Splash Damage

Richard La Ruina, Super Seducer creator and former pickup artist, joins as the show's first guest. La Ruina talks about everything from controversies surrounding the blowback to his first game to problems with video game journalism in general. We also talk about the changes to the upcoming Super Seducer 3, next-gen console excitement, and more.

Kotaku used an article about Amnesia: Rebirth to preach about everything from “stigmatizing” language to abortion rights to race. We break down the hilariously weird take and also cover Vice’s article about how Dark Souls critiques capitalism, colonialism in Animal Crossing, using “minority privilege” to get a free PS5, Pokémon characters being told they’re gay, the latest updates on Halo Infinite and Cyberpunk 2077, the upcoming GamerGate movie, and plenty more.

Being a person who always looks for offense where none exists, Anita Sarkeesian has declared popular Among Us term “sus” homophobic. We talk about how language isn’t that simple along with Twitter calling a Cyberpunk 2077 cosplay transphobic, Sony licking the boots of their Chinese overlords, Alex Hutchinson of Google Stadia’s hot take on game streaming, ads in NBA 2K21, and video game publishers joining the Anti-Defamation League.

Whether it’s censoring games, removing old games from its digital storefront, or recording players’ private chats, Sony keeps screwing up and handing easy wins to Microsoft. We talk about how this will hurt the PlayStation brand next generation along with Kotaku being hypocritical about Balder’s Gate 3’s character creator, games journalists wanting spiders in games censored, Vice using communism to criticize “sexism” in old GameFAQs guides, and how Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla’s protagonist can be both male and female canonically.

Kotaku writers are so well adjusted that they can’t stand the thought of playing as the Empire, or “space Nazis,” in Star Wars: Squadron, but hey, at least the Imperial forces are diverse, right? We talk about this laughable critique along with Jason Schreier getting blasted for his agenda-driven coverage of game development, the hypocrisy of celebrating racebending Greek gods, complaints that video games are fatphobic for making big characters tougher, Kotaku criticizing capitalism while demonstrating why it’s awesome, and Graham Lineham getting poetic justice with the censoring of his sitcom.

Kotaku is thirsty for everything from Hades’ Greek gods to the dragon in Ring Fit Adventure, but for years, journalists have been shaming gamers for enjoying sexy video games. We talk about such hypocrisy along with more evidence of Sony censorship, wheelchair ramps in game environments, Colin’s Last Stand accepting all fans regardless of politics, why putting katanas in games is never a problem, and Kotaku libeling Rowling as a transphobe.

When 343 Industries unveiled it would remove the police siren nameplate from Halo 3: ODST, some fans expressed distaste, and VG247 decided to label them as alt-right. We discuss the many ways VG247 got this “story” wrong along with news about Kinda Funny rejecting Trump-supporting fans, Ubisoft making everything about gender, Brianna Wu being her hilarious self, what Microsoft buying Bethesda means for the future of games, the latest next-gen news, white voice actors leaving black roles, and diversity quotes in fiction.

People are already planning to boycott Hogwarts Legacy because they disagree with J. K. Rowling’s views on transgenderism. We discuss her “thoughtcrimes” and also talk about Twitch removing Hispanic emotes, Daily Dot tying Among Us’ success to fascism, EA adding commercials to UFC 4, Disco Elysium being criticized for not being communist enough, the latest on next-gen consoles, and the repulsiveness that is Cuties.

Earlier this week, the UK branch of Kotaku was laid to rest. In this episode, we “celebrate” the gaming website by discussing its worst articles and irresponsible writers. We talk about Kotaku UK’s disability slur blunder, awful Dream Daddy gender swap shenanigan, apology over a TotalBiscuit article, and about the problems with video game journalism in general.

Tell Me Why has been criticized for handling its trans character with kid gloves, but The Last of Us Part II got blasted for having its trans character suffer, proving there’s no way to please games journalists. We talk about their hypocrisy along with Polygon’s claim video games need to promote “social change,” how Spiritfarer isn’t ableist, why Caustic’s voice line in Apex Legends should not have been removed, Tom Clancy’s Elite Squad’s intro cutscene being censored, and more.