Welcome back to the club! This week, Al, Graydon, and Emmett are finally going to talk about what has been discussed on the show and hinted at all year…the updated standings in our Fantasy Critic league! We’re halfway through the year now, so let's see how Al, Josh, Graydon, and Emmett are doing so far. Who’s winning? What games have been drafted since the start of the year? Who’s most likely to take home the prize at the end of the year? Tune in and find out? Plus, in the Whatcha Playin segment...
Jul 11, 2025•2 hr 30 min•Ep. 157
Welcome back to the club! There are…a lot of reasons to feel overwhelmed right now. Probably least of which is the boatload of demos that were available during this summer’s Steam Next Fest. With over 2000 demos, it can be hard to know which games are worth being hype for, but that’s why you’re here! This week, Jesse Guarascia and Dominic Tarason join the show to discuss the overwhelming nature of Steam Next Fest and point out some of our favorite games from the show. We have musical brawlers, t...
Jun 27, 2025•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 156
Welcome back to a rare Fireside Chat episode of Player’s Club! This episode, Emmett solos to talk all about the overwhelming amount of video game showcases that have happened in the last few days. From Summer Game Fest and the Woman Led Game Showcase, to the Future Game Show and the Mix Summer Showcase. Plus, he also talks at length about the Splitgate 2 controversy, all of the tomfoolery going on that makes it hard to celebrate games right now, and he even discovers some cool new games in the m...
Jun 13, 2025•2 hr 6 min•Ep. 155
Welcome back to the Club! This week, Graydon joins Al and Emmett to talk about the best games of PAX East 2025. Graydon saw a lot of cool indies, and at least one exciting AAA game as well, and he spends the entire episode telling us all about them. Plus, we talk about the Giant Bomb revival and get into some other random shenanigans as well. Tune in to hear all about them all! Timestamps: Start 00:00 TOTS: PAX East 2025 6:47 Desktop Survivors 98 20:41 In Full Bloom 33:10 Fresh Tracks 40:11 Noct...
May 31, 2025•1 hr 55 min•Ep. 154
Welcome back to the Club! This time, Emmett and Al are talking about how to keep gaming at the end of the world. We’re on the verge of massive tariffs causing price hikes all over gaming, and we're amid a Boycott against Microsoft. Both of these things restrict what we’re able to play, but this episode will discuss a few ways to keep playing through everything that’s going on right now. Al talks about their time with Greedfall and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Emmett talks about hi...
May 16, 2025•2 hr 48 min•Ep. 153
Welcome back to the club! Been a lil while, but Allan Muir and Emmett Watkins Jr have returned to talk about what they’ve been playing the last few weeks, as well as the final Nintendo Direct for the Switch 1. Did this Directg finally convince Emmett that the Swtich 1 isn’t mid? Did they announce any features we could look forward to in the upcoming Switch 2? Did anyone on the show purchase a different new handheld recently and fall so madly in love with it that they may never touch their Switch...
Apr 01, 2025•2 hr 36 min
Welcome back to the Club! Hope you enjoyed the GotY podcasts because the proper show is back on! Emmett is back with Al and Graydon, and we are all looking forward to the new year of 2025 and asking…Is Gaming Cooked? Everyone has their hopes resting in the games of Grand Theft Auto VI and Switch 2, but will they be enough to stop layoffs and corporate greed running rampant in the games industry? We’ll ask that and more in this week's episode. In the Watcha Playin segment, Emmett talks about his ...
Feb 28, 2025•3 hr 6 min•Ep. 151
Welcome back to the club, for the first time in 2025! That’s right, we’re back after taking January off. Well, that’s not quite true, because that entire time we’ve been recording these Game of The Year deliberations! This is part four, the final one!, where Graydon, Al, Josh, and Emmett discuss the following categories: Best Soundtrack Games as a Helping Hand Best Moment GAME OF THE YEAR We also give an update on our ongoing Fantasy Critic battle! Timestamps Start 00:00 Best Soundtrack 5:26 Gam...
Feb 13, 2025•2 hr 52 min
Welcome back to the club, for the first time in 2025! That’s right, we’re back after taking January off. Well, that’s not quite true, because that entire time we’ve been recording these Game of The Year deliberations! This is part three, where Graydon, Al, Josh, and Emmett discuss the following categories: Best Character Most Fun Best Debut Most Wholesome Better Together Timestamps Start: 00:00 Best Character 5:55 Most Fun 36:09 Best Debut 47:28 Most Wholesome 1:12:52 Better Together 1:37:00 Hou...
Feb 12, 2025•2 hr 9 min
Welcome back to the club, for the first time in 2025! That’s right, we’re back after taking January off. Well, that’s not quite true, because that entire time we’ve been recording these Game of The Year deliberations! This is part two, where Graydon, Al, Josh, and Emmett discuss the following categories: Best DLC/Expansion (new content for old/current game) Best Re-Release (Remakes, Remasters, or Glorified Ports) Best Narrative Best Performance Best Ensemble Cast Timestamps Start 00:00 Best DLC/...
Feb 11, 2025•2 hr 22 min
Welcome back to the club, for the first time in 2025! That’s right, we’re back after taking January off. Well, that’s not quite true, because that entire time we’ve been recording these Game of The Year deliberations! This is part one, where Graydon, Al, Josh, and Emmett discuss the following categories: What Took So Long? (Older games we played in 2024) Biggest Gaming News Seitguest of the Year (game with the most buzz and activity in 2024) Biggest Fumble (most disappointing game) Best Look (fo...
Feb 10, 2025•2 hr 32 min
You ready for this, Playa? Welcome back to the club! This week, Al , Emmett , Graydon and Josh converge to celebrate the great Episode 150! Not only are we together for this joyous occasion, but we're about to draft our teams for the Fantasy Critic showdown of 2025! Join us as we dive into the world of sports betting and plan our epic battle for the year to come! Timestamps Start 0:00 TOTS: 2025 Fantasy Critic! 7:37 Round 1 22:36 Round 2 33:18 Round 3 41:34 Round 4 55:43 Round 5 1:05:...
Dec 31, 2024•2 hr 15 min
The following is a special presentation courtesy of VGU Gaiden: A Retrospective Podcast. You can find their podcast feed here: https://tinyurl.com/ycynku3x Welcome to VGU Gaiden! Hosted by Graydon Webb and DJ Risio, this retrospective film podcast follows two best friends as they share their favorite films with each other and revisit what makes them special (or in some cases, really weird). As always, SPOILERS AHEAD! You can find us on BlueSky: Graydon - https://bsky.app/profile/graytlo777.bsky....
Dec 28, 2024•1 hr 27 min
You ready for this, Playa? Welcome back to the club! This week, Al and Emmett are Joined by Graydon to predict the winners for (most of) the categories for The Game Awards! Will Nintendo finally lose the Best Family Game Award? Why didn’t Dragon Age get nominated for best RPG? Which one of the hosts would now like to be referred to as The Big Sexy? We discuss all of these questions and more in this mega-sized episode of the podcast! Timestamps: Start: 00:00 TotS: Game Awards Predictions 8:48 Mos...
Dec 07, 2024•3 hr 18 min•Ep. 149
Note: Emmett’s audio this episode is a bit rough, though still audible. We’ll tweak settings for next time but bear with us for this episode! You ready for this, playa? Welcome back to the club! In this episode, Allan Muir returns to join Emmett Watkins Jr. in discussing the games that will get us through the current political moment. Look, Trump won, and we have a lot of work to do to survive and take care of each other as he returns to power. Playing games won’t directly change anything, but t...
Nov 16, 2024•2 hr 27 min•Ep. 148
Welcome back to the Club! This week, it’s a solo, fireside chat with no one else but Emmett Watkins Jr. Enjoy his dulcet tones as he goes on about the death of Firewalk studios in the main topic of the show. He’ll definitely take that opportunity to be upset about capitalism. Also, in a heafty Whatcha Playin segment, Emmett talks at length about his time with the multiplayer and campaign of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Is it the best entry in the series in years? Well, listen to his thoughts and f...
Nov 02, 2024•1 hr 37 min•Ep. 147
You ready for this, playa? Welcome back the the Player’s Club! We find our selves once again in the midsts of a Steam Next fest, so Graydon and Emmett reunite to talk about a few of our favorate demos we’ve tried so far. Every wanted to play Portal as an arena shooter? Ever wanted a detextive games with moments of Outlast-style terror? Wanna know how the follow up to Dead Cells is? Tune in and we’ll adress all of these questions. In the Watcha Playin segment, Graydon talks about his time with Al...
Oct 19, 2024•2 hr 40 min•Ep. 146
You ready for this playa? Welcome back to the show! Graydon, Emmett, and Al all return to ask, what the hell is going on at Ubisoft? Their latest, Star Wars: Outlaws reviewed softly, and their upcoming Assasins Creed Shadows has been delayed until 2025. These and other recent events from the company have folks wondering if the company is in trouble, and that and more get’s hashed out in our Topic of the Show. In the Watcha Playin segment, Al talks about their time with Starfield, Graydon talks a...
Oct 04, 2024•2 hr 19 min•Ep. 145
You Ready for this, Playa? This episode brings back Graydon Webb, twice in a row, to join Al and Emmett in discussing the wild week PlayStation had recently. Seems for them, two wrongs DO make a right, and they're here to talk about all of them. Why did Concord die so quickly? Who the hell can afford that PS5 Pro? Is Astro Bot already the game of the year? We ponder all these questions and more in the Topic of the Show. Also, in the Whatcha Playin segment, Al talks about their time with Warhamme...
Sep 19, 2024•2 hr 56 min•Ep. 144
You redy for this, playa? Welcome back to the show! This time, Al and Emmett are joined by Graydon to strictly talk about a bunch of games we’ve been playing lately. Al talks about their time with South Park: The Stick of Truth and Fallout London. Graydon talks about his time with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Flock, & Bully: Scholarship Edition. And Emmett talks about his time with Penny’s Big Breakaway, Apex Legends, and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. Timestamps: Start 00:00 Kunitsu-Gami...
Sep 06, 2024•2 hr 19 min•Ep. 143
Greetings! This tiny little solo podcast was recorded a few weeks ago after seeing Wolverine & Deadpool. Unfortunately, an extended bout of COVID delayed my editing process, but I'm happy to finally upload what I hope will be the Part 1 of a larger MCU discussion! Beware of spoilers ahead, and please subscribe for more content like this!
Aug 17, 2024•23 min
You Ready for this Playa? Welcome back to the show! On this episode, Emmett and Al talk about the latest SAG-AFTRA that has the potential to shake up the games industry. What are the new protections they are fighting for? What companies are resisting these changes? Is GTA VI gonna get delayed because of this? We answer this and more in our Topic of the Show. In the Watcha Playin segment, Al talks about their time with Fallout London and WWE 2K24 and Emmett talks about his time with Kunitsu-Gami:...
Aug 09, 2024•2 hr 10 min•Ep. 142
You ready for this playa? Welcome back to the club! This week, Al and Emmett reunite to talk about the recent Xbox Game Pass price increase. Will we cancel our subscriptions as a result? What other ways to play games are more financially responsible? How much are Xbox games going for on Ebay? We answer these questions and more on this episode! Plus, in the Whatcha Playin segment, Al talks about Fallout 2 and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden while Emmett talks about Indika and Grime, and also talk a...
Jul 20, 2024•2 hr 25 min•Ep. 141
Welcome to the Indie Book Club! Each episode, we'll be playing some of our favorite indie games and discussing them with various VGU staff members, guests, and even listeners like you! Our next title to tackle is the hit indie adventure game, Oxenfree, by Night School Studio. Join Graydon and Allan as we travel to Edwards Island to unravel the mystery within! As always, SPOILERS AHEAD! This week, we finally reached the end of our wacky time loop adventure! We got off the island... but at what co...
Jul 13, 2024•1 hr 43 min
Whoops! Josh forgot that he was supposed to edit this so it's been sitting on his desktop! Graydon and Josh discuss indie games! Ones they loved from 2023, their personal favorites and more. If you need some good recommendations of indie games to play, or just want to hear some love towards them, this is the episode for you! Songs used in the episode in order: Intro: Fire Aura - The Impossible Game 1. Dance of 1,000 Suns - Sea of Stars 2. Challenging a Queen - Stray Gods 3. Primal Forces - Deliv...
Jul 02, 2024•2 hr 21 min
Welcome to the Indie Book Club! Each episode, we'll be playing some of our favorite indie games and discussing them with various VGU staff members, guests, and even listeners like you! Our next title to tackle is the hit indie adventure game, Oxenfree, by Night School Studio. Join Graydon and Allan as we travel to Edwards Island to unravel the mystery within! As always, SPOILERS AHEAD! This week, we journeyed into the Adler Mansion, and further uncovered the mystery of the island! Will we ever l...
Jun 23, 2024•1 hr 39 min
You ready for this, Playa? Welcome back to The Palyer’s Club! This week, Al and Emmett have reunited to talk about the recent Sony State of Play and to speculate on what could be announced at the eupcoming Xbox Showcase. Will Astro Bot be our Game of the Year this year? Will the Gears of War sereis finally make it’s return? Will Silent Hill fans ever be happy? We ask these questions and more in this episode of Player’s Club. And later, in the Whatcha Playin segment, Al talks about their time wit...
Jun 06, 2024•2 hr 54 min•Ep. 140
Welcome to the Indie Book Club! Each episode, we'll be playing some of our favorite indie games and discussing them with various VGU staff members, guests, and even listeners like you! Our next title to tackle is the hit indie adventure game, Oxenfree, by Night School Studio. Join Graydon and Allan as we travel to Edwards Island to unravel the mystery within! As always, SPOILERS AHEAD! This week, we played until the 2AM segment of the game. Lots of spooky stuff occured, and we're not sure we wan...
Jun 03, 2024•1 hr 31 min
Welcome to the Indie Book Club! Each episode, we'll be playing some of our favorite indie games and discussing them with various VGU staff members, guests, and even listeners like you! Our next title to tackle is the hit indie adventure game, Oxenfree , by Night School Studio. Join Graydon and Allan as we travel to Edwards Island to unravel the mystery within! As always, SPOILERS AHEAD! This week, we played until the 11PM segment of the game. For episode 2, we'll be stopping at 2AM. We welcome y...
May 26, 2024•1 hr 7 min
You ready for this, playa? Welcome back to the show! This week, we’re, like everyone else, goo goo for Fallout. The TV show is critically loved, and the games have player counts higher then they’ve been in years. Al and Emmett are also sipping the Nuka Cola, so this week's topic is all about our thoughts on the show, and our time returning to the games. And in the Whatcha Playin segment, Al talks about their time with Fallout 4 and 76 while Emmett talks about his time with Stary Blade and Call o...
May 17, 2024•1 hr 47 min•Ep. 139
