SNGP

Wondering when the wave of studio closures will slow, David Radd played some Rayman Legends, which is a lot like a refined Rayman Origins, and also plays Sonic Superstars while remembering how good Sonic the Hedgehog 3 was. Meanwhile, Tuesday played Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, throwing David off by it not being Hundred Heroes and resulting in a side tangent about the Bloodstained games, and also played Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, where much like the games that inspired it, the story is inconsequential. In news, Take-Two announced that five percent of its workforce will be laid off, roughly 600 jobs, while Embracer announced plans to split into three separate companies. Meta opens the Meta Quest OS to third-party developers while VR continues to lose billions for the company, while Avalanche Studios enters a collective bargaining agreement with a pair of Swedish labor unions. For the topic, David and Tuesday discuss the storylines of the canon Legend of Zelda games and discuss a timeline they're in that just isn't real.

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While wondering if Dead Space will ever return, David Radd played the orange tabby simulator in Stray and got serious Star Wars Disney sequel vibes off of the end of Killzone Shadow Fall. Meanwhile, Tuesday played Princess Peach: Showtime! which is definitely not Dead Space 2 and brings up Crypt of the Necrodancer, though much of the time is spent talking about Baroque on the Sega Saturn. In news, Embracer's CEO says the restructuring is over while Gearbox Publishing becomes Arc Games. Meanwhile, Blizzard renews its agreement with NetEase to bring games like World of Warcraft back to the People's Republic of China and certain NetEase games to Xbox in the West, Baldur's Gate 3 cleans up at the 2024 BAFTA Awards and IGDA give six points for a sustainable games industry. For the topic, David and Tuesday talk about how JRPGs of late have reinvigorated themselves by embracing ideas from Western games, reinvigorated old franchises with french ideas and innovated with open world design.

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While respecting Larian's decision not to do more Baldur's Gate content, David Radd was glad characters don't immediately disappear after going off screen in co-op play in Mario vs. Donkey Kong while using focus to easily dispatch all regular enemies in Ryse: Son of Rome. Meanwhile, Tuesday played "legally distinct Power Rangers" in Chroma Squad and knew that what little weird story was in BlazBlue Entropy Effect didn't matter. In news, CIrcana revealed that Helldivers 2 is the best selling game in the U.S. through February, Embracer divests from Saber and Gearbox, the U.S. government sues Apple for anti-trust issues related to the cloud, and Sega sold Relic to a holding company and agreed on a game development contract with the CWA. For the topic, David and Tuesday talk Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, how it's different and similar to Shin Megami Tensei IV, discuss how Nanashi is a different sort of hero from Flynn, and relate how deep into world religions ATLUS went for this game.

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While amazed that Warner Bros. Discovery learned no lessons from the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, David Radd experienced all the Web 1.0 meme humor in World of Goo and sees what Hideo Kojima uncensored is really like in Death Stranding: Director's Cut. Meanwhile, Tuesday played Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright and experienced its dystopian court system and found Ghost of Tsushima to be a surprisingly cozy game. In news, Yuzu creator Tropic Haze settles with Nintendo and shuts down support for the Switch emulator and the 3DS emulator Citra, Warner Bros. Discovery starts removing Adult Swim Games from digital storefronts and Sony backed Deviation Games closes without shipping a single game. The sole piece of positive news is that 600 QA workers at Activision were able to exercise their right to organize. For the topic, David and Tuesday talk about systems and mechanics in video games, some examples of heavy (and light) use to both and how systems and mechanics impact the games people like to play.

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While wondering if ZA/UM is capable of ever making another game, David Radd played enough Foamstars to conclude it's dead-on-arrival as a live service and was constantly wincing at the gruesomely detailed fatalities in Mortal Kombat X. Meanwhile, Tuesday thinks Dave the Diver is the new Shovel Knight with connections to Godzilla, Dredge and Guilty Gear (!?) while getting really into the Roguelite card game Balatro, which uses the tricks of video poker for good instead of evil. In news, Circana reports that January saw a 15 percent spike in sales thanks to new titles like Tekken 8 and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth while Nintendo sues emulator creator Yuzu. In the sad news of ongoing layoffs in the video gaming industry, Sony and Electronic Arts both announced hundreds of layoffs, shuttering of studios and cancelling of projects. For the topic, David and Tuesday reflect on recent releases like Skull and Bones, Foamstars, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and reflect on how live service games are reaching a saturation point with players tiring of the formula and the biggest players too big to dethrone.

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While shaking his head around the whole situation surrounding Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, David Radd didn't learn his lesson from Crackdown 2 and played Crackdown 3 and also played Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light to cleanse his palette after Radiant Dawn. Meanwhile, Tuesday played something legally distinct Starship Troopers in Helldivers along with Rune Factory 4, where they declared every day to be "bikini day". In news, Microsoft confirms four games are coming to non-Xbox consoles, Nintendo sees profits rise even as sales slow, and Sony posts big holiday profits even as it looks to release on PC in a more timely fashion. Epic Games also announced Disney is making a $1.5 billion investment and that Epic will build an Disney experience in Fortnite. For the topic, David and Tuesday discuss Silent Hill: The Short Message, how it's PT but worse, whether the plot is something more akin to Fatal Frame and how they feel about Silent Hill afterwards.

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While glad that all games aren't locked to a subscription service, David Radd knew that Quake II wasn't a new Doom because he fought Strogg and not demons and constantly touched fuzzies in Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Meanwhile, Tuesday quickly sampled the very short Mario vs. Donkey Kong demo for Switch and and kept thinking of Alex Casey in the first Max Payne game because they have Alan Wake 2 brain poisoning. In news, Microsoft let go roughly 1,900 employees while questions are raised about their commitment to physical media. Palworld sells over 12 million copies, Nintendo confirms end date for 3DS and Wii U online services, while the Square Enix president confirms that their lineup of games will be reduced for a greater focus on quality. For the topic, David and Tuesday talk about the Sony State of Play for January 2024, how they both aren't interested in Zenless Zone Zero, can't see themselves playing the PSVR2 titles and fundamentally disagree about Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2.

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While wondering if Silent Hill Ascension will ever come back, David Radd tried to make sense of what a septima is in Azure Striker Gunvolt and experiences the life and times of ninja wizard pirate samurai William Adams in Nioh. Meanwhile, Tuesday played as a psychic erotic dancer in One Night Burlesque and is working on unlocking that double jump in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. In news, the Supreme Court rejects the final appeal in the court case of Google vs. Apple and Apple implements payments outside of the App Store (albeit with a 27 percent commission). Circana reported on full year sales in the U.S. with Hogwarts Legacy selling the most in the region, and also worldwide as confirmed by Warner Bros. Games. Meanwhile, the Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talked openly of Microsoft's multiplatform future and GameStop shut down their NFT marketplace. In the topic, David and Tuesday talk about Aliens: Fireteam Elite, how the game tries to be like Left 4 Dead with progression, why xenomorphs are hard to make a game about and why auto-turrets are the ultimate weapon.

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While predicting that AAA license games will become even more the rage in 2024 and beyond, David Radd works Kratos's problems out in God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla and furiously tries to do everything he can before the day ends in Pikmin 4. Meanwhile, Tuesday is here to get hit and chew bubble gum in Secret of Mana (and they're all out of gum) and finally plays a game where they can be canonically evil in Cult of the Lamb. In news, the Square Enix President tries to ruin everyone's year early by promising a huge generative AI push for the company, Omdia predicted that VR spending dropped 10 percent year-on-year in 2023, the People's Republic of China announced restrictions on monetization for online games before slightly walking them back and Versus Evil, First Contact and Jukai Studio all shut down. For the topic, David and Tuesday talk about their individual favorite podcast topic, their least favorite games and their top five games of 2023.

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While hoping that Sega will start marketing their franchises with '90s style attitude again, David Radd found out that electric charges and invisibility were always in Miles's power set in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and struggled with only 63 inventory slots in Final Fantasy II. Meanwhile, Tuesday is still trying to reconcile a Rougelite having a good story in Children of Morta and finally found the junk-food game they were looking for in Robocop: Rogue City. In the news, there's positive development for unionized workers under Zenimax, while Activision Blizzard settles with the state of California over a discrimination suit and a dispute over hybrid work for Q&A employees, but thankfully Bobby Kotick is now confirmed to be leaving at the end of 2023 along with much of his executive team. Meanwhile, the ESA confirms that E3 won't be coming back, Hogwarts Legacy looks to cinch the best selling game of the year according to Circana's U.S. November 2023 report and Google has a bad couple weeks at court, settling for hundreds of millions with U.S. attorneys and losing a jury decision in an anti-trust lawsuit against Epic Games. In the topic, David and Tuesday discuss a Soulslike adjacent game that Tuesday was able to tolerate until the end: Remnant: From the Ashes. They talk about Remnant's odd difficultly curve, the game's unique arsenal and wondering what could have possibly happened to make McCabe so grumpy.

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