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.
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, donât forget the upcoming Indie Dev Night @NetherworldArcade coming in August!
This week Zed Games brings you Mayleeâs #GamingNews with Paul, Rani and Tom from Netherworld talk game releases, concept album games, and CRAZY TAXI. Paul then presses a single button in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes developed by @SimogoGames. Then the â20% off Great Valueâ Tom from Netherworld gets PS1 retro in a review of survival horror Crow Country from @SFB Games, and then Paul takes us back to 1997 in a review of the remake of Riven from @CyanGames.
This week on Zed Games, Hazel, Rani and Peter.. who vents about toxicity in games, Tobi brings us the week in Gaming News, Paul jump into the review of Leap Year from Daniel Linssen, Rani channels their feline psychic in a review of Cat and Ghostly Road from BOV, and then the team talks the upcoming Queensland Games Festival this Saturday! Come see us there!
This week the âHey, Hey, Heyâ team lead by the Mayleeâs (also Paul and Peter) talk the week in Gaming News⌠well, kinda? Paul hijacks the episode to talk about this years âAnnual Showcase Seasonâ but not before Zahra gets freaky in horror romance Sucker for Love: Date to Die For from Akabaka. Then Paul talks the week in game announcements including; Tempopo from Witch Beam, Mixtape from Beethoven and Dinosaur, Mars First Logistics from Shape Shop, Wanderstop from Ivy Road, Pinball Spire from Apparition Games, and Techno Banter from Dexai Arts.
This week on Zed Games. The team talks Gaming News from Caroline, focussing on the vibes of the new Australian Pokestore. In reviews, Zahra tries to help out the busy gamer, while Tobi zones in on the solarpunk idler Rustyâs Retirement from Mister Morris Games. Paul then talks back to the NPCs in Consortium VR from IDGi, and takes a quick look at the horror puzzler Flathead published by DREAD XP.
VR Adaptor Coming Soon
PC games can be played on the Playstation VR2 via an adaptor which will be available on the 7th of August, meaning that in addition to the VR games available on the PS5, the VR2 can be used to play the many VR games available on steam.
The adaptor will retail for $94.95 AUD.
Studio Sanctioned Mods Incoming
Baldur’s Gate 3 is set to become even more mod-able in the near future with the announcement of patch number 7. The update is set to launch in September and the headliner is the official modding toolkit which will allow for improved compatibility as well as a more convenient experience. The toolkit will undergo testing via a two-phase process the first being a closed alpha (which started June 3) with a small team of mod creators to further develop the modding tools and in July the closed beta will kick off with around 1000 players (which anyone can sign up for) who will test the mods that were created during the alpha.
But that’s not all for lucky number seven, Larian Studios has also indicated that the patch will also include improved evil ending (for all you sickos out there) and some more bug fixes.
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1086940/view/4179982568653520452
Screen Queensland Funding
As part of Screen Queenslandâs game project funding (which since itâs last round has been doubled) 14 projects will receive altogether a total of 1 million AUD and another 3 projects will receive 1.1 million AUD.
The full list of games funded is available on the Screen Queensland website (but a quick shout-out to Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar which Iâve gotten to play at the last couple of Queensland game festivals and is absolutely delightful).
Applications for the next round of funding opens on Friday 7 June and closes on Sunday 21 July.
https://www.gameshub.com/news/news/screen-queensland-games-funding-june-2024-2641288/
Pokemon Centre Online Launches for Australia and New Zealand
And now for the most important piece of news of all time, the Australian and New Zealand Pokemon Centre website has been soft launched and my money will never be safe again.
The Pokemon Centres are online stores that sell exclusive items like plushes and the like (lifesize Mareep plush my beloved) but ship only to specific regions; America, Canada, the United Kingdom and Japan with this launch putting Australia and New Zealand on the list.
No word yet when the hard launch of the website will be or what differences there will be if any from the soft launch but I am eager to shovel my money into the gaping maw of the pokemon company.
GAME RELEASES
The Smurfs: Village Party – June 6 – Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC
V Rising – June 11 – PS5
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous – A Dance of Masks DLC – June 13 – PC, Playstation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
The LEGO-end of Zelda
Yahahaha! The Great Deku Tree, a wise and monotonous figure in The Legend of Zelda series, can be in your home, after significant assembly, for the low-low price of $450. Oh yeah, this is a big one, with 2,500 bricks it stands at about 33cm tall once constructed. Not only that, itâs a 2-in-1 build, with one mimicking the treeâs form in Ocarina of Time, and the other taking after Breath of the Wild. Basically, one has green leaves, the other has pink blossoms.
Included with the build are figures for both versions of Link and Zelda, Hestu, and some Koroks, and thereâs even a little sidebuild that your kids can put together while you put the tree together.
Rainbow Six Siege Subscription
Tom Clancyâs Rainbow Six Siege, the online tactical shooter, will be changing to a monthly subscription system, and the news has not made Ubisoft very popular. The change was announced during BLAST Rainbow Six Major in Manchester, with quite a few boos in the audience. You can opt for a cool $10 USD a month, or $80 USD a year, giving you access to exclusive monthly content drops, Legendary items, access to the premium Battle Pass, and a lot more. Youâll also get to skip 10 levels each month.
This is a separate purchase to each seasonâs battle pass.
Diablo Be Damned
Diablo 4 update released, and version 1.4.1 has had some teething issues. The update was supposed to balance some areas of the game and fix up a few bugs, but instead it disabled Masterworking, an endgame crafting system that was only added recently.
If the fixes worked, then Masterworking was only meant to become cheaper, costing less gold. Oops!
LoL $400
League of Legends has released some special tribute bundles dedicated to the newest additions to Riotâs âHall of Legendsâ, Lee âFakerâ Sang-hyeok. These bundles arenât new, and often contain skins for the heroes, finishers, cosmetic items, currency, and more.
The three bundles are called the âRisen Legend Collectionâ, the âImmortalized Legend Collectionâ, and the âSignature Immortalized Legend Collectionâ, going for $60, $375, and almost $680 AUD respectively. It does contain a âFinal Boss Fakerâ title, themed signature move, 100 pass levels, and more, although some fans commented that they expected an Ahri statue to be included for that price.
What Can $700 Million Get You?
Not Star Citizen, thatâs for sure! Star Citizen, in development by Cloud Imperium Games, is a multiplayer game based around trading and combat simulations. It was originally announced in 2012, when their kickstarter launched and concluded successfully, raising $6 million, with an estimated release date in June 2014. During development, modules of the game have been released to tide over fans, but the extended development time has garnered a lot of criticism.
Through the sale of ships, ranging in price from $20 to a few grand, and crowdfunding, Cloud Imperium Games has managed to raise over $700 million. So maybe a release date is within the foreseeable future. I doubt that though.
News Nibbles!
Destiny 2: The Final Shape is upon us, and fans seem to be pretty hype about it. The newest trailer shows that yes, Cayde-6 is alive (and weâve known that for a while) but also Zavala appears to be having a continuation of his midlife crisis. In unrelated news: Iâm still in love with Ikora.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be coming to Game Pass at launch, so you could get that CoD fix for a fraction of the price.
Days of Play is here! Running until June 12th, itâs Sonyâs season of sales, and coming with it will be an assortment of bonus games for Premium members, which includes PSVR2 games like Walkabout Mini Golf and Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord, or PS2 games like Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus.
Speaking of game events, weâve got Summer Game Fest and Devolver Direct on the 8th of June, Wholesome Direct, Women Led Game Showcase, Latin America Game Showcase, and Future Games Show on the 9th of June, Ubisoft Forward, Xbox Games Showcase, and PC Gaming Show on the 10th, and of course, most importantly, the Queensland Games Festival at the Brisbane Powerhouse on the 22nd of June.
And now for some upcoming games!
May 30th
June 3rd
June 4th
Thatâs it this week in gaming news!
This week on Zed Games Zahra, Hazel, and Maylee gather for Paul’s Gaming News, and talk modded Witcher and the new king of announcements – Summer Games Fest. Maylee talks picture puzzles in a review of Tell Me Your Story.
Finally we bid farewell to one of our team, Cameron “Gazunta” Davis. A more in depth chat to come next week.
On Zed Games, Maylee and Caroline bring the chao of Zed Games to your earholes this week talking Gaming News headlines focusing on the ick coming to games through AI. Paul preaches to us the virtues of El Shaddai: Ascention of the Metatron, and then the team discusses the good and bad of early access while talking Hades II.