If you could would you like to talk to a loved on that has passed away. My wife and I talk about that this week and the ability for people to hold on to the people that have passed on in their lives a bit longer then usual.

Not all games have to be all things, but when 2 big aspects of the game have to deal with a type of suicide(maybe?) and characters suffering from schizophrenia, I wanted for Control to say more about these things in the game. Let’s talk about it.

Doing anything creative is hard. The thing that makes it ten times harder is asking people who expect exponential growth to have patience and understanding when the thing that took years of your life doesn’t sell well. How do people keep making video games when the investors demand more and more. Let’s talk about it.

I sometimes try to put a square peg in a round hole. This is one of those times. Although Concrete Genie deals with bullying and associated trauma that comes along with it, Concrete Genie is maybe about healing with art but maybe not what the developers were thinking of. Well talk about it.

Can you ever truly heal through art? Well, with a stand out art style and a moving story about bullies and a town that has been ravaged by a natural disaster, Pixel Opus’ Concrete Genie attempts to answer these questions. In this Early Impressions episode, I’ll talk about how New Orleans used art to help heal from Hurricane Katrina, and what I’ve taken away from the game so far.

For years, the Embracer Group has been buying up companies left and right. Last week they announced that a 2 billion dollar deal fell through and it will lead to thousands of layoffs in the company. There is no word when the layoffs will come or the total number. How does it feel to come into work every day wondering if you will be fired, or laid off?

Way back on episode 133 of Gaming with Grief Avin Carroll and I talked about The Activision/Blizzard lawsuit. I decided with a new interview with Variety, Bobby Kotick, the CEO of Activision/Blizzard talks about the effects the lawsuits have had on him and the company. It was also recently reported that Activision/Blizzard paid out millions of dollars to about a hundred victims. Avin and I talk about all of it.

Not all games that deal with grief have to be giant epics about the peeks and valleys of loss. Some just want to tell someone that they are thinking about them. Let’s talk about the indie title, It Comes in Waves. A short game, but still moving and profound.

So many times the things you love change when you get older, but if you still like to play video games what do you do when you have less time and more responsibilities. I talk with my friend Martin Chick about gaming nowadays and gaming with kids. We both still have a passion for it but we realize that change isn’t always bad.

Some games are transformative because of mechanics and gameplay.  Some can make you reflect on their story and themes.  Tears of the Kingdom make me look at something in life that was terrible and look at it differently.  Let’s talk about my Mom.