We cited Small Radios Big Televisions back in February as one of our best games of 2016, which is in fact more of a hopeful wish list rather than an assessment of the year's offerings. Based on the new trailer released today to mark the announcement of the game's November 8 launch date, I'd say that hope was (and is) well-placed.
I have a natural curiosity about games that can't be readily explained in a press release or trailer, and Small Radios Big Televisions certainly seems to fit that bill. "Strewn across the floors of empty monoliths are lost data cassettes containing visions of a time long gone. But more than showing you, your mysterious tape deck instantly transports you to these boundless virtual worlds. In Small Radios Big Televisions, reality is just as interchangeable as the media we consume," the announcement explains, not entirely helpfully. "Solve mechanical puzzles to collect all the cassettes tapes and discover the secrets of the abandoned factories. Explore and manipulate the audio-visual data to reconstruct the past, discovering strikingly retrowave tunes along the way."
So it's The Talos Principle, but you can dance to it? That's probably not quite on the money, but I dig the visual style and I really want to know more about the vaguely threatening feeling that hangs behind what appears at first to be a pleasantly idyllic setting. Is the tape a lie?
More information about Small Radios Big Televisions can be found on Steam or at smallradiosbigtelevisions.com.
