Tag: indie games

Goodbye Misty, Goodbye Roblox, Hello Borderlands 3, Goodbye Chess Opponent

Misty’s Voice Actor Passing Away

Voice actress Rachael Lillis, has passed away at the age of 46 due to breast cancer. She was most well-known for her roles as Misty and Jessie in the English dub of Pokemon, before the cast was changed in 2006. She also voiced  Utena in the English dub of Revolutionary Girl Utena, some Pokemon, including Jigglypuff in Pokemon Detective Pikachu, and Princess Charlotte in the English dub of Beserk.

In May 2024, her sister had created a GoFundMe to help raise money for her care, a campaign that many of her fellow voice actors contributed to.

Turkey Bans Roblox

Roblox, the very popular free-to-play online game, has recently been banned in Turkey over concerns of child exploitation.

Roblox has faced some criticism since launching in 2006, with reports suggesting that the game isn’t safe for minors. Bloomberg reported that in July, Roblox submitted over 13,000 reports to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 2023, and an executive suggested that perhaps the game could “provide jobs to kids living in slums”. The company had released a statement claiming that the majority of creators are over 18, and the company has never hired teenagers.

Turkey’s ban was largely driven by reports of alleged child exploitation, as well as reports of in-game sexual content.

A Roblox spokesperson has stated “We respect the laws and regulations in countries where we operate, and share local lawmakers’ commitment to children. We look forward to working together to ensure Roblox is back online in Turkey as soon as possible.”

Well, Borderlands 3 Is Doing Well

Borderlands: The Movie, hasn’t had the easiest time at the box office, with a 9% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and only pulling in $8.9 million USD in its first weekend. However, Borderlands 3 has had an increase in players with the movie’s release, peaking at 12,379 players, a significant increase for a 5 year old game.

Borderlands 2, Borderlands, and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has also had an uptick in players, at least according to Steam.

Gearbox did launch a feature for Borderlands 3 that allows the player to skip the main campaign with a new character, as long as you’ve previously beaten the campaign once and have a max-level character, so returning players will have an easier time getting to the endgame, so that works out well.

Toxic Chess

Amina Abakarova, a Russian chess player, has allegedly attempted to poison an opponent using mercury, a famously toxic element. Chess, like any game, can get pretty heated, and extremely competitive, but normally these heated interactions fall within the realm of fair play.

In this case, a chess tournament in Dagestan was cancelled when one of the players, a European champion named Umayganat Osmanova, became very unwell quite suddenly. After an investigation which revealed the presence of mercury on her table. Footage supposedly shows Amina spreading the metal across the table.

Umayganat is in stable condition, and Amina has been temporarily suspended from participating in all competitions until the conclusion of the investigation. She is likely to face legal consequences.

News Nibbles!

We still don’t know when the Switch 2 will launch, but it is not coming before April 2025. We don’t even really know if it’ll be called the Switch 2, nor do we know much about its specs, but we should receive an official announcement during the company’s current financial year, which wraps up in March 2025.

Cult of the Lamb now has local co-op in its most recent update, Unholy Alliance. The update has also added new items, quests, buildings, chores, and more. For local co-op, you just need to plug in a second controller and set up co-op through the pause menu.

Tango Gameworks, the publisher for Hi-Fi Rush, has been adopted by Krafton, welcome news after the studio was set to be shut-down by Microsoft.

 

And now for some upcoming games!

August 15th

  • Dredge: The Iron Rig (DLC) – PC, Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch
  • Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Xbox

August 16th

  • Madden NFL 25 – PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC
  • Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland – PC, Xbox, PS5

August 20th

  • Black Myth: Wukong – PC, Xbox, PS5
  • Dustborn – PS4, PS5, Xbox, PC

August 21st

  • Enotria: The Last Song – PC, PS5

 

That’s it this week in gaming news!

GLOCK: if it FLOCKs like a GLUCK it’s a F#k


This week on ZED GAMES

Maylee brings us this week’s #GamingNews while Paul, Rani, and Zahra banter wildly and mourn the loss of the glossy mag Game Informer. Paul distracts Zahra and confuses Rani while they yearn for the mines in a review Gluck. Then Paul takes over in the autocorrect special talking relaxation and discovery of garbles, giggles, and squibs in a review of Flock from @AnnapurnaInteractive. And Zahra spruiks the packed and annual INDIE DEV NIGHT at @netherworldarcade with us from Zed Games, coming next week on Thursday August 15!  

Glitch P


This week on Zed Games, Maylee, Caroline, and Peter talk news, reviews, popular culture, life, love, and nerdy glasses and things. BUT FIRST! The week in Gaming News from Paul, and the team talks the sadness of the delay to Frostpunk 2, Terraria and holes, and the Future of World of Warcraft. Paul gets rocking and swinging in the roguelite twin stick shooter Galactic Glitch from Crunchy Leaf Games, Peter gets social in a review of bulletheaven online co-op with friendly fire The Spell Brigade from Bolt Blaster Games. And then a return of Paul in another review taking it easy vibing out in space as a pig in Astro Pig from Garoa Studios. Then for no reason (other than Chaos) the crew gets sidetracked by bodily functions in games.

TEAL 🤬 – AKA: You and me baby ain’t nothing but animals so let’s hue it like they cue it on the discovery channel

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.

A Polygonal Throuple

This week Zed Games brings you Maylee’s #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 “20% off Great Value” 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.

Queensland Games Festival


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 Catto’s 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.