Plus game emulators are on the cards for Apple and all the highlights from the Triple-i showcase
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Borrett, Daniel Ang, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer. Thanks to Audio Technica Australia 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 the spooky fishing game Dredge is being made into a film, the Dead Space 2 remake rumours are quashed, and soon you’ll be able to play emulators on your iPhone.
Here is the news for Sunday 14th of April. Let’s go!
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KYLE: The 2023 indie hit Dredge is being made into a movie.
The creature collecting, Lovecraftian horror fishing game won a bunch of awards, so it’s no surprise it has grabbed the attention of the wider media worlds.
That’s about all we know at this stage, with the closest thing we have to a release date being sometime in the future, and developers describing their vision of the film as The Sixth Sense on the water.
FIONA: While the announcement of video game adaptations once made us all collectively shudder, in a post The Last of Us world where even the new Fallout series is being well received, it’s hard not to get a little excited about this.
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FIONA: This week it was reported by journalist Jeff Grubb that a Dead Space 2 remake had been in the works and subsequently shelved, but it turns out, there is both more and less to that story.
Speaking to Giant Bomb, Grubb reported that Motive and EA had been working on a remake of Dead Space 2, which was in pre-production, but because of the first game selling poorly, the sequel had been shelved.
He said the team has been moved to work on Battlefield instead.
KYLE: Interestingly after the story about Dead Space 2 being put on ice came out, a spokesperson for EA sent a comment to IGN saying they don’t normally comment on rumours but there wasn't any validity in the story.
On X Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier commented that sources close to EA and their projects have confirmed EA’s statement and Motive have in fact been working on other projects for almost a year.
Bit of a rollercoaster but even though the team isn’t working on a Dead Space sequel, they’re still busy with other games such as Iron Man, so there’s still some good content on the way.
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KYLE: Apple has updated its App Store policies, potentially opening doors for retro game emulation apps on iOS devices.
The new guidelines will allow apps to download external software, including games for retro console emulators, which was previously a big no no.
But it won’t be a free for all, there are very specific conditions, so you might not be able to simply fire up those totally legitimate back up copies of games you definitely own.
FIONA: The legality of downloadable ROMs remains complex, so this change will most likely be favouring official publishers offering emulation for their retro games, rather than independent emulator creators.
So, while this won’t open up Apple device owners to the wild west world of legally ambiguous emulation, it could be a great step forward in companies making their retro games more available to the public.
And that is always a good thing in my books.
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FIONA: Grab your blasters and lightsabres as Ubisoft reveals an action-packed story trailer for the new Star Wars Outlaws game.
Set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, you play as Kay Vess, a scoundrel who’s crossed the crime lord Sliro and finds herself being hunted down by him. To save herself she has to steal his fortune to buy her freedom.
You’ll get to travel across the galaxy in her ship the Trailblazer and meet new characters as well as some old ones like Jabba the Hutt.
KYLE: From what we’ve seen so far there isn’t much in the way of the Force or lightsabers, instead they’re very much focussing on that underworld setting.
They’ve also already announced a Season Pass which will include two DLCs, an exclusive mission at launch as well as a cosmetic pack.
The game will be launching on Xbox, PlayStation and PC on August 30, with those who are subscribed to Ubisoft+ or purchase the Gold or Ultimate Edition getting to jump in a couple days earlier.
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KYLE: This week we got to see a new showcase with 45 minutes of indie game announcements.
The 2019 deck-builder Slay the Spire is getting a sequel with Slay The Spire 2. It didn’t give away too much besides the return of Ironclad and Silent, plus a new skeletal necromancer called The Necrobinder, but according to devs it will have some new visuals and mechanics. It’s releasing in 2025 so plenty of time for us to get more trailers and information.
In collaboration with Ubisoft, Dead Cells developer Evil Empire has announced The Rogue Prince of Persia. It’s a 2D roguelite action-platformer which sees you playing as a new prince, wall running and jumping through procedurally generated levels. It’s coming to early access on Steam on May 14.
Play as a loyal knight, betrayed and banished to the Abyss in Kill Knight. Made by Australian devs PlaySide Studios the bullet-hell shooter seems to be quite fast-paced with hordes of enemies and projectiles, and has a bit of a horror element with its abstract animation. Grab it on PC, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and Switch when it releases later this year.
FIONA: 33 Immortals is the next game from Spiritfarer developer Thunder Lotus and it’s got a slightly different angle on the roguelite genre. Instead of it being solo, you’ll be playing online multiplayer with a total of 33 players. Racing against others to become immortal, the visuals are just as stunning as their previous games. It will be out later this year in early access on Xbox Series X|S and PC but there is a closed beta from 24th May to 2nd June.
Dinolords is a real-time strategy game that combines England in the year 1002 and you guessed it, dinosaurs. Gather supplies and build your defences to protect your citizens and towns from dinosaur-riding Vikings. It doesn’t have an official release date as of yet but will be in early access on Steam next year.
As always there were heaps of other games in the show case, so check out our shownotes to see the full list.
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KYLE: That’s it for the big headlines, here are the games coming out this week.
FIONA: Last year's smash hit Dave the Diver is coming to PlayStation 4 and 5 this week. Dive, fish and run your sushi shop in this award winning indie from developers Mintrocket. That’s available this Tuesday.
KYLE: Reigns Beyond which started on Apple Arcade will be coming to new devices. This cute little indie casts you as a rock band on an interstellar tour. Manage your ship, rock out at galactic gigs, meet quirky characters, and recruit alien bandmates to serenade the universe. It’s coming to the Switch on the 17th and PC on the 18th.
FIONA: The formerly PC Exclusive roguelite ArcRunner is coming to consoles. Dive into this Cyberpunk-styled shooter and dismantle a rogue AI on a futuristic space station. It’s been out on PC for a year now and has received mostly positive reviews. Grab it on all consoles this Thursday.
KYLE: Also out Thursday is the cosy colony sim Artificer’s Tower. Build and defend your wizard tower, manage a team of quirky mages, craft, set traps, and let your architectural and magical creativity flow. That’s out exclusive to PC on the 18th.
FIONA: Final Fantasy XVI - The Rising Tide DLC is out this week. Battle through the Kairos Gate, explore the Aire of Hours, and unveil a forgotten people's tragic tale. That’s out on the 18th exclusive to PlayStation 5.
KYLE: And finally, the highly anticipated action RPG No Rest for the Wicked is releasing in early access. Developed by Moon Studios, the team behind Ori and the Will of the Wisps, this game looks awesome. Big Elden Ring moody energy with a fantastic art style. Check it out on PC this Thursday.
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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: We know you love our podcasts, so why not become a monthly backer on Ko-Fi? Your support lets us keep making our shows and it’s easy to do, head to sifter.com.au/support where support starts from just $1 a month that link again is sifter.com.au/support or check the shownotes
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by myself, Kyle Pauletto, Adam Christou, Courtney Borrett, Daniel Ang and Chris Button. The episode is edited by both Senior Producer Mitch Loh and Executive Producer Gianni Di Giovanni, who is also Walkthrough’s script editor.
KYLE: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune, and Audio Technica Australia for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
FIONA: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday. See you then.
