Tag: Sony

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.

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

Gotta’ Hack ‘Em All

Game Freak has issued a statement that they experienced a data breach, affecting the cases of 2,606 current and former employees. The Pokemon developers assured that the vulnerability had been patched since.

The data leak also reportedly contained data such as:

• a yet-to-be-announced Pokemon game, reportedly codenamed “Gaia”,
• A project codenamed “Synapse”, which MIGHT hint towards a Pokemon MMO,
• Plot information for an unreleased sequel to Detective Pikachu movie (the one that was supposed to release this year),
• A live action show on Netflix,
• Switch 2 stuff,

And, reportedly, a lot more. None of that has been confirmed by Game Freak however.

Panic! At The Disco Elysium

The most Disco Elysium thing just happened… multiple groups of former Disco Elysium developers have each formed studios, and they have all had identical announcements: we will be making a spiritual successor to Disco Elysium.

Of course this has sparked debate about which one would be the ‘true’ spiritual successor, whatever that means. Each project is a little different.

Longdue Games Studios is making what they call a ‘psychogeographic RPG’, where the world and characters shift depending on your choices.

Dark Math Games has XXX Nightshift, which looks just like Disco Elysium in tone, UI design, and even voice acting.

Summer Eternal has come out with a dramatic, blood-red website, and a manifesto about the exploitation of game developers.

There is also a project by ZA/UM, but many key developers have been dropped from it, as well as a fifth studio that formed during all this called Red Info Ltd, with no projects announced as of yet.

So that makes five studios, four ‘Disco Elysium’ projects announced.

STEAM DECK

PAX Aus has treated us well this year, bringing the announcement that Valve will officially bring the Steam Deck to Australia in November! Preorders are open now if you want to lock one in, if preordering is your thing.

The 256GB LCD deck is $649, the 512GB OLED deck is $899, and the 1TB OLED deck is $1,049.

News Nibbles!

Sony has announced PlayStation: The Concert, a world tour that’ll display a compilation of music from various Sony games, like The Last of Us, and God of War. Europe’s tour dates and stops have been announced, the United States and other countries (hopefully that’s us!) will have to be patient.

Tetris Forever will be released on November 12th! A celebration of Tetris, it’ll contain 15 classic Tetris games, an hour-long documentary, and a new ‘Tetris experience’ where players can warp through different Tetris eras.

Those involved in the lawsuits contesting that the Activision Blizzard aquisition in 2022 have settled, where both sides agreed to dismiss the case permanently, and pay their own legal fees.

Until Dawn will be in theatres in April, 2025! Directed by David Sandberg, it’s a live-action adaptation of the 2015 horror game, which is basically an interactive movie to begin with. No word on whether it’ll be released outside of the United States however.

And now for some upcoming games!

October 17th

• Blazing Strike – PS5, Switch, PC
• A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead – PS5, Xbox, PC
• Super Mario Party Jamboree – Switch

October 18th

• TMNT: Mutants Unleashed – PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC
• Unknown 9 Awakening – PS5, Xbox, PC

October 22nd

• Forest Hills: The Last Year – PC
• Lynked: Banner of the Spark – PC

Games Getting the Thanos Snap
This week saw a couple of games added to the growing list of paid games ripped from digital libraries and slipped from support and server maintenance. PlayStation has chosen to decommission the servers of LittleBigPlanet 3 following the technological issues which resulted in the servers being shut down in January. The multimedia giant seems to have given up trying to fix the problems and instead has decided to just shut up shop, removing support for core gameplay loop of creating and sharing levels. In worse news, Ubisoft has created a new category in your digital library called “Inactive Games”. This is specifically for owners of the purchased game The Crew. When opening the game through the launcher you are now greeted with the message “You no longer have access to this game. Why not check the Store to pursue your adventures?”. Attempts at bypassing said launcher are met with either game key requests or a limited access demo version of the game launching. Ubisoft claims this was necessary “… due to server infrastructure and licencing constraints.”
This trend has been tipped to continue with a report published that claims 70% of game developers are concerned with the sustainability of live service titles. This is also compounded with the overwhelming majority of those surveyed working in teams dedicated to said live service games.
So, what can we do as gamers? The movement to get political is now in full swing with people calling for the preservation of video games. Personally, you can head to stopkillinggames.com and click the “Take Action Here” and follow the links, perhaps even signing the parliamentary petition EN6080 calling for the government to enforce our ownership of games like I have.

Fallout Resurgence
In more positive news, in the wake of the well-received adaptation of the Amazon Prime Fallout series – which if you didn’t know is all canon to the Fallout lore according to Todd “it just works” Howard – the series has incited gamers to return to the base games with sales of Fallout 4, earlier titles, and even the critically panned Fallout 76 jumping up the charts with player counts hitting new peaks or even breaking old records. And for all those living out their postapocalyptic dream for the first time or returning to the series, the games have either received or scheduled to receive next gen updates as this broadcast goes live (April 25^th), and probably with all the trademark issues/glitches/problems we have come to expect from Bethesda.
And for the series fans, you’ll be happy to know that Amazon has confirmed a second season is on the way.

Game Industry Biz News
This week videogame company Embracer Group announced they would be dissolving the company and splitting their assets into three separate companies; the first Asmodee Group to focus on the companies table top assets, the temporarily named “Coffee Stain & Friends” to take over the indi to AA game operations, and the – again temporarily named – “Middle-Earth Enterprises and Friends” to take over the high end AAA assets like Tomb Raider and The Lord of the Rings franchises. The CEO of Embracer Group, Lars Wingefors, is bucking the trend of blaming the volatility of the industry, and is taking responsibility, saying;

“As a leader and an owner, sometimes you need to take the blame and you need to be humble about if you’ve made mistakes and if you could have done something differently.
“I’m sure I deserve a lot of criticism, but I don’t think my team or companies deserve all the criticism.”

Atari is also bucking the trend with the relaunch of Infogrames as a publishing label, with purpose of publishing and acquiring IP outside of the Atari brand, and has already purchased the game Totally Reliable Delivery Services from tinyBuild.
And PlayDate – that niche console you’ve heard about from some of our announcers – the maker Panic has shared that of the 70 thousand shipped, over half of the owners have made purchases on the storefront. Because of this support, Panic has revealed that developers of the 181 games have received a sizable payout of over $500 thousand US dollars.

Now Have We Got Some Time for Some Quick Bytes?
Team Fortress 2 has finally gotten 64-bit support, now boasting up to 20% more frames per second! No updates on the bot issues though, but the game has only been out for a meagre 17 years so…
And there’s a new operating system on the horizon. With Meta announcing its new Meta Horizon OS for the VR ecosystem in partnership with ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox.

And now for some upcoming games.
On April the 25^th the “sah gaa” continues with Square Enix’s SaGa: Emerald Beyond coming to PC, PlayStation and Switch, while Bandai Namco brings the manga SAND LAND to life in … wait for it … SAND LAND (all caps) coming to PC, PlayStation and the Xbox series S & X.
Friday April 26 brings us Manor Lords, a medieval strategy where you can sit on your high horse, coming to PC. Or if you feel like turning into a spandex clad Beyblade with a sword and flashing lights, join the masses with Stellar Blade coming to the PlayStation 5. Or go for a different kind of spin in the tennis sim with some big names in Top Spin 2K25 coming to PC and next gen consoles.
And to round out the month, after hitting 40 million players, Sea of Thieves is finally coming to the PS5 Tuesday April 30.

And that’s all this week, in gaming news.

Bobby Kotick Is Gone

The now-former CEO of Activision Blizzard has officially stepped down now that the 2023 year has ended and the acquisition by Microsoft proceeds. He won’t be the only executive-level employee leaving, with more expected to depart as the transition process develops. Otherwise, the leadership teams for Activision Publishing and Blizzard will remain in place.

The now-vacant CEO spot won’t be filled, and instead executives will report directly to Matt Booty, President of Microsoft Game Content and Studios.

Minecrafters, Grab Your Picks…

If you forgot that there was a Minecraft movie on the way, well, here’s your reminder. And now you also know that Jack Black, who has played Bowser in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, will be starring as the main man himself, Minecraft Steve. You may also know Jack Black from a few other films. The movie will be directed by Jared Hess, known for Nacho Libre, and Napoleon Dynamite.

Jason Momoa had reportedly been in negotiations to voice Minecraft Steve last year.

The Minecraft movie has been in development since 2014, while filming began in December 2023. It is scheduled to release in early April, 2025, meaning it will have been in development for 10-ish years. It hasn’t been the smoothest journey for the movie, as a few directors have dropped out, and the initial release date of May 24th, 2019 obviously not working out.

The Mouse Is OUT!

And a horror game has already been created within 24 hours of ‘Steamboat Willie’ entering the public domain. The game, called Infestation 88, has a terrifying depiction of the mouse hunting the player down in a spooky warehouse.

Disney is rather infamous for its heavy-handed approach to protecting its copyright, as the company has been reported to discourage a stonemason from carving Winnie-the-Pooh into a child’s gravestone. In fact, Steamboat Willie was initially set to enter the public domain in 1984, but the company lobbied US copyright laws to extend to “the life of the author plus 50 years”.

Now that the fated day has finally arrived, along with Infestation 88, a horror movie has been announced, as well as NFTs created, dubstep remixes mixed, and just generally making the mouse do things that Disney definitely wouldn’t approve of.

The 2023 Steam Awards

Let’s round up another round of awards! The Steam Awards is pretty straightforward, nominate your favourite games and then vote for them! Games also can’t win more than two categories.

Sit Back and Relax went to Dave the Diver, and the Labour of Love Award was granted to Red Dead Redemption 2.

Better With Friends went to Lethal Company, and Most Innovative Gameplay went to Starfield.

Outstanding Story-Rich Game and Game of the Year goes to Baldur’s Gate 3.

Some News Nibbles

Peanut Butter, a shiba inu, will be participating in Awesome Games Done Quick, a charity speedrunning event. He is probably the first dog to get into speedrunning video games, and he will be beating Gyromite in front of an audience.

The PlayStation 5 has officially passed 50 million units, managing to sell 10 million units in the latter half of 2023.

Square Enix has expressed a desire to apply AI technology ‘more aggressively’ to create ‘new forms of content’ for consumers, with Square Enix president, Takashi Kiryu stating “I believe that generative AI has the potential not only to reshape was we create, but also to fundamentally change the processes by which we create, including programming”.

And now for some upcoming game releases!

January 11

• War Hospital – PC, PS5, XBX

That’s it for game releases. You have a week to work through your backlog before games start getting released again.

BLUEY!

Whether you’re a parent to a child who is obsessed with the blue puppy, or you’re an adult with some form of emotional damage, you’ll be pleased to know that there is a video game coming out in November based off the cartoon!

Outright Games, a UK-based publisher, has officially announced Bluey: The Videogame, for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, Xbox, and PC. The game has been developed by Artax Games with a lot of input from Ludo Studio, delivering a game that features a new four-part storyline that can support four-players, allowing you to play as the entire Heeler family.

The game will feature the voices from the English cast of the show, and you can expect to see some of your favourite characters, as well as existing and original music. It promises to be an “interactive sandbox adventure” with “story-driven, episodic gameplay”.

Sony’s State of Play

Sony recently had their little showcase, and here is a really quick summary of it:

The remake of Resident Evil 4 will get an update with playable Ada Wong and Albert Wesker, along with PSVR2 support on the way.

Avatar fans (the blue people) can experience a whole new part of Pandora, revealing the Western Frontier in Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. It is to be set between the first and second movies.

Foamstars, the Splatoon-style shooter by Square Enix, will be getting a playable open beta from September 29th to October 1st, but only for PS5 players in North America. Tragedy.

The second chapter of the Final Fantasy 7 remake project is on its way, and it’s bringing back something weirdly nostalgic for older gamers: experiencing a game across two discs! Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth comes out 29th February, 2024.

Spider-Man 2 by Insomniac Games expands out to Brooklyn and Queens! So you can patrol every single neighbourhood I guess.

Aaaaaand NINTENDO DIRECT TOO

Tis the season for game announcements and rumours. There’s some speculation about what a new Switch would look like, how much it would cost, blah blah blah.

In more exciting, tangible Nintendo news, we got to see Princess Peach: Showtime, where Princess Peach attempts to save a theatre from the Wicked Grape and the Sour Bunch.

F-ZERO 99 has come to Nintendo Switch Online, allowing you to race against 98 other players.

Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD will bring spooks in more definition, Mario vs. Donkey Kong will have the plumber facing off against the primate yet again, and detective pikachu returns in Detective Pikachu Returns.

We also got to see the Splatoon 3: Side Order expansion, Another Code: Recollection, from the DS and Wii, will be coming to the Switch, WarioWare: Move It! Was announced to be released on 3rd November, 2023. Exciting times for Nintendo fans.

And now for some upcoming games!

September 21

• Days of Doom – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Hellsweeper VR – PC VR, PSVR 2
• Payday 3 – PC, PS5, XSX
• Resident Evil 4 Remake: Separate Ways DLC – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4
• Super Adventure Hand! – PC, Switch
• Warhaven – PC

September 22

• Cyber Citizen Shockman 2: A New Menace – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Shuyan Saga – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Slaps and Beans 2 – PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch

September 25

• Project Planet – Earth Vs Humanity – PC
• Relic Hunters Legend – PC
• These Doomed Isles – PC

September 26

• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion – PC, PS5, XSX
• Mineko’s Night Market – PC, Switch
• My Time At Sandrock – PS5, XSX, Switch
• Paleo Pines – PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch
• Truck Driver: The American Dream – PS5, XSX

September 27

• Astronimo – PC

That’s it this week in gaming news!

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.

Who Wants Activision’s Transformers on Game Pass?

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!

And now for some upcoming games!

August 3rd

• Adore (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)
• Flutter Away (PC)
• Tiny Thor (Switch)

August 4th

• Death Becomes You (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

August 8th

• Gord (PC, PS5, XSX)
• Tower of Fantasy (PS5, PS4)
• WrestleQuest (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

August 9th

• Legend Bowl (PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

August 10th

• Atlas Fallen (PC, PS5, XSX)
• Stray (XSX, XBO)
• Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO, Switch)

That’s it this week in gaming news!

SURPRISE EARLY PODCAST!
In celebration of our collaboration with Netherworld for the Indie Dev Night we’re releasing this weeks podcast EARLY! So listen in as Maylee, Hazel, & Paul talk gaming news, this years not E3 announcements and Hazel does a special In Memoriam for the online phenomenon Blazeball.
So gather your salutes, gird your tear ducts, and open your ear holes.