We're joined by FGC legend Justin Wong this week to chat about competing at EVO, upcoming fighting games, and becoming Him. We check our Silksong hype, Path of Exile 2 returns in a huge way, Shinobi is a home for fighting game players and the surprisingly hype Geoguesser World Championship.

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Football season
6:00 - Smack talk
11:30 - Sub sandwiches & fast food
16:30 - Oh yeah, Justin Wong is here
31:00 - Marvel Tokon/2XKO/Invincible VS
58:30 - Are hiding inputs useful?
1:05:10 - Sony sells EVO
1:09:20 - EVO prestige 
1:20:30 - Is it better to be good at a game or good at reading players?
1:24:30 - EVO Moment 37
1:32:00 - Street Fighter 6
1:36:30 - Lucy in Guilty Gear Strive
1:38:00 - Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
1:42:30 - Silksong hype check
1:49:10 - Path of Exile 2: The Third Edict
2:21:40 - Geoguesser World Championship
2:40:30 - VOID/BREAKER
2:42:40 - TheHunter - Call of the Wild
3:00:00 - Shoutouts

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We remove the clown shoes after 7 years of waiting: Silksong has a release date! Just in time for 20% of Twitch's viewership poofs out of existence as Twitch has finally started combating viewbotting! How will this affect streams and sponsors in the future on the streaming platform? Tariffs hit Playstation 5 in the US. Vampire the Masquerade: The Ship of Theseus. Pete Parsons leaves Bungie in his very cool car after firing numerous employees.Path of Exile 2 returns in a big way, ERPers turn on Final Fantasy XIV and much more!

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Condensed
3:00 - Viewbotters
16:45 - Silksong finally has a release date
28:30 - The PlayStation 5 price increases
31:15 - Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2
47:00 - Helldivers 2 x Halo ODST
48:10 - Pete Parsons leaves Bungie
50:00 - Path of Exile 2 The Third Edict
1:10:20 - Final Fantasy XIV bans mods
1:18:00 - World of Warcraft Midnight
1:23:40 - Deadlock gets a big update
1:30:00 - Hosting
1:38:30 - Whispers From The Star
1:52:00 - Loving an AI
2:06:30 - VOID/BREAKER
2:14:30 - Morrowind
2:24:55 - Gods, Death & Reapers
2:41:40 - Herdling
2:48:15 - Dead Wire
2:50:30 - We finish games here
2:57:00 - Supraworld
3:03:00 - Shoutouts

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We're all in on Battlefield 6 this week as the first beta weekend launched. Is Battlefield back? Titan Quest 2 gaining traction, Diablo 4 lead Rod Fergusson leaves Blizzard, Bungie losing independence, Square Enix MMOs on the downtrend. Zeke suffers through Mind's Eye, watching the EVO finals and we learn new zoomer slang and baseball! 

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Up all night
3:25 - Start diggin' in yo butt twin
6:00 - Baseball
16:00 - Titan Quest 2 sold 300k in 72 hours
16:50 - Rod Fergusson leaves Blizzard/Microsoft
24:10 - Bungie dissolving into Sony
30:00 - Battlefield 6
1:20:10 - Square Enix MMO division
1:34:10 - EVO 2025
1:45:40 - Mind's Eye
2:01:10 - Mafia: The Old Country
2:23:10 - Abiotic Factor
2:38:00 - THE RPG
2:43:50 - Shoutouts

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We're joined by Washington Post's game journalist Gene Park this week to chat about the state of games journalism in 2025 and how Mind's Eye is the experience of the year.  We also go over the surprise THQ showcase that revealed Darksiders 4 and shadowdropped the early access of Titan Quest 2. Then we get into our time with Grounded 2, Abiotic Factor 1.0, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and... Shenmue?

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Hair Bleach
7:00 - Gene Park is here
18:00 - Journalism in 2025
37:20 - Gene's favorite interview
1:05:00 - What is clickbait?
1:07:00 - Going to gaming events
1:11:00 - Maintaining integrity
1:20:50 - Gene has platinumed Mind's Eye
1:53:50 - Visa/Mastercard/Porn
2:05:00 - Music
2:08:50 - Nintendo sales
2:10:20 - Bioshock 4 dead?
2:12:30 - Top people working at WB
2:17:40 - THQ showcase - Titan Quest 2/Darksider 4
2:29:50 - Grounded 2
2:35:00 - Abiotic Factor
2:40:00 - Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
2:42:30 - Shinobi Demo
2:44:50 - Shenmue
2:49:45 - The Drifter
2:52:45 - Lucy joins Guilty Gear Strive/EVO 2025
2:58:30 - Shoutouts/Tokon breaking news

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This week we talk about finishing games as a streamer, why it's better for the streamer and the viewer to not force themselves to complete games. The numerous faux pas we dislike in games. Our thoughts on Donkey Kong Banaza, FFXIV Dawntrail, the Mafia series, Neon Abyss 2 (and more) before getting into the news with Krafton v Subnautica heating up, Roblox dating, being replaced by AI and more!

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - The worst show
7:25 - Cohh quits Kojima
28:00 - Finishing games
47:00 - Gaming faux pas
54:50 - Claptrap will have a volume slider in Borderlands 4
58:30 - Grounded is the best survival game
1:10:00 - Mafia 3
1:27:00 - Donkey Kong Bananza
1:56:50 - Ghost of Yotei Showcase
2:02:50 - Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail
2:12:50 - Zeke's Games
2:16:40 - Neon Abyss 2
2:18:50 - Krafton vs Subnautica
2:21:50 - Valve removes sex games
2:33:00 - Microtransactions create fun!
2:35:15 - Roblox dating
2:45:00 - Lay-offs at King (Microsoft) replaced by AI
2:46:40 - Destiny 2 Edge of Fate CCV way down
2:51:00 - Shoutouts

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Mass layoffs hit XBOX again and it's most definitely not the end with over 9000 employees and multiple projects canceled. Are we cooked? More Death Stranding 2 talk and look foward to what Kojima has in store. A new Planetside-like being developed? The Alters dev respond to usage of AI, Stop Killing Games reaches 1 million signatures for UK. A look at Uma Musume and gacha gaming, PEAK and more!

0:00 - Intro
1:20 - Climate 
2:40 - Death Stranding 2
28:25 - Lord of the Rings Online
32:15 - A new Planetside? Reaper Actual
39:50 - The Alters AI
59:30 - Stop Killing Games reaches 1 million signatures in UK
1:06:00 - Helldivers 2 hits XBOX
1:07:40 - Microsoft massive layoffs and cancelations
1:33:00 - EA expects 100 million players for Battlefield
1:40:00 - Krafton replaces Subnautica co-founders
1:55:00 - Uma Musume: Pretty Derby
2:04:00 - Gacha games
2:24:00 - PEAK
2:32:10 - 7 Days to Die
2:35:30 - VTuber Q
2:50:10 - Shoutouts

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The use of GenAI continues to grow in game dev, viewbotting is increasing on Twitch, is streaming video games dying? Our thoughts on Stop Killing Games, Dune Awakening's end game, Death Stranding 2, Lies of P and of course the Horse Girl game.

0:00 - Intro
1:20 - The Thon ends
4:00 - Dune Awakening endgame
29:00 - GenAI in The Alters
57:00 - Viewbots
1:21:30 - Is game streaming dead?
1:29:00 - Stop Killing Games
1:33:10 - Death Stranding 2
2:15:00 - Lies of P: Overture
2:28:00 - Peak
2:45:00 - Ruffy and the Riverside
2:49:00 - Ume Musume: Pretty Derby
3:01:00 - Shoutouts

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We're joined by Dan this week to give us the lowdown on The Alters and the tips/tricks for dating everything in the house in the new dating sim: Date Everything! But first Borderlands 4 had their deep dive reveal during their fanfest and for the first time we're actually excited to play it! Nexusmods gets sold, should we be worried (yes!) Splitgate 2 devs face layoffs after poor  launch, Marathon gets delayed indefinitely, Mr. Beast's AI thumbnails, Kojima doesn't want you to feel good after playing Death's Stranding 2, 32 race Mario Kart World and more!

0:00 - Intro
4:00 - The Blood of Dawnwalker
16:00 - Borderlands 4
32:35 - Borderlands 4 is now a $70 game
49:25 - Donkey Kong Bonanza
55:45 - Lies of P: Overture
1:03:45 - Stellar Blade
1:05:00 - Splitgate devs facing layoffs
1:08:00 - Nexusmods gets sold
1:12:20 - Hades 2 update
1:15:20 - AI thumbnails
1:20:40 - Marathon delayed indefinitely
1:25:00 - Jukeboxes
1:31:30 - Fantasy Life I gets a roguelike mode
1:34:30 - SEGA leaks their sales info
1:36:00 - FBC Firebreak
1:45:40 - Kojima changed Death's Stranding 2 to be more polarizing
2:01:10 - REMATCH
2:26:00 - Mario Kart World
2:30:50 - Date Everything
2:54:10 - The Alters (no spoilers)
3:03:10 - Shoutouts

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This week we share our final thoughts on Summer Game Fest and check our post-SGF hype levels. We wonder if Marathon is still releasing this year. Sony quietly removing region-lock on their PC ports. GameStop removing the Game from Stop. Obsidian leads wonder about the industry. MindsEye... Dune: Awakening addiction and plenty of Steam NEXT Fest demos including Rue Valley, Baby Steps and Dispatch!

0:00 - Intro
1:00 - Father's Day
4:00 - Post-SGF
10:00 - Arc Raiders
21:00 - Marathon
37:20 - Sony removing regional restrictions on Steam
43:30 - Stellar Blade peaks CCU on Steam
49:40 - Gamestop moving away from games
54:00 - Obsidian on $80 games and the industry
1:02:40 - Switch 2 sells over 3 mil in a day
1:16:25 - MindsEye and Cohh
1:34:00 - Dragon Age dev hell
1:47:00 - Dune: Awakening
2:24:00 - Ninja Gaiden Ragebound     
2:26:30 - Baby Steps
2:34:50 - Rue Valley
2:37:00 - Dispatch
2:49:00 - Zeke's favorite NEXT Fest demos
3:03:40 - Path of Exile
3:05:10 - Nancy Drew
3:11:15 - Shoutouts

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Our main topic this week is going over our Summer Game Fest coverage plans. Be sure to watch with us this Friday, June 6 5PM ET! We also go through all the TwitchCon news including increased streaming resolutions (but not the bitrate,) Twitch live rewind... That's behind a paywall, and more! We then discuss our time with Elden Ring: Nightreign a weirdly addicting game, Tainted Grail and round it all out with Zeke's indie recommendations!

0:00 - Intro
1:40 - Nicknames
5:10 - Twitch bitrate
6.40 - Twitch rewind
17:00 - The rest of Twitch Con EU news
25:00 - Expedition 33 sells 3.3 million in 33 days
26:40 - EA closes Cliffhanger Studios
30:00 - COD ads
34:40 - Elden Ring: Nightreign
1:15:00 - Switch 2
1:31:10 - Summer Game Fest plans
1:59:00 - Tainted Grail
2:30:00 - The Last Golfer
2:40:30 - Zeke's indie recommendations
2:56:20 - Shoutouts

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.