Press START

This week Tori and Noah are joined by internet renaissance man Mike Rugnetta. He's been a YouTuber, a podcaster, a game master and now he's leading the new independently-owned internet podcast Never Post. We goad him into roasting popular games, talk about the state of media and, as usual, talk about video games we love.

Find Mike on social media @mikerugnetta and find Never Post at neverpo.st and wherever you listen to podcasts.

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

Sometimes a gaming podcast is a gaming podcast, and sometimes a gaming podcast is also a sports podcast, a culture podcast, an anime podcast and a Curb Your Enthusiasm podcast. That's Press START this week. Tori and Nathaniel catch up on the week's gaming (and non-gaming) news as well as what they've been up to.

SPOILERS FOR PERSONA 3 (42:10 - 44:57)

THINGS MENTIONED

Variety on Carl Weathers' passing: https://variety.com/2024/film/news/carl-weathers-dead-rocky-predator-star-wars-1235895634/

Eurogamer: SEGA lays off staff: https://www.eurogamer.net/sega-of-america-to-lay-off-61-staff-next-month

Game Developer with an update on the SEGA layoffs: https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/sega-of-america-set-to-lay-off-most-of-its-unionized-workers

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us VR game recommendations at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

Hard to believe that all the bad stuff happening in 2023 didn't just stop once it became 2024. We dive into layoff updates, the demise of the 3DS and Wii U's last vestiges of official support and other news items.

SPOILERS FOR METAL GEAR SOLID: 24:11 - 27:22 (MGS talk continues for a few minutes after that but the spoilers calm down)

THINGS MENTIONED:

The Verge on Microsoft's big layoffs: https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/18/23560315/microsoft-job-cuts-layoffs-2023-tech

CWA's statement on the Microsoft layoffs from gamesindustry.biz: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/cwa-says-microsofts-job-cuts-did-not-impact-the-staffers-it-represents

Polygon on the at-least-one canceled game from Blizzard: https://www.polygon.com/24050326/blizzard-survival-game-canceled-allen-adham-mike-ybarra

Polygon: 3DS and Wii U online services to go offline: https://www.polygon.com/23902744/nintendo-3ds-wii-u-online-switchoff

Polygon: What's up with Metroid Prime 4?: https://www.polygon.com/24050473/metroid-prime-4-nintendo-switch-2

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us VR game recommendations at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

Happy 2024! All of the bad stuff that was happening in 2023 is still happening now, believe it or not. This week we've got an update on the gaming industry's unceasing layoffs, Fortnite being used as a military recruitment tool and an odyssey that explores the dregs of the YouTube Content Industrial Complex.

SPOILERS FOR THE IRON CLAW FROM 30:18-38:06

THINGS MENTIONED:

Kotaku's ongoing list of gaming layoffs in 2024: https://kotaku.com/game-industry-layoffs-how-many-2024-unity-twitch-1851155818

TheGamer's article on the British Army's Fortnite recruitment program: https://www.thegamer.com/fortnite-british-army-creative-map-recruitment-epic-games-backlash/

And PCGamer's article about the same thing: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-british-army-made-its-own-fortnite-map-as-a-recruitment-tool-but-epic-could-block-it/

The latest episode of Delayed Input on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKuKXK-d804

I'm not including the URL for the Nick Robinson video because we don't actually want you to watch it and give him ad revenue.

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us about what want to see change about the gaming world in 2024 at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

Noah had an oopsie with his audio this week, but never fear: the lovely gals from Girl Mode are here to keep your feed well-stocked with podcasts. Here's their latest episode, with their hopes, dreams and anticipations for 2024 in gaming, dropped right into your feed.

Go find Girl Mode wherever podcasts live or on social media @girlmode_pod on Twitter, girlmodepod on bluesky and girlmode-pod on cohost.

See you next week!

Can you believe we've been doing this for 100 episodes? I mean, we can, but it's still pretty exciting. This week we go through our predictions for 2024, talk about the Guitar Hero games we liked as kids and go through other various detours.

Thanks for listening :)

THING(S) MENTIONED:

This video of a pitbull pulling this lady's pitbull apart: https://youtu.be/PA8NI1ysCac

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us about what you expect to happen in 2024 at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

This week, instead of listening to the usual crew talk about video games, Tori, Nathaniel and Noah are interviewing their respective partners to figure what they played in 2023. From a capital-G Gamer who played tons of 2023 releases to a burgeoning gaming hobbyist, tune in for some different perspectives than you usually get.

Tori & Jesse: (0:58:00)

Nathaniel & Angie (13:38:00)

Noah & Christine (18:16:00)

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori produce the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us about your partners' favorite games of 2023 at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

Another year is over and we wanna talk about the games we loved. There's a few we didn't love in here, too. Plus, you get to listen to us open the gifts we got each other, complete with bespoke paper ripping sounds.

Thanks for listening :)

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori produce the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us about your favorite games you played in 2023 at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

It's Noah and Nathaniel this week and here's what we've got: The future is Zelda is almost upon us, E3 is really dead this time and whoa, there's other news, too.

THINGS MENTIONED:

This NPR story about E3's death: https://www.npr.org/2023/12/13/1218999254/e3-once-the-superbowl-of-video-games-has-been-canceled-for-good

GamesIndustry.biz: E3 is dead, now what?: https://www.gamesindustry.biz/e3-is-dead-now-what

YouTuber Arlo on "the AAA bubble": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWTzmELv7N4

Polygon: Zelda devs on future of Zelda: https://www.polygon.com/legend-zelda-tears-kingdom/24001489/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-totk-developer-interview

The Switch is still selling like hotcake: https://gamerant.com/nintendo-switch-sales-pass-xbox-360-us/

Aftermath.site's breakdown of the Video Game History Foundation's cool new digital archive announcement: https://aftermath.site/the-video-game-history-foundations-new-online-library-looks-like-a-wonder-of-the-world

Polygon on that canned zombie game: https://www.polygon.com/23997116/the-day-before-fntastic-twitter-steam-reviews-canceled

Skill Up on YouTube on The Day Before's failure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdQXfXm8rjg

PCGamer: Hasbro layoffs despite Baldur's Gate 3's success: https://www.pcgamer.com/theres-almost-nobody-left-ceo-of-baldurs-gate-3-dev-swen-vincke-says-the-dandd-team-he-initially-worked-with-is-gone-due-to-hasbro-layoffs/

Aftermath: "Valve said not to huff the Steam Deck, so I huffed two": https://aftermath.site/valve-said-not-to-huff-a-steam-deck-so-i-huffed-two

This weird YouTube video that shows Luigi playable in Mario 64: https://youtu.be/3cHzwNRLddI

Variety on Hideo Kojima's movie he's working on with A24: https://variety.com/2023/film/news/death-stranding-movie-a24-hideo-kojima-1235837362/

Nintendo Life showing off the now-removed fanmade Link's Awakening PC port: https://youtu.be/CXgXwDAwRaU

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori produce the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us about whether you bought the shitty zombie MMO at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.

Well, turns out only one third of our hosts watched Gaming's Biggest Night, so get ready for Tori to break down a three-and-a-half hour long program to Nathaniel and Noah who learned everything they know about it from like one article and social media. Color us surprised that Geoff Keighley didn't say "Free Palestine." There's also other stuff, too, like, updates on Twitch's future and more.

THINGS MENTIONED:

Polygon's handy breakdown of The Game Awards:

https://www.polygon.com/game-awards-tga/23992648/the-game-awards-2023-biggest-game-announcements-trailers

IGN's report about sexism from the devs of the Sun Wukong game:

https://www.ign.com/articles/how-black-myth-wukong-developers-history-of-sexism-is-complicating-its-journey-to-the-west

IGN: Wes Ball on his forthcoming Zelda movie:

https://www.ign.com/articles/the-legend-of-zelda-movie-director-wants-it-to-be-live-action-miyazaki

The AP News breakdown of Twitch closing up shop in Korea:

https://apnews.com/article/south-korea-twitch-network-fees-fcbd14738fcdc911069f82f76cb62afa

Followed by the Garbage Day take:

https://www.garbageday.email/p/why-isnt-twitch-a-better-website

The Verge on Epic's whacky moves with Fortnite:

https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/9/23993686/fortnite-og-new-players-lego-fortnite

Axios' more detailed breakdown on what exactly these new Fortnite updates add:

https://www.axios.com/2023/12/08/fortnite-lego-rocket-racing

Noah's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠noah_hurts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Tori's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tori_as_always⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Nathaniel's on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nathanbased⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GEIST⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. We curate your gaming news together and Noah and Tori produce the show. You can follow the show on Twitter ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@Press_StartPod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠,  on tumblr at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠press-startpod.tumblr.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and on bluesky ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@press-startpod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. You can email us about how you use Snapchat at [email protected]. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.