It's time for the first episode of The MinnMax Show for 2023! We're back! On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Jacob Geller to talk about our winter break and share the highlights of all the games we played. We also share the big results for the MinnMax community's hive-mind take on the top 10 games of 2022! Forget The Two Tens, this is an objective list based on hundreds and hundreds of votes. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community an...
Jan 05, 2023•2 hr 59 min
This is it, everybody. The final debate for Game of the Year for 2022 and the ranking of The Two Tens. MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, and Jeff Marchiafava to celebrate and rank the greatest games released in 2022. Where will Horizon Forbidden West rank? Should Wordle claim a spot on the list? Will anything dethrone Elden Ring? Tune in to find out! Thank you all so much for watching and sharing MinnMax's end o...
Dec 29, 2022•3 hr 42 min
Welcome back to another exciting episode of The MinnMax Show. On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, Kelsey Lewin, Janet Garcia, Jefff Marchiafava, and Jacob Geller to start debating the list for the best games of 2022. We celebrate the greatest games with a list of Two Tens, some might say the Top 20 games of the year. We build up all of the contenders along the way before we try to narrow things down to a workable version of The Two Tens. We'll be b...
Dec 22, 2022•3 hr 37 min
Welcome to the biggest episode of The MinnMax Show EVER! This week is dedicated to handing out the annual MinnMax Awards for specific categories in gaming this year and Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, Jeff Marchiafava, and Kelsey Lewin. We run down our picks for Best Thing, Dumbest Thing, Biggest News, The Game We All Agree Is Probably Good But We Didn't Play, Best Character, Best Moment, and The Greatest Work Of Art Of All Time. To ...
Dec 15, 2022
We're sorry we're a bit late, but we there's so much to talk about with The Game Awards that we had to delay things a bit! On this episode, MinnMax's Ben Hanson is joined by Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and the queen of The Game Awards herself Janet Garcia to unpack the biggest highlights and reveals from the evening. We also talk about Need for Speed Unbound, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, and Leo talks about why he's digging Pentiment so much! Then we answer wonderful questions submitted...
Dec 09, 2022•2 hr 21 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller and Emily Reese to break down our favorite pieces of game music from 2022. We hit the big stuff like God of War Ragnarok and Elden Ring, but also dive into the weeds on some great soundtracks from smaller games this year as well. We also share some of the community's picks submitted over on Patreon. You can find links below to the tracks we played on the podcast. Then we answer questions submitted on P...
Dec 01, 2022•2 hr 57 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show podcast! On today's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Sarah Podzorski to share our thoughts on Pokémon Scarlet And Violet and its technical limitations on the Nintendo Switch. Then Leo Vader and Jacob Geller join the show and we talk about the opening hours to Marvel's Midnight Suns from Firaxis and Sarah tells us all about Tactics Ogre: Reborn. Oh, and Leo Vader explains why he's fallen back in love with Fallout 76. ...
Nov 24, 2022•2 hr 10 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show podcast! On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, Sarah Podzorski, and Leo Vader to set the stage for our 2022 Game of the Year debate by suggesting games other folks should check out. Then we talk about the incredible historical work done with the Atari 50 collection, Obsidian's bold take with Pentiment, and why Kyle loves Pentiment. Then we're joined by generous Extra Life donor CalamityNolan from the community to ...
Nov 17, 2022•2 hr 6 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! We have a fun episode for you this week, Ben Hanson is joined by Sarah Podzorski, Ana Diaz, and (formerly of Game Informer, The Washington Post, and Fanbyte) Elise Favis. We share our thoughts on Sonic Frontiers, break down the highlights from Nintendo's Indie World showcase, Elise raves about A Plague Tale: Requiem, we pit the farming in Coral Island against Square-Enix's Harvestella, and Sarah talks about playing Resident Evil 4 for the first time. Then we ans...
Nov 10, 2022•2 hr 53 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Jacob Geller as they dive into their full (and extremely spoiler-free) review of God of War Ragnarok from Santa Monica Studios. Then we talk about Bayonetta 3, Resident Evil Village's DLC, and the price and release date reveal for PSVR2. 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 sh...
Nov 03, 2022•2 hr 49 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard to talk about the first five hours of God of War: Ragnarok without spoiling any story details. Then Jacob Geller unloads his thoughts on Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and he and Kyle try to share their odd appreciation of Scorn. Jeff Marchiafava joins the show as we all talk about Gotham Knights from Warner Bros. Montreal and why it misses the mark. The...
Oct 27, 2022•2 hr 13 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Jeff Marchiafava to unpack all of the big reveals for the Silent Hill franchise like a remake of Silent Hill 2 from Bloober Team and new games called Silent Hill F, Silent Hill: Ascension, and Silent Hill: Townfall. Then we all gush over Ubisoft's new tactics game Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle on the Nintendo Switch, Kyle won't stop talking about Pilotwings 64, and Hanson weighs i...
Oct 20, 2022•2 hr 51 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Janet Garcia to try and predict the review scores and reception for 2022's biggest upcoming games like God of War: Ragnarok, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Then we talk about playing Street Fighter 6 and the new Monster Hunter-like game from EA called Wild Hearts before diving into questions from the community. If you support MinnMax on Patreon, you ...
Oct 13, 2022•2 hr 59 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava to unpack the big reveal trailer for Nintendo and Illumination's Super Mario Bros movie and to try to wrap their minds around Chris Pratt's voice for Mario. Then they talk about CD Projekt RED's big announcement of upcoming games in The Witcher and Cyberpunk universes, the Dead Space remake trailer, Potion Permit, and a whole lot more. Then we answer questions submitted on Pa...
Oct 06, 2022•2 hr 3 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard are joined by the founder of Indie Informer Jill Grodt to unpack our predictions for God of War: Ragnarok. Heads up, they do include spoilers for God of War 2018. After that, we talk about Cyberpunks 2077's resurgence with the new anime on Netflix, Tunic on the Nintendo Switch, and Shovel Knight Dig! Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of...
Sep 29, 2022
On this episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and special guest Imran Khan to talk about the Rockstar's nightmare scenario of GTA 6 gameplay videos leaking and a whole lot more. Ben Hanson talks about his trip to San Francisco (which, full transparency, Ubisoft paid for) to play Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope on the Nintendo Switch and Imran talks about visiting Tokyo to play PlayStation VR 2. Then we're joined by the OTHER co-director of the Video Ga...
Sep 22, 2022
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show podcast! We have a heck of an episode for you this week, with Ben Hanson joined by Sarah Podzorski, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard to unpack the best moments and trailers from the avalanche of news and press conferences in the game industry. We talk about the big Nintendo Direct where they revealed Fire Emblem Engage and Pikmin 4, and we really dive in to talking about the re-release of Goldeneye 007 and the big announcement of The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The ...
Sep 15, 2022•2 hr 15 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, and returning guest O'Dell Harmon Jr. to talk about the best games from PAX West including Lies of P and Gunbrella. Then we talk about the new trailer for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet before unpacking the reveal of Cyberpunk: Phantom Liberty and debate whether the upcoming DLC can restore the name of Cyberpunk. Then Leo Vader joins us to talk about his love of Assassin's Creed Rogu...
Sep 08, 2022•2 hr 8 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Jeff Marchiafava, and Janet Garcia to talk about playing The Last of Us Part 1 (codes provided by PlayStation) and then share our picks for the games we'd most like to see remade. After that, we have a bunch of games to talk about like the excellent Tinykin, Cursed to Golf, and the shockingly divisive Pac-Man World Re-PAC. Then we're joined by Digital Eclipse's Chris Kohler to share the full backstor...
Sep 01, 2022•3 hr 32 min
On this special episode of The MinnMax Show podcast, Janet Garcia joins Ben Hanson, Sarah Podzorski, and Leo Vader in the MinnMax Studio thanks to your support on Patreon! We talk about the biggest reveals and news from Gamescom and Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live event featuring games like Lies of P and Dead Island 2 before unpacking the underwhelming reboot of Saints Row. Then we answer wonderful questions submitted on Patreon and award the iam8bit prize of the week! https://www.patreon.co...
Aug 25, 2022•2 hr 22 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show podcast! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Kelsey Lewin, and Jacob Geller debate and create a list of the most epic video games ever made. We're factoring in the game's scope, ambition, budget, and downright lunacy. Then we unpack some new games we've been enjoying like Rollerdrome from Roll7, Midnight Fight Express, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on the Nintendo Switch. Then we answer some wonderful questions from the community in the back half of t...
Aug 18, 2022
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, and Sarah Podzorski talk about the joys of Cult of the Lamb and unpack Nintendo's big Splatoon 3 Direct. Then we're joined by former Game Informer editor John Carson and returning champion Suriel Vazquez to dive into the weeds on the big fighting game tournament EVO that happened last weekend. Oh, and we talk about Dragon Ball: The Breakers. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the communi...
Aug 11, 2022•2 hr 14 min
On this week's episode of The MinnMax Show podcast, Ben Hanson is joined by Jeff Marchiafava, Sarah Podzorski, and Leo Vader to talk about Rollerdrome, Final Fantasy XV for some reason, and the great updates to Into the Breach before we're joined by Jacob Geller and former senior video producer at Polygon Jenna Stoeber to unpack all of the bizarre Pokémon Violet and Scarlet announcements. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! Y...
Aug 04, 2022•2 hr 8 min
Welcome to a special episode of The MinnMax Show! Ben Hanson is joined by MinnMax contributor and co-director of the Video Game History Foundation Kelsey Lewin, localization superstar (and Sarah's former boss) from 8-4 John Ricciardi, and the founder of Giant Bomb/his new Patreon Jeff Gerstmann. We talk about Jeff leaving Giant Bomb a bit out of the gate before diving in to how to preserve game history. Then we talk about the HD-2D remake of Square's Live A Live on the Nintendo Switch, Kelsey sh...
Jul 28, 2022•2 hr 7 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Janet Garcia, and Jacob Geller to talk about the narrative game As Dusk Falls, the thrills of Escape Academy, and the underappreciated joy of Klonoa. Then Leo Vader joins the show as we all share our full thoughts on the new cat-centric game Stray on PlayStation and Steam. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! You can win a prize an...
Jul 21, 2022•2 hr 22 min
Hello and welcome back to The MinnMax Show podcast! On this week's show, Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard run down the full release calendar for 2022 and they each get six picks for the games they are most excited to play. Who will get to play God of War Ragnarok? Pokémon Scarlet? The Callisto Protocol?!? 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 supp...
Jul 14, 2022•2 hr 11 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show podcast! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Jacob Geller, Sarah Podzorski, and Janet Garcia talk about the big release date reveal for God of War Ragnarok from Sony's Santa Monica studio before unpacking our three favorite games from 2022 so far. Yes, we talk about Elden Ring but we also cover games like Nobody Saves the World and Citizen Sleeper. We also talk about some of the most underrated games of the year so far. Then we answer some wonderful questions fro...
Jul 07, 2022•2 hr 14 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava to unpack the biggest reveals from the Nintendo Direct Mini. While technically just a "partner showcase" focusing on third-party releases, there were several exciting announcements such as a collection of Mega Man Battle Network games, new gameplay from Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope, a big farming RPG from Square-Enix called Harvestella, Persona 5 finally releasing on Switc...
Jun 30, 2022•2 hr 11 min
On this week's episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader unpack the reveal trailer for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the announcement of the Crisis Core remaster before shifting into overlooked games of the summer. We talk about great looking indie games announced recently like Skate Story, The Plucky Squire, and more. Leo Vader also talks about his growing obsession with Roller Champions before Kyle Hilliard talks about his review for Fire Emblem Warrio...
Jun 23, 2022•2 hr 15 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Kyle Hilliard, and Sarah Podzorski break down the highlights from Xbox and Bethesda's big summer showcase, talk about Capcom's announcements, and review the new PlayStation Plus Premium service. Sarah then talks about her big trip out to LA to play games like Street Fighter 6 and Sonic Frontiers at Summer Game Fest, where she also got to meet Geoff Keighley! Then we're joined by MinnMax Contributor Ana Diaz t...
Jun 16, 2022•3 hr 45 min
