We reconvene to discuss fighting games of all shapes and sizes as well as the looming spectre of loot boxes’ nefarious ends.
Epic Games marches across the gaming landscape, swallowing as many exclusives and studios as they can. Is this good for devs? Is this bad for consumers? All we can say for certain is it’s a weird time for games, with the console wars seemingly subsiding only to reemerge on PC.
Games include Pop’n Music 14 FEVER!, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 11, Injustice 2, Hypnospace Outlaw, Undertale, Artifact, Brawl Stars, Sunset Overdrive, and Alice: Madness Returns.
Who’s that Pokémon? It’s Bill Nighy!
We keep the Oregonian guest streak going this week with Will Lewis – president of Portland Indie Game Squad and director of Rose City Games, developer on The World Next Door.
Will discusses what goes into running PIGSquad, from working with local partners to putting on events to PIGSquad’s organizational structure.
We also chat about balancing community organizing with dev work, some of Will’s favorite games, and more!
Every time we try to spoil Endgame, we get distracted by the blue blur’s glorious cinematic debut, so we stick to giving our Infinity Saga impressions spoiler free, voice the problems with the MCU, and discuss the slippery slope of determining what is and isn’t “kids stuff.”
It wouldn’t be a week in the games industry without discussing crunch and related workplace problems. We tackle the recent reports of employee suffering at Epic, NetherRealm, and Riot; the universality of crunch in the industry; and the hand games media plays in directing the discussion of crunch and other development topics.
Games include Devil May Cry 5, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and The Elder Scrolls: Blades.
The Lee brothers unlock the secrets of martial science.
This week, we’re joined by Marlowe Dobbe – artist on Dicey Dungeons and The World Next Door and member of PIGSquad!
She talks about how she got into games as an artist, what inspires her art style, and her pipeline for creating game art.
We discuss what it’s like running booths at larger game expos, and – most importantly – we try to see how many Pokémon movies we can name from memory.
We lose one Joe but gain one Nelson, who’s here to put a cap on his Devil May Cry 5 experience. Dylan and Alex are still deep into their Hypnospace journey, filled with cool punks, angry teachers, and tales of the Chowder Man.
Sony blows the doors off the lead up to E3 with an early look at the PS5, we learn about the Three C’s of Cerny, and Jedi: Fallen Order is finally starting to look like a video game!
Games include Sayonara Wild Hearts; Dangerous Driving; Get in the Car, Loser!; Creature in the Well; Hypnospace Outlaw; Risk of Rain 2; Devil May Cry 5; Onrush; Devil’s Hunt; and Alice: Madness Returns.
Interpol faces off against the evil shadowlawyers.
Dante Douglas – writer, designer, and one of the editors-in-chief over at Deorbital – joins the show this week, wearing the dual hats of press and developer and discussing how there’s no real division between them.
We also cover the differences we find in artistic games criticism versus mechanical games criticism and everyone’s difficulty in separating critical analysis from one’s taste in games.
Games include Hades.
A new chapter is etched into the annals of gaming as two tech giants enter the arena. The masses cheer! Google Stadia! Apple Arcade! Shall these titans bring with them the dawning of a new age, or will they plunge us all into the yawning abyss?
This week, we also discuss some takeaways from GDC and PAX East, dying shadows and internet fugitives, and our new show – Attract Mode! – which you can find on iTunes, Google Play, or via RSS.
Games include Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Hypnospace Outlaw.
