Press START

We're talking unions, Gollum, Garfield and Goku in this episode. Only some of those relate to actual news items, the others are more just us shooting the shit.

THINGS MENTIONED:

This Vice article about Raven Software's QA team unionizing.

This Kotaku article about Reggie Fils-Aimé's comment about unions.

This tweet about how unions are good, actually.

This Vice article about how game devs are more interested than ever in unions.

This GameRant article about how Capcom appears to be teasing Dragon's Dogma 2.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum FAQ page.

Yoshihiro Togashi's Twitter account.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us game recommendations and your best gaming thrift store finds at [email protected].

Find us on social media, and wherever else podcasts are found, here: linktr.ee/press_startpod.

Tori and Noah diagnose each other on Blizzard's diversity chart, Tori triumphantly tells her tale of becoming the Elden Lord and Noah's still struggling to get a Victory Royale. Oh, and we talk about how we each own Skyrim multiple times, but who doesn't at this point?

THINGS MENTIONED: 

This Kotaku article explaining Blizzard's diversity chart.

This Bloomberg article about Jim Ryan being Relatable and taking a flimsy stance on abortion.

This GamesChronicle article about the Star Wars Jedi: Survivor rumor.

This VanityFair article about Star Wars.

This GamesChronicle article about impending news about FFVII Remake Part 2.

The new Playstation Plus games list.

The Waypoint review of Citizen Sleeper.

This old Tumblr post.

This video essay about the MOTHER series.

This YouTube video about old Kingdom Hearts fan theories.

Oh yeah, and GameFly is still renting out a select few PS2 games, Kotaku reports.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us game recommendations and how many copies of Skyrim you own at [email protected].

Find us on social media, and wherever else podcasts are found, here: linktr.ee/press_startpod.

Lots of labor news in the world of gaming this week, from Nintendo (allegedly) being shitty to Bobby Kotick (allegedly) being shitty (again). Tori and Noah break it all down as well as give updates on Fortnite, recommend some dungeonsynth and, uh, play Fortnite.

THINGS MENTIONED:

Jack Yarwood’s follow-up article about crunch at Traveler’s Tales.

VGC's scoop about 2K LEGO sports games.

Kat Bailey’s story at IGN about Nintendo’s culture.

This NintendoLink article about the company using prison labor and this Gamespot article about Nintendo allegedly using Uyghur prisoners for forced labor.

This Polygon article about Square Enix's crypto aspirations.

This IGN article mentioning Reggie Fils-Aimé's blockchain beliefs. 

This Axios article about Bobby Kotick's latest legal troubles.

This Polygon article explaining who Let Me Solo Her is.

The episode of the podcast Sample Platter featuring the artists behind Chug Jug With You.

And, of course, Chug Jug With You.

This article on The Verge about Bluehole's lawsuit against Fortnite.

Waypoint’s review of Citizen Sleeper.

Hole Dweller on Bandcamp, and Hole Dweller’s YouTube compilation.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us game recommendations and and whatever's on your mind at [email protected].

Find us on social media, and wherever else podcasts are found, here: linktr.ee/press_startpod.

Tori and Noah are talking Mario (it's Mario time, after all), Bible games and, as always, labor conditions in the games industry.

THINGS MENTIONED:

Gary Larson's Cow Tools from the comic The Far Side.

This weird, cryptic tweet about the Mario movie from Nintendo.

This Gamerant article about Nintendo's alleged union-busting.

This Game Developer article about the working conditions at Nintendo EAD.

This article in The Verge about 4-day work weeks at companies like Crows Crows Crows.

This GamesIndustry.biz article about Gamefreak's 4-day work week.

This Kotaku article about the supposed GBA emulator for the Switch.

The Persona mouthwash.

This Nintendo Life article explaining what El Shaddai is.

It's Bugsnax! by Kero Kero Bonito on Bandcamp. (Sarah Bonito, if you're reading this, please come on the show I want to talk about how you sampled video game sound effects in some of your earlier tracks, please)

Hiromu Arakawa's Yomi no Tsugai on Mangakalot.

Carto for the Switch.

The folks at Into the Aether showing off Knotwords.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us game recommendations and and whatever's on your mind at [email protected].

Find us on social media, and wherever else podcasts are found, here: linktr.ee/press_startpod.

Tori and Noah are joined by cozy gamer Jenny Windom, also known as Kimchica. She's a streamer, indie game curator and one part of the worker-owned collective and dev team Soft Not Weak. We talk all things cozy, what it means for a game to be cozy and about her background and experience in games.

You can find Jenny on:

Tiktok: @Kimchica

Twitter: @Kimchica25

YouTube: Kimchica

Twitch: Kimchica

THINGS MENTIONED: 

Rami Ismail on Twitter. 

This article in The Intercept about Amazon's Orwellian chat service.

Soft Not Weak's flagship title, Spirit Swap on Steam.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us game recommendations and and whatever's on your mind at [email protected].

Find us on social media, and wherever else podcasts are found, here: linktr.ee/press_startpod.

Holy shit, there's a new Kingdom Hearts game coming out. Tori and Noah have a deep conversation about whether they need to catch up on years-worth of lore and, of course, talk about some gaming labor news.

THINGS MENTIONED: 

This Kingdom Hearts IV trailer.

This article from The Gamer about a potential Star Wars world in Kingdom Hearts IV.

This IGN article with the Final Fantasy Uniqulo leaks.

This dot.LA article about the latest Actiblizz labor drama.

This Bloomberg article about Gavin Newsom’s potential involvement in the Activision-Blizzard lawsuit.

The New York Times Elden Ring story.

Chris Plante’s tweet thread about the New York Times’ games coverage.

Gene Park's rebuttal in the Washington Post to the New York Times Elden Ring article.

Lizard in the Spring’s Undertale banjo cover on Bandcamp.

This IGN article about how large Breath of the Wild 2 might be.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us who your favorite kong is at [email protected].

Find us on social media here: linktr.ee/press_startpod.

Tori and Noah want freelance writers to be paid a livable wage, and they also want to get into point-and-click adventure games. Oh yeah and there's a new LEGO game and Noah is trying to decide whether to buy it or not. 

LIGHT SPOILERS INSIDE FOR ELDEN RING AND SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA 3

THINGS MENTIONED:

This article in The Verge about Bloodborne Kart.

This PC Gamer article about the new Monkey Island.

Norco.

Chinatown Detective Agency.

Information about the new Playstation Plus subscriptions brackets.

This Polygon article about the new Limited Run Games store in North Carolina.

This crowdsourced spreadsheet of freelance rates.

Hazel on YouTube.

This Polygon article about crunch at Traveler’s Tales.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us who your favorite kong is at [email protected].

Tori and Noah are joined by special guest Alanna Okun to talk about the games that inspired Alanna to dive deeper into gaming. We're talking Persona, crafting and, you guessed it, Elden Ring. Noah also tests Alanna and Tori's gaming knowledge with the Real Game vs. Fake Game challenge.

THINGS MENTIONED: 

Vox's The Goods.

Into the Aether, a lowkey video game podcast.

Alanna's books.

Katie Heaney's article in The Cut, Video Games Are a To-Do List You Play.

The Asynchronous podcast.

SPOILER ALERT FOR: Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3, Persona 4 and Elden Ring.

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us who your favorite kong is at [email protected].

Tori and Noah are back from a week off gaming news to talk about some new releases, Elden Ring updates and the no good very bad new Harry Potter game. Come for the brief discussion on Hogwarts Legacy and stay for the recommendations of non-cisgender gamers, writers, etc. to support. 

THINGS MENTIONED: 

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us who your favorite kong is at [email protected].

Tori and Noah only talking about Elden Ring for a little bit in this one, really. There's lots of gaming news, good and bad. Square Enix snapped, and Tori beat Earthbound and she loves her son Ness very much.

THINGS MENTIONED:

SPOILERS for Earthbound from 34:00 to 44:10. There's also some spoilers for Deltarune in there, too. Tread lightly. 

Our cool sounds, and the intro and outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by Kai at Wisp Graphics. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod and you can email us who your favorite kong is at [email protected].