Video Games 2 the MAX - podcast cover

Video Games 2 the MAX

Sean Garmerw2mnet.com
Video Games 2 the MAX features a longtime veteran of Games Journalism, Sean Garmer along with either semi-regular co-host and long-time video game reviewer, Marc Morrison or even a guest co-host to discuss everything involving Video Games each week.

This includes the games they are playing or reviewing, all the big news of the week in gaming, a special topic, and even some Movies or TV Show topics at times as well. All from the viewpoint of gaming content creators, gaming journalists, and gaming consumers too. 

The podcast also appears in video form on the W2M Network Youtube channel: (https://www.youtube.com/@W2MNetwork/). Be sure to check out https://w2mnet.com/ for posts about each podcast and more.

You can check out Sean's writing over at: https://www.theouterhaven.net/ 

You can check out Sean's reviews over at: https://opencritic.com/critic/8257/sean-garmer

You can also check out all of Marc's reviews over at: https://411mania.com/games

You can also follow each of the guys individually on Twitter or Bluesky @W2MSean, @humanityplague, or the entire network @W2MNetwork.
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Episodes

Most Anticipated Games of 2025

With 2025 literally one sleep away, we look forward to an absolutely packed 2025 slate of video game releases and give out our Top 10 Most Anticipated Games of 2025. We also address the two major elephants in the room: the Nintendo Switch successor and Grand Theft Auto VI. Without a doubt, the Switch successor will release in 2025 but its a matter of when? Sean, Marc, and Randy attempt to make their best guess at the actual date and also at some possible launch games too. Will Grand Theft Auto V...

Dec 31, 202449 min

Best Games of 2024

We are at the end of 2024, and it was quite a weird year in video games with a tremendous amount of varied and wonderful games released around a torrid industry full of layoffs, studio closures, and controversial decisions. And as is usual for our show, we will talk about some of the bigger news stories from 2024 in video games, but this special episode is here to showcase and discuss our favorite games of the year and ultimately rank the Top 25 Games of 2024. Randy, Sean, and Marc will join tog...

Dec 29, 20241 hr 44 min

SEGA May Do Their Own Gaming Subscription Service, Nintendo's 2024 in Review # 427

Welcome to our last regular episode of 2024, as we are so close to another year ending and 2025 beginning. Speaking of that, Nintendo looks to start 2025 on an amazing high note by finally announcing the long-awaited Switch successor. However, before we get to that, Sean and Marc go through Nintendo's 2024 and what is there to make of what feels like a whole year of waiting for information on hardware. What were the stand out games? Are any of them up for Game of the Year? And what are the lates...

Dec 24, 20241 hr 28 min

The Game Awards 2024 Review

The Game Awards celebrated its 10th anniversary this year and delivered some huge surprise announcements, awards, celebrities, and more. Last year had quite a bit of controversy, did the 2024 version rectify this? And which games are Sean, Randy and Marc excited about? There's plenty to discuss and review from the event, including whether this is the best edition of the Game Awards. Sean certainly thinks so, as this version of the show could be the magnum opus of what Geoff Keighley wants this g...

Dec 13, 202457 min

More Trouble At Ubisoft, Fantasian & Infinity Nikki Impressions # 426

In what has been a tumultuous year for Ubisoft already, the company delivered more bad news over the last week as not only are they sunsetting their live-service title XDefiant, a game that has been long-rumored to be in trouble on its own, but Ubisoft finally delivered the finishing blow and also issued several layoffs at studios involved in making the game as well. With more rumors swirling about Tencent and the Guillemot family talking about a buyout it feels like Ubisoft is in some real dang...

Dec 11, 20241 hr 24 min

PlayStation Making Some Big Moves for 2025 and Beyond # 425

Although we didn't intentionally mean to take a week off, things fell in a way that forced us to, but at least it was only one week. At this time, Sony has made a few announcements and moves that may make for an interesting 2025 and probably beyond. Sean and Marc have quite a bit to talk about from the last few weeks. Sony has sent a letter of intent to Kadokawa Corporation for possible acquisition. If the acquisition actually happens, Sony would become the majority owner of the company and, by ...

Dec 03, 20241 hr 33 min

Should DLC Be Up For Game of the Year? Phil Spencer's Big Xbox Interview # 424

Earlier today Geoff Keighley announced the nominees for the various Game Awards 2024 categories including Game of the Year. Sean and Marc discuss the nominees for several of the awards, who they think could win, and also bring up the biggest controversy which is the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC being included in the nominations for not only several awards categories but also GOTY as well. A special guest may even join in the discussion too. Also, Phil Spencer had a lengthy interview wit...

Nov 19, 20241 hr 31 min

Is the Era of Huge Games Ending? WB Games Narrows Its Focus # 423

In an interview with Famitsu, Toshihiro Nagoshi, a former SEGA director who was pivotal at RGG studio, which works on the Like a Dragon games, says that the "era of game size" being pivotal to a game is coming to an end. Although it doesn't seem to be the case with the amount of large-size games still releasing in 2024, but could this be true in the near future? Could the size of a game's world finally not matter? Also, thanks to recent live-service failures such as Suicide Squad and now Multive...

Nov 12, 20241 hr 24 min

Sony Officially Kills Concord And Closes Firewalk Studio # 422

Unfortunately, this week is the culmination of a previous problem for Sony, as the company officially decided to put the final nail in Concord's coffin and subsequently close down the studio that made the game, Firewalk Studios, along with mobile game developer Neon Koi. Sean and Marc discuss who should share the bulk of the blame if it means Sony needs to abandon the live service push entirely. Is there a franchise that lends itself to mobile in Sony's catalog? Also, Sean's been playing the Hor...

Nov 05, 20241 hr 29 min

Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Like a Dragon Yakuza Amazon Show # 421

The biggest release of the year as far as industry sales is here in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and it also makes its debut on Xbox Game Pass as well. As a result, Sean has played a fair portion of the campaign and he has impressions of it so far. He's also been playing Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered which he can now speak about and guess what? It's just as good as the original just now looking better. Marc is also almost done with Metaphor ReFantazio as well. The duo also discuss their t...

Oct 29, 20241 hr 26 min

Does Gaming Have a Remake Problem? Neva Impressions # 420

The bombardment of game releases continues, and it does not seem to be going to let up anytime soon. Although there are plenty of new games on the horizon, the glut of remakes and remasters seems to have become a larger piece of the gaming pie in recent years. Does gaming have a remake/remaster problem? Or is this a symptom of the greater issue with so much uncertainty in the industry? Where do Sean and Marc stand on the number of remakes/remasters coming down the pike? Is there a preference for...

Oct 22, 20241 hr 24 min

Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred Impressions, Nintendo Alarmo is Real! # 419

The heaviest month in the calendar in terms of game releases rolls on as Sean and Marc try the best to keep up with the heavy hitters. Marc has impressions on Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, Silent Hill 2 Remake, Metaphor ReFantazio, and a big release from last month, Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. There's also news from all over the place including Nintendo releasing an Alarm Clock called Nintendo Alarmo, Xbox Cloud Gaming getting a huge boost with game purchases and games you purchased becoming p...

Oct 15, 202459 min

A New Dawn Comes For Halo # 418

Late night on Sunday during the Halo World Championships a surprise video debuted showcasing a project from 343 Industries that showcases what Halo could look like on Unreal Engine 5 as they officially make the move away from the Slipspace Engine used in Halo Infinite. They also announced multiple projects are in the works and that 343 is now called Halo Studios. Sean and Marc discuss all of this, does this give them hope for the future of Halo? And can Halo regain its flagship status as the pre...

Oct 08, 20241 hr 13 min

Assassin's Creed Shadows Delayed # 417

Tokyo Game Show has come and gone, and aside from Nintendo and another big publisher, pretty much everyone you would expect showed off at least something to be excited about. Whether it is the PlayStation State of Play, the Xbox streaming show, the Level-5 show, Capcom, Square-Enix, or more. Sean and Marc discuss some of their favorite games from many of these showcases with specific emphasis on the PlayStation and Xbox ones. The big publisher alluded to is Ubisoft who suddenly canceled their TG...

Oct 01, 20241 hr 8 min

Best PlayStation 1 Games # 416

Sony finally unveiled the big promotions for the 30th Anniversary of PlayStation this past week and does it ever look enticing. Sean and Marc celebrate a bit themselves talking about the reveal, if they may pick up any of the accessories, and also give out their Top 10 Best PlayStation 1 Games at the end of the episode. Before that though, there are more current PlayStation matters to attend to, as Sony announced that a State of Play is happening on Tuesday afternoon. There are already rumors sw...

Sep 24, 20242 hr 4 min

Is the PS5 Pro Worth It? # 415

Mark Cerny revealed the PS5 Pro last week and it was met with an immediate reaction of excitement and then an immediate shock at its retail price of $699 (USD) and even more in other regions globally. Not to mention, the extra cost of the vertical stand and the disk drive as well, adding an extra $110 to the price if these are things you absolutely need. What do Sean and Marc think of the announcement? The price? Is it worth it? Will they be getting one? Sean and Marc have both now completed Ast...

Sep 17, 20241 hr 1 min

Astrobot Impressions # 414

Must Play Games are the rare title you'd encourage anyone to check out. A game that defines its generation, or perhaps even goes past that and could be classified as genre-defining or maybe even an all-timer? These are the sort of labels that Astrobot has garnered over the last week and Sean's been playing it. So he of course has some impressions. Does it live up to that crazy level of hype? Does it deserve all the accolades? Should you go out and buy it for your PlayStation 5 right now? (the an...

Sep 10, 202448 min

Visions of Mana Impressions, Sony Takes Concord Offline # 413

The fall release season is officially upon us as starting from last week up to December there's a steady stream of major video games releasing for everyone to discuss, preview, review, or whatever. Sean and Marc kick off the fall season with impressions of Visions of Mana, the first brand-new game to hit consoles in the series in nearly two decades. How does it stack up? Should you pick it up if you are a Mana fan? Do you have to play the others to play this one? Marc's also been playing Star Wa...

Sep 03, 20241 hr 28 min

Best Gamescom 2024 Announcements # 412

Gamescom 2024 is fully in the rearview mirror, but the announcements don't stop coming as Nintendo is set for an Indie World and Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase very soon. However, Sean and the returning Marc Morrison take a look back at what was announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live and if there's anything they are excited about from the show. Not to mention, also going through some of their favorite announcements from other events around Gamescom. The one more thing for Opening Night Live ...

Aug 27, 20241 hr 15 min

Madden NFL 25 Impressions # 411

With this episode hitting right before the looming Gamescom where there are sure to be a myriad of game announcements, release dates, and gameplay previews galore, there's been quite a bit of this happening in the week leading up to it. Sean and Randy discuss some of the games that are coming between September to November, and some games that have been delayed too. Not to mention, the release of one of the year's biggest titles, at least in yearly sales, Madden NFL 25 is out, Sean's played it, a...

Aug 20, 20241 hr 9 min

Hi-Fi Rush Survives Being Shut Down # 410

In an out-of-nowhere situation, Hi-Fi Rush Survives being shut down along with the studio that made the award-winning game, Tango Gameworks, as the publisher of PUBG and Callisto Protocol, Krafton Inc., has purchased the IP and studio from Microsoft. Essentially, it saves the studio and invites its former employees to return as well. Sean is joined for one more week by Randy Isbelle to discuss the surprising news, if a Hi-Fi Rush 2 without much of its dev team could still live up to what made th...

Aug 13, 20241 hr 11 min

What is Going on At Bungie? # 409

In our latest episode, what has been a rather sour week of gaming with major layoffs in two different gaming industry sectors, amid more disappointing figures for Xbox on the Console side, games not selling well enough and yeah... just less than wonderful news in general. Sean is joined by Randy Isbelle on this episode to discuss all of these things, and also actual video games too. Firstly, Bungie is in some major trouble as the company once again lays off employees, seems to be losing more aut...

Aug 09, 20241 hr 26 min

Best Xbox 360 Games # 408

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 07/29/2024 * The advent of digital gaming has been a great convenience and has opened up so many different avenues for gaming to thrive, especially when it comes to indie games. However, this also means that entire stores can be shut down once the console's lifecycle has ended. Such is the case for the Xbox 360 digital store, leaving around 220 games that are now no ...

Aug 09, 20241 hr 14 min

EA College Football 25 Impressions # 407

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 07/22/2024 * For 11 years, college football fans have been without a video game to call their own, and a court case effectively made it impossible to create a licensed CFB game. However, after three years of development, last week, EA College Football 25 became a reality, and with its release an outpour of hype and emotions swept over the nation as gamers and CFB fan...

Aug 09, 20241 hr 8 min

Is Xbox Game Pass Still the Best Deal in Gaming? # 406

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 07/15/2024 * Has the day finally happened when Xbox Game Pass is no longer the best deal in gaming? Sean and Marc discuss Microsoft's big decision to not only raise up the price of their subscription service but also elected to remove Day 1 Games from their middle tier and make it exclusive to Game Pass Ultimate. Will gating away Day 1 games provide the FOMO purchase...

Aug 09, 20241 hr 1 min

Most Wanted Video Game Adaptations # 405

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 07/08/2024 * It's National Video Game Day so why not discuss one of the biggest things happening to the medium and that's the surplus of adaptations. Sean and Marc rank their Top 5 Most Wanted Video Game Adaptations, which can include unreleased TV shows or movies that are known to be in development, or we can delve into our bag of hopefuls and put in some video game...

Aug 09, 20241 hr 12 min

Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance Impressions # 404

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 07/01/2024 * It is yet another week in Video Games and the summer of Elden Ring continues as Marc has been playing more of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. However, this week he's also been playing the Director's Cut version of another game he enjoyed very much, Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. In other news, Nintendo has a stocking plan to stop the potential of resell...

Aug 09, 20241 hr

Best Games of 2024 So Far # 403

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 06/24/2024 * It is finally here the long-awaited DLC for the smash hit Elden Ring called Shadow of the Erdtree has arrived for everyone to buy, download, and play. Marc has put some hours into it and he has some thoughts. Is this the new defacto game of the year? Is this perhaps the best DLC ever? Is the criticism of some of the bosses being too hard fair? Also, Nint...

Aug 09, 20241 hr 6 min

Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster is Real! Starfield Getting Even More DLC! # 402

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 06/17/2024 * Just ahead of a looming Nintendo Direct comes this week's edition of Video Games 2 the MAX where Sean and Marc discuss some older games that may finally be coming out like Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster, A Quiet Place game, and the Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition. Also, would Astrobot be just as awesome without all of the PlayStation nost...

Aug 08, 20241 hr

Summer Games Showcase Extravaganza (SGF, Xbox, Ubisoft & More!) # 401

Apologies, we've been having issues with our feed, so this is why this is just now being posted. * This was originally recorded on 06/10/2024 * Well, the Summer Game Fest weekend of showcases has officially come and gone. And they certainly were a mixed bag of goodness. Geoff Keighley kicked things off and delivered some interesting games, but wound up being much more indie-focused than it has been in years past. Did this wind up being a better show because of it? Or is it a big reflection on th...

Aug 08, 20241 hr 6 min
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