Carzy Zarx’s PC Gaming Emporium - Catch Up on All the Latest PC Gaming Related News

[JEMC]

Here now comes the third part of today’s gaming news:

Someone made the Metal Gear Solid 4 channel-surfing section into a game and it's absolutely perfect
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/someone-made-the-metal-gear-solid-4-channel-surfing-section-into-a-game-and-its-absolutely-perfect/
There's something about over-the-air broadcasting. Tuning a radio has a way of making the world feel vast: picking up the clipped tones of a Beijing newscaster through waves of static, dialling into the current top 40 in Amman—these are experiences that make you appreciate how enormous and varied the planet is, like scooping a thimble of water out of a churning ocean.
The old days of TV were a similar story. There was nothing like idly channel surfing to remind you of what a diverse array of human experiences there are, from slick dramas to public access shows that seemed poised to collapse at any second. It's gone now, with the advent of on-demand programming. Or it was gone, anyway. Now we have Blippo+, freed from the Playdate and now on PC.

Brazil's president has signed a ban on selling loot boxes to minors as part of a larger online child safety law
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/brazils-president-has-signed-a-ban-on-selling-loot-boxes-to-minors-as-part-of-a-larger-online-child-safety-law/
In March, videogames will no longer be able to sell lootboxes to users under the age of 18 in Brazil due to a ban signed earlier this month by Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Part of a broader law passed by Brazil's congress to enact online safety measures for children, the ban continues an ongoing international effort to regulate exploitative monetization practices (via Eurogamer).

The Witcher's forgotten minigame gets a grisly revival where you bet your own digits trying to roll high-scoring poker hands against demonic billionaires
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/puzzle/the-witchers-forgotten-minigame-gets-a-grisly-revival-where-you-bet-your-own-digits-trying-to-roll-high-scoring-poker-hands-against-demonic-billionaires/
Fans of The Witcher 3 may have fallen in love with Gwent when CD Projekt's masterful RPG launched in 2015, but I personally lamented the loss of the original minigame from the series—Dice Poker. I always thought Gwent was too much of a commitment for a minigame contained within a 300-hour RPG, and preferred the simpler, more intuitive fun of rolling high-scoring poker hands with fistfuls of dice seen in the first two games.
While it's unlikely we'll ever see Dice Poker get an official spinoff in the way Gwent did, it does finally have its own dedicated roguelike. Dead Finger Dice is an Inscryption-ish mix of digital tabletop gaming and spooky narrative puzzling, with a gnarly twist where you use your character's fingers as betting currency.

This browser game transforms the reviled reCAPTCHA into a delightfully silly puzzler
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/this-browser-game-transforms-the-reviled-recaptcha-into-a-delightfully-silly-puzzler/
I was already beginning to suspect that I am, in fact, a robot, given my historic ineptitude when it comes to filling out reCAPTCHAS. It's the ones where you need to click all the squares of a bicycle or whatever that catch me out. There's always one tiny bit of wheel or handlebar that the system can never decide whether it counts as a bicycle or not, and I go from simply trying to access a web page to a full-blown existential crisis.
But my possibly synthetic brain was sent into overload by I'm Not a Robot, the latest browser-based caper by game developer and Internet mischief maker Neal Agarwal. I'm Not a Robot takes the Internet's reviled not-really-a-security-check and stretches it to its most preposterous limits.

Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2 gets Tokyo Game Show sign of life: 'Since we called the first instalment Vol. 1, it’s only natural to expect a second one'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/metal-gear-solid-master-collection-vol-2-gets-tokyo-game-show-sign-of-life-since-we-called-the-first-instalment-vol-1-its-only-natural-to-expect-a-second-one/
As reported by VGC, Metal Gear Solid series producer Noriaki Okamura mentioned that a second volume of Metal Gear Solid Master Collection remasters was still on the way at a Metal Gear Production Hotline panel at the Tokyo Game Show.

Over half of Japanese game companies are using AI in development according to a new survey, including Level-5 and Capcom
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/over-half-of-japanese-game-companies-are-using-ai-in-development-according-to-a-new-survey-including-level-5-and-capcom/
As reported by Automaton, a survey conducted by the Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association (CESA) during June and July found that 51% of Japanese game companies are using AI in some capacity. The survey responses came from CESA member companies, which include the likes of Capcom, Level-5, Square Enix, Sega, and many more spanning major developers and indies alike.

Stario: Haven Tower is yet another vertical city-builder, but this one has magic, space whales and flying delivery turtles
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/stario-haven-tower-is-yet-another-vertical-city-builder-but-this-one-has-magic-space-whales-and-flying-delivery-turtles/
Stario: Haven Tower isn't the first vertical city-builder I've seen, or even the first one I've seen this year. But it is the first I've encountered that also features floating space whales, which immediately makes it the one I'm most interested in playing. Does this demonstrate how badly the Internet has affected my attention span? Well, I'll have you know that—ooh, a squirrel!

Earth Must Die looks like a sci-fi Monkey Island, with an extremely British cast that includes names from Taskmaster, Game of Thrones, and Doctor Who
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/earth-must-die-looks-like-a-sci-fi-monkey-island-with-an-extremely-british-cast-that-includes-names-from-taskmaster-game-of-thrones-and-doctor-who/
Sometimes, a videogame cast is so British that even I, a life-long Brit, have to stop and ask myself, 'do we really sound like that?' No wonder we're always the baddies in spy movies. Starring actors from Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Our Flag Means Death, Horrible Histories, and Taskmaster, the reveal of charming point-and-click adventure game Earth Must Die will delight fans of Blighty.
Joel Fry leads the project as Vvalak Lizardtongue, a very different character to the ones he played in Game of Thrones and ancient Rome sitcom Plebs. He's got a nursing bot called Milky, which we don't need to get into right now, and his father is a monarch who doesn't want to bequeath him his rightful inheritance of the Tyrythian kingdom—a common issue among even the regular folk on this side of the pond.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it, a robotic Terranoid invasion has killed the king and taken over. So, Vvalak decides to go and take over Earth as revenge. What did we do to deserve this fate? Guess you'll have to play to find out.

Play as the infamous Minotaur of Greek mythology in Minos, an Orcs Must Die-like roguelite where you build a deadly labyrinth full of dastardly traps
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/play-as-the-infamous-minotaur-of-greek-mythology-in-minos-an-orcs-must-die-like-roguelite-where-you-build-a-deadly-labyrinth-full-of-dastardly-traps/
You hear all about how Theseus killed the Minotaur and escaped his labyrinth, but how about the poor Minatour's perspective? In Minos, we get to become the monster of the maze, and it's up to us to defend it.

A singing axolotl and a magical bunny team up in Billie Bust Up, a retro platformer with rhythmic boss battles and witchy movement abilities
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/a-singing-axolotl-and-a-magical-bunny-team-up-in-billie-bust-up-a-retro-platformer-with-rhythmic-boss-battles-and-witchy-movement-abilities/
I didn't think I'd see a singing axolotl today, but that's the beauty of videogames: there's always something unexpected to lift your mood. The trailer for Billie Bust Up, which appeared at today's PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct, shows off the music and platforming in the upcoming animal adventure.

Kaiju Cleanup sees you mopping up monsters from the inside out in a satirical blend of PowerWash Simulator and Hardspace: Shipbreaker
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sim/kaiju-cleanup-sees-you-mopping-up-monsters-from-the-inside-out-in-a-satirical-blend-of-powerwash-simulator-and-hardspace-shipbreaker/
Who cleans up the mess after Godzilla attacks? In Kaiju Cleanup, you do. I love cleaning games as much as the next person who procrastinates doing their chores in real life, but what most clean-'em-ups are missing is the satisfying squelch of flesh and the neat stacking of bloody meat cubes, am I right?

Doomspire combines lots of my favorite things: deck builders, roguelikes, and fantasy, and it's out now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/card-games/doomspire-combines-lots-of-my-favorite-things-deck-builders-roguelikes-and-fantasy-and-its-out-now/
As a Magic: The Gathering enjoyer, I love a good deck building game. Add some fantasy elements and a roguelike twist and that's pretty much all my keywords ticked off. Enter Doomspire, where you delve into an ancient ruin to fight bosses, grab as much loot as you can carry, and of course, collect cards.
If you're familiar with Hearthstone or Magic: The Gathering Arena, then the Doomspire trailer shown during today's PC Gaming Show Tokyo Direct will look just like the kind of digital card game battle interfaces you're used to. I just like it when the cards actually jab forwards to attack—it reminds me of when I was a kid and I'd push my Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards around like they were alive.