Also, the Steam Summer sale is on!
Hi, hello, welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter.
I'm currently melting in the heatwave, surviving on sparkling water (San Pellegrino, if you're wondering), and Skyr. It's way too warm to even play video games, but I started Death Stranding 2 on Friday evening, and while I'm only two hours in, I enjoyed every single minute. It's a gorgeous game, and I can't wait to get back into it.
Anyway, let's start with this week's news before I die of heatstroke.
🚀 Big Moves
- The best games under $10 in the Steam Summer Sale. It's Summer Sale time, so finally, yet more reason to give Lord GabeN all of your money. Also, this time I shot a YouTube video to go with the sale, and if I may say so myself, I'm slowly improving at this YouTube thing.
- Microsoft added Steam and Battle.net games to the Xbox PC app. This seems to be the first step towards launching the new Xbox experience that Microsoft teased a few weeks ago. Right now, only Steam and Battle.net games are supported, but the Xbox PC (Insider) app should automatically recognize these games and allow you to start them straight from the app.
🎮 Platform Updates
- Netflix is pulling 21 indie games from app stores. This list includes Hades and Katana Zero. It's now up to the developers to re-release the games on the App Store and Play Store, and at least Devolver Digital has confirmed they're working on it.
- Microsoft moves antivirus software out of the Windows kernel. This, per se, isn't that important for us gamers, but there's a chance that a possible next step would be for Microsoft to also move anti-cheat software out of the kernel. This would open the doors to port anti-cheat software to Linux, and thus SteamOS.
💻 Hardware & Software
- dbrand's Killswitch for Switch 2 has issues. If you don't know what I'm talking about, this video probably explains it best. Strangely enough, I've never had any issues with my pre-release version, so I might just hold the device differently? Anyway, dbrand said they will fix the issues as they are, quote, "100% committed to getting everyone replacement Joy-Cons ASAP, regardless of whether they’re severely affected, haven’t experienced the issue, have emailed us a dozen times, or have no clue about any of this."
- The Manjaro OrangePi Neo handheld will start at $450. That's for the base model 7840U 16GB/512GB. The handheld with the 8840U and double the memory is $100 more. That's actually a decent price compared to similar devices from more established manufacturers.
🎲 Playthings
- The Delta dev recreated the Game Boy camera. I have to admit: I don't fully understand the nostalgia surrounding the Game Boy camera. I owned one, but I don't know why people love this thing so much. But hey, who am I to judge!
📌 Quick Hits
- 7 hours of Mario Kart Music. If you are a fan of the banger Mario Kart World soundtrack, rejoice, as you can now listen to seven hours of it non-stop.
- Sony's patent on sliding handhelds has expired. Great catch by Retro Dodo. Maybe we'll be getting some cool new handhelds soon?
- The Mario Kart World companion app is coming back to the store. The app was removed for bug-fixing purposes, but if you, like me, didn't even know it existed in the first place, you'll be able to install it soon.
- We're getting a sequel to The Social Network. I'm ready!
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Ok, that's all. Thanks for reading!
See you,
Kevin
