We pay our respects to actor Lance Reddick, known for his roles in Destiny and The Wire, who has sadly passed away. The PS5 Pro is reportedly in development; what features could it bring to make it worth the cost of entry? We'll also delve into the latest Persona 5 spin-off game that has been revealed and give our impressions of the Diablo IV beta. Lastly, we'll touch on Ys Origins impressions and what you should consider when buying a gaming PC as Brad considers joining the ranks of the PC elit...
Mar 21, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 297
This week on Dense Pixels: Micah gives his impressions after some time spent in Like a Dragon: Shin. Sony has stirred up controversy by claiming that Microsoft may release a version of Call of Duty on PlayStation which will contain bugs and errors that only emerge in the game's final level or after later updates. Meanwhile, the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has expressed concerns over the Nintendo Switch's capability to run Call of Duty in an Xbox deal. The Microsoft-Activision de...
Mar 14, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 296
We've been teasing it, and it's finally here. This week, we hold the Tournament of Controllers as we argue to decide the single best first-party controller of all time the only true way you can - a single elimination tournament!
Feb 21, 2023•1 hr 34 min•Ep. 295
Carrie asked and begged and pleaded, but finally...her prayers have been answered. Golden Sun will be on the Nintendo Switch. We talk about that and much more from the Nintendo Direct last week including what we could see in Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the sudden drop of Metroid Prime: Remastered. Nintendo happened to buck one of the negative trends we've seen in the game industry lately. Tape to Tape is the hockey rougelike (yes, you heard me correctly) that he never knew he neede...
Feb 14, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 294
There was a leak of alpha footage for the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, so Micah needed to give his thoughts on what he saw and the apparent direction the gameplay for the denouement of the series is going. We discuss Activision-Blizzard paying $35 million to the SEC out of the goodness of their hearts (according to them), the live service bloodletting that occurred in the game industry last week, the Grammy Awards finally catching up to the times, and we weigh in on the controversy that is th...
Feb 07, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 293
We are still shook from the Royal Rumble and we can't restrain ourselves from talking about it right up top. Is The Bloodline storyline the greatest wrestling storyline...ever? We get a Hi-Fi Rush from the surprising stealth drop the Microsoft hit us with. Republicans set their fake outrage onto Xbox, and what are our comfort food games?
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 292
Marvel's Avengers arrives at its inevitable fate. We discuss who's to blame and why this example in particular was such a waste. It was generally a brutal week in the game industry as we review the frustrating nature of the layoffs that befell many notable gaming organizations. We also ponder what 343 Studios' involvement should be in the Halo franchise going forward. Blizzard continues to show poor management, and one manager took a stand. Also what is the worst candy?
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 291
Ubisoft had to pull investors onto an emergency call to tell them they are cutting over $200 million of overhead thanks to lagging sales. We discuss what this means for the publisher and speculate on their long term future. Brad is going back in time by finally playing Final Fantasy V. Carrie admits we were all right again as she is loving Elden Ring. And the Monster Hunter duo has officially Rise(n) as Carrie mocks Brad for being an unga bunga hunter.
Jan 18, 2023•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 290
It's the first pod of 2023, and while Micah has been keeping his gaming the same, Brad has basically become Carrie completing Persona 5 Royal and getting into...Monster Hunter Rise? SquareEnix has refused to turn over a new leaf this year, IO Interactive streamlines the Hitman World of Assassination, Microsoft stayed true to their word in regards to unionization, and we reflect on the year that was in pro wrestling.
Jan 06, 2023•1 hr•Ep. 289
It's our Game of the Year pod! We discuss the games that made our top 5 this year in what ended up being a very chalk year for us. We also discuss Amazon being the surprise publisher of the next Tomb Raider, Epic Games getting absolutely crushed by the FTC for misleading kids in Fortnite, Riot Games begging to weasel out of their FTX sponsorship, and what moments in gaming caused us to have to push the controller away for a time.
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 288
It's a FULL show after a week off. Brad is drowning in Persona 5 Royal. Carrie FINALLY is playing Hades - and loving it. Micah is of two minds on Marvel's Midnight Suns. There were a bevy of announcements at The Game Awards. The FTC is looking to flex their muscles on the Microsoft-Activision deal. Steph Curry is producing a Toe Jam & Earl movie. Woke reviewers killed Days Gone. The World Cup has been bonkers! Like we said, so much show this week!
Dec 13, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 287
Carrie and Brad both finished Pentiment this week, and we have some (spoiler-free) thoughts about the emotional toll the game can take. Carrie also wrapped up Pokemon Scarlet and we talk about why The Pokemon Company isn't likely to care too much about the performance issues the game is suffering. Regulatory agencies are starting to take a hard look at the Microsoft-Activision acquisition, much to the delight of Jim Ryan. And finally we shame the game companies doing the worst to combat climate ...
Nov 30, 2022•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 286
This week, Brad and Carrie discuss the performance issues plaguing Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the surprise of Pentiment being one of the most engrossing games of the year, NetEase and Activision-Blizzard's falling out, Yugi Naka running afoul of the law, the massive takedown of Tommy Tallarico, video game endings, and our ability to survive in the wilderness.
Nov 22, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 285
The PSVR2 Headset was finally unveiled, and it finds itself in a tough spot in the marketplace. We discuss the place for the PSVR2 in a tough field and what the future of VR generally may look like. Brad gives his impressions on Soulstone Survivors and Gordian Quest, Square had themselves a tough week, capped off by the thud of an NFT game announcement in Symbiogenesis, and Riot demonstrates the weakest way to be an ally.
Nov 08, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 284
We discuss more NASCAR in this podcast than probably any previous podcast combined because a NASCAR driver pulled a real video game move...and it worked! We put a bow on the Hellena Taylor-Bayonetta 3 dust-up; spoilers: dude, we told you. Rough news for a former Square Enix game studio, and Brad and Micah are still Marvel Snap'ing like crazy.
Nov 02, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 283
Our unplanned two week hiatus helped us really narrow down the news...and instead has us talking about the playing of video games! We - of course - discuss the Bayonetta and G4 controversies. But after that we talk Marvel Snap, Fallout 4, Inscryption, and Bowser's Fury.
Oct 25, 2022•1 hr 36 min•Ep. 282
To the surprise of...no one?...Google Stadia is getting the lights turned out on it. We discuss why the platform was doomed to failure. Brad got himself a Steam Deck, and he discusses the hardware and UI experience, as well as the addictive gameplay of both Vampire Survivors and Rogue Legacy 2. The Saudi Arabian government announces their plan to further invest into gaming - we tell you why you needn't be concerned. Finally, Carrie talks about her most recent Game of the Year candidate: the absu...
Oct 04, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 281
Twitch had themselves one hell of a week, as they cut down their creator revenue split, saw reporting of them being a prime destination for child predators, and saw a Senior Vice President dip out. Of course the alleged GTA hacker is a 17-year old kid; the context clues were right there! E3 is back whether we want it or not, EA is doing a FIFA collaboration that makes to much sense, and we discover what a "glizzy" is.
Sep 27, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 280
We take a week off and the whole industry decides to blitz us with news. Fortunately(?) the Nintendo Direct and Sony State of Play presentations last week were pretty lackluster. But Capcom saved the day with a MASSIVE info dump of Street Fighter 6! We also discuss the shocking Grand Theft Auto 6 leak, and the sheer amount of Assassin's Creed announcements that came our way. Finally, we discover several people hold their controllers like psychos.
Sep 21, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 279
AAA Games are in a weird place right now and Halo Infinite is the latest example with the recent news drop concerning co-op. We discuss why this may be and why indies continue to thrive. Glen Schofield glorifies crunch culture, anti-trans folks in the gaming sphere get their deserved comeuppance, and is the CM Punk-Elite beef a work or a shoot?
Sep 07, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 278
We saw the price increase of PlayStation 5s all around the world last week - everywhere that is except the US of A. Is console price stability a thing of the past? Plus the weirdest non-story ever last week, why GameStop Store Leaders aren't actually getting a bonus, and games purchases that gave us instantaneous buyer's remorse.
Aug 31, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 277
Opening Night Live from Gamescom definitely wasn't a show for us; we talk about the few things that did capture our attention. Brad gives his initial impressions on Cursed to Golf, Micah tells you why you should pass on Saints Row, and Carrie has come around on The Outer Wilds. The Embracer Group was all over the news this week with acquisitions and embarrassments galore. There were a couple of surprising lawsuits in and around the game industry this week. We end with a robust Post Office where ...
Aug 24, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 276
How is Brad feeling about Cult of the Lamb? And more importantly, is Micah going to be convinced to purchase it? Reports of harassment continue coming in from around the industry, this time at Nintendo of America. What is it going to take to curb the problem? We are forced - begrudgingly - to tip our hat to the folks at Cards Against Humanity. EA tells us that we got it all wrong about loot boxes. And listen as 3 men explain to you the inverse of the term "mansplaining" to you.
Aug 18, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 275
THE BAND IS BACK TOGETHER! We are discussing the seemingly doomed development path for the Knights of the Old Republic remake, Micah's venture - again - into Dragon Age Inquisition, why The Outer Wilds just doesn't click with us, EVO 2022, how ludicrous the thought is of Rockstar and Grand Theft Auto "going woke", the crap developers at Bungie have had to endure, Square waxing the car to get bought for goo-gobs of money, English language idioms and word misuses that annoy us, why CM Punk shouldn...
Aug 10, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 274
Minecraft developer Mojang takes a sensible stance against NFTs and Blockchain...which was unfortunately undercut by Square pissing all over the message of their most notable video game, and then GameStop doing one of the most crass things we've ever seen? We also discuss whether players should be nervous about EA helming a single-player Black Panther game, CD Projekt RED losing their shirts over Cyberpunk 2077, and the best needle drop soundtracks in gaming.
Jul 27, 2022•50 min•Ep. 273
It seems like Ubisoft is - or was - dead set on pushing their players to pirate their games since they were considering decommissioning several games from Steam. We also have several game announcement stories, like the new Skate being a live service game (eh...) and a release date for Bayonetta 3 (woo!). The post office veers heavily into fighting game talk, and Hideo Kojima was falsely identified as a prominent killer?! Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Dense Pixels We have a Discord server! - ...
Jul 14, 2022•51 min•Ep. 272
Brad is joined by a special guest this week, and our main point of discussion is why gamers need to settle the hell down and let game makers make their games in the wake of Monkey Island and God of War dev harassment. Brad gives his very early impressions of the Live A Live demo, and we talk the games coming soon and recently released we're most interested in. Nintendo brought forth a pretty good Nintendo Direct, and what is the best condiment? Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Dense Pixels We h...
Jul 07, 2022•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 271
It's been an oppressively bad week of real-world events, but Sony's stable of developers put a smile on our face sticking it to Jim Ryan. Activision-Blizzard is being pushed by their shareholders to show their work, Ted Cruz is as odious a gamer as he is a human, and we definitely mention the Nintendo third-party Direct. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Dense Pixels We have a Discord server! - www.densepixels.com/fans You can now follow us on Twitch! Brad - DensePixelsBrad Terrence - App4RITioN...
Jun 29, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 270
Good news! Activision-Blizzard has declared they did nothing wrong, courtesy of an investigation paid for by...Activision-Blizzard. In Diablo Immortal news, we discover the exact wrong way to protest Blizzard's gross monetization practices. We also talk surprising Final Fantasy VII and Dragon's Dogma drops, whether Saudi investment in video games will - or should - affect our buying practices, and the insanity currently going on in WWE. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Dense Pixels We have a Di...
Jun 21, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 269
Another Keigh3 aka Summer Games Fest has come and gone, and with no E3 this year, this is our summer gaming vortex! We discuss our thoughts on the show generally as well as the games that left the biggest impression on us. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: Dense Pixels We have a Discord server! - www.densepixels.com/fans You can now follow us on Twitch! Brad - DensePixelsBrad Terrence - App4RITioN410 Micah - denseblacknerd Carrie - supitscarrie...
Jun 14, 2022•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 268
