Game Mess Mornings

Jeff Grubb is joined by Dean Dobbs today to chat about Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave and Trails in the Sky 2nd reviews, Wardogs continuing to sell very well, layoffs happening at Mindseye, and more! 

0:00 - Intro
4:25 - Fire Emblem reviews
17:17 - Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter reviews
20:30 - Wardogs sells 2 million
27:35 - Layoffs at Mindseye Studio
34:20 - BREAK
34:40 - 007 First Light on Switch 2 slips to March 2027
38:40 - Steam Deck 2 remains in development despite the RAM crisis
42:30 - GTA 6’s musicians are starting a coordinated-looking tease campaign 
46:50 - Nightdive’s boss raises Eternal Darkness hopes 
50:00 - Someone revived a Chinese Paper Mario board game in English
51:00 - This week
52:00 - Poll

Our Guest: Dean Dobbs!
https://bsky.app/profile/deanadobbs.bsky.social
https://www.instagram.com/deandobbs
https://www.twitch.tv/deandobbs
https://x.com/DeanDobbs

Jeff Grubb is joined by Lex Luddy to jump start your week with news! Today we're catching up on some of the bigger announcements coming out of Blizzcon, Wardogs selling a million copies in 24 hours, Polyarc shutting down, and more! 

0:00 - Intro
5:00 - Blizzard announced Diablo and StarCraft games that are years away ‘to show confidence’
19:50 - WoW Forever is basically Blizzard making its own alternate-history World of Warcraft
23:40 - Wardogs sold 1.25 million copies in 24 hours
28:50 - BREAK
30:13 - Moss series developer Polyarc shuts down
33:30 - SOMEBODY GOT YELLED AT: Level-5 CEO had to respond to AI backlash
42:00 - Sony secretly killed a different project last week
48:20 - Bloomberg: Apple to make gaming controllers for the iPhone
51:40 - OLD GAME NEWS: The other Xbox 360 exclusive JRPG from the creator of Final Fantasy now has a PC port

HAPPY FANELLI FRIDAY! We've got Jason Fanelli joining Grubb today to talk about updates with Kojima's Physint, Ubisoft and Steam, the upcoming EA merger, and more!

0:00 - Intro
4:24 - Saudi wealth fund weighs EA-Savvy merger, Bloomberg News reports
13:20 - PlayStation cancelled Hideo Kojima’s Physint because Death Stranding and its sequel did meet revenue expectations
22:50 - BREAK
23:07 - Ubisoft is 'testing' making its games far less annoying to launch on Steam
30:09 - That Zelda Direct was absolutely enormous
38:40 - Guess what was the biggest Nintendo Direct trailer in Japan
42:35 - VR headset shipments have fallen 18%
48:36 - Footage of PlayStation’s Fairgames allegedly leaks via playtest

We've got TurboShawn joining Grubb today for the news. We're talking Wolverine reviews, Sony trying to cancel Physint and Kojima finding a new publishing partner, a "Customer Appreciation Sale" at Nintendo, Matt Berry is in a Skyrim mod, and many more! 

0:00 - Intro
3:15 - Wolverine reviews
18:20 - Sony tried to cancel PHYSINT, and Xbox is now publishing it
33:33 - BREAK
33:50 - Nearly 1,900 Blizzard employees get a major union contract — including AI rules
38:40 - Nintendo announces a ‘Customer Appreciation Sale’ in America, says its tariff refunds made it possible
43:40 - Steam now requires Australian users to have a credit card to purchase R18+ games, and no, a simple bank debit card won't work
48:40 - Ikea has released a Skyrim mod where players are accompanied by a Kallax shelving unit voiced by Matt Berry
51:50 - SNK’s NeoGeo AES re-release delayed by nearly a year due to components shortage
53:00 - HEY WHAT IN ALL THE HELLS IS THIS DLSS 5 BULLSHIT?!
57:50 - Nintendo Adding VRR Support

We've got Taylor Cocke joining Grubb today to chat about virtually EVERYTHING from today's Nintendo Direct and we're getting ports, a new Kirby, AND A NEW METROID GAME! We also chat about the massive Steam leaks, EA using generative AI, and more for your Wednesday morning.

0:00 - INTRO
4:00 - Nintendo Direct
29:30 - Break
29:40 - Steam may have just suffered one of the biggest videogame leaks in years
35:20 - Xbox disc-to-digital: reports of publishers "opting out" were premature
39:10 - EA is reportedly using generative AI for NHL 27 commentary
45:35 - Riot is considering making normal, premium videogames
48:10 - PowerWash Simulator studio FuturLab reportedly laid people off without telling their managers 
51:10 - GameStop is becoming a collectibles company that happens to sell videogames 
53:50 - GOG is letting you print your own old PC big boxes
55:55 - This week

Jeff Grubb and Chuck Zimmerheld are ending the week with video game news! We're talking about Nintendo dropping two Directs on us next week, Sony's State of Play getting bombarded with negative comments, Xbox capping cloud gaming sessions, and more! 

00:00 - Intro
5:00 - Nintendo just announced TWO Directs for next week 
19:50 - Sony's State of Play got hijacked by “NO DISC NO BUY” and “DESTINY 3”
24:30 - Xbox is capping cloud gaming to 15 hours and charging for extra playtime
34:30 - break
34:45 - The physical edition of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation needs to download extra game data on all formats
38:40 - UK PS5 and Xbox sales jumped by a third following GTA 6’s Netflix reveal
41:35 - Something is happening with StarCraft
44:50 - Saber is now explicitly promising no generative AI in its big licensed games
47:00 - Konami had a surprisingly substantial showcase

Jeff Grubb and TurboShawn roll right into news and recap all of the highlights (and lowlights) of both State of Plays that happened today! We also get into a new Disney game, skings heading to Battlefield 6, Rhythm Heaven doing well in Japan, and more for your Thursday! 

00:00 - Intro
5:15 - STATES OF PLAY RECAP
32:20 - BREAK
32:50 - Sony Is Making 59% More Revenue Per PlayStation User Since PS4 Generation, Says Analyst
40:20 - FRONTIER ANNOUNCES DISNEY AGREEMENT FOR A NEW GAME 
43:00 - BATTLEFIELD 6 MAY ALREADY BE BREAKING ITS "GROUNDED SKINS" PROMISE
46:10 - Rhythm Heaven is still huge in Japan
50:15 - The Witcher Remake is on hold while its studio works on The Witcher 3’s expansion
51:00 - Sonic is allowed to fire guns in Fortnite because he’s an android, not the real one, Sonic Team boss says
53:30 - Konami Show!
54:00 - This Week

We've got Lexi Luddy on the show today to join Grubb to discuss Mario Kart 8 Deluxe getting new DLC, Pikmin 3 getting a surprise upgrade, Sony making assumptions on what consumers believe, Double Fine having a lofty goal with their Kickstarter, and more! 

00:00 - Intro
5:00 - Nintendo just updated Mario Kart – no, the other Mario Kart
10:15 - Pikmin 3 Deluxe also gets a surprise Switch 2 upgrade
17:05 - Nintendo Switch Online Nintendo Classics gets a new drop of old games
23:00 - Nintendo Direct rumors
28:40 - Mini Grubb Guesser
31:50 - Break
32:05 - Sony says ‘reasonable consumers’ know they don’t own the digital games they buy
Grand Theft Auto 6 Footage Got More Views Than Anything Else on Netflix Last Week
39:40 - Minecraft's Minecoin wallet is becoming less cross-platform on Nintendo hardware
42:15 - Double Fine says it'll make Brütal Legend 2 if its Kickstarter reaches $100 million
45:20 - NVIDIA DLSS 5 launches tomorrow

Jeff Grubb is joined by Jan Ochoa to jumpstart your week with news! We chat about multiple State of Play showcases planned for September 3rd, rumblings that Sony may be reconsidering ending disc production, an Onimusha review roundup, and more for your Monday! 

0:00 - Intro
4:50 - States of Play on Thursday
15:04 - Onimusha: Way of the Sword Review Roundup
23:50 - BREAK
24:00 - Word out of Gamescom is that Sony might postpone its all-digital future, but nothing is official
34:20 - Just Dance accidentally leaks a Nintendo Direct?
39:15 - “Aggressively” Selling PS5s Isn’t Needed, As Sony Focuses On Making More From Existing Owners
45:33 - A 12TB Steam “teraleak” spills more than a decade of lost PC gaming history
49:50 - Take-Two says its investigation into the GTA 6 leaker is ‘rapidly evolving’ as it requests another Discord subpoena
52:54 - Fable’s main quest will take ‘around 15-20 hours’ to beat, Xbox says
54:25 - EA confirms leaked Iron Man game footage is real
56:10 - Multiple developers report equipment stolen from their Gamescom booths
1:00:00 - Rovio Copenhagen to close after Sonic Blitz cancellation

It's a Fanelli Friday everybody! Jason Fanelli joins Grubb to end the week with news about the White House and more tariffs on semiconductors, DLSS 5 coming out for everyone, Metal Gear Solid 4 players, and a whole slew of GTA VI news!

0:00 - Intro
4:40 - The White House is considering another semiconductor tariff plan 
12:30 - Looks like you can try DLSS 5 out today yourself
21:00 - BREAK
22:20 - Grand Theft Auto 6 details
39:41 - Cyberleek's GTA 6 leak flood looks to have ended in the most unsurprising way possible: a $250,000 crypto grift
43:15 - Elden Ring on Switch 2 launches today
45:42 - 92% of new Metal Gear Solid 4 players immediately destroyed a statues dick



This episode is brought to you by Video Game Town, a truly indie website that is constantly striving to employ and pay some of your favorite writers to build a new community for smart and fun gaming coverage. 
Check them out at videogame.town for daily pieces! 
You can directly support them on Patreon at patreon.com/videogametown for exclusive articles and podcasts.