Yo Videogames

Suicide Squad... Foam Stars... Skull and Bones... Many fail. Crushed beneath the expectations and disappointments of gamers. But Helldivers? They do it right. Again. And Again. And Again. For (Managed) Democracy. For Liberty (in accordance with the government of Super Earth). And to protect our way of life. What lessons should other live service games take from this? What lessons will execs inevitably ignore? Let's talk about everything we love about Helldivers 2!

Nintendo continues its crusade against emulation and more lay offs announced. 2024 has had a rough start for the gaming industry, and we might still be at the top of the drop. Licensed games will be cancelled, and more talent shifting will happen over the next year. What does that mean for the first parties? Third?   Let's talk about the news (and Star Wars here and there)

Nintendo had a Partner Direct, and while there might not have been anything mind blowing - there was a little something for everyone. Which highlights how Nintendo is playing its own game. Especially when you contrast it to the news coming out of Sony and Microsoft these days. 

Was today's (feb 15th) extra special Xbox podcast with Phil Spencer, Matt Booty, and Sara Bond as important as anticipated? No. No world changing news. Was it a nothingburger? Also no. There was valuable information and insight to be had. So let's jump into it together!

Sony had a special State of Play for FF7 Rebirth and dropped a demo. Plus EVO announcements came out. Lots to be excited about!

Well, everyone's cards seem to be on the table now. Did are predictions for Sony stand up? Let's find out.

Xbox put all its cards on the table right away this year. Let's talk about their Developer Direct, and then jump into what we hope/expect to see from Nintendo and Sony.

Chances are you have a favorite voice actor and may not even know their name. Voice acting can sometimes be treated like the step child of acting, but the truth is: good voice acting transcends and evolves the medium, just as good film acting, or stage acting expands their mediums.  Here's a few of our personal favorite Voice Actors, some you most certainly know, all of whome you have heard before. Shine on!

As a fun retrospective of the games that stuck with us over time, we decided to do an episode about the last decade. Our personal Top Game from each year going back to 2013. We surprised ourselves with several of these. There are of course expected picks for regular listeners but anyone new may be thrown for a loop. Shine on!

Happy New Year! We're starting off strong by having an extra long and extremely cool conversation with musician and composer Alex Moukala all about game music. He gives us a peak behind the curtain on the process of composing for games, as well as how he analyzes music he loves to inspire his own compositions.  Projects Alex calls out during the episode: Game Music Foundation - https://gamemusic.net/gamemusic-foundation/ Chrono Trigger Main Theme Cover by Tournament Arc - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYK8M9DUbdc Second Stone: Legend of the Hidden World (gameplay and in game music) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdLMCtAPwmM If you want to learn more about music in games, composition, or just hear more of Alex's work - he's on YouTube (AlexMoukalaMusic) and Twitter (@alex_moukala)

We don't want to talk about the leaks, so we won't, but one conversation that the recent leaks have started is very interesting. Are game budgets getting too big? What exactly is making them jump so high? Maybe it's time to cut the games in half and get smaller games out more often.

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? Bullshit 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.