Episode Notes MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Suriel Vazquez, and Kyle Hilliard kick off this big episode of the podcast by announcing the next Deepest Dive and sharing their full thoughts on Capcom's Resident Evil Village. Then we're joined by the brand new teammate Sarah Podzorski who is officially MinnMax's Streaming Compatriot thanks to your support on Patreon! With MinnMax Plays, we'll be streaming on Twitch every Tuesday and Thursday evening. Follow us on Twitch (MinnMaxShow) and get r...
May 06, 2021•2 hr 8 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, we talk about Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on the PlayStation 5 before sharing our full thoughts on Housemarque's Returnal along with Steve Bowling from Good Vibes Gaming! Our copies of Returnal were provided by PlayStation. We also talk about the big remaster of the original Nier. Then Leo Vader joins us as we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize ...
Apr 29, 2021•2 hr 4 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Janet Garcia, Suriel Vazquez, and Jacob Geller to talk about finally getting to play Resident Evil Village, weigh in on It Takes Two, and rave about the new game Before Your Eyes. Then Leo Vader joins us to answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and leaving a questi...
Apr 22, 2021•2 hr 53 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, we're joined by Bloomberg's Jason Schreier to talk about his recent story revealing that Naughty Dog is now working on a remake of The Last of Us and that Days Gone 2 isn't happening at Sony Bend. Then Janet Garcia and Kyle Hilliard join the show to talk about the most interesting reveals from Nintendo's Indie World Showcase and answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week...
Apr 15, 2021•2 hr 12 min
This week on The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, and Suriel Vazquez talk about the online-only plans for E3 2021 and what that means for the future of the beloved convention before diving into a thorough review discussion of Outriders from People Can Fly. Then Kyle Hilliard joins the show and we talk about Oddworld: Soulstorm and why Apple Arcade's Fantasian (from the creator of Final Fantasy) and The Oregon Trail are worth checking out. Then we answer questions submitt...
Apr 08, 2021
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, we're proud to welcome Janet Garcia (@Gameonysus) as our newest cohort! We talk about why 2021 is looking so promising for indie games, weigh in on Narita Boy and Genesis Noir, and then unpack our early thoughts on Monster Hunter Rise with Suriel Vazquez. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Pa...
Apr 01, 2021•2 hr 18 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! In honor of recent reports that the PlayStation 3 store is shutting down soon, we reminisce and each share our three favorite PS3 exclusives. We also talk about the impact of the PSP and Vita. Then we talk about the reviews for Monster Hunter Rise from Capcom on the Nintendo Switch and It Takes Two from Josef Fares and Hazelight. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a...
Mar 25, 2021•2 hr 22 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode we're joined by our former co-worker Matt Bertz (@mattbertz) to debate and rank Bethesda's best games. To coincide with Microsoft's acquisition and the release of so many classic Bethesda games released on to Game Pass, we randomized a bracket and debated the quality of Skyrim, Fallout 3, Doom Eternal, Dishonored, and more! Then we're joined by another former co-worker Javy Gwaltney (@iv_javy) to answer questions submitted on...
Mar 18, 2021•2 hr 2 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode of the podcast, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and Suriel Vazquez break down new details trickling out from 343 about Halo Infinite and talk about the reveal trailer for the new beat 'em up Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. After that, Leo Vader joins the show and we debate the new roguelite idle game called Loop Hero. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit ...
Mar 11, 2021•2 hr 45 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson and Kyle Hilliard are joined by Sarah Podzorski (@sarahpodz), Kelsey Lewin from the Video Game History Foundation (@kelslewin), and Nikole Zivalich (@nikolez) to celebrate all things Pokémon. We unpack the news that Game Freak is making a Breath of the Wild-inspired game called Pokémon Legends: Arceus, share our favorite underrated entries from the series' history, and more. Then we answer questions submitted on P...
Mar 04, 2021•2 hr 52 min
Episode Notes MinnMax's Ben Hanson and Jeff Marchiafava are joined by Janet Garcia and Imran Khan to go over the day's news on a bonus episode of the podcast! We talk about all of the announcements from Sony's State of Play, including the new game Sifu and a new trailer for Arkane's Deathloop. We also break down the avalanche of Final Fantasy VII news, including the PlayStation 5 upgrade, Yuffie-focused new episode, and two ridiculous mobile games. Help support indie media by checking out the be...
Feb 26, 2021•47 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson, Suriel Vazquez, Jeff Marchiafava, and Kyle Hilliard announce the next Deepest Dive, discuss the hidden gem Olija, and then marvel at how much Persona 5 Strikers feels like a sequel to the original JRPG from Atlus. Then things get nostalgic as we talk about some of Capcom's greatest arcade games and the new version of Ghosts 'n Goblins. Leo Vader joins the podcast to talk about the cancellation of BioWare's Anthem Next, ...
Feb 25, 2021•2 hr 12 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson, Suriel Vazquez, and Kyle Hilliard are joined by guest Dan Ryckert to talk about the much-anticipated Nintendo Direct. We break down the biggest announcements, from the reveal of Splatoon 3 to the great bait and switch with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel update/reveal of Skyward Sword HD. Then we talk about the glory of Super Mario 3D World and share our full review thoughts on Bowser's Fury. We also talk...
Feb 18, 2021•2 hr 6 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and Suriel Vazquez weigh the results from their 2020 game industry predictions before creating new ones for 2021! We try to predict whether Breath of the Wild's sequel will release this year, what God of War: Ragnarok will be like, and what hardware Nintendo is planning. Then Kyle Hilliard shares his thoughts on Little Nightmares II. After that we're joined by Sarah Podzorski to a...
Feb 11, 2021•2 hr 6 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson and Kyle Hilliard are joined by their ol' pal Javy Gwaltney and special guest/voice actor extraordinaire Sarah Elmaleh (Gone Home, Anthem, Gears 5) to talk about the upcoming remaster of BioWare's Mass Effect trilogy. Then we talk about how well Resident Evil 7 holds up and the game's absolutely absurd DLC before unpacking the PlayStation 5-exclusive Destruction AllStars available now with PS Plus. Then we're joined by Jeff Mar...
Feb 04, 2021•2 hr 7 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show, everybody! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Suriel Vazquez, Leo Vader, and the wonderful Ana Diaz. We talk about the ongoing adventures in Hitman 3, Suriel's review of The Medium, Cyber Shadow, and Ana's big announcement that she'll be focusing on her new, full-time job for the near future and stepping away from MinnMax. We then walk through Ana's 10 favorite games of all time, including Minecraft and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker....
Jan 28, 2021•2 hr 15 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Suriel Vazquez, and Jeff Marchiafava are joined by Resident Evil superfan Alex Aniel (@CVXFreak) to break down the Resident Evil Showcase stream, the reveal of Resident Evil Village's gameplay, the announcement of the competitive game Resident Evil RE: Verse, and more. Then we talk about IO Interactive's Hitman 3 and Ana Diaz joins us to answer questions submitted by the community on Patreon! To jump to a particu...
Jan 22, 2021•2 hr 43 min
Episode Notes On this week's episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Suriel Vazquez, Leo Vader, and special guest Janet Garcia run down our 5 most anticipated games of 2021 and also share picks from the community! We talk about God of War "Ragnarok" on the PlayStation 5, New Pokemon Snap, and debate whether Breath of the Wild's sequel and Elden Ring will release this year. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a pr...
Jan 14, 2021•2 hr 14 min
Episode Notes MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Ana Diaz, and Jeff Marchiafava share the MinnMax community's hive-mind official ranking of the best games from 2020 before we each share our personal Top 10s. We hope you enjoy Game of the Year lists, because this episode is filled to the brim! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize and help make the show better by supporting us on Patreon and leaving a question!...
Jan 07, 2021•2 hr 19 min
Episode Notes Welcome to the grand finale of our Game of the Year debate for 2020. In this episode, we finish building a list of the greatest games from 2020 called The Two Tens. Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Leo Vader, Suriel Vazquez, Kyle Hilliard, and Ana Diaz debate the correct ranking for games like Ghost of Tsushima, Half-Life: Alyx, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Hades, The Last of Us Part II, and more. To jump to a particular discussion, check out the timestamps bel...
Dec 31, 2020•3 hr 8 min
Welcome to the Game of the Year debate from MinnMax! We're building a list of the greatest games from 2020, which we call The Two Tens. Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Leo Vader, Suriel Vazquez, Kyle Hilliard, and eventually Ana Diaz talk about their favorite games this year and start to build the list. If you can't wait to hear the rest of the discussion, you can watch next week's discussion early by supporting MinnMax at the Backstage Pass tier. Just don't spoil it for everybody else! To jump to...
Dec 24, 2020•2 hr 11 min
Episode Notes On this huge episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Suriel Vazquez, Ana Diaz, Kyle Hilliard, and Leo Vader unpack the year's highlights by debating the nominees and winners for our categories. We talk about the biggest games of the year like Final Fantasy VII Remake, The Last of Us Part II, Ghost of Tsushima, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Half-Life: Alyx, and more. Each category earns a Maximum winner and a Minimum winner, naturally. We stayed pretty vague, but we've n...
Dec 17, 2020•4 hr 4 min
Episode Notes On this episode of The MinnMax Show podcast, Ben Hanson and Kyle Hilliard are joined by music extraordinaire Emily Reese (from Level with Emily) to share our top 3 music tracks from video games in 2020. We talk about Hades, Final Fantasy VII Remake, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and more along with great submissions from the community. Then Ana Diaz and Jeff Marchiafava join us to answer community questions and talk about the early reviews for Cyberpunk 2077 from CD Projekt RED an...
Dec 10, 2020•2 hr 10 min
Episode Notes Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! We have a huge, fun episode for you this week as we're joined by friend of the show Jacob Geller to talk about Ubisoft's Immortals Fenyx Rising and how it compares to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Then we're joined by Ana Diaz and Leo Vader as we share (along with the community) our picks for the most underappreciated games of 2020. We also look at the nominees for The Game Awards' Game of the Year and pick the most likely winner. Then w...
Dec 03, 2020•3 hr 34 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show, everybody! On this episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Ana Diaz, and Suriel Vazquez talk about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity on the Nintendo Switch before unpacking Nintendo's releases in 2020 and their record-breaking hardware and software sales. Then Suriel explains why the new raid in Destiny 2: Beyond Light has changed his opinion about Bungie's latest release. Then Leo Vader and Jeff Marchiafava join to answer questions submitted on Patreon by the commun...
Nov 26, 2020•2 hr 3 min
On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Suriel Vazquez, and Leo Vader to review the PlayStation 5 (MinnMax's PS5 provided by Sony) along with comments from the community. We talk about Astro's Playroom, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and more! Then we're joined by friend of the show Jacob Geller to review Demon's Souls and The Pathless on PlayStation 5 before Jeff Marchiafava claps in to share his full thoughts on Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War! Oh, and Suriel Vazquez weighs in on ...
Nov 19, 2020•3 hr 34 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show, you can also watch the video version on MinnMax's YouTube channel. On this episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Ana Diaz, and Jeff Marchiafava discuss playing Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed Valhalla and why it has them hooked more than other entires in the series. Then we read comments from the community and review Microsoft's Xbox Series X and share early impressions of thePlayStation 5, thanks to Sony for sending over a unit. We also review Bugsnax from Wild Horses...
Nov 12, 2020•2 hr
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Leo Vader, Ana Diaz, and Jeff Marchiafava review Ubisoft's Watch Dogs: Legion and where the new open-world experience succeeds. We also talk about the destruction-focused game Teardown before Suriel Vazquez joins the podcast for a huge review discussion of Yakuza: Like A Dragon. Then the developer of HyperDot Charles McGregor joins the show to answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the wee...
Nov 05, 2020•2 hr 21 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Suriel Vazquez, Ana Diaz, and Jeff Marchiafava talk about incoming launch of the next generation by sharing updates and impressions of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. We also talk about CD Projekt RED's bold move to delay Cyberpunk 2077, Suriel shares his thoughts on Doom Eternal's DLC, and then we run down the Top 10 horror games as voted on by the MinnMax community. Then we're joined by Kyle Hilliard to talk about the d...
Oct 29, 2020•2 hr 16 min
Thanks to your support, MinnMax has been around for one full year! On this special episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Suriel Vazquez, and Jeff Marchiafava talk about the origins of MinnMax, JeffM shares some big personal news, and we also talk about Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit on the Nintendo Switch. Then Leo Vader joins us to talk about the new horror game Amnesia: Rebirth and to review Jackbox Party Pack 7. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit...
Oct 22, 2020•3 hr 31 min
