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 Maylee, Zahra, and Peter bring us the exciting week in Zed Games, with Paul newsing the Gaming News and the team talks Wii U nostalgia, and some Mass Effect. Paul then kicks dirty butt in a review of Anger Foot from Free Lives, and Zahra interviews Mike and John from The Brisbane Pinball & Arcade Collective who are running arcade and pinball comps this July 17-21.
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 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 Cattoâs 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.
Remember Beyond Good and Evil 2?
Beyond Good and Evil 2 is still in development! Thatâs it, thatâs the news. Ubisoft have reassured us that they havenât forgotten about it, and theyâre 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.
Thereâs 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 Jadeâs past, and other content to tie into the second game. There will be a physical copy, and a Collectorâs Edition, with preorders for those kicking off 12th of July.
$19 Billion Dollars!
Thatâs how much Steam users have collectively spent on games theyâve 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 âem. Maybe stooped to their level. You probably didnât 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 playerâs 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 âI would say, Mr Kang, itâs going to be a long time before you play video games again.â
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 âaccidentally including imagery from the Space Shuttle Challenger disasterâ 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 âSeek & Destroyâ wallpaper, with one person overlaying a photo from the disaster with the wallpaper.
âHey 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. Weâll change the key art on Monday and will make sure this doesnât happen again,â 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 âhardcoreâ 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
June 28th
July 2nd
Thatâs it this week in gaming news!
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