Main Topic: Game Awards Nominees. Megabonk dev withdraws "Best Debut Indie" nomination (made previous games). Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 breaks record with 12 nominations. Notable snubs: ARC Raiders, Dispatch, Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Other News

Xbox Partners Showcase (Tides of Annihilation, Vampire Crawlers, Total Chaos)

Epic/Unity partnership for Fortnite integration

Krafton AI controversy re: Subnautica 2 bonuses

Dispatch skill requirements discussion

First live-action Zelda movie set photos

Our Week in Gaming

Shared: Dispatch progress (Beau completed, Jon restarted, Scott finished Episode 1)

Beau: Claire Obscur Act 3, Slay the Spire boardgame, No Man's Sky Normandy unlock, Vampire Survivors VR

Scott: Forestrike (standout), Shelldiver (incremental gem), Advance Wars binge, Moonlighter 2 purchased, Cleared Hot, Guild Wars 2 reinstalled

Jon: Cyberpunk 2077 continues

Fallout 4 pricing clarification from NickLandry - Anniversary Edition upgrade options explained, Xbox Play Anywhere support added.

Links: Patreon.com/coreshow | CORE.show | frogpants.com/core

New article on CORE.show: Vegas conversation about AI threats + why GoldenEye is the GOAT.

CORE.show vs Patreon (frogpants.com/core)

Episode 500 commemorative mug dropping at frogpants.shop this weekend!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Valve has three new hardware options for you, and we talk about them in detail today. Plus all the news and stuff you can stand, as well as a visit from Bobby for a nice little WoW update! 

GAMES PLAYED

SCOTT

Tavern Keeper

JON

Dispatch

CyberPunk 2077

BEAU

Farthest Frontier

Jump Space

REPO

ARC Raiders

Vampire Survivors VR

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All the details on CORE.show, and what you can get from it! WoW is not coming to consoles, says game lead at Blizz. Fortnite has all the cartoon dads now. Rockstar doing some devious firings. Your Steam Deck can now download while asleep! Warhammer Survivors is HAPPENING! Blizzcon tickets go up tomorrow. Playstation Portal finally does cloud. The return of Nexeopardy! All the games of the week and loads more.

SCOTT

Hoop Land

Mech Havoc

Utopia Must Fall

JON

The Outer Worlds 2

Cyberpunk 2077

Dispatch

BEAU

ARC Raiders 

Aliens: Dark Descent 

Ball X Pit

Dawn of War: Definitive Edition

Jump Space

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nintendo wants you to feel like those happy pandemic times again with a big update to Animal Crossing on Switch 2. Also, all the games of November, the Amazon Games layoffs and the apparent shutter of New World. Civ 7 trying to fix things. Claire and Cloud together at last. All the games we played plus all the usual stuff Enjoy!

SHARED PLAY THIS WEEK

Slots & Daggers

SCOTT

Powerwash Simulator 2

Warside

JON

The Outer Worlds 2

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection

Dispatch

BEAU

Aliens: Dark Descent

Fellowship

Jump Space

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does anyone make a definitive list of the best games? It’s impossible, but we talk about the latest attempt anyway. Plus, Remedy losing their CEO after Firebreak did so poorly, and Vampire Survivors adds DLC to DLC. We also field a load of your questions this week, along with the usual dork-athon, and the games we played to boot! 

SHARED PLAY THIS WEEK

Battlefield 6

SCOTT

Superliminal (beat it!)

Battle-Suit Aces

Yet Another Zombie Survivors

Geometry Survivor

Dungeon Clawler

Slots and Daggers

JON

Dispatch

The Outer Worlds 2

Absolum

It Has My Face

BEAU

Fellowship

No Man’s Sky

Ball X Pit

Farthest Frontier

Void Crew

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Early reviews for the Xbox handheld are out, and it is a mixed bag to say the least. Understanding Fearless Drafts. Glen Powell wants in on E33 movies. EA employees not happy about the sell out. Quantic Dream is making a….free to play MOBA? Yep. Also, all the games we played and loads more!

GAMES PLAYED

SCOTT

Ball X Pit

The Exit 8.

Funguys Swarm

Soulstone Survivors

Silent Hill f

JON

Megabonk

BEAU

Battlefield 6

Hades 2

Pinball FX

Star Trek Voyager Across The Unknown demo

Cosmic Invasion demo

Whiskerwood demo

Skate Story demo

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Straight into Hades II gameplay talk! Covering the “rat boss,” progress paths, end-game challenges, and tarot upgrades, all leading up to some admittedly broad comparisons to ARPGs and roguelites. Design depth, storytelling, and character reactions, Greg Street’s studio troubles, praise for Megabonk. Not to mention the mess that the gamepass changes continue to be. Sackbird Studios has our hopes. Make your own VR headset at home and WAY MORE STUFF!

SHARED PLAY THIS WEEK

Hades 2

Megabonk

SCOTT

It Has My Face

Soulstone Survivors

Deep Rock Survivors

JON

Final Fantasy Tactics Remastered Ultra HD Power Extra Edition

BEAU

Void Crew

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Scott & Jon’s Horror Video Game Fun Time kicks off Friday with Silent Hill f, running each Friday this month. Main topic covers October’s big releases like Ghost of Yotei, Battlefield 6, Little Nightmares 3, Pokémon Legends Z-A, Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2, Mina the Hollower and more. Other news: Microsoft hikes Game Pass, EA goes private, Fortnite pulls Peacemaker, Capcom coy on RE9. Dear Martha Gameshow returns with “Find the Flaw.” This week in play: Hades 2, CloverPit, Shipbreaker, Kaiju Cleanup, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, Megabonk, Sonic Racing Crossworlds.

GAMES PLAYED

SHARED

Hades 2

CloverPit

SCOTT

Hardspace: Shipbreaker

Kaiju Cleanup (upcoming)

JON

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

Megabonk

Sonic Racing Crossworlds

BEAU

Hades II all day all night!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy ten years to CORE! Plus, Beau reminds us about a Kojima credit card coming soon. Highlights from TGS like Kojima’s new horror game OD and Capcom announcements including C. Viper in SF6, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, Pragmata, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword. PlayStation’s State of Play brought a bag of goodies: Saros, Zero Parades for Dead Spies, Flight Simulator 2024, a Deus Ex remaster, Mega Man in Sonic Racing, Dynasty Warriors 3 Complete, Code Vein 2, Let it Die: Inferno, Chronoscript, new Pulse speakers, and Wolverine. (Which looked REALLY good.) Plus all the usual fun times at CORE.

SHARED PLAY THIS WEEK

Scott and Jon both spent time in Megabonk, which is far better than its looks suggest.

Sonic Racing CrossWorlds was played by Scott and Jon.

Hades II saw time from all of us, with Beau having already played in Early Access and a bit more today.

Borderlands 4 continued, mainly Beau.

More No Man’s Sky, though not much new to report, Beau included.

SCOTT

Plenty of Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor.

Three hours of Metal Gear Solid Delta — very Kojima.

Tried the demo for Slots & Daggers, which will be a day-one buy.

JON

Fortnite remains a regular, especially the Blitz mode.

BEAU

Skate in Early Access.

More Hollow Knight: Silksong.

Some Heroes of the Storm, though waiting on the new patch.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nintendo Direct dropped big news: Metroid Prime 4, more Fire Emblem, a quirky “Ditto Crossing,” and even Virtual Boy stuff, plus Hades 2’s 1.0 launch date is September 25. Meanwhile, Randy Pitchford remains the industry’s baffling clown in an ill-fitting suit, Sega is back with some old-school “Ninten-Don’t” ads, and speculation heats up around Cyberpunk 2 possibly including multiplayer (though Scott was sure that was already confirmed). And of course, LOTS MORE! 

Shared Games This Week

•Borderlands 4

•No Man’s Sky

Scott

•Town to City

•Cash Cleaner Simulator

Jon

•No, I’m Not a Human

Beau

•Hollow Knight: Silksong

•Elden Ring: Neightreign

•Void Crew

•World of Warcraft

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.