The Ramblepack Podcast

Square Enix had a lot going on over the last week and a half. Fortnite and Overwatch got separate anime crossovers, both equally neat. Starfield got a release date as well as a date for their direct. We also spend a long time talking about Destiny: Lightfall and our opinions on the release.

Lightfall, Destiny's newest story arc, is releasing and Sony had their first State of Play of the year. Got a new look at RE4 Remake, Nintendo is not attending E3 this year, but Ubisoft confirmed they are, and Shinji Mikami is leaving Tango Gameworks.

Hogwarts Legacy was released to great reviews but riddled with controversy. Sonic Frontiers has broken expectations from Sega, companies are propping up their employees, and Nintendo had another Nintendo Direct!

Xbox/Bethesda's Developer Direct debuted with an fun and exciting shadow drop of Hi-Fi Rush! Lots of discussion surrounding Forspoken's dialogue VS Hi-Fi Rush's dialogue and when "campy" fits or stands out, Disney Dreamlight valley dropped their early 2023 roadmap, Dead Space remake is doing well by the numbers, and E3 is back this year, with some caveats. 

Another rough week in terms of stories. Stadia has ended service, Amored Core VI is getting a small showcase. Marvel's Avengers game is ending support, and Microsoft is set to lay off 10k employees by March.

Microsoft and Bethesda have confirmed their own "Developer Direct" set for Jan. 25th showcasing games, leaving out Starfield for it's own showcase. Ubisoft also axes games in development and delays others, while Callisto Protocol's studio forgot to add in devs to its credits. Games done quick raised $2.6mil this round and changes are coming to D&D's Open Gaming License.

As this year winds down, Adam and Mike take a look back at the games that came out this year and pick their Game of the Year. They also look ahead to 2023 and see what titles are set to be released and discuss which ones their excited for most.

Microsoft attempts to sweeten the deal with Sony over Call of Duty, Game Awards viewership hit a new livestream high, and Epic was hit with a $520 million fine by the FTC.

The Game Awards went on this week with a look at some new and upcoming titles, Yuji Naka was arrested again, the FTC is suing Microsoft to block the Activision/Blizzard acquisition, "Day's Gone" creator blames "woke reviewers" for poor sales, and should Next-Gen upgrades be free?