Plus Hollow Knight: Silksong Konami code revealed and the finalists for the 2025 Australian Game Developer Awards are announced
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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: This week Nintendo Direct celebrates the 40th anniversary of Mario and more, the Australian Game Developer Awards finalists are here, and a weird story with old devkits being seized by cops after a SEGA clearout.
Here is the news for Sunday 14th of September. Let’s go!
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NOM: The hour-long Nintendo direct on Friday was packed with some amazing announcements as Nintendo celebrated 40 years of Super Mario.
The Super Mario Galaxy movie was confirmed with a new trailer where Mario goes to space.
To celebrate they also announced a re-release of Wii titles Super Mario Galaxy + Mario Galaxy 2 bundle for the switch. The bundle will include new storybook pages! Which means maybe new lore? Wahoo.
FIONA: A new Mario tennis game called Mario Tennis Fever was announced. Play with 30 new fever rackets with different powers like the ice racket or mini mushroom racket.
This new game has 38 playable characters, the most in Mario history as well as a new baby adventure mode where Mario and his friends have been turned into babies and don’t remember how to play tennis. This is the first time we have ever seen baby Waluigi!
NOM: There was also a bunch of Pokemon news at this Direct including a new pokemon game called Pokopia. In Pokopia you play as a ditto and use other pokemon’s abilities to craft and maintain your town, kind of like minecraft or animal crossing.
Also announced already even though the game hasn’t even been released yet is paid DLC for Pokemon Legends: Z-A called Mega Dimension!
FIONA: Hades 2 which has been in early access for about a year now, finally gets its full release in two weeks, you can kill “Time” on the 25th of September.
It’s coming first to Switch and Switch 2 if you’re a console player, but will also be out on PC on the same day. Death to Chronos, and prepare yourself Kyle for a wealth of sexy fan art.
NOM: We could go through all the announcements for ages, other announcements include some new DLC for Donkey Kong Bananza called ‘DK Island and Emerald Rush’ which is out now.
A Switch 2 Edition of Mario Wonder with new content called Mario Wonder Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park.
A new Yoshi game called Yoshi and the Mysterious Book where you discover different creatures in a storybook and figure out their weird powers.
A new Tomodachi life game called Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream where you can muck with miis just like in the original.
There was even Aussie representation! Dinkum, an Aussie life sim is coming to the Nintendo switch.
Check out the show notes for more!
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FIONA: The Australian Game Developers Award finalists have been announced for this year and we really have some amazing talent here in Aus.
The Drifter by Powerhoof cleaned up in the nominations this year, being named a finalist in 6 out of the 12 categories, including Game of the Year, Excellence in Narrative and Excellence in Sound Design.
The cute puzzle game Tempopo by Witch Beam was nominated for 3 different categories, same as the narrative-driven game Copycat by Spoonful of Wonder.
NOM: For the Excellence in Debut category we have Western Australian game Misc. A Tiny Tale by Tinyware Games, Starship Home by Creature, and PROXIMATE by Cain Maddox which was also a finalist in 4 other categories.
Unsurprisingly Cult of the Lamb made an appearance in the Excellence in Ongoing category, alongside RISK: Global Domination by SMG Studio, and Crossy Road by Hipster Whale.
So many great Aussie games. You can check out the full list of finalists in our show notes.
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NOM: Since Hollow Knight: Silksong came out last week, players have been spending hours trying to unlock all of the secrets and now they’ve found the Silksong Konami code.
It’s a slight variation to the classic Konami code and it unlocks the Steel Soul mode, which is the game's version of a permadeath mode.
So if you die, that’s it. No return to your previous save, you have to start again.
FIONA: To get to this special mode, open up Silksong’s ‘extras’ option in the menu then input Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right.
A brief noise and flash will appear on the Extras screen to let you know if it’s been accepted and then go make a new save file and it’ll give you the Steel Soul option.
It has been found that if you die, you actually have to clear the failed run’s save file to be able to start again, oh dear, but I bet some of you are excited for the challenge.
NOM: However, since the release of the game it hasn’t all been good news as the game has been review-bombed in China.
Fans have left a lot of mixed reviews because of issues with the game’s Simplified Chinese translations, saying that the translations are really low quality, ruins the gaming experience and doesn’t convey the right tone.
FIONA: Team Cherry has since released a statement on social media saying they appreciate the feedback about the translations and they will be working to improve it over the coming week.
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FIONA: Sega is in a bit of hot water this week after allegations of them using the police to recover Nintendo dev kits it had "negligently disposed of".
Earlier this year it was reported that non-profit preservation group Video Game Preservation Museum were fundraising to save a collection of undumped GBA, DS, DSi, and 3DS games that were at risk of falling into the hands of private collectors.
The seller, who obtained the collection as part of his business of reselling used electronics bought from office clearances, house clearances and recycling centres, said that they came across this selection when they visited a scrap yard and there was a van loaded with items that had reportedly come from SEGA’s office clearance. He paid about 10,000 pounds for it all, so about $20,000 AUD.
However in July, about 3 months after the purchase, it was reported that the seller of this collection was raided by British Police and the haul was seized.
NOM: According to news site Time Extension, the rumour that Sega was involved with what happened is apparently true.
The seller claims about a month before the raid, a private investigator which was later revealed to be acting on behalf of Sega approached him pretending to be a prospective buyer and then he was raided in July.
After being arrested, interviewed and released under investigation, the seller claims that Sega had been silent throughout this process, despite him sending multiple formal legal letters. The seller also received a formal disclaimer request which effectively asked him to give back the dev kit consoles.
He noted that if they were stolen then legal title would have remained with Sega from the beginning and there would be nothing to disclaim.
FIONA: Technically the 3DS and DS development kits don’t even belong to Sega, they are always the property of the original hardware manufacturer, Nintendo and there are very strict rules around obtaining and returning them after they’ve been used.
It’s an ongoing situation so if you want to find out more, you can read about it in our show notes.
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FIONA: That’s it for the headlines…Here are the games coming out this week.
NOM: Out on the 15th is the highly anticipated Little Witch in the Woods. It changed its release date to make way for Silksong but it’s finally here and you get to play as Ellie and apprentice witch. Explore the mystical forest, help out residents, and experience the daily life of the witch. That’s out on Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, and PC on Monday.
FIONA: Also out on Monday is LEGO Voyagers, a co-op puzzle-platform game where you experience what it feels like to be a LEGO brick. Tumble, jump, and snap together to build your way through a brick world. Grab it when it arrives on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC on the 15th.
NOM: Puzzle game Synthetic Hopes is out on the 16th and it has a pretty cool pixel art style. You play as an enslaved android with a shot at freedom in a dystopian cyberpunk setting, using some unique game mechanics and platforming to learn the ways of the world and escape. That’s out on PC on Tuesday.
FIONA: Voyagers of Nera is also out on the 16th. It’s a stunning co-op survival-crafting game where you must survive a magical ocean world full of lost spirits and deadly monsters. Sail to distant islands, build beautiful villages and surf across the waves with up to 10 players. That’s heading to PC on Tuesday.
NOM: Goblin Cleanup is a cooperative dungeon cleaner, once the adventurers have been victorious it’s your job to set it back up again for the next party of heroes. There is a little bit of Powerwash Simulator here, but with some danger as well, it’s a cool multiplayer game for up to four friends. Find that on PC on the 18th.
FIONA: And one for Mitch this week, Jump Space formerly known as Jump Ship, it’s a bit like Sea of Thieves in a spaceship with first person shooter and spaceship based gameplay. It looks really cleverly put together, what a cool idea. That’s also a game for you and three mates so pick that up on PC and Xbox Series X on the 19th
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PROMO: Articles to read, videos to watch and podcasts to listen to on sifter.com.au
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NOM: This has been Walkthrough by SIFTER, my name is Naomi Jackson.
FIONA: And my name is Fiona Bartholomaeus, thank you so much for listening.
NOM: The crew this week are heading to Pixel Expo in WA, so make sure you head over to our Instagram which is @sifterHQ, as Mitch takes to the show floor! Speaking of conventions it’s not too long until PAX Australia and Melbourne International Games Week and the whole crew will be out there for that. If you see us in our SIFTER shirts make sure you come and say hi, or find everything we’re doing @sifterHQ on socials or our website sifter.com.au
FIONA: SIFTER is produced by myself, NOM, 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.
NOM: 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, see you then.
