Vidjagame Apocalypse

It's the first week of October, which means we're kicking off a month of supernatural- and horror-themed Top 5s, beginning with a look at immortal, superpowered bloodsuckers who starred in their own games. We then talk about the early releases of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered and Gears of War 4, delve into why Danganronpa on PS4 is exciting news, and look at the N64 games you want to play, but still haven't.

The Nintendo 64's North American debut happened 20 years ago this week. Because any list of its best games would be dominated by Nintendo titles (and would be utterly predictable), let's take a slightly less well-trod road and count down five of the console's best third-party exclusives. We then dig into a bustling week of new releases that includes Forza Horizon 3 and XCOM 2 on consoles, discuss our face-on impressions of Battlezone on PlayStation VR, and talk about your favorite videogame foods.

With the legendary Okami turning 10 in North America this week, Michael Grimm joins us for a look at five cel-shaded games that - partly because of their graphics, and partly because of their forward-thinking design - still hold up alongside modern games. We then speak with special guest Arthur Parsons of TT Games about the second year of LEGO Dimensions, touch lightly on the Digital Homicide debacle, and look at the classic games you'd like to see turned into crazy neon caricatures of themselves.

This is a big week for current-gen remasters of last-gen games, with Bioshock and Dead Rising re-releasing on PS4 and Xbox One, so let's start with a look at five of the best, most feature-rich remasters to hit current-gen consoles. We then move on to ReCore and Pac-Man Championship Edition 2, argue loudly about PS4 Pro and iPhone 7, and hear about the games that you went from loving to hating (or vice versa).

In honor of this week's episode number, our erstwhile co-host Henry Gilbert (now of Fandom) rejoins the show to talk about games that did a 180 in the minds of the gaming public - that is, games that went from being widely considered classics to being widely considered classic turds, or vice versa. Then there's extensive news from PAX West, a look at Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Spirit of Justice and Mother Russia Bleeds, and a rundown of the PlayStation games you've always been curious about, but never touched.

After all the recent furor over Metal Gear Survive and Metroid Prime Federation Force, we for some reason decided it'd be a good idea to delve into five other games that turned traditionally single-player series into four-player co-op-fests, sometimes with amazing results. After that, we shift our focus to Attack on Titan, a new ToeJam & Earl, and the Super NES games you never got around to despite everyone saying they're great.

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System celebrated its 25th anniversary this week, so Heidi Kemps of gaming.moe joins the regulars this week to talk about key moments that created huge shockwaves not just for the SNES and Nintendo, but for the industry at large. Then it's on to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, King of Fighters XIV, Metal Gear Survive, PlayStation Plus coming to PC, and the Wii games that you'd like to see get a second chance.

This week, we enlist Retronauts host Bob Mackey to help us navigate an ancient landscape of games that were based on movies, TV shows, and cartoon characters... until they came to the US, at which point that was all stripped out. We then switch gears to talk about Bound, Metroid Prime Federation Force, Final Fantasy XV's latest delay, and the classic licensed games you'd love to see make a comeback.

We've got spaceflight on the brain this week with the release of No Man's Sky, so before we start in on the game everyone's talking about, Brett Elston joins us to look back at five of the most iconic spaceships video games have produced. Then it's on to (of course) No Man's Sky, Brut@l, Another Metroid 2 Remake, classic Disney games being granted new life, and the games that have been helping you pull through summer.

Who wouldn't want to experience dangerous situations as a soft, helpless infant? Inspired by their recent playthrough of Baby's Day Out, the VGA crew invite Michael Grimm to join this week for a look at games that let you play as babies. After tearing through that discussion, it's on to talk about Abzu, Batman: The Telltale Series, controversies over Pokémon Go updates and No Man's Sky, and the Achievements that made you proud.

Erstwhile host Henry Gilbert rejoins the show this week, just in time to help us talk about multi-platform games that. for a variety of reasons, were completely different experiences on old-gen consoles. With that out of the way, we move on to Marvel Ultimate Alliance, Headlander, Quadrilateral Cowboy, Comic-Con, the latest Nintendo NX rumors, and the games you'd love to see become esports.

Heidi Kemps of gaming.moe joins us fresh off last week's EVO championships - and with fighting games on everyone's minds, we take a look at some of the weirdest guest characters ever to grace games about people hitting each other on the head with fists. Then it's on to I Am Setsuna, Nintendo's tiny NES Classic Edition, and your favorite video-game ghosts.

Friend of the show Bob Mackey (of Retronauts and USGamer) joins us this week to count down five games that took clear inspiration from an established series, but recaptured what made the originals great instead of being pale imitations. Then it's on to Pokémon Go (of course!), Monster Hunter Generations, Evolve going free-to-play, and the game-hero childhoods you'd most like to see.

Michael Grimm returns to the show this week to help us talk about five games that flashed back to their heroes' childhoods, letting us experience their most important formative memories firsthand. Then it's on to thoughts on Inside, Furi, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIII; Red Dead Redemption and The Warriors arriving on modern consoles; and your personal picks for Game of the Year (so far).

We're at the midpoint of 2016, so it's time to look back at the last six months and assemble a non-definitive, highly subjective list of our favorite games of the year so far. If you haven't rage-quit by the end of it, be sure to stick around to hear us talk about Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Nintendo's NX mutterings, and your dream mashups of two completely different series.

A show number with "69" in it only comes around every 100 episodes, so we take full advantage this week, as Michael Grimm joins us for a somewhat NSFW show about games that used the (sometimes-dubious) talents of former and current adult-film actresses to great effect. Once the moaning is out of the way, it's time to dig in to Mighty No. 9, Umbrella Corps, No Man's Sky's legal troubles and your favorite E3 items that weren't showcased at a press conference.

E3 is coming fast, so let’s distract ourselves just a little before the show starts with a Top 5 about (surprisingly competent) games based on “unscripted” television shows about “real” “people” who are “not entertainment lizards in hu-man guise.” The second segment gets a bit parkour-flavored, what with the one-two punch of Mirror’s Edge Catalyst and Watch Dogs 2’s reveal, and then it’s on to your most frustrating memories of losing a game to a glitch or hardware failure.

In belated tribute to the PS2 "classic" Jaws Unleashed's 10th anniversary last week, this episode focuses not on the triumph of being a shark, but the terror of being its victim, with a Top 5 about the most stressful games to swim in. Then it's on to a heated discussion of One Piece: Burning Blood, Primal, Mighty No. 9's latest trailer and the most memorable dreams you've had about games.

We begin this week's show by exploring the theater of the mind, with five games that take place entirely in their characters' heads and/or dreams. We then weigh in on the the Overwatch mania currently driving the internet bonkers, along with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants in Manhattan, Hideo Kojima's studio plans, and the games you play with your kids (or will play with your hypothetical kids).

Shadow of the Beast arrival this week is a reminder that sometimes, it's possible to tell a clear, engaging story without any actual dialogue. And that pushed us to spend this week's Top 5 discussion looking at other games that tell rich stories with little more than pantomime and grunting. We then move on to Doom, Homefront: The Revolution and Valkyria Chronicles Remastered before turning our attention to worrying game-movie plans, Shenmue remasters and your ideal toys-to-life games.