A week without a stressful AI story? Truly, a blessing! Welcome to a new episode of Remap Radio, where instead we mull what, if any, obligation game developers have to online games that find success in an era of live service. Plus, Rob have you heard of a Wife Guy? Well, Rob’s a Marathon Guy now, while Patrick’s finished Life Is Strange Reunion and become obsessed with a weird grappling hook game called Idols of Ash and Janet has seen the light on Cairn.

Links:

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/co-op/any-update-is-a-bonus-not-a-right-peak-co-developer-landfall-reminds-impatient-fans-its-not-a-live-service-studio/

https://www.tiktok.com/@landfallgames/video/7626040351563779350

Discussed:

0:09 - Peak Dev Responds to Users Wanting a Forever Game

38:27 - Marathon's Numbers are Trending Down

51:56 - IGN: "Opinion: Hardware Price Increases Have Video Games Facing an Existential Crisis"

01:28:29 - Marathon

02:13:53 - Slay the Spire 2

02:15:48 - Silksong

02:17:04 - Cairn

02:30:25 - Idols of Ash

02:33:46 - Life is Strange

02:36:58 - Outro

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1000xResist was one of Remap’s favorite games from a few years back. Would you be shocked to learn that Patrick jumped at the chance to chat with 1000xResist creative director Remy Siu about developer Sunset Visitor’s new game, Prove You’re Human? Both are joined by Abby Howard and Toby Howard-Arias of Slay the Princess fame, who’ve decided to jump into publishing by partnering with Sunset Visitor on a new game that asks a compelling question: “An AI dares to dream she is human. You’re been hired to put her in her place.” Could you?

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The Remap crew is back from PAX East and eager to talk about games! Unfortunately, the haunting presence of AI continues to rear its ugly head in the gaming industry. On a lighter note, did you know that Rob had never seen Wii Shop Wednesday? Wild right?

Discussed:

1:23 - I am Jesus, AI

50:30 - Playstation prices be crazy 

1:15:52 - Slay the Spire 2, Life is Strange 

1:36:03 - iRacing Arcade 

1:46:52 - Screamer

2:05:52 - Super Meatboy 3D 

2:18:14 - Mailbag 

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Every day is a fresh horror in the world of games, but no matter what happens to the “industry,” the art isn’t going away. Where does one find hope? Patrick went shopping for hope at PAX East and came way inspired after chatting with a series of interesting developers, including El Paso, Elsewhere director (and Hellraiser voice actor!!) Xalavier Nelson Jr., Paranormal Activity: Threshold designer Brian Clarke (also responsible for the excellent The Mortuary Assistant), and more. Plus, in a lovely twist, Patrick was able to chat with several developers working on video games who are active parts of the Remap community, too. If that’s not hope, what is?

Interviews:

3:26 - Xalavier Nelson Jr.

28:16 - Paranormal Activity

48:57 - Croak

1:01:40 - Barty's Adventure

1:18:32 - The Secret of Crystal Mountain

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A trip to PAX East means we’re not that far from Rob’s extremely normal house! Patrick and Chia hopped in a car to inspect the fabled grounds for themselves, before they piled into Rob’s office to chat about spotting Charlie Kirk t-shirts at on the show floor, a bunch of neat games Chia and Patrick played, and a long recounting of an excellent recent game of John Company.

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This week the Remap Crew is out at PAX East (come to the meetup 5 PM on Saturday, at the Birch Bar at the Westin Seaport!) which means a quick and dirty episode with just Rob, Janet, and Chia. Despite being down several members and trying to make this pod editable in a timely fashion since we're all traveling, we've still managed to make an over two hour pod filled with the latest news, games, and home decor discussions.

Discussed:

2:15 - Epic Games Lays Off 1000 Workers

22:15 - Crimsom Dessert Walks Back Use of AI Assets

42:52 - The nVidia DLSS 5 Debacle Redux

59:44 - Nacon has 4 studios file for bankruptcy

1:03:41 - Janet's Move

1:06:19 - Rob's New Entertainment Console

1:26:55 - Pokopia

1:36:55 - Slay the Spire 2

1:39:34 - Marathon

1:46:54 - The Question Bucket

2:39:51 - Outro and Announcements

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Max “Hella” Caulfield may have the ability to manipulate time and space, but despite her superpowers, it’s more than likely that this week’s release of Life Is Strange: Reunion signals the end of Life Is Strange. Patrick recently had a chance to chat with actor Hannah Tell, who’s played Max since the very beginning, about what it means to bring this story to a conclusion.

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Welcome back to Worth Reading, where Patrick chats with people doing interesting writing, reporting, and criticism in the world of video games. This week, Patrick’s talking with longtime video game reporter Keza MacDonald, who is currently the games editor at The Guardian and, despite being a parent to several children, also the author of a new book about Nintendo. Is Nintendo a technology company? Why is “play” so important to the company’s longevity?

Make sure to check out Keza’s book, Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play, which is available wherever books are sold https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/753986/super-nintendo-by-keza-macdonald/

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Where else to begin this week’s episode of Remap Radio than with the massive backlash to Nvidia’s big DLSS 5 announcement? Join Patrick, Chia, Rob, and Janet as they slop their way through a rare moment of unified horror on the internet. Plus, Patrick’s been playing Crimson “The Everything Game” Desert, Chia’s spent extended time with Pragmata, Janet’s already very deep into a Slay the Spire 2 rabbit hole, and more.

Links: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-heart-emergency-abroad

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ubisoft-ends-game-development-at-tom-clancy-studio-red-storm-resulting-in-105-job-losses/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dTTfjBAFzc

Discussed:

4:02 - Ubisoft Shutters Game Development at Tom Clancy studio

16:35 - The DLSS 5 Debacle

1:33:25 - Subnautica 2 Wrongful Termination Suit

1:39:05 - Crimson Desert

2:04:19 - Slay the Spire 2

2:27:38 - Minishoot Adventures

2:29:30 - Pragmata

2:44:42 - Marathon

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Rob sits down with Duncan Fyfe to discuss his piece on the lore and world building of Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind and the tension that can form between developers and fans when there's competing visions on what a game's narrative and lore focus "should" be. They also discuss the shift in Bethesda's games to start including more and more incentives to keep players in the game that exist outside of their authored narratives, the way the specter generative AI looms over this shift to expansiveness, and what it could mean for the future of Bethesda.

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