I can’t remember the last time James was on the show. He may have called in for a segment or two but the last time he was in-studio I think we talked about Prey. The newer one…not the portal one with the awesome intro of the bar getting sucked into the spaceship or Art Bell playing through parts of the game. Not that one. The one with all the ink blots and space stuff. That one.

He joins us on this episode to talk about the current situation with ActiBlizzard, the Steam Deck, and we try real hard to remember what we’ve played in the years since we’ve talked about games. It was great to get back in touch and good to have him on the show again.

Speaking of ActiBlizzard…Ubisoft, it’s been 2,902 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

It’s a strange place to be in gaming when the highlight of a publisher/developer showcase is a remake of a game from over ten years ago. We shouldn’t even be getting a Dead Space remake since there’s really no reason this series should have ever ended. I mean, sure, sales numbers or critical reviews may have dropped for the last game in the series way back when, but that’s never stopped EA before. Somehow it did with the Dead Space series.

And now we’re getting a sort-of remake. It’s the first game but it’ll look prettier, come with updated mechanics and stuff from the second and third game in the series, and also, a better story. Most of these aren’t really needed when doing a remake. And we go over a little bit of why we think they’re doing it this way and what that may mean down the road. There’s debate about the story in Dead Space. That it still needs an ending. The third game did not wrap it up. And while the DLC for it made an attempt to end it, it still split the community as to what might have happened at the end. A conclusion to that would be nice, but we’re getting a remake.

I don’t know if it’s a one and done sort of situation, but knowing EA they’re likely testing the waters. Just…where do you go after remaking the first game of a trilogy? Do you then remake the remaining two? Do you move on to a fourth or add a subtitle?

It feels like they had the right idea with Mass Effect. In fact, the more I think about it, something like that would have been perfect for Dead Space. I guess we’ll see what their plan is. I only hope that if Dead Space can come back, even as a remake, there’s still hope for Splinter Cell. Both series had their last game released in the same year – 2013.

Speaking of that…Ubisoft, it’s been 2,895 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

Valve can really sneak up on you. Just out of nowhere announce a new device. And more so, a device we’ll see this year. Usually for console reveals or announcements, you’ll get a head’s up that something is coming or something will leak or you’ll get some sort of vague hints that lead to major speculation and even more disappointment.

Not with Valve. Surprise, here’s a handheld PC!! It’s a thing you didn’t expect because it’s something that wasn’t on anyone’s radar. And yeah, the thing looks like a Switch. Okay, it REALLY looks like a Switch, but I don’t think that’s the competition. I don’t think Valve looked at the other consoles out there and picked one to try and compete with. They just noticed something missing and made something to fill it. They’ve done it before in the past and the results…aren’t the greatest. About the only thing that survived from their previous product launches was the controller. And that’s a stretch, I think, to say it survived. And this isn’t to say what they made was garbage, it just didn’t grab on to the public enough to last – or even get updated.

I want the Steam Deck to work. I want it to thrive and succeed and be amazing. And then I want a second version down the line that works even better. And a third. And fourth. And then get some competition with other models. We’ll have to wait until later in the year though to get an idea of how this might play out. But I’m hopeful.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,888 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

First up is a note to apologize for the audio issues after the first 30 minutes or so. If you’re listening to the audio from iTunes, it’ll just cut from music to talking, and if you’re watching the video, it’s about 2 minutes of trying to read our lips and suddenly realizing no one can hear us.

We’re gonna blame all that on Dave. Even though it’s clearly my fault.

Speaking of, welcome Dave! He’s only here for the one show and only in town to visit the folks, but it was good to see him again and have him on. Our schedules aren’t the best for getting to hang out and this was one way to make it all work. So I’m sorry for the off topic conversation, but I appreciate you indulging me so I can visit my friend.

We’re kind of all over the place for this episode. There’s video game talk, movie talk, old classic game talk, Limited Run game talk, and arcade machine talk. Like I said, kinda all over the place but that’s usually how it goes with us anyway so not much different.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,881 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

Just a head’s up that there will be no show for next weekend. We’ll see you back on Saturday the 10th.

Thinking back on this episode, I mentioned why we weren’t talking about Activision and all the money they are giving to ol’ Bobby. I’d said it was because it always happens, each year, without fail. Doesn’t matter how much they made or how many they laid off, Bobby gotta eat.

So, after saying why we wouldn’t talk about that, I go on to do the exact same thing but with E3. It’s sort of the same cycle. Year after year, the same complaints and praises roll around. The companies those are directed at may change, but it’s the same thing. And then, after it’s all over, the same discussion always takes place about the need or needlessness of E3.

So, we’ve had it a bit of both ways. Last year there was no E3 and it felt strange. This year was a sort of digital E3 kind of thing and it also felt a bit strange. I can’t really tell what I like better. Sporadic E3 where over the course of some months we get a presentation here and there or the buffet E3 where it all happens over the course of a few days.

Either way, I think these companies are going to make their own decisions. They’ve had it both ways as well, and I’d suspect the future will show us exactly what they prefer of the two.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,867 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

We’re a week out from E3 at this point and we barely break the bubble of discussion on it. I’m saving a lot of articles I had for this episode and bringing them over for the next episode just to discuss more of E3.

Especially the analytics of it. All the analysis of everything that happened after it was over. Some of these are the most interesting to read and they make cases for and against the whole thing. I used to boil this stuff down in my head and would always come to the core of it – and that’s money, usually. Profitability. And, indeed, that’s still there, but it doesn’t seem to take an “E3” to get us there.

We speak a bit on Microsoft and their performance for E3 – winners all around, I think. As much as I’ve railed in years past (and this year as well, before Microsoft last Sunday) about too much talk and not enough show – Microsoft listened. I was more than impressed by not what they had to offer (some of it was great), but how they offered it. It felt a bit like Sony in some years previous, although it lacked a few “wow” factors. Still, I can’t really knock that since it was just game after game after game with very little talk in between.

Do more of this.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,860 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

Happy E3! This past week had new reveals as did this past weekend, and we’ve got more as of today’s posting here and more to come in the days ahead. So there’s still plenty of time to recover and redeem the fact that Ubisoft dropped the ball on Splinter Cell, yet again.

It’s unlikely, however, to redeem itself on presentation. But this horse has been beaten beyond death at this point. I’ll just give my usual summation: Less talky talky and more showy showy.

But I don’t know how much that even matters anymore. E3 isn’t like what it used to be in the sense that you would watch it live because you might miss out on something cool. Now, within minutes of a presentation the highlights are ready for you in YouTube form for whatever it was you missed. And it cuts out all the talky talky.

Anyway, E3 is here and regardless of no Splinter Cell, I’m still enjoying it (thanks Devolver). And we’ll be back next week to talk about what we see today and the days to come.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,854 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

What a completely crazy two weeks it’s been. And most of it we tell you about right at the opening. Most of it having to do with our website being down, then back up, then split between 3 different people and now, finally, all under one roof. It’s a lot to figure out, but the main part of it is that we’re back on solid ground with the site and everything is as it should be thanks to the good folks (and Sully particularly) at DreamHost. Also, a very big thank you to Daniel, Jeremy, Jeff, as well as Mike K, and John. They all stepped up and helped out so we didn’t lose anything and pitched in to get us back, stable, and not so spread out all over. Seriously, it was a mess.

As far as gaming is concerned, we’re rounding the bend getting closer to something similar to an E3. At least an E3 that’s all digital anyway. It all starts next Saturday right before the show.

Don’t forget to join our Discord. It’s another method for you to interact with the show and be on the air with us to discuss anything gaming. You can find the link to join at the bottom of our website and also our Twitter and Facebook feeds.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,847 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

Last week, when RJ mentioned he wouldn’t be able to be on the show this week, I wasn’t really expecting to do an episode. But, given that next Friday I get my second vaccine shot, and the weekend after is Memorial Day weekend, it potentially meant we’d be gone for possibly 3 weeks in a row. (Speaking of, we WILL NOT be doing a show Memorial Day weekend, and given reports of other people’s dealings with their second covid shot, it’s likely we won’t be doing one next week, either.)

Inspiration struck when a long time friend and listener from Germany mentioned he couldn’t call in anymore the usual way because Google pulled…well, a Google – kill things off that everyone likes. He mentioned Discord and that’s the experiment we ran with this weekend.

Turns out, it worked. Now, ANYONE can be a guest host on the show. From anywhere. If you’ve got discord on your phone or PC, you can join us on the show. Our discord server can be found at this link:

https://discord.gg/BmzKNbkQqj

Join up. And then join us every….almost every Saturday.

But yeah, the door’s open now. Anyone can be on the show with us, now. And we hope you will be.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,826 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).

The first thirty minutes of this show have barely anything to do with gaming at all. It’s just the recap of a VERY chaotic week.

The rest of it has to do with Epic and Apple and everything we learned in just the first few days of that court case. And the speculation of how much more we might learn as it goes on. I wasn’t planning on paying any attention to this thing because of the companies involved but so much light was shed on everything surrounding it with Microsoft and Sony being thrown in that it was just too good to pass up. For better or worse, anyway.

Next week, we’re trying something different. Something new. And, if it works, maybe something pretty awesome. And if it doesn’t work, probably the way it fails will be awesome to see as well.

In the meantime, Ubisoft, it’s been 2,819 days since the last Splinter Cell release (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise or VR exclusive).