This week brings you Paul, Maylee, and Cam to talk gaming news with Mighty Kingdom Turmoil & other studio layoffs. Paul then waxes poetic about The Cub developed by Demagog studio, while Maylee gets stabby in a review of The Outlast Trials developed by RedBarrels.
Fans and fiends of Fallout, you’ve probably heard about the upcoming live-action series coming to Prime Video in April, and if not, now you have! And here’s what we know about it so far: it takes place nine years after the events of Fallout 4, in the year 2296. It’s supposed to be accessible to those unfamiliar with the games, but still contain the humour and vibe of the games. And one more thing; the events in the show will be canon according to Todd Howard.
“We view what’s happening in the show as canon. That’s what’s great when someone else looks at your work and then translates it in some fashion.”
It’s not the first time developers have been inspired by a live-action adaptation of their games, as The Last Of Us creators also felt similarly inspired by the live-action show.
What Even Is An Indie Game Anyway?
Dave the Diver is a game that was nominated for Best Indie Game at The Game Awards, which has sparked some discussion over what constitutes an indie game as the team, Mint Rocket, that made the game was a subsidiary of a multi-billion-dollar company, Nexon.
Mint Rocket is a team of less than 30 people and was launched by Nexon as a division that specialises in games, “focusing on the essence of fun”. As a result, many people don’t consider Dave the Diver to be a ‘true indie’.
Geoff Keighly, host and producer of The Game Awards has weighed in, saying “You can argue, does independent mean the budget of the game, does independent mean where the source of financing was, does it mean the team size?”
“The definition of an indie game is hard to define, and that ultimately it’s up to The Game Awards jury to pick nominees.”
Why Does Naruto Sound Like That?
There’s a Naruto fighting game out and about called Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS, it’s got fast-paced ninja battles and a story, but I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about the more awkward line deliveries that have been discovered.
Understandably, it has faced some criticisms, however, the voice actors insist that they didn’t actually record those lines… entirely.
The game covers snippets of events that have taken place across the franchise, and even dives into scenes that would be very familiar to those who have played Naruto games in the past. Except that when comparing the scenes, well, the original line delivery was just better. And fans aren’t the only ones confused about it.
Maile Flanagan, Naruto’s English voice actor, has said “I can guarantee I did not say that line that way… And I guarantee no voice director of Naruto or the games would have me do that in that way.”
Why Does Silent Hill Ascension Sound Like That?
The interactive television series, Silent Hill: Ascension, has sparked rumours that the script might have been written by AI. Users can stream the episodes and collectively vote on choices in the series, influencing its direction. However, some scenes have been facing some scrutiny.
One particular scene of note has the main characters out in the woods, doing Silent Hill business, when a lone NPC comes across them in a flustered state. He declares he has been foraging for berries, and he has foraged for berries for many seasons. And he makes jams. And he offers the jams before disappearing into the forest, presumably to forage for more berries.
Jacob Navok insists that every word in Ascension was written by real people.
This week Zed Gamers, Paul, Hazel, & Zahra get all Up Close and Personal talking Gaming News, Paul picks apart the puzzler Talos Principal 2 from Croteam, and Zahra gets in early with some wholesome farming in Coral Island from Stairway Games.
Rani’s back with a BANG! Joined by Paul and Caroline the team talks Gaming News and the death-knell of Bandcamp and it’s effect on gaming music. Then Rani chats with Directors Ricard Cussó & Tania Vincent and Producer Ryan Greaves from Brisbane’s Like A Photon Creative and their new film based on the game Scarygirl . Zed then gets uncomfortable while Paul reviews the audio visual experience that is Decarnation.
Prime those sound channels, and recline in the garden chair you use as a gaming seat, because this week Zed Games Does ASMR.
Paul and Caroline lead you through the weeks gaming news, then Paul whips out his… Switch… and the team starts playing with his… controllers… as they swing into a review of Trombone Champ for the Switch. Then Caroline lays down, gets comfy and tries to sleep through a review of Pokemon Sleep.
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.
Grab your bootstraps gamers, it’s RADIOTHON! Join us in our Radio Against The Machine Subathon Special as we pack the studio with Maylee, Rani, Caroline, Cam & Hazel to spruik, hawk, pitch and otherwise tout the prizes, satisfaction, support, and warm inner glow that subbing to 4ZZZ gives you. Not to mention it’s the only reason we have this show, so show up, and show your bling, in this years subathon!
This week Zed Games levels up its social standing talking this week in gaming news, the marathon effort in a recap of Netherworld‘s Mario Kart Speedway Event, and Zahra betrays the fan within in a review of Sonic Dash.
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!