Category: News

HAVE SOME TASTY NEWS

Australia changing the classifications of games with gambling-like content

From September 2024 the Albanese Government will introduce mandatory minimum classifications for games ‘containing gambling-like content.’  This means that games which contain in-game purchases such as loot boxes will have a classification of at least M- not recommended for children under 15 years of age and games that contain simulated gambling will be required to be rated R18+.

These changes are in response to ‘growing community concerns’ about the ‘potential harms of children accessing gambling-like content in computer games.’

https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/rowland/media-release/new-mandatory-minimum-classifications-gambling-games-content#:~:text=The%20changes%20mean%20that%20computer,under%2015%20years%20of%20age).

A potential video game voice actor strike?

With a provisional deal being reached in the Hollywood writers strike after 146 days it looks like there may be another strike on the horizon with SAG-AFTRA members having approved a strike authorization vote, winning with 98.32% voting in favor.

This does not mean that a strike is going to happen, only that one can be declared if ‘bargaining fails to produce a deal the members will accept.’  Since October 2022 SAG-AFTRA has been in negotiations with various video game companies to get voice actors a fair contract, with similar issues that the Hollywood writers strike is addressing such as protections against AI use, appropriate wage increases and safety for both on screen and vocal performers.

https://www.sagaftra.org/get-involved/take-action/interactive-media-video-game-strike-authorization-2023

NFTs are worthless

Remember when NFT’s were selling for stupid amounts of dollars?  Well it seems like those days are a distant memory as apparently 95% of all NFT’s are basically worthless and with 79% of all NFT collections remaining unsold.

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/currencies/nft-market-crypto-digital-assets-investors-messari-mainnet-currency-tokens-2023-9

CULT OF THE LAMB LIVE EVENT GO GET SACRIFICED

And if you’re in Melbourne on the 5th of October I am super jealous because there’s a live ritual!  Part of Melbourne International Games week it is one of many events that are on.  It is to be held in Fed Square, Cult of the Lamb: The Ritual is a free event that combines puppets, projection mapping and a live DJ set by River Boy (the creator of the amazing soundtrack of Cult of the Lamb.) So what are you waiting for?  Dress up like a woodland creature and go get sacrificed!

There are many other fun video game things being held on the day at the location but Cult of the Lamb is my favourite and therefore I’m biassed.  For the full lineup check out the Melbourne International Games Week website.

https://gamesweek.melbourne/BGNO

Game Releases!

September 28

Chipmonk! Playstation, -Xbox & Switch

CounterAttack: Uprising -Switch

Crowns And Pawns: Kingdom of Deceit – Switch

Diluvian Ultra – PC

My Hero Ultra Rumble – PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One and Switch

Overpass 2 – PC, PS5, XSX

Firefighting Simulator – The Squad -Switch

Gothic Classic -Switch

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai -PC, Playstation and Switch

Islanders VR Edition PC VR

Wildmender -PC, PS5 and XSX

September 29

Cocoon – PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

EA Sports FC 24 -PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

Park Beyond: Beyond Extreme DLC -PC, PS5 and XSX

October 3

Battle Shapers -PC

Scorn -PS5

Silent Hope -PC and Switch

Station to Station -PC

October 4

The Fabulous Fear Machine -PC

Worldless -PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

BLUEY!

Whether you’re a parent to a child who is obsessed with the blue puppy, or you’re an adult with some form of emotional damage, you’ll be pleased to know that there is a video game coming out in November based off the cartoon!

Outright Games, a UK-based publisher, has officially announced Bluey: The Videogame, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The game has been developed by Artax Games with a lot of input from Ludo Studio, delivering a game that features a new four-part storyline that can support four-players, allowing you to play as the entire Heeler family.

The game will feature the voices from the English cast of the show, and you can expect to see some of your favourite characters, as well as existing and original music. It promises to be an “interactive sandbox adventure” with “story-driven, episodic gameplay”.

Sony’s State of Play

Sony recently had their little showcase, and here is a really quick summary of it:

The remake of Resident Evil 4 will get an update with playable Ada Wong and Albert Wesker, along with PSVR2 support on the way.

Avatar fans (the blue people) can experience a whole new part of Pandora, revealing the Western Frontier in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. It is to be set between the first and second movies.

Foamstars, the Splatoon-style shooter by Square Enix, will be getting a playable open beta from September 29th to October 1st, but only for PS5 players in North America. Tragedy.

The second chapter of the Final Fantasy 7 remake project is on its way, and it’s bringing back something weirdly nostalgic for older gamers: experiencing a game across two discs! Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comes out 29th February, 2024.

Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games expands out to Brooklyn and Queens! So you can patrol every single neighbourhood I guess.

Aaaaaand NINTENDO DIRECT TOO

Tis the season for game announcements and rumours. There’s some speculation about what a new Switch would look like, how much it would cost, blah blah blah.

In more exciting, tangible Nintendo news, we got to see Princess Peach: Showtime, where Princess Peach attempts to save a theatre from the Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch.

F-ZERO 99 has come to Nintendo Switch Online, allowing you to race against 98 other players.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD will bring spooks in more definition, Mario vs. Donkey Kong will have the plumber facing off against the primate yet again, and detective pikachu returns in Detective Pikachu Returns.

We also got to see the Splatoon 3: Side Order expansion, Another Code: Recollection, from the DS and Wii, will be coming to the Switch, WarioWare: Move It! Was announced to be released on 3rd November, 2023. Exciting times for Nintendo fans.

And now for some upcoming games!

September 21

• Days of Doom – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Hellsweeper VR – PC VR, PSVR 2
• Payday 3 – PC, PS5, XSX
• Resident Evil 4 Remake: Separate Ways DLC – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4
• Super Adventure Hand! – PC, Switch
• Warhaven – PC

September 22

• Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Shuyan Saga – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Slaps and Beans 2 – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 25

• Project Planet – Earth Vs Humanity – PC
• Relic Hunters Legend – PC
• These Doomed Isles – PC

September 26

• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion – PC, PS5, XSX
• Mineko’s Night Market – PC, Switch
• My Time At Sandrock – PS5, XSX, Switch
• Paleo Pines – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Truck Driver: The American Dream – PS5, XSX

September 27

• Astronimo – PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!

Starfield Hype
This week marked the launch of Todd “it just works” Howard/Bethesda’s shiny new RPG, Starfield. Starfield went supernova, instantly becoming the biggest Bethesda launch of all time, and since its release it has hoarded over 6 million players, with over a million concurrent players shooting into the stratosphere when counting over all platforms. With official mod support coming next year, PC players have had the hardest time since release, with Intel and Nvidia systems copping the brunt of the issues. Todd Howard’s response for people with PCs?

“You might need to upgrade your PC.”

Unity, no longer for the gamer
Unity, the game engine behind Rust, Hollow Knight, and Pokémon Go, and the controversial Creative AI Unity Muse and Unity Sentis, has introduced a controversial new fee for developers. The Runtime Fee, set to take effect in 2024, is a per-install fee that will apply to games that reach a previously established annual revenue threshold and a lifetime install count. Indie developers are concerned that this new policy will kill smaller games with the new system severely affecting their bottom line, and leading devs of free-to-play games questioning if they’d end up owing hundreds of thousands of dollars or more under the new system. Unity’s attempts to provide clarity have so far only fueled devs’ frustration and spawned more questions from those with both currently active and in-development games using the engine. This has led to warnings from industry professionals such as creative director at Necrosoft Games, Brandon Sheffield, stating in an op-ed for Insert Credit, “But now I can say, unequivocally, if you’re starting a new game project, do not use Unity,” and “If you started a project 4 months ago, it’s worth switching to something else. Unity is quite simply not a company to be trusted.”
After regrouping on the evening of September 12, Unity clarified their previous statement, claiming that they will only charge for the initial installation of a game, reversing their previous stance that multiple charges would be made for reinstalls. Unity also stated that the fee will only apply to monetized titles and that charity games and bundles are exempt; however, the announcement has raised further questions about the impact on the free-to-play genre, as well as demo installs. Further, concerns remain about how installs will be tracked, with the potential for abuse by bad actors, and devs concerned about the need to implement third party DRM (Digital Rights Management) in their games.

E3 is Dead, Long Live E4?
With the earlier announcement this week that PAX organiser Reedpop and E3 had cut ties, it may come as unsurprising news that E3 2024 is in doubt. The Entertainment Software Association or ESA who runs E3 have also informed the longstanding home of E3, the LA Convention Center, they will not be there in 2024. However, according to news site GamesIndustry.biz they are “working on a complete reinvention of the E3 show for 2025.” We live in hope.

And now for some Gaming Bytes.
About to load up Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC? Best check your system with Lead Scene Programmer CD PROJEKT RED Filip Pierściński imploring gamers via tweet to check system stability and to “please check conditions of your cooling systems in PC.”
And feeling old? Well Steam turned 20 on the 12^th of September , and 25 year old fansite AtariAge has been acquired by Atari.

Now for some upcoming games.
Friday September 15, Baby Shark: Sing & Swim Party comes to Pc, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch, and tech themed 3D platformer Boti: Byteland Overclocked comes to PC.
Tuesday September 19, start your week with an open-world high-fantasy strategy RPG Dragonheir: Silent Gods, coming to PC. Or, race to your parking space in You Suck At Parking coming to PS4 and Switch. Can you become a real boy in the Pinocchio soulslike Lies of P, coming to PC, Xbox and PlayStation. And lastly for Tuesday, Mortal Kombat 1 comes to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X and Switch.
Wednesday September 20, kick animal butt in the brawler/party game Party Animals, coming to PC, and Xbox. And, put the shooting or spell slinging in the S of FPS in the dark fantasy roguelite shooter Witchfire, coming to PC.
And finally, Thursday September 21^st brings free-to-play medieval warfare PVP Warhaven to PC. Want to release your inner Addams family Thing within to defeat some feet? Then play Super Adventure Hand! coming to PC and Switch. And to finish, Payday 3 is coming to PC and next gen consoles.

Call of Duty Uses AI To Find Toxicity

Call of Duty is no stranger to less-than-pleasant behaviour from players, like many massively popular games with an online component. What is Activision doing now to combat it? Activision is now teaming up with Modulate, an AI program developed specifically to filter through voice chat in order to flag, and deal with, problematic behaviour.

It’s still in its early stages, with ToxMod, the tool being used, entering beta testing on North American servers. The tool is already used in a number of online games, but Call of Duty would certainly be a large task.

The program isn’t capable of banning players, but instead will monitor voice chat in real time, flag problematic behaviour depending on context, and then provide this information to moderators to take action. In theory, you can still cuss out your friends when they’re taking their sweet time getting to you, so players shouldn’t be worried about being boisterous.

Goodbye Volition

The game developer company, Deep Silver Volition, developer of titles like Saints Row, and Red Faction, has closed its doors after 30 years of development. It hasn’t been a smooth journey for the company, with Volition’s Saints Row reboot facing negative criticism upon reveal. After a transfer from Embracer, and a multi-billion dollar deal collapsing, Volition has been shut down while Embracer goes through some pretty significant restructuring.

IPs including Saints Row and Red Faction will be transferred to another subsidiary, Plaion.

“For 30 years now you have played our games – sometimes you’ve loved them, sometimes you’ve been disappointed with them, but you’ve always been there… We can’t thank you enough for sticking with us throughout this time.” Volition says in a letter to its community.

STRAY MOVIE

Did you like that cat game that came out last year? The one where you’re a little kitty cat in a futuristic city populated by robots? Well, it’ll be hitting the big screen! Annapurna Animation, who developed the film Nimona, will be developing an animated film based off of the game.

“It’s a buddy comedy about a cat and a robot, and there’s such a hilarious dynamic. So, there’s comedy inherent in this, but there’s not one human being in this movie. I think it’s one of the reasons why the game was incredibly popular,” says Robert Baird, Annapurna Animation boss.

Annual Diablo Expansions

Blizzard will be releasing multiple expansions for Diablo IV on an annual basis, with each year being broken up into quarterly seasons, with long-term storylines promised.

This roadmap isn’t unusual for developers, to space out new content on a regular basis. The 11 year long gap between Diablo III and Diablo IV has also been cited as a reason, and it’s hoped that this approach will help rectify that.

Season 2, Season of Blood, has been announced as part of GamesCon opening night.

Arcane Season Two!

Season two of Arcane, the Netflix animated series based off of Riot Games’ League of Legends game, will be premiering in winter 2024 (or summer for us Aussies). Woohoo!

And now for some upcoming games!

September 7

• The Dragoness: Command of the Flame – Switch
• Toss! – PC VR, Quest, PSVR 2

September 8

• Fae Farm – PC, Switch
• NBA 2K24 – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 12

• Eternights – PC, PS5, PS4
• The Isle Tide Hotel – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 13

• Heretic’s Fork – PC
• Super Bomberman R 2 – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 14

• Ad Infinitum – PC, PS5, XSX
• AK-xolotl – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• The Crew Motorfest – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO
• Heavy Duty Challenge – PC, PS5, XSX
• Sugar Shack – PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!

BG3 is coming right at ya

Baldur’s Gate 3, one of this year’s run-away hits, has launched on PC and PS5 is coming this week but the Xbox release was not expected until next year. That is now changed after the developer Larian Studios managed to secure permission from Microsoft to release the game without feature parity between the Series X and the weaker Series S. There had been great difficulty getting the split screen co op working on the weaker console and, in what will surely be a start of things to come, the Series S version will launch without the feature. Otherwise, the game will remain the same and feature cross save so you can still take your save to Series X, PC or even PS5. You can now expect the game on Xbox platforms by the end of the year.

Speaking of cross save the long running hit online action game Warframe has also announced robust cross save allowing players to play their games seamlessly across PS4/5, Xbox One/Series X/S, PC and Switch by year’s end.

Playstation Portal

Previously know as Project Q, Sony’s new handheld device has been revealed as the Playstation Portal. A handheld streaming device with a 1080p 8-inch 60hz screen between two halves of a Dualsense controller. The devices’ sole function is to stream PS5 games inside the home with no native software.

Much like the Playstation 5 the Portal will also not allow Bluetooth headsets to connect. Sony has you covered though with a head set and earbuds called the Pulse Elite and Pulse Explore respectively, releasing alongside the Portal using special proprietary technology that I’m sure will become as commonplace as the UMD.

A firm release date beyond this year has not been announces and neither have Australian prices but the US prices convert to roughly $310 for the Portal, $230 for the Elite and $310 again for the Explore.  Don’t forget to round up!

BREAKING: Sony has announced it will the increasing the pricing of its online services. The Australian pricing is still to be confirmed but in other regions prices are set to increase 35 percent. This price rise brings with it no additional features.

Headlines have all the info you ever need

With Starfield just days away it is now time to announce that the Elder Scrolls 6, a mere 5 years after it was announced is entering early development!

Following the successful launch of Shadow Gambit two weeks ago developer Mimimi has announced the title will be their last and the studio will close.

Star Citizen has crossed 600 million in crowd funding a number over 8 times more than the budget of India’s recent moon landing.

Upcoming Game Releases

30XX (Switch) – September 2

Chants of Sennaar (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Rune Factory 3 Special (Switch) – September 6

Baldur’s Gate 3 (PlayStation 5), Starfield (Xbox Series X/S, PC) – September 7

Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis (iOS, Android) – September 8

Mario is no more.

Nintendo has revealed that Charles Martinet, the original voice actor of Mario who has played the role since 1991 will be “stepping back from recording character voices for our games” and will now serve as a “Mario Ambassador.” The post continued that “With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!”

Charles Martinet quote tweeted the post, adding “My new Adventure begins!  You are all Numba One in my heart!  #woohoo  !!!!!!!”

Slime Rancher on the big screen

A recent announcement, shared by Deadline, revealed that Monomi Park’s Slime Rancher games are being adapted into a feature film.

The first Slime Rancher, released in 2017, is one of the highest-rated games on Steam of all time with a 98% positive average score and has sold over 6 million copies across all platforms with over 15 million players worldwide. In it, you play as Beatrix LeBeau, who moved from Earth to the Far Far Range to become a slime rancher. The second game, currently in early access, also follows Beatrix and features plenty of adorable slimes.

It’s unlikely we’ll get more details on the production anytime soon but that hasn’t stopped excited fans from speculating.

Gamescom 2023

Early Wednesday morning we same the opening ceremony of Gamescom 2023 and were treated to a closer look at some upcoming titles and the announcement of several new games. Here are just some of what was there:

Bandai Namco’s Little Nightmares series is getting a 3^rd installment, sometime in 2024. It will feature two characters and will be a cooperative game with online multiplayer. The developers came on stage to also reveal The Sounds of Nightmares, a narrative podcast series based on the world, which is available now.

We got a closer look at Black Myth Wukong, in a new trailer featuring gorgeous visuals and intense gameplay. It will be releasing sometime next year.

Dustborn is coming to PS4 & PS5 in early 2024. It looks like a colourful road trip through Americana and in it you’ll use the power of words to shape relationships with your crew, get out of trouble and reach your final destination.

We saw a trailer for Diablo IV: Season of blood, a vampiric expansion dropping in October, promising a new quest line, vampiric powers, and 5 additional endgame bosses.

We also got a trailer for Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, showing off the numerous features that will be added to the game, like vehicle combat, overhauled combat AI, and a new district to name a few.

Upcoming Game Releases

August 25^th

• Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One)

August 29:

• Goodbye Volcano High (PS5, PS4, PC)
• Sea of Stars (PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch)
• Samba de Amigo: Party Central (Switch)

Embrace this!

While parent company Embracer is currently in crisis, laying off developers and cancelling projects in a major restructure, THQ Nordic put their best foot forward in a showcase of their upcoming games this week.

We got our first tease of TMNT: The Last Ronin. A darker story based on the 2020 comic run of the same name in which all but one of the turtles has perished.

South Park: Snow Day is a 3d co op multiplayer game, leaving the style of the popular rpg games behind it.  Few details are known currently but they style has brought comparisons to the N64 South Park first person shooter.

Titan Quest 2 has also been officially announced finally!  The classic, mythology themed ARPG was originally released in 2006 so let’s see if a sequel 17+ years later can live up to its legacy.

We also got updates and new footage for the Gothic 1 remake, Alone in the Dark, Outcast: A New Beginning, Wreckreation, Trine 5: A Clockwork Conspiracy and Tempest Rising.

Tremors of the past

Did you feel a rumble in the earth? It wasn’t the end of times, it was Quakecon 2023 the annual celebration of all things id software. Which now also includes the wider Bethesda and Microsoft’s universe.  But Quakecon keeps it old school as mostly a giant LAN party for fans of shooters. As a surprise this year there was an announcement and drop of a remaster of Quake 2.  What did they improve?

• The original campaign
• Both mission packs
• Quake II 64
• An entirely new campaign by MachineGames
• Visual upgrades across the board
• Restored content missing from the original release
• Gameplay improvements
• Local, online and crossplay multiplayer
• Bots

If you own the original on Steam, GOG or Microsoft store you automatically own the remaster.  Otherwise it is available on all major consoles.  Not a bad glow up for a 26 year old title.

Press F to pay for purchase

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 charted at number 5 in the UK sales chart last month.  This may seem like uninteresting news other than the fact I’m not referring to 2022’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 but rather 2009’s game of the same name.  2012’s Black Ops 2 did even better hitting 4^th.The game saw a surge in popularity after work was done to fix the matchmaking in the backwards compatible versions on xbox platformer. The move along with some aggressive sales has given the older titles a new lease on life as players old and new flock to revered online shooters.

Remember remember the 23^rd… of August.

A quick reminder for all those who celebrate gamescom’s Opening Night Live you can catch the show live on Wednesday, August 23rd at 4AM AEST. So you’ll probably just watch it later.

Upcoming game releases

Red Dead Redemption (PlayStation 4, Switch), Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), Vampire Survivors (Switch) – August 18

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (Switch, PC), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – August 19

Fort Solis (PlayStation 5, PC, Mac), Immortals of Aveum (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), WrestleQuest (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – August 23

Hold onto your overpriced gaming chairs folks because this week’s gaming news is coming in hot!

Gotta Catch ‘Em All – Again!

Nintendo announced a bunch of Pokémon-related stuff the other night, including more details about their upcoming The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, which is the DLC for
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet on the Switch. More importantly though…they’ve brought Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon Stadium to Nintendo Switch Online! Yes!! Now
you can relive your childhood with these classic games on your gigantic television that was not designed for this kind of stuff! Hooray!

Red Dead Back From The Dead

Red Dead Redemption is coming back! What everyone was speculating to be a high quality remaster of the original Xbox 360-era sequel (if that makes sense) is actually a port to the
PlayStation 4 and…the Switch?! How that’s going to work remains a mystery, hopefully better than the Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Switch port at any rate. But I guess it means technically it’s coming to PlayStation 5 through backwards compatibility, so quit complaining!

EVO was a smash hit

The world’s biggest fighting game tournament, EVO, was held again in Las Vegas this past weekend, and it was the place to be if you’re a fighting game fan. Perennial favourites like
Tekken 7 and King of Fighters XV were joined by new contenders Guilty Gear Strive and Melty Blood: type Lumina. I was personally hyped to see the return of Ultimate Marvel Versus Capcom 3 on the stage, but the big event was the debut of Street Fighter 6 to the Evo stage.

Over 7,000 people took part in the Street Fighter 6 tournament alone which is a new record, and congratulations to AngryBird for taking home the ultimate prize. The show’s also the
place where new sequels and characters are announced, including Tekken 8’s first ever Peruvian character “Azucena”. As of press time it’s unknown if Triple Zed will be sending us
all to next year’s show.

Shocking news – Baldur’s Gate 3 is Popular!

The hot new RPG of the moment, Baldur’s Gate 3, is the hottest thing in games since a Steam Deck that’s been left on for more than ten minutes. More than 800,000 people were
playing at the same time the other day, making it one of the ten biggest games of all time for that achievement! So there’s a lesson for everyone, put bear sex in your game and start
cashing the cheques.

And now for some hot new gaming releases!

August 10
Sherlock Holmes and The Secret Weapon (c64)
Stray (Xbox Series S/X)
Atlas Fallen (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S)

August 15
Moving Out 2 (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch)
Party on dudes, and be excellent to each other!

Who Wants Activision’s Transformers on Game Pass?

Does anyone remember those Transformers games for the Xbox 360 developed by Activision? The ones you can no longer buy digitally? Well, Hasbro has expressed an interest in bringing it up for the Game Pass. The problem? Hasbro initially claimed that it was because, “apparently Activision’s not sure what hard drives they’re on in their building. When a company eats a company that eats a company, things get lost…”

They did also follow-up with an apology for saying that Activision lost its Transformers games, stating that the comments were “made in error”.

Hasbro do really want Transformers on the Game Pass however, “Hope is that now that the deal is moving forward with Microsoft and Xbox they’ll go through all of the archives and every hard drive to find it all because it’s an easy Game Pass add.”

So, who knows?

The Last Of Us Knockoff Is Dead

A budget Switch game called The Last Hope: Dead Zone Survival, bore a striking resemblance to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us, down to the gruff-dad character with an Ellie-like companion. And as you can imagine, it did not last long, with the game being pulled from the Nintendo eShop, and the game’s trailers disappearing from YouTube.

The game’s trailers were less than awe-inspiring, and for those who decided to give The Last Hope a try found their hopes dashed when the entire game is around 20 minutes long and horribly buggy.

While the trailers being pulled can be clearly attributed to Sony submitting copyright claims, The Last Hope’s disappearance from the eShop might be due to caution from the developers, Sony themselves, or Nintendo covering their six o’clock.

Mutant Turtles Invade Minecraft

No no don’t worry, the sea turtles in Minecraft are fine. But our favourite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be crossing over with Minecraft, which includes a special DLC texture pack featuring Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo, special maps for exploring the turtle’s favourite haunts, and you’ll even be able to battle enemies such as Shredder and Krang.

This is of course on top of the pizza-scented Xbox controllers we mentioned the other week. All leading to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film coming out in a few weeks. Hype!

Zoom Zoom Guardians

If you’re participating in this year’s Solstice in Destiny 2, you will be thrilled to learn that you can now use Sparrows in the European Aerial Zone, so you can get to the bad guys really, really quickly, and beat them up quicker than it took me to finish this story. Happy Solstice!

And now for some upcoming games!

August 3rd

• Adore (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
• Flutter Away (PC)
• Tiny Thor (Switch)

August 4th

• Death Becomes You (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

August 8th

• Gord (PC, PS5, XSX)
• Tower of Fantasy (PS5, PS4)
• WrestleQuest (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

August 9th

• Legend Bowl (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

August 10th

• Atlas Fallen (PC, PS5, XSX)
• Stray (XSX, XBO)
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

That’s it this week in gaming news!

Government backs Aussie gaming.
Screen Australia has announced the backing of Aussie games to the tune of $3 million AUD through it’s “Games: Expansion Pack” fund and “First Nations Games Studio” fund. The First Nations Games Studio fund awarded AU$600,000 to two studios, Guck, & Awesome Black, both working on projects related to First Nations storytelling and talent development. Additionally, the Games: Expansion Pack fund provided AU$2.4 million in funding to 21 different studios across the country. The funded games cover a wide range of genres and platforms and aim to accelerate skills and creativity within the Australian games industry. Additionally, the Federal Government has introduced the Digital Games Tax Offset, providing a 30% refundable tax offset for projects with budgets over $500,000. Click the following for a list of all the projects funded and their synopses.

Smell Like a Gamer
In recent news, Xbox is going a bit crazy with the themed sweepstakes with both a Barbie movie tie in with a Barbie Dream House Custom Console, and Barbie and Ken controller face plates. But they pulled out all the stops for the game release of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. This release not only has a sweepstake for four controllers designed after each of the turtles themselves, but the can also “…come with a built-in scent diffuser shaped like a slice of delicious New York ‘za.” Smell-O-Vision at it’s finest. If you’re interested in the TMNT Mutant Mayhem Controller this giveaway will be running till August 13 this year, where you will need to retweet the Xbox Game Pass sweepstakes tweet or whatever they will end up being called with the X rebrand.

the pizza party never stops with these guys🍕

follow @XboxGamePass & RT this post with #XboxTMNTMoviesweepstakes for a chance to win these TMNT-inspired controllers!

be sure to see @TMNTMovie in theatres 8/2/23 in the US!

ages 18+. ends 08/13/23. rules: https://t.co/C2Pjfi7yru pic.twitter.com/h6P3sjcvu7

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) July 24, 2023

AI in the News Goes Glorbo
This week the World of Warcraft Reddit community tricked an online publishing AI by feeding it false data about a made-up character, Glorbo, it’s mandatory item Klikclac, and their nemesis Quackion, the Aspect of Ducks, resulting in the generation of fake content presented as actual news under the pseudonym Lucy Reed. This account is credited to writing near 80 articles a day with potentially little to no oversight. This incident raises questions about the validity of AI automated publishing and the potential impact on the increased value of human generated, or at least human moderated, content.

Now in Activision Blizzard News
Sigh… Look I’m just as sick as you that these guys keep being in the news. TL;DR is basically, they screwed up the Diablo 4 season release and people are complaining that company’s being cheap, of unfair nerfing, that the menu design is tricking people into buying the season pass, of new items causing nausea, and that some player’s characters butts are out in the open. Also, that the FTC has backed out of the whole merger with Microsoft blockage, and Overwatch 2 is coming to Steam. To read more about these stories, check out the links in the news post on our Facebook page @ZEDgamesau.

And now for a couple of quick bytes:

• Mods have given your favourite NPCs in Stardew Valley AI Brains, yep, think about that like Jordan Gerblick of GamesRadar;

“…when you know those video game characters had to have their existing inner-workings hollowed out and replaced with the increasingly ominous power of AI, I can only imagine those interactions feeling incredibly creepy – as if it’s not really them anymore.”

(Image credit: Eric Barone)

The mod is Talk to Inworld’s AI Villagers and is now available on NexusMods.

• And the US Entertainment Software Rating Board wants to scan you and child’s face to validate age with digital purchases. The proposal to the FTC would have you upload a photo into a system controlled by Yoti – an Epic Games subsidiary, with collaboration with company SuperAwesome, which would be analysed and then deleted. They go on to claim the system poses no substantial risk to parents’ privacy.

And now for some of the upcoming game releases.
On Friday July 28, Disney Illusion Island is coming to Switch. Monday 31^st, F1 Manager 2023 is coming to PC, PlayStation, and Xbox. Wednesday August 2^nd, Ninja or Die: Shadow of the Sun is coming to PC. And lastly on Thursday August 3^rd, explore nature, relax, and take photos in Flutter Away coming to PC.