Gaming Under The Influence

Alex & Mike discuss the built-in problems with the live service format. Why has every live service game been so bad? Why will every future entry in the genre be worse? Tune in to find out.

Join Alex & Mike for a discussion of the controversy surrounding Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC. Is it too difficult? Are the bosses overdesigned? How does scaling work?

Alex & Mike revisit the defintion of a "soulslike" game in 2024. What essential characteristics distinguish them from games in other genres?

Though the Western video game industry is in complete decline, Japanese and indie games have never been better. Join Alex & Mike for a discussion of some of these titles as seen at Summer Game Fest 2024.

What is an 'auteur'? How does the concept of authorship apply to video games, where a multitude of people and crafts are necessary to a finished work? Who are [some] video game auteurs? Join Alex & Mike for an explanation of video game authorship.

What could compel Xbox to shutter talented studios it just paid billions of dollars for? Join Alex & Mike for (another) discussion of what's wrong with Xbox.

Join Alex & Mike to discuss the ongoing surge of soulslike titles from Korea. Stellar Blade is set to launch this Friday, continuing the trend initiated by Lies of P.

The most anticipated AAA releases of 2024 have so far undersold and have underwhelmed many players. Join Alex and Mike to talk about why AAA games are deteriorating in quality, failing commercially and why this is no cause for concern.

Did you know that the layoffs affecting the video game industry in 2023 and 2024 have been an exclusively western problem? Asian developers like Capcom, Fromsoft, Kojima and Neowiz continue to expand and hire while American and European studios shrink and collapse. Join Mike and Alex for a discussion of the situation and its cultural causes.

https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/03/07/amid-industry-wide-layoffs-capcom-is-increasing-starting-salary-in-japan-by-more

https://www.neowiz.com/neowiz/careers/recruithttps://www.kojimaproductions.jp/en/careers

https://www.gamesradar.com/as-layoffs-batter-the-industry-fromsoftware-boss-hidetaka-miyazaki-says-now-is-the-time-for-us-to-continue-to-grow-and-continue-to-cultivate-this-talent/

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/stevebendas_why-japanese-studios-arent-laying-off-staff-activity-7157859103757791232-rAoT

https://www.pcgamer.com/the-impact-of-16000-games-industry-layoffs-in-one-chart/

https://infinitestart.com/2024/03/layoffs-hit-respawn-entertainment/

Microtransactions have been patched into Dragon's Dogma 2. Join Alex & Mike to discuss if microtransactions always ruin games.