January 27, 2026

Episode #116: One Cheek: The 2025 Year-End GamesCast

Featuring:
Merve
Quinley Thorne
The Kappa
3rdstringhero
Jarathen
Little Mac
Science
Shambolic Rube Frossty

Editor:
The Kappa

Timestamps:
0:15 – Introduction
4:00 – The Game Awards: Future Class Controversy
12:25 – The Game Awards: The Awards
29:25 – The Game Awards: Announcements
1:05:20 – Little Mac’s Top 3
1:13:00 – Shambolic Rube Frossty’s Top 2
1:17:55 – Jarathen’s Top 3
1:20:10 – 3rdstringhero’s Top 3
1:24:20 – Science’s Top 3
1:30:00 – Our Favourites: Honourable Mentions
1:41:55 – Our Favourites: #5
1:54:25 – Our Favourites: #4
2:20:30 – Our Favourites: #3
2:53:15 – Our Favourites: #2
3:16:35 – Our Favourites: #1
4:16:25 – Our Biggest Disappointments
5:11:55 – Our Biggest Surprises, Part 1
5:29:20 – Television Tech
5:34:55 – Our Biggest Surprises, Part 2
5:35:05 – Relationship Stuff… And Gross Stuff
5:38:25 – Steam Machines
5:43:40 – Celebrities and Politicians
5:45:35 – Conclusion

Download Link: https://archive.org/details/avocadogamescast_ep116

Podcast header image from (clockwise from top) Road to Empress I, Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition (source), and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Spoiler warning for despelote. Content warnings for sexual content and extreme scatological humour. Linkdump and time ranges for warnings after the jump.

Introduction (0:15)

Wikipedia article on Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery.

The Game Awards: Future Class Controversy (4:00)

VoD of the awards show. (Source: thegameawards on YouTube)

Article on the controversy over the Game Awards’ Future Class. (Source: The Guardian)

Wikipedia article on the D.I.C.E. Awards.

Wikipedia article on Kinda Funny.

The Game Awards: The Awards (12:25)

Winners at the Game Awards. (Source: The Game Awards)

Wikipedia article on SonicFox.

Wikipedia article on West End Girl by Lily Allen.

The Game Awards: Announcements (29:25)

Gang of Dragon world premiere trailer. (Source: thegameawards on YouTube)

Total War: Warhammer 40,000 world premiere trailer. (Source: thegamewards on YouTube)

World premiere trailers for Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and Tomb Raider: Catalyst. (Source: thegamewards on YouTube)

Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic teaser trailer. (Source: Star Wars on YouTube)

Star Wars: Galactic Racer reveal trailer. (Source: Star Wars on YouTube)

Announcement trailer for Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve. (Source: Bandai Namco Entertainment America on YouTube)

Know Your Meme article on the Ace Combat JPEG Dog.

Warlock: Dungeons and Dragons world premiere trailer. (Source: thegameawards on YouTube)

Divinity world premiere trailer. Content warning for extreme gore and violence. (Source: thegameawards on YouTube)

Announcement trailer for Control Resonant. (Source: Remedy Entertainment on YouTube)

The Game Awards teaser for Soulframe Founders bundles. (Source: Soulframe on YouTube)

Warframe trailer featuring Werner Herzog. (Source: GamersPrey on YouTube)

Announcement trailer for The Free Shepherd. (Source: PlayStation on YouTube)

Highguardworld premiere trailer. (Source: thegameawards and Highguard on YouTube)

Announcement trailer for Coven of the Chicken Foot. (Source: Wildflower Interactive on YouTube)

Announcement trailer for Orbitals. (Source: Nintendo of America on YouTube)

Little Mac’s Top 3 (1:05:20)

#3: Donkey Kong Bananza. (Source: Nintendo)

Nintendo store page for Mario Kart World.

#2: Hollow Knight: Silksong. (Source: Steam)

Steam store page for Hades II.

#1: Blue Prince. (Source: Steam)

Shambolic Rube Frossty’s Top 2 (1:13:00)

First choice: Lies of P: Overture. (Source: Steam)

Second choice: Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader – Lex Imperialis. (Source: Steam)

Jarathen’s Top 3 (1:17:55)

#3: Donkey Kong Bananza. (Source: Nintendo)

#2: 9 Kings. (Source: Steam)

#1: Absolum. (Source: Steam)

3rdstringhero’s Top 3 (1:20:10)

#3: Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter. (Source: Steam)

#2: The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-. (Source: Steam)

#1: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. (Source: Steam)

Science’s Top 3 (1:24:20)

#3: CARIMARA: Beneath the forlorn limbs. (Source: Steam)

#2: Hades II. (Source: Steam)

#1: Baby Steps. (Source: Steam)

Our Favourites: Honourable Mentions (1:30:00)

Merve’s #10: Dear me, I was… (Source: Wikipedia)

Merve’s #9: Dispatch. (Source: Steam)

Merve’s #8: Mario Kart World. (Source: Wikipedia)

Merve’s #7: Many Nights a Whisper. (Source: Steam)

Merve’s #6: Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. (Source: Steam)

Correction: Danny Trejo was in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, not Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. (Source: Wikipedia)

Quinley Thorne’s #10: Town to City. (Source: Steam)

Quinley Thorne’s #9: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. (Source: Wikipedia)

Quinley Thorne’s #8: Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time. (Source: Wikipedia)

Quinley Thorne’s #7: Donkey Kong Bananza. (Source: Wikipedia)

Quinley Thorne’s #6: Umamusume: Pretty Derby. (Source: Steam)

Wikipedia article on racehorse Haru Urara.

The Kappa’s #10: Dynasty Warriors: Origins. (Source: Steam)

The Kappa’s #9: Assassin’s Creed Shadows. (Source: Steam)

The Kappa’s #8: Dispatch. (Source: Steam)

The Kappa’s #7: Age of Mythology: Retold. (Source: Steam)

The Kappa’s #6: Abiotic Factor. (Source: Steam)

Wikipedia article on friendslop.

Our Favourites: #5 (1:41:55)

Merve’s #5: Strange Jigsaws. (Source: Steam)

Quinley Thorne’s #5: DEAD LETTER DEPT. (Source: Steam)

Wikipedia article on Dead Mail.

The Kappa’s #5: Battlefield 6. (Source: Steam)

Correction: Battlefield 6 did win Best Audio Design at The Game Awards 2025. (Source: Wikipedia)

Our Favourites: #4 (1:54:25)

Merve’s #4: Keeper. (Source: Steam)

Quinley Thorne’s #4: Promise Mascot Agency. (Source: Steam)

The protagonist of Promise Mascot Agency is named Michi. (Source: Kaizen Game Works)

The Kappa’s #4: Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2. (Source: Steam)

Our Favourites: #3 (2:20:30)

Merve’s #3: Donkey Kong Bananza. (Source: Nintendo)

The name of the female Donkey Kong boss Quinley Thorne was talking about is Poppy Kong. (Source: Game8)

Quinley Thorne’s #3: Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion. (Source: Steam)

An explanation of how gravity acts on heavy and light objects. (Source: UCSB ScienceLine)

The Kappa’s #3: Avowed.

Article on Carrie Patel joining Night School Studio. (Source: GamesIndustry.biz)

Our Favourites: #2 (2:53:15)

Merve’s #2: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. (Source: Steam)

Quinley Thorne’s #2: Girls Made Pudding. (Source: Steam)

The Kappa’s #2: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II. (Source: Steam)

Our Favourites: #1 (3:16:35)

Merve’s #1: Road to Empress I. (Source: Steam)

Moby Games page for the fell in love with coser series. There are 10 of them!

Quinley Thorne’s #1: Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition. (Source: Nintendo)

The Kappa’s #1: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. (Source: Steam)

Wikipedia article on chiaroscuro.

Steam store page for Blue Prince.

Our Biggest Disappointments (4:16:25)

MAJOR SPOILERS: despelote

Merve’s biggest disappointment: despelote. (Source: Steam)

Quinley Thorne’s biggest disappointment: Tekken 8’s second season. (Source: Steam)

The r/LowSodiumTEKKEN subreddit.

Tekken Wiki article on Fahkumram. (Source: Fandom)

Tekken Wiki article on Miary Zo. (Source: Fandom)

Report on the racial discrimination scandal at Bandai Namco. (Source: Kotaku)

Report on layoffs at Bandai Namco. (Source: Game Developer)

Correction: Bandai Namco did not announce that they were only focusing on legacy IP, but they did cancel several games in development, including a Nintendo exclusive and a new game in the Unknown 9 franchise. (Sources: Bloomberg and PlayStation Lifestyle)

Report on the cancellation of the worldwide release of Blue Protocol in 2024. (Source: IGN)

Report on Katsuhiro Harada leaving Bandai Namco. (Source: Sportskeeda)

The Kappa’s biggest disappointment: Sid Meier’s Civilization VII. (Source: Steam)

Meta store page for the VR edition of Sider Meier’s Civilization VII.

Our Biggest Surprises, Part 1 (5:11:55)

Quinley Thorne’s first surprise: city builders like Town to City and Against the Storm. (Sources: Steam)

Steam store page for The Wandering Village.

Quinley Thorne’s second surprise: Steam Families. (Source: Steam)

The Kappa’s surprise: Microsoft leaving the console war.

Report on the state of Xbox at the end of 2025. (Source: Kotaku)

Jason Schreier and Dina Bass’s report on profit margin targets at Microsoft Gaming. (Source: Bloomberg)

Microsoft is approximately 22 times larger than Sony as of this writing. (Sources: Macrotrends)

Television Tech (5:29:20)

Wikipedia article on Sony’s Bravia line.

Our Biggest Surprises, Part 2 (5:34:35)

Merve’s first surprise: Road to Empress I. (Source: Steam)

Merve’s second surprise: Many Nights a Whisper. (Source: Steam)

Relationship Stuff… And Gross Stuff (5:35:05)

CONTENT WARNINGS: sexual content; extreme scatological humour

No links here.

Steam Machines (5:38:25)

Official website for Steam Machine.

The WAN Show episode where Linus Sebastian discussed Steam Machine pricing. (Source: Linus Tech Tips on YouTube)

Official website for iBUYPOWER.

Wikipedia article on The Closer.

Celebrities and Politicians (5:43:40)

No links here.

Conclusion (5:45:35)

Sarapen’s guide on how to make a podcast.

Wikipedia article on Estonia.

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By Merve, The Kappa, and friends

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