Plus The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake is happening and more rumours about Silksong's release
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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 it’s officially real, the Nintendo Switch 2 has been announced, Bungie was working on a MOBA/Smash Bros clone, and is it maybe possibly Hollow Knight Silksong time?
Here is the news for Sunday 19th of January. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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FIONA: It’s here, it’s happening, the Switch 2 has finally been announced, but kinda with no big fanfare, it was just “here’s a video of the new console”.
There were some rumours floating around that an announcement would be made soon but I was not expecting it this soon.
From the first-look trailer, the Switch 2 has a bigger screen and joycons, a bigger inbuilt kickstand and magnetic joycons which I think is super cool.
It’s genuinely a case of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, which is a bit of departure if you think about it, Nintendo consoles are usually pretty different between generations.
KYLE: In a way it looks like they’ve gone back to the og Switch with just the pure black colour for the joycons and console.
The video also revealed that it’ll play Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games as well as regular Nintendo Switch games, however some may not be supported or fully compatible.
There aren’t many more details besides it’s appearance in the video however there will be a Nintendo Direct on the 2nd of April.
And if you live in Melbourne, or one of handful of other cities around the world you can register to be part of the Switch 2 hands on experience in May, we’ll drop a link to that in the show notes too.
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KYLE: A new team-based MOBA game was rumoured to be in development by Destiny creator Bungie, however now it’s in the hands of an unnamed PlayStation studio.
The game, codenamed Gummy Bears, is set to take inspiration from Super Smash Bros and is described as ‘colourful’, ‘lo-fi’ and ‘cosy’, not sure how a fighting game is cosy but sure.
After Bungie’s recent restructure, the game is now in the hands of a new Sony studio, consisting of 155 people, with roughly 40 of them being developers from Bungie.
FIONA: Unnamed sources say the game has been in development for three years and it uses a percentage-based damage system, a bit like Super Smash, and will have three class types, support, attack and defence.
The game is also rumoured to have a bunch of different game modes and a lobby of sorts of people to hang out between matches.
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FIONA: Here’s something to ease our nerves while we all collectively wait for Elder Scrolls VI, It’s looking like we could be getting an Oblivion remake sometime this year.
As first reported on MP1st.com, a Bethesda release schedule was leaked last year that mentioned that an Elder Scrolls IV remaster was on the cards, and now thanks to some good old fashion leaks we may be getting closer to finding out the what, when and where.
The news comes via a former employee of the third party production company Virtuous, who claims to have worked on the project, and says the remastered version has been built using Unreal Engine 5.
KYLE: Virtuous being involved in an Oblivion remake is a rumour that’s been around for a while now, and Kotaku are reporting that multiple sources have confirmed it’s coming.
And you might be wondering about the massive mod Skyblivion, which rebuilds Oblivion in Skyrim engine, but those modders aren’t too fussed and will keep chipping away regardless of any official remaster.
But at this stage, that official remaster is just rumours, so for now, I’ll just continue to sit patiently and wait…..
Ahh stuff it, I'll start another Skyrim character. Why not hey. Maybe a stealth archer this time just for a change.
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KYLE: Okay guys it’s happening. It’s actually happening. Forget about the Switch 2 reveal. I'm over it already. There’s only one reveal I really care about.
It’s Silksong time baby.
FIONA: It’s really not, sorry Kyle.
Well look, it might be, but the current buzz around a cryptic tweet from a supposed Team Cherry Co-Founder is sending the community into an absolute meltdown.
KYLE: Apparently, according to some pretty out there clues, there will be news soon, and the release date will either be, or be announced during the April 2nd Nintendo Direct.
We won’t go into the specific here because it’s wild strings on a corkboard type craziness, but I do live in hope that these lunatics are onto something.
I’ll put a link in the show notes so you can go down the rabbit hole for yourself.
Silk song
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FIONA: That’s it for the big headlines, here are the games coming out this week.
KYLE: Out Monday is The Dark Side of Ceclon, a third person survival shooter set on a hostile planet. Explore, craft, and fight off alien enemies as you do whatever it takes to get home. That’s out exclusive to PC on the 20th.
FIONA: Next up we have Ender Magnolia: Bloom in the Mist. It’s a 2D Metroidvania set in a creepy dark fantasy land full of monsters and artificial life forms. Grab it on all platforms on the 23rd.
KYLE: Okay which one of you old nerds made this happen? The remastered Star Wars Episode 1: Jedi Power Battles is out this week, and honestly I’m kinda pumped about it. This was a formative game for a lot of us older gamers when it was released in 2000, and this new version comes with a bunch of new content. It’s out on all platforms this Thursday.
FIONA: And lastly, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is coming to PC and bringing with it some ultra high graphics options. Just another great reason to not fork out for the PS5 Pro! That’s also out this coming Thursday.
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PROMO: Articles to read, videos to watch and podcasts to listen to on sifter.com.au
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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 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.
