E3 came back! Holy crap! And don't worry, we'll get deep in the weeds about it on this week's show, but first we welcome PNB's Brendan Hesse and take a look at our favorite episodes of Conan O'Brien's Clueless Gamer, which recently took its last gasp. Then it's on to Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, a MASSIVE spate of E3 news, and the save-related memories that defined you.
Jun 18, 2021•2 hr 59 min•Ep. 424
We've always been great fans of so-called trash pandas at VGA, so when this week's release of Backbone cast one as a down-on-his-luck detective, we indulged our love of raccoons with a Top 5 about games that let you play as them. Then it's on to Chivalry II, the resurfacing of Playdate, Yuji Naka leaving Square Enix, and the most valuable games in your personal collections.
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 58 min•Ep. 423
This week, we stumbled onto PriceCharting.com - a huge database of videogame resale values - and thought it'd be fun to invite retro specialists Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski (of Wii Universe) to talk about which (non-sports, non-game show) games PriceCharting thinks are worth the least on various platforms. Then we'll shift to Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World, Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown, Horizon: Forbidden West's gameplay reveal, a new cut of the old Super Mario Bros. movie, and th...
Jun 04, 2021•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 422
A few weeks ago, we passed the 26th anniversary of the Sega Saturn's deeply weird US launch, so as a belated celebration, Greg Moore joins us to talk about five of the best games that never made it stateside for Sega's wildly underrated 32-bit console. Then we'll jump into Biomutant, Knockout City, rumors of a Final Fantasy Soulslike, and the children's stories you think should get a bit darker.
May 28, 2021•2 hr 34 min•Ep. 421
Well, here it is, episode 420 - but we already did games that let you smoke pot 311 episodes ago! So instead, let's look at celebrities who've appeared in videogames and now have their own (legal!) cannabis brands, with help from PNB's TL Foster. Then it's on to Mass Effect: Legendary Edition, eBay banning sales of AO-rated games, and the ways our listeners are related to fame.
May 21, 2021•2 hr 46 min•Ep. 420
Resident Evil Village has its hooks firmly into the whole crew this week, so let's invite PCMag.com's Mike Williams back on to talk about it (and Assassin's Creed Valhalla's Wrath of the Druids DLC) a whole bunch more! We also keep the Resident Evil theme going this week with a look at five standout zombie games from before the first RE debuted, after which we grouse about PS5 shortages, recoil at Yoko Taro's ideas for Monster Hunter, and hear about your favorite (if not fond) Blockbuster Video ...
May 14, 2021•2 hr 23 min•Ep. 419
Resident Evil Village is out, and the rampantly fetishized Lady Dimitrescu joins the hallowed ranks of Resident Evil's iconic, nigh-indestructible "stalker" enemies. So let's kick off this week's show with five of the most memorable pursuers from Resident Evils past, and then invite PCMag.com's Mike Williams to tell us about his experience reviewing Village. Then we'll talk Returnal, get into sordid details from the Epic v. Apple lawsuit, and hear about your dream Mortal Kombat guest characters....
May 07, 2021•2 hr 8 min•Ep. 418
We've just passed two important Mortal Kombat milestones: the 10th anniversary of the franchise-revitalizing Mortal Kombat 9, and the release of a new MK movie that doesn't suck. To celebrate, Anthony Abatte joins us for a look at five of the best guest characters to show up for recent Kombats, after which we'll look at NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139..., Star Wars Pinball VR, and the most memorable demos you've ever played.
Apr 30, 2021•2 hr 15 min•Ep. 417
The formerly PlayStation-exclusive MLB The Show is now on Xbox, which is... kinda weird, right? Almost as weird as finding out that developers now closely associated with (and owned by) Sony used to make games for competing platforms, which is what we're delving into this week. Find out what studios like Guerrilla, Naughty Dog, and Sucker Punch were up to before becoming PlayStation mainstays, after which we'll take a look at Immortals Fenyx Rising - The Lost Gods, Sony reversing course on closi...
Apr 23, 2021•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 416
The San Francisco Bay Area is home to 2/3 of the VGA crew (along with a big chunk of the games industry), and it's been re-created in a handful of games over the years - so now that our episode count matches our area code, let's grab Tony Wilson of Framework and look at the five games we think did it best. Then we'll shift to Nintendo Indie World announcements, The Last of Us remake drama, and how closely you like your game movies to stick to the script.
Apr 16, 2021•2 hr 37 min•Ep. 415
Thankfully, we're well past the point where any unforgiving game gets compared to Dark Souls. What we're talking about this week, with special guest Leif Johnson, are our favorite Souls-likes - that is, games that consciously borrow parts of Dark Souls' formula (but aren't made by From Software). Then it's on to Outriders, Pac-Man 99, Borderlands movie news, and your favorite memories of the 3DS.
Apr 09, 2021•2 hr 39 min•Ep. 414
The 3DS turned 10 this week, so let's grab friend of the show Micah Seff and celebrate the revolutionary, unassailable, beloved powerhouse of a handheld... by looking back at five ways it nearly dropped the ball in its first few rocky, uncertain months. Then we'll get deep into Monster Hunter Rise, Magic Legends, Ghost of Tsushima movie news, and your favorite un-emulatable games.
Apr 02, 2021•2 hr 55 min•Ep. 413
There's something about the arcade experience that's just tough to capture at home - especially for games that involve ridiculously bespoke hardware that would be impractical to set up in a living room. This week, we welcome back Dan Amrich for a look at five of our favorite arcade games that just don't translate to a home setting, after which we'll touch on Balan Wonderworld, Immortals Fenyx Rising - Myths of the Eastern Realm, PlayStation Store axing three platforms (sort of), and the OG Xbox ...
Mar 26, 2021•2 hr 52 min•Ep. 412
This week marks one year since the first shelter-in-place orders went into effect in the US. To mark this dubious occasion, we invited PNB's TL Foster on to talk about five of the best games ever to take place within a single house. Then it's on to the return of Stubbs the Zombie, the even-more-zombielike sort-of return of Toys 'R' Us, and your fondest Mario memories.
Mar 19, 2021•2 hr 42 min•Ep. 411
They may be gray and a little saggy, but there's a certain kind of elderly man who, like a lobster, only ever seems to grow bigger and tougher with age. This week, we invite Greg Moore to help us pay tribute to the old game characters who could still kick our asses, after which we'll dig into Loop Hero, the Bethesda-Microsoft merger, TMNT: Shredder's Revenge, and the things from vidjagames you'd love to try in real life, but probably shouldn't.
Mar 12, 2021•2 hr 29 min•Ep. 410
If you haven't commandeered a car by jumping to it from your own speeding whip, can you really be said to have commandeered it at all? This week, we celebrate five games that let us accomplish the impossibly awesome feat of launching from one high-speed car to another, fluidly booting out the driver, and taking control. Then it's on to Ghosts 'n' Goblins Resurrection, Switch Pro rumors, Sony's State of Play, and the games that helped you through a year of lockdowns.
Mar 05, 2021•1 hr 56 min•Ep. 409
Everyone loves a good revenge story, so this week we're joined by Mike Williams of PCMag to take a look at five of the most gripping stories of single-minded, systematic payback produced by videogames. Then we'll explore Bravely Default 2, get lost in Persona 5 Strikers and Valheim, look at the news from BlizzCon, and hear your thoughts on series that should switch genre.
Feb 26, 2021•2 hr 51 min•Ep. 408
With Persona 5 Strikers - the Dynasty Warriors-flavored sequel to the original P5 RPG - out this week, we're joined by special guest Emmett Watkins of VGU.TV for a look at five sequels that switched to a new genre, forever changing the trajectory of their series. Then we'll dig into to Bowser's Fury, get stomped in Valheim, go through the Nintendo Direct news with a fine-toothed comb, and discuss the characters you'd want to see turn evil.
Feb 19, 2021•2 hr 26 min•Ep. 407
Abrupt heel-turns are always fun, especially in fighting games where a goody-two-shoes hero gives in to the Dark Power within and becomes a corrupted, evil version of themselves (usually with cooler moves). This week, we welcome Anthony Abatte to help us take a look at five fallen heroes of fighting games, after which we'll talk about Little Nightmares 2, casting HBO's The Last of Us, listen to some reconstructed Mario tunes, and hear about your parents' attitudes toward your gaming.
Feb 12, 2021•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 406
Los Angeles is the setting of roughly 500% of all motion pictures, and yet relatively few games have tried to turn its sun-baked sprawl into a game world. So this week, let's grab PNB's TL Foster for a look at five games that turned the City of Angels into an open(-ish)-world playground, after which we'll dive into The Medium, EA Sports bringing back college football, Stadia shuttering its studios, and the games you think should be adapted as anime.
Feb 05, 2021•2 hr 44 min•Ep. 405
Train levels are a pretty well-worn trope by this point; start at the caboose and fight your way up to the engine, all in a linear, narrow environment that allows for some variety as you move from car to car. As frequently as we've seen these, some are a lot more memorable than others, and a few even do something unique with the idea. So let's look at five of our favorites this week, after which we'll look at Cyber Shadow, try to understand the GameStop stock situation (as of Wednesday), and tal...
Jan 29, 2021•1 hr 59 min•Ep. 404
With the rebooted Hitman series hitting its third installment this week, we're joined by Tony Wilson of Framework for a look at three other franchises whose reboots were successful enough to spawn sequels and become new trilogies unto themselves. Then we dig into Hitman 3, talk about Mortal Kombat movie news, and look at the mostly dead gaming genres you'd love to bring back.
Jan 22, 2021•2 hr 11 min•Ep. 403
Ready to feel old? 2001 was a watershed year for videogames, with powerful 3D consoles and classic games that laid the groundwork for the modern era of gaming. It was also 20 years ago, meaning all those games are now two decades old. We've invited Larry Charles of Striking Distance Studios to help us through this sad realization by celebrating five unforgettable games from the now-distant past, after which we'll talk about Street Cleaner, the return of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game AND ...
Jan 15, 2021•2 hr 32 min•Ep. 402
We're back on our traditional yearly bullshit this week, kicking off the new year with a look forward at at five games we're especially excited for in 2021 (assuming they arrive this year). This is one of our shortest shows in years, but don't worry/get too comfortable, as we'll be back in full force next week.
Jan 08, 2021•59 min•Ep. 401
It's the end of the worst year in recent memory, but a great year for games - so let's take one last look back and anoint our 10 favorites! Clocking in at just under 4 hours, this year's show features appearances from Jorge Albor, Kat Bailey, Chris "Cbake" Baker, TL Foster, Steve Guntli, Leif Johnson, Micah Seff, Tony Wilson, and Kayla Zumbaum. It's a veritable explodaganza of long discussions about amazing games, so join us as we fondly remember the best parts of the worst year!
Jan 01, 2021•4 hr•Ep. 400
We really wanted to go with a holiday theme for our last real show of 2020, but in the end, what's more appropriate to Holiday 2020 than grabbing Greg Moore for a look at how videogames have portrayed the collapse of brick-and-mortar retail? Then it's on to Super Meat Boy Forever, Nintendo's Year in Review, and your thoughts on playing games right at launch vs. waiting for bugs to get fixed.
Dec 25, 2020•1 hr 54 min•Ep. 399
2020 has been a terrible year for most things, but a stellar year for games - including a smattering of remakes that took a fresh look at old favorites. As we lead up to our big year-end show on the best games of 2020, we've grabbed PNB's TL Foster and given five amazing remakes that didn't fit in our top 10 their own show. Then it's on to plenty of Cyberpunk 2077 chatter, a few announcements and anointments from The Game Awards, and your preferences vis-a-vis dark or light futures.
Dec 18, 2020•2 hr 24 min•Ep. 398
Cyberpunk 2077 came out hours before we recorded this week's show, so we don't have a lot to say about it yet. Luckily, there are tons of cyberpunk videogames not named "Cyberpunk," so we grabbed Leif Johnson for a look at five of the greatest cyberpunk series of all time. Then it's on to (what else?) initial impressions of Cyberpunk 2077, a smattering of movie news, the Persona 5 Strikers reveal, and the games you feel will define the PS4 era.
Dec 11, 2020•2 hr 1 min•Ep. 397
This week, we pay overdue tribute to the passing of the PS4 era with help from Gamespot/LaserTime alum Tony Wilson who's launching a new video channel called FrameWork, and who helps us look back on five of the best PS4 exclusives (all of which are still fully exclusive, and which came out pre-2020 so we don't repeat ourselves on this year's Game of the Year show). Then it's on to Immortals Fenyx Rising, Chronos: Before the Ashes, Super Nintendo World opening soon, and the games you'd prefer to ...
Dec 04, 2020•2 hr 22 min•Ep. 396
With Ready Player Two out this week, we've decided to turn up the nostalgia dial to absurd levels by recruiting Greg Moore for a look at five videogames that, one way or another, were about nostalgia for videogames. Then it's on to some chat about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, the holiday console-scalping epidemic, cloud gaming, and the open worlds you'd love to revisit.
Nov 27, 2020•2 hr 18 min•Ep. 395
