Plus Link is still playable in Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom and the Olympic Esports Games have been announced
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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.
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: Whoops US authorities are mad about the Xbox Game Pass price changes, the Famicom Detective Club returns after 35 years and yes another person has posted classified documents to the War Thunder Forums.
Here is the news for Sunday 21st July. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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KYLE: Uh oh it looks like the Xbox Game Pass changes we shared last week have upset the US Federal Trade Commission… so it’s not just you.
For a bit of context, you might recall that the FTC were strongly against Microsoft's purchase of Activision Blizzard, which it claimed would allow Microsoft unfair monopolistic power.
Despite the push back, Microsoft was allowed to continue with the buy, but the FTC wasn’t done with the fight, and have been actively trying to appeal the decision.
FIONA: In a letter published Wednesday, the FTC says that the latest price increases, new tiers and early access paywalls are the exact kind of behaviour it was worried about, and will be used as evidence for future appeals.
We’ve got our popcorn ready here at SIFTER, let's watch this one play out.
Microsoft has been ruthless with the companies it’s acquired recently, with thousands of workers laid off and a heap of studios shut down.
Of course, there’s a chance that this kind of negative press, and backlash from both consumers and officials could prompt Microsoft to rethink the changes, but I won’t be holding my breath.
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FIONA: Last week we saw a really creepy teaser trailer from Nintendo featuring a man wearing a smiling paper bag mask and now we finally know what it’s all about.
It’s the newest entry in the 35-year-old Famicom Detective Club game series and it’s called ‘Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club’.
The game is set around an original urban legend about Emio, a man who appears in front of crying girls, promising them “a smile that will last forever.” After killing them he leaves them dead wearing a paper mask with a smile on it.
KYLE: This game sounds super creepy. You’ll play as an assistant private investigator working with the police to solve the latest Emio murder, which resembles a string of unsolved murders from 18 years ago.
You’ll look for clues, talk to witnesses and unravel the mystery of The Smiling Man.
The series producer and writer Yoshio Sakamoto said it will feature a ‘daring plot’ with an ending that might be divisive for some people.
If you’re keen on diving into this spooky game, it’s releasing next month on the 29th but if you can’t wait until then, remakes of the original games in the series are available on the Switch.
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KYLE: Only a few more months until we get to play as Zelda in The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom, and it turns out Link will still be playable despite what was previously thought.
Up until now the game has been sold as Zelda’s journey to rescue Link, but thanks to a description of the game which was published by rating board ESRB, we know he will be playable in some capacity.
The description talks about the combat in the game and says “As Link, players use a sword and arrows to defeat enemies.”
FIONA: We’ve been waiting so long for a solo Zelda game and as much as I love playing as Link, I’m a little disappointed that he’s not completely an NPC in this game.
Give our girl her own game!
But in saying that we don’t know anything else besides his combat weapons, so he could just be a playable character in the very beginning or in a random flashback.
Either way I am still super excited about the game and can’t wait for when it releases on September 26.
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FIONA: We’re getting closer to the Olympic season and soon it will include Esports, well sort of.
The International Olympic Committee confirmed this week that the first ever Olympic Esports Games will take place in 2025, with the inaugural games being held in Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi National Olympic Committee has helped getting the Esports Game off the ground, drawing up a 12-year deal with the IOC.
KYLE: Details on the deal are still being drawn up and there’s still a lot up in the air when it comes to how the Esports games will run, how it will look and how set in stone the 2025 date is, but it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Esports has grown so much over the years, and there has been a great push to bring esports to mainstream audiences through platforms like the Olympics.
I think it’ll be great to see gold medalist gamers alongside the traditional athletes.
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KYLE: Once again classified technical schematics have been leaked on the War Thunder forums… This time for Russian Main Battle Tanks, the thing is, these machines are currently IN SERVICE.
This keeps happening in order to win fights on the forums, players post real often top secret classified documents for internet points.
Like so so many times, why don’t they stop allowing attachments? It baffles me.
FIONA: Community managers were quick to strike down these posts, they are well practised of course, because as we said this happens so often it’s basically a meme.
In 2021, A Challenger 2 Tank Commander posted excerpts from the Army Equipment Support Publications to dispute its in-game model and in 2023 a technical manual for the Apache helicopter was posted.
Among many many more.
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FIONA : That’s it for the big headlines, here are the games coming out this week.
KYLE: The retro inspired sci-fi shooter Exophobia is out Tuesday. It’s got big metroid cross with Doom energy and looks like a lot of fun. That’s out on all platforms on the 23rd.
FIONA: Next up we have F1 Manager 24. Create your own team of virtual rich kids then watch them race around a track. Truly incredible stuff. Pick it up on all platforms this Tuesday.
KYLE: Also out Tuesday is The Star Named EOS, a story-driven puzzle game where you play as a young photographer piecing together a mystery with your photos. That’s out on PC, Switch, PlayStation and Xbox on the 23rd.
FIONA: Protect the earth against the giant alien insect invasion in Earth Defence Force 6. These games are wild and a heap of unserious fun. Grab it on PC, and PlayStation 4 and 5 on the 25th.
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PROMO: Articles to read, videos to watch and podcasts to listen to on sifter.com.au
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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: 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
KYLE: SIFTER is produced by myself, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith 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.
FIONA: 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.
KYLE: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday. See you then.
