Joystick & Mouse | Video Games News & Reviews

Do You Even Game Bruh?

One of the most successful mobile game developers finds a new overlord. Why do we even play games. A fake museum inducts some new members and Sony had it's big day since the last time we were together.
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Show Notes:

Niantic, the company that brought us Ingress and Pokemon Go hasn't faired so well with their follow up offerings. Harry Potter was an absolute flop and the few other games trying to recapture that wanderer magic have fallen flat. As such, Niantic is being sold and here are all the details.
https://www.nextpit.com/pokemon-go-sale-niantic#:~:text=Niantic%20Games%20go%20to%20Saudi,the%20development%20of%20mobile%20games.

Why do we play games? It's a fairly inocuous question that the answer is probably filled with a lot of nuance. Well a research company posed exactly that question and while simplistic, their answer opens up the discussion of why we do this at all.
https://www.midiaresearch.com/blog/why-do-gamers-play-games-half-say-mainly-to-relax-but-things-are-different-for-the-other-half

The Strong National Museum of Play has announced their annual candidates for induction into the World Video Game Hall of Fame. I agree, who is that but it does bring up the concept of a hall of fame for video games and what games should be in it. Let's see if our list matches theirs.
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/should-age-of-empires-and-quake-be-in-the-world-video-game-hall-of-fame-you-can-vote-for-them-to-be-inducted-this-year/
https://www.museumofplay.org/exhibits/world-video-game-hall-of-fame/finalists/

Sony's first big PlayStation State of Play for the year kicked off last night, bringing with it a host of announcements, both big and small, from first-party developers and third-party publishers. The stream lasted for a little over 40 minutes, and revealed new titles, remasters, and release dates for previously announced games. So let's take a look at all that was put on display for us.
https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/video-games/everything-announced-february-playstation-state-play-2030528
https://blog.playstation.com/2025/02/27/a-great-new-price-for-playstation-vr2/

Switch 2 - CES 2025

Some new gaming hardware was "officially" announced. XBox showed off some new games and there was this big electronics show that happened and they talked about video game stuff while they were at it.
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Show Notes

Well the wait is over ... sort of. We got some information about the new Nintendo console in the works but not a lot of details. Let's take a look at what we did get.
https://kotaku.com/switch-2-reveal-trailer-date-nintendo-mario-kart-9-1851739487
https://www.polygon.com/nintendo/23899504/nintendo-switch-2-release-date-power-name-games

Microsoft held a XBox developer direct that showcased new titles from 4 different studios. Here's everything that was announced in this direct.
https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/everything-announced-at-xbox-developer-direct-showcase-live-2025/

This is where we are going to go off the beaten path a bit. CES happened since our last episode and while it is geared towards the latest in Television technology. (Well it sems that way anyways) There is quite a bit of new that is geared towards us gamers. So we'll take a look at those announcements. 
https://www.ign.com/articles/ces-2025-everything-announced

Best Video Game Ever

What prompted Sony to purchase Naughty Dog. We take a look at the year ahead for triple A titles. It's good to be bad and what is the best video game of all time?

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Show Notes

One of Sony's first developer studio aquisitions was Naughty Dog. At the time, we assumed this was because of money and the financial backing that Sony could provide. Well an article this week confirmed that but what really struck me was the numers of what it cost to develop a video game in the 80 as compared to today.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/naughty-dog-founder-reveals-budgets-of-original-games-and-why-they-sold-to-sony/1100-6528634/

2025 is looking like it will be a big year for video games and for triple A titles in particular. But what if those titles don't so well? This is shaping up to be a make or break year for the big name titles.
https://www.eurogamer.net/2025-will-be-a-make-or-break-year-for-triple-a-video-games-as-we-know-them

let's face it. Some times in a video game it's fun to be bad. Well here are the 10 video games that react best to that play style.
https://whatculture.com/gaming/10-video-games-that-react-to-you-being-a-scumbag

This is one of those lists that is VERY subjective. What is the best video game of all time? We have our favorites but let's look at what Rolling Stone had to say about it.
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/rs-gaming-lists/best-video-games-of-all-time-1235215978/hades-2020-1235215983/

2024 Year End Review

... It's the end of he year and that means a whole bunch of end of year retrospectives. Well you know we love a list and we have several this week dealing with those.

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Show Notes:

The end of the year is upon us and as always that means a series of end-of-year awards and community events. The PC marketplace Steam has announced its own slate of nominees for The Steam Awards
https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/steam-awards-2024-nominees-winners/2900-6093/?utm_source=crm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=category%3Dnewsletter;name%3DGameSpot-Report;id%3D12059029;date%3D121724;lctg%3D20cb827897db11f28a37f08b80d1d1fe8847e789eebd69af2959f3e006c92065#1

Microsoft’s newest sales pitch to prospective gamers is that everything—your TV, computer, or phone—can be an Xbox. It’s part of a new strategy aimed at reaching more people, and potentially making a lot more money. It’s also a major shift for the millions of people who have been Xbox fans for decades now, and the company says it’s embracing that and yes, we told you so.
https://kotaku.com/microsoft-xbox-game-pass-ps5-exclusives-streaming-1851722886

The game award winners were announced, we'll get to that later, and during that show were a lot of announcements and trailers. So let's take a look at every thing that was announced.
https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-game-awards-2024-all-the-biggest-announcements/2900-6077/?utm_source=crm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=category%3Dnewsletter;name%3DGameSpot-Report;id%3D12022122;date%3D121324;lctg%3D20cb827897db11f28a37f08b80d1d1fe8847e789eebd69af2959f3e006c92065#1

All the winners.
https://www.google.com/search?q=game+awards+winners&sca_esv=1016bfdc9707f9f9&biw=1592&bih=1017&sxsrf=ADLYWIJt4EFkLGhSSC7AkvegM1BICkV2Qg%3A1734987903209&ei=f9BpZ-6vDNSo5NoP7tnG6Qs&ved=0ahUKEwiu66PN5b6KAxVUFFkFHe6sMb04ChDh1QMIEA&uact=5&oq=game+awards+winners&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiE2dhbWUgYXdhcmRzIHdpbm5lcnMyCBAAGIAEGLEDMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAEMgUQABiABDIFEAAYgAQyBRAAGIAESM4iUIAJWOIdcAF4AZABAJgBNaABgQOqAQE4uAEDyAEA-AEBmAIJoAKeA8ICChAAGLADGNYEGEfCAg0QABiABBiwAxhDGIoFwgIKEAAYgAQYQxiKBcICDRAAGIAEGLEDGEMYigXCAgoQABiABBgUGIcCwgINEAAYgAQYsQMYFBiHApgDAIgGAZAGCpIHATmgB6Ur&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

It's Whiskey Advent Time

No Blurb this week. Diddi was lazy. :)

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Show Notes:

NZXT is coming under fire for its recently expanded gaming PC rental service. A recent video from Gamers Nexus accused NZXT of running a bait-and-switch, sending people less powerful systems while claiming they offer higher performance. The video expose was posted over the weekend, but the company has only now released a statement that boils down to "we'll look into it," and gamers aren't having it.
https://www.pcworld.com/article/2543936/nzxt-accused-of-predatory-scam-gaming-pc-rental-program.html
https://www.yahoo.com/tech/nzxt-accused-predatory-pc-rental-182756635.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAL1VKNUxjWSTejTIRRjURbFafWhjv8R2B3W77BClzuC5RLVznanLo-yly7iABhuBZ9UdSYdPU-Dy1nyXGXoLe83gIb5X3r2IvQ6vt-KqjDw8dQVI6BZwNi3vlIACm0bq5LTaTPlaqGra5VJGfHX5stY3VHQMhlHjXWmgSePR_41E

Hundreds of thousands of Fortnite players are getting a refund after federal regulators found that the game's developer, Epic Games, "tricked" gamers into unknowingly spending money on in-game purchases. The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday that it will send a total of $72 million in refunds to Epic Games customers who were duped into making unwanted purchases
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2024/12/10/fortnite-epic-games-refund-ftc/76881868007/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/epic-games-fortnite-ftc-refund/

https://www.polygon.com/opinion/493536/luigi-mangione-among-us-news
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ironic-suspect-unitedhealthcare-slaying-played-video-game-killer-rcna183550

The pandemic hit hard and we are stilll feeling the effects of that in the video gme industry in the form of all the lay offs and the delay of games. Gamespot compiled a list of all the delayed games and you know how we like a list.
https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/every-game-delayed-right-now/2900-3741/?utm_source=crm&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=category%3Dnewsletter;name%3DGameSpot-Report;id%3D11965166;date%3D120924;lctg%3Db3a7b738bd17d2fa16eb5ab92783891fb0c35bd6f93fb6c92ad5b2d8754d0c30#1

2024 Video Game Award Nominations

... we have a sale. A familiar person is bucking to take over everything mouse. Somebody has a birthday and the nominations are in.

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Show Notes

Santa has come a little earlier this year, bringing a price cut for the PlayStation 5 Slim. This model usually retails for $449, but Sony just announced a price cut. The price is dropping down to just $380 until Dec. 24, just in time for the holidays.
https://www.cnet.com/deals/calling-all-gamers-ps5-gets-a-price-cut-this-holiday-season/

Disney is reportedly considering Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson as a successor to Disney CEO Bob Iger, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
https://venturebeat.com/games/disney/

Warcraft turns 30 this year and Blizzard held a direct this year instead of Blizzcon. Here's everything that was announced during the event.
https://www.ign.com/articles/warcraft-30th-anniversary-direct-everything-announced

It's that time of year again. Whiskey advent you say? Well yes but not what I'm talking about here. It's award time and the video game award nominations were announced this week so let's go through them and see who the nominees are.
https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-game-awards-2024-nominees-announced-see-them-all-now/2900-5956/

Video Games and the 2024 Election

We talk some news from Sony. What netflix is up to. Microsoft financials and the little decision we are making today.

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Remember that game that Sony put out recently called Concord. No? Well neither do we but it's failure was colosal. Let's talk about the numbers and how bad they were. 
https://kotaku.com/concord-sony-biggest-flop-failure-box-office-1851676475

The PS5 pro comes out next week and the specs were released along with the updated games. Well here's the numbers and a few of the games that will get an update.
https://www.reddit.com/r/gamernews/comments/1gjjyf3/sony_confirms_ps5_pro_specs_and_all_50_upgraded/

We've talked about Netflix getting into the gaming industry but one of those endeavors is being dumped already. Here's what's leaving and what direction Netflix is looking to head in the future.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/almost-every-interactive-title-is-leaving-netflix/1100-6527588/

Not a good look for Microsoft this week when it released it's annual report and there were some very interesting numbers in there.
https://www.eurogamer.net/microsoft-ceos-pay-rises-63-to-73m-despite-devastating-year-for-layoffs

As you may have heard there is a small important event happening today. If you are listening to this after release it already happened and you may know the outcome. But how will the election affect video games? Not at all? Well maybe not so let's look at how that could be.
https://www.ign.com/articles/how-the-2024-us-presidential-election-will-impact-video-games

Talk With A Lisp

Epic 1, app stores 0. leadership changes at XBox. A new game announced from a new studio and our list of the week.

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Show Notes:

We been following the story of Epic vs Apple as it pertains to allowing the Epic Game Store on Apple devices. Well that story took a turn this week when a judge ruled that Google's play store is an illegal monopoli and must allow third party app stores on it's devices. let's look at that ruling and discuss what it might mean for apple.
https://www.theverge.com/policy/2024/10/7/24243316/epic-google-permanent-injunction-ruling-third-party-stores

According to a leaked internal email, Xbox Game Studios will soon be led by Rare studio head Craig Duncan as current boss Alan Hartman is retiring in November. What if anything does this mean for XBox.
https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-game-studios-leadership-change-sees-rare-boss-take-over

Mike Morhaime and his new studio Dreamhaven announced the name and some details of their new game this week. Here's all the info so far.
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/sunderfolk-video-game-blizzard-1236173545/

our list this week comes from Gameluster and is their ranking of the top 100 indie games of all time. We won't subject you to all 100 game but here are their top 10.
https://gameluster.com/our-100-best-indie-games-of-all-time/

Extra:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/blizzard-video-games-history-harassment-book-b2627402.html

Don't Go Granny

A beloved streamer decides to call it quits. Nintendo does Nintendo things. Ubisoft does Ubisoft things. And we have a list ... of course we do. 
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Show Notes

A beloved figure of Skyrim's content creation scene says she's retiring from making gaming videos. Shirley Curry, better known as 'Skyrim Grandma,' posted a video this past week entitled 'No More Gaming Videos.' In that video, Curry, who is 88, said the decision "doesn't make me too happy" but shes retireing from playing Skyrim basically because she's bored.
https://www.gamesradar.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/after-hundreds-of-videos-over-9-years-88-year-old-skyrim-grandma-is-retiring-because-it-isnt-fun-anymore-im-tired-of-it-im-bored-to-death-with-it/

Oh Nintendo. In a show of complete lack of understanding of it's community the game giant decided to sue the makers of palworld for copyright infringement. Was this really necessary?
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2024/09/palworlds-japan-release-on-ps5-delayed-as-nintendos-lawsuit-looms
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/nintendo-s-lawsuit-against-palworld-isn-t-just-bad-for-the-industry-it-s-bad-for-nintendo/

Do we really own our games. What rights do we have when we buy a game digitally? A new California law aims to define that a little more but does it go far enough?
https://www.ign.com/articles/physical-copies-games-the-answer-when-nobody-owns-anything

It has not been the best of times lately for Ubisoft with layoffs and delayed Game releases and this past week they got a little more bad news. They cancelled their appearance at the Tokyo Game Show and postponed all press previews of the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows.The reason is so typical of the gaming community and frankly is infuriating. Ubisoft is facing back lash because of their DEI position and featuring a female as the lead character of their latest release. (Star Wars Outlaws)
https://www.fastcompany.com/91198344/ubisoft-anti-dei-backlash-video-game-maker-assassins-creed

Our list this episode is everything announced on the Sony State of Play this past month so lets dig into what was announced and what we are looking forward to.
https://blog.playstation.com/2024/09/24/everything-revealed-in-state-of-play-september-2024/
https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-state-of-play-september-2024-announcements

No, I am your father.

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Show Notes

RIP James Earl Jones

A founding member of British synth-pop band Heaven 17 has alleged Rockstar offered the three writers of hit song Temptation $7,500 each for its use in Grand Theft Auto 6 — a figure he has flat out rejected.
https://www.ign.com/articles/rock-star-tells-rockstar-to-go-f-yourself-after-extremely-low-offer-to-use-hit-song-in-gta-6

At gamescon (we'll get to that later) Blizzard unveiled a 4d ride called "Escape from Dalaran" and it was freaking awesome.
https://www.wowhead.com/news/inside-blizzards-exhilarating-4d-ride-escape-from-dalaran-at-gamescom-2024-345989

While we were away Gamescon happened. This has sort of become the new E3 announcement venue and this year did not disappoint. So let's take a look at all the things that were announced.
https://mashable.com/article/gamescom-2024-everything-announced-line-up-so-far