Plus Balatro cops 18+ rating for gambling on YouTube and Mafia: The Old Country release date accidentally gets revealed
Pocket Casts: You can now rate the show on Pocket Casts, give us a five star review learn more by heading here https://pocketcasts.com/ratings
Apple Arcade: Enjoy unlimited access to over 200 incredibly fun games with no ads and no in-app purchases. From puzzle and adventure games to sports, racing, and multiplayer action games, everyone can count on finding something to love. Head to sifter.com.au/arcade to start your free trial* of Apple Arcade today and you'll be supporting independent video games journalism. *New subscribers only. AU$9.99/month after free trial. Plan automatically renews after trial until cancelled.
You can support SIFTER's independent gaming journalism by
☕ Tipping us on KoFi https://www.ko-fi.com/sifterHQ
👕 Wearing our merch https://sifter.store/
💬 Talking to us on the SIFTER Discord https://www.sifter.com.au/discord
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.
FIONA: Hi I’m Fiona Bartholomaeus
KYLE: and I’m Kyle Pauletto
FIONA: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
KYLE: This week we learn exactly how games will work on the Nintendo Switch 2, Balatro dev responds to another restriction of gameplay online, and the release date for Mafia: The Old Country gets accidentally uploaded early.
Here is the news for Sunday 13th of April. Let’s go!
—
PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
—
FIONA: It’s been over a week since the Switch 2 Direct and the stories just keep on coming.
We found out that some of the new game cartridges won’t actually have game data on it, they’ll essentially be key cards.
The way it works is you put it in the Switch and then you have to download the game from the internet, but you still have to have the cartridge in your Switch if you ever want to play. So sort of a digital game but also not?
It really starts that conversation of what do we even own if it’s all just digital.
They have said that once you’ve done the initial download you can play the games without an internet connection.
KYLE: Nintendo hasn’t yet revealed which games will be released on game-key cards or why they’re doing this, but people speculate that this format is a way to distribute games that are too big for the Switch 2’s 64 GB cartridges as well as not completely getting rid of the physical media.
However they said the game key-cards won’t be locked to the first account or console that uses them. So you can still borrow your friends' games or sell them on, so that’s good to know.
FIONA: The price point for the upgrade packs for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom were also revealed this week.
If you already have the Switch version and you want the slightly upgraded Switch 2 version with better FPS, it’ll set you back about $10 USD each, we reckon that’ll be around $15 Australian so not terrible, but if you subscribe to the higher tier Nintendo Switch Online it’s included.
Also the DLC for Breath of the Wild isn’t included in these Switch 2 editions which seems…bad.
The upgrade price for other games like Kirby and the Forgotten Land are still to be confirmed.
—
FIONA: Balatro is once again battling with age restrictions this week, this time facing off against YouTube.
A recent change in the platform’s terms of service now means that ‘depictions or promotions of online casino sites or apps’ are now subject to age restrictions. Which of course has meant that some Balatro videos are being rated 18+ for gambling.
KYLE: Developer LocalThunk took to sharing their frustration that the age rating issue is happening again.
In his comment he said ‘Good thing we are protecting children from knowing what a 4 of a kind is and letting them watch CS case opening videos instead’, which is honestly fair. Loot boxes are more of a gambling issue than Balatro.
The developer hasn’t yet said what they’re going to do but it must be incredibly annoying for this to constantly happen just because of the art style the game has.
—
KYLE: Uh oh, someone is in trouble after accidentally announcing the release date of the highly anticipated Mafia sequel, The Old Country.
The blunder came in the form of a PAX East presentation announcement posted to Steam, which included the specific date of August 8th in the Japanese and Latin American language versions.
The posts were quickly edited, but clearly not quickly enough.
FIONA: We knew this game was coming this year, but we also know that studios just love to make a big show of announcing the official release date with new trailers and press releases to build hype.
So yeah, this may not seem like the end of the world, but I bet there is a copywriter out there shaking in their boots right now.
Good luck buddy.
—
FIONA: That’s it for the headlines, here are the games coming out this week,
KYLE: Up first we have Dive the Depths, a retro inspired action roguelike where you play as a deep sea diver navigating an ocean filled with bizarre and dangerous creatures. It's out on PC this Tuesday.
FIONA: Next is the second and final installment in the Lost Records duology, Bloom and Rage tape 2. Continue Swann, Nora, Autumn, and Kats story, as they untangle the mystery that has haunted their friendship for decades. That’s coming to Xbox Series S and X, PlayStation 5, and PC on the 15th.
KYLE: Now to one of our most anticipated games of this year, Lushfoil Photography Sim. It’s an incredible looking photography simulator by solo developer Matt Newell, and features stunning recreations of real-life environments including Japan and Australia to test your photography skills out on. Grab it on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S and X on Tuesday, and be sure to check out our interview with Matt on the Lightmap podcast which we’ll link in the show notes.
FIONA: Out on the 17th is Kitchen Wars, a fast paced multiplayer party game that side by side pits restaurants against each other. Imagine Overcooked but there’s also another restaurant next to yours that you hate and want to ruin, and you’ve got Kitchen Wars. Grab it on PC this Thursday.
KYLE: And finally after spending months as a Microsoft exclusive, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is coming to Playstation 5 on the 17th. It’s a ripper game and it’s good those Sony-siders will get a chance to play it, we’ll also chuck Gianni’s review in the show notes as well.
—
PROMO: Articles to read, videos to watch and podcasts to listen to on sifter.com.au
—
FIONA: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus.
KYLE: And my name is Kyle Pauletto, thank you so much for listening.
FIONA: Hey Kyle, you jumped onto our other podcast Drop Rate this week didn’t you?
KYLE: Yeah it’s been a little while since we’ve popped something into the feed there so we thought why not make up a new style of show called Speed Run, it’s a quick review to accompany the written version on the website. Take a listen to it now, just search for Drop Rate in your podcast player - there will be more to come- that’s Drop Rate by SIFTER or head to our website.
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by myself, Kyle Pauletto, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith, Chris Button and Cat Jahne. 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.
