We've got plenty to catch up on in our first podcast of 2024 (not a real year), from holiday gaming with small children to basement cleaning strategies, some Game Awards highlights, the wild world of competitive NES Tetris, predictions for the Internet of 2034, and a bunch more!

A great explainer about the Tetris story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuJ5UuknsHU

Brendan Sinclair's 2023 roundup: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/tearing-up-the-pea-patch-this-year-in-business 

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CHAPTERS

(00:00:00) NOTE: Some timecodes may be inaccurate for versions other than the ad-free Patreon version due to dynamic ad insertions. Please use caution if skipping around to avoid spoilers. Thanks for listening.
(00:00:10) Intro
(00:00:42) Happy 2024
(00:07:35) The joy of gifting video games
(00:13:23) Brad's List of Games to Share with Children
(00:33:21) What did Alex do doing break?
(00:41:22) Vinny's Break Time Fun
(00:41:31) Beat Saber [PlayStation VR2] on May 24, 2023
(00:45:23) Dave the Diver [Mac, PC (Microsoft Windows)] on Jun 28, 2023
(00:47:55) Sea of Stars [Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S] on Aug 29, 2023
(00:52:13) Should probably mention I think it's also on Game Pass
(00:56:32) Let the Battling of Bots begin!
(00:58:21) Brad and Alex's thoughts on the Game Awards
(01:18:35) Godus is being removed from steam
(01:22:18) Voice of Max Payne, James McCaffrey has passed
(01:24:06) Jack Black joins the cast of the live action Minecraft movie
(01:29:27) Nintendo already shutting down some 3DS and WiiU services
(01:31:45) Publisher Versus Evil has been shut down
(01:32:54) Bobby Kotick is officially gone... for now?
(01:35:03) Go read Brendan Sinclair's 'This Year in Business' story at GamesIndustry.biz
(01:37:43) Baldur's Gate coming to Game Pass?
(01:39:00) This is kid is REALLY good at Tetris
(01:50:36) Emails
(02:09:48) Wrapping up and thanks
(02:11:09) Mysterious Benefactor Shoutouts
(02:13:52) Nextlander content updates
(02:14:27) See ya!