Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was announced and came out with some hype but certainly not as much as Square Enix's other Marvel flop in The Avengers. This game breaks from a great many AAA expectations lately and while it's not perfect, it was a very pleasant surprise for me and something I hope more people pick up to show the industry we want these kinds of games.

The Artful Escape is a game that came out of nowhere for me but got my attention because of it's subject matter. What I found was a game that is barely a game but is also one of the coolest experiences I've had this year.

The Artful Escape is on Game Pass for PC and Xbox, PS4 and on Steam for PC.

Most provincial governments in Canada and other places around the world have introduced vaccine passports, requiring you to show proof of double vaccination before you can do things like go to restaurants, bars, theaters and gyms. Some employers are also requiring these now. I hate this and think it shouldn't be necessary but the problem isn't the government, it's the anti-vaxxers who are making this necessary. I make this case for this.

One person developer Emika Games recently announced that they were stepping away from game development because of an overabundance of Steam refund requests for their games, which are considered very good but are generally less than 2 hours long and within Steam's refund window. This has stoked the typically outraged response from the games press, as well as gamers who believe they have a right to these refunds, even if they liked the games enough to leave positive reviews. Both of these sides are wrong and I discuss why.

Buy Emika Games' titles on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/20144/EMIKA_GAMES_Bundle/

Apple recently announced that starting with iOS 15, user photos will be algorithmically analyzed for child sexual abuse and if found, reported to the authorities. Users cannot opt out of this. Some believe this is a great win for the noble cause of rooting out the sick consumers of this content. I and many others believe this is a massive overreach into user privacy from a company that keeps using it as a key selling point and which ultimately will do very little good.

The Activision Blizzard scandal and the horrific stories that have come out of it, along with many others lately, have begun to really make me question my love of what AAA gaming has become has a whole. I discuss that and what we as consumers can (and probably) won't do to try and cause change.

NOTE: The audio book I talked about in this episode is called Chaos Monkeys, not Code Monkeys. You can buy it here.

Cancel culture is alive, well and growing and especially in the gaming industry. Two popular and celebrated figures in the development industry recently got cancelled for very different reasons, neither of which should have happened. I discuss these incidents and how this mob of perpetually (and often purposefully) outraged can't be allowed to continue this way.

It's been roughly a year since Mixer very suddenly shut down. I'm still grinding it out in content creation as are many others but a lot of us are still trying to find our footing again in various ways. I refleft on some of the things other streamers are trying to do, as well as where I am now and where at least my short-term future is.

Many have questioned the relevance of the game industry's big trade show for a number of years now. After being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, this year's all virtual show largely left a bad impression on the general public. While I agree with those sentiments, I think this year's event showed incredible potential for those who look beyong just AAA gaming and in this episode, I talk about why.