Send us a text Any child of the '80s and '90s knows that these years were the golden age of Rare , the British video game development company. Kev Bayliss is the creator of Diddy Kong and a long-time game developer who has worked on some of the most iconic franchises in gaming history, including Battletoads , Killer Instinct , GoldenEye 007 , Diddy Kong Racing , and more. He joins us to share stories of what it was like making games during this heyday. We'll also be discussing a new Microsoft pa...
May 13, 2022•1 hr 35 min
Send us a text Square Enix has been making major headlines this week, and unfortunately, it’s not because the pixel remasters of Final Fantasy 1 through 6 are finally coming to consoles. The Tomb Raider publisher has announced that it is selling several of its Western studios in order to focus on what it considers most important -- blockchain . Additionally, legendary game dev Yuji Naka has shared details about why he took Square Enix to court over Balan Wonderworld . We discuss our once favorit...
May 06, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Send us a text It seems Sony will be making a few other changes to go along with its newly revamped PlayStation Plus subscription service. The company announced this week that any game costing $34 or higher must have an accompanying game trial that lasts for at least 2 hours. Additionally, the notoriously anti-game preservation company has just launched a new game preservation team. We examine these two surprisingly player-centric moves and suspect that all is not quite as positive as it initial...
Apr 29, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Send us a text Remember a time before microtransactions? Yeah, neither do we. That's why the news that Microsoft and Sony are considering including ads in Xbox and Playstation games has us more than a little nervous. Is this intrusion into our games the inevitable future? Or do gamers still have a voice that rings stronger than corporate greed? We'll also be discussing the apparent leak of a Nintendo Switch Game Boy emulator , the newly announced Sonic Origins , and the upcoming Streets of Rage ...
Apr 22, 2022•1 hr 16 min
Send us a text Thanks to numerous allegations of misconduct and abuse, Activision Blizzard has been a mainstay in the headlines for the last year. This week was no different, except... it's only PARTIALLY bad news?? We look at the recent goings-on at the embattled company, including the move to give 1,100 QA testers full-time jobs and higher base pay, the newly hired chief diversity, equity, and inclusion officer , and reports that the California governor has been interfering in the Activision B...
Apr 15, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Send us a text E3 's efforts last year to keep its showcase alive in digital form in the midst of a global pandemic were lackluster at best. Perhaps then it's not all that shocking to hear the event is canceled completely this year -- both in-person and digitally. One question remains, however: does it even matter? In a world that now thrives on digital showcases by the likes of Nintendo , Sony , and Microsoft , do we really need an event such as E3 ? And can E3 do anything to remain relevant an...
Apr 08, 2022•1 hr 15 min
Send us a text For years, Microsoft's Game Pass has been the king of video game subscription services. The internet has long been filled with chatter over if/when Sony's PlayStation would throw its hat in the ring and challenge Xbox on its home turf. Today, we have that answer. Sony unveiled its all-new PlayStation Plus subscription service. We dive into the details to see if it's a worthy competitor to Game Pass . We'll also be discussing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel's delay t...
Apr 01, 2022•1 hr 9 min
Send us a text For decades, governments and media have made video games a scapegoat for the ills of modern society, and violence in games is blamed for all kinds of real-life violence. But what does the science say? You may be surprised to learn that violence in video games isn't the problem at all, and that rage quitting is actually...healthy! We also discuss the Intellivision Amico 's new official unboxing video, how the Witcher 4 director is promising there will be no crunch "on my watch," an...
Mar 25, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Send us a text Facebook Gaming was supposed to be the social media giant's answer to Twitch . Four years after its launch, however, it's a weird wasteland of diet pill ads and sketchy viewership stats. What went wrong... aside from, well, everything? We look at the head-scratcher that is the current state of Facebook Gaming , as well as discuss what it would take to turn the service around. We'll also be talking about how Elden Ring sold over 12 million copies in 18 days, the upcoming opening of...
Mar 18, 2022•1 hr 11 min
Send us a text In 1982, the video game adaptation of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial released for the Atari 2600 to commercial and critical failure. But is it really the worst game of all time? We sit down with Howard Scott Warshaw (the developer of Yars' Revenge , Raiders of the Lost Ark , and the infamous E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial ) to learn more about the heyday of Atari and find out if there's any truth to that oft-repeated internet claim that E.T. caused the video game crash of 1983. We'll also...
Mar 11, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Send us a text Guinness just announced their list of the Top 50 video game characters of all time based on the results of a public poll, and well... we have thoughts. We go over the list's snubs, surprises, and outright shocks. Does Mario really deserve to be #1? The answer is...it depends. We'll also discuss the newly announced Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet , the leaked pricing details for PlayStation's Spartacus subscription service, how Capcom has riled the FGC with its intense Street Fi...
Mar 04, 2022•1 hr 13 min
Send us a text One week (and $139 million) into the Uncharted movie's theatrical run, it seems that there's still a rabid audience for film adaptations of beloved video games. So get your popcorn ready because we're previewing eight upcoming titles. Some look good, some definitely look bad, and at least one is a real head-scratcher. We're also discussing Street Fighter 6 's disastrous new Adobe stock image logo, the news that the Call of Duty franchise might not release a game in 2023, Sony Pict...
Feb 25, 2022•1 hr 19 min
Send us a text We all knew the day was coming when Nintendo would close down the digital storefronts for its 3DS and Wii U consoles. However, it hurts a bit more to realize that up to 1000 digital-only video games will disappear forever as a result. The internet is alight with debates about games preservation, emulation, and piracy, and it seems like everyone has a (very strong) opinion. We attempt to navigate through the noise to see what's really at stake. We'll also be discussing how the orig...
Feb 18, 2022•1 hr 12 min
Send us a text The first Nintendo Direct of 2022 is finally here, and it was a whopper! We're going over every single announcement, including Xenoblade Chronicles 3 , the Booster Course Pass for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , Mario Strikers: Battle League , Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes , Nintendo Switch Sports , and so much more (as well as the unfortunately named "Mouthful Mode" from Kirby and the Forgotten Land ). We'll also be discussing Intellivision Amico 's nearly $8.5 million debt load, how t...
Feb 11, 2022•1 hr 18 min
Send us a text Just when we'd started to wrap our heads around Microsoft 's acquisition of Activision Blizzard , Sony announced they'd bought Bungie (maker of Destiny and Halo ) for $3.6 billion. Considering the massive wheeling and dealing that's being done in the video game industry as of late, $3.6 billion almost seems like chump change. However, this purchase will inevitably have far-reaching effects on the world of gaming. Why did Sony really buy Bungie , and what does this mean going forwa...
Feb 04, 2022•1 hr 1 min
Send us a text How many copies of Burger King 's 2006 advergame Sneak King is too many? For AEW wrestler and reality show stuntman Leroy Patterson , the limit does not exist. Leroy joins us to discuss his nearly 3,000 copies of Sneak King , what it's really like to be a contestant on Wipeout , and why being a game tester is the worst job ever (spoiler: it involves squirrel speak). We'll also be talking about Netflix 's goal to be the "absolute best" gaming service, the three new Star Wars games ...
Jan 28, 2022•1 hr 28 min
Send us a text Mergers and acquisitions have been especially big business in the video game industry throughout the last year. Nevertheless, when Tuesday brought the news that Microsoft had agreed to purchase Activision Blizzard in an epic $75.5 billion all-cash deal , gamers the world over collectively said, "Holy #@*%!" We discuss the record-breaking buyout and what it might mean for the future of Activision Blizzard 's troubled company culture (including CEO Bobby Kotick ), as well as possibl...
Jan 21, 2022•1 hr 18 min
Send us a text The metaverse is being touted as the do-all, be-all platform of the future where we will work, play, live, and get married. There's only one problem -- video games have already been offering all of that for years. So what's left for the metaverse to give us? Or better yet, do we really need a metaverse at all? We're also discussing the new Sega Sapporo studio led by the former Phantasy Star Online 2 producer, how Xbox's Phil Spencer is calling for a cross-platform ban program, why...
Jan 14, 2022•1 hr 7 min
Send us a text In our last episode, we looked at 2021 in the rearview mirror. This time, we're gazing in our proverbial crystal balls to see what the world of video games might bring in 2022 . We'll hear what a few analysts have to say about the coming year and then make some predictions of our own. We'll also be discussing Sony 's newly confirmed PSVR2 , how Gordon Ramsey doesn't know what Twitch is, Samsung ’s move to integrate Stadia , GeForce Now , and NFTs into its new line of TVs, and the ...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Send us a text To gain clues about the future, it's helpful to look at the past. But if the dominance of mobile, digital, and free-to-play video games in 2021 is anything to go by, the future of video games may be unrecognizable to those of us who grew up blowing into our NES cartridges. But is it all bleak, or can we find some ray of gaming hope in the face of these dark, dystopian days? We'll also be discussing PlayStation 's newly patented system for coaching players who have "fallen below a ...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 2 min
Send us a text We’re excited to welcome you to the very first episode of Gamers Week Podcast ! Like the name says, we analyze the best, worst, and weirdest headlines of the past week in the video game industry. Since it's our first episode, we take some time to introduce our three hosts, but if you want to get straight to the news, check out those sweet time codes to skip ahead. It feels like NFT s are the buzzword of the moment, especially when it comes to video games. But are these divisive en...
Jan 07, 2022•1 hr 10 min
Send us a text When you can't think of what to put in your launch trailer, there's only one thing to do... Improvise. Support the show
Jan 04, 2022•56 sec
