Hazel, Peter, and Zahra talk game plans and Gaming News with highlights of the Gaming Awards, Dbrand Switch 2 Leak, and Nintendo ripoffs. Then the team talks game gift and family game recommendations (see below for our list), and developer directions with Global Game Jam coming at your face in 2025, Squiggly River Games Collective, and grant ideas through Screen Queensland.
Now here’s a list of all our recommendations for this Giftingmas
This week on Zed Games Zahra wrangles the dynamic due of Maylee and Peter as they talk all things Gaming News including by not limited to; Witcher Saga Announced, Steam DLC Crackdown, PS5P rumour, and Extra Gaming Bytes. Paul goes dad mode while reviewing LEGO Horizon Adventures, and Zahra takes a step back while talking the gaming staple fishing while chatting Webfishing.
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
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.
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.
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!
This week Hazel and Zahra take the reins, talking what they’ve been playing before Maylee brings us a doozy in Gaming News and the team discusses the disappointing PS5 Pro announcement. Paul then enjoys jumping off cliffs in safety while reviewing Caravan Sand Witch from Plane Toast. Then Hazel and Zahra get crazy/crabby while reviewing the crab based cartoony soulslike Another Crab’s Treasure from Agro Crab.
This week on Zed Games agents of Chaos Paul and Caroline talk the week in Gaming News from Zahra, the death of Concord, Secret Level, and game conservation. Paul proves words hurt more than sticks and stones while reviewing Leximan. Caroline rolls up their chilly balls in a review of the puzzler A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build. And then Paul returns to get gooey to review the game Dros.
Maylee and Peter talk mini painting before Paul brings us the best in Gaming News and Sonic trauma, Then Zahra unravels in narrative puzzler while playing A Star Named EOS from Silver Lining Studio. And Maylee teases a review of Tavern Keeper coming next week!
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
