Plus dedicated HADES player beats near impossible challenge and all the highlights from Pokémon Presents
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SIFTER is produced by Kyle Pauletto, Fiona Bartholomaeus, 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.
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 embattled Dark and Darker goes on sale, Linux overtakes Mac as second most popular platform on Steam and we wrap the latest Pokémon Presents announcements.
Here is the news for Sunday 13th of August. Let’s go!
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FIONA: Korean developer Ironmace has released the highly anticipated Dark and Darker into early access, despite an ongoing copyright infringement lawsuit by publisher Nexon.
Nexon alleges that ex-employees at Ironmace used assets from a shelved Nexon project for their game.
Previously available on Steam, Dark and Darker was removed due to these legal issues but players can now purchase it directly from the developer's site or via Chaf Games, a digital platform that some users have raised security concerns over.
And the game is still awaiting a rating from the Korean Game Rating Board, rendering it unavailable in its home country.
KYLE: Despite the setbacks, Ironmace remains hopeful that Dark and Darker will return to Steam, and the company still firmly denies the plagiarism accusations, and are standing by the authenticity of their work.
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KYLE: New data has revealed that Linux has surpassed macOS as the second-most used operating system on Steam.
The latest Steam Hardware & Software Survey from July has shown that 96.21% of users stick with Windows, with Linux coming in at 1.96% and macOS at 1.84%.
That’s being driven by the Steam Deck of course, which is Valve’s portable gaming system.
It’s quite sad to see macOS become the least used operating system seeing as the computers are so popular, but without something like Proton which allows PC games to be played easily on Linux maybe it’s no real surprise.
FIONA: There are a lot of Steam Decks out there now, so many in fact that Valve has announced this week that you can buy a refurbished device directly.
They represent a pretty good saving and carry the same warranties, but it feels just rude now Valve, that you still don’t sell the Steam Deck here in Australia, new or refurbished…come on Gabe.
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FIONA: Gamers truly are an incredible breed of people, and their dedication can push the boundaries of what even game developers deem possible.
That is exactly what happened this week, with content creator AngeL1C, an exceptional Hades player, who has taken the gaming community by storm with her impressive feat.
To set the scene, the 2020 smash hit Hades has a challenge titled the Max Heat Run, a challenge deemed so gruelling that even its creators never imagined someone could conquer it.
AngeL1C, who is a renowned figure in the Hades community, took on this seemingly impossible challenge. With the Heat Gauge turned up to its limit, the odds of completing such a run workout to be around a 1-in-6,802 chance.
KYLE: Despite those odds, AngeL1C completed the run, and here’s what it sounded like.
[Insert Audio Clip]
Love to see that passion and perseverance paying off.
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KYLE: Grab your Pokeball as the latest Pokémon Presents reveals a stack of new content.
More details for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s two-part expansion, The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, were revealed. Part one, The Teal Mask will be ready for play on September 13 before part two, The Indigo Disk, is released later this year.
The Teal Mask will take place during a summer student trip to a brand new area, the Japanese styled Land of Kitakami, where you’ll be introduced to three brand new Pokémon, and find more than 200 Pokémon that weren’t previously featured in the base game.
Then in The Indigo Disk, players will travel to the water based Blueberry Academy where you will explore four artificial biomes and fight a new, tougher Elite four.
That’s not all for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, a new event called Get Mew and Mewtwo will allow you to obtain Mew by entering a Mystery Gift codeword and catch Mewtwo through a special Tera Raid Battle.
FIONA: Detective Pikachu Returns got a new trailer at the showcase, showing off the fun, coffee loving Piakchu who’s trying to solve several cases with his friend Tim Goodman. It’s got a release date too, arriving on Switch on October 6.
More classic Pokémon games have made their way to the Switch. The Game Boy Colour ‘Pokémon Trading Card Game’ and Nintendo 64 Pokémon Stadium 2’ are now available to play through the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, joining other classics like Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Snap.
There are a few more announcements that made up this jam packed showcase including Pokémon Go, new anime and you can check them all out in our show notes.
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FIONA: Hey Mum and Dad do you remember Quake 2? Well it’s back after Bethesda dropped it as a surprise this week.
Nightdive Studios the people behind the System Shock remake have juiced those 90s graphics, improved the AI, added widescreen support and even added a whole new expansion by Wolfenstein developers MachineGames.
KYLE: It’s available now for $14.95 on Xbox and PC, as well as part of your Xbox Games Pass subscription.
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KYLE: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III is the next game in the long running series, that’s right Activision has done it again giving the next sequel the exact same name as the 2011 title.
I’ll die on this hill. Give it a subtitle.
It did get a release date though pick it up on November 10, and what’s really cool is that all your cosmetics from Modern Warfare 2 will carry over!
FIONA: It’s pretty likely this one will miss the older consoles, so if you haven’t upgraded yet it might be time to.
There is a full reveal out next week on August 17.
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KYLE: That’s it for the big headlines, here’s what’s coming out over the next week.
FIONA: Out on August 15th is Moving Out 2. Dive back into packing chaos with new worlds, characters, and online play in this sequel to the hit physics-based moving simulator. Coming to all platforms this Tuesday.
KYLE: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood is out on PC and Switch on August 16. It’s a sci-fi witchy fortune telling game with some point and click gameplay that looks really stylish. It’s published by Devolver so you know it’s probably good.
FIONA: Out Thursday, the iconic Red Dead Redemption will be coming to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4. Whether you're a newcomer or an old hand, saddle up with John Marston in his quest against the Van der Linde Gang, and fend off zombies in the Undead Nightmare expansion. Pick it up on the 17th.
KYLE: Dive into the vibrant world of Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, the spiritual successor to the iconic Jet Set Radio. Graffiti the streets of New Amsterdam, dance battle rivals, and evade police while riding inline skates, skateboards, or bikes. Coming to PC and Switch on August 18th, with PlayStation and Xbox releases coming in a couple of weeks.
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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: If you’re looking for something to listen to now you’ve reached the end of Walkthrough, why not check out our brand new review show: Drop Rate! Hosted by Chris Button and featuring some of the best games writers sharing their thoughts and feelings on new releases. Search for SIFTER Drop Rate in your podcast player now, look for the green icon.
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by myself, Kyle Pauletto, Adam Christou and Daniel Ang. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and Gianni Di Giovanni is our Executive Producer and edited this episode.
KYLE: Thanks to Brian Fairbanks from Salty Dog Sounds for composing the Walkthrough theme tune.
Thanks to Audio Technica Australia for their support of SIFTER’s podcasts.
FIONA: Thanks again for listening, we’ll be back with more news next Sunday.
