Giant Bombcast

This week we're starting with the NEWS because Opening Night Live just happened and we're gonna recap it! We get into all of the other big news stories like the ongoing GTA VI leaks, PlayStation hammering home console exclusivity, and more! We also chat about the Duskbloods network test, Marvel Snap, Twisted Towers, and Blood Dungeon.

Speaking of Blood Dungeon, for the first 50 NEW subcribers to Giant Bomb Premium, YOU get a Steam code for Blood Dungeon! Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

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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.

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Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:26:07 Gamescom News Roundup
0:48:31 The GTA 6 Leaker War Is Getting Weirder
0:52:56 Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle returns at a higher price
0:55:13 Sony Is Saying “Only On PS5” Again
0:58:31 Microsoft Stops Giving Circana Its Digital Sales Data
1:02:56 Marvel Snap Draft League
1:06:15 Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls
1:09:21 Twisted Tower
1:12:54 The Duskbloods
1:20:42 Blood Dungeon
1:27:43 EMAILS!
1:47:46 YouTube Super Chats
2:00:23 Outro

It's Tuesday and we're talking about games! Chuck and Mike spent some time sharing what sets Mortal Shell II apart from other Soulslikes, Jan has finished climbing a mountain in Cairn but is ready to drop balls in Hyperdrop, Grubb shares his time playing the early bits of Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, and more talk about what we've been playing. We also get into some BREAKING GTA VI leaks, Kingdom Hearts IV updates coming out of D23, the PlayStation 6, and more!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:32:47 Hyperdrop Demo
0:42:27 Mortal Shell II
0:52:37 Elden Ring
0:55:21 Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave
1:07:28 Cairn
1:14:49 Policenauts
1:18:47 Deus Ex
1:25:12 Duskfade
1:32:37 D23 was a gaming event
1:48:18 Sony still doesn't know when PS6 launches
1:54:20 Phantom Blade Zero State of Play met with wave of “no disc, no buy”
1:56:34 Star Citizen seems like clown shoes
2:00:06 Warren Spector is retiring
2:02:40 Fortnite reveals its video game crossover event
2:03:13 Saber CEO Matt Karch apologizes to Stella Sacco
2:04:01 Codes for FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods Network Test have been sent out to participants
2:04:32 GTA VI Leaks
2:14:10 EMAILS!
2:30:31 YouTube Super Chats
2:38:47 Outro/What's happening on Giant Bomb this week?

We've been playing a LOT of games, and we're gonna tell you all about them! Impressions of Marvel Tokon, Big Walk, and more are followed by a check-in with the news desk, and a round of YOUR emails!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:17:31 Flippin’ Heck
0:22:16 Cult of PiN demo
0:27:19 Agent 64: Spies Never Die
0:40:42 Halo: Campaign Evolved
0:52:58 Big Walk
0:59:56 Final Fantasy XIV on Switch 2
1:05:09 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
1:16:35 Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls
1:28:20 Aliens cloud-only game unplayable on Switch 1 now
1:32:07 Saber Interactive and Randy Pitchford are now beefing through video games
1:34:18 Xbox CTO says the issue that caused last month’s major outage has been fixed
1:35:09 Blizzard is reportedly the best-performing studio inside Xbox
1:39:03 Fortnite's next season is apparently Video Game Fortnite
1:42:50 Supermassive Games is cutting up to 75 people
1:45:20 GTA 6's $100 edition is outselling the $80 edition in preorders
1:47:03 Halloween banned because Michael Myers' victims can get high
1:50:25 EMAILS!
2:12:38 YouTube Super Chats
2:18:14 Outro

It's Tuesday so we MUST chat about video games and a couple of other things! This week we get into Shawn's review of Beast of Reincarnation, our time with Splatoon Raiders, getting into the body with Pathogenic, and clicking around in Endacopia. We also chat about the news and get to your emails! BOATS!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:26:46 Beast of Reincarnation
0:39:19 Pathogenic
0:41:55 Splatoon Raiders
0:50:47 Endacopia
0:55:42 Big Walk
1:09:07 Xbox’s leaked disc-to-digital system could solve an impossible ownership problem
1:17:24 EA’s $55 billion private takeover is expected to close today
1:24:46 Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is a tournament arc with four protagonists (or 5?)
1:28:52 Final Fantasy 14 launches on Switch 2 today
1:32:39 Dave Bautista is in talks to replace Ryan Hurst as Kratos
1:36:29 Square Enix says the strange Kingdom Hearts artwork was human error (not AI)
1:40:54 PlayStation says it will cautiously proceed with ending disc production
1:46:12 EMAILS!
2:14:37 YouTube Super Chats
2:22:37 Outro

We're back from the Giant Bomb Road Trip and MysteriumCon and we've got a bunch of fun stories to share! We also find time to chat about the new/old Halo, Dinoblade, Desktop Explorer, and also talk about some older games too. We chat about all of the hottest news stories and your emails. NOICE!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:03:06 The Great Giant Bomb Road Trip
0:25:30 Dinoblade
0:30:35 Halo: Campaign Evolved
0:42:09 Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge
0:47:15 Thief: The Dark Project
0:53:01 Demon Dust
1:01:37 Desktop Explorer
1:07:07 Xbox backward compatibility arrives on PC and Windows handhelds
1:10:28 Cyan Worlds was working on a prototype for a new Myst game
1:13:56 Xbox CTO says Monday’s major outage was ‘unacceptable’
1:17:16 Steam Deck demand may have cratered after the price increases
1:22:21 Nintendo confirms that movie planning is directly influencing game development
1:30:04 God of War: Laufey gets a date—and Sony reassures people that Kratos is coming back
1:33:49 Square Enix producers explain why Final Fantasy VI Remake is intimidating
1:35:50 Dragon Age series producer says he doesn’t see it returning
1:38:07 EMAILS!
2:03:34 YouTube Super Chats
2:12:26 Outro

MinnMax's Ben Hanson joins the crew today to chat about Splatoon Raiders, Denshattack, and more! The gang then talks through all the lovely gaming news of the week and responds to a handful of YOUR emails!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Get more from Ben and all the MinnMax Cohorts over at https://www.youtube.com/minnmax or wherever you get your podcasts!

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:20:19 Splatoon Raiders
0:35:03 Denshattack
0:44:48 Super Mario Sunshine
0:54:47 Heave Ho 2
0:57:15 Rolling Thunder
1:05:05 007 First Light
1:09:36 News! (Allegedly)
1:13:37 Bethesda dangles the Fallout keys in front of everyone
1:20:27 Not a ton of games sell super well on disc on PlayStation
1:25:57 Fortnite is about to give creators generative-AI characters
1:31:04 Nintendo says it shouldn’t have to pay back players if it gets tariff refunds from the US government
1:34:42 Applications open for The Duskbloods network test
1:36:35 Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls open beta on PS5 and PC
1:39:10 EMAILS!
2:10:28 YouTube Super Chats
2:18:07 Outro

Did y'all know that Apple still makes computers? That's great because you can listen to our podcast on them where we get into Jan's hands on impressions of Beast of Reincarnation, Dan and Mikey's quick time with Orbitals, kicking it old school with some RetroAchievements, and some other older titles! We also dip into the news, your emails, and SuperChats!

Our community is the best as user techsev made an FMV Space Ace game from Dan's Blight!
https://reactvts.com/space-ace-blight-club/

Editor's note: Shawn here, adding to the emulation discussion: You can absolutely emulate console games on Mac! I've always heard good things about OpenEmu as an easy all-in-one solution. And for setting things up, we all love Russ's guides on Retro Game Corps!
He has one for cheap Android TV boxes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihGr_rzpS0o
And even Mac: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoWn4rS7Vxs

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:18:08 Beast of Reincarnation
0:30:11 Orbitals
0:38:14 Dan's RetroAchievements journey
0:41:53 Grubb's Magic PlayStation 2
0:44:05 Sin and Punishment
0:47:27 Dynamite Heady
0:51:49 God of War Laufey will have a disc – that probably means it’s coming out in 2027
0:54:23 Obsidian cancels an Avowed sequel and moves Josh Sawyer onto Fallout
0:57:06 Assassin’s Creed Black Flag is a massive hit, so Ubisoft laid off dozens of people who helped make it
0:59:54 GDQ raises $2.4 million, then abruptly cancels an SNK sponsorship
1:03:28 Rhythm Heaven Groove delivers a gigantic original-Switch launch in Japan
1:05:07 Mario Kart Tour and Final Fantasy Ever Crisis are being shut down
1:08:31 EMAILS!
1:44:44 YouTube Super Chats
1:54:40 Outro

On this week's show, the Duders do their best to bring a little joy in a crazy week. We talk about all the fun we've been having with TerraTech Legion, Rhythm Heaven Groove, the SuperStation and more, before diving into the heavy news of Xbox's layoffs and PlayStation's announcement of an all-digital future. Don't worry though, the listeners lighten things up with emails to round out the show!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:25:18 TerraTech Legion
0:30:39 Rhythm Heaven Groove
0:37:32 Elden Ring
0:41:28 SuperStation one
0:51:24 IW4x
0:57:37 ...Intro part 2?
1:06:20 Xbox to reduce staff by approximately 3,200 throughout FY27
1:22:01 Physical disc production ending in January 2028 for new games releasing on PlayStation consoles
1:33:28 Nintendo will stop selling the Nintendo Switch in Europe in 2027
1:35:47 IO confirms it will continue Project Fantasy independently after Xbox split
1:41:02 EMAILS!
2:05:42 YouTube Super Chats
2:18:41 Outro

Fish Week may be over, but we've still got several fishing related games to talk about! Grubb talks about Umigari and Jaws: Retro Edition, we get into Terratech Legion, Star Trek 25th Anniversary, Flipnic, and how much we've been enjoying Star Fox! We find the time to go through the news and all of your emails!

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:28:43 Star Fox (2026)
0:36:14 Umigari
0:38:00 Jaws: Retro Edition
0:40:54 Flipnic: Ultimate Pinball
0:43:36 Truck-kun is Supporting Me from Another World?! Demo
0:47:43 Terratech Legion
0:50:42 Star Trek 25th Anniversary
0:58:07 007 First Light
1:01:11 Steam Machine
1:03:34 Xbox price hikes, layoffs, studio uncertainty
1:15:20 IO Interactive hits obstacle with its other new game
1:19:30 Hardware crisis worsens every day
1:25:58 GTA VI went up for preorder at $80
1:28:41 Sony deleting purchased movies
1:30:03 Star Wars Eclipse may be in real trouble
1:34:34 Persona live-action Netflix series reportedly in development
1:35:03 I think Splatoon Raiders is a shlooter
1:39:00 EMAILS!
1:59:59 An update on Grubb Guesser
2:00:55 YouTube Super Chats
2:26:38 Outro

It's Fishing Week! On top of all the fishing related games we chat about the new Sonic pinball game, a "new" Twisted Metal, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Rhythm Heaven Groove, the Adventures of Elliot the Millennium Tales, and more! We also talk more about Dan's time with the Steam Machine, PlayStation leaving PC ports behind, and all the other big stories from the last week.

Support us directly and get new episodes ad-free by signing up for Giant Bomb Premium at https://www.giantbomb.com/join

Timestamps (note, timestamps on this free version may vary greatly depending on how many ads you receive):
0:00:00 Intro
0:29:04 Steam Machine
0:44:19 Sega Bass Fishing & Sega Marine Fishing
0:48:02 Voodoo Fishin’
0:50:57 Star Fox Multiplayer
0:54:35 Umigari
0:59:01 The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
1:03:00 Mina the Hollower
1:04:16 Twisted Metal V
1:06:42 Rhythm Heaven Groove preview
1:12:33 Star Wars: Galactic Racer preview
1:18:39 Sonic the Hedgehog's new pinball machine
1:31:31 Valve puts a $1,049 starting price on the Steam Machine 
1:41:59 Sony appears to be retreating from PC ports of single-player PlayStation games
1:43:55 GTA VI preorders begin June 25 as Rockstar reaffirms November 19
1:45:27 GTA V gets free current-generation upgrades
1:47:02 Games revenue passed $200 billion—and layoffs continue
1:48:21 Tencent is reportedly backing away from several Japanese studio investments
1:51:42 Nintendo raises Switch Online prices in Japan
1:53:29 Restful trails to Bobby Prince
1:54:21 EMAILS!
2:12:39 YouTube Super Chats
2:21:02 Grubb Guesser
2:26:56 Outro