Category: News

More Murder, Less Loot-boxes

New Games announced in the world of Dead by Daylight

Behaviour Interactive’s asymmetric horror Dead by Daylight is one of the most popular horror games around. It recently celebrated its 7th anniversary with a stream where they announced a huge amount of content for the future, including two new games set in the same world as Dead by Daylight.

The first new game will be a single player story-focused experience developed by Supermassive Games who are known for creating gripping narrative games like The Quarry or Until Dawn. More information on this game will be coming out later this year.

The second new game will be “a multiplayer PvE experience where instead of facing off against each other, up to four players can team up, enter another one of the Entity’s realms, and take on a host of deadly enemies that occupy it”. This is being developed by Midwinter Entertainment and is not as far along in development as the first, so we don’t know yet when we will hear more about it.

The anniversary stream also featured announcements for new content coming to the base game. A new chapter “End Transmission” will take Dead by Daylight to the stars on June 13. New cosmetic packs inspired by the bands Iron Maiden and Slipknot are coming soon. And, strangest of all, Nicholas Cage is becoming a survivor and joining the game on July 5th. He even does his own voice over, as discussed by the game director:

“He’s got such an iconic voice and delivery. We couldn’t do this without him…In some cases, for the screams and grunts, we have used different people sometimes because these are extremely strenuous exertions, and they can take a toll on people. But in this case, Mr. Cage told us there has never been a voice sound-alike for Nic Cage, and we will not have one now. So, he was generous enough to record every single grunt, scream, and exertion that you will hear in Dead by Daylight.”

 

Kid sues Nintendo over loot boxes, after spending $170 on dad’s credit card.

An unnamed kid has filed a lawsuit against Nintendo over the “immoral” loot boxes within Mario Kart Tour. This mobile game came out in 2019 equipped with loot box microtransactions, and while this is fairly standard for mobile games it does seem egregious coming from a company like Nintendo. While Nintendo did remove microtransactions from the game in later 2022, lawsuits like this one are only now making it to the courts.

With a single draw costing a few dollars, the child who filed the lawsuit spent 170 USD through a card linked to the game. In that lawsuit they now claim that Nintendo used “dark patterns” to trick players into spending more money on the game’s microtransactions, and that “Minors are especially susceptible to these addiction-enhancing elements of game design.”

Public perception of loot boxes and similar microtransactions has soured greatly in the last few years, and lawsuits like this are popping up more and more often, but it’s still hard to predict what way they will go.

 

Playstation Showcase 2023:

In the early hours of the 25th of May, the Playstation Showcase took place, announcing a huge number of upcoming game titles and new hardware. Here are some of the highlights from the show:

Playstation is going handheld with a new piece of hardware coming later this year that will allow you to stream any game from your PS5 console using remote play over Wi-Fi. The device, known as Project Q, sports an 8-inch HD screen and all the features of the dual-sense controller.

In addition to this they announced they will be launching their own pair of Bluetooth-enabled earbuds. They promise lossless audio with low latency and will be compatible with Playstation 5, PC, and the new Project Q device.

Bungee, the studio that gave us Halo and Destiny, has announced Marathon – a revival of one of their earliest titles which released for Mac in 1994. The new Marathon is said to be a PVP extraction shooter and is also multiplatform with full cross play and cross-save coming to PS5, Xbox S/X and PC.

Revenant Hill is the latest game from the studio that created Night in the Woods. The announcement trailer showed off a very similar art style to Night in the Woods, but the games are not connected in any way. Revenant Hill takes place in 1919 and you play as Twig, a cat who has fallen on hard times and is working odd jobs to make ends meet until they can reach their dream of becoming a familiar.

After Months of rumors we finally got confirmation that Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is getting a remake as Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. In addition, we’ll see a rerelease of the first three MGS games as part of the Metal Gear Solid Master Collection which will be coming later this year to PS5.

Square Enix is bringing us Foamstars, a 4v4 shooter coming to PS4 and PS5. The gameplay is very similar to Splatoon except instead of paint players will shoot foam at each other.  Teams aren’t racing to cover the map in their paint but instead the foam is used to both attack and change the layout of the map.

The showcase concluded with a 12-minute gameplay reveal of Spiderman 2 showing off many of the games most exciting features. We saw more from our villain Kraven the Hunter, we saw the black symbiote suit in action, and we saw action from both playable spider-heroes Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Although we weren’t given a date for the game’s release, we were given a window of fall 2023 – or spring for us.

 

Upcoming Game Releases:

On 26th May

  • Hello Neighbor: Search and Rescue coming to PlayStation VR, PlayStation VR2.
  • Sheepy: A Short Adventure is coming to PC.

On 30th May

  • System Shock coming to PC.
  • Company of Heroes 3 is coming to PS5, XSX/S.

and that’s all, this week, in gaming news.

Zelda Tumbles, Amazon Doubles Down, & Activision-Blizzard Again?


More in Activision-Blizzard-Microsoft News

The EU Commission into Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard has been approved after an extensive investigation. Microsoft has agreed to provide free licenses for the next 10 years to cloud streaming services allowing residents in the European Economic Area to stream Activision-Blizzard games on any cloud platform, addressing the competition concerns identified by the Commission. However, the merger still faces challenges with the FTC filing in the US and continues to be blocked pending appeal in the UK. 1-4


https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_23_2705

In other Activision Blizzard News, the company has abandoned its original plans for Overwatch 2’s separate co-op PvE mode… a major selling point that got players to move somewhat objective free from Overwatch 1 to 2. Now the game will incorporate co-op gameplay and experiences into the live-service model, disappointing fans who had been eagerly anticipating the depth and progression of the original vision.5-7 These views have been best summarised by user Uchihagod53,

“The f**k was the point of [Overwatch 2] then?”

Zelda: The Good, Bad and … ooo look at the pretty colours…

Fans have been disappointed at the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, with a player finishing the game in just over an hour and a half (speed runner gymnast86),8 the inability to pet dogs,9 and lack of unlimited bombs.10
Despite this, Tears of the Kingdom has received overwhelmingly positive reviews with around 97 on Metacritic and OpenCritic, making it the highest-rated game of 2023 and the highest-rated Switch game to date. The critical success of Tears of the Kingdom has made it the biggest Zelda game launch in the UK and is expected to be one of the biggest and best-selling games of the year worldwide.11, 12 Players can also look forward to more in the future with Eiji Aonuma (the series manager and producer of Tears of the Kingdom) stating that future Zelda series games will continue to embrace the open-world format introduced in Breath of the Wild. Aonuma compares this shift to how Ocarina of Time established a format for subsequent Zelda games in the late 90s.13

Amazon Doubles Down on Lord of the Rings MMO

After talks broke down between Tencent and Amazon in 2021, Amazon decided to abandon their stake in a Lord of the Rings MMORPG.14 However, the rights for the franchise recently reverted to Middle-Earth Enterprises leading to new discussions with Amazon and the eventual partnership between Amazon’s New World team and the Embracer Group. The game is currently being pitched as an MMO separate from the Lord of the Rings projects, rather aiming for gameplay experiences over faithful adaptation with an over 10-year lifespan.15-17
However Lord of the Rings Online fans are not worried about this game taking over the franchise even in the face of potential server shutdowns and resource allocation, instead pointing to the lacklustre performance of Amazon’s MMO New World.18

And Here’s Some Tasty Gaming Bytes

  • You can finally 100% The Burning Shores DLC of Horizon Forbidden West, now that they’ve added the ONE Brimshine Sliver so that you can finally buy and upgrade everything.19
  • In a new acquisition to the gaming community Sea Lions have become gamers, with US Navy’s Spike traversing mazes WITHOUT fishy bribery and showing delight when winning games.20
  • And finally the relaxing, co-op-able game Powerwash Simulator has hit 7 million users,21, 22 making us ask the question,

“Why meditate when you can simulate?”

https://twitter.com/PowerWashSim/status/1656646241353101320?s=20

And now for some upcoming games.

On Friday 19th, build your own racer in Lego 2K Drive coming to everything.
Monday May 22nd, multiplayer tactical roguelike Inkbound comes to PC.
Tuesday May 23rd, save the post-apocalyptic world in the tactical RPG in Miasma Chronicles or save it as a platforming pixie preservationist in After Us, both coming to PC and Next Gen Consoles. Or lighten up with a cartoonish platform shooter Glitch Busters: Stuck on You coming to PC, PS4 and Switch. Explore the hand-painted puzzle platformer Planet of Lana coming to PC and Xbox. Hit the nostalgia nerve with Puzzle Bobble Everybubble! on the Switch. And Star Trek: Resurgence is coming to PC, PlayStation and Xbox.
And next week on Thursday May 25th, the sequel to Do Not Feed the Monkeys, Do Not Feed the Monkeys 2099 is coming to PC and Switch. The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. And lastly Tennis Manager 2023 is coming to PC.

 

References;

  1. https://www.gameinformer.com/2023/05/15/european-commission-approves-microsofts-activision-blizzard-acquisition
  2. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/european-commission-approves-microsoft-activision-blizzard-deal
  3. https://www.gamesradar.com/microsofts-activision-blizzard-deal-approved-by-european-union/
  4. https://www.gamesradar.com/the-eu-will-require-microsoft-to-bring-activision-games-to-its-cloud-competitors-if-the-buyout-is-successful/
  5. https://www.destructoid.com/overwatch-2-pve-pivoting-from-original-plans-news/
  6. https://www.gamesradar.com/the-death-of-overwatch-2-pve-is-hitting-players-hard-after-years-of-waiting-overwatch-1-died-for-this/
  7. https://www.gamesradar.com/overwatch-2-is-killing-the-pve-mode-it-was-supposed-to-be-built-around/
  8. https://www.gamesradar.com/just-hours-after-launch-the-speedrun-record-for-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-sits-at-just-over-90-minutes/
  9. https://www.gamesradar.com/i-just-found-out-that-you-cant-pet-the-dog-in-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-so-now-im-never-playing-it/
  10. https://www.gamesradar.com/the-legend-of-zelda-fans-are-mourning-the-lack-of-remote-bombs-in-tears-of-the-kingdom/
  11. https://www.destructoid.com/tears-of-the-kingdom-metacritic-opencritic-score-nintendo-zelda/
  12. https://www.gamesradar.com/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-is-officially-the-uks-biggest-zelda-launch-in-history/
  13. https://www.gamesradar.com/expect-more-open-world-zelda-games-after-tears-of-the-kingdom-series-producer-confirms/
  14. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/amazon-cancels-lord-of-the-rings-game
  15. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/amazons-second-attempt-at-making-one-mmo-to-rule-them-all
  16. https://www.gamesradar.com/amazons-lord-of-the-rings-mmo-is-a-game-first-a-reflection-of-the-books-second/
  17. https://www.ign.com/articles/lord-of-the-rings-mmo-coming-from-new-world-developer-amazon-games
  18. https://www.gamesradar.com/new-world-was-a-success-for-a-month-lord-of-the-rings-online-fans-arent-scared-of-amazons-new-lotr-mmo/
  19. https://www.gamesradar.com/horizon-forbidden-west-adds-a-single-missing-crystal-so-players-can-finally-100-the-dlc/
  20. https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/the-us-navy-is-using-video-games-to-train-sea-lions-and-dolphins-2141633/
  21. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/powerwash-simulator-hits-7m-players-news-in-brief
  22. https://www.destructoid.com/powerwash-simulator-has-seen-7-million-players-scrub-up/

News of the week that Zelda TotK comes out

Silksong Update

If you’ve been eagerly awaiting the release of ‘Silksong’ the follow up to 2017’s ‘Hollow Knight’ you’re not alone. Previously all we’ve heard is that it would release in the first half of 2023. Thankfully the games publisher has taken to twitter to address the situation and let us know that the game will no longer be launching in the first half of 2023. Expect more details closer to release which is anytime between now and the heat death of the universe.

Street Fighter 6 Final Open Beta 

‘Street Fighter’ fans will have the opportunity for a good look at the upcoming sixth iteration of the legendary series in one last public beta before the game releases officially on June 2nd.  This isn’t just a small taste though as it includes 8 playable characters, 6 stages, 8 game modes, character creation along with several other features as well as full crossplay support between Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Steam.  It will be available in May from Friday the 19th to Monday the 22nd.  To take part simply go to the Open Beta sign up page on streetfighter.com

Doom II RPG ported to PC

Did you know there is an official RPG of Doom II?  ‘Doom II RPG’ was released in 2009 for the iPhone, iPod Touch and the Apple iTunes phone, the Motorola ROKR E1. Since it was based on iOS2 you’ll have a hard time getting it to run nowadays. Thankfully the resourceful team of enthusiasts at GEC Entertainment Inc have reverse engineered the game and released it on PC. You can find all the info you need to play the game at the Doomworld forums.

Activision enlists her majesty’s finest

After last week’s decision by the UK’s Competition and Market Authority to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision/Blizzard/King, Activision is gearing up for a fight by hiring Lord David Pannick KC to lead their appeal. Lord Pannicks previous clients include Queen Elizabeth II, Boris Johnson and Manchester City FC. Microsoft has hired Daniel Beard KC who, while not a Lord, has previously won massive appeal cases for both Apple and Intel.

Peabody Winners!

‘Life is Strange True Colors’ has received a win at this year’s Peabody Awards. The Peabody Awards are a prestigious set of annual awards that recognize excellence in broadcasting and digital media content that has made a significant impact on society.

Another video game related winner was ‘The Uncensored Library’ which is a beautifully crafted virtual library that runs in minecraft.

“Leveraging Minecraft’s availability in countries while other media is blocked, over 20 million gamers in 165 countries have been able to access censored articles, available in English and the original language, from acclaimed independent journalists under threat by the authoritative regimes of places such as Saudi Arabia, Russia, Mexico, Egypt, and Vietnam.[snip] the library has become a teaching tool in K-12 schools and universities around the world. For turning one of the largest digital platforms for youth into a global movement to fight censorship, The Uncensored Library wins a Peabody Award.”

Upcoming game releases

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch) – May 12

Humanity (PlayStation 5, PlayStation VR2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation VR, PC) – May 16

Firmament (PC, Mac) – May 18

Vampire BBQ, Soccer Scans, and Other Vampire and Sport News

Fire Up The BBQ!

Redfall, the co-op first person shooter that has you fighting off legions of vampires, has teamed up with Smokey Q, an Australian business that specialises in all things BBQ seasoning, to bring the ‘Bite Back Spice Rub’, a unique blend of spices and seasonings to celebrate the game’s release.

The spice rub is supposed to capture the taste of slain vampires, with ingredients such as charcoal powder for added smoke, paprika, and a touch of heat from chipotle. It is gluten-free and vegan-friendly.

The founder of Smokey Q, Paul Lange, described the challenge of making vampire ash sound delicious as exciting, so if you have a very specific craving, it may be worth checking out. In addition, all net proceeds will be going towards Cure Cancer’s blood cancer research. Very appropriate!

Vampire Survivors!

In more vampire news, Vampire Survivors, a game that is heavily influenced by the choices you make, has an animated show on the way! The studio will be teaming up with Story Kitchen, who has members that have worked on John Wick, and the Sonic movies.

The studio has said “… the most important thing in Vampire Survivors has always been the story, so we are very excited for this and we hope you are too! It’s still early days for the show, but I can already say that we will be involved so that we can ensure it doesn’t have any vampires (probably)… This won’t affect game development in any way.”

FIFA’s Iffy Body Scans

Sydney Leroux, an olympic gold medalist, and a member of the United States women’s national soccer team, isn’t thrilled with her character’s appearance in the newest FIFA release.

She’s not alone, in that many other footballers are criticising their characters’ appearance in FIFA ‘23.

“Please tell me I did not do an entire body scan for that…” Leroux tweeted, before looking back at FIFA ‘16 where her appearance was significantly more accurate. “They had the headband, the braid, the neck tattoo, the overly plucked brows… deflate my boobs a bit and put a different jersey on. I’ll keep the brows at this point.”

Introducing to the Court of Duty…

Rumor has it that Kevin Durant, NBA champion and a former MVP, will be slam-dunking into the operators lineup for Warzone 2 and Modern Warfare. The official Call of Duty twitter posted a little clip showing an operator parachuting down, mid-dunk, with ‘Easy Money Sniper’ spray painted on the side of a building in the image, notable for being Kevin Durant’s Instagram handle.

Nothing is confirmed yet, but internet sleuths have dissected the few details and the profile of the operator, and it would hardly be the first time an NBA crossover happened.

And now for some upcoming games!

May 4

  • Jected – Rivals (PC)
  • Mia and the Dragon Princess (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
  • Propagation: Paradise Hotel (PC VR, Quest)
  • Space Gladiators (PS4, XBO, Switch)

May 5

  • Duru – About Mole Rats and Depression (PC)
  • Hometopia (PC)
  • These Doomed Isles: The First God (PC)
  • Another Fisherman’s Tale (PC VR, PSVR 2, Quest 2)
  • TT Isle of Man – Ride on the Edge 3 (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

May 12

  • The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

That’s it this week in gaming news!

No Such Thing As Bad Press

Here’s this week’s roundup of gaming news:

 

 

Microsoft’s Acquisition of Activision Blizzard Blocked by UK.

Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority has blocked Microsoft’s $104 billion (aus dollars) takeover of Activision Blizzard. They claimed that allowing the deal to go through would alter the future of the fast-growing cloud gaming market and therefore lead to reduced innovation and less choice. Despite a strong response from the panel of experts that lead the analysis, Microsoft vows to appeal the decision and fight for their acquisition to go through.

Even if it can succeed in the UK, Microsoft still needs to gain approval in Europe and the United States before the deal can go through and neither seem close to a yes!

 

Metacritic Issues Statement On ‘Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores’ Review Bombing

Just a headsup! There will be some spoilers for Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores in the following section.

The Burning Shores DLC for Horizon Forbidden West released last week and was met with an onslaught of negative reviews on Metacritic. The reviews aren’t complaining about technical issues or bad gameplay, these don’t seem to be issues the game has, but rather about the “woke agenda” being forced upon players. During the events of Burning Shore, Aloy builds a relationship with new character Seyka. A relationship that can turn romantic, with the two sharing a kiss, if a specific dialogue option is selected. Some players found this optional scene truly offensive and review-bombed the DLC to a current score of 4.0 and a low of 2.7.

Here’s an excerpt from one of my favourites: “Metacritic delete my 0/10 review!!! Freedom of speech! DLC look amazing but is boring as hell. It’s unnecessary DLC just to convert that Aloy into girls!!! that it. But nope I completely disagree with that cause in the USA you have to do that, with popular entertainment names. Otherwise, you will be cancelled for freedom of speech and facts”.

Metacritic/Fandom has issued a statement about the situation saying: “Fandom is a place of belonging for all fans and we take online trust and safety very seriously across all our sites including Metacritic. Metacritic is aware of the abusive and disrespectful reviews of Horizon Forbidden West Burning Shores, and we have a moderation system in place to track violations of our terms of use.”

They also promised they would be making changes to their moderation processes in the coming months, but it’s not clear yet what that will look like.

 

Wizards of the Coast sends mercenaries after leaker.

A YouTuber called Oldschoolmtg managed to get their hands on the cards from Magic: The Gathering’s latest set, “March of the Machine: The Aftermath” which was not expected to hit stores until May 12th and revealed most of them in an unboxing video. WotC was quick to act, tracking the youtuber down, confiscating the cards, and having the video pulled.

In a new video “The Aftermath of The Aftermath” Oldschoolmtg claimed that the cards were not stolen but had been given to him by a friend who had believed they were part of an already published set and revealed that Wizards of the Coast send the Pinkertons to retrieve the cards from him. You may recognise the Pinkertons as antagonists in Read Dead Redemption 2, but they are a very real private security firm with a reputation for being ruthless. Cannon claimed they intimidated him with threats such as a $200,000 fine and up to a decade of jail time if he did not cooperate.

In response to the situation WotC says they sent the Pinkertons as “part of their investigation”, and only after several attempts to call him went unanswered. After getting in touch with Wizards directly they were far more understanding, and the two parties seem to have sorted out the situation.

Regardless of how it all played out in the end, it is still alarming that Wizards of the Coast took the actions it did. It is a clear overstep to send armed guards to intimidate a youtuber, who at the time had around 4000 subscribers, and there are a hundred better ways they could have handled it.

 

Upcoming Game Releases:

April 28th:

  • Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)
  • Star Wars Jedi Survivor (PC, PS5, XSX)
  • Welcome to Goodland (PC)

May 2nd:

  • Age Of Wonders  4 (PC, PS5, XSX)
  • Redfall (PC, XSX)

Nintendo Gets Paid, VR Gets Unreal, Fortnite Gets Timey Wimey

Using the unlimited resources of our team of news hounds, we’ve found the hottest gaming news in town!

So long, Gary Bowser!

About four years ago Gary Bowser (no relation) was sent to prison for the heinous crime of selling devices that people used to play pirated games on their Nintendo Switch. After spending 40 months trapped in the prison system with rapists and murderers, this diabolical danger to society has been released on good behaviour. But there’s a catch. As part of the settlement, Bowser has to pay 20 to 30% of whatever income he earns for the rest of his life to Nintendo. He owes Nintendo 10 million dollars and he’ll never pay it off in his entire life. Wow, I feel safer already.

VR Gets Unreal

In other hacking news, dangerous underground hacker PrayDog has, I dunno, reversed the polarity on the mainframe database or something, I don’t know how hacking works, and released a Universal Unreal Engine VR Mod. This smart piece of tech adds full VR headset support to 90% of games that are built in the Unreal Engine – even ones that weren’t designed for VR in the first place. The next iteration of the mod will apparently add motion controller support, so if you want to play Rocket League or Fortnite in VR, this is the mod to keep an eye on. As yet there’s no word about Epic following Nintendo’s lead and sending a
team of lawyers after PrayDog for colouring outside the lines, but we’ll keep you posted.

The Doctor is in…Fortnite!

Rumour, and some convincing screenshots from data miners, has it that Doctor Who is coming to Fortnite later this year. Or early this year. It’s hard to tell when time travel is involved. Doctor Who fans are already excited about the concept of playing their favourite Gallifreyan in Fortnite, as I’m sure there’ll be a litany of different skins you can purchase so you can be Tom Baker or David Tennant or, I dunno, the one that all the neckbeards got mad about online. Fun!

Diablo 4 gets the Midas touch

Soon to be Microsoft employees Activision-Blizzard have announced that Diablo 4 has gone gold. That’s a fancy way of saying the developers have finished work on the game and are ready to release it. This is big news because…

…oh, I don’t know. look, I’m old, I’m tired, I’m sure Diablo 4’s going to be great but I really just want a cup of tea and a lie down, so you guys knock yourselves out and have fun. I’ll be in the corner sleeping through old Coronation Street reruns.

And now for the latest game releases!

Today, April 20:
Mr. Sun’s Hatbox (PC, Switch)
Cavity Busters (PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S, Switch)
Kick of the Spear (C64)

Tomorrow, April 21:
Dead Island 2 (PC, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S, Stadia…wait, the Stadiia?!)
And finally…FINALLY!! Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp (Switch)

Emulators, E3 Bender Style, & CashCom.

Emulators & Mods Under Fire
Easter weekend has been an interesting time for emulator enthusiasts, mod makers and enjoyers alike.
This weekend saw the quiet removal of Universal Windows Platform apps, UAP’s, utilised by Xbox Series S|X owners to run emulators for older PlayStation 2 and GameCube titles1. Those users are now facing an error code stating that they are running software that “violate[s] Microsoft Store policy.” This continues the crackdown started in mid-2022 after UWP’s were removed from the storefront. However, those with developer mode active are still able to run this software, skirting the issue.
In more mod news, YouTuber PointCrow, a Nintendo speed racer and content creator, has released the mod he offered a $10,000 bounty for in late 2021. The mod to make Zelda: Breath of the Wild multiplayer.

While the mod is still available and works through the emulator Cemo, Nintendo has copyright striked every single video where the mod is featured or utilised. So if you and up to 31 friends want to run around Hyrule together, you now can (with limitations).2
Lastly in modding news, are you a Half-Life fan, but can’t run a virtual reality headset? Well, now you too can jump into the world of Half-Life Alyx. While the mod has been available for a while, the creators are finally confident enough that you can play the game from start to finish to tag a 1.0 on the release. So, grab your gravity gloves with your mouse and keyboard and get at em!3

E3 is Dead! Long live everybody doing their own thing
So while E3 cited developer disinterest for the gathering, there’s been a remarkable turnout of developers running their own shows.

Xbox has announced they will be platforming an Xbox Games Showcase & Starfield Direct on June 11, 10-12 Pacific time. Yep, that’s two whole hours of nothing but Xbox games; however, it’s rumoured that at least 30 minutes of that could be dedicated to Bethesda’s new IP Starfield.4
Nintendo is pulling out all the stops, with the first convention outside of Japan coming to Seattle in September. Nintendo Live 2023 is promising live stage performances, tournaments, photo ops, and “…a new way to experience the games and worlds of Nintendo…”. With similar shows in Japan sporting live concerts including holographic performances of Splatoon 2 and KK Slider, this could be one worth keeping an eye on.5
Lastly, QuakeCon 2023 is returning to FPS, and by that I mean first person suitable… as in it’s their first in-person even since before … since 2019. This is a fan favourite BYOC event (bring your own computer) with gaming, esports, and meetups. Think huge LAN party and you’ve got the right idea. Wish I could go.6

Capcom Continues Charging for Nostalgia.
The recently released remake by Capcom of Resident Evil 4, came out of the gate with flying colours with a Metacritic score of 93 and the promise of a free update/DLC in the works. Well, this dropped with The Mercenaries Mode and a sprinkle of microtransactions that Capcom have been seasoning into recent Resident Evil releases. This monetisation of nostalgia fast tracks weapon-exclusive upgrades allowing you to max out weapons faster. While still available in base games, the grind requires you to level all the item’s stats as well as in-game currency to purchase the upgrade. Or shell out near 5 bucks for ONE weapon’s upgrade.7

And now for the Upcoming Game Releases
Friday April 14th, explore the afterlife in De-Exit, a voxel puzzle, platformer coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Ultra Pixel Survive, a mobile game trying to take the microtransactions OUT of the pixel adventure genre, coming to Playstation, Xbox, and the Switch. And Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection coming to PC, PS4, and the Switch.
Monday April 17, float around in this roguelike twin stick shooter in Beyond the Long Night, or suffer the night in the first-person horror game Suffer the Night. Both coming to PC.
Tuesday April 18, delve into the tactical roguelike Desktop Dungeons: Rewind coming to PC. Put on your boxing gloves and dance shoes to get your beat on in the rhythm-based fighter God of Rock, race with your favourite Disney or Pixar character in Disney Speedstorm, or you could play Minecraft Legends. All coming to PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and the Switch.
Wednesday 19th, Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters and its Collection coming to PS4 and the Switch. Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores DLC coming to PS5, and become a shipwrecked conquistador in Survival: Fountain of Youth, coming to PC.
And finally on Thursday April 20th, go insane in the Lovecraftian co-op Eresys coming to PC, go kill things with a witty companion in Stray Blade coming to PC and next gen consoles, or get your lemmings… I mean tin soldiers in line in Tin Hearts, coming to Switch.

Dead Things and some Sony stuff!

E3 is Dead

That’s it.

Last week we reported that things weren’t looking good for the iconic video game trade show and mere hours later it was announced the show was cancelled. At this point it’s hard to imagine its return after years of turmoil.

Brisbane boy made big and Reedpop’s Business Development Director for E3 Expo, Guy Blomberg posted on the eve of his birthday.

            “I’m sorry. We genuinely tried.”

April the 1st is very clever and not terrible at all

It was April Fools this week. The holiday which has become the commercial equivalent of
“Wouldn’t it be funny if we kissed?! Haha that would be so funny unless you want to? Just kidding?”. While the normal dreck of market testing and audience pandering was fully at play some audience pandering stood above the rest.  Primarily there was a surprise drop of a new Sonic game!  In ‘The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog’ players will attend Amy Rose’s murder mystery party where Sonic is the victim. Uncover the mysteries and other such happenings in this short but fun official Sonic Visual Novel available on Steam.

Ark 2 delayed and Ark Survival Evolved shuts down

Ark 2’, the sequel to the popular dinosaur themed survival game ‘Ark: Survival Evolved’ has been officially delayed until next year.  Out of the kindness of their hearts however developer Studio Wildcard has announced that a remaster of the original game will be released having been ported to Unreal Engine 5. Despite stating as recently as January that the upgrade will be free, the remaster will be released as part of a bundle with ‘Ark 2’ for $50 USD on Xbox and PC and as a standalone title on PS5 for $40 USD.

They also announced they will be shutting down the official servers for the first game and any DLC purchased for the original game will need to be repurchased for the remaster once they are made available. When the official servers shut down the player data will be made available for players to rehost themselves.

Ark: Survival Ascended’ will be available in August while ‘Ark 2’ staring Vin Diesel will be released late in 2024. Maybe.

PSVITA? I hardly knew her

Sony is reportedly developing a new PlayStation handheld device, codenamed the Q Lite. Unlike previous handheld consoles, this device will require constant internet connection and will utilize Remote Play with the PlayStation 5 rather than cloud-streaming. It features an 8-inch LCD touchscreen and adaptive triggers for haptic feedback, similarly to the PlayStation 5 controller. The Q Lite is currently in the QA phase and is expected to release in 2024 alongside other PlayStation offerings including a PS5 with a  detachable disc drive, wireless earphones and a wireless headset.

Access for everyone

Sony is rolling out Accessibility Tags on its online storefront to help identify features in available products. More than 50 tags will be available covering visual and audio accessibility, online communication, caption, control and gameplay options. For full details check out the PlayStation blog.

Release Schedule

April 7 – EA Sports PGA Tour (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), Curse of the Sea Rats (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC)

April 12 – Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened (Remake) (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Tron: Identity (Switch, PC)

April 13 – Ghostwire: Tokyo (Xbox Series X/S)

Shuttered Doors and Broken Promises

Even more companies bow out of E3 2023

Assassins’ Creed Developer Ubisoft announced in a recent statement that it would not be attending E3 later this year, despite having shared their intentions to attend as recently as February.

While we initially intended to have an official E3 presence, we’ve made the subsequent decision to move in a different direction and will be holding a Ubisoft Forward Live event on 12th June in Los Angeles. We look forward to sharing more details with our players very soon.”

Ubisoft was the first major company that had confirmed their attendance and them dropping out seems like a significant blow considering that Nintendo and Microsoft had already stated they would not be attending.

In the days following Ubisoft’s revision, two more companies publicly confirmed they would not be part of E3 2023. Sega, in response to questions from IGN, said “After careful consideration, we have decided not to participate in E3 2023 as an exhibitor. We look forward to sharing more information on announced and unannounced projects in the future.”

In previous years Devolver Digital wouldn’t be present on the show floor, but would setup in a nearby parking lot, has confirmed it wouldn’t be part of the show in any capacity this year.

E3 has not held a proper physical event since 2019, and many are questioning if it still has a place in the industry. There are still many developers who haven’t said they aren’t attending, but their silence is noticeable. Whatever the case for E3, with only 3 months until this year’s grand return, it won’t be long until we have a more concrete idea.

 

3DS and WiiU eShops have closed their doors for good.

Earlier this week Nintendo took the eshop offline for both the 3DS and WiiU consoles. It’s no longer possible to make any purchases from those online stores. This was announced over a year ago and gamers have had plenty of time to grab anything they still wanted.

If this is the first you’ve heard of it, and you still had plans to pick up something for your collection, I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. While you cannot make new purchases, you are still able to redownload content you own and download software updates.

 

Changes to the National Classification Scheme could be on the Horizon.

The Albanese Government has proposed stronger measures to protect vulnerable individuals from gambling-related harm by introducing a mandatory minimum classification of R 18+ for games with simulated gambling and M for computer games with paid loot boxes. The proposal responds to the fact that current regulatory arrangements for classification are incompatible with digital media, leading to non-compliant online content.

The government plans to expand options for self-classification for the gaming industry in line with Australian classification guidelines, making it simpler and more cost-effective for the industry to classify their content. The proposed changes will help set the National Classification Scheme on the right path forward and ensure Australian families and consumers can benefit from trusted and reliable information to guide their media choices.

MultiVersus is going offline, will return 2024.

Player First Games has announced that the open beta for their 2022 fighting game Multiversus is coming to an end, and the game will shut down until early 2024. It’s being pulled from digital stores on April 4 and will go offline sometime in June. Multiversus released on the 19th July 2022, which means it will have been live and playable for about a year before it goes offline.

Many players have voiced their frustration with the announcement, claiming the developer was not transparent with these plans. Especially upset are those who spent money on cosmetics or the founders pack and will not have access to these purchases, some costing more than a hundred dollars, until the game returns.

Upcoming Game Releases

April 4th –

  • Meet Your Maker (PC, PS4, PS5, XBO, XSX/S)
  • Road 96: Mile 0 (PC, PS4, PS5, XSX/S, XBO, Switch)

April 5th

  • Moviehouse – The Film Studio Tycoon (PC)

April 6th

  • Curse of the Sea Rats (PC, PS4, PS5, XSX/S, XBO, Switch)
  • Everspace 2 – official launch (PC)
  • Ravenswatch – Steam Early Access (PC)
  • The Library Of Babel (PC)

 

And an extra shout out to 2 big names in gaming coming out with a movie this week!

Dungeons & Dragons on March 30th and The Super Mario Bros Movie on April 5th

 

No Squad, No Fortnite, New Second Life, and More Last of Us?

Suicide Squad isn’t Squadding Just Yet

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will be taking a little while longer than originally anticipated, with the May release being pushed back to ‘later this year’. Why? Well, after the release of new gameplay footage just last month, the game has been hit with criticism, even by fans who have been looking forward to the Rocksteady game since it was first revealed in August 2020.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League has traditionally villanious characters such as Harley Quinn and Captain Boomerange ganging up to take care of some more… ethically murky missions. It wasn’t stated that the reason for the delay was the criticism, but fans have been warned that it’s unlikely to revamp the game, but rather make some tweaks to hopefully make it more enjoyable for players.

This isn’t the first delay for this game, with the originally early 2022 release being pushed back to May this year.

No More Fortnite

… if you use Windows 7 or 8. Future seasons of Fortnite, the massively popular battle royale, will no longer be natively supported on older operating systems. Live service games, examples including Destiny 2, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, and Genshin Impact, tend to require a lot of maintenance and constant updates, a task that just isn’t feasible anymore for older operating systems.

This change has been attributed to Epic wanting to ‘grow our technology and expand the game to fulfill our vision of Fortnite’s future’, which prompted Chapter 4 to be launched on Unreal Engine 5.

It is recommended that players upgrade their operating system, however it is possible to stream it via NVIDIA’s GeForce Now cloud service.

Second Life, New (Mobile) Life

Remember Second Life? The web browser game that allowed users to host rooms and spaces that were fully customisable, using online avatars that were also fully customisable. VRChat before VRChat if you will. It’s no secret that Second Life is responsible for relationships, marriages, break ups, thousands of hours of joy and heartbreak. And now it’s coming to mobile, with the life simulator currently in development.

The Last of Us Influence

With the TV series, The Last of Us, based off the video games by Naughty Dog, there is more interest than ever in the universe, especially as the show introduced new elements that didn’t feature in the games. And now it appears that some of those elements will make their way into future games! This of course depends on whether another game in the series will be introduced, but Neil Druckmann, co-president of Naughty Dog, has found some inspiration in the show, which may introduce some new levels of horror or lore to the universe!

And now for some upcoming games!

March 16

  • The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR (PSVR 2)
  • River Tails: Stronger Together (PC)

March 17

  • Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon (Switch)
  • The Guise (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
  • Peppa Pig: World Adventures (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
  • WWE 2K23 (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)

March 21

  • Deceive Inc. (PC, PS5, XSX)
  • Remnant: From the Ashes (Switch)
  • Tchia (PC, PS5, PS4)
  • The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution (PSVR 2)

March 22

  • Have a Nice Death (Switch)