Plus Sony sues Tencent for their Horizon looking game and all the highlights from the Nintendo Direct
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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.
CAT: Hi I’m Cat Jahne
NAOMI: and I’m Naomi Jackson
CAT: Welcome to Walkthrough, SIFTER’s weekly recap on the biggest news in video games.
NAOMI: This week UK discord users fool age gate with Norman Reedus. We wrap the Nintendo direct, and get a look at the cool indie games chosen for the pax australia showcase.
Here is the news for Sunday 3rd of August. Let’s go!
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PROMO: Join the SIFTER community on Discord at sifter.com.au/discord
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NAOMI: Underage Brits have found a strange workaround to the new Online Safety Act’s age verification - all they need is a copy of Death Stranding, and a phone!
Discord’s new age verification system, K-id is able to verify users in one of two ways, scanning your ID or scanning your face - with the face scan checking how old you…look?
Age verification is currently required for unblurring or changing settings for sensitive media filters, changing message request settings and accessing age-restricted 18+ channels.
However, after less than 24 hours, the supposedly “robust” age checks for users to access the content have been absolutely obliterated.
CAT: As Discord requires the photo to be of an open and closed mouth, to prove realness, Death Stranding’s ‘Sam’s Expressions’ bar provides more than enough mouth options to verify to your heart's content - thanks Kojima!
Now, by no means are we suggesting anyone being held under these restrictions use this as a method to circumvent any age verifications. We are simply fans of science…yes…theoretical science…
After all, K-id claims it doesn’t store any of the selfies or personal information as according to the support stage, so it’s supposedly safe enough, but that also means that, should you decide to partake in some science of your own, no one would be able to check up on you. Again, theoretically.
It’s an interesting prospect as Australia faces it’s own social media ban in december for kids under 16l
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CAT: Sony is battling with Tencent this week, suing them for their upcoming game Light of Motriam as it looks a bit too similar to Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West.
Reported by Reuters, Sony is trying to stop Tencent from releasing the game which they’ve described as a ‘slavish clone’ to the Horizon series and in their complaint Sony alleges that the unlawful copying and deliberate adoption of a similar character mark infringes on both copyright and trademark.
NAOMI: The game started development in 2023, and according to the lawsuit in 2024 Tencent pitched Sony a proposal that would have its Aurora Studios subsidiary develop a Horizon sequel game under the requested license, which Sony rejected.
Apparently Sony has tried to resolve the issue and concern with Tencent however the company allegedly asked again to license the Horizon IP.
Light of Motiram doesn’t have a release date yet so we’ll see what will happen.
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NAOMI: This week Nintendo hit reverse on last month’s Mario Kart update that annoyed a number of fans.
In late June a Mario Kart World update changed the way the game's Random course selection option when playing in VS mode worked, something fans had been using to opt out of the intermission tracks.
Intermission tracks are the fan term for the long stretch of open world that players have to travel from their current location to the nearby course and this takes up the bulk of the next race, which means the players only get to drive one lap of the next course rather than the traditional three-lap race.
CAT: Fans were pretty annoyed when the only way they could opt out of the open-world driving and actually take part in the tradition Mario Kart racing was taken away from them.
A new update this week included a patch that has increased the frequency of lap-type courses appearing in the selection when choosing the next course in 'VS Race' and wireless races.’
Hopefully it’ll make fans happy, especially those who said the previous change was a Nintendo forcing players to drive through lengthy stretches of the game's less interesting open world.
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CAT: And speaking of Nintendo, this week they had a Partner Showcase direct and there were heaps of announcements.
We got a better look at the new Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment and it looks fantastic. It’s the third game in the hack and slash series and will be set sometime before the events of Tears of the Kingdom and is canon!
We don’t have a release date yet but we do know it’s out sometime this year on Switch 2.
NAOMI: Katamari is rolling onto Nintendo this year with its first new console game in 14 years called Once Upon a Katamari.
The starry sky has vanished once again and it’s up to you to restore the stars of the universe by travelling through time and rolling up small and big things. There are so many new levels including one where you roll up dinosaurs!
There’s character customisation and now online multiplayer where you can play the Karamariball levels with friends.
It’s out October 24 this year.
CAT: Octopath Traveler 0 is the next entry in the party and turn-based series.
Start from zero and experience a story of restoration and retribution over the divine rings, across the realm of Orsterra.
It features the beloved HD-2D graphics style, the player's ability to roleplay using Path Actions of their choice, and brand-new features such as character creation and town building to create your own character and restore your hometown.
That will be out on Switch and Switch 2 on December 4.
NAOMI: And finally Hela, a cute game where you play as a mouse is coming to Switch in 2026. It looks absolutely adorable.
It’s a 3D single or co-op adventure game where a kind witch has fallen ill and you and her other familiars embark on a journey to save her life, travelling through a forest and solving puzzles.
Definitely can’t wait to check out this one.
There were heaps of other cool games coming to Switch 2 and you can find the full list in our show notes.
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NAOMI: We’re getting closer to PAXAus and the line up for the indie showcase has been announced and as always it’s an amazing list of talent featuring 12 games from the indie dev scene.
This year they’ve got 6 tabletop and 6 digital games.
One of the digital games is Trivia Deal. It’s a trivia roguelite by the team Fluent Pixel, which is an interesting mix you have to answer fast, play smart and use lifelines, swap cards, and relics to survive the Rainbow Reaper.
Another game at the showcase is Doggy Don’t Care by Rotub Games. You play as a mischievous dog and you explore and smash your way through interactive worlds, and solving puzzles using random items.
This looks super cute.
CAT: On the table-top front we’ve got Coffee Up by ToToTam.
It’s a pocket sized co-op memory game for 2 to 5 players. This cute little cafe sim will see you manage staff, serve customers, and more importantly, make some sweet sweet coffee.
And for the sci-fi fans, there is Spacewreck Salvage, a table-top game by Aethermon Studios.
Grab a crew of 2 to 5 players and travel through space sectors to retrieve valuable loot such as Ship Upgrades, lost Cargo, plucky Survivors and rare Alien Artefacts.
SIFTER will be heading to PAX this year so keep an eye out as I’m sure we’ll chat with some of the devs on the floor.
But until then, you can check out the full line up in our show notes.
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CAT: That’s it for the headlines…Here are the games coming out this week.
NAOMI: Out on the 4th is Stormgate, it’s a science fantasy real time strategy game made by ex-Blizzard devs which is touted as the spiritual successor to Warcraft and Starcraft. It’s been in backer early access for a while but on the 4th everyone on PC will be able to pick it up! Definitely one to check out if you like those titles.
CAT: Here is a little expansion news for a game that we really enjoyed, Chained Echoes which Adam reviewed back in 2022 is getting a story expansion called Ashes of Elrant. It’s set right before the final chapter of the original game so worth it for players both old and new. Plus there is a new Werewolf character called White Wolf who looks sick. That’s out on the 7th of August.
NAOMI: Also out on the 7th is Whimside, it’s a cute pixel art animal collecting game that sits at the bottom of your desktop so you can hang out with your pals while working on other things. ‘Yes Mum I am doing my homework’ you can get ready to say. This is one for idle game and pokemon fans and is coming to PC.
CAT: And the big cannoli this week is Mafia: The Old Country, it takes the crime series back to it’s Sicilian roots, with the origins of the Cosa Nostra. There are lemons, gun fights, and layers of history. Find that on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 on Friday 8th, and keep an eye on Gianni’s review shortly afterwards.
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NAOMI: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Naomi Jackson.
CAT: And my name is Cat Jahne, thank you so much for listening.
NAOMI: 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
CAT: SIFTER is produced by myself, Naomi Jackson, Fiona Bartholomaeus, Kyle Pauletto, Adam Christou, Courtney Smith and Chris Button. Mitch Loh is Senior Producer and video editor, and Gianni Di Giovanni is SIFTER’s Executive Producer, and script editor.
NAOMI: 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.
CAT: We’ll be back with more news next Sunday, see you then.
