New Game Experience

When does realism serve or detract from video games? With technical fidelity getting us closer to hyperrealism, there are games that benefit from this a great deal, like simulators and racing titles. However, within games mechanics sometimes this is taken a bit too far, where we ask ourselves the question: is this even fun anymore?

Judgment is Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's first foray on a spin-off of their own Yakuza series. In it you play as ex-lawyer turned detective, Takayuki Yagami, who is investigating a series of heinous murders occurring in Kamurocho. In preparation for the sequel we sit down and talk at length about the game, its characters, narrative, themes and more!

This week things take a personal turn as we explore the relationship between mental health and video games. How and at what level of quality has it been depicted in games? How can gaming positively impact our mental health? What experiences have we had, where we have found our beloved medium helpful?

Modern gaming outlets such as IGN, Gamespot, Kotaku, Polygon, etc are pillars of the industry that have always been there for us gamers. However, with the rise in popularity of independent creators, youtubers & streamers, their reach and relevance seems to be waning. In an attempt to fight this some have shifted their content into something that mostly antagonizes not only their audience but also their own peers. We sit down with fellow podcaster Fabio Diaz to dive deep in this topic.

Every year a wide variety of games are released to various amounts of fanfare. Some are highly regarded GOTY contenders while others are received negatively. But what happens to a third group of great games that are overlooked? This episode is precisely about those hidden gems that we came to love, but were baffled to see that were underrated.

Following the allegations of impropriety regarding companies like Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard, some gamers ask themselves whether or not they should keep buying their games as a sign of protest or solidarity. At first, it seems like the obvious way to make an impact as consumers. However, on this episode of the podcasts we ask ourselves: Who are we actually hurting by doing this?

Throughout history various games have made incredible steps to move the medium forward. Some of these moments have made great impressions on us, however very frequently they don't have the same impact the second time around. Here are 10 games we would gladly delete (or deneuralyze) from our brains so that we can experience their glory once more for the first time.

Ubisoft is one of the biggest names in the video game industry. For decades, they've made some of the most iconic games, worked on franchises from the likes of Prince of Persia, Rayman, Assassin's Creed, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, FarCry and many others. Growing up in the Playstation 2/ Gamecube/ Xbox era, this was one of the most common logos we saw before getting to play some of our favorite games, so it's no mystery that we're big fans of these intellectual properties. However, in recent years the company has shifted significantly from what we know and love. A steady move towards live service games, a focus on "bigger is better" open world games and what to us feels like losing sight of what made the games special and innovative, seem to be the new norms. This, combined with allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace environment throughout the company's many studios all over the world, doesn't paint a pretty picture for the French company.

Difficulty in video games is a topic that tends to get very heated. On the one hand there are gaming purists that enjoy challenging interactive experiences and on the other, there's people who cannot access these titles due to disabilities or other reasons. However, there is a lot in between, as well, like for example: git gud internet trolls, journalists who pride themselves on exclusively playing games on easy mode (and sometimes not even finishing them) and much more. We welcome Cristian Caroli once more to discuss this broad topic and bond over a specific Metal Gear quote in the process.

Following its history of iterating on its own hardware, Nintendo unveils the Switch (OLED Model), which contradicts reports and rumors of a new Pro model with 4K capabilities. Subscription service Playstation Now adds Red Dead Redemption 2, Nioh 2 and Judgment to its catalogue of titles in July 2021. Ghost of Tsushima gets a Director's Cut with a new expansion. Which Mass Effect is better? What's the state of video games as an artform?