Merry Christmas, or Happy Holidays, or what not! Here's a two hour episode all about our particular favorite games that game out this year. If you're traveling home and need something to keep your mind off all the inane and invasive questions you'll get asked at dinner - we're here to help! 2023 was an all time incredible year for gaming. So much so, that Matt actually had a top 25! Expect an extra episode for Patrons only coming later this week!

More layoffs, more studios closing, and E3 declares themselves dead (finally). Let's talk how things might be reborn moving forward!

Deep in the gaming doldrums we caught a bit of a breeze this week as the GTA6 trailer leaked early. And we finally have something that looks next gen. It's coming 225 (or later, let's be honest) and so 2024 continues to look ugly post Q1, but who knows - maybe TGA has some surprises for us!

Sweet baby Keighley stepped in a semi soft turd this week when he decided to defend TGA decision to categorize Dave the Diver as an indie game. He said "indie" can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, but that can't be true, right? There has to be a definition of what makes a game independent... Right?

Do a quick google on Sony first party games coming out in 2024. Not seeing anything? Neither are we and that adds to what seems like a bit of a slide in outlook for Sony going into next year.

Golden Joystick, Game Awards, BAFTAs - what do they all have in common? B******t categories. Who picks them? How are they organized? Why is it seemingly nonsensical? Now that The Game Awards has announced its nominees - let's go through some categories and try to figure this out!

News broke that The Legend of Zelda will be adapted into a live action feature film. TLoZ will be directed by Wes Ball, who helmed all three Maze Runner films, as well as Kingdom of the Apes (releasing soon). He's a filmmaker with a background in VFX, so I think it is safe to say that the majority of this film will be green screen and visual effects heavy. But what else can we extrapolate about the coming film?

2023 has been a banner year for gaming and it isn't even over! It's a good problem to have, but it is almost definitely a result of the bullwhip from the pandemic. Sony especially doesn't seem to be talking about much coming in 2024. Add in the layoffs that have been happening and we have to ask: are we in for a weak 2024?

You ever play a game that is just... good? Good graphics, well made, nothing particularly wrong with it - but it's just... Fine? That's how Matt is feeling about Spiderman 2. Maybe it's because it is a sequel that came too quick, or maybe it's the realistic graphics. We're diving into what's missing. Oh and console wars. We are gonna talk about the banality of console wars some too.

Today was marred by the tragic news of fLoE passing. He was a well known personality in the FGC and a common sight at tourneys. He was taken too young, and our thoughts are with his family. As seems natural, while talking about fLoE we got onto the subject of icons in fighting games, which led into what makes a game iconic. How would you replicate that? 

A 10 outta 10 episode on 10/10 get it?  I wish there was some cool story as to how this topic came about but it really was a "you're a ten outta ten" joke that made Matt go down a rabbit hole of ten out of ten games from ten different consoles. I did my best to throw at least a couple curve balls for the long time listeners while Matt brought the culture of retro games.

Matt's been shouting it from the rooftops and singing it on every corner, but if you've missed it: he loves Lies of P. The clever adaptation of Pinocchio into a grimdark soulsborne action fantasy has us thinking what other public domain stories could make for a great game - and what genres would they fit. 

Tokyo Game Show has just wrapped up. We talk about the surprises of the show, some news about exclusivity for 3rd parties, industry speculations, and Kamiya leaving Platinum.

We waited to record until we were able to read the big Microsoft Leak for ourselves. Personally, I feel it is a big nothingburger. And so far as I can tell, the only people hyping this as a big deal are engagement farmers on Twitter. That being said: there is some value to what this confirms about how Microsoft, and by extension executives think about mergers, acquisitions and the future of gaming et al. So, let's dig into it!

It's my birthday episode! And the planned topic was "what makes a game 'cinematic' and what are the best cinematic games out there." But then a few big pieces of news dropped - and we knew we wanted to talk about that too. So, the first half of this episode is about Unity, Embracer Group and ESA (E3) news, while the back half is about the planned topic. It sounds eclectic but it actually works pretty well.

It's been a bit of a packed year for games. Maybe that's because the Pandemic caused a crunch that is only now whip lashing onto the market. Who knows but one side effect has been: many games, good games, have come out and been forgotten in the pack.

Bioware is on the chopping block if Dragon Age doesn't do well. It seems like a lot of third parties face oblivion when a single game isn't an over the top success, much less a failure. Are there certain genres that have become doomed for third party devs? A first party can pump out a triple AAA block buster single player game and if it is middling at best, that developer will probably get another shot. But if you're owned by EA? You might be in a soup line the next quarter.   *** I realize...

Maaaaaaaan there was some cool stuff shown for the opening night of Gamescom 2023, but there was also a whole lot of awkward, huh? This week we are talking about our favorite moments, bold trailers, and awkward interviews from the opening night live show kicking off Gamescom 2023!

This week we are talking about sequels and what we expect from a franchise as it moves forward. I also try to sell Matt on Baldur's Gate 3 but to little effect - THE MAN HATES FUN (kidding).

Everyone is back from EVO 2023 and by all accounts it was a big W for the FGC. I didn't get to go this year, so I had Matt fill me in on some of the best parts. Between new Tekken 8 fighters, MK1 news, and promising looks at Project L - the future looks bright for the FGC!

Yes - you should try to enjoy things. But also sometimes it's fun to talk about the stuff that is overrated in hindsight and maybe even some stuff that has been hated on so much that when you actually look at it... It's fine. Maybe even good! Who knows let's take a look.

Today I'm playing the inspiration for this episode - Amnesia: The Bunker. Matt sold it to me as a perfect shot of survival horror, coming in at 5-6 hours and never overstaying its welcome. But is that the perfect length for survival horror? And what is the perfect length for other games? As always, we have opinions :P

Larian Studios, makers of the Divinity games, have had a massive win with regards to Baldur's Gate 3! A triumph some may call it, and now: some fans say every RPG should follow its example. The thing is BG3 is the result of a perfect storm, and while we love that it has succeeded - not every game should, or even can, follow its path.

This week's episode ranges from 70's gay porn aesthetics (my mustache, we are talking about my mustache) to an intro to Xenogears lore. It's Matt's Birthday episode, so he gets to take us on a journey into any topic he wants!

Are critics out of touch? You look at Rotten Tomatoes for instance and critics give Indy 5 a 69%(nice) while the audience gives it 88%! Does that mean the critics are wrong? I say it means they are looking for different things and in todays media landscape an aggregate score means nothing. But that leaves out another class of pseudo critic - the content creator; whose whole brand can be built on loving or hating "the thing".  And that presents a problem for audiences be it games or movies....