This week, instead of listening to the usual crew talk about video games, Tori, Nathaniel and Noah are interviewing their respective partners to figure what they played in 2023. From a capital-G Gamer who played tons of 2023 releases to a burgeoning gaming hobbyist, tune in for some different perspectives than you usually get. Tori & Jesse: (0:58:00) Nathaniel & Angie (13:38:00) Noah & Christine (18:16:00) Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts Tori's on Twitter: ...
Jan 01, 2024•45 min
Another year is over and we wanna talk about the games we loved. There's a few we didn't love in here, too. Plus, you get to listen to us open the gifts we got each other, complete with bespoke paper ripping sounds. Thanks for listening :) Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts Tori's on Twitter: tori_as_always Nathaniel's on Twitter: nathanbased Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at W...
Dec 26, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 99
It's Noah and Nathaniel this week and here's what we've got: The future is Zelda is almost upon us, E3 is really dead this time and whoa, there's other news, too. THINGS MENTIONED: This NPR story about E3's death: https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1218999254/e3-once-the-superbowl-of-video-games-has-been-canceled-for-good GamesIndustry.biz: E3 is dead, now what?: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/e3-is-dead-now-what YouTuber Arlo on "the AAA bubble": https://www.youtube.com...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 98
Well, turns out only one third of our hosts watched Gaming's Biggest Night, so get ready for Tori to break down a three-and-a-half hour long program to Nathaniel and Noah who learned everything they know about it from like one article and social media. Color us surprised that Geoff Keighley didn't say "Free Palestine." There's also other stuff, too, like, updates on Twitch's future and more. THINGS MENTIONED: Polygon's handy breakdown of The Game Awards: https://www...
Dec 11, 2023•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 96
This week we're joined by the incomparable (especially so considering there aren't that many people posting oboe VGM covers online) Abbytheoboist. You've probably seen her on social media, just scrolling and then, BANG, some of the nicest sounding oboe you've ever heard. We talk about her history with video games, the video game soundtracks that speak to her and the Final Fantasy workout playlist she pumps iron to. You can find Abby on social media just about everywhere, includin...
Dec 03, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 95
What's up, gamers! We've got a special treat in the feed this week: it's Video Game Podtimism! This is last week's episode of Video Game Podtimism featuring Noah and Tori from this show. Give it a listen and if you enjoy it (which, like, why wouldn't you?) subscribe to VGP on whatever platform you're on now and visit their website, podtimism.com . We'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled stuff!...
Nov 26, 2023•1 hr 49 min
Damn, pre-Thanksgiving was supposed to be a relaxing time of year when Americans mentally and physically prepare to gorge themselves. Instead we heard they're making a Zelda movie. What a time to be alive. THINGS MENTIONED: Shigeru Miyamoto's Twitter announcement heard 'round the world: https://twitter.com/Nintendo/status/1722011980129779795?s=20 Variety on one man's journey to direct a Zelda movie: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/wes-ball-directing-zelda-movie-23-years-after-...
Nov 20, 2023•48 min•Ep. 94
It's been months in the making... We finally beat Final Fantasy X and oh boy do we have a lot of thoughts about this uneven, kinda out-there game. We make it pretty clear once the big spoilers start getting thrown around, but be aware that there are some names and location names thrown out early on that could, if you're really worried about that kind of stuff, be considered a spoiler. THING(S) MENTIONED: Final Fantasy X-3 is sorta already written, but...: https://www.gameinformer.com/202...
Nov 13, 2023•1 hr 46 min•Ep. 93
2023 has been an incredible year for game releases so far, but it's been a pretty miserable year for the people who make games and the people who write about them. We're talking games layoffs this week as well as news about a series we love and, uh, Aaron Sorkin. THINGS MENTIONED: The Verge on the latest gaming world layoffs at Bungie: https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/30/23938990/bungie-sony-layoffs-delays-destiny-final-shape-marathon Aidan Moher's blog on 2023 in gaming: https://ast...
Nov 05, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 92
This week we're joined by award-winning games and comics writer Nadia Shammas. Listen in for a conversation about the intersection of identity and writing, Nadia's experience navigating the writing world as a Palestinian-American, how cool Marvel vs. Capcom is and much more. Nadia's writing credits span mediums, from independent comics ( Squire , Where Black Stars Rise ), to licensed comics (Ms. Marvel, Batman, etc.) to games (Thirsty Suitors). You can find Nadia online at their webs...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr 45 min•Ep. 91
What would a video game podcast be without hosts who have strong opinions about GameStop? Tori and Nathaniel share some of their GameStop horror stories and talk about what they're playing — spoiler: Mario Wonder — in this week's episode. THINGS MENTIONED: The Verge on Bandcamp's layoffs: https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/16/23919551/bandcamp-layoffs-epic-songtradr YouTuber Orbalology on buying games from GameStop: https://youtu.be/GOnNljlf6Q8 Nathaniel Bandy visits a GameStop in ever...
Oct 22, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 88
We've been doing our silly, earnest little show for two years now, and to help us celebrate that (and also talk about gaming news from a week when Tori and Noah were busy focusing on non-gaming news) we're joined by podcaster extraordinaire AJ Fillari. You can follow AJ online: Ko-Fi Twitter Bluesky Or any other social media platform where they have you find an account with the handle "ajfillari." THINGS MENTIONED: Willa Rowe's review of Assassin's Creed Mirage for Inve...
Oct 15, 2023•1 hr 44 min•Ep. 86
People love it when video game podcast hosts talk about stuff that's not video games, right? Of course we talk about video game news — like the latest death knell for the 3DS and Animal Crossing LEGOs — but there's lots of stuff in here about public radio, social media and more. Give a listen :) THINGS MENTIONED: Paul Tassi at Forbes on the downfall of Marvel's Avengers: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/09/18/marvels-avengers-is-days-away-from-being-deleted-from-storefront...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 86
We came so close to just talking about Star Wars for 90 minutes, but instead it just comes up a few times while we discuss Nintendo's successor console and other news. THINGS MENTIONED: Polygon on the Epic Games layoffs: https://www.polygon.com/23894267/epic-games-fortnite-unreal-engine-layoffs-2023 PC World on Unity walking back some of its shitty decisions: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2081112/unity-walks-back-new-engine-pricing-after-protests.html Kotaku: EA moves on without FIFA: http...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 87
Gaming... We all love it. This week we're talking about the whacky XBOX leaks, the future of jizz in Star Wars and more. Join us for a rolling (like how a Katamari ball rolls) good time. THINGS MENTIONED: XBOX leaks! Here's IGN's breakdown: https://www.ign.com/articles/all-the-major-revelations-from-the-ftc-vs-xbox-court-document-leaks Willa Rowe's take for Inverse on lame console designs: https://www.inverse.com/gaming/xbox-leak-brooklin-console-design Here's where you can m...
Sep 25, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 86
The elephant in the room this week is the latest Nintendo Direct, but there's still lots of other stuff going on: Unity blowing up, new Pokemon collabs and everybody's still talking about One Piece. Plus, outside of news, you can tune in to hear about fitness, about a particular TruTV television program and much more. THINGS MENTIONED: The excellent Twitter thread about Mario RPG and accessibility: https://twitter.com/momoxmia/status/1702400250198237286 The Verge's explainer on the U...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 37 min
There are some HUGE games out this year. We haven't played any of them, but there's lots of other stuff to talk about, too. THINGS MENTIONED: The latest episode of the podcast Into the Aether: https://intothecast.transistor.fm/episodes/into-the-starfield A GameRant article about the latest Nintendo Direct rumors: https://gamerant.com/nintendo-direct-september-2023-rumor/ IGN: No ToTK DLC: https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-moves-on-to-brand-new-the-legend-of-zelda-game-rules-out-tears...
Sep 11, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 84
You ever just look up and see him? Monkey D. Luffy? We do. But this is a video games podcast, and we're talking video game news this week. THINGS MENTIONED: EA layoffs and bad union behavior : https://venturebeat.com/games/eas-bioware-will-lay-off-50-and-cut-ties-with-unionized-keywords-playtesting-group/ From Axios: Apparently the next Immortals game was gonna be really interesting, but it got canceled : https://www.axios.com/2023/08/21/immortals-2-oxygen-elden-ring-wind-waker Here's an...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr 35 min•Ep. 83
Tori and Noah are joined this week by the fabulous hosts of the Origin Story podcast. Listen in for a deep conversation about the creative process, interviewing people whose art you admire and nostalgic memories of sharing games with your friends. You can find more Origin Story on their website, o riginstory.show , and on Twitter @originstory_ . Phillip's on Twitter @3DSisquo and Ben's on Twitter @sad_radio_lad THINGS MENTIONED: This dude's incredible fashion: www.tiktok.com/@deserte...
Aug 20, 2023•1 hr 25 min•Ep. 82
This week: Pokemon, Pikmin and ports. Plus a special guest gives Tori some Pikmin pointers. You won't wanna miss this one. THINGS MENTIONED: A More Civilized Age : https://amorecivilizedage.net/ Let One Thousand Rei Ayanamis Bloom from Pyramid Inu on YouTube : https://youtu.be/qYjj1Rljr94 Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah produces the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_Star...
Aug 14, 2023•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 81
It's Noah and Nathaniel this week, and the vibes are pretty loose. We're talking Switch 2 rumors, 3DS sales numbers and Elder Scrolls. Plus Barbenheimer thoughts and lots. THINGS MENTIONED: Video Games Chronicles' Switch 2 leak: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sources-nintendo-switch-2-targets-2024-with-next-gen-console/ Polygon: People love the 3DS: https://www.polygon.com/23818670/nintendo-3ds-eshop-closure-game-sales-2023 Game Rant on the Oblivion remake rumor: https://ga...
Aug 06, 2023•1 hr 20 min•Ep. 80
Barbie this, Oppenheimer that, we're here to talk about video games, dammit. Neopets is doing some stuff (not NFTs), Tori's playing Final Fantasy and there's lots more this episode, too. THINGS MENTIONED: Neopets is under new ownership and ready to kick ass : https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/17/23798368/neopets-relaunch-website-flash-games From Kotaku: Cowboy Bebop's daddy is releasing a new series : https://kotaku.com/shinichiro-watanabe-new-anime-cowboy-bebop-john-wick-185066045...
Jul 24, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 79
We've both finally done it: we beat Tears of the Kingdom. So, of course, we decided we'd ignore news this week and just talk about Tears of the Kingdom and the Zelda series at large. THINGS MENTIONED: What's Next For Zelda from YouTuber ENDO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhWEiKkxQTY
Jul 18, 2023•1 hr 40 min•Ep. 78
Press START is NOT nor will it ever be AI-generated, and we're not currently on Threads (and we really don't want to be) so please don't blow it up. We really don't wanna be on Threads. THINGS MENTIONED: Here's the G/O Media Union statement about AI-generated content. You can follow this Twitter rabbit hole to find info on what the content was and how bad it was: https://twitter.com/gmgunion/status/1674535138883952640/photo/1 Willa Rowe from Inverse on the Annapurna Interacti...
Jul 09, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 77
Nathaniel and Tori are pretty stoked about a lot of the stuff shown off at Nintendo's Not-E3 Direct this year. Lots of wonder-ous stuff, yeah? They're talking about the stuff they want to play from that and what they're playing on this week's episode. Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah produces the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and on tumblr at pres...
Jun 25, 2023•37 min•Ep. 76
It's been a heck of a week, huh? A thousand more games were announced, Embracer Group shit the bed and Activision Blizzard is honoring Pride Month by telling weird homophobes to hit the bricks. Tune in to hear us talk about all of that as well as YouTube video essays, games we're playing and more. THINGS MENTIONED: The latest on what Persona 3: Reload is actually gonna have in it from IGN: https://www.ign.com/articles/persona-3-reload-wont-include-content-from-fes-or-portable-including-t...
Jun 19, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 75
And we're off! The E3 that's not E3 has officially begun with Jeff Keighley's testosterone-fueled spectacular. We're talking about that, the newly-announced Persona 3 remake, rumors of a Zelda movie and lots more. THINGS MENTIONED: Polygon's Summer Games Fest recap: https://www.polygon.com/23752958/summer-game-fest-announcements-trailers-2023 Polygon's Day of the Devs recap: https://www.polygon.com/23755197/day-of-the-devs-2023-announcements-indie-game-showcase Rumors abo...
Jun 11, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 74
It's been a weird week for games media. Bobby Kotick got interviewed by Variety, the Disco Elysium dev studio is in the spotlight again and Vice is still falling apart, but its video game stars are moving on. We're talking about that stuff as well as Zelda, the new Spiderman movie and more. THINGS MENTIONED: Bobby Kotick's Variety interview . People Make Games' ZA/UM documentary . Remap Radio . Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp ...
Jun 04, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 73
We took some time out of our busy schedules of playing Zelda like it's our jobs to record a podcast about everything from the (reportedly) shitty new Gollum game to all of the highs and lows of the PlayStation Showcase last week. THINGS MENTIONED: An IGN article about how a playthrough of the Gollum game leaked early . This incredible tweet about Gollum . Naoki Yoshida floats removing Final Fantasy's numbers . A rumored update on the Star Wars open world game Ubisoft is working on . A la...
May 28, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 72
Alright, look, this one is 90 minutes about Tears of the Kingdom. OK, An hour and ten about Zelda and then like 20 minutes at the end about Crocs when we started to get especially tired and loopy. Hope you enjoy. Spoilers start at 13:30. THINGS MENTIONED: Eurogamer on the story behind some of TotK's new abilities . Garage Sale on Steam. Add it to your wishlist, it looks cute . Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gamin...
May 21, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 71
