Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! This is a big one, as Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Janet Garcia, and Kyle Hilliard to finally talk about Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. This is a 100% spoiler-free review of Square-Enix's new RPG. Then we unpack everything wild about the reveal trailer for Elden Ring's expansion Shadow of the Erdtree and all of the highlights from the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase. Then Leo Vader and Jeff Marchiafava join the show to rave about the poker-based deck-build...
Feb 22, 2024•3 hr 45 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this big episode, Ben Hanson, Leo Vader, Kyle Hilliard, and Janet Garcia recap and debate Microsoft's Official Xbox podcast that addressed the rumors that Xbox was going third-party and abandoning exclusives forever and they talk about what it means for the future of the platform. Then we gush over Sony's Helldivers 2 and why it succeeds as a co-op game before talking about Foamstars and Helskate. After that, Kelsey Lewin, Charles Harte, and Elise Favis join ...
Feb 15, 2024•3 hr 56 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's big episode, Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Jeff Marchiafava listen back to their incredibly accurate predictions from 2023 before lobbing bold, new predictions for the game industry in 2024. We carve out time to ensure we correctly guess the name for the follow-up to the Nintendo Switch. Then we talk about playing the demo for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and beyond at a press event and what we think about Square-Enix's middle chapter ...
Feb 08, 2024•3 hr 28 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Janet Garcia unpack the highlights from Sony's big State of Play where they showed new trailers for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Rise of the Ronin, Silent Hill 2, Metro in VR, and a ton more. Then we're joined by the founder of Double Fine Tim Schafer to talk about Day of the Devs and then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of the week! ...
Feb 01, 2024•2 hr 50 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and special guest Michael Huber from Easy Allies (who is hosting Monday's episode of Trivia Tower) to talk about Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered on PlayStation 5 (codes provided by Sony), and the wild phenomenon of Palworld on Steam and Xbox. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and award the iam8bit question of th...
Jan 25, 2024•2 hr 19 min
MinnMax's Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, and Haley MacLean unpack the best moments and highlights from Microsoft's Developer Direct for January of 2024. They talk about the new gameplay shown for Obsidian's Avowed, the release date for Hellblade II, and the extended first real look at Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Then they share their full thoughts on Ubisoft's excellent 2D Metroidvania Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the com...
Jan 19, 2024•2 hr 8 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On the first episode for 2024, Ben Hanson (currently remote from Puerto Rico) is joined by Sarah Podzorski, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and Leo Vader to talk about the surprising games we all played over holiday the break. We dive into the timelessness of Chrono Trigger, Leo gushes more about The Finals, and Sarah explains why House Flipper 2 is better than the first. Oh, also Kyle talks about catching up on the great games of 2023 by playing Star Wars Jedi: Su...
Jan 11, 2024•2 hr 14 min
This is it. It's time for the grand finale for MinnMax's Game of the Year debate, which we call The Two Tens. Ben Hanson is joined by Leo Vader, Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Kelsey Lewin, Jeff Marchiafava, Haley MacLean, and Sarah Podzorski to finalize the correct order for the 20 best games of 2023. Will Baldur's Gate 3 defeat Alan Wake 2? Should The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom be MinnMax's Game of the Year? How much can one person's passion carry a game up the list? Tun...
Jan 04, 2024•4 hr 46 min
Welcome to the start of The Two Tens: MinnMax's big Game of the Year debate! Ben Hanson is joined by Leo Vader, Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Kelsey Lewin, Jeff Marchiafava, Haley MacLean, and Sarah Podzorski to lock down the greatest games of 2023. We start out by building the full list and then start cutting it down to The Two Tens, otherwise known as the Top 20 games of 2023. We'll be back next week with the grand finale! If you enjoy this episode, please tell a friend or help sh...
Dec 28, 2023•3 hr 26 min
On this big episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson is joined by Janet Garcia, Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Kelsey Lewin, Jeff Marchiafava, Haley MacLean, and Sarah Podzorski to celebrate the year of gaming in 2023. We nominate, debate, and finalize winners for the categories of 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... for 2023. If you enjoy this episode, please tel...
Dec 21, 2023•4 hr 21 min
On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, and Jacob Geller to share our final thoughts on new games in 2023 by talking about God of War's new roguelike DLC, why JeffM rage-quite Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, falling in love with LEGO Fortnite, and more. Oh, and Janet talks about visiting Ubisoft to play three hours of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown! Then we're joined by a generous donor during our Give To The Max charity stream named Haley De Boom to answe...
Dec 14, 2023•3 hr 55 min
On this episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson is joined by Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, and the former editor-in-chief of Easy Allies Brandon Jones to break down the big reveal of GTA 6 from Rockstar Games and all of our favorite announcements from Geoff Keighley's The Game Awards. 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! https:/...
Dec 08, 2023•2 hr 6 min
On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, and special guest Emily Reese from the Level with Emily podcast ! It's our favorite episode of the year, we're celebrating the very best game music around as we each share our three favorite tracks and also take a ton of great musical recommendations from you in the MinnMax community. 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 m...
Nov 30, 2023•2 hr 4 min
On this episode of The MinnMax Show, Ben Hanson is joined by Kelsey Lewin, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard to set the scene for MinnMax's game of the year debate. We share games we think more people should play before we record The Two Tens and recommend games that deserve more love this year. Leave a comment and let us know the games you think we should play before our debates. Then we're joined by NoClip's Danny O'Dwyer to talk about working directly with Valve to create the new documentary on...
Nov 23, 2023•2 hr 15 min
On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Kyle Hilliard, Leo Vader, and Janet Garcia to talk about the list of nominees for Game of the Year from The Game Awards. What do you think will win between Resident Evil 4 Remake, Baldur's Gate 3, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Marvel's Spider-Man 2, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2? Then we talk about the return of Kiryu with Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name and Kyle reviews Super Mario RPG on th...
Nov 16, 2023•3 hr 43 min
On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kelsey Lewin and Jeff Marchiafava to talk about the fantastic remake of Star Ocean: The Second Story R, the surprising new Robocop game, and to share more thoughts on WarioWare: Move It before Jason Guisao joins the show to talk about being let go from Bungie and how he's hoping to apply his writing skills to another game studio in the future. Then we talk about 2023 overall and how the incredible year in gaming compares to the greatest video game ...
Nov 09, 2023•3 hr 34 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, a sick Ben Hanson is joined by Kyle Hilliard, Jacob Geller, and Leo Vader to talk about Dontnod's excellent new climbing game Jusant, why WarioWare: Move It on the Nintendo Switch is a good successor to Smooth Moves for the Wii, Leo's new love for the FPS The Finals, Jacob's thoughts on Alan Wake 2, and then we dive into Konami's wacky world with Metal Gear Solid 3's remake and Silent Hill: Ascension's surreal launch. After that, we answer quest...
Nov 02, 2023•2 hr 20 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! We have a big episode for you this week as Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Kelsey Lewin share their early thoughts on Alan Wake II and then unpack and debate Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Nintendo Switch. Then Leo Vader and Sarah Podzorski join the show to talk more about Marvel's Spider-Man 2 (spoiler-free) and Cities: Skylines II. Leo also talks about what it's like to revisit every Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game and then we answe...
Oct 26, 2023•3 hr 40 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard share their full thoughts on Marvel's Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games. The conversation is 100% spoiler-free, all we spoil is mentioning a couple of villains that the trailers revealed years ago at this point. We'll be talking more about Mario Wonder next week on the show but we do react to the reviews hitting during the recording, and then Kyle explains why the Meta Quest 3 is his ...
Oct 19, 2023•2 hr 42 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Kelsey Lewin, Haley MacLean, Sarah Podzorski, Leo Vader, and Jeff Marchiafava to talk about their continuing journeys in Baldur's Gate 3, we also talk about the best farming games released in 2023, Dave the Diver, and Monster Hunter Now. 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 an...
Oct 12, 2023•2 hr 11 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Jacob Geller, Leo Vader, and special guest Charles Harte from Game Informer to talk about Assassin's Creed Mirage, Cocoon, El Paso, Elsewhere, Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew, Forza Motorsport, and more! 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! https:...
Oct 05, 2023•2 hr 2 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and community manager Haley MacLean to talk about replaying 2010's Alan Wake from Remedy and why Janet was so blown away by her hands-on preview with Alan Wake 2! We also talk about Resident Evil 4's new DLC starring Ada Wong called Separate Ways and Janet's love for soccer video games and her time with EA Sports FC 24. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by the community and ...
Sep 28, 2023•2 hr 14 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson, Janet Garcia, Jeff Marchiafava, and Kyle Hilliard unpack the gigantic leak of Xbox's future console hardware and game release calendar through the FTC filing. Then Hanson regales the group with his hands-on experience playing Cloud's Past and the open regions by Junon of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth! Then we talk about Lies of P, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, Mortal Kombat 1, and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth. Then we answer questio...
Sep 21, 2023•3 hr 32 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Haley MacLean, Leo Vader, and Jeff Marchiafava to share our updated thoughts on Starfield from Bethesda before we dive into a ton of other games we've been playing and enjoying like Gunbrella, Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, Wayfinder, and more. 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...
Sep 14, 2023•3 hr 32 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this week's episode, Ben Hanson is joined by Sarah Podzorski, Janet Garcia, and Kelsey Lewin to talk about what it's like to play Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the Nintendo Switch before rounding up the rumors of Nintendo's successor to the Switch and running through their biggest hopes and dreams. Then we talk about playing the new RPG Sea of Stars and share impressions of PAX West before diving into game history with The Making Of Karateka from Digital Eclips...
Sep 07, 2023•2 hr 22 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this episode, Ben Hanson, Jeff Marchiafava, Janet Garcia, Kyle Hilliard, and Jenna Stoeber unpack Bethesda's new, ambitious RPG Starfield for the Xbox and PC. But that's not all! We also talk about the new throwback RPG Sea of Stars and From Software's return to its mech series with Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon. 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 ...
Aug 31, 2023•2 hr 13 min
Welcome back to The MinnMax Show! On this big episode of the podcast, Ben Hanson returns from his paternity leave and he's joined by community manager Haley MacLean, Jacob Geller, and Kyle Hilliard. They talk about Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon, unpack the most exciting reveals and trailers from Gamescom's Opening Night Live, analyze the new streaming handheld the PlayStation Portal, and weigh in on playing Immortals of Aveum. They also go back in time to talk about the Switch "conversio...
Aug 24, 2023•2 hr 26 min
This week, Kyle Bosman leads the group in another round of Who Are you Playing in Baldur's Gate 3 with Leo Vader, Kelsey Lewin, Kyle Hilliard, and Jenna Stoeber. We also talk about the crossover between The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, strategy roguelite chess Shotgun King, and the recent resurgence of Hunt: Showdown. 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 bett...
Aug 17, 2023•2 hr 15 min
Guest host Kyle Bosman leads Sarah Podzorski, Jacob Geller, Haley Maclean, and Jenna Stoeber in a not-yet-deep-dive on Baldur's Gate 3, talking about the characters we made, how we're handling romance, and how the game compares to DnD. Plus we drool over cooking game Venba, and hear the scoop from Sarah about critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, which has an expanded free trial which you can play through the entirety of A Realm Reborn. Then we answer questions submitted on Patreon by t...
Aug 10, 2023•2 hr 6 min
Guest host Kyle Bosman is back with former host Kyle Hilliard and current excellent guests Janet Garcia and Jenna Stoeber to talk the Great Summer Game of All Time. What does that mean? What are the criteria for deciding? Can a game-cd combo even win?? We refused to pin anything down so, as expected, the answers vary wildly, and the conversation is STIMULATED. 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 m...
Aug 03, 2023•2 hr 4 min
