown eyeliner are staples, blue and green are great alternatives if you’re looking to step out of your comfort zone. Here’s a high-low comparison of luxury brand Make Up For Ever Aqua Resist Color Pencil Eyeliner ($32.50) versus drugstore brand Annabelle Smoothliner ($11).

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Apple announces May 7 special event, hints at possible next-gen Apple Pencil

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There may be some cool stuff en route for Apple’s special event on May 7, which was announced on Tuesday.

The company may have also dropped some interesting hints into the invitation, including a pencil icon that could indicate a next-gen Apple Pencil within the works.

In a post on X, Apple CEO Cook shared the artwork for the event with the caption “Pencil us in for May 7!” The executive also added a pencil emoji to the post, which further corroborates the fact that Apple will indeed launch new iPads and potentially a new Apple Pencil at its special “Let Loose” event on May 7.

The last time Apple launched a new generation Apple Pencil was in 2018, excluding a cheaper USB-C version that was introduced in late 2023. With the most recent generation, Apple updated the Apple Pencil with a matte design, better grip, a new double-tap gesture, and magnetic charging.

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Additional rumors have also hinted that the next-gen Apple Pencil could feature Find My integration, which would help users track and find their lost Apple Pencil, just like with AirPods and AirTags.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

Via 9to5Mac and @tim_cook

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How Technology Can Drive Culture Change in Software Organisations

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Technological improvements like containers, VMs, infrastructure-as-code, software-defined-networking, collaborative version control, and CI/CD can make it possible to fix cultural issues around organisational dynamics and bad product delivery. According to Nigel Kersten, software leaders should leverage tech to create positive changes in organisational dynamics and relationships between teams.

Nigel Kersten spoke about how technology can drive culture change at FlowCon France 2024.

Cultural change efforts across larger tech organizations tend to fail often. The most common problem is a failure to define what “cultural change” actually means, Kersten said. “Culture” is far too broad a term, and unless you identify specific and actionable issues that you want to address, you won’t succeed:

First, you’ll find that everyone has a different idea of what “culture” means and a different set of issues in mind, which makes progress difficult. Secondly, you’ll find that without a more specific and concrete set of goals, people will lack confidence that they can create any kind of impact, and will feel helpless.

In most software organisations, it is technological improvements that make it possible to fix the sorts of issues around organisational dynamics and bad product delivery, Kersten said. Improvements don’t automatically happen due to new tech capabilities, but they do become possible if leaders take advantage of them, he added.

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Kersten argued that most technologists want to learn new things, as there’s a natural incentive there for their own careers:

If they understand what the business is trying to achieve and why, and you’re regularly listening to your teams in the way good leaders do, then suggestions for new tech will naturally emerge.

The job of a tech leader is to work out how to leverage this new tech to create positive changes in organisational dynamics and relationships between teams, Kersten mentioned.

Tech that creates simplified abstractions over complexity drives the greatest cultural change, Kersten said. Think of containers, VMs, infrastructure-as-code, software-defined-networking, collaborative version control, and CI/CD:

The tools in this space all enable subject matter experts to bundle up their expertise and make it usable by a larger group of people.

This democratisation makes it easier to have that larger group work towards a common goal, which allows teams to work at their own pace without waiting for someone else to fulfil their request, ultimately making it easier to solve problems for your users, Kersten concluded.

InfoQ interviewed Nigel Kersten about driving culture change with technology.

InfoQ: You mentioned in your talk that getting to fast flow or doing platform engineering well is much more than a shift in culture. What’s needed to support technological change in organizations?

Nigel Kersten: If you’re an organisational leader, the very best thing you can do to enable technical change is to create engaged, satisfied teams with clear context around your business goals, incentivise them to look for continuous improvements, and then give them the time, space, and support to investigate new technologies.

Common examples here are anything to do with automation. If teams have the space to learn new skills and apply them to automate manual tasks, then it’s a relatively simple next step to expose that automation to other teams and to start creating self-service interfaces. This could be something as simple as the remediation of a certain kind of issue in production, or updating a configuration setting.

InfoQ: What are the things that we can or cannot improve with software?

Kersten: Software won’t help you if you don’t have a strategy, if you don’t have a clear vision, and if you don’t have a clear set of goals you want your organisation to achieve. It won’t help you fix diversity issues on your teams, and it won’t help you create psychological safety, which we know is a primary driver of successful teams.

Software can help you with improving internal and external feedback loops, speeding up decision-making, inter-team interactions, and the impact that teams can have on the business, but not without conscious effort from leadership. Software by itself is never a magic bullet.

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