Games Awards, VR Showcase and Pokemon gets patched

 

Games Awards!

The 2022 Game awards will be held on Friday December 9 at 10.30am – 1.30pm Australian Eastern Standard Time.  There are 31 award categories including Game of the Year, Best Indie, Most Anticipated Game, Innovation in Accessibility and Best Art Direction.

In addition to this there is the game awards future class, ‘50 inspiring individuals who represent the bright, bold and inclusive future of video games’.

Composer Maize Wallen and designer Chantal Ryan are two Australians that have been included in the 2022 Game Awards Future class list.

Chantal Ryan is the Director of the game development studio ‘We have always lived in the Forest’ and produces ‘experimental narrative games and systems built upon disruptive language technologies’.

Maize Wallen has produced audio for games such as God Fall, Receiver 2, Wayward Strand and Cosmic Express.  Their focus is 3D spatialised audio and dynamic music.

https://thegameawards.com/future-class

Pokemon scarlet and violet get patched

A whopping 1GB patch was made available on the 1st of December – Nintendo’s support website stating that the patch includes season 1 of ranked battles, fixing an issue that caused music to not play correctly during the elite four and top champion battle and lastly, other select bug fixes.

They have also acknowledged that many players may encounter issues that affect the games performance.  Given that this has been the buggiest pokemon game ever released, this is an understatement.

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/60277/p/989#v110

VR Showcase Winter 2022

The Upload Gaming Showcase 2022 steamed this morning and showcased ‘exciting game updates, announcements and exclusive reveals’.  Some of these are:

Call of the Sea VR, by Out of the Blue, a mysterious adventure game where you solve puzzles and maybe become some sort of sea monster? Intriguing!

Across the Valley, by FusionPlay is a VR farming simulator for those who want their cow milking to be more immersive.

Maskmaker by Innerspace VR is a puzzle game where you play a mask maker’s apprentice.

Survival Nation by Wenkly Studio is an outdoor adventure sim with added zombies.

And The Signifier by Playmestudio is a detective thriller that has you using victims’ dreams to solve crimes.

https://uploadvr.com/upload-vr-showcase-winter-2022/

And now for the releases!

December 8

Chained Echoes for the PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch, NecroBouncer on PC, The Rumble Fish 2 for PC Playstation, Xbox and Switch, Witch On The Holy Night for Playstation 4 and Switch.

December 9

Dragon Quest Treasures for the Switch, Jitsu Squad for Playstation and the Switch.

December 12

Wavetale on PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch

December 13

Crisis Core –Final Fantasy 7– Reunion on PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch, High on Life for the PC and Xbox Series X.

December 14

The Witcher 3 comes to Playstation 5 and the Xbox Series X.

And that’s all this week in gaming news!

New Events, New Legislation, & News

 

Loot box bill filed in Parliament

A bill has been introduced into the Australian Parliament, which could tighten Australia’s notoriously strict video game ratings.  The Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Amendment (Loot Boxes) Bill 2022 aims to have all video games using the loot box business model to be given an R18+ rating regardless of content, which would stop children from engaging with them. Federal politician Andrew Wilkie, an independent, introduced the bill into parliament yesterday. It was also seconded by MP Andrew Wallace.
“By tempting young players with the potential-to-win game-changing items, encouraging risk-taking behaviour for a possible reward, delivering random prizes on an intermittent basis and encouraging them to keep spending money, it’s clear that loot boxes give rise to many of the same emotions and experiences associated with poker machines and other traditional gambling activities,” Wilkie said.

 

GO423 this Weekend

Saturday December 3rd will see the Game On 423 festival at Brisbane Powerhouse once again. GO423 brings together Queensland game developers and studios to showcase their games to the community. It’s an all-ages event that runs from 10am to 5pm and is free to attend!

A group of us from ZedGames will be there on the day running a Game Dev Hot Seat throughout the day. This is bringing the people behind the games on stage so they can share their stories, ideas and ambitions and dive into the process of game development. For game designers early in their career, you can take the chance to consult with experienced developers in mentor sessions. There are also workshops running where you can flex your creative muscles and a trivia head-to-head on stage to round off the day.

For more information check out the Brisbane International Game Developers Association website, we hope to see you there!

 

New Gaming Convention Opens Next Year

Australian game fans rejoice! At least those of you in Victoria. A new gaming convention has been announced – “The Game Expo”.

In their own words, The Game Expo is “THE event dedicated to gaming, celebrating its culture and creativity. TGX is all about YOU, and everyone who loves video games. Whatever you love in gaming, you can find it at The Game Expo.” Details of the schedule aren’t available yet but the website promises a full experience of games tournaments, cosplay competitions, shopping, guests, panels, and an extensive game library available.

Most gaming events and conventions run in the later half of the year when the industry itself is more active. TGX is trying to fill the early-year lull, with the 2023 show scheduled for the 11th and 12th of March. The Game Expo will run at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre which is already home to Pax Australia and GCAP. If you aren’t in Victoria and can’t make the journey, it’s still an exciting sign of the growing demand for gaming events across Australia. For more information visit The Game Expo website.

Upcoming Releases

December 2nd:
– The Callisto Protocol (PS5 | PS4 | Xbox One | Xbox Series X)
– Marvel’s Midnight Suns (PS5 | Xbox Series X)
– Need For Speed Unbound (PS5 | Xbox Series X)

December 6th
– Hello Neighbor (PS5 | PS4 | Xbox | Switch)

SpringCon’22 – Unplugged

WHAT IS SPRINGCON?

An event organised by Springfield Gamers, SpringCon’22 is the culmination of a tremendous amount of effort, organisation, and heart in order to create a fun, newbie-friendly tabletop extravaganza.

SpringCon is a celebration of everything to do with tabletop role-playing games, board games, card games, and all the gear, loot, and community that surrounds these hobbies. There is also an emphasis on introducing these hobbies to people who are new, curious, or seeking a new community to join. There were tournaments with some impressive prizes, workshops for learning how to make terrain for tabletop games, demonstrations for various tabletop systems, a bring-and-buy event where attendees could bring in their old boardgames and get something totally new, and so much more. Zed Games got to experience the first ever SpringCon this year, and we are looking forward to seeing what’s on next year!

WHO ARE THE ORGANISERS?

A community effort requires a community, and SpringCon’22 was no exception.

Primarily organised by Neal, the club president of Springfield Gamers, he has a tonne of experience with sharing games, but also teaching and guiding new players, organising regular gaming days and nights, and creating a welcoming environment. He is pictured here with the tournament grand prize, a full tabletop map.

The primary sponsor and vendor was Epic Ipswich, an amazing play space and game store with a fully equipped cafe, perfect for those who want to make an afternoon of it. Whilst having a look at their stall, which was stocked with absolutely everything anyone could possibly need to get into tabletop role-playing games or board-games, we took the opportunity to chat with the stall handlers, who were hugely welcoming, had a lot of information for us, and has instilled a desire to visit Epic Ipswich at some point.

 

Also making an appearance was the League of Extraordinary Gamers Brisbane and the Ipswich Tabletop Association. We got to witness some games and tournaments being run, and the maps, models, gameplay, and the very intense focus required.

We were able to chat with some of the guys from the Ipswich Tabletop Association who gave some great insight into where to get started with miniature painting and were super keen to offer tips.

WHAT WAS THERE?

We’ve mentioned some of the events, but also here are some of the vendors who were there!

Making Morrigan, who creates detailed tabletop pieces that incorporates LED lights and some really cool tricks, including a magic dice box!

Dragonfire Resin & Gaming, a small business that creates 3D printed models, gaming scenery, and just cool stuff.

Caitlin Fairchild dice bags, who had a tonne of creative, hand-made dice bags that were both very cute and very funny.

Geektastic Accessories, full of detailed, clever, and really funky accessories (including fabulous d20 earrings).

Terrain workshops were run by Corrupted Quill, and she was so booked out we didn’t even get a chance to chat with her, but we did take a tonne of photos of some of her work.

In addition there were plenty of food and drink stalls available, such as BBQ, potato tornadoes (a personal favourite), gigantic cups of iced tea, and coffee of course, all available outside with plenty of shaded seating. Perfect for recharging after seeing everything in the hall!

WAS IT FUN?

SpringCon was a tremendous amount of fun, but more than that it was engaging, interesting, and inspiring. Even if we couldn’t participate in everything that was available, just chatting to vendors and participants was fascinating as we asked how they got into this hobby, how they started, and their favourite creations or moments.

A common theme? Nearly everyone had, at some point, taken the dive to get into a game that they were curious about, but had no idea where to start, but thanks to friends or a small leap of faith, have been able to put their heart and time into something so detailed, interesting, and a little bit niche. That was a similar story, whether they were creatives, players, or organisers. Of course, a few people had simply grown up with it, but their open-arms approach makes it a lot easier for newbies to make that dive.

 

Truly, the best part of SpringCon is that there will be another one next year!

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)

Anticipation, Momentum, & Delays…

2022 Game Awards Nominations Revealed

Geoff Keighley, CEO of The Game Awards, has recently announced the nominees for the 2022 awards show. The nominees for the top prize of Game of the year are:

  • A Plague Tale: Requiem (Asobo Studio/Focus Entertainment)
  • Elden Ring (FromSoftware/Bandai Namco)
  • God of War Ragnarök (Sony Santa Monica/SIE)
  • Horizon Forbidden West (Guerrilla Games/SIE)
  • Stray (BlueTwelve Studio/Annapurna)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (Monolith Soft/Nintendo)

God of War has dominated these nominations with several nominations beyond Game of the year, including Best Game Direction, Innovation in Accessibility, Best Art Direction, Best Audio Design, and more!  The massively popular Australian game Cult of the Lamb has been nominated for Best Indie where it’s up against Neon White, Sifu, Tunic, & Stray.

With 31 Categories, it’s impossible for us to list them all here but you can check the official site for a complete list. On that site you’ll also be able to have your own say by lodging your vote online.  If you just want to find out the winners, you’ll have to wait until December 9th when the event will be livestreamed from LA via Youtube & Twitch.

 

Screen Queensland Launches Game-Changing Residency Program

Recently Screen Queensland announced they would be launching a residency program designed to support skill development and growth in early-career games developers. The Screen Queensland Games Residency offers 10 games developers (individuals, duos, or trios) access to a yearlong program including a dedicated co-working space, access to leading industry experts, business mentoring and income support through Self-Employment Allowance. It is the first program of its kind in Australia and is part of Screen Queensland’s commitment to championing local talent and fostering the growth of our games industry. For more information about the program and how to apply, please visit the Screen Queensland website.

 

Overwatch 2 Patch Delayed

Free to play shooter Overwatch 2 had a rocky start when it launched last month, and it’s still dealing with some significant problems. More than 2 weeks ago, Blizzard removed Mei from the hero roster so they could fix a crucial issue in her gameplay. This came not longer after two other heroes had been readded from their temporary detention. The Mid-Season patch was scheduled for November 16th to return Mei to the game, remove several other bugs, introduce a slew of balance updates, and release more cosmetics in the store. Hours before it would go live, then update was delayed when Blizzard discovered a ‘critical issue’ that has not been specified but seems to have threatened the integrity of the game. The only thing that wasn’t put on hold was a new selection of cosmetics to the in-game store – including a new ten USD skin for the still-unplayable Mei. It’s unclear yet if this is part of the game finding its feet or a sign of a consistently tumultuous future.

 

Upcoming Games Releases:

17th November –

Goat Simulator 3 – Playstation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC

 

18th November –

The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil In Me – PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC

Pokemon Scarlet/Violet – Nintendo Switch

 

22nd November –

Evil West – PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC

Just Dance – PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch

Gungrave G.O.R.E – PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC

 

And that’s all, this week, in gaming news.