Zed Games this week the team talks gaming news with Zahra, Caroline, and Cameron. Cameron then experiences hand cramp while reviewing Robot Revenge Squad, and Zahra connects us to the narrative of South of the Circle.

This week in gaming news…

Melbourne International Games Week is Back Again
The eighth annual Melbourne International Games Week will take place in person from 1 to 9 October this year, returning from 2 years of online-only events. Melbourne International Games Week is a major games industry conference for the Asia-Pacific region and this year will host a number of industry events including: High Score: Composition and Sound Art for Games, Game Connect Asia Pacific, Games for Change Asia Pacific Festival, Freeplay Parallels, Australian Game Developer Awards, and the Girls in Games Jam. There’ll also be some fun public events like a week-long accessibility-focused charity stream hosted by Variety.

Mario Kart Tour Has Earned Nearly US$300M
Nintendo launched mobile game Mario Kart Tour 3 years ago to immediate popularity as well as controversy over its gambling-esque “gacha” mechanics that randomly reward players when they spend money on the game. Nintendo announced last week that they’re pulling the gacha mechanics in the game’s next update but not before it made the company almost $300M in revenue since release. The randomised rewards will be replaced with a regular in-game store that will allow players to purchase the items they want for a fixed price.

Sony Releasing Grey Camouflage PS5
Sony unveiled new Playstation 5 covers and accessories this Tuesday with a grey camouflage pattern that has some scratching their heads. While the camouflage patterns have precedent from the PS4 days, up til now Sony had only released solid colours for the console’s cosmetic outer covers and the new pattern is an… interesting look to say the least.

Splitgate Developer Announces Follow-Up Game
The studio behind popular portal-based first-person shooter Splitgate has announced the game will not be receiving new feature updates as the studio, 1047 Games, will start work on the game’s successor. The new game will keep with Splitgate’s core premise of being a competitive shooter with portal mechanics but will be developed from scratch on Unreal Engine 5, giving the developers a chance to explore new ideas without retrofitting them into their existing game.

Upcoming Releases
Now for some upcoming releases, September 8 brings Block’Em!, Hyperviolent, Rift Sweepers and Roadwarden to PC, Justice Sucks: Tactical Vacuum Action to PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch, and Steelrising to PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. September 9 brings Betrayal At Club Low and Broken Pieces to PC, Catmaze to Playstation, Xbox, and Switch, NBA 2K23 to Playstation and Xbox, and Splatoon 3 to Switch. September 13 brings Little Orpheus to PC, Playstation, Xbox, and Switch, Lovecraft’s Untold Stories 2, SCP: Secret Files and Sunday Gold to PC, Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden to PC, PS4, and Switch, and WW1 Isonzo to PC, Playstation, and Xbox. On September 14 You Suck At Parking comes to PC and Xbox One and Q.U.B.E. 10th Anniversary comes to PC and Xbox Series X.

That’s all this week in gaming news…

This week Zed Games team with Maylee, Elliott, and Peter shakes up our expectations by talking this week in gaming news! Then Maylee challenges us in a review of Long Live the Queen, and the crew talks games that truly surprised us with their subversion.

PS5 Price Increase

This past week, Sony has announced that going forward, all PS5 consoles in Australia, Europe, the UK, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and parts of North America will experience a price increase. In Australia we’re looking at an increase of $50 per console, with the digital edition coming to $649.95 and the standard console increasing to a whopping $799.95. This is the first console to increase in price post-launch, and is a disappointment to those who still haven’t been able to get their hands on one since they came out in late 2020. Both Nintendo and Microsoft have made statements assuring consumers that they have no plans to increase their prices, despite the increased manufacturing costs. 

Nintendo bans cheaters in Splatoon 3 before launch

Fans of the Nintendo shooter Splatoon were in for a treat on the 27th and 28th of August, with Nintendo hosting a Splatfest online, where players could download a demo of Splatoon 3 and play around online with an array of gear and weapons prior to the games launch on September 9th. Of course, this wasn’t enough for some players who downloaded a mod allowing them full access to an open testing lobby. Unfortunately for them, Nintendo already had their anti-cheat system in place and those consoles now have a full ban from Splatoon.

Future Games Show 

On the 25th of August, the Future Games Show gave us a look at a stack of trailers for upcoming games. Snaccoon features a hungry raccoon in a world where snack foods have been banned, Edge of Sanity is a newly announced survival title set for PC, and Backfirewall is a tragedy/comedy set in the world of a smartphone! Alongside some new titles, we also got another look at some previously announced games, such as The new Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, which was given a release date of November 18th 2022, and yet another trailer for the unreleased remake of System Shock, which still has no date.

This week on Zed Games Hazel leads the charge with Caroline and Maylee talking this week in Gaming News, Gamescom 2022 announcements, and the long awaited review of Disco Elysium from Caroline, with a strong endorsement pre-record from Paul.

Opening Night Live at Gamescom

Gamescom, the worlds largest gaming trade show is currently happening in Cologne, Germany. Geoff Keighley, the founder of the game awards and part time Dorito King hosted Opening Night Live to kick off the occasion filled with 2 solid hours of game announcements.

Kicking off the show was a game called ‘Everywhere’ headed by ex-Rockstar lead Leslie Benzies who had been previously responsible for the ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series from ‘GTA 3’ through to ‘GTA Online’. The game developed under his new studio Build a Rocket Boy is an ambitious open world and multi world multiplayer title featuring 3^rd person action and driving and looks to have multiple visual styles and a goal of allowing player creativity. There aren’t many details at this point but it certainly looks like one to watch.

Sony revealed a new controller for the Playstation 5. The Dualsense Edge wireless controller allows users to customise their button mappings, travel and dead zones and save their setups to profiles as well as changeable stick caps, back buttons and stick modules. Price and release details to come later.

‘Moonbreaker’ is the anticipated new title from Unknown Worlds who were previously responsible for ‘Subnautica’. They have teamed up with popular writer Brandon Sanderson to create a fantasy tabletop style strategy game wherein miniature figures fight it out. Embracing the theme these figures can be custom painted in game with impressive fidelity.

‘Dune Awakenings’ jumps aboard the sandworm of popularity that has burst from the earth of the recent film series. This survival mmo is developed by the team at Funcom Oslo who brought us ‘Conan Exiles’.

Do you remember 1988’s cult film ‘Killer Klowns from Outer Space’? Well the executive producer of the ‘Friday the 13^th‘ game certainly does as they’re heading development of a ‘Dead by Daylight’ style multiplayer game using the IP. In a unique combination the game will see 3 players taking the role of the Killer Klowns and 7 players as the humans trying to survive.

The last reveal of the night was the re-reveal of the long delayed and troubled ‘Dead Island 2’ which is now on its 3^rd developer and is now so far along the announcement included a polished 10 min gameplay segment. The colourful, open world, zombie FPS based in sunny Los Angeles and a release date of Feb 3 2023.

There were many other reveals however including details for ‘New Tales from the Borderlands’, ‘Under the Waves’, ‘Return to Monkey Island’, ‘Atlas Fallen’, ‘The Outlast Trials’, ‘The Calisto Protocol’ and the Pinocchio Souls Like ‘Lies of Pi’. To check out the full lineup you watch the official presentation.

Destiny 2 Showcase

Bungie also held a showcase detailing upcoming ‘Destiny 2’ details including the new expansion ‘Lightfall’ which takes us to the previously hidden neon city on Neptune, Neo Luna. To help explore the new metropolitan environment players will get Destiny equivalent of a grappling hook. There were many other details for upcoming content and user experience in the showcase and included an upcoming crossover with ‘Fortnite’. Check out the Presentation here.

Say Goodbye to Project Cars 1 and 2

Project Cars 1 and 2 will be delisted later this year as car and track licensing deals expire.  Those who own the game will be unaffected but if you were hoping to pick them up sometime your time is getting short. The games will be removed from sale on October 3^rd and September 21^st respectively.

PSVR2 release

Sony has confirmed via twitter that the Playstation VR2 will release early 2023. The price point is still under wraps.

Game Releases

Pac-Man World Re-Pac (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Soul Hackers 2 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – August 26

Destroy All Humans 2: Reprobed (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC), Immortality (Xbox Series X/S, PC, iOS, Android), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC), Tinykin (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – August 31

Pull out your popcorn cause this week Zed Games talks the good, bad, and strange of Game Movies with Zahra, Elliott, and Paul!

This week in gaming news.

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Hello dear listeners!
This week the Zed Crew ask you to subscribe to 4ZZZ to keep the lights on and the show live and weekly for you all.
The show’s host, Paul, leads the team with Zahra, Rani and the all new Cameron talking gaming news, Caroline hailing the virtues of new game Cult of the Lamb, and Paul collecting the unique narratives of Hindsight and Before Your Eyes.

This week in gaming news…

Subnautica Studio Debuting New IP at Gamescom

Unknown Worlds Entertainment, developers of Subnautica, will be debuting a completely new sci-fi game at this year’s Gamescom Opening Night Live event according to a now-deleted tweet from host Geoff Keighley. The game is assumed to be the same project that was first hinted by the studio in October 2021 and along with Sonic Frontiers will be one of 30+ games showcased during the opening night event. Australian viewers can catch the event in 2 weeks on August 24th at 4AM Brisbane time, but there’ll be a replay for anyone who doesn’t feel like waking up at 4am on a Wednesday to watch 2 hours of trailers.

Final Fantasy 14 Streamer Plays With Spellbook

Final Fantasy 14 streamer Super Louis 64 is infamous for configuring the game to be played with wacky controllers including everything from a Nintendo Switch Ring Fit controller to an actual edible pizza. This week he debuted his latest project: playing the game with a literal book and pen and using it to write out his spells in the book to cast them. The control method is still in its early stages but Louis has apparently had some success hammering out the bugs and actually managing to play the game with it. He tweeted early Wednesday morning Brisbane time to say that the project was done and uploaded a YouTube video of him playing the game with it.

MultiVersus Hits 10 Million Players During Beta

Warner Bros’ free-to-play fighting game MultiVersus launched an open beta recently and in just a few short weeks the game has picked up 10 million players. The game promises Smash Bros-esque gameplay with a hilarious mix of Warner Bros characters from Batman to Velma and Shaggy from Scooby Doo to Steven Universe. MultiVersus has already been the focus of online memes due to the inherent comedy of Bugs Bunny beating the hell out of real life NBA player LeBron James and the ensuing discussion of strategies, gameplay meta, and ranking the characters in tier lists.

Leak Says Fall Guys Sonic Crossover Coming Soon

Twitter user FGPancake, known for leaking Fall Guys event information ahead of official releases, has stated that the game’s new Sonic the Hedgehog crossover event will release this week on the 11th. Previous leaks showed off Sonic the Hedgehog character costumes that will be available in-game and a Green Hill Zone map that were subsequently confirmed by the official Fall Guys Twitter.

Upcoming Releases

Now for some upcoming releases… we’ve got a big week ahead as August 11 brings Arcade Paradise and Cult Of The Lamb to PC, Playstation, Xbox, and Switch and Tower of Fantasy to PC. August 12 sees Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered releasing on PC and Voyage on Playstation, Xbox, and Switch. Backpack Hero comes to PC on August 15 and launching August 16 are Blossom Tales 2: The Minotaur Prince on PC and Switch, Rollerdrome on PC and Playstation, Tribes of Midgard on Xbox and Switch, and Way of the Hunter on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. Finally, Catizens comes to PC on August 17.

That’s all this week in gaming news!