Category: Podcasts

Indie Dev Night Goes BIANNUAL

The text INDIE DEV NIGHT is in the centre foreground with the Indie Dev Night cyclops logo looking on it from above. Surrounding it are characters and shops from the game Minami Lane, with a screen shot of the LCD panel from Moida Mantion in the centre under the title card. The Zed Games and 4zzz Podcast logos are in the background in the bottom right and top right respectively.
This week on Zed Games…  Hazel leads the formidable herd of cats that is Caroline and Peter this week right into the week in #GamingNews talking The Game Awards 2024 controversies, Club Penguin rules coming to Roblox, and Sony reaching for FromSoftware. Rani gets completionist in the cute, cozy, Japanese styled, street sim Minami Lane from Doot and Blibloop. And Paul gets into the retro LCD styling to review Moida Mansion from the famed Lucas Pope.

NOT TO MENTION all the developers who came to our INDIE DEV NIGHT at Netherworld’s Lost Souls Karaoke Bar Thursday November 21st!

OctoKid by AstroFox Studios – VR, single-player
Explore the open ocean as an Octopus in VR. As you journey deeper, the ocean will expand with challenges, platforming puzzles and underwater life. Sharks will hunt you, but there are many creatures that are friendly to help you out. Every dive pushes you further into the unknown in this blend of exploration, survival, and oceanic adventure!

Ragdoll Rumble by Nathan Poulton – PC, multi-player
A chaotic party game where toy wizards unleash wild spells in explosive spellcasting battles. Cast crazy abilities, outsmart your opponents, and prove you are the dominant doll!

A Study in Crime by Caleb Kimmings – PC, single-player
A Murder has been committed under mysterious circumstances within the Belgrave residence, and you are the only able to solve it right now. go around and find clues, talk to suspects and eventually declare who the killer is.

Bumper Bout by Rocco – PC, two-player
A local multiplayer pinball game where your playfields are joined so you can knock balls into each other’s spaces and see who lasts the longest.

Kaamos by Pepperbox Studios – PC, single-player
A turn-based puzzle roguelike game about a knight that tries to survive in a sunless medieval land.

Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar by Abandoned Sheep – PC, two-player
A quantum themed puzzle heist adventure

Momento by Fat Alien Cat x Nomo Studio – PC, single-player
Journey through a life where the objects you choose to keep influence the life you lead. A cozy room decorator with whimsical settings; relaxing gameplay; and charming branching narratives, Momento will be a warm ode to the challenge of following your dreams down the winding road of life.

Pieter Both Village by Generative Arts – PC, single-player
A third-person horror action-adventure game inspired by a Mauritian folktale. The protagonist, upon returning home one day, discovers that the villagers have been infected by flu-like symptoms, which makes them violent on encounter. Battling through a haunting village setting, he must uncover the dark truth behind the outbreak.

Vanguard Exiles by The Tea Division – PC, single-player
A new style of Auto-Battler designed by legendary game designer, Richard Garfield, where each player pits their Squad against their opponent in an ever-changing environment.

Nominees, Restrictions, and Who Else Is Farming Right Now?

The Game Awards 2024 Nominees

The nominees for 2024 have been announced, bringing a bit of discourse over the inclusion of the Elden Ring DLC: Shadow of the Erdtree. Elden Ring previously won game of the year in 2022. There’s a lot of nominees and categories, so here are a few:

Game of the Year

  • Astro Bot
  • Balatro
  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio

Best Art Direction

  • Astro Bot
  • Black Myth: Wukong
  • Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio
  • Neva

Best Score and Music

  • Astro Bot
  • Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
  • Metaphor: ReFantazio
  • Silent Hill 2
  • Stellar Blade

Best Independent Game

  • Animal Well
  • Balatro
  • Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
  • Neva
  • UFO 50

Roblox Rules

Under 13s are now blocked from directly messaging others on Roblox outside of games or experiences in their latest effort to protect children and reassure parents. Additionally, under 13s will only be able to publicly broadcast messages inside of games, and users under the age of 9 will only be able access experiences rated Minimal or Mild.

Yet Another Consolidation

Sony appears to be gearing up to purchase Kadokawa, a parent to dozens of Japanese entertainment companies. Along with Kadokawa owning Gotcha Gotcha Games (known for RPG Maker) and Acquire (known for Mario & Luigi: Brothership), they also own a majority stake in FromSoftware. It’s unknown what this may mean regarding the company’s ability to collaborate with Nintendo, but a deal could be signed in the coming weeks.

News Nibbles!

Farming Simulator 25 has hit 2 million sales, and peaked at over 125,000 active players on launch day.

In Germany, Steam users have only been able to see games with an age rating since 15th of November. Developers will need to complete a questionnaire to receive a rating before being allowed to release in Germany.

Dungeons & Dragons The Twenty-Sided Tavern is a live, theatrical experience coming to Sydney in December this year, where the audience gets to control the quest and the dice rolls are real, meaning that no show is ever the same. It opens 15th December at the Sydney Opera House.

 

Upcoming Games

November 21st

  • Dungeons of Dreadrock 2: The Dead King’s Secret – PC
  • Star Wars Outlaws – PC
  • On Your Tail  – PC, Switch
  • Loco Motive – PC, Switch
  • Servonauts – PC

November 22nd

  • Marvel vs Capcom Fighting Collection (physical) – PS5, Switch
  • Spirit Mancer – PS5, Switch, PC

Pixelated CHAOS

Paul, Peter, and Maylee get sticky and show the making of the sausage while introducing the BRAND NEW #GamingNews format and LIVE chat politics, patents, original overwatch, and upcoming games. Paul embraces the chaos and raves about visor and text based PROXIMATE from Cain Maddox. Then Rani returns to review the overwhelming but addictive isometric shooter Kill Knight from Playside Studios. And lastly the team returns to remind us of the INDIE DEV NIGHT happening NEXT THURSDAY (Nov 17th 6-9pm) at Netherworld’s Lost Souls Karaoke.

Nippy Nuns

At the top there is the key art of Frostpunk 2 of a person wearing goggles reflecting flames, at the bottom is the key art from Indika of the protagonist, a young woman in a black hooded nun habit surrounded but older nuns ghoulishly laughing. The older nuns have gold halos around their heads. The text Nippy Nuns in Ice and flames with halos features in the middle, and the Zed Games podcast and 4zzz Podcast logos sit in the bottom and top left of the image respectively.
This week on ZedGames: Special Guest Tom from Netherworld/ZedGames joins Maylee and Paul as they talk Gaming News, Reviews, Community, and Culture. Maylee injects news into your ear holes and then the team discusses the exciting topics – Nintendo game sales, horror visor game Proximate from Cain Maddox, and SAVE&SOUND. Paul gets guilty in the “not a hardcore nunnery RPG” Indika from Odd Meter Games, and Maylee reviews Frostpunk 2 – a different game living in the shadow of the original – from 11 Bit Studios.

Spooky ZedGames: Totally Scary

Zahra, Hazel, and returning Special Guest Tom from Netherworld coming spookily at you this week from Zed Towers. This week Paul screams the weeks #GamingNews into the void of space, and then the team talks Borderlands Beneficence and upcoming events at Netherworld:

Then Special Guest Tom from Netherworld spookily reviews the re-release Silent Hill 2: RENEW, and the team plays some spooky Gamer Focused True or False.

INTERVIEW

Image of Allard Laban and dog via Jackbox Games on the left and the gnome and headless knight from Keyfairy of Tex Barnes and Mars Bleach with a microphone in the foreground. In the background images from Jackboot and Keyfairy with the text Interview and the Zed Games and 4zzz Podcast logos.
Image of Allan Laban via JACKBOX GAMES and Gnome and Headless Knight via KEYFAIRY.COM.AU

This week on Zed Games Hazel and Zahra with special guests Tex and Mars from Owl Machine talk the week in Gaming News from Caroline. The team then chats with Tex Barnes and Mars Bleach about their upcoming game Key Fairy. Paul then manages to pitch to Jackbox Games CCO, Allard Laban at this year’s PAX and interview them about the upcoming Jackbox game Survey Scramble.
And mixed in are some promos from Ascending Inferno from Oppolyon Studios and Fishbowl from Imissmyfriends.studio.

Swapping Spit @PAX

Two images from the game Neva take president where the protagonist in a red cape holds a young white wolf like creature with horns on the left, and then the same but an older version on the right. Dugtrio Alola form is in the bottom left and the pax logo and zed games logo are in the bottom middle and right. The text “swapping SPIT @ PAX” is in the bottom foreground and the 4zzz Podcast Logo is in the top right.

This week on Zed Games, Paul and Maylee swap more than PAX tales before Zahra brings us the week in psychically enhancing #GamingNews and the team talk Game Freak freaky leaky news.
Paul gets the feels playing Neva from Nomada Studio. And Alexis drops in and the team talks the indie presence at this year’s PAX Aus. Plus some extra interviews in between from the developers from Away From Home (Squishy), Drăculești (Fine Feathered Friends), and Game Over (Jacob Houston)

A Cup of Tea For Someone Else

Paul, Zahra, and Caroline battle the void before Maylee brings us the week in Gaming News and the team talks The Sims microtransactions. Paul dressed up to paddle some balls in Pinball Spire from Apparition Games. Then Zahra double dips with two reviews. Firstly, they put on their gardening shoes in Pikmin Bloom from Niantic Labs and then struggle with the puzzle in Coral Cove. And don’t forget some of us will be down at PAX next week!