After months of rumors and leaks, Valve has officially announced 3 new hardware products that could transform console gaming and VR:

A new Steam Controller (modeled after the Steam Deck's form factor), a new Steam Machine console, perfect for couch gaming, and the Steam Frame, a new inside-out, wireless VR headset that can run games natively and stream them from your PC.

These three devices, on top of the handheld experience offered by the Steam Deck, along with years of updates and iterations to SteamOS and Steam Input, puts Valve in a fascinating position to completely upend what "console gaming" means in the next decade.

We discuss the specs, potential price points, and our excitement around the SteamOS ecosystem.

Plus: Rockstar Games apparently sucks.

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Matt Leone has been a video game journalist since he was 10 years old printing fanzines' on his grandparents' computer.

Very few people read those, but very MANY people have read his incredibly in-depth oral histories of the industry's most influential games and franchises: Street Fighter II, Final Fantasy 7, Crash Bandicoot, Morrowind, and more. In them, he tracks down everyone who touched development to recount the creative and business environments in which they were forged.

After a decade at 1up.com and 13 years at Polygon, he and a merry band of freelancers have taken the oral history project independent, with a subscription-funded site called Design Room.

Colette and Matt sit down with (other) Matt to discuss his career, the process of creating these rich historical documents, his latest piece about "Shadow of the Colossus," and what happens when video game devs don't want to talk — or worse: die without telling their stories.

Go read Design Room now! https://www.designroom.site/

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Colette embarks on her second playthrough of Silent Hill f,  which she claims is the best Silent Hill since 2.

Meanwhile, Embark (the studio) launches Arc Raiders. Matt recounts his time during the server slam, and why this game could be the next big thing.

Also, remember ICQ?

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After years of mobile-first strategy, Netflix has announced its foray into game streaming with a focus on couch co-op party games - including a heavy hitter. We discuss why this makes a ton of sense for the streamer.

Plus: The lingering secrets in "Expedition 33," why the new side-scrolling beat-em-up "Absolum" hits so hard, and the triumphant release of dopamine generator "BALL x PIT," which mixes "Space Invaders," "Vampire Survivors," and "Breakout" into a perfect video game.

Watch the video version of this episode here: https://youtu.be/NbU_WbHZo6s

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So Nintendo uploaded a thing to their YouTube channel with ZERO context, and the Internet has been wondering what's the point. But details in the Nintendo Today app have new clues.

PLUS: We are hopelessly addicted to Megabonk, because it's Vampire Survivors in 3D with jumping!

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Xbox Game Pass just got significantly more expensive and subscribers are freaking out (and canceling in droves).The value proposition — unlimited access to 500+ games for $30/month — is still unprecedented. But as the cost of streaming and living rises across the board, and the hours we have to enjoy remain the same, that equation quickly gets more complicated.

We break down the value of Game Pass in a 2025 media ecosystem, and the future of subscription (and Cloud-based) game services.

Plus: An update on SILENT HILL f, and a game about many numbers going up at the same time.

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Colette played 4 hours of "Silent Hill f" in one sitting. So, is it good?

(yes)

And Matt has a spiritual awakening thanks to digital fur babies (some of whom are dead).

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Hey, uh...Nintendo? Yeah.

Could we have a quick word?

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Hey! There's a new game out called Silksong, and apparently it's good?

Deranged Metroidvandia fanatic Sky Burkson returns to the pod to school us on how Hollow Knight became a genre-defining (refining?) game, and why the long wait for its sequel turned into an Internet-breaking cultural phenomenon that's definitely not for everyone.

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Seven years of hype for "Hollow Knight: Silksong" literally took down Steam and Nintendo eShop servers when the game debuted this week as millions of fans rushed to buy and play the sequel. And we couldn't be happier for the small, devoted indie team that made it.

Meanwhile, "No Man's Sky" released its 6.0 update called "Voyagers" that allows players to build their own custom corvettes, which lead to an enormous spike in players for the 9-year-old game.

And Valve has patented a "Steam Frame," which sounds an awful lot like their rumored VR headset. Is new Steam hardware imminent?

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