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Video game news that reflects on the latest trends and cultural impacts brought on by gaming. From the perspective of a few guys who wish they had more time to play video games!
Episodes
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
Tuesday Jan 10, 2023
2022 Video Game Year in Review
Review
Forspoken Demo - Diddi
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
Tuesday Dec 27, 2022
This episode deals with the 2022 Video Game Awards and how Diddi sent his poop in the mail. Come give a listen and see if you agree with our takes.
Show Notes:
https://www.ign.com/articles/the-game-awards-2022-winners
https://thegameawards.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Awards
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-game-awards-2022-results-all-the-winners/
Monday Dec 12, 2022
Monday Dec 12, 2022
By the time this episode is posted the Video Game Awards show will have happened already but today we are going to take a look at the main categories and give our take of the nominees.
Show Notes:
2022 Video Game Award Nominees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_Awards
Game Review:
As Dusk Falls - JayDimes
Monday Nov 28, 2022
Monday Nov 28, 2022
First, sorry for no episode. The Audio for 147 was corrupt and we couldn't recover it. Now on to the show.
We discuss a couple of stories in the Microsoft XBox universe and we let you know if spending a lot of hours gaming is bad for adolescents.
Show Notes:
Microsoft waits until the beginning of each month to reveal the list of new games coming to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service, but fans often know of at least a few games in advance. While some new Xbox Game Pass game additions are a surprise, other games are confirmed to be day one titles well in advance and November is going to be one of those months. Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have Hello Neighbor 2, Chained Echoes, and High on Life to fill the time this month.
https://gamerant.com/xbox-game-pass-new-games-coming-soon-december-2022/
A new study published by University of Oxford researchers in an open-access journal, JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting, shows that although many school-age adolescents are spending considerable time gaming, it is not having a negative impact on their wellbeing. The study found that 44% of adolescents who game heavily report a better sense of well-being than those who game less or don’t play video games at all.
https://neurosciencenews.com/gaming-wellbeing-neurodevelopment-21908/
Microsoft has reportedly offered Sony a deal that would see the Call of Duty franchise remain on PlayStation for a decade. The Xbox maker told the New York Times that it had offered the 10-year deal to Sony on November 11. Sony declined to comment on the claim. As always there are twwo side to every story.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/microsoft-says-it-offered-sony-a-10-year-deal-to-keep-call-of-duty-on-playstation/
Microsoft’s head of gaming has said that Xbox will struggle to continue as a global business if the company doesn’t establish a foothold in mobile.
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/phil-spencer-says-the-xbox-business-will-become-untenable-if-it-remains-irrelevant-on-mobile/
Review:
Pokemon Violet - Diddi
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Monday Oct 24, 2022
Video game companies spend lots of money on games but apparently not on voice actors. And we hoped the latest google service would buck the trend but nope, not gonna happen and why do we play these games anyways?
Show Notes:
Video games are a nearly $200 billion industry. That’s a lot of money sloshing around an increasingly small group of notoriously secretive companies. Where does it all go? At least some of it is poured back into competing storefronts and subscription services like PlayStation Plus and Game Pass. Thanks to a new SEC filing, we now have some hard figures for what this new console war looks like, with both Sony and Microsoft shelling out millions over a single game.
https://kotaku.com/game-pass-ark-ii-survival-evolved-ps-plus-ps5-xbox-sony-1849642722
The English actor who stars in the hit Bayonetta video game series has asked fans not to buy the latest release in the franchise, after revealing that she was offered just $4,000 (£3,500) to reprise the role.
https://www.ign.com/articles/bayonetta-voice-actor-hellena-taylor-says-she-didnt-reprise-the-role-in-bayonetta-3-as-she-was-only-offered-4000
https://www.theguardian.com/games/2022/oct/16/bayonetta-actor-hellena-taylora-boycott-video-game-pay-row
Google is shuttering its digital gaming service Stadia, the latest ambitious project to get cut as the company looks to shed costs. The gaming service, which launched in 2019 and runs on phones and the Chrome browser, “hasn’t gained the traction with users that we expected,” wrote Phil Harrison, a Google vice president, in a blog post Thursday. “We’ve made the difficult decision to begin winding down our Stadia streaming service,” he wrote.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/video-games/google-shut-gaming-service-stadia-ceo-continues-cost-cutting-efforts-rcna50054
There is a gamer in everyone. Some of us spend countless hours saving princesses, dodging bullets or burning tires in an online game. Others are modest gamers and only venture out to roll a dice in a board game. Whether you’re a fervent veteran or a contingent casual, there is something inherent to our being that keeps us coming back to these experiences.
https://mobile.gamehouse.com/news/gravitating-towards-gaming-why-do-we-play-games/
Review:
XBox Cloud Service - Real World - Tim
Monday Oct 03, 2022
Monday Oct 03, 2022
there were two big events since we last had a show and that's excluding the GTA6 leak. Sony held a Playstation State of Play event and later that same day Nintendo held a Nintendo direct.
http://www.joystickandmouse.com
http://shop.joystickandmouse.com/
https://www.patreon.com/joystickandmouse
Show Notes
Sony held a short State of Play event and here was what was revealed.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/playstation-state-of-play-september-2022-everything-announced/
https://www.ign.com/articles/playstation-state-of-play-september-2022-everything-announced
https://mobilesyrup.com/2022/09/13/playstation-september-2022-state-of-play-recap/
The other big event was the Nintendo Direct that happened later in the day and it did not disappoiont. Here's everything that was realed and announced during the presentation.
https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-direct-september-2022-everything-announced-including-the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom
https://apptrigger.com/2022/09/13/nintendo-direct-nintendo-switch/
https://www.digitallydownloaded.net/2022/09/recap-nintendo-direct-september-13-2022.html
Review
Steamdeck - Diddi
Monday Sep 19, 2022
Monday Sep 19, 2022
We lose the first unionized game company. We answer that age old question, are video games good for you. Nintendo is apparently an awful place to work if you're a female and Ubisoft tells us all about their upcoming stuff.
Show Notes
The first video game studio in the US to unionize is shutting down. On Wednesday, Beast Breaker developer Vodeo Games announced it had failed to secure funding to produce an additional release beyond its debut title.
https://www.engadget.com/vodeo-games-shutting-down-213519398.html
Video games can get a bad rep as being a time waste, but can they actually have positive effects on brain functioning? A study published in Neuroimage: Reports suggests that video games can lead to increased decision-making skills and improvement in brain activities.
https://www.psypost.org/2022/09/people-who-play-video-games-tend-to-have-superior-sensorimotor-decision-making-skills-study-finds-63890
Even the wholesome family image of Nintendo couldn't save it from the backlash this week over a report that the culture there might have even been worse than the one that has been well documented at Activision Blizzard.
https://kotaku.com/nintendo-of-america-sexual-harassment-sexism-aerotek-1849414921
Ubisoft held their Ubisoft Forward this past week where they announced all the upcoming games and news. If I can sum it up in a statement, I hope you like Assasins Creed and The Division because there is going top be a LOT more of them.
https://kotaku.com/ubisoft-forward-2022-assassins-creed-1849522061
https://www.gamespot.com/gallery/the-biggest-games-and-announcements-from-ubisoft-forward-2022/2900-4324/
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ubisoft-says-its-big-aaa-games-will-now-be-priced-at-70/1100-6507403/
Tuesday Sep 06, 2022
Tuesday Sep 06, 2022
The EA saga continues. We wax poetic through an imaginary game world of Arkham. It looks like there are some new video game inspired movies on the horizon and Sony is in deep shit ... again.
Show Notes
The best video games are imaginary. Often they exist completely in our heads, or in the dreamy space between their initial announcement and what we finally end up playing. This is where “Arkham World” exists. Born from a 2011 Video Game Awards gag, the completely fictitious entry in the massively popular Batman Arkham series is now all some fans can talk about.
https://kotaku.com/batman-arkham-world-spider-man-gotham-knights-wb-1849436007
And just when you think it might be safe to back into the EA waters ... they release Madden 23 which should have been cause for celebration but in true typical EA fashion snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. So just what is wrong with Madden and why are gamers so pissed?
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/madden-nfl-23-is-glitched-up-from-coast-to-coast/1100-6506729/
https://attackofthefanboy.com/gaming/madden-nfl-23s-pc-version-is-a-huge-disappointment-thats-missing-next-gen-features/
Fresh off the success of Uncharted and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 respectively, Sony and Sega are planning film adaptations of even more of their franchises. Deadline reports that Sony is developing Days Gone for the big screen, while Sega says it’s developing adaptations of Space Channel 5 and Comix Zone.
https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/22/23316140/video-game-movies-days-gone-comix-zone
Sony is facing legal action in the UK, with a new collective action suit claiming that the company has "ripped people off" by taking a 30% cut on all transactions made on the PlayStation Store. Sony, just like Microsoft and Valve, (and Apple) has long taken this cut from purchases on its store, but consumer rights activist Alex Neill is claiming that this is a breach of consumer rights. Speaking to Sky News, Neill explained that Sony is abusing its market share to impose unfair conditions on games publishers, which in turn is raising prices for consumers. ANd as if that wasn't bad enough, Sony announced this week that the price of the PS5 is rising.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/sony-facing-5-8-billion-lawsuit-over-playstation-store-royalties/1100-6506722/?ftag=NLS-04-10aaa1d
https://screenrant.com/ps5-price-increase-hike-region-sony-stock-playstation/
Monday Aug 15, 2022
Monday Aug 15, 2022
The recession is hitting everyone even video game companies. There will be no Muskstation or Overwatch loot boxes but there will be more games on NetFlix and we take a look at what a video game should cost.
Show Notes:
The giants of the video game world saw their sales slide in the second quarter, as initial tailwinds from the Covid pandemic faded. In the three months ending with June, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo each posted disappointing results in their respective gaming businesses.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/08/microsoft-xbox-sony-playstation-nintendo-video-game-earnings-round-up.html
Elon Musk Explains Why He Won't Make Video Game Console to Compete With PlayStation and Xbox
https://gamerant.com/elon-musk-video-game-console/
In general, we like to think we know how much something is worth. The decision is based less on logic and more on emotion, an intangible gut feeling. When it comes to video games we know when a game is under, or in most cases, over-priced. Unfortunately, that aptness in designating price to value is disrupted by inflation. So are video games really more expensive now?
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/are-video-games-really-more-expensive
https://techraptor.net/gaming/features/cost-of-gaming-since-1970s
Netflix is accelerating its push into video games with plans to double its catalog of offerings by the end of the year, but for now, nobody cares.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/06/netflixs-video-game-push-sees-few-subscribers-playing-along.html
Overwatch’s latest Anniversary Remix event — the game’s third and final such event — kicks off Today, giving seasoned fans of Blizzard’s hero shooter another batch of skins and a chance to revisit limited-time game modes. The Overwatch Anniversary Remix Vol. 3 event will also bring about the end of loot box sales in the game — Blizzard says that when the current event ends on Aug. 30, players will no longer be able to purchase loot boxes.
https://www.polygon.com/23298533/overwatch-loot-boxes-sales-ending-anniversary-remix-event-date
Review:
World of Warcraft - Fated Raids/Dungeons
Monday Jul 18, 2022
Monday Jul 18, 2022
Stadia tries to up it's games. Typical week with Blizzard where they win some and lose some. Another game studio gets gobbled up and we have a list of games that fell a little long.
Show Notes
Google launched click to play a couple of months ago but this week their Stadia offering ot a big boost. They launched 11 new games thaty you can try on their platform.
https://chromeunboxed.com/stadia-9-new-click-to-play-game-trials
Blizzard Entertainment is officially ending new content development for its MOBA Heroes of the Storm and will instead focus solely on keeping the game running smoothly with seasonal rolls, hero rotations, bug fixes, balance updates, and more.
https://www.ign.com/articles/blizzard-officially-ending-heroes-of-the-storm-content-development
"It's almost been 3 years since the last in-person BlizzCon in 2019. In 2020, BlizzCon was canceled due to health concerned raised by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this was replaced by BlizzConline in February of 2021. There has been no in-person BlizzCon since then and the BlizzConline 2022 event was also canceled. Many fans were hoping for a 2022 in-person but it was cancelled once again due to the filing of a DFEH suit.
However, in the first news we've heard of an in-person Blizzcon since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mike Ybarra tells the LA Times that ""We are committed to bringing back BlizzCon in 2023."""
https://www.wowhead.com/news/blizzard-committed-to-bringing-back-blizzcon-in-2023-los-angeles-times-interview-327585?webhook
Supermassive Games is known for its interactive horror narratives, including 2015's Until Dawn, The Dark Pictures Anthology, and, more recently, The Quarry. This week, Eurogamer reported that Danish company Nordisk Games acquired the studio.
https://www.gameinformer.com/2022/07/12/the-quarry-and-until-dawn-developer-supermassive-games-acquired-by-nordisk-games
Around here we love a good strory. Game play is important but without a good narritive to hold it all together the whole thing gets old quick. But what about the games that get old ... later. The ones that go on a bit too long or started good but just sort of fell off? Well here's a list of them put out by whatculture that overstayed their welcome.
https://whatculture.com/gaming/10-video-games-that-overstayed-their-welcome
Game Review
Elden Ring - Diddi