Plus an Elden Ring sequel is not on the cards right now and a new Legion Go is leaked
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Smith, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER.
KYLE: Hi I’m Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: and I’m Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
FIONA: This week GOG steps in to save the original versions of Warcraft 1 and 2, Don’t expect Elden Ring 2 any time soon and could a cheaper Legion Go be on the way?
Here is the news for Sunday 8th of December. Let’s go!
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FIONA: GOG, or Good Old Games, have announced they’re going to keep maintaining Warcraft 1 and 2 in the name of game preservation.
With the release of the remastered Warcraft 1 and 2 last month, Blizzard announced they would pull original games from the GOG storefront which prompted GOG to update their Preservation Program’s policy.
The remastered versions of course are much more expensive and change those original games, is a remaster really preservation?
KYLE: Now for any game that has been on GOG they will continue to maintain and update it, ensuring it remains compatible with current systems, even if it’s no longer available to purchase.
They said it’s sad to see these masterpieces leave the store but it’s another reminder of how important preservation and the work to preserve games is.
The games will be removed from the store until 13 December so you have a little bit of time to grab them.
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KYLE: New leaked information from Lenovo shows a new cheaper handheld is on the way.
From a firmware leak last week, we saw that the ‘Legion Go S 8APRI’ will have AMD’s Rembrandt APU inside, however the console will have Zen 3-plus cores which aren't as powerful as the current generation Z1 Extreme with Zen 4 cores.
And further rumours say the Legion Go S will go for roughly US $399 or roughly $620 AUD which would definitely make it one of the cheapest handhelds on the market.
FIONA:The leaked images shows it will have RGB lights, two USB-C ports both at the top of the console, a Trackpoint like some laptops use to have and will have removable controllers like the current model.
It looks like a pretty decent alternative to some of the more expensive handhelds that are currently on the market.
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FIONA: Elden Ring’s developer Hidetaka Miyazaki has confirmed that a second game is not on the way.
In an interview with Japanese outlet Game Watch, he revealed that a sequel was not even being considered by the studio but it doesn’t mean they won’t be developing the franchise further.
With the very long time frames of game development, years in some circumstances, it could be a fair while before we see another Elden Ring game.
KYLE: It’s a little surprising to hear there won’t be a sequel, at least for now, especially after the success of Shadow of the Erdtree.
Miyazaki did say FromSoftware is working on multiple projects, so maybe one of those might be another DLC? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Maybe that DLC will get nominated for game of the year as well?
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KYLE: And speaking of game awards, this week voting opened to the public for the 2024 Game Awards Players’ Voice category.
Round one kicked off at the start of the week with 30 games for people to cast their vote. From Zelda Echoes of Wisdom to Helldivers 2 there were a real mix of games but as always there were some complaints.
Some games like League of Legends, Fortnite and Genshin Impact made the list even though they weren’t released this year, so you know what Gianni and Courtney voted for.
FIONA: The games have now been cut down to the top 10 for round 2, and included games such as Palworld, Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree and Black Myth Wukong.
Hopefully it doesn’t end up replicating the same GOTY list as the main awards and some gems get a shoutout.
If you want to place your vote for this round, and next, you can check the link out in our show notes.
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FIONA: That’s it for the big headlines, here are the games coming out this week.
KYLE: Coming this week is one of the most anticipated games of the year, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. It looks great, it sounds great, and early reports have been very positive. That’s coming to PC, and Xbox Series S and X on the 9th, and be sure to keep an eye on the Drop Rate podcast feed to hear our full review in the coming weeks.
FIONA: Here’s one for vintage gamers. The 25 year old Soul Reaver series is getting a remaster package containing the first and second games. Legacy of Kain is coming to all platforms on the 10th.
KYLE: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind is a retro arcade style side scroller that perfectly captures the magic of 90’s arcade gaming. This one is from Digital Eclipse the studio that makes those hybrid documentary games like Tetris Forever or Atari 50, so could be worth a look. That’s out on all platforms this Tuesday.
FIONA: Out Thursday is Spirit of the Samurai, a side scrolling action adventure where you play as a samurai, a cat, and a reanimated spirit to take on an army of undead warriors and monsters. That’s out exclusive to PC on the 12th.
KYLE: Bronana is out Friday. It’s a chaotic fruit themed survivor-like, which is a term I didn’t know existed until now and refers to any game like vampire survivors. So if you liked Vampire Survivors, or like…Brotato which this clearly seems to be named after, be sure to check out Bronana when it comes to PC on the 13th.
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KYLE: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Kyle Pauletto.
FIONA: And my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus, thank you so much for listening.
KYLE: As we approach the end of the year festivities and we look back at the games that were, make sure you’re locked to Drop Rate our review podcast and Lightmap our interview show. Give them a follow on your favourite podcast player, we’ve got our big game of the year show on Drop Rate, and a few more choice chats including soundtracks of the year on Lightmap. Find us on all your favourite podcast players and YouTube.
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, myself, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith and Chris Button. The episode is edited by both Senior Producer Mitch Loh and Gianni Di Giovanni who is SIFTER’s Executive Producer and also Walkthrough’s script editor.
KYLE: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune, and Audio Technica Australia and Apple for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
FIONA: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday. See you then.
