Plus Halo: Campaign Evolved is announced and Pikmin 4 gets a free upgrade
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Courtney Smith, Adam Christou, Chris Button and Naomi Jackson. Cat Jahne is Social Producer, 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
NOM: and I’m Naomi Jackson
FIONA: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
NOM: Bluey is finally getting an Australian made game made in her home state, the first Halo is getting a ground up remake, and the classic Neopets games are coming to modern consoles.
Here is the news for Sunday 26 of October. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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NOM: BBC Studios have handed Bluey video game making duties to an Australian developer! Yes, for real life.
A new Bluey game called Bluey’s Quest For the Gold Pen is being made by Queensland based Halfbrick studios who you may recognise as the Aussie development team behind games such as Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride.
FIONA: This new quest is a collaboration between BBC Studios and the creator and writer of Bluey Joe Brumm.
It tells the story of what happens when Bluey and her family are transported into one of her drawings! Bingo gets turned into her honking alter ego BingOOSE and she and Bluey go on a quest to King Goldie Horn’s kingdom to find the gold pen.
NAOMI: Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen launches on the 11th of December this year on the Apple App Store for mac, iphone and ipad, followed by Google Play for android devices on the 10th of January next year. PC, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, Xbox series X/S and ps5 versions will follow later that year.
The app version will contain a free experience, with an optional one-off payment to unlock all levels.
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NAOMI: Announced late on Friday was the long rumoured original Halo remake, now called Halo: Campaign Evolved.
The game is fully rebuilt version of the first title in the series in Unreal Engine 5, and the formerly platform exclusive game will arrive on Xbox Series X|S and PC, but also PlayStation 5.
FIONA: In an interview with IGN, Halo Campaign Evolved Executive Producer Damon Conn said the game had two player split-screen co-op or up to four player cross play online, regardless of platform.
There isn’t any of the classic multiplayer in this version, it’s just a story based game, but there will be a new three mission prequel arc added in as well.
There have been some rumours surrounding the use of generative AI on a Halo project too, which could possibly be this game, which is a controversial practice.
NOM: This announcement comes at a pretty tricky time for Microsoft, with massive increases to their Xbox Game Pass subscription prices, in Australia’s case a $13 increase to the top tier Ultimate price.
There have also been persistent calls from Palestinian advocates for a boycott of Microsoft’s cloud services, due their involvement in providing technical cloud infrastructure to Israel that those advocates say is being used to support the war in Gaza.
We’ll put links in the show notes so you can check out all the details.
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FIONA: Pikmin 4 is getting a free update nearly 2 years after it was released.
The new update includes 2 new difficulty modes, relaxed and fierce as well as an in-game camera to snap some adorable Pikmin pics!
NOM: And you know I’ll be pic-ing those Pikmin because the new update also comes with decor Pikmin! Previously only in the app Pikmin Bloom, these lil guys wear real world objects such as a lady bug, donut and ice cream cone as clothing.
FIONA: Now if only they would release a Switch 2 upgrade! With the new camera, the upgraded graphics would just make sense. The Pikmin 4 free content update comes out in November.
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NOM: All you Neopets fans get ready as they’re bringing back some of those classic minigames but now for consoles.
Releasing on PC, Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, you can relive browser gaming with 25 classic mini-games that have remastered graphics and controls.
You’ll be able to journey across a fully mapped Neopia in Story Mode, guided by your companion Nyx. You’ll be able to discover new lore and tackle in-game challenges.
FIONA: There will also be a brand new mini-game and if you buy the physical version, you can discover a hidden one.
I’m really curious to see how it’ll go on a controller, but so down to jump back into these mini games on the PC.
It’s releasing on the 26 March next year so if you’re like me and loved all those minigames, definitely keep an eye out.
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FIONA: That’s it for the headlines…Here are the games coming out this week.
NOM: Death By Scrolling, the next game from Ron Gilbert of Monkey Island fame, is out this week on Monday. It’s a vertical scroller RPG where you try to avoid the grim reaper long enough to collect coins to get on the boat to the afterlife. Made in Australia and New Zealand this is a cool local title to check out when it arrives on the 28th on PC
FIONA: Get ready for more sci-fi RPG adventures with The Outer Worlds 2. Play as an Earth Directorate Agent who’s on a mission to uncover the source of emerging rifts threatening to destroy all of humanity. It looks super action packed and it’s coming to PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S on the 29 October.
NOM: Out on Thursday is Monument Valley: The Trilogy. Dive back into the stunning isometric worlds, complete puzzles, explore stories and manipulate optical illusions to uncover secrets in this award-winning game series. You can get it on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S and Switch on the 30th.
FIONA: Arc Raiders is a stylish new extraction shooter set in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi world. It’s got that seventies retrofuturist look, where robots have taken the surface and humans have escaped underground. Gianni has played a little bit of this and really enjoyed it, it’s from the same team who made The Finals, Embark Studios. That’s out on PlayStation, Xbox and PC on the 30th.
NOM: Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake is finally here and hitting consoles on the 31st. Dive back into the beloved series in this stunning reimagination of the first two adventures in the Erdrick Trilogy, with updated graphics, improved battle mechanics and additions to the story. It’s out on Friday so make sure you grab it on PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Nintendo Switch Switch 2.
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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
NOM: And my name is Naomi Jackson, thank you so much for listening.
FIONA: Have you been listening to Lightmap lately, SIFTER’s interview show? You should!! We’ve had the Jackbox Games team that you spoke to Nom, and Chris has interviewed Rob Davis from Sucker Punch who made Ghost of Yotei. It’s a great time to get on board as there is still more to come, and you can find Lightmap on all your favourite podcast players or head to our website for a link sifter.com.au, that’s Lightmap conversations with video game creators on Apple Podcast, Spotify or sifter.com.au
NOM: SIFTER is produced by myself, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Cat Jahne, Kyle Pauletto, Adam Christou and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is SIFTER’s Executive Producer and 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.
NOM: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday, see you then.
