Welcome to Episode 45 of Boss Run! Housh here, and we are sitting right in the eye of the storm. "Not-E3" season is officially upon us, and we are breaking down the massive showcase schedule, a wild handheld price spike, and why I’m skipping the biggest game of the week despite the glowing reviews.

Here is what we are covering on the show this week:

📅 The Summer Showcase Mega-Week: It is the quiet before the storm! We are mapping out the absolute gauntlet of conferences hitting us over the next few days. We’re laying out our expectations for the PlayStation State of Play on Tuesday, Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest on Friday, and the massive Xbox Games Showcase on Sunday. What are your prediction highlights?

💸 Steam Deck Sticker Shock: We have to talk about the hardware market. The Steam Deck just saw a massive, unexpected $300 price jump! We break down the market conditions and what this means for portable PC gaming moving forward.

🕵️‍♂️ 007 & Retro Hot Takes: IO Interactive's 007: James Bond - First Light just dropped to stellar reviews, but I have absolutely no desire to play it. We also look at Yacht Club’s brand new Mina the Hollower (which feels like Zelda meets Castlevania on a Game Boy Color). This spins us into a massive tech discussion: I never really connected with the 8-bit or 16-bit 2D eras. I’ve been completely fascinated by 3D tech ever since the days of Battletanks, MS Flight Simulator, Wolfenstein 3D, and Wing Commander—all the way to dropping a dedicated 3D accelerator card into my PC just to run Quake in glorious OpenGL.

🎮 The Game Rotation & GOTY Contenders:

• Lost Odyssey: Disc 3 is absolutely still kicking my ass. The JRPG grind is real.

• Current Grinds: Still chipping away at South of Midnight and Forza Horizon 6 on PC Game Pass.

• The Hot Take: Echo Generation 2 is currently my uncontested Game of the Year. We discuss why this sequel completely nails the vibe.