This week Hazel is in control, taking Rani and The Temporarily Returned Tobi on a journey through the musical influence video games had on their lives, while Zahra tells us about the cuddly cat game Calico, and Maylee delivers the freshest of video game news.
This week in Zed Games Zahra is in control with Maylee and Cam as crew, guiding us through the relaxing and interesting world of SEASON: A letter to the future in their review, Cameron tells us all about the Commodore 64 and it’s very vibrant and inventive community who still love this piece of gaming history, and Paul keeps us all up to date with the news.
World of Warcraft Player Maxed Out Without Playing
World of Warcraft players, and those who tried to become a WoW player, are probably familiar with the tutorial boat that takes players to the starter zone. And yet, despite there being absolutely no quests, enemies, or even resources to harvest on the boat, a player has managed to level up their character to the recently increased level 70. How?
Pets.
Cheatcho has a number of account-wide pet battle quests, meaning that they can be done on separate characters, while allowing Cheatcho to redeem the quest rewards on a completely different character, namely the one on the ship. Apparently if you have a level 25 Chrominius pet on your account, you can use an ability called arcane explosion that can wipe out the quest giver’s pets quickly.
This method took 200 days to achieve max level.
Xbox is now Aware (of carbon)
A new Xbox firmware update brings changes to power management, where every Xbox console defaults to energy-saving mode, reducing console power consumption when the console is off. This change won’t affect performance or how updates install, but you won’t be able to remotely wake your console, and it boots up a little more slowly. It is optional, and players can opt for ‘Instant On’, although this uses up more energy.
In addition, your Xbox can schedule game, app, and OS updates at specific times to help reduce carbon emissions, by connecting to the internet and using the available regional carbon intensity data.
You can also hide game art when choosing tiles for the home page, letting you change game art to blocks of solid colour, helpful if you find yourself overwhelmed with visuals.
Massive Trans Witch Games Bundle
In response to Hogwarts Legacy, and the rising interest in games centred around magic whilst being trans-friendly, itch.io has a bundle of 69 (nice) items made by indie queer artists.
24 of the games are digital, with a further 41 titles being physical tabletop games. Some notable mentions include a witchy dating sim called Casting Hearts, and my personal favourite, a game about a skateboarding witch in Magic Trick.
VRChat Sex Worker Denied Entry to US
VRChat is a form of chat room where attendees are present in virtual reality, allowing them to interact, talk, and play together in a virtual room despite being countries apart. It’s not uncommon to enter a room with a dozen skeletons, 3 furries, and a lot of chaos. Everything ranging from concerts to birthdays to just about anything can exist. Humans being humans, sex, and consequently sex work, also has a place.
The VRChat sex worker, Hex, resides in the United Kingdom, however attempted to visit the United States to visit some friends. She was denied entry and explained how her work was done in a ‘virtual game’. However, according to Hex, the woman interviewing her didn’t quite understand. Despite not technically meeting the legal definition for prostitution in U.S. immigration laws, she was issued an official letter stating that she was denied entry due to ‘prostitution’.
And now for some upcoming games!
February 16
February 17
February 18
February 21
February 22
On Zed Games this week Maylee, Zahra, & Rani talk the week in Gaming News, Rani plays spin the bottle in Raptor Boyfriend: A Highschool Romance, and the team plays Kiss Marry Kill based on their video game crushes.
https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2023/02-07-1-million-for-11-digital-games
Games Getting Funded!
Screen Australia has announced 11 games that will each receive a part of 1.5 million dollars in funding through what is called the Games: Expansion Pack fund. The fund is targeted at emerging or small to medium independent game studios with budgets below $500 000.
CEO of Screen Australia Graeme Mason said, “There are huge opportunities for growth in the local games sector. The Government’s $12 million investment to support digital games developers and small and medium independent games studios will enable Screen Australia to support more Australian developers to create original games, build sustainable businesses and attract local and global audiences.”
The Games: Expansion Pack is open for applications on an ongoing basis until 4 May 2023.
https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/update-01-31-2023
The Sims 4 News
In the latest Sims 4 update Maxis has added a variety of customization options in create-a-sim, with medical wearables and trans-inclusive cosmetics. The update (1.95.207.1030 on PC and version 1.69 (nice) on console) includes hearing aids, glucose monitors, top surgery scars and binders and shape-wear.
Oh and they added a light switch too.
Nintendo is decent.
Nintendo has announced a 10 percent pay rise for its game developers, in spite of their reported 20 percent drop in switch sales, stating that securing their workforce is important to their long-term growth.
This is in line with Nintendo’s history of being actually pretty decent to their employees (barring crunch but that’s a different kettle of fish) such as in 2011 when faced with the poor sales of the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata took a 50 percent pay cut.
I suppose in the wake of all the layoffs in the gaming industry (last month Microsoft announced 10 000 job cuts) it’s nice to see a company taking care of the people who actually make the games they sell.
Releases!
February 9
Monster Outbreak – Switch
February 10
Go! Go! PogoGirl – PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch
February 14
Blanc – PC and Switch
Journey to the Savage Planet: Employee of the Month Edition – PS5 & Xbox Series X
Outzone – PC
Ten Dates – PC, Playstation, Xbox and Switch
Toaplan Arcade Shoot ‘Em Up Collection Vol.1 – PC
Truxton – PC
Twin Cobra – PC
Wanted: Dead PC, Playstation and Xbox
Zero Wing – PC
February 15
Pharaoh: A New Era – PC
Returnal -PC
And that’s all this week in gaming news!
Zed Gamers gather close and listen as Rani, Paul, & Cameron press buttons and banter while chatting gaming news, Paul pretends to review Vampire Survivors while ranting about the Steam Deck, and Cameron feeds his mafia pigs in a review of Adios.
This week Zed Games goes the whole hog with news, reviews, community, and culture as CAMERON brings in the hottest in this week’s gaming news! CAROLINE gives us the quick and dirty in a review of The Fantastic Kitty Rue, AND the entire team makes sure YOU ALL ARE INFORMED on the latest in Sonic culture with a discussion of the recently released Sonic Prime series.
Listen in as Paul, Peter, and Rani expose their experience with their balls in this weeks Pinball themed show. Rani mixes magic with paddles in a review of Pinball Wizard, and Paul reveals his ball handling experience with a look into his history of Pinball-like games.
Rani rocket’s in to save the day running the first Zed Games show of 2023! Cameron finds the fair winds in the game Sail Forth, and the team chats their experiences with Rage Quitting!