This week on Zed Games Paul leads the team with Zahra And Caroline taking the to the mics to bring us all in gaming news, reviews, community and culture. But first, Cam brings us the week in old man #GamingNews, just so the team can clarify the Helldivers Misinformation Mixup and Paul talks the wholesome surprise stream of the Indie Brew Aussie Indi Showcase. Then Paul is confused at the lovely unique story of Highwater and its Pirate Radio DJ from Demagog Studio, and Zahra gets stuck climbing into the VR title The Pirate Queen from Singer Studios. Paul rounds things off to talk narrative games in the upcoming digital festival LudoNarraCon 2024.
Join us with Hazel, Caroline and Paul to talk this week in Gaming News with some Maple Story Karma & Fallout Fallout. Paul then takes the long way round to look at the stunning graphics of the early access title No Rest For The Wicked from Moon Studios. And Caroline gets religious in the Catholic guilt filled something something soulslike something something metroidvania games Blasphemous 1 and 2 from developer The Game Kitchen.
On Zed Games this week Zahra, Hazel and Caroline discuss the recent Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons performance at the Brisbane City Hall, then the team talks game reboots and their needs, wants, and desires for their faves. And not to forget the week in Gaming News brought to you in extended Tobi-Vision.
This week on Zed we promote Maylee for Mayor of Gaming City, and ask you to Atone for this years 4zzz April Atonement. The team, lead by the possible mayor-elect Maylee, heralds the excellent Zahra and superb Peter in their reviews after chatting the week in Gaming News. Zahra talks tinkering to relax in a review of Assemble with Care from ustwo games, then Peter digs a happy bug filled hole in Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor from Funday Games.
This week Paul leads the team with Zahra, Peter and Special Guest Tom from Netherworld to talk punching purple people in the new Prince of Persia roguelite in this weeks Gaming News. Paul praises new shooter Bears In Space from local dev team Broadside Games. Tom plays his cards right in a deck building review of Balatro from LocalThunk. And then Paul takes aim at speed run cult sniper Children of the Sun from René Rother.
In a recent developer update, Riot Games announced that a brand-new PVE game mode will be released later this year. They’ve pitched it as a bullet-heaven, where you can mow down hordes of enemies with friends, or solo. We didn’t get many more details, but the mode is set to release during the League of Legends summer event (that’ll be our winter), so expect more details as we get closer.
Triple I Initiative:
In the early hours of April 11th, at 3AM AEST, we saw the first Triple I Initiative showcase stream live on Youtube, Twitch, bilibili, IGN and Steam. The Triple I initiative was spearheaded by Evil Empire, the studio behind Dead Cells, but was a collaborative effort from a huge number of indie studios. We were given over thirty announcements and here are some of the highlights:
• The showcase kicked off with the announcement of a sequel for the deckbuilding roguelike Slay the Spire. The short teaser didn’t show off much, but did say the game will be released in early access next year. • Never Alone 2, was announced back in 2022 and we’ve heard very little about it since then, but this morning we saw the first official trailer. • They showed a teaser trailer for Dinolords, a real-time strategy game with a medieval setting where you get to ride around on Dinosaurs. It’s coming to steam in early access, but we don’t know when. • And there was the announcement of RKGK, an anime-esque graffiti platformer from Wabisabi Games and Gearbox. The trailer showed off bright, bold graphics, and a release for mid-2024.
In emails obtained by Windows Central, Microsoft discussed its plans to deliver “the biggest technical leap in a generation ever” with the next Xbox hardware. They aren’t just looking to the future though. The emails also revealed that Sarah Bond, the current president of Xbox, has formed a team to focus on game preservation and backwards compatibility. “We are building on our strong history of delivering backwards compatibility to our players, and we remain committed to bringing forward the amazing library of Xbox games for future generations of players to enjoy.” Sarah wrote in the email.
Life is Strange Developer Accused of Fostering a Toxic Culture:
Deck Nine, the studio behind Life is Strange: True Colors, and the remastering of the first two games, has been called out for creating a toxic workplace. The accusations, which were made to IGN by more than a dozen employees, claim that sexual harassment, discrimination, and hate speech are commonplace and that management wouldn’t address these issues for months, if at all. Employees found multiple racist memes and hate symbols that had been spread throughout the game. At first, things were subtle enough that staff assumed they were simple mistakes, however as weeks went by, they found more and more. This issue was also met with a snailpace response from management.
Another shocking part of the report was a claim that publisher Square Enix suppressed discussion of the game’s diverse themes. The protagonist of Life is Strange: True Colors is bisexual, but this wasn’t mentioned in any press before release because Square Enix didn’t want it “to be known as the gay game.” I would have thought anyone who’s played any of the Life is Strange games, or just vaguely heard about them, could tell you they are gay games. But what do I know?
Upcoming Game Releases:
On the 15th of March, Retrowave World is releasing on the PC. On the 16th of March Europa is releasing to PC and Harold Halibut is coming to PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Also, on the 16th Grounded is coming to Switch. On the 18th of March, Pine Harbor is releasing on the PC and No Rest for the Wicked is releasing in early access
Hazel and Zara take control this week talking AI controlled Doc Oct armchairs from Razor and the week in Gaming News, and a rundown of the great prizes available in this years April Atonement at 4ZZZ. Paul digs deep in the indi game Pepper Grinder from Ahr Ech, and Zahra starts the carcinisation process in Fight Crab 2 from Calappa Games.
This week on Zed Games, Maylee, Paul, and Peter talk couch party games. Then the team chats the week in Gaming News where Paul talks Xbox Layoffs, Pepper Grinder release, and other new releases. Then Paul goes to the MAX in VR to talk Max Mustard developed by Toast Interactive, before Maylee tries to romance the big bad as a bard in Bard Harder! from indi developer Shark and Pelican Games.
This week, Zahra, Hazel & Maylee talk Stardew Valley REVOLUTIONARY updates in Gaming News, Tobi and Peter double battle The Shroud™ in a review of Enshrouded from Keen Games, and Zahra relaxes while getting their life in order in A Little to the Left developed by Max Inferno.
This week on Zed Games the team covers the week in Gaming News including a tribute to the late Toriyama. Cameron then old man drools over the retrospective game Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story from Digital Eclipse Studios, and Paul clowns around in Penny’s Big Breakaway developed by Private Division.
