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I’m not going to lie, August has been tough. My eldest has asked me several times an hour, everyday for the entire month “can we play videogames now?” while I’m working, it’s driven me insane. The constant pestering has broken me. But most of all I really want to play videogames all day. I’ve recently introduced him to Pikmin on the Switch and he’s obsessed, so of course I want to play. But I can’t, I have work to do and his one constant question is the same one my brain is asking me. It hasn’t been easy.
I got a box of my old toys down from the attic for him to look at and be distracted by. It’s now not allowed to leave the living room and the toys have been integrated beautifully into his collection. Pikachu now triumphantly rides the power loader from Aliens into battle against the combined forces of Deceptions and dinosaurs. The only issue is the ridiculous levels of noise. My word aren’t four year olds loud! It genuinely sounds like people are dying in this war and my son screams the loudest he can. It’s like Saving Private Ryan most mornings in my house, but with more Ghostbusters.
So yes, August has been constant noise, questions and sleep deprivation. That last one is thanks to my incontinent dog and his penchant for 4am toilet breaks. Anyway, on with the game stuff!
I’m currently playing: On Switch I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Two Point Campus. On PlayStation4 I’ve gone back to God of War in preparation for God of War Ragnarok.
I’m currently hyped for: The Callisto Protocol and Call of Duty Modern Warfare II on PlayStation4. While on Switch I’m excited about Warhammer 40,000: Shootaz, Blood & Teef.
New Games
The beginning of August saw the release of NBA 2K23 on all platforms. Two Point Campus on PlayStation4 and Switch on the same day, Fishing North Atlantic on both PlayStations. Mid-month gave us Madden NFL 23 on PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, Bugsnax on Switch and MadiSon, also on Switch. The end of August gave us Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader on all platforms, The Saints Row reboot on PlayStation4 and Xbox Series X/S, and Soul Hackers 2 on both PlayStations & Xboxes. While F1 Manager 22 and Arcadegeddon rounded things off nicely.
September looks like it’s the PlayStation5’s time to shine (if you’ve been lucky enough to get one!) with the 2nd seeing the release of The Last Of Us Part One- a “from the ground up” build of the iconic title. The 6th sees TemTem and FIST hit PlayStations, Xboxes and the Switch. The 7th will give us Humankind Heritage on both PS4 and PS5. While the 8th will see Steel Rising on PlayStation5 and Xbox Series X|S and Thymesia on Microsoft’s console. The, on the 9th, the Switch gets it’s moment in the sun with the exclusive release of Splatoon 3. The 13th will be lucky for some with XIII, VERTIGO and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide hitting all platforms. Recompile is out on PlayStation5 on the 15th. The 20th sees the physical release of Stray on the PS5, Evil West on PS4, PS5 & Xbox Series X|S and Soulstice on Sony’s and Microsoft’s next-gen beauties. The Diofield Chronicle quickly follows proceedings on the 22nd for PS4, PS5 and Switch. While Session: Skate Sim comes out for both Playstations and the XBox Series X|S on the same day. Psychonauts 2 is out on the 27th for PlayStation4. The 29th will give us Valkyrie Elysium for both PlayStation’s. And to finish the month off we get Paw Patrol Grand Prix on PS4, PS5 & Switch, Trek to Yomi on the PlayStations and Them’s Fightin’ Herds on all platforms.
Announcements
This month the news has been understandably dominated by Gamescom 2022 and it’s many, many (many) announcements. I covered the opening night, so rather than hitting copy and paste to use my word count, you can check it out here.
Sony increased the price of PlayStation5’s by £30 “due to inflation”. This obviously received a fair amount of backlash. Which Microsoft and Nintendo quickly threw fuel on by saying they won’t be increasing their console prices - good on them!
In TV land, where videogame adaptations go to die, Netflix cancelled their Resident Evil series after just one season. The Twisted Metal TV show finished filming and Steve Blackman, who is showrunner for The Umbrella Academy, announced he’s working on a Horizon Zero Dawn adaptation for Netflix. I can’t wait for that one to be cancelled too. Ooh, ooh and the first footage of HBO’s The Last of Us show was revealed and it doesn’t look half bad.
And That’s, That
Yup, short and sweet - I did say Gamescom dominated the news this month! What’s on your “to buy” list this month? Let us know on the Zatu Socials and I’ll see you next time with another news update. Hopefully it’ll be longer!