Tag: wow

Vision On, Blaseball Off, Pride In, Corporate Jokes Out

Apple Vision Pro is Vision… Oh…

Apple has unveiled their newest creation, their first spatial computer! What does this mean? Well, it’s a headset much like your typical VR headsets that is supposed to seamlessly blend digital content with the world around you. Imagine, being able to project your workspace onto a wall, while still being totally aware of the world around you thanks to the ability to see through the headset. It features 23 million pixels across two displays, and it tracks your eyes, hands, and voice.

Your monitor and keyboard can be set up anywhere, at any time, effortlessly, so you can partake in hustle culture for the low price of $5,250 or so for Aussies.

Speaking of Corporate Greed…

Eric Covington, a former Activision Blizzard designer, wrote a few cheeky lines for a World of Warcraft Venture Co. loot goblin. The lines were approved and implemented into the game, and the jokes were promoted on the official World of Warcraft Twitter account, but uhh, that doesn’t stop you from getting fired for allegedly “inserting inappropriate non-game related content into a game”.

The lines this Venture Co. loot goblin had? “Let’s call this a cost of living adjustment.” “No profit sharing!” and “Looks like another yacht for me!”

Blaseball is Done

Blaseball, best described as a ‘cultural event’, was a game that looks like a baseball stat-tracking page. You could pick your favourite team, such as “Kansas City Breath Mints”, bet with fake money, and even partake in voting for rule changes.

With weather events such as ‘jazz’, players being able to die and be resurrected, and something about a peanut god, it is clear that Blaseball will be missed. Unfortunately it was just too costly in terms of finances, time, and resources, meaning that the developer The Game Band has had to make the difficult decision to bring it to a close after 3 years of joy, heartbreak, and absurdity.

Duke Nukem Remastered: AI Art

Blaze Entertainment has revealed a remaster for Duke Nukem 1 and 2, including some album art with some… weirdness going on with the fingers, a typical sign that it was generated using an AI tool.

AI generated art has been facing a lot of controversy recently, as the tools often use original artists’ works to train, and are considered ‘lazy’ and ‘cheap’, whilst AI artists claim that it is nothing more than utilising a unique set of skills to create something ‘new’.

Blaze Entertainment initially double-downed, but has posted a statement acknowledging that the original image was AI-generated, and that they would be commissioning a new piece of art to replace it.

Gays? In My Overwatch?

Not if you’re in countries with intolerant laws towards the LGBT+ community. All Pride content will be opt-in, giving players control over how they want to express themselves, or if they’re rather not express themselves at all.

In selected countries, the option won’t be available at all, with Pride content being blocked.

“Our values are to protect players… You can equip a cosmetic in one country and travel to somewhere else with different rules and get in trouble. So we feel like it’s our responsibility to help protect people like that” says Aaron Keller, an Overwatch 2 developer.

And now for some upcoming games!

June 8

  • Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (PC, PS5, XSX, Switch)
  • Mask of the Rose (PC, Switch)
  • Pro Cycling Manager 2023 (PC)
  • Speed Crew (Switch)
  • Tour de France 2023 (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)

June 9

  • Greyhill Incident (PC, PS5, PS4)

June 14

  • Black Desert Online: Land of the Morning Light expansion (PC)
  • WWE 2K23: Race to NXT Pack DLC (PC, PS5, XSX, PS4, XBO)

ZEDGAMES – Episode 66 [Playlist]

ZEDGAMES – Episode 66
11 May 2011

Presented by DJ LAME & RAZOR

This week: DJ Lame and Razor presented commentary on the week’s gaming news.

1. BITMUCH – Rastafari Anthem
2. MARTIN LEUNG – Tetris (Live)
3. RUBIJAQ – Dust
4. ADRIAN HOLOVATY – Mario 2 Theme Gypsy Jazz Style
5. JIMMY WONG – Mario Theme Acapella
6. GROUNDISLAVA – Planetary Destroyer
7. AFRICA HI-TECH – Gangslap
8. DAY OF THE TENTACLE S/TRACK – Opening Theme

Sony are now blaming hacker organisation Anonymous for the PSN breach which compromised the personal details of nearly 80 million users. Sony claim that files that were left deliberately on the server as a calling card contain the message “We Are Legion” which is Anonymous’s slogan. This comes after members of Anonymous denied involvement in the breach, which is the biggest intrusion of private information in history.

Capcom’s senior vice president has written on the company’s forums that the PSN outage has cost the company hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars in lost revenue.

Sony have announced that the majority of services will be back online from 31 May. Thet are implementing a Welcome Back program to compensate PSN users for the lost time which includes a month of Playstation Plus, PSN’s premium service, as well as other free content. Existing Playstation Plus customers will receive further benefits.

An MMO based on the Marvel universe has been announced for release sometime this year. The game is based on the animated Super hero Squad license and will allow players to play as their favourite Marvel Heroes. At this stage the game is called Super Hero Squad Online and it is reported that there will be no monthly subscription fee.

Valve have implemented a video replay feature into Team Fortress 2. Players can now save replays of their previous life and view the action from any angle, including POV’s of everyone on the server. The content is also fully editable. Creative TF2 players are encouraged to enter the SAXXY AWARDS, which are open until the 19th of May and features categories like “Most Inventive Kill”, “Most Pwnage” and “Best Cinematography”.

The next installment in the Assassin’s Creed franchise is called Revelations and scheduled for release this November. Ezio will return for the final time, though rather than being set in renaissance Italy, the adventure is shifting to the Middle Eastern setting of the original game. Gameplay trailers are expected at this years E3.

Mass Effect 3, previously scheduled for release late this year, has been pushed back to Quarter 1 2012.

Brink, a game best described as a hybrid of Mirror’s Edge and Team Fortress 2, launches tomorrow. For those who are eager to try out the game early, The Mana Bar is hosting a preview event tonight until midnight.

It’s been reported that the Australian release of The Witcher 2 has been edited to fall under the MA15+ rating. The edited content has to do with a scene in which the player is granted the option to accept sex as a reward. This option has been removed from the Australian version. The Witcher 2 is scheduled for release on 17 May.

Blizzard has dropped a hint that public Beta testing for DIABLO 3 will begin in Quarter 3 this
year. At this stage we don’t have a release date, but this news makes an early 2012 release seem likely.

Bungie, developers of the popular HALO franchise have stated that they will not be presenting material at E3 this year. This years conference is happening from the 7-9 of June, with Nintendo hoping to steal the show by showing off its next generation console.

EB Games have announced that they will be presenting a new annual games expo to be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Entertainment Centre. EB Games Expo, will be held this year on October 15 and 16 and feature presentations from EA and Ubisoft with more likely to be confirmed. The event is open to the public and tickets start at 29.95, with VIP passes also available for 99.95.

Blizzard have announced that World of Warcraft subscriber numbers have dipped to a mere 11.4 million. This is down from its peak of 12 million at around the release of the Cataclysm expansion. Blizzard executives are planning on speeding up content delivery to regain market share.

Valve have released the beta version of Portal 2’s authoring tools, allowing users to create their own levels and puzzles. Check the official Portal 2 site for more info: thinkwithportals.com