Hello! Welcome to the latest Geeky Brummie Gaming Roundup!

This week, an NFT console, catgirls and VR takedowns!

Someone Claims to Be Making an NFT Console

Despite the NFT and crypto markets crashing at a laughably fast degree, the grifters behind it all are still desperately trying to milk it for all it’s worth.

Cue the Polium One, an NFT console with an overly ambitious name since it implies there may be a Two one day (link). Its goal is to facilitate Web3 gaming in a way that plugs into your TV, simplifying it for everyone. Of course, they can’t pin down what Web3 gaming is, why anyone should care, nor do we have any confirmed games for the system. As is usual for most blockchain-based scams. But hey, it has a wallet button, which I’m sure EA would be frothing at the mouth for if they hadn’t already discredited NFTs. (link)

Also, it boasts the ability to run games in 8K, 120fps and with ray tracing. There isn’t a system on earth that can handle all of these things at once, so there’s a lot of doubt on this claim too. If megacorps like Microsoft can’t make that happen at the moment, I doubt some unknowns whose money mostly doesn’t exist can either.

That would be a concept worthy of ridicule enough on its own, but it gets better. You see, their logo looks a little familiar to many players. In fact, if you tilt it 90 degrees it’s easy to notice an alarming similarity to the Gamecube logo. Also, the controller is basically a DualShock 4, right down to the speaker and headphone jack in the exact same place. And also, the console will contain a fingerprint recognition system for your wallet called TouchID, and if any iPhone users are reading this, that may be familiar to you since it is already a registered trademark of Apple.

So cryptobros still have a limited grasp on how copyrights and trademarks work, I see.

Oh, and no physical console currently exists, which is always a good sign in a market full of pump-and-dump schemes.

I look forward to the inevitable crash and burn of this system in coming months. Or maybe weeks.

Take-Two Takes Down VR Mods

Luke Ross, a modder who has worked to produce VR versions of popular games including Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, has received a takedown notice from Take-Two. (link)

It’s an interesting legal grey area, as they are built on copyrighted property, but the mods themselves don’t contain any of that material. While these mods have been released via Ross’ Patreon, and therefore money has exchanged hands, they don’t utilise any of Take-Two’s assets or IP, as they require a copy of the respective games to work. As is the case with all mods. Which means Take-Two would theoretically be making money from these mods too (assuming the games aren’t being pirated, which is not the fault of Ross himself).

Take-Two, however, clearly view this differently, and have insisted it all get taken down. However, they have not responded to Ross’ requests for clarification, and have yet to offer a statement to any press that have requested comment.

Final Fantasy XIV Server Defended by Catgirl Army

I’m going to be honest here. I don’t fully understand what’s happening here, but I am fascinated by this.

A Final Fantasy XIV server is currently being blockaded by an army of catgirls. (link) Balmung, a North American server that has become the community’s unofficial roleplay community, is currently trying to stop an influx of players from entering. The reason for this is due to Square Enix adding a travel system that allows players to visit servers aside from the one they’re on, and now players from other servers are showing up to see what’s happening in Balmung.

As the unofficial roleplay server, it hosts players who like to act out scenarios in character with other players, and as is common with these environments, often this takes a turn for the erotic, and this is where the problem lies. While all the erotic roleplay is fine and everyone participating is on board with it, what’s less is cool is players from other servers turning up to gawk at them.

Which is why there is now a wall of catgirls, all creating a barricade to stop visiting players from entering the city to treat the sexy chat like it’s a zoo. Of course.

As someone who isn’t involved with any MMO scene I’m only vaguely understanding this situation, but it is so bizarre, I knew I had to cover it.

Mojang Offer Tribute to Beloved Content Creator

Minecraft’s developers have paid tribute to a content creator who recently passed away. (link)

Technoblade, a Minecraft YouTuber with 13m subscribers, passed away last week, and while I personally knew nothing about him, it was clear from the huge outpouring of love and respect across social media that this was a beloved figure in the Minecraft community. He died of sarcoma, a type of cancer, at the incredibly young age of 23. His final video was his dad reading out a final message and delivering some final thoughts about his son.

As Technoblade was a beloved figure, Mojang, developers of Minecraft, have made a change to the game’s splash screen by adding a pig with a crown. This was Technoblade’s avatar, and the change was clearly made in tribute to him, backed with a statement on Twitter honouring his memory.

It’s sad news, but it’s testament to how much gaming can bring people together with such a vast outpouring of love for someone who made silly Minecraft videos.

Yu-Gi-Oh Creator Found Dead

The creator of Yu-Gi-Oh has been found dead, according to Japanese authorities. (link)

Kazuki Takahashi’s body was found in the sea near Okinawa, wearing snorkelling gear, and was identified a day later. The cause of death is currently unknown, as authorities are still investigating.

Takahashi was known to the world as the artist behind the massive Yu-Gi-Oh franchise, which is best known for its trading card game, but has spawned other media including video games, which is why I’ve chosen to cover this news here. He was 60 at the time of his death.

New Releases

Kicking off the releases this week is Klonoa: Phantasy Reverie Series (PC, PlayStation, Switch, Xbox), which brings together the two Klonoa games into a single remastered collection. Klonoa was a cutesy mascot platformer that Namco launched back in the 90s and early 2000s, where the titular character grabbed and inflated enemies for his own purposes. As part of this collection, Klonoa 2 is remastered from its original PS2 release, the first Klonoa is a remaster of the 2008 remake released for the Wii.

Matchpoint: Tennis Championships (PC, PlayStation, Xbox) is a realistic tennis sim, for those who are into that kind of thing. On a similar note, I forgot to mention the release of F1 22 (PC, PlayStation, Xbox) last week for those who are into highly technical motorsports instead.

Arcadegeddon (PC, PlayStation, Xbox) is a cooperative roguelike shooter about an arcade owner trying to compete with a megacorporation who infects his game cabinet, and you have to venture into the game and defeat the virus. It’s a bold shooter with a lot of the typical elements you’d expect of a game like this, but looks like a fun time for fans of the genre.

Game of the Week

Game of the Week this week is Witch Strandings (PC), and it’s honestly hard to describe what this thing is. In a good way.

The developers describe this as a “strand-type game”, which is interesting because only one other game ever got called that – Death Stranding. But very little of that game appears to be in this one, despite the similar names. Instead, you play as a floating light controlled by your mouse cursor, navigating a cursed forest.

Your job is to heal the forest, navigating the various different surface types along the way and placing items in strategic places to open new paths. It’s a quirky, experimental game that I’m still not sure I understand, but it’s a standout in what is otherwise a quiet, less interesting release week.

And that’s all for now! See you again next week with more gaming news and releases!