ascagnel

That’s abandonware, which isn’t really the same thing.

The sequel (more of a reboot, really) is pretty good.

Umurangi Generation. I talk more about it in this comment, but the short version is that you’re a photographer in a shitty cyberpunk future.

I’d be happy if those games were even available. The franchise is stuck in legal limbo.

Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem would be my choice.

More that the article being a few years old means it’s missed out on a number of notable releases in the interim.

Note the date of the article: October 2021.

That's my thought as well -- the licensed sports game market is probably more reliable (and generates more revenue vs. development cost) than originals, and they can "streamline" their business by splitting the originals business off for a sale. Not including sports probably makes the originals side more attractive to platform holders, as most sports games probably include provisions that require multiplatform releases (see also: the MLB signing a publishing deal for Sony's "The Show" on non-Sony platforms).

I have AA (via their bundle, it’s not really worth it on its own), and within a few weeks I wasn’t able to find online matches. It also didn’t feel great to play (both on touchscreen and controller), and they never released anything beyond 3-on-3 hockey. I would not recommend.

We know why Dolphin wasn’t put on Steam.

1. Dolphin ships with a decryption key for Wii games
2. Valve’s legal team got worried about hosting that (as hosting circumvention tools in the US is a direct violation of the DMCA, even if the tools are created by third parties), and reached out to Nintendo
3. Nintendo did their usual thing and said no (because they wrongly believe all emulation of their hardware is illegal, except if they do it), but in this case correctly identified the circumventing nature of Dolphin
4. Valve pulled down the Dolphin page on their own, without a legal demand from Nintendo

Valve continues to host RetroArch and the various cores, so it’s not like they’re opposed to emulation in general. The ability to copyright “magic numbers” in the US (Valve is an American company) isn’t up for debate, and it would also put them in violation of the DMCA, so it’s not hard to see why Valve would be worried about this specific emulator.

As for Dolphin, they have options:

• they can choose to keep shipping as-is, without being on Steam, as they host from a non-US site (France, specifically) with looser copyright laws
• they can choose to not support encrypted payloads, and require that users supply independently-sourced decrypted games
• they can require users to enter their own decryption key they dump directly from their consoles (which, realistically, means that users would get one off the web separate from Dolphin) and use a dumped system BIOS, which would fully emulate the “real” decryption process

The best description of it I’ve heard is “direct-to-video Mass Effect”. Which is to say: it’s got the elements you’re looking for in a Mass Effect title, but it fails to execute on those elements very well.

Spelunky HD

A roguelike platformer. While it lacks any meta-progression (like the similar Rogue Legacy games), the core platforming keeps me coming back again and again. The systems-based nature of the game keeps things fresh through many play-throughs.

Umurangi Generation

A photography game that's more cyberpunk than the game titled Cyberpunk. It gradually introduces you into its neon-soaked, Neon Genesis Evangelion-inspired world where humanity fights the good fight against kaiju.

Florence

A story of love, loss, and moving on.