What to make of Square Enix canceling $140.8 million of in-development games? How exactly is (or isn’t) Microsoft going to capitalize on Fallout-mania? Remember when Razer tried to sell people a bogus RGB-filled N95 gamer mask? All this and more on Remap Radio, as Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado break down the news, plus thoughts on Pools (a spooky video game), Another Crab’s Treasure , Stellar Blade , Manor Lords , and the rare IMAX/furniture store combo. Discussed: Razer Sued for Fake N95 Masks ...
May 03, 2024•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 46
Hope springs eternal at Remap Sports HQ, with the one-two punch of QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze providing Rob and Patrick with a sense of optimism about the future. Please do not remind us of this conversation a year from now. Elsewhere, we discuss the shifting winds on the public financing billionaire toys like sports stadiums, the wild NBA first round of the NBA playoffs, and how gambling and obnoxious advertising are impacting the joy of watching sports. See Privacy Policy at https://...
May 02, 2024•1 hr 58 min
We start by digging into the shockingly hopeful news that the FTC has declared non-competes illegal, before trying to make sense of Embracer splitting itself into pieces. Elsewhere, Patrick and Janet have been playing—and trying to make sense of—Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a new Metroidvania centered on grief. Rob, meanwhile, just keeps playing Balatro, while Cado has been taking out cultists in the puzzle shooter (??) Children of the Sun. Finally, we talk about the very brave concessions we make for...
Apr 26, 2024•2 hr 47 min•Ep. 45
It’s time to pour one out for our friend and colleague Austin Walker, whose own game studio recently joined the ongoing wave of layoffs in the video game industry. Patrick, Janet, Cado, and Rob unpack the strangeness of this particular layoff and why people responded so sharply to it, before taking a deep breath and talking about the recent Nintendo Indie World event. We also talk about loving the Fallout TV series, Pepper Grinder, stitch., and some early time with Hades II, before answering a r...
Apr 19, 2024•2 hr 43 min•Ep. 44
Recently, Remap has been watching a lot of Godzilla. To better understand him, Rob and Patrick are joined by Sean Konrad, visual effects supervisor on the recent Apple TV+ show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, to talk about the state of the visual effects industry, what it means to scale a creature like Godzilla, and much more. Konrad was an artist on the spectacular Godzilla (2014), and has worked on movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Furious 7, and TV shows like Loki and For All Mankind. ...
Apr 15, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Dead Space was cool, right? Who wouldn’t want Dead Space 2? Rob, Patrick, Janet, and Cado react to the game of telephone about if/when Dead Space 2 was ever in development, before reacting to Destiny’s big announcements and some cool indie news, like Prince of Persia: The Rogue. Elsewhere, Janet and Patrick have been playing Botany Manor, and, of course, more Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. They also dig into your questions regarding office kitchen snafus. Discussed: Rob's Top 10 List 6:37, Dead Spa...
Apr 12, 2024•2 hr 27 min•Ep. 43
Jacob Geller joins Rob, Patrick, and Janet to discuss Microsoft's new "new AI assistant" and how we expect AI to be deployed to make everyday experiences easier and definitely less frustrating. Plus, Jacob's publishing a book with Lost in Cult, and we talk about the two Stellar Blades: the one that's being treated as a reactionary victory, and the character action game that actually exists. 0:33 - How a Game Lives 11:22 - XBox AI 45:19 - Total War but also Fort Condor 59:40 - Like a Dragon: Infi...
Apr 05, 2024•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 42
It’s time to celebrate a great achievement: Dragon’s Dogma 2 has become discourse. Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado return from afar—GDC, PAX East, and even Disneyland—to discuss the latest details on Ken Levine’s Not BioShock Game, Judas, and what’s happening over at Sega with Relic, union contracts, and more. We also chat about the games we played at both PAX East and GDC, and Rob reveals he’s surprisingly into both Rise of the Ronin and Unicorn Overlord. Discussed: The Microtransactions of Drago...
Mar 29, 2024•2 hr 48 min•Ep. 41
Duncan Fyfe has written a review of Jordan Mechner's family memoir, Replay . It's a terrific piece, but also one that adds a lot of background detail on Mechner's career as a game designer. In this wide-ranging discussion, Rob and Duncan discuss Duncan's article, and their own understanding and regard for Mechner's work. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Mar 26, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Rob and Cado sit down for a quick episode before PAX and end up shooting the breeze for over two hours about Musk's embrace of the absurd Sweetbaby witch hunt, layoffs at IGN and the challenges of unionizing in the face of a declining media ecosystem, Ron Howard's classic journalism adventure The Paper and what it means to have institutional capacity. Then Austin and Patrick talk Dragon's Dogma before Rob and Cado return to talk about their successes in Balatro and Motorsports Manager, plus the ...
Mar 22, 2024•3 hr 20 min•Ep. 40
In-between a surprisingly lengthy aside on Best Buy’s Geek Squad, the Remap Radio crew discusses Insomniac’s abandoned multiplayer Spider-Man game, Warner Bros. coldly erasing Adult Swim games from Steam, the formation of a huge new games union, and more. Elsewhere, while Patrick remains parked in mini-game city in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, he has seen the (gaming) light with Moonlight on his PC. We also discuss the more toxic elements of the Helldivers 2 community, bemoan a lack of Balatro wi...
Mar 15, 2024•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 39
If you’re unaware of the Sweet Baby Inc. “controversy” that’s stirred online, bless you. But Gamergate wasn’t all that long ago, prompting Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado to mull the latest attempt by gamers to invent a boogeyman over their own insecurities. We also chat about Nintendo suing Yuzu into the ground, wonder if Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth’s overflowing mini-games are too much, and find a new passion: getting stuck in the mud in SnowRunner. Discussed: Balatro 1:34, Sweet Baby Inc. Is Bei...
Mar 08, 2024•2 hr 53 min•Ep. 38
It’s another week of layoffs, this time at Electronic Arts, PlayStation, Supermassive, and Deck Nine. Sadly, there will probably be more by the time this podcast is edited and released. Is this all part of a great realignment in video games? Where does the industry go from here? Patrick and Janet, at least, are continuing to have a great time in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, while Cado has been fully unleashed in the poker-inspired Balatro, and Rob contemplates a PSVR2 (??). Discussed: Massive Lay...
Mar 01, 2024•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 37
Amidst rumors of Xbox winding down discs and the increasingly shaky future of physical media everywhere, Patrick sits down with Jon Smith, head of retail at Limited Run Games. If you’ve bought a collector’s edition of an old game lately, there’s a decent chance Limited Run Games made it. Patrick and Jon chat about how Limited Run Games has scaled up over the years, what it’s like running a physical store, and, naturally, how to change the rules of a claw machine. See Privacy Policy at https://ar...
Feb 26, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Nintendo (Partner) Direct! Elden Ring DLC! Helldivers 2 queue campers! This episode of Remap Radio has it all, with Rob, Janet, Patrick, and Cado working through their feelings on this week’s many announcements, alongside spicy speculation about Nintendo’s next console. Elsewhere, Patrick and Janet have spent dozens of hours in Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, and have come out the other side realizing they’ll, uh, be spending a lot of time in this world. We also touch on The New York Times hilarious...
Feb 23, 2024•2 hr 12 min•Ep. 36
Rob and Patrick welcome Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb to the podcast a few weeks after Grubb’s beloved Detroit Lions collapsed against the San Francisco 49ers. The group works through Grubb’s history with the Lions, what it’s like to root for a team worse than the Bears, and wonder what the heck the rest of the league is supposed to do while Patrick Mahomes is still alive. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Feb 17, 2024•1 hr 36 min
Are you ready to spread some freedom, son? The Remap crew is, with Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado dropping into their individual hellpods to discuss, of course, Helldivers 2, alongside the increasingly murky futures of both PlayStation and Xbox. We also share early thoughts on Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, and whether Don’t Nod has pulled off another Vampyr. Discussed: Playstation and the arc of the games industry 5:39, VGD Union complaints against DontNod (https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business...
Feb 16, 2024•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 35
The gang considers their upcoming demobilization from service in the console wars as they reckon with rumors that Xbox will be ditching console exclusivity in the future and bringing major titles like Starfield and Indiana Jones to the PlayStation. Patrick and Janet have been playing loads of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Finally, Patrick and Rob dig into some emails. 2:35 - Console Wars and the Xbox 59:55 - Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League 1:34:15 - Mailbag See Privacy Policy at...
Feb 09, 2024•2 hr 4 min•Ep. 34
We begin where we always do: talking about the latest drama in F1. Unexpected, right? Wow! Anyway, we also found time to discuss our reactions to PlayStation’s State of Play showcase, make sense of the latest layoff news from several companies, mope about the cancellation of an unannounced Deus Ex game, and more. We also dig into Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown’s endgame, puzzle over the output of the studio Dontnod, and briefly touch on Suicide Squad. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pr...
Feb 03, 2024•2 hr 17 min•Ep. 33
What happens when a game you’ve spent the last five years making doesn’t take off? Immortals of Avenum, last year’s magic-infused shooter with elements of Call of Duty and Doom, was hardly a hit. It was the opposite. Remap liked it, but most people didn’t play it. The developer behind Immortals of Aveum, Ascendant Studios, was soon hit with layoffs. But Ascendant isn’t dead, and CEO Bret Robbins, once the creative director for Dead Space, came through Remap Radio to talk about what happens when ...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 13 min
It’s a familiar story this year: layoffs. Sometimes the number is bigger, sometimes the number is smaller, but it’s a tragedy all the same, and Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado are here to try and unpack the horror of it all. Elsewhere, we talk through our time with, and the toxic conversation around, 2024’s surprise hit, Palworld. In happier news, Patrick and Rob have utterly fallen for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, while Janet is less high on the Jungle Book-inspired The Cub. See Privacy Policy...
Jan 26, 2024•2 hr 31 min•Ep. 32
The full crew—Rob, Patrick, Janet, Cado—is back. We recorded this ahead of the Xbox Direct, but there’s still plenty to chew on, including Square Enix openly talking about using generative AI in a game, Ubisoft+ training people to become comfortable with not owning their games, and more. We also unpack Home Safety Hotline, Trepang2, the endgame of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and consider a deep question: so, how long should you hold onto a document? Discussed: Ubisoft+ 9:59, Thunderful lay...
Jan 19, 2024•2 hr 30 min•Ep. 31
Patrick and Rob get together to unpack the stark realization that the Green Bay Packers may, in fact, have done it again, while talking through the shocking amount of high-profile coaching firings in the NFL and the series of blowout games that ultimately defined NFL’s Wild Card weekend. We also consider what it would mean to meet the athlete who broke your heart. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Jan 19, 2024•1 hr 56 min
Janet joins Patrick and Cado for the first time since the holidays, as we wade through a surprisingly busy January, including the news that SAG-AFTRA has signed a controversial AI deal, more than 2,000 people have already been laid off in the games industry, and more. Plus, Patrick and Janet are extremely high on the new Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and we unearth and reckon with some surprising trauma related to Janet’s time with Metroid Dread. Discussed: Layoffs Continue Across the Games ...
Jan 12, 2024•2 hr 24 min•Ep. 30
In the 90's Google changed the way people found things on the internet, and now they're incorporating AI to "help" people by showing them answers without needing to actually go to the website that they scrapped that information from. Patrick is joined by Alex Donaldson, Owner of RPGSite.net to go over the changes and track the history of Google's influence over the entire internet and more specifically game websites. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice a...
Jan 08, 2024•1 hr
Patrick, Rob, and Cado convene after winding down 2023 to reflect on how absolutely nothing went wrong over their respective breaks. Things? Done. Drinks? Drank. Vacations? Taken. No notes. But we do have notes on beating Alan Wake II in the wake of James McCaffrey’s passing, indulging our fullest selves in many hours of the overlooked Immortals of Aveum, and basking in the power of a Steam Deck while sick. (And don’t worry, Janet will return next week.) Discussed: James McCaffrey Passes Away 27...
Jan 05, 2024•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 29
There has never been a doubt here on Sports!, but folks, Da Bears are back. Though out of playoff contention, the arrow on the team is pointing up, with Justin Fields playing better and control of next year’s first overall pick in the draft. But questions remain about the coach, the ceiling of Justin Fields, and how long Patrick can convince his daughter to stay at a cold Bears game until they need to go home. Rob and Patrick kick off 2024 answering these and more. See Privacy Policy at https://...
Jan 05, 2024•2 hr 22 min
You didn’t think we could record this discussion of a year like 2023 in a single session, did you? You know us! Join Patrick, Janet, Cado, and Rob as they work through the second half of their top 10 lists, as they begin to diverge and converge in increasingly interesting ways. And let us take this moment to also thank you, Remap supporter, for everything you’ve done this year. We wouldn’t be here without you, and we’re so glad the end of Waypoint was not the end of all this. Discussed: Patrick'...
Dec 29, 2023•3 hr 35 min
It’s that time of year again, and it’s certainly been an interesting year for this group of people. Join Patrick, Janet, Cado, and Rob as we talk through the year that was without individual top 10 lists, round-robin style. Here’s how it works. Starting at number 10, we rotate from person to person. But if someone else has the game mentioned higher on their list, we pause the discussion until we reach the highest point. It’s a little confusing, but it’ll make sense—promise! Discussed: Patrick's ...
Dec 22, 2023•2 hr 4 min
It’s time to close out the year with Janet, Patrick, Cado, and Rob, as we discourse on what The Game Awards means in a world where events like E3 are going away, try to make sense of Kojima teaming up with A24 for a Death Stranding movie, and more. We also spend a lot of time unpacking our thoughts on Alan Wake 2, and run through a bunch of other games, including Lunacid, The Last Train Home, Station to Station, Cryptmaster, and, yes, more. We conclude with thanking you for supporting the launch...
Dec 15, 2023•2 hr 52 min•Ep. 28
