Aftermath Hours

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Gita are joined by Kotaku’s Reb Valentine to discuss that which has long been prophesied (derogatory): The Xbox layoffs finally happened, and they’ve somehow proven even worse than expected. Thousands of jobs lost, seemingly with little regard for institutional knowledge or what the people in question actually, you know, did. Now remaining teams—cut to the bone—are left to pick up the pieces. Why did Microsoft choose to go about things so haphazardly? What happens to the studios that got hit the hardest, and is the decision to put Obsidian, in particular, on Fallout a sign of things to come? And who, really, is to blame for this catastrophic unforced error? Then we talk about a small handful of bright spots in our week—for example, Summer Games Done Quick, which is just the best. Lastly, we (joined briefly by Chris Person) rave about the new version of Ghost In The Shell.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Chris Person, & special guest Reb Valentine

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Riley are joined by Wes Fenlon of PC Gamer to discuss his new project: Warp Point, a web 1.0-style webring of video game blogs for the modern era. We discuss how the current internet is dying while a new one struggles to be born and whether or not newer generations will take to a format with which most millennials are intimately acquainted. Does that even matter, though, or is a fixation on numbers and scale one of the main reasons the modern internet turned out so rancid in the first place? Then we move on to the news of the week: Xbox layoffs haven’t even happened yet, but they’re already causing turmoil for companies like Hitman and 007 First Light maker IO Interactive, and—on the other side of our rapidly escalating industry collapse—Sony announced that it’s phasing out physical discs entirely, a quake that will surely be followed by countless ripples. To cheer ourselves up, we invent the ultimate video game controller, which doubles as the world’s most complicated guitar.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, and special guest Wes Fenlon

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Chris, Gita and Luke discuss the recent price announcement for Valve's console-competitor, the Steam Machine - it's $1,049 USD, but unfortunately that's kind of just what computers cost now. All that said, Chris does make it sound like a pretty cool little PC. Then we'll turn our attention to the grand monolith casting a dark shadow across the gaming release calendar: Grand Theft Auto VI. Has there ever been this much hype for a game? Will there ever be again? And why does none of it strike a chord with Luke, who is ostensibly a GTA guy? And finally we'll hit the Mailbag for a little bit of inside baseball, and to sing a song for some unsung heroes of video game development.

Credits

- Hosts: Chris Person, Gita Jackson & Luke Plunkett

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Chris are joined by a second Chris, this one of the Plante variety, to discuss the latter’s Earliest Game Of The Year awards. Why now? Because games that release near the beginning of the year often get ignored or forgotten by the time GOTY season rolls around. Also, as of now, nearly 11,000 games have already come out this year. We ask Chris why, despite a glut of same-y industry award shows, he believes we need more—not less—and what the value of those shows could be if they focused more on specific types of games or just generally dared to be weirder. Then we move on to the latest grim tidings out of Microsoft, where multiple studios including Double Fine, Compulsion, and Ninja Theory are now on the chopping block. What’s the plan here? Is there one? Was there ever—at least in terms of building a coherent identity around Xbox? Lastly, Nathan gets to talk about the UFC’s White House card, to the surprise and delight of no one.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person & special guest Chris Plante

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Luke are joined by Ethan Gach of noted Aftermath origin story Kotaku dot com to discuss… well, originally we were gonna talk about Summer Game Fest, but then—moments before we began recording—news broke that Xbox is on the verge of yet another devastating round of layoffs. We find ourselves once again lamenting the irreparable damage Microsoft has done to the video game industry, made all the more puzzling by the fact that the company seemed intent on acting like it was doing an about face following the appointment of Asha Sharma as Xbox’s new head. But now here we are, just a scant few months later. At least this makes it easier than ever to boycott Microsoft! Then we move on to the games industry party that preceded this week’s ice-cold bucket of water: Summer Game Fest. Ethan, who was in attendance, gives us his appraisal of Geoff’s latest carnival. The verdict: There were some cool games, and the whole thing left people with the mistaken impression that the industry can be normal and functional. But overall, the event was light on surprises. Finally, we nearly drop the ball on the mailbag, but readers save us from a terrible fate.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Luke Plunkett, and special guest Ethan Gach

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Chris are joined by musician, writer, and game developer Liz Ryerson hot on the heels of counterprogramming Summer Game Fest with the second annual Unearthed Treasure Room showcase. The basic idea? SGF is made up of nearly 20 showcases of games yet to come—too many, frankly!—but there are countless already-released games that deserve another shot. We discuss why it’s important to counterprogram something as commercialized as SGF despite a relatively tiny viewership, as well as what games can look like when they’re less constrained by the bounds of specific genres. Then we get lost in Backrooms, the film sensation based on YouTube videos (that were in turn based on a 4chan meme). How does the movie draw on video game aesthetics to create something that feels fresh? And is this new crop of YouTubers turned filmmakers—as also demonstrated by Obsession—the injection of new life Hollywood has been looking for? Or is this another, perhaps slightly more subtle example of popular people and properties being squeezed into tired molds? Lastly, in honor of God Of War’s magnificent new gelatinous cube, we discuss other shapes we’d like to see anthropomorphized in games.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and special guest Liz Ryerson

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan, Chris, and Gita bid farewell to the Aftermath Twitch channel—at least, in terms of using it to record the podcast—and turn their sights toward a pre-recorded, more-thoroughly-edited future (coming soon!). We also discuss Valve’s decision to massively increase the Steam Deck’s price thanks to “global logistical challenges” (read: AI and an incredibly stupid war) and how what seems to be the end of affordable consumer hardware might impact the games industry five or ten years down the line. Then we talk about the latest Boots Riley movie, I Love Boosters, and how intensely good it is by virtue of embracing a singular vision—the kind film industry outsiders rarely get the opportunity to put on screen these days. After that, we dive into the weeds of what it means to play and enjoy a game—in this case, Zero Parades: For Dead Spies—despite thorny origins. Lastly, Gita and Nathan debate the merits of two popular bands, Paramore and Sleep Token, even though both of their opinions are wrong.

Credits

- Hosts: Chris Person, Gita Jackson, and Luke Plunkett

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Luke are joined by Jordan Hoffstetter of the incredibly-named Tran Girlismo podcast, a show about car culture and living during the decline of empire. We use Forza Horizon 6, the latest in Microsoft’s long-running open-world racing series, as a jumping off point to discuss Forza, Gran Turismo, Japan, irritating story elements in racing games, and the F1 series’ surprisingly great “Breaking Point” career mode. Then we move on to some sobering news: Destiny 2 is ceasing operations as a live-service game and being put on life support. It’s the end of an era in multiple senses. Finally, Luke tells us about his still-ongoing 20-year battle with the final boss of Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and we discover the magic of Applerankings.com.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson and Luke Plunkett

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week's pod, Luke, Gita and Chris got together to talk about the game that people inexplicably cannot stop talking about: Mixtape. We talk about the way that it's portrayal of teen nostalgia hits, and more frequently, doesn't hit, as well as the bizarre series of conversations that are occurring about this game on social media. Then, Chris and Gita chat about the orb-tastic Saros, a game for total sickos that these two sickos are truly enjoying.

Credits

- Hosts: Chris Person, Gita Jackson, and Luke Plunkett

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On this week’s episode, Nathan is outnumbered by Australians when Alanah Pearce—games writer, voice actor, YouTuber, and filmmaker extraordinaire—joins the show (and also Luke is there). We discuss Alanah’s new production company, Charred Pictures, and its goal of involving indie developers in the process of adapting games into movies and TV shows. We also talk about the overall state of video game adaptations and the glut of tales that have already been told. Then we dig into the controversial (at least, in Hollywood) element of Alanah’s operation: She’s working with YouTubers where possible to secure funding, which she believes makes perfect sense when they’re fans of the games being adapted. What, in this day and age of content creators being everywhere, still causes film execs to balk at the idea? After that, we move on to an arguably even more consequential discussion: Star Fox looks fucked up now. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing? Lastly, we throw up our hands at Xbox’s inconsistent (to say the least) approach to AI and then come to the only remaining logical conclusion: Aftermath should be put in charge of Xbox.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Luke Plunkett, and special guest Alanah Pearce

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.