Pixels & Ink

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan, Chris, and Dayna sit down to talk about Nintendo's upcoming gaming museum—a converted Nintendo manufacturing plant that will act as a monument to their long and storied history within the game industry. The podcast gang talk a bit about Nintendo's branching out from the digital space into the physical, including some talk about Super Nintendo World and their desires to travel. 

Afterwards, for Pride Month; Jordan, Chris, and Dayna then take some time to talk about the Rugrats reboot, specifically how Phil and Lil's mom Betty is now an openly gay character. The gang talk a bit about queer representation in media—companies co-opting Pride Month for karma points, how some shows handle it better than others, and the delicate way to handle representation.

To end the news: Jordan, Chris and Dayna talk a bit about God of War: Ragnarok's delay and how it's better for the game and the developers. Jordan tells Chris a little about the 2018 God of War and why it's worth playing.

To close off the podcast, Chris has finally played No Man's Sky and the gang talk a little bit about it. 

On this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan and Chris sit down to talk about the newest rumour of the upgraded Nintendo Switch—this time a Bloomberg report suggests the upgraded console could be announced prior to E3 2021. Jordan and Chris talk about what they want from the upgraded console, both in hardware and games; this inevitably spins off into a tangent about E3 in general and what games Nintendo might announce. 

Afterwards the two take a moment to talk about Amazon acquiring MGM Studios, but are interupted by the Sonic 30th Stream to get excited about the announcement of Sonic Colours Ultimate, and Sonic Origins. The two talk more about Sonic the Hedgehog—their favorite games and the longevity of the franchise. They take a second at the end to talk about Call of Duty's "80's Action Hero" event and how the inclusion of John Rambo in a game like Call of Duty kind of undercuts the theme of that movie.

To close off the podcast, Jordan goes on a long rant about Biomutant—the new action RPG published by THQ Nordic. Jordan (the overwhelming critical majority) thought it was a pretty bad game, and he explains why, while also pondering why so many people online seem to be very mad at his review.

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan is reunited with Chris as they sit down to discuss the tragic passing of acclaimed author and artist of the renowned Berserk manga series: Kentaro Miura. Jordan and Chris talk about Berserk's legacy, how much it influenced in popular media—particularly in games—and spin off into some tangents about different anime. Afterwards, Jordan talks a bit about the end of Netflix's Castlevania; he and Chris then talk at great length about various Castlevania games. To close off the news, Jordan and Chris talk about Sony's latest patent for an eSports betting system. The two speculate on what this could mean, but Jordan is worried that it will further exacerbate the insidious nature of gambling in video games.

After the news, Chris has been playing Mass Effect Legendary Edition. He talks a bit about the changes in the new edition, and he and Jordan talk a bit about modernizing the original Mass Effect; and whether Quality of Life improvements take away some of the old-school charm and challenge of the classic RPG. 

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: It's a solo-cast as Jordan talks about the ridiculous situation that unfolded in Wisconsin involving a group assault, and a pulled firearm over some Pokémon cards—which subsequently caused Target to suspend the sale of most trading cards in store. Jordan wonders about the nature of fandoms, and the rapid toxicity of certain groups, while reminiscing on encounters of his youth where certain collectables were involved.

To close off the news, Jordan talks about the reveal trailer for Venom: Let there be Carnage and how much of a delightful trash-fire the film will most likely be. Jordan has some issues with the portrayal of the symbiote, and isn't particularly fond of Vemon in general. 

In a bit of game discussion, Jordan got a hands-on with the open-beta for Amazon Games' upcoming MMO: New World. He talks a little about his experience with it, and and some of the more interesting features of the game. Following that, Jordan talks about the final season of Netflix's Castlevania—mistakenly saying it only has seven episodes since Netflix didn't load properly—and talking his initial impressions, hopes for the series and the future of the show.

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: It's technical difficulties galore—from crashing systems to weird audio glitches! In spite of this, Jordan sits down with Chris, Alex and Dayna as they discuss one of the more interesting elements from the Epic v. Apple lawsuit; apparently Sony requires compensation for cross-play if playtime and microtransaction spending get "out of sync." The gang discusses Sony's overall bad attitude towards cross-play and digital rights management in general, and the potential ramifications of the Epic v. Apple lawsuit—no matter who wins, we lose. 

Afterwards, Jordan, Alex, Chris, and Dayna talk about Nintendo's surprise announcement of Game Maker Garage—a seemingly full game evolution on the Nintendo Labo Garage, where players are encouraged to learn basic coding and make their own games. They discuss the games potential appeal, and possible staying power, given the untimely fate of the Nintendo Labo. 

To cap off the news, the gang discusses Marvel's release slate of upcoming movies, but their focus is on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever—what it could be about, and how it could continue without Chadwick Boseman.

To end the Podcast, Jordan, Alex, and Chris talk about New Pokemon Snap—what they like, and how it's different from the original Pokemon Snap. Jordan has some thoughts about gamer expectations and gamer entitlement when going into a game like New Pokemon Snap.  

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan and Chris sit down to talk about Microsoft's announcement of their campaign to make PC gaming better for both gamers and developers alike—as they now plan to split the revenue of games published on their platform 22-88. Jordan and Chris speculate on what this might mean for the industry, and how this might shake up platforms like Steam or even the Epic Games Store. Naturally, they get off on many wild tangents.

On this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan and Chris sit down to talk about Sony's decision to keep the PS Store alive on the PS3 and PS Vita. This turns into a tangent on console ownership, the folly of trading in games and a bizarre story that DEFINITLEY didn't happen. Afterwards, Jordan and Chris speculate on Jeff Kaplan's departure from Activision Blizzard. Then the boys talk about the set photos from Sonic 2. Jordan isn't particularly happy about the possible inclusion of Knuckles—for pretty good reasons actually—but then they talk for a disproportionate amount of time about possible plotlines for the movie, and some Sonic lore. They then talk a little about the good ol' days when you could go to a Blockbuster Video and print out your Pokemon Snap photos, and how Fujifilm has made the Instax Printer available for the Nintendo Switch!

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast, Jordan and Chris are joined by newcomer, and Twitch up-and-comer: Debbie "Gluxbox." They sit down to talk about the Nintendo Indie Showcase; mostly the bigger names in announcements such as the "procedurally generated road trip," Road 96; the interestingly artistic, narratively driven: Last Stop, and Hindsight; the fresh runner with a banging soundtrack: Aerial_Knight's Never Yield; the chilled out, newly stylized OlliOlli World; and of course, the newest retro-styled return of the Beat Em' Up icon: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge. 

Afterwards; Jordan, Chris and Deb discuss the rumours that the creators of the classic, early Internet virtual pet site Neopets, are considering bringing the property to the Nintendo Switch. The gang discusses some fond memories of the Flash-based legend and how it could possibly work on the Switch. 

To end the Podcast, Jordan talks a bit about Nartia Boy; the new indie, side-scrolling hack n' slash that looks like TRON meets Blasphemous. While Jordan thinks it does a lot of things right, there's a lot of places where you can see it could have been better. After that, Deb talks a little about Cozy Grove; a cute little sort of life sim where you find different ways to help out ghosts. 

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan sits down with Chris, Dayna, and first-time podcaster Eduard Gafton; as they discuss how 2021's E3 will be a digital only event. The gang considers what this could mean for E3 going forward, how conventions like Fan Expo and Comic Con have changed over the years and whether or not it would be better for big press events to be digital. Afterwards, the gang gets a little too deep into the launch of the Animal Crossing/Build-a-Bear collaboration; Jordan goes on a tangent about how Animal Crossing fans are impossible to please, and the gang discusses the merits of expectation vs. reality—could the collaboration really launched with 50+ available bears to build? 

After that, the gang talks a little about Nintendo's surprise announcement of the newest retro-styled Battle Royale: Pac-Man 99. Jordan played a bit of it and has some thoughts about it; mainly how most people seemed to miss how several of the game's mechanics are from Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. After that, Dayna talks a little about the rumours of casting for the Young Avengers film, and that spins out into a whole tangent about comics and movies.

In this week's Pixels & Ink Podcast: Jordan sits down with Chris and Lane to talk a little about their April Fools—despite the current times making April Fools seem just a little in bad taste, there's no reason why the gang can't take a trip down memory lane to a time when it was a little bit more creative, and bit more appropriate; particularly with prank videogame announcements. Afterwards, the tone turns morose as the P&I crew has to discuss the tragic loss of one of videogames' most iconic characters: Super Mario. As March 31st, 2021 marked the "Day Mario Died," the gang talks a little about how incredibly stupid the whole online hyperbole was.