Playback.dem

Welcome to another Summer Edition of Playback.dem, where we try to have a round up of interesting news on the community along with a status report on our gaming network. Just like the news it's been blistering hot, so put on some sunscreen and jump in!

Frag-Net Announcements

New on Frag-Net

While we were mostly on vacation, we did get the previously teased interview mostly ready and approved for publishing! Stay tuned.

One more thing, you may notice this month's playback is different from the last couple as we have ditched the links for Releases, Delays, Interviews, etc. It was becoming too cumbersome and filling up the page with info most weren't gonna utilize. So we gutted it and think it's for the best, and we hope you think so too!

Gaming News

Game Releases

We’ve had DOOM: The Dark Ages announced. Honestly, when I saw the first couple shots during the Summer Games Fest (more on that later) I expected it to be the much anticipated HeXen reboot. That’s something Phil Spencer would have liked, anyway.

We also got an estimate for the release date of GTA 6 (which is in Autumn 2025). I don’t think we need to mention how anticipated this release is.

Valve trademarked Deadlock (not, not that one. We’ve already gotten access to the playtest and are writing down our thoughts for future reference. Stay tuned?

The Year Without a E3

There was no Gaming Santa this summer. We at Frag-Net are still kind of sadden in a way about how there was no E3 this year. We admit that it was often a subject of ridicule, even amongst ourselves and at times we even wished that E3 would just end already. Well, it’s a tale of be careful what you wish for. Being the first real year without even a sliver of hope of there being an E3 just seems odd. Maybe it will come back some day, but probably not.

It would be neat if there was some kind of community oriented celebration and previews of games, similar to Comic-Con (or Fan Fusion) but you still have the official sponsorship etc. E3 just became too corporate for it’s own good, presentations became outrageous over-produced glorified advertisements instead of conferences talking about what the hardware and line-up would actually be. Yes, we get it’s a consumer show focused on selling a product, but it really did become a mockery at the end.

So yeah, we are sad in a nostalgic way that E3 is gone, but E3 wasn’t E3 for a very long time, and deep down we all knew it. A tradition has been lost, but a new one begins.

Summer Games Fest

Speaking of glorified advertisements, the Summer Games Fest kicked off this month trying to fill in the void left by E3.

Other Events for the Non-E3

In addition to the Summer Games Fest, these other events also happened in what is currently known as “Non-E3”:

06/04 OTK Games Expo @ 12:00 PDT, 2024
06/06 Guerrilla Collective @ 10:00 PDT, 2024
06/07 Access-Ability Showcase @ 08:00 PDT, 2024
06/07 Day of the Devs @ 16:00 PDT, 2024
06/07 Devolver Direct @ 17:00 PDT, 2024
06/08 Wholesome Direct @ 09:00 PDT, 2024
06/08 Future Games Show @ 12:00 PDT, 2024
06/09 Xbox Games Showcase @ 09:00 PDT, 2024
06/09 PC Gaming Show @ 13:00 PDT, 2024
06/12 Black Voices in Gaming @ 12:00 PDT, 2024
06/18 Nintendo Direct @ 07:00 PDT, 2024

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Will Require Constant Internet Connection

The official statement:

To deliver the highest-quality visuals while also reducing the game’s overall storage space on your hard drive, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will use texture streaming across all game modes. This means you’ll need a continuous internet connection to play any game mode, including Campaign. If you’re on a console, Campaign can be played without a premium subscription service such as Game Pass Core or PlayStation Plus.

The size of these games is a problem waiting to be solved, but streaming of game assets is a future none of us preservationists want to think about.

Gaming News: Community

And of course we have to highlight what’s been going on in the community!

Errant Signal Releases Children of Doom: 1999

Errant Signal reminisces about 1999s hot first-person games. Of course Quake III Arena too. Go play some.

PandaMonium Releases New Video! Sega Rally Championship

If you’ve got almost 5 hours free-time to spare, go watch this incredible celebration, documentary, review of SEGA Rally Championship and its SEGA Saturn version.

Hardware News

MiSTer Clone Updates

If you’ve read our recent Features then you’d know we’re all-in on FPGA technology for all sorts of hardware replication goodness. Soon you can get your hands on a more affordable clone of the DE-10 Nano and build a more budget friendly MiSTer FPGA system.

Sony PlayStation 5 stops advertising 8K capability

From the get go it seemed a bit optimistic, but Sony scrubbed the 8K support claims off their PS5 boxes. I think people are still fine with 1080p anyway… right?

All in All

That’s pretty much it. See you end of July!