Tag: Sony

The State of Games

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!

Deview

This week join the Zed Games crew of Zahra, Hazel & Peter, as they discuss the news hot from the News Press of Paul. Peter makes their Deview (debut review) with a review of musical shooter City of Beats, and Zahra takes second fiddle to a Lobster with a review of Frog Detective The Entire Mystery.

Last Hopes Dashed, Transformers Lost, and Mutant Turtles

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!

Stare Into The Sun: Some things you can’t explain, but you can feel


SURPRISE EARLY PODCAST!
In celebration of our collaboration with Netherworld for the Indie Dev Night we’re releasing this weeks podcast EARLY! So listen in as Maylee, Hazel, & Paul talk gaming news, this years not E3 announcements and Hazel does a special In Memoriam for the online phenomenon Blazeball.
So gather your salutes, gird your tear ducts, and open your ear holes.

News? In My Media?

Ads? In My Windows 11?

You’re probably familiar with the start menu in windows, an easy-to-access feature that allows you to access programs quickly. Well, it seems ads will be joining the start menu, with testing underway. Some of these ads will be used to promote Microsoft services. Recommended website listings, and an ad in the account menu, are already present in preview builds, and there’s more features planned for Windows 11.

Windows states on their site, “We’ve been working on adding more valuable content to the Recommended section in Start and are excited to introduce a new content type: websites.”

PS5s? In My Honda?

Honda and Sony have recently created a new venture called Sony Honda Mobility, and with this venture comes an interesting proposal: a car designed to maximise the entertainment possibilities Sony has to offer.

That’s right, an electric car that’ll allow drivers to always be prepared with music, movies, and video games.

Yasuhide Mizuno, chair of the joint venture, says that the first car model may hit North American markets by 2025. However, a very specific feature may need to be developed first before we can see PlayStation 5s in cars; autonomous driving. After all, you can’t drive and play video games at the same time.

Shovelware? In My PlayStation Store?

PlayStation is cracking down on shovelware games, that is games that have been reskinned, non-games, and games designed just to give people platinum trophies. A letter to developers states that shovelware games will be either banned or delisted, and involved developers are at risk of being banned from publishing future games.

PlayStation states, “SIE strives to ensure that customers can search and discover the full breadth of experiences on PlayStation, and that partners have a fair means of being discovered. When partners oversaturate or “spam” PlayStation Store with many variants of the same type of content, it can negatively impact both the customer and partner experience.”

Monsters? In My Pocket?

Despite Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s rocky launch, with the games being criticised for glitches, bugs, and generally underwhelming, Nintendo has reported 10 million sales, with it being reported to have the highest global sales level on any of the company’s consoles in the first three days.

However, many players have reported returning their copies due to their experiences with the game, and successfully receiving refunds.

And now for some upcoming games!

November 24

  • Dysterra (PC)

November 25

  • Horse Club Adventures 2 – Hazelwood Stories (PS5, PS4)

November 28

  • Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr: Sororitas DLC (PC)

November 29

  • Gotham Knights: Heroic Assault (PC, PS5, XSX)
  • In Nightmare (PC)
  • The Knight Witch (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
  • Soccer Story (PC, PS4, XBO, Switch)

November 30

  • Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (PC, XSX)

December 1

  • Dwarven Skykeep (PC)
  • Gundam Evolution (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)
  • Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered (PC, PS5, PS4, Switch)

New Boot Goofin’, Wizards Cast Lawsuit, and A Lot of Games

Palladium and Bungie Collaboration

Destiny guardians are no stranger to making sure they look their best, or most absurd, in-game. So the more fashionable guardians may be excited to learn that Palladium, the shoe company, are collaborating with Bungie to create boots inspired by The Witch Queen. These boots come in tan and black, made of canvas, and have some Destiny 2 flair.

Wizards of the Coast Casts Lawsuit

Wizards of the Coast, the current publisher of the popular Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, has filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of Star Frontiers: New Genesis, a space opera in a tabletop roleplaying game format, being developed under TSR LLC.

TSR LLC is the latest company to claim the name of TSR Inc., the original publishers for Dungeons & Dragons in 1973. TSR LLC is attempting to revive the original Star Frontiers.

However, with an online leak, Star Frontiers: New Genesis has been facing a significant amount of backlash due to racist and transphobic content, including a ‘negro’ subrace with a maximum intelligence rating of 9.

Wizards of the Coast writes that “it would be irreparably harmed by the publication and distribution of the game using its trademarks because consumers may mistakenly associate Wizards with the reprehensible content of the game, damaging its reputation and goodwill, and undermining its efforts to foster a culture that embraces diversity.”

Northeastern University Bomb

A staff member of Northeastern University has suffered injuries to his hands when he opened a package that was detonated.

Investigation is still ongoing, with motive being at the forefront of concerns. It’s been reported that the package contained a note that criticised Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, and the relationship between virtual reality developers and academic institutions.

This note was contained in a hard plastic container, and detonated when the latches were released and the lid was lifted.

Thankfully, the staff member was not seriously injured.

 

State of Play, Nintendo Direct, and More

Sony, Nintendo, and Ubisoft have made many announcements for upcoming projects and games during Tokyo Game Show, one of the big three gaming conferences.

Sony announced Tekken 8, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge Enhanced Edition, Demeo, a dungeon crawler, Like a Dragon: Ishin, a Yakuza spin-off, Pacific Drive, a driving survival game, and a new loyalty program called PlayStation Stars.

Nintendo brought The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Fire Emblem: Engage, Pikmin 4, and some old favourites will be coming to the Nintendo Switch Online via the Expansion Pack membership subscription, such as Mario Party 1/2/3, Pokemon Stadium, and GoldenEye 007.

Ubisoft follows up with Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, Skull and Bones, a pirate simulator, Rider’s Republic for BMX, skateboarding, and snowboarding fans, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, Heartland, and Rainbow Six Mobile, with a partnership announced with Netflix.

And now for some upcoming games!

September 16

  • The Dark Prophecy – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
  • Hidden Through Time: Definitive Edition – PS4, Switch
  • Various Daylife – PS4

September 18

  • Fortnite Season 4 – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 19

  • Return to Monkey Island – PC, Switch

September 20

  • Construction Simulator – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO
  • Hardspace: Shipbreaker – PS5, XSX
  • Soulstice – PC, PS5, XSX

September 22

  • The DioField Chronicle – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
  • Gundam Evolution – PC
  • Potion Permit – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
  • Serial Cleaners – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
  • Session: Skate Sim – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO
  • Slime Rancher 2 – PC, XSX
  • Train Life: A Railway Simulator – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO

PS5 has some limits, Splatoon players get banned, and Future Games Show announcements!

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.