Taiko no Tatsujin: The Drum Master was released on PC and Xbox Game Pass, but unfortunately the PC version had to be temporarily delisted because you couldn't actually run it. Luckily, a mod was made to put a bandaid on the problem so people could play it. (But really, Drum'n'fun on the Nintendo Switch is a much better version of Taiko no Tatsujin and frequently goes on sale!)

Valve has announced that the Steam Deck will start shipping in February, so watch your emails as you will only have 72 hours to confirm your order when your spot in line comes up.

Sega has sold its remaining shares in Genda GiGO Entertainment which means that Sega will no longer OPERATE arcades in Japan after doing so for multiple decades. (This does NOT mean that Sega is no longer making arcade games.)

Then we take calls about Taiko no Tatsujin and Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Huge news took place this week that pushed other announcements aside - Microsoft announced their intention to purchase Activision Blizzard King for $68.7 billion.

Embattled Activision CEO Bobby Kotick will stay in his position until the deal closes in 18 months, but will then be on the way out.

Sony released a statement saying they expect Microsoft to honor all existing contractual obligations, considering Sony is the "home of Call of Duty" in a marketing sense.

Activision sold because they dug themselves in a hole with AAA game development, and were looking for a suitor.

Rob Roberts and I went on the air on Tuesday with a special VOG Roundtable to talk about this, and it is up on the VOG YouTube.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 Online raised over $3.4 Million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, which is a WR for speedrun charity marathons! Check out the show notes on VOGNetwork.com for links to the unofficial charts referenced regarding donations over time and how they were broken down by game.

I was a host/donation reader for four games, and it had its ups and downs. Overall, it was a very positive experience and I hope to audition well enough to do it again in the summer.

People ask me if I'm a speedrunner, and I used to tell them no...until now. It turns out that the Any% Major Glitches speedrun of The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past is super simple to pull off, and I teach you how it's done, courtesy of a bonus incentive on the final night of AGDQ 2022.

Then we talk to Rob about the news that I didn't talk about.

Don't let the fact that I didn't talk about the big gaming news distract you from the fact that Georgia defeated Alabama 33-18 to win the 2021 College Football National Championship! Go Dawgs!

We get a viewer comment that lists their favorite games that came out in 2021 - and there were a lot of great games that came out!

Stern Pinball showed off the Rush Pinball machine in detail, and I threw my wallet at them.

At CES, Sony revealed PlayStation VR 2 - but not a release date or price.

E3 has cancelled their in-person show for 2022, conveniently blaming the current COVID variant.

Then we talk to Rob about Mass Effect Legendary Edition on Xbox Game Pass, and Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster.

Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 is this week, and I've got three shifts as a host/donation reader! I'm hosting the first half of Final Fantasy XIII on Tuesday, Lost Judgment on Thursday, and on Saturday I have Earthbound and Fallout New Vegas. Hype!

Stern Pinball teased a Rush pinball machine...More next week!

Tim Sweeney responded to a user on Twitter explaining that the Epic Games Store can't offer gift cards because they don't take as much of a cut from developers as Steam does - which shows where Epic's priorities are.

John Madden might be best known as a football coach and commentator, but he was also an influential game designer, shaping sports video games forever.

I talk about what it's ACTUALLY like to play video games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Cuphead, and Beach Buggy Racing 2 in a 2015 Tesla Model S - and what you can and can't do while the vehicle is in operation.

Then we talk to Rob about our favorite games of 2021.

I got Sonic The Hedgehog running on THEC64, which is the large size version of the C64 Mini, which means if you have that with the latest firmware, you too can play the Sonic Commodore 64 port! Check out my YouTube channel for the raw video footage of Green Hill Zone.

There had been a grand total of 15 items sold on the Ghost Recon Breakpoint marketplace by resellers as of December 20th.

Ubisoft is being hit with The Great Resignation, along with just about every other industry in the world.

Then we talk to Rob about holiday gifts and New Years Resolutions for 2022.

My hosting/donation reading schedule for Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 Online has changed slightly - I talk about which run was swapped out.

Sonic The Hedgehog is coming to Tesla cars! But it's a party trick - I promise.

A fanmade port of the Sega Master System version of Sonic The Hedgehog is coming to Commodore 64's with the 256k RAM Expansion Unit.

Ubisoft has doubled down on its latest moneymaking scheme despite employee pushback.

Then we talk to Rob about No Man's Sky and investigative journalism in the gaming space.

We start by paying tribute to Masayuki Uemura, lead architect of the NES and SNES, who passed away at the age of 78.

I got The Legend of Zelda Game & Watch and talk about how it's different than the Super Mario Game & Watch from last year and if it's worth $50.

The Game Awards was this past week, and once you make peace with the fact that it's not intended to really be an awards show but rather a vehicle for game announcements, it was enjoyable.

Once of those announcements was about the Unreal Engine 5 demo for PS5 and Xbox Series X called The Matrix Awakens, where any bugs you find are just glitches in the Matrix.

Then we talk to Rob about the Final Fantasy XIV queues.

There is a HUGE bug with Xbox Series X consoles and disc game installs - essentially, if you are wanting to get a game on disc to save on your monthly bandwidth cap, you won't be able to do that because you need to use a workaround to force a download of the game to your console.

I finally built the Arcade1up TRON cabinet! It was a more challenging build than the Star Wars and OutRun cabinets. It has some issues and is very expensive, but fans who really love TRON and can't afford a used authentic cabinet will really enjoy it.

Then we talk to Rob about covering The Game Awards 2021 despite an article blowing something out of proportion over a certain game publisher's involvement.

I got my hosting assignments for Awesome Games Done Quick 2022 and I'll be reading your donations during Final Fantasy XIII, Lost Judgment, EarthBound, and Mario Kart Wii!

The Arcade1up TRON cabinet is here, but I was not able to finish building it in time for the show.

No Man's Sky's expeditions are returning, which means you have another chance to get the Normandy as a freighter ship!

Harmonix has been purchased by Epic Games, and they will now be creating musical experiences in Fortnite.

MobyGames, the IMDB of video games, has been purchased by the company that now calls itself Atari.

We talk about some Black Friday deals and give a tip on what to do with Xbox Live Gold cards if you already have Game Pass Ultimate.

Then we talk to Rob about No Man's Sky.