The Save Room

Turns out, spending $76 billion dollars comes at a cost! And Xbox's most beloved studios are paying the price. Does a future of fewer, less risky games sound interesting? (Hint: it doesn't!). Also, we dig into the Resident Evil 9 rumors featuring an open-world Leon; and we discuss Stellar Blade -- the near beer of Niers!

We're used to watching movies that suck so vampires are right up our alley. Anne Rice may have disowned this 2002 adaptation of her novel, but the nu-metal community embraced it with leather-clad arms. Grab your wallet-chain and cover your neck -- it's Queen of the Damned.

Save Room Reviews: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth by The Save Room

The Save Room proper is out of hibernation and back with our longest news episode to date. It’s two months into the year so naturally we had to catch you all up on our thoughts on news and what we’ve been playing. (Consider this the infinite wealth of podcasts for those who like our show).

Our big news topic is around the sweeping gaming industry layoffs. It’s a long winding conversation that we come at at every angle. Two full months into the year we’ve already seen well over 8,100 game dev layoffs across Sony, Microsoft, EA, Embracer, Remedy, and many other studios. There is no one theme as studios are letting talented devs go in their name of “right-sizing” due to Covid over-hiring, merges, consolidations, forced RTO mandates, and studio closures. It’s a dire time for those in the industry and even for those wanting to break into it with no clear end in sight. We also talk the new Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC trailer, Borderlands the movie, and Switch 2 rumors.

At the back half, we talk what we’ve been playing: from spreading democracy in Helldivers 2 to charting eldritch horrors in Pacific Drive with two massive JRPGs at the end, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Both titles have been long anticipated for your Save Room boys. We’ve logged over 100 hours respectively in Infinite Wealth and have a lot to say. Our FF7 Rebirth conversation covers up through chapter 4 and is impressions-only (don’t worry, we’ll have a massive spoiler cast coming soon), but the TLDR is that we’re loving it so far.

Time codes below for the uninitiated. Thanks for listening!

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Time codes:

-Intro - 0:00

-Kevin saying “time code” - 11:04

-Main topic: Games industry hit with over 8,100 layoffs - 14:40

-Xbox business update conversation - 1:30:24

-Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC - 1:46:23

-Borderlands movie trailer - 1:54:04

-Pokémon Direct - 2:00:43

-Switch 2 Rumors - 2:06:00

-Remedy buys rights to Control - 2:10:55

-Rockstar RTO - 2:14:04

-Helldivers 2 - 2:16:15

-Pacific Drive - 2:42:11

-Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - 2:55:54

-Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth - 3:27:31

Our adventures through the early aughts of horror has taken us to the woods where one Mr. Eli Roth awaits. This low-budget gross-out became a cult classic and propelled the director's career like diseased blood all over a windshield. But does this fever still run hot? Have its juvenile jokes become "scratch moded"?? What does "scratch moded" even mean???

Our eyeballs were eating good in 2023. We went Across The Spider-Verse; we plus one'd Godzilla Minus One; we had Thanksgiving with Eli Roth; and we got high and watched the last Guardians film (no play on words there, it's just what we did).

So, of course we had to record almost three hours of drunken filth recapping the best movies 2023 had to offer!

(WARNING: The audio gets pretty rough in this recording. No one would blame you if you skipped this.)

Welcome back Roommates and goons! The epic conclusion to our two-part Game of the Year 2023 discussion is finally here, which only means one thing: it’s time for the boys to fight shirtless on the back of two metal gears while they debate their favorite games of 2023. At nearly 4 hours long, you will in fact scream HOW is this podcast still standing?!

--------Time Codes--------

-Intro - 0:00

-GOTY #5 - 12:54

-GOTY #4 - 42:35

-GOTY #3 - 1:13:55

-GOTY #2 - 2:00:30

-GOTY #1 - 2:43:00

-End-All Collective Save Room GOTY 2023 - 3:42:46

Fuck you, it's January - a time for resolutions, winter snows, cozy socks, insurrections, and 3-hour podcasts? That's right, roommates, it's finally time for the big Save Room Game of the Year 2023 podcast!

2023 was a massive year for indie games, AAs, and games across the AAA space from our favorite franchises. And with a great year of gaming, comes the great responsibility to podcast about it - hard.

We present Part 1 of our Game of the Year podcast, which we'd buy for a dollar, but probably owe you guys money just for how long it is. This covers our honorable mentions through our respective bottom 5 games with the next episode covering the final top 5. Fair warning: We do often litter these talks with spoilers so listen at your own risk.

We appreciate your support over the years and for sticking around for these end of the year behemoth-casts. Have some time codes on us for your listening efforts. Cheers!

-------Time codes--------

-Intro - 0:00

-Save Roommate's Top 3 Picks - 11:04

-What game surprised us the most? What games did we want play to but didn't get to? - 18:20

-Kevin's Honorable Mentions - 28:35

-Daniel's Honorable Mentions - 54:14

-GOTY #10 - 1:19:58

-GOTY #9 - 1:38:55

-GOTY #8 - 2:00:55

-GOTY #7 - 2:19:58

-GOTY #6 - 2:45:00

It's that time of year to take the holly out of your jolly! The original Black Christmas is considered a atmospheric classic, so of course we're not reviewing that! Instead, we picked the derided remake, which is filled with cannibalism, CW actors, and a spot of incest to accompany your eggnog! Merry X-Mas!

Episode 135: The All Games, Some Awards Show 2023 by The Save Room