This week on Zed Games Maylee, Peter, and Caroline organise boardgame nights before Tobi brings us the week in Gaming News, Caroline gets not so clicky in the the idle farmer games Plantera 1 and 2 developed by VaragtP. Peter does an elevator pitch of Leaderboard. Then Zahra channels their inner deity and embraces the carcinization within while reviewing of Crab God developed by Chaos Theory Games.
Tag: game dev
Gamescom, Wukong, The Bytes, and Some Game Releases.
Gamescom 2024
On the morning of August 21 here in Australia, Gamescom 2024 went live. And dropped a Santa sack of goodies onto the web. Here’s a highlight reel of what happened…
In the 30-minute preshow we got; Dave the Diver crossovers with Balatro and Potion Craft coming October, life sim Inzoi, and game announcements for Sniper Elite Resistance.
Then in the actual main show a teaser for Borderlands 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 coming October, Goat Simulator Remastered coming later this year, Persona 3: Reload DLC – Episode Aigis pitting you against Joker from Persona 5 coming September, Kyle Crane returns in Dying Light: The Beast, Arc Raiders got a price tag and release for 2025, Path of Exiles 2 is coming to early access in November, Xbox mecha fans are getting a closed beta in August for Mecha Break, Little Nightmares creators are returning in Reanimal, while Supermassive Games is continuing the series in Little Nightmares 3 coming 2025, more info into the upcoming survival MMO Dune Awakening, Marvel Rivals will release December, Civilization 7 is coming February 2025, be the Batman in VR with Batman: Arkham Shadow, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle is coming to Xbox and PC December, and Peter Molyneux took to the stage to announce Masters of Albion
“So I’ve looked at Dungeon Keeper – I’ve taken some things that I’ve wanted to explore further with Dungeon Keeper. I did the same with Black & White – I’ve taken some things from Black & White. I’ve done the same with Fable.”
The Monkey King Rises
The highly anticipated action RPG, Black Myth: Wukong, has officially launched. Based on the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” the story follows the transforming Monkey King as he is faced with regrets, sacrifice, and fate all while seeking redemption. Developed by Chinese studio Game Science, the game is filled with Chinese folklore and mythology and has garnered a massive hype.
Since its release, Black Myth: Wukong has quickly climbed the charts, and at the time of writing Steam’s second biggest game ever with 2.2 million concurrent players.
However, the release has not been without controversy/ragebait. A leaked streaming agreement explicitly prohibits content creators from discussing politics, China, or feminist topics. While this was not extended to journalists who did not receive the same brief, it has raised concerns about censorship and the influence of the developers’ guidelines on free speech.
Now for some Gaming Bytes
Nerfs ahoy with Sorcerers in Diablo 4’s Season of the Infernal Hordes getting buffed… a little too much. The Fractured Winterglass item was causing so many Splintering Energy procs in one build it was causing server lag. A nerf was quickly released halving the procced spell numbers but doubling the damage. This still halved the damage output of the sorcerers and you’re only hearing about it because it is the build I play and I’m salty.
Helldivers 2 released a new update full of “balancing” nerfing flamers and more. The backlash has led to players purposely failing Major Orders, traitorous player killing, and more generally – uninstalling the game.
A PSA to Counter Strike players: Don’t go out and get the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro or Wooting’s Snappy Tappy keyboards for that sweet SOCD strafing because Valve has just banned them and if you use them, you too can get hit with the ban hammer.
And at Devcom 2024 those attending were surveyed and 90% of the devs say that games don’t need microtransactions and games can be “…financially successful just by being Buy-to-Play.”
And finally some game releases
Hey look, it’s another power up team-based shooter called Concord coming to PC and PS5 Friday August 23. Then on Monday August 26 World of Warcraft’s newest expansion The War Within releases. Tuesday August 27 why not chase taxes and collect debt in Debtors Club on PC. And Wednesday August 28 clean up the cutest afterlife as a cat in Crypt Custodian coming to PC and all major consoles. And in more cat themed adventures, why not become a giant monster cat and destroy cities in Monster Run: Downfall of the Empire on PC. Or you can shout PARKOUR in Supermoves coming to PC.
Radiothon 2024 and Indie Dev Night at Netherworld
This week Hazel and Peter scream from the rafters talking the Indie Dev Night going on at Netherworld and spruik 4ZZZ and the Radiothon Subscriber Drive. But first Zahra brings us the highs and lowes in the week in Gaming News, and Paul gets real in a review The Crush House from Nerial.
Goodbye Misty, Goodbye Roblox, Hello Borderlands 3, Goodbye Chess Opponent
Misty’s Voice Actor Passing Away
Voice actress Rachael Lillis, has passed away at the age of 46 due to breast cancer. She was most well-known for her roles as Misty and Jessie in the English dub of Pokemon, before the cast was changed in 2006. She also voiced Utena in the English dub of Revolutionary Girl Utena, some Pokemon, including Jigglypuff in Pokemon Detective Pikachu, and Princess Charlotte in the English dub of Beserk.
In May 2024, her sister had created a GoFundMe to help raise money for her care, a campaign that many of her fellow voice actors contributed to.
Turkey Bans Roblox
Roblox, the very popular free-to-play online game, has recently been banned in Turkey over concerns of child exploitation.
Roblox has faced some criticism since launching in 2006, with reports suggesting that the game isn’t safe for minors. Bloomberg reported that in July, Roblox submitted over 13,000 reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2023, and an executive suggested that perhaps the game could “provide jobs to kids living in slums”. The company had released a statement claiming that the majority of creators are over 18, and the company has never hired teenagers.
Turkey’s ban was largely driven by reports of alleged child exploitation, as well as reports of in-game sexual content.
A Roblox spokesperson has stated “We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate, and share local lawmakers’ commitment to children. We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Turkey as soon as possible.”
Well, Borderlands 3 Is Doing Well
Borderlands: The Movie, hasn’t had the easiest time at the box office, with a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and only pulling in $8.9 million USD in its first weekend. However, Borderlands 3 has had an increase in players with the movie’s release, peaking at 12,379 players, a significant increase for a 5 year old game.
Borderlands 2, Borderlands, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has also had an uptick in players, at least according to Steam.
Gearbox did launch a feature for Borderlands 3 that allows the player to skip the main campaign with a new character, as long as you’ve previously beaten the campaign once and have a max-level character, so returning players will have an easier time getting to the endgame, so that works out well.
Toxic Chess
Amina Abakarova, a Russian chess player, has allegedly attempted to poison an opponent using mercury, a famously toxic element. Chess, like any game, can get pretty heated, and extremely competitive, but normally these heated interactions fall within the realm of fair play.
In this case, a chess tournament in Dagestan was cancelled when one of the players, a European champion named Umayganat Osmanova, became very unwell quite suddenly. After an investigation which revealed the presence of mercury on her table. Footage supposedly shows Amina spreading the metal across the table.
Umayganat is in stable condition, and Amina has been temporarily suspended from participating in all competitions until the conclusion of the investigation. She is likely to face legal consequences.
News Nibbles!
We still don’t know when the Switch 2 will launch, but it is not coming before April 2025. We don’t even really know if it’ll be called the Switch 2, nor do we know much about its specs, but we should receive an official announcement during the company’s current financial year, which wraps up in March 2025.
Cult of the Lamb now has local co-op in its most recent update, Unholy Alliance. The update has also added new items, quests, buildings, chores, and more. For local co-op, you just need to plug in a second controller and set up co-op through the pause menu.
Tango Gameworks, the publisher for Hi-Fi Rush, has been adopted by Krafton, welcome news after the studio was set to be shut-down by Microsoft.
And now for some upcoming games!
August 15th
- Dredge: The Iron Rig (DLC) – PC, Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Xbox
August 16th
- Madden NFL 25 – PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC
- Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland – PC, Xbox, PS5
August 20th
- Black Myth: Wukong – PC, Xbox, PS5
- Dustborn – PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC
August 21st
- Enotria: The Last Song – PC, PS5
That’s it this week in gaming news!
GLOCK: if it FLOCKs like a GLUCK it’s a F#k
This week on ZED GAMES
Maylee brings us this week’s #GamingNews while Paul, Rani, and Zahra banter wildly and mourn the loss of the glossy mag Game Informer. Paul distracts Zahra and confuses Rani while they yearn for the mines in a review Gluck. Then Paul takes over in the autocorrect special talking relaxation and discovery of garbles, giggles, and squibs in a review of Flock from @AnnapurnaInteractive. And Zahra spruiks the packed and annual INDIE DEV NIGHT at @netherworldarcade with us from Zed Games, coming next week on Thursday August 15!
Glitch P
This week on Zed Games, Maylee, Caroline, and Peter talk news, reviews, popular culture, life, love, and nerdy glasses and things. BUT FIRST! The week in Gaming News from Paul, and the team talks the sadness of the delay to Frostpunk 2, Terraria and holes, and the Future of World of Warcraft. Paul gets rocking and swinging in the roguelite twin stick shooter Galactic Glitch from Crunchy Leaf Games, Peter gets social in a review of bulletheaven online co-op with friendly fire The Spell Brigade from Bolt Blaster Games. And then a return of Paul in another review taking it easy vibing out in space as a pig in Astro Pig from Garoa Studios. Then for no reason (other than Chaos) the crew gets sidetracked by bodily functions in games.
TEAL 🤬 – AKA: You and me baby ain’t nothing but animals so let’s hue it like they cue it on the discovery channel
Dynamic duo Zahra and Maylee take the reins in this weeks episode of Zed Games. Tobi brings us an extended look into the week in #GamingNews, Maylee talks teal in a review of the board game Hues and Cues, designed by @wscottbrady and published by @theopgames. Then Paul gets intrigued by the mysteries in Animal World by game engine designer Billy Basso and published by Big Mode.
Farming Frequencies
In this week’s Zed Games podcast Hazel, Zahra, and Caroline talk Gaming News and Microsoft taking the box out of Xbox. Caroline farms pixels with clicks while reviewing Farm Keeper from @NapasGames. And Zahra practices their hosting skills in the late night radio host horror Killer Frequency from @Team17 Also, don’t forget the upcoming Indie Dev Night @NetherworldArcade coming in August!
Queensland Games Festival
This week on Zed Games Zahra, Hazel, and Peter talk Gaming News and their Steam Library pride and shame, then a recap of this years @QueenslandGamesFestival and all that entails including the board game Casus Belli from @WallaceDesigns, the card game Epic Garden from Jade @epic_card_games, memorising regulars in Coffee Up by Jason Tam @_tototam, an ear plucking The Ghost of the Witch from @montros.is, farm and builder Delverium from @SagestoneGames, cute Catto’s Post Office by @InShambleStudio, australiana filled Vivid Tracks from Wild Wattle/Beacon Games Studio, management sim Tavern Keeper from @GreenheartGames, frog game Frogreign from @Arkanpixel, multiplayer waiter in space @Servonauts, roly-poly spin-off Isopod from @SBugGames, On Point the VR Shooter from @ActuatorDigital, cartoony unpacking-like decor game Momento from @FatAlienCat, and the winners GoGo Town from @PridefulSlothStudio and Key Fairy from @OwlMachine… We even managed to squeak in a review With Zahra of Linea: An Innerlight Game, and a look at the Mass Effect Remasters to end the show on.
Gamers Hoarde Games
Remember Beyond Good and Evil 2?
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in development! That’s it, that’s the news. Ubisoft have reassured us that they haven’t forgotten about it, and they’re still working on it, which is great because it was first announced in 2008, kinda disappeared, reappeared with a trailer in 2017, and then was kinda totally silent since 2018.
There’s been some concerns about its development since Emile Morel, creative director, passed away earlier this year, but Ubisoft has reassured that it is still in the works, and the 20th Anniversary Edition of Beyond Good and Evil, which was accidentally announced early on Twitter before the tweet was deleted, has launched digitally on the 25th of June.
The remaster is supposed to contain some more of Jade’s past, and other content to tie into the second game. There will be a physical copy, and a Collector’s Edition, with preorders for those kicking off 12th of July.
$19 Billion Dollars!
That’s how much Steam users have collectively spent on games they’ve never played. So, congratulations everyone, I know each and every one of you helped to contribute to this remarkable achievement.
This is a bit of a guestimate, as only 10% of Steam accounts are public, but that 10% was responsible for at least $1.9 billion USD.
Gamer Rage
What do you do if you have a dispute with another player in an online game? Most of us probably try to ignore it and move on. Maybe block ‘em. Maybe stooped to their level. You probably didn’t fly to a different state,buy a hammer and a flashlight, break into a home, and attack said player, in real life.
Well, Edward Kang from New Jersey allegedly did just that, flying to Florida to confront a player that he had an argument with in ArcheAge, an online fantasy game. The two were found in a struggle by the player’s stepfather, who heard the player cry for help. Both the player and Edward were taken to a nearby hospital, with the player having severe head wounds, but both will be ok.
Edward is facing charges of breaking and entering, and assault. When he asked how much time he might serve, Leeper, county sheriff, allegedly responded with “I would say, Mr Kang, it’s going to be a long time before you play video games again.”
So next time, just take a walk. Not to the hardware store.
War Thunder Apologises
Gaijin Entertainment, developers of the free-to-play multiplayer War Thunder, have officially apologised for ‘accidentally including imagery from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster’ in some key art. The Challenger disaster was an event from 1986 where the space shuttle broke apart soon into its flight, killing all seven crew members.
War Thunder players noticed how an image of the disaster lined up with the artwork in the ‘Seek & Destroy’ wallpaper, with one person overlaying a photo from the disaster with the wallpaper.
“Hey guys, please accept our apologies for this, the picture was part of an aerial explosion reference pack used by our artists and the context was lost. We’ll change the key art on Monday and will make sure this doesn’t happen again,” said community manager Oxy.
In the past, the War Thunder community has managed to leak classified military documents onto the forums, often to win arguments or to make suggestions for the developers, so attention to detail is definitely a common trait.
News Nibbles!
Nintendo Switch Sports has had a few updates since it launched, adding golf, and soon, basketball! The motion control should allow players to pass, shoot, and dribble.
Sylvie Nightshade, a software engineer, made a Stardew Valley mod that adds a ‘hardcore’ mode to the game. What does that mean? Well, if you open the Stardew Valley Wiki, your farm will be deleted.
Ryan Lewis, a recent Cornell Tech graduate, created a program that converts the data from Google Maps into Minecraft worlds. The program first converts the data into voxels, and each voxel is turned into a Minecraft block, with the help of an algorithm, accurately recreating buildings, roads, terrain, and more.
And now for some upcoming games!
June 27th
- Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD – Nintendo Switch
- Neo Sprint – PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox SX
June 28th
- Gigantosaurus Dino Sports – PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Xbox SX
- SPYxANYA: Operation Memories – PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PC
July 2nd
- Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail – PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox SX
- The First Descendant – PlayStation 5, Xbox SX, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
That’s it this week in gaming news!