YoVideogames! (YoVideogames!)

Here's a super long talk about sitcoms, the game awards, and our expected announcements. Plus! A new icecream bet, wherein my cynicism, and Matt's (no shit) optimism is immortalized forever.

Enjoy and shine on!

I didn't watch them. Genuinely felt there would be no surprises. i guess I was both right and wrong. Matt fills me in!

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.

With the news surrounding Final Fantasy 15, it was time we talked about our favorite RPGs. Be they action or turn based (or in Matt's case John Cena based). Do you have a favorite RPG? Was it the first you ever played? Is it the standard by which you judge all other RPGs? We hit that and more in this week's episode!

Shine on!

We have a special guest! Mike is one of the badass trail blazers from Easy Allies. They're the group of Game Trailers guys that turned to Patreon after Defy Media laid everyone off. He's been in the media aspect of the gaming industry for 8 plus years. Today we talk about the transition from corporate network to independent journalism as well as Zelda, magic, NX rumor comparisons, and speed running. The last half hour we get more in depth into Easy Allies, and the challenges they face. It's an interesting talk, and a lot of fun, so sit back and get in on this!

Follow Mike on Twitter @mbdamiani

Check out the Easy Allies website!

BTW: I had to get Mike's audio levels set properly on the fly, I apologize for the peaking and distortion at the beginning. 

This week we are tackling Xenoblade Chronicles 2! We're back in our universe, on our Earth, with what remains of Klaus and the Trinity processor. The planet has been killed, and the conduit has gone quiet. Klaus is overcome with guilt and seeks redemption... Can he build a better world then the one he destroyed?

Sea of Thieves is finally out! How long have I been talking about this damn game? Well it's out and I played it and I dig it pretty hard but it has also caused me some confusion. We'll get into that and more because SoT does something that is somewhat new for online games - Lateral progression. Haven't heard of it? It means there is no leveling and only cosmetic rewards. You'll always be on an even playing field - a year in or starting fresh.

The Harry Potter RPG got pushed back... I think a lot of games are side eyed staring at Cyberpunk and now they wanna push their games back and maybe cancel last gen versions. Don't even blame them, but it does beg the question... What other 2021 games will be pushed back to next year?

Love them or hate them, E3 and Evo were both touchstones for the gaming summer. And without them - gaming news has become a somewhat uncontrolled trickle instead of Gaming Christmas. Will these events be reborn post-pandemic, or are they dead and ready to be replaced?

It's a news heavy episode - Gamescom, Activision BS, and more!

Overwatch is Blizzard's arcade shooter. Already beloved, Matt and I wonder if that will last and discuss what makes Overwatch so popular. Then we talk Rule 34. So... There's that. It's gonna get weird guys. Shine on!

Matt's calling this one the Blue Sky episode. Which is not a reference to the new social media platform - no it's a concept that Walt Disney loved to use when brainstorming ideas for his park: aim for the blue sky and we will worry about reality later.

So we're doing that now, but with gaming hopes and dreams.

This episode is all about anticipation. 2022 is set up to be one of the most memorable years in gaming. Not only because the line up of announced games is incredible, but because there are probably some surprises too. Oh and E3's imminent demise while Geoff "I got Diamonds" Keighley sups on its corpse

Hey, we're back!

So much happened last week. I mean, that Smash Direct had to be the greatest Nintendo Direct of all time, and then Red Dead game play trailer and finally an absolutely insane game play dump for Doom Eternal! Gamescom is coming up and there are supposed to be even more new announcements! It's like everyone is dumping their final games of this console generation :P

To celebrate American Independence Day, we're doing a fun one this week: just chatting about the American games industry over the years. We also find out that I know maybe more about Rollerblading than any of us ever knew (even me).

Game Development is surrounded by a veritable cloud of opinions. Buzz words and PR BS make it difficult to get a grip on the process of development and it leaves itself open to rampant speculation. I need to learn more about the process, so it's time to bust up some of those myths and clear up the misunderstandings.

Matt doesn't love Bethesda gameplay in general but Bethesda Fallout games hold a special place in his heart as examples of mediocre at best gameplay.

But the Fallout Tv series just recently inspired a massive amount of people to play the games... So the Fallout story must be pretty good... But does that make up for poor gameplay? Are there other examples where this is the case?

Hey hey hey!

Today's episode is a bit different. Mike and I delve into the specifics of how we write screenplays with a beginning discussion on how we would execute an adaptation of the first game in the RE series.

It's all main story questions, and story beats, with a few key scenes talked about. Enjoy!

You ever miss an old trend? Maybe a game, or genre that used to dominate. Like I miss couch co-ops. I've said it before, I'll say it again but I do.

Well today's episode is all about those dead trends we think could come back or at the very least that we want to come back.

Once again we tried something new! We tried to record while watching live to have our live reactions on the podcast as well as a small round up after.

Also, we recorded this as a video. So watch when it's up and let us know if you like the format!

Shine on!

This week's episode is wide ranging and inspired by how seemingly pointless the reviews are for Tears of the Kingdom, both positive and negative. Between reviewers  often pumping out inane, sometimes bought and paid for reviews, and review bombing - do things like meta critic even matter anymore? Do critics matter in general, anymore? The big questions.

I love multiplayer games. So, the last 15 years or so have been pretty great for me personally. But it is getting hard to deny that they have cornered themselves. In many ways, multiplayer as a concept is getting a little tired and the methods used to make them the hyper profitable juggernauts they are today - are drying up.

This week's episode we are talking about the possibility of multiplayer shirnking as a part of the gaming landscape. And what might inject a fresh take on multiplayer games in general.

This episode catches us up on a couple big talking points - Microsoft pushing back Halo, and basically launching with out any first party games, and Sony's recent State of Play.

Might be better to say "our favorite type of villains" because we talk more about villain make up than naming actual favorite villains (though we do name our favorite).

What makes a juicy villain? Tragic, love to hate or just fun to watch? Jump in with us as we discuss!

E3 is alive!? Konami will have something to show!? States might fully reopen? Is June hyped up or can we really hope? Join us for talk of expected announcements, the two jokes that were so messed up people refused to film them for Assist Me, and all our hopes for the summer.

This episode is all about the games we wish we would have played when they came out. We plan to correct these mistakes this year!

Kickstarter has been discussed here before, but now we have some updates on Mighty Number 9. There is a lot of promise to consumer funded games when you consider Game developers are no longer beholden to conservative and often baffling publishers. Things can get shady though, and we dive into that today.

Atlus screwed up again. The Japanese side of the company went ahead and tried to shut down an emulator that was working on bringing Persona 5 to PC. Then when that blew up in their face, as can be expected, they had Atlus USA try and PR their way out of it. So, let's draw even more attention to that, and talk emulators pros and cons!

Happy Thanksgiving! And for all our doods outside the US, I hope you're just enjoying your week. Shine on!

It's the doldrums. Every year just after E3, there's little news and less to speculate about. It's a good time to talk about San Dimas.

This isn't an episode about dumping on things - This is an episode about admitting we don't understand the appeal of certain games or genres, and inviting someone to tell us what they love about something. Except Labo. That thing is insanity and I refuse to give it a chance. Ever. :P Shine on doods!

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.

If we've talked about this before, we have never gone this in depth in the conversation. Ever wonder what Matt is most passionate about in gaming? Yeah, it's music! I'm woefully ignorant about the giants in gaming music, but I learned a lot this episode and I hope you do too! Shine on, doods.

Sony's State of Play had a couple surprises, but none quite as big as a confirmed Switch Pro being leaked. It's a roller coaster of emotion for me as I finally see more of Kena, and learn Ember studios might be dirtbags. Jump in and ride with me, doods!

Our topic today was suggested by Kaiber132. If you had a friend ask you what game they should start with - maybe they got a pc for work but it also has gaming capability, or maybe they just want a new hobby... What games do you recommend to get them into it?

The last two episodes were a bit too serious. So this episode we took all the questions and topics we were tweeted and had a good time talking about them! 

Year end financials have been released and the winners are... not surprising. But there is one interesting twist - Apex Legends. Lets discuss.

Today we talk about: How the health and fitness industry is targeting gamers. It's only going to get more prevalent but how the hell did it get this way?

Hey doods!

Andrew is on his honeymoon, so I took advantage and got Mike from Easy Allies in on some Zelda talk! Enjoy and shine on!

CONTROVERSY!

And other buzz words!

Do you like hard mode? Do you think easy mode ruins games? This is for you.

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

The Ice Cream bet is on.

Join us for a proper E3 discussion, and a long one at that.

Shine on doods!

Multiversus seems to really be causing a split in the fgc over the fate of free to play being good or bad. We've said in the past that it would probably be overall good for fighting games to go the f2p route - even though we don't typically like f2p.

Yesterday (7/11) Matt celebrated the second most important day of his life - that's right, his birthday! He's a man now and we decided to reflect on his favorite birthday gaming memories. Can you think of the best games you've ever gotten as a birthday gift?

This week we talk Franchise Killers! Matt was inspired by a Youtube video by Game Sack and we basically decided to record the conversation we were having because of said video. We also announce our Patreon being live and do our first Patron of the Month shoutout, and talk about our new producers. We are bumbled and amazed by the support you guys have shown us. Thank you, shine on!

Speaking as someone who is a bit of a butterface (minus my hero's jawline) - I gotta say I am upset by how accurate this title is to the topic of the episode.

That's right! This week we are talking games that were a let down at face value but ended up being excellent once you dive deeper. Starting with Marvel's Avenger's follow up - Guardians of the Galaxy!

Our post EVO 2017 episode is full of stories and favorite moments from this year's fighting game tournament in Las Vegas. Evo was run incredibly well this year, maybe for the first time, definitely for the first time I've gone. I have to imagine that is because it was all in one location and Mandalay Bay probably assigned an event coordinator to the tournament. Whatever the reason, minus confusing/obscure panel locations, the even was wonderful. Finals were exciting and surprisingly enough SM4SH was the most exciting for me. Come hang out and hear some stories!

Matt and I talk the positives of Persona 5, and about China's game market. Due to a technical difficulty, I had to cut that conversation completely. I'm not kidding. It happened. We then go on to talk about the different philosophies between east & west game development. Shine on!

Star Fox Zero was a let down in Matt's opinion. Granted he has been expecting this since playing the game at E3 last year. He has some good to say about the game, but overall found it a groan worthy experience. This sparked a conversation about aging franchises and how to revitalize them or if they even can/should be revitalized. Let us know what your thoughts!

Shine on!

Happy New Year!

We forget to say that, but we mean it. You guys have been awesome and we look forward to growing and playing more games next year!

In this episode we go over what surprised us most this year, as well as our biggest disappointments. Of course, our answers are skewed because we are a small operation and we are telling you the truth as we see it. We didn't play all the games that deserved to be played and we probably missed something fantastic. Let us know.

Matt and I wish you all the best for the New Year and as always SHINE ON DOODS!

Matt got in to the SF6 closed beta and today we are talking about his thoughts on the game. It sounds a lot like the dev team focused on what fans wanted (I know incredible concept). If the beta is anything to go by, this could be a big game changer for the series, but maybe for fighting games period.

I have a few friends who really love VR. The conversation usually goes in circles, beginning and ending with "how to make VR worth it". Today, former Nintendo USA CEO Reggie Fils-Amie tweeted an infographic from statista showing projections that VR will remain niche in the coming years. His commentary was " Until there is a 'must play' experience, this will be true."

So what is that must play experience?

It's time for part two of our report card series for this year. We're talkin' first party publishers and the credibility of that big leak that recently happened. Join Matt, Phil, and I as we get into a real talk about this year's game releases.

Hey doods! Happy Halloween. Hope you all had a safe celebration, for those of you who partake. Those that don't, I hope it was a good Tuesday? Anyway, it's another Top 5 episode! Matt hates em, I love em, and my brother was a guest for shits and giggles. He knows vastly more about lore and games than I do, so he had some interesting picks, and all the story reasons to back them up. If you guys dig his input, even though he kept not speaking into the mic, let me know and I'll get him to be a regular on the show.

Shine on doods!

I'm sure everyone at Sony is pretty happy with how that State of Play went. Of course you had the big three announcements, but it is hard to pick out a weak showing in the entire half hour. Join us as we discuss our favorite announcements and speculate on what we might expect from these games as Sony finally takes the next gen seriously!

In the final episode of the Zelda Lorecast we talk about Timeline C. I know it's a surprise, so I'll let it sink in... Good. Thanks for sticking with us, and I hope you've enjoyed the lore cast. Give us some feedback about the next lore cast you want to hear and please rate us on your favorite outlet. Shine on!

A tiny spark of controversy regarding a net code patch in SF5 pushes us into a conversation about cap com in general. Also: Next gen could cost (starting at) $500. We get into what would make us pony up the cash.

Matt's got a heart ache. He's been feeling this way for a while... But he might, maybe, JUST MAYBE, be over Zelda. What does that mean? Does he hate it now? Does he hate joy? Is this like when he stopped liking Kingdom Hearts!?

The Switch event has happened. Nintendo is doubling down on motion controls. Essentially the switch is the WiiU pro. Or rather, this is the culmination of all of Nintendo's systems. Mostly we talk about the viability of motion controls moving forward, but we talk a lot about the Switch specifically. Shine on Doods!

First: A conspiracy theory.

Then: Our thoughts on the current state of triple A games.

First episode on the new equipment! Thank you so much to everyone that donated. Donations accounted for close to half the cost of the new equipment. Honestly guys any support, monetary or otherwise, means the world to us. Anyway, here is our final thoughts on E3: our best in show, disappointments and surprises. Shine on!

This week we discuss the latest installment of Smash Me, and passion projects as a whole.

We get cut short due to other commitments, but hopefully we will finish this discussion in a future episode.

Main Characters...

Do they have to be compelling in order to make the game great?

Do they have to be white males to do well in wide release?

Market research apparently says generic white males sell best but I have a hard time believing that when there are so many examples of female, and  minority protagonist games performing wonderfully. Metroid being an example, or GTA San Andreas as another. 

Let us now what you guys think, and as always, Shine on dudes!

This episode is about comfort games.

It is also about CES because I brought it up and ended up talking about it for too long to just be an intro topic... I am sorry.

Comin' in with another breezy fun evergreen episode! Industry news is still sort of rough - although there is some cool rumors/leaks - and we wanted another fun episode.

So, let's talk about game genres. We are going decade by decade from 1900 - 2000 and picking a genre, and making up a game that would best encapsulate that decade in our minds. We are mostly referencing the USA, because we are of course USians, but this could be done with any country's history. It's a good excuse for me to learn more of another country's history, so hit me with a favorite decade and the genre/game!

Is the cost/benefit of cross over marketing worth it? Are these hit shows, movies, book series etc leading to more game sales? Are they expanding the brand value?

I would argue that that isn't their purpose, or at least not the main purpose. Let's talk about why!

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

Naughty Dog got raw dogged by a disgruntled employee.

While we don't talk specifics of the leaks themselves, we do get into the circumstances, and the different types of leaks - like controlled, uncontrolled, and market test leaks. Sometimes companies do this on purpose.

This week begins a wonderfully exciting month for us and a terrifying month for our wallets. It seems like March has tons of great games (at least one exciting title a week) and of course there is the switch launch on the 3rd. Join Matt and I as we give a state of the union of sorts. We discuss upcoming games, thoughts on the future, and prioritize what we need to buy, and what we want to buy this month. Plus matt tries to explain some messed up parts of Nier's story, and it sounds insane. Shine on! 

I think the technical term for this is: a pickle.

In a vacuum, Nintendo had an excellent direct. This is shaping up to be a wonderful launch. Especially if you consider players who will only own a Switch 2 - there is a host of excellent games coming to the Switch 2 within the first few months, to say nothing of excellent games in the first year!

But this isn't a vacuum, so we have to address the elephant in the room: tariffs. And that means higher prices. The Switch 2 will be $450 at launch ($500 bundled with Mario Kart and this is the much better deal here). Games will range from $80 to $90 dollars and there are no free upgrades.

This is a return to 90's pricing it feels like. Well, technically still cheaper, but not by much and it has to be pointed out: the market was smaller, and sales volume MUCH smaller than today. Only time will tell how this plays out, but I have a feeling if the tariffs last, next years sales numbers will not be as insane as we expected.

Thoughts?

Remember when you were a kid and you loved a game (or even a movie) so much that you played it over and over and over again? Then, you grew up and somewhere along the line, someone came to you and said "Buy this, it's just like that thing you loved."

And you did. You bought that game/movie/nudiemag. Was it like how you remembered? No. Someone took a huge dump on your memories right? Maybe it's your fault though.

Let's talk about nostalgia. It has pros and cons like anything. Maybe it is responsible for us not giving the love to games that deserve it, and maybe it's responsible for how we overlook the peanuts in a pile of crap we bought and played.

As always SHINE ON! And share and like and junk.

State of Play 2024 was a mixed bag for me. Matt rates it as overall pretty good - a win - even before he got what he wanted: Ghost of Yotei. I rate it as so-so, even though there were a couple things that did genuinely excite me. Let's dive in and talk the state of play 2024/25

Matt and I haven't finished God of War yet, so we'll be doing a full episode on it later - but for now we get into what games/franchises we wish would get a style shift like God of War.

Take a listen and as always Shine on doods!

This week's episode topic comes from DoodSauce! We're talking games from 8th gen consoles (ps4, Xbone) that we expect to be remade to death. Plus IATSE strike, Activision gets sorta punished, and Nintendo lies about 4K Switch!

For the first time in years - Microsoft seems to have a little something for everyone. Personally we were delightfully surprised by the new Tango Gameworks shadow drop - Hi Fi Rush. While this line up isn't the most exciting line up we have ever seen, it is fun. And it points to Microsoft having a very good E3 this year. Let's talk about their first six months of 2023!

75 episodes deep and no sign of stopping! Today we talk about the 5 best consoles of all time (to us). Surprisingly Matt and I only intersect once on the list, and at vastly different ranks. Matt likes to say my list is hardcore casual. Let me know what you guys think. Shine on!

Positive up front: there was some cool stuff announced here. Not much gameplay, yeah, but still cool things coming. We don't go game by game. Rather we talk generally about the showing and then go into some loves and hates specifically.

Tiny bit of cynicism: Everything was very safe. Which adds to our fears that the next year or two will be rough for the industry and this is only the beginning. Much like the film industry, gaming is going into a downsizing and that means "safer" ideas will be the only ones pursued. That doesn't mean cheaper, though. It means less games, and more budget for the blockbusters they think will make big money. It means more shovelware and big companies trying to bottle the magic captured by indie darlings.

For the first time ever, I made a E3 Predictions Bingo card. And apparently I did well.

We rate the cards you guys submitted before going over mine and then letting Matt lay down his own predictions based only on the floor plan o.O

Shine on and enjoy E3 2019!

An evergreen topic approaches! And yet, it's also topical for the time.

Today we are talking about satisfying climaxes, and what makes them so!

Surprisingly - we didn't get a ton of suggestions for our positive only episode. So, we addressed the couple we got and then hit a few big ones. There was a minor amount of taking the piss out of them. Truly, a herculean feat.

Originally this episode was titled PS5 & Salty B's but I toned it down for iTunes.

That'll be a lot funnier once you listen to the episode.

How to define a perfect game? Well, to steal from James Gunn (and modify slightly): A game that sings from start to finish with no obvious mistakes or flaws to their structure or gameplay.

What games fit that description? You might be surprised, but some games we don't even like are on there.

Rockstar recently bragged that they spent several 100 hour weeks crunching to finish Red Dead Redemption on time. There was some backlash to this, and the effects that can have on their team. Some even calling for a boycott. Here's our thoughts on that subject. And on Hyena clitoris. Our thoughts on Hyena Clitoris' is also in this episode.

So... Shine on!

Do you remember that time you held out hope for miracles? Well, we're in the season for just that kind of hope! So, now's the time to list our Miracle Games. Will these games ever happen? I'd say probably not... Hell, definitely not for most of these. We're dreamers, folks. Come dream with us!

We're not just going to name the games we want to see, but we are going to debut our (sometimes) insane ideas for where these games could go. Let me know what you guys think, as always on twitter @Phunkmachine.

Shine on and Happy Holidays!

It's that time of year! Christmas? NAY! E3 is a month away and that means we have a month to get all worked up on the possibilities for the coming year. Matt and I spend 2 freaking hours throwing out our predictions, our hopes, and our dreams. Kick it with us as we plead with whatever higher power there is to give us an amazing show this year. Shine on!

Today's topics were suggested by NYCrownlessKing on twitter. So, shout-out to the (occasional) gentleman from the east! We get into it about the somewhat surprising news that Shadow of War is removing its microtransactions several months after its release, and other news. Plus we get into some E3 talk (because, duh).

Shine on doods!

Sony brought out an expansive number of announcements and trailers, but very little  concrete release dates and even less actual gameplay. I wouldn't say this blew my balls off, though there was still a decent amount to be intrigued, or even excited by. Let's get into it!

We're back in full swing! Originally this was going to be a Top 5 all time type episode but honestly, this is such a fluid subject, there's no way to be totally honest about it. Too many characters are super badass, and I would change my mind twenty minutes after we finished recording. So we adjusted. This is our list of Great Character's with Great Design, and why they connected with us. Shine on doods!

We all saw this coming. We had a good time last week talking about lame, but beloved villains. Of course we have to do it for our beloved heroes. 

So, lets talk about why our favorite heroes are lame, and maybe why that is good.

It's our 200th episode! Thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoy our take aways from Sony's fall update as well as our ad hoc Rambo and Ad Astra reviews!

Shine on doods!

As a second part to our previous Games on Film episode, today we talk movies that would or did make great games! If you watch our live show on thursdays, you know we dig movies as much as games, so we can get lost in this stuff. I enjoyed talking about this, and probably missed plenty of stuff, so let's talk on twitter. Enjoy and shine on!

This week we invite you to come back with us... to the 70s. Yes! Shag carpeting, in your pants and your home! A time of TVs with dials, wood paneling, and whacky as hell box art. A time when giants walked among us... and did coke and partied in jacuzzis during work hours. We're are talking a little about Atari. Atari was wild.

It's been an eclectic week - NGPX news, along with the announcement for a moba no one expected, and we discuss some thoughts on Last of Us 2.

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.