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ANDY McNAMARA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF andy @gameinformer.com

Read my column or comment on this letter at gameinformer.com/mag or follow @G1_AndyMc

2

former

3

The Lost Art Of Cheating

‘Il admit it. | miss cheating. I'm not | talking about swindlers in online games with aimbots or lag switches, but the old-school cheating that didn’t hurt anyone. Boosting done with cheat

codes in single-player games.

If you played the original Contra back ‘on the Nintendo Entertainment System, you knew its cheat code by heart (even though it debuted in Gradius). Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A was how you unlocked 30 lives.

Given Contra’s difficulty, this code was how many beat and found love for a game that without the code may not have entertained so many. It was so important to Contra that the “Konami Code” has burrowed its way into pop culture, with t-shirts and appearances on websites everywhere.

In the race to make sure gamers keep their games, | think we have lost this very important part of video game culture. Not to say that | am against hard games or that cheat codes are for every game, but if you have a single-player game that features tons of bosses that impale players for hours on end, you might want to consider the sage advice Contra gave us all those years ago (I'm looking at you, Hyper Light Drifter). A cheat code can be how a player gets through your game.

Ihave many games in my collection that I loved playing and exploring, but never completed due to bosses | simply couldn't beat or | didn't find interesting enough to repeat the battle for hours until | was lucky enough to find victory. A cheat code would have changed that experience. It would have helped me tailor the experience to what | wanted from the game.

At the end of the day, that’s what most games are about: having fun. If you worry the path of least resistance will lead to players blasting through your games, then hide it, old-school style, and release the codes months after a game's release. | would love to dust off some of the games that defeated me and throw on a bonus or two to kill the boss that gave me nightmares for weeks. To go back to having fun with games that literally drove me away.

Enjoy the issue.

Cheers,

Horizon Zero Dawn

After more than a decade working on the

Killzone franchise, Guerrilla Games is shifting gears with Horizon Zero Dawn. The action/RPG takes you to a post-post-apocalyptic world where machines have taken over and humanity has regressed to a more primitive lifestyle. We get the lowdown on protagonist Aloy, how she'll survive in this dangerous landscape, and why Guerrilla Games felt this ambitious, challenging project was worth the risk. by Kimberley Wallace

1 The Future Of Star Wars Gaming Star Wars’ gaming future 1 The Gamescom Report is currently clouded. We Germany's massive annual gaming convention happened have a list of what's in the last month, and we were there to go hands-on with new games works, and what we think and report on alll the announcements. is in the future.

04 Feedback

17 The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

20 Top Ten Monstrous Transformations

21 Gamer:

The Real American F aoa : ib J Long Distance Relationships And Gaming i a 2 Gaming is all about shared experiences, whether that 32 Massive: refers to online games or playing offline games with others Pokemon Go simultaneously, and we investigate how that factors into long- 33 Impulse: distance relationships. Science Fiction That's Better With A Friend 34 Interview: John Hanke 36 Gear: Dressed To Kill 87 Timeline 54 Previews 76 Reviews

94 Classic: Sweet Home 96 Game Over: Dead Rising 4 True Or False With We dive deep into Frank West's return to the spotlight — Pokémon Go and Willamette — for the next Dead Rising.

6 Prey 6 Resident Evil 7 ;

Arkane Studios’ Biohazard 7 Elder Scrolls sort-of sequel to 2006's Capcom is changing things Legends Prey is starting to get us up for the next Resident Evil. Bethesda takes on the very excited. We have the latest details. digital card-game genre.

3} Deus Ex: Quadrilateral 8 No Man's Sky Mankind Divided Cowboy

We finally have our What's the verdict on Eidos This indie adventure about review of the immensely Montreal's highly custom- a group of thieves stole anticipated No Man's Sky. izable sci-fi epic? our hearts.

games index

Alone With You ............. 92 ARK: Survival Evolved ........ 28 Lo DECOR TRC SS SST 92 Brutaliassacdaachansaeneaad 92

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare... 68 CIYBIATK gadvsanennndacas 33 Dead Rising 4

DONE EN GH cccnnnneee eens 92

Don't Starve 28 Dragon Quest Builders. ...... 72 Dragonball Xenoverse 2... 79 Elder Scrolls Legends ....... 73 Pade Wascasa sagan haa 92 Gears of War4 oo... 2... eee 62 | 1a CCR SATEEN ETS 28 Horizon Zero Dawn .......... 40 King of Fighters XIV, The. ..... 90 Madden NFLA7.....2222...4 84

Master of Orion

Metal Gear Survive ......... 78

Metroid Prime: Federation Force

Minecraft: Story Mode — Episode 7: Access Denied... 92

NBA 2K17 00... 80 No Man's Sky ............. 85 Pokémon Go........-...006 32 Prey: vbssbeissesssgssass 60 Quadrilateral Cowboy ....... 88 Quake Champions.......... 69 Resident Evil 7 Biohazard ..... 64 Rust. . 28 Scalebound.........2...44 74 Sonic Mania.........22..05 7 Starbound . 89 SweetHome ............00. 94 This is the Police.......... 92 THANE Ae essvusssaanes 66 Urban Empires. ........... 76 Watch Dogs 2.......2...04 70

3. contents

Contact Us

feedback@gameinformer.com 4

Iwas very glad to see Microsoft and Sony continuing their indie efforts at E3. Releases from major developers seemed to dominate this year's show, while indie games faded back from the limelight. But it’s great to see that indie development is still alive and well even if it's not at the forefront of the indus- try. Recent indies like Rocket League, Undertale, and Hyper Light Drifter have been nothing short of revolutionary, and it makes me very happy to know we'll continue to see games like these in the future.

Dominic Cobb

via email

While indie games didn’t make quite as big of a splash at E3 2016 as in previous years, a number of promising titles still earned spots on our Hot 50 list. Thankfully, most indie developers don’t wait to debut their games at a big (not to mention expensive) trade show. We'll keep bringing you the best of the best each and every issue.

Archiving The Old-School

As a person who has played most generations of games, I'm curious

to know what is being done to both preserve and give people access to games of the past. E.T. for Ataris still regarded as the worst game around (| played and beat it), and Ms. Pac-Man is hailed as one of the best all-around games. How will today’s generation of players ever get a chance to study these old games as they were and maybe see the evolution of digital gaming? Has there been any effort to

Readers share their final thoughts on this year’s E3, discuss the upcoming 4K consoles, and pine for the Pokémon game they’ve been dreaming of.

create a library of sorts that provides universal, stable, and legal access to historical games? Chris Kopf Massachusetts

You're in luck, Chris. The Internet Archive has already begun the mon- umental task of preserving gaming's earliest offerings, from old DOS and arcade games to early consoles. To take a stroll down memory lane, just head to Archive.org.

PHOTOS FROM THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY

This is in response to Rocky Johnson's Feedback letter about Sony and Microsoft's upcoming 4K consoles (Not Looking For An Upgrade, issue 280). While it is your choice to not upgrade to 4K technol- ogy, you wouldn't have your “top-of- the-line” 1080p TV now if companies hadn't made the jump to HD tech back in the day. So while | agree it's, a tactic to drive sales of 4K TVs, I'm fine with that. You must not have had the pleasure of seeing 4K in all its glory; it's absolutely amazing. | have a 4K television and | only get limited 4K programing. Once more of the public accepts this technol- ogy, prices will lower and more 4K entertainment will be available. So enjoy your 1080p TV. Once more buyers like myself give in to the 4K revolution and it’s dirt cheap five years from now, you can write in and thank me.

Greg Carter

via email

Video games have long been a driving force for establishing new technologies, and we suspect 4K will be no different. Whether the majority of gamers will agree with Microsoft and Sony’s ti to be seen, but there will always be early adopters willing to blaze a trail for the rest of us.

“Are you ready to use the Wii U GamePad?”

No.

“Where do those of us who have good,

nay, briliant ideas for storylines or mechanics for games go?”

Programming school.

“Do you guys hate Sonic?”

No more than everyone else does at this point.

“All hope and faith lost in game industry/critics”

What game is your go-to time waster, and why?

Left) The team leads at Guerilla Games were kind enough to show us more of Horizon: Zero Dawn this month. If you like robot dinosaurs, head to page 40. This month Reiner descended upon Gearbox with some industry friends. From left to right: Mikey Neumann, Scott Porter, Rick Malambri, Andrea Rene, Kristy Pitchford, Britanni Johnson, and Dave Oshry.

feedback 5

Seeeeeees Seneeeeee SESeeeeee Trt SSeeeeneee

. . SERB Seeeee 2

& Post-E3 Analysis

5” Console Hot Takes

@ Indie Game Love m Hot 50 Gripes = NX Speculation

= More Merit Badge- Seeking Boy Scouts

Matt Bertz recently caught up with ArenaNet’s Ron Burgess and Hidden Variable Studios’ Nick Ahrens, who has been screaming ever since he left Gul.

Jeff Marchiafava’s favorite E3 appointment? Eating burritos with Rich “Saint” Dickinson, former Gil. blogger extraordinaire who now works with Microsoft's Larry Hryb.

(continued on page 8)

6 feedback

| found myself wondering something when looking through your previews section in issue 279: Why do you care to include the newest upcom- ing Madden game? One comes out every year with the same title with one digit changed. They typically have the same graphics for 2-3 years, the same teams, and very little added features per year. | feel it's a wasted space that could be used to feature any other game. Matthew Snell Vancouver, WA

Not a football fan, are we? While Madden’s annual offerings may not interest you, the series remains one of the biggest and best-selling franchises of the industry, with mil- lions of fans who happily buy each new installment. And, believe it or not, quite a bit can change from ‘one entry to the next, which sports fans can read about in our review on page 84,

| was pleased to see that in issue 280 you included artwork from a younger reader. | grew up during the first Nintendo generation as a gamer and inspiring artist. | have always com- pared my drawings to those of my peers that I've seen in magazines and elsewhere. Children these days should be able to feel just as connected as | did when | was younger, giving them hope that by submitting their artwork they could possibly be published in a magazine like yours. Please consider continuing to show these submissions. Jesse Pagliano via email

We mostly just shared Colin's art because we were tickled by the thought of a Star Wars/Mario mash- up, but we guess filling kids with hope and inspiration is cool too. For details on how to submit your art, flip to the Gallery on page 8.

A SHOWDOWN FOR SKIN SUPREMACY

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THE PROTECTOR

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HYDRO irritation. Its protective gel reservoir delivers 40% less friction than

FREE YOUR SKIN® a lube strip? So leave your face undefeated with Schick Hydro. “Average vs. Quatro Titanium lube sip

1 James Laws We get a ton of Iron Man art, yet we still don’t have a great game for this beloved hero

2 Jayden Zimmerman

If Disney ever acquired the Pokémon license, this terrifying hybrid would likely happen

3 Lee Baumann

A portrait of Link showing the intensity on his face as he watches an egg hatch in Pokémon Go

4 Emily Hall

League of Legends’ Jinx is often confused as Harley Quinn. Maybe DC should have them team up in a new comic series

Submit your art for a chance to win our monthly prize. Please include your name and return address. Entries become the property of Game Informer and cannot be returned. Send to: Game Informer Reader Art Contest, 724 First Street North, 3rd Floor, Minneapolis, MN 55401 | Email to: ReaderArt@gameinformer.com

SAIELL ELLA SEAL TEED TELD DEES ELED TOD EEO ELEETEE DLE LE EDEL ELLE ELLA DELI DELD DEL ELEEEL ELT S TATE ELLA ODED ELLE LEE EE IL EDL

eft) This year at Comic-Con, Shea interviewed Bill Fagerbakke and Tom Kenny, who voice Patrick and Spongebob Squarepants in a certain cartoon. We forget the

name of it.

Shea also met

an DiDio and Jim Lee of DC fame.

8 feedback

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by Elise Favis

The Cologne, Germany event sees highest attendance to date

Gamescom

2016 Recap

The world’s largest computer and games show hit record-breaking numbers with its attendance

this year. Over the course of four days, the Gamescom public event drew enormous crowds of more than 500,000 attend- ees and 877 exhibitors from around the world — the most this consumer trade show has ever seen, How- ever, even with hundreds of thousands of eager fans wandering the massive 11-hall KéInmesse, there was considerably less hype. Unlike past years, Gamescom 2016 held no press conferences, and big announce- ments were few and far between.

With Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony opting out of major presentations, most of the focus was put on demos and smaller announcements for games that were previously unveiled. Even with the anticipa- tion and mystery surrounding PlayStation Neo, Project Scorpio, and the Nintendo NX, publishers held their cards close to their chests this year without divulging any more information about these upcoming consoles. It seems that the most significant announcements are shifting over to platform-specific events instead.

However, Microsoft's pre-Gamescom event allowed members of the press to try out demos before they hit the show floor, and began with a brief appearance from Xbox head Aaron Greenberg. Up on a small stage, he announced to the hordes of media that a new FIFA 17 Xbox One S bundle would release on September 22, with both 500 GB and 1TB hard drive versions.

Another big announcement from the show, which is arguably the most buzzed and contro- versial topic to surface, was the reveal of Metal Gear: Survive. Konami released its first trailer and later held behind-the-scenes presenta- tions to the media. This four-player co-op title

puts emphasis on survival over espionage, a drastic shift for the series that left many fans disappointed (turn to page 78 to learn more). However, with Konami remaining tight-lipped on details, its difficult to say what else the publisher has in store for this title.

As for the show floor, fans huddled around booths and waited hours upon hours in line for hands-on with familiar titles such as Watch Dogs 2, Gears of War 4, Titanfall 2, Horizon Zero Dawn, and more. Gamescom awarded Nintendo's Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as best of the show, and heralded Battlefield 1 as the most wanted consumer product. Ubisoft had one of the largest selections of hands-on

12. connect

experiences at the show, with For Honor, South Park: The Fractured But Whole, Watch Dogs 2, and Star Trek: Bridge Crew being among some of its best selections.

Virtual reality remained a highlight, with Ocu- lus demoing its touch controllers for games like Crytek’s The Climb, and PlayStation VR available for the public to try out. Star Wars: Battlefront VR showed promise with its demo that allows you to take control of an X-Wing.

Some of our favorite demos from the show included South Park: The Fractured But Whole, For Honor, Injustice 2, and Dead Rising 4 (read our six-page feature starting on page 54). We also got a hands-off look at some of fall's biggest games. Dishonored 2 showcased protagonist Emily’s phenomenal supernatural powers, and Mafia Ill showed the demo where Lincoln Clay sets off to New Bordeaux's downtown area to take down mob leader Tony DeRazio (which Gl. readers probably remem- ber from our Mafia Ill cover story).

Capcom released a new trailer for Resident Evil 7 and we were treated to a behind-the- scenes presentation, which showcased a short demo where a young woman named Mia is be- ing chased by a pursuer who holds a lantern Unfortunately, with its predictable jump scares, the demo left us unimpressed (read more on page 64).

While Gamescom had some great offerings in terms of games, most were familiar titles and little from the show attracted major media attention. The event remains at its peak in terms of consumer interest, but major pub- lisher presence was at an all-time low, shifting many announcements to other conventions throughout the year. ©

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THE FUTURE OF STAR WARS GAMING

A look into the games on the horizon

by Andrew Reiner

n May 6, 2013, a month after LucasArts shuttered its develop- ment studio, Electronic Arts signed a deal with Disney to be the exclusive creator of Star Wars titles for the core gaming audience. At the time, EA seemed to have a timeline in mind, stating that DICE and Visceral Games would develop new Star Wars experiences using the

Frostbite 3 engine.

Games take time to develop, and we're just now starting to see the fruition of these efforts. Starting in 2017, Electronic Arts has a different Star Wars game launching each year, begin- ning with a new Battlefront title from DICE and Motive Studios, a new EA studio in Montreal that is co-developing the title and is rumored to be creating a story-based, single-player campaign for it.

In EA's E3 Star Wars video, behind-the- scenes Motive Studios footage shows concept art on a monitor that features a First Order TIE Fighter as well as Star Destroyers similar in shape to General Armitage Hux's Finalizer. We also see a Rebel X-Wing pilot rappelling with a rope down the side of a vessel with a gun drawn. Not only does this art hint at the new

14

Battlefront being set in Star Wars’ new timeline, but perhaps larger-scale battles that blend space combat and run-and-gun gameplay, much like early Pandemic Studios’ entries in the series.

The next game in the pipeline is Visceral's untitled Star Wars title, slated tentatively as a 2018 release. From eight seconds of footage released at E3 and a handful of concept im- ages shown at Star Wars Celebration, we know this game is set between the events of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, mostly from the design of the TIE Fighters. We also learned that Tatooine's Mos Eisley is one of its locations, but it doesn’t appear to be a spaceport open to everyone, as we saw in Star Wars: A New Hope. From the

Imperial banners draped across many of Mos Eisley's prominent structures, this city appears to be under their control. We also know that the Rebellion has a presence here, from a faint insignia spray painted on a wall, similar to

the way Sabine Wren applies her tags in Star Wars Rebels.

The concept art hints at this adventure focus- ing on two characters, a male and female, who don't appear to be tied to the Rebellion, and in- stead are dressed like scoundrels. At Star Wars Celebration, Amy Hennig revealed Visceral’s game wouldn't just be about one character.

“In Star Wars, there are co-protagonists,” she said during in a panel at the show. “If you think about the original trilogy, or even the films that are continuing now, it's as much Han's, Leia's, Vader's story, as Luke's. Think about Rebels. That tradition continues there. Think about Rogue One. Same thing again. The same thing is true of our game. How do we honor that in story and do that through gameplay as well? It's not a lone-wolf story — that's not Star Wars. The characters have to be a coordi- nated ensemble, acting in the moment, and in parallel. Think about the Death Star escape. They only escape because they all worked in

parallel. They are always underdogs in these stories. They are always outnumbered and out- gunned so they have to be smarter than their enemies, more improvisational, and they have to work together.”

Hennig also revealed that this story would mostly focus on new characters to the Star Wars universe, and that the writing process for this game is similar to the work she did on Naughty Dog's Uncharted series.

After Visceral’s game, possibly also in 2019, is Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars title directed by former God of War III lead Stig Asmussen, which he calls a third-person action/adventure title. We've seen motion- capture footage that strongly suggests the focus will be on Jedi action. The footage showed a young male (perhaps 10 to 13 years old) battling an older, bearded foe with a red lightsaber.

Along with Criterion’s upcoming Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR mission coming exclusively to PlayStation VR later this year, BioWare hinted at the possibility of a new Star Wars experience coming from The Old Republic developer. James Ohlen, the director of design at BioWare, says “beyond The Old Republic, there are so many stories that we want to tell.”

Motive's Jade Raymond says more studios are slated to make Star Wars games in the years to come, but it appears the decade will close out with Battlefront II, an Uncharted-like action game from Visceral, and a Force-pow- ered experience from Respawn. It's not a bad lineup, and it’s nice to see EA formulating a long-term plan with yearly releases, much like Lucasfilm is doing with the movies.

The character in the footage is walking out of Mos Eisley’s cantina. The pod on the left and the dish on the right are exactly the same

The Jedi that is shown in the footage appears to bea young male, no older than 13

connect 15

Pith Final Fantasy’s tradition of amazing cin- ematic sequences, the series’ move into ani- mated film seemed like a natural transition. So

far, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within and Final Fantasy VII:

Advent Children faced different problems that kept them

from being wholeheartedly embraced by the Final Fantasy

community. With Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, Square

Enix takes another shot at bringing its flagship franchise

into the movie world. This feature-length exploration of

Final Fantasy XV’s universe is rewarding for fans, and we

take a look at what works (and what doesn’t) in the film.

a @

+ Up: Game Preparation

If you're already planning to play Final Fantasy XV, you should watch Kingsglaive. The movie takes place parallel to the early parts of the game, and is a window into the turmoil at home (the city of Insomnia) as players are on a road trip with the game's protagonist Noctis and his friends. It features several characters who play prominent roles in the game, and the connection feels more significant than any other spin-off media I’ve seen before.

~ Down: Standalone Potential

When viewed as a limb of the larger Final Fantasy XV body, Kingsglaive is valuable. When viewed as a standalone movie, its appeal diminishes significantly. It is more accessible to non-fans than Advent Children, but it still doesn't cross the threshold into the realm of wide appeal.

If you aren't already excited for Final Fantasy XV, you don’t need to

see Kingsglaive.

+ Up: The Action

Kingsglaive has some great battles laced with impressive action that lives up to the Final Fantasy legacy. With enormous monsters, hijacked airships, and one-on-one duels, the movie doesn't give you much time to breathe. The focus on conflict allows Square Enix to highlight outstanding fight sequences, including slick teleportation moves and magic-infused attacks that come together in a stream of relentless and well-choreographed encounters.

16 connect

- Down: Character Moments

The price you pay for the bevy of cool action scenes is you don't get much narrative downtime, leaving the cast without room to develop. Most of the characters are encompassed by simple archetypes, which doesn't allow for much nuance. King Regis alone gets the opportunity to shine, and | was especially disappointed with Luna; for all of the talk about the team's desire to make her a strong character, she doesn’t seem to do much for herself. Hollywood voice talent Aaron Paul, Lena Headey, and Sean Bean do solid work in the leading parts, and the supporting voice cast is also good.

+ Up: Visuals

With cutting-edge tech and jaw-dropping effects, Kingsglaive is a gor- geous fragment of the Final Fantasy XV universe. The characters look lifelike, and their motion capture and animation is excellent. The various spells, weapons, and monsters make battles and other action sequences awe-inspiring affairs. Plus, the overall art direction is cohesive and stylish, making the city of Insomnia feel real while still retaining its fantasy ele- ments. Regardless of the cracks that show in other aspects of the movie, it’s always a visual treat.

- Down: Crowded Cast

The number of characters and their exploits are more than the movie can support in under two hours. With a few superfluous villains and allies, the tale feels unfocused; important story beats can't land with much impact if you can't keep the characters and their motivations straight. | wish the movie had trimmed down the roles, which would have freed up more time for the important characters to become interesting.

+ Up: Nods To Fans

To avoid spoilers, | won't go into much detail here, but Kingsglaive

has several cool surprises for longtime fans of the franchise, like some familiar-looking monsters. This won't tip anyone's opinion on the movie ‘one way or the other, but it's a treat for loyal Final Fantasy players.

Final Verdict:

Despite issues with the characters and story, Kingsglaive is the best Final Fantasy movie yet. Square Enix has honed the art of flashy, acrobatic action, and that skill is on full display for most of the movie. The story takes a disappointing shape when viewing Kingsglaive as an isolated experience, but as a prelude to a much larger adventure on the horizon, it made me even more excited to watch this world come together — all while delivering plenty of thrills along the way. &

THE MASS EFFECT TRILOGY (ore. cetnen

Electronic Arts. “The honest answer is that we are absolutely actively looking at it,” EA Studios executive vice president Patrick Soderlund told us at Gamescom. “I can't announce anything today, but you can expect us most likely to follow our fellow partners in Activision and other companies that have done this successfully.” Soderlund went on to say how to approach releasing these remasters

The Bad

JOYCE WORLEY KATZ;

one of the three founders of pioneering video game magazine Electronic Games, has passed away. Worley Katz, along with Arnie Katz and Bill Kunkel (all three pictured on the right), formed the maga- zine in 1981. Her contributions at the magazine and as a senior editor at other publications were important to video games journalism and the medium. We extend our condolences to her family and friends.

SO N y is making a variety of recommendations for those

using PlayStation VR, which comes out in October. The company says some games may need up to 60 square feet of clear space (roughly an 8 by 8-foot space that’s similar to the one

suggested by VR competitor the Vive) — particularly for experiences that require you to stand up and use the Move controllers. Speaking of which, the company slipped in that not only will some PSVR titles require the controller, but that you may want to buy new ones, since the internal batteries on older models could be failing. ©

XT9N AHL? ‘OVE FHL ‘GOOD SHL

Quotable

“Our objective with Final Fantasy XV was to deliver a Final Fantasy of the highest possible quality, to every single person who buys the game. We have completed the master ver- sion, but when it comes to that highest possible quality, we felt that we had not quite reached this

standard yet.”

~ Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata explains the game's delay to November 29.

connect 17

From Gamer

We /

To Race Car Driver:

How one man overcame his disability, using video games to fulfill a dream

by Elise Favis

t seven years old, Nicolas Hamilton went to an empty parking lot with his father and hopped into a go-kart for a test run. His legs were weak because of his cerebral palsy, a disorder caused by abnormal brain de- velopment, affecting muscle and motor function. He strapped his feet tightly to the pedals to ensure they wouldn't slip, but even with this added measure, he soon spun out of control. The go-kart flipped over, falling down a six-foot ravine with

Nicolas still inside.

From then on Hamilton's parents forbade him from any kind of racing. This didn’t stop his need for speed, though, as he resorted to

the next best thing: racing games. By honing his skills and competing in eSports tourna- ments, his hard work began paying off in unex- pected ways. Soon, he was helping with game

18

development for Project Cars and launching into a professional racing career. “I've always

wanted to be in motorsports from a young age,”

Hamilton says. “I was born a racer.”

Racing plays a large role in the Hamilton family's lives. Lewis Hamilton, Nicolas’ older half-brother, is a three-time Formula One world

champion. From watching his brother compete in various races each weekend, Nicolas’ love for motorsports progressed from hobby to passion But becoming a race-car driver always seemed more like a fantasy. “I always wanted to get into it, but | never thought it would be possible due to my condition with cerebral palsy,” he says. “It wasn't really in the cards for me to race.”

The Virtual Racer

Diagnosed at three years old, the doctors told his family he would never walk, let alone talk. When he was four, he underwent what he de- scribes as a “life-changing” operation, which loosened up the muscles in his legs, and allowed him to regain some control. However, he was confined to a wheelchair for some of his early life.

Nowadays, he sees his condition less as an obstacle, and more as just part of his every- day grind. “It’s like anything,” he says. “Once you get used to one thing, it might start off as

a challenge, but as you get used to it, it just becomes part of everyday life.”

During his late teens, Nicolas discovered the world of simulation racing, which seemed like a reasonable substitution for his unlikely dream. His interest stemmed initially from Rock n’ Roll Racing, a car-combat racing game, which he played on the Sega Genesis at the age of six. He later advanced to sim titles. “There weren't really simulation [racing] games at that time; they were more arcade games,” he says. “I got seriously into [sim racing] when I got a demo for GTR, which was made by Simbin Studios.”

The demo left such a strong impression on him that he went out to buy the full copy of GTR, along with a steering-wheel setup. Un- able to use the pedals, he instead controlled the car's speed via button inputs. “| wasn’t able to have fast enough reactions to brake and accelerate, so | learned a technique on the buttons to be able to be quick and compete,” he says.

Following GTR, he played Race 07, a 2007 title from veterans of Simbin Studios, who formed to create Sector3. This was the game where Nicolas first delved into online competi- tive racing. “I got into being part of a commu- nity and started to race with the best drivers in the world in sim gaming,” he says. After spending countless hours refining his skills and learning the ins and outs of sim racing games, he entered an eSports British Championship in 2009 and won, despite using a cheap £20 steering wheel.

“These people | was racing against had

steering wheels that cost £500 to £1,000, and | had a £20 steering wheel, and I just stuck it on the end of my desk,” he says. “It was so cheap that every time after a couple of months, the buttons would start to stick because | used

it so much, because | had to accelerate and brake on them.

One night, during one of his online tourna- ments, his brother Lewis took the time to watch him play. Instantly impressed, Lewis suggested that he should race for real. Nicolas initially refused, telling his brother, “That's not possible, that's not going to happen.” But after some prodding, he relented.

Once Hamilton hit the track, he zoomed faster than even the instructors at the Jonathan Palmer driving school. In the next three months, he was fulfilling his dream of entering the professional world of race-car driving. To do so, he uses a specially modified car with widened pedals and a hand clutch.

“My first ever test in a proper race car was

only three weeks before my first race,” he says.

In 2011, Hamilton competed in the Renault Clio Cup, driving for Total Control Racing. De- spite coming in last, he amassed recognition from fans and followers. In 2013, he moved up to the European Touring Car Cup, and then competed in the British Touring Car Champi- onship in 2015, making him the first disabled driver to take part.

His accomplishments didn’t go unnoticed. In 2012, he landed a job with Slightly Mad Stu- dios, a London-based racing-game studio that was developing the game Project Cars. After coming up with a concept for a game, Hamil- ton contacted a friend of his at Codemasters, who suggested he reach out to Slightly Mad

Studios. “It wasn’t anything to do with a job,” he says. “He just said, ‘If you want to get involved in it, | can introduce you.’ | said yes and he gave me an introductory email, and it seemed like Slightly Mad already knew who | was. It was pretty bizarre, but it was an oppor- tunity that | wouldn't turn down for the world.”

Hamilton stepped in at Slightly Mad as their handling consultant, but his role became much more substantial. At the beginning, the studio asked him to play the game a few times to get a feel for it, then report back. Soon enough, however, he was directly involved with the conceptual side of development, changing aspects of the game. “Here we are, nearly four years later. I'm now working on Project Cars 2 and it's been a pretty phenomenal journey," he says. “Having learned that Slightly Mad actually started from SimBin Studios, which created the games that | grew up on and started my career with, it’s as if it’s almost meant to be.”

Hamilton is not the first to hone his skills in games and eventually transition to behind the wheel of a race car. In 2011, Gran Turismo player Jann Mardenborough made the same jump, and others have done so as well. “| mean, I'm not the only person who's done it,” he says. “So many people out there have. I'm just one of the unique individuals that have got- ten an opportunity, was born with a condition, and sort of created my own path and my own way.” He believes that racing games can be an impressive training tool for those that aspire to race for real.