Longtime Xbox executive Greg Canessa, aka the Creator of Xbox Live Arcade, joins us to react to, analyze, and quite honestly just process this week's seismic news about Xbox boss Phil Spencer retiring, Xbox President Sarah Bond leaving, and the appointment of new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma. We discuss Phil's legacy, give our unsolicited advice to Asha for what we'd like to see in her era of Xbox, and more in this extra-long episode!

00:00:00 - Intro & Phil Spencer's Legacy

00:31:56 - Game Pass & Xbox's studio acquisitions

00:47:09 - Asha Sharma

01:13:35 - Sarah Bond Leaves

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Just as we thought things might be lining up for a next-gen Xbox launch in 2027, a new story on hard drive availability has left us wondering if that option might be slipping away. Plus: we go over the new games coming to Xbox that were announced in last week's Sony State of Play, talk through the next wave of Xbox Game Pass additions, and more!

00:00 - Intro

01:06 - Ryan's Thoughts On Reanimal

05:16 - Are Hard Drives the Next-Gen Xbox’s Latest Roadblock?

19:05 - The Biggest Xbox Games From The Sony State of Play

47:27 - Whats Headed to Xbox Game Pass

54:58 - PokemonPlanet

This weeks show is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, and Michael Higham. The episode is produced and edited by Nick Maillet

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Remember last week's comments from AMD's CEO about being ready to support a next-gen Xbox launch in 2027? It turns out there's more to the story, so we're discussing what launch timing might make sense for Microsoft, and how we think a BS-free version of Windows 11 is a big key to the whole launch. Plus: can Baldur's Gate 3 make a good HBO TV show? We're going to find out either way, so we talked about what we want to see from the co-showrunner of The Last of US show who's in charge of this project.

00:00:00 - Intro & Replaced Demo

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Two big topics dominate our Xbox show this week: first, Resident Evil Requiem. Our own Michael Higham got to play a few hours of a near-final build, and he came back super excited about what will probably be the biggest game in the first quarter of 2026. And then we discussed AMD's CEO publicly stating that they'd be ready to support a next-gen Xbox launch in 2027, including whether or not we think the next Xbox will beat the PlayStation 6 to market, whether that even matters, and what Microsoft could do to try and get core gamers excited about what promises to be a very different type of console.

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In a marathon two-hour episode, our friends from Outside Xbox join us to discuss the Top 20 games in our collaborative Top 100 Xbox Games of All Time list. We share stories, memories, and more from each of these 20 incredible Xbox games that have stood the test of time, from Halo(s) to Mass Effect(s) to GTA 5 and plenty more!

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Part one of our Top 100 Xbox Games of All Time conversation is here! We're talking about the games that mean a lot to us from 100-26 on our list. There will be games you remember, games that make you go, "Oh yeah, that one!", and maybe some games that are new to you. Come back next week for part two when we dig into the top games on the list!

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In this episode, we react to everything shown at Xbox’s latest Developer Direct, with deep dives into Fable, Forza Horizon 6, a surprise reveal from Double Fine Productions, and a brand-new project from Game Freak. Big reactions, big speculation, and a whole lot of excitement.

00:37:50 - GameFreak + Beasts of Reincarnation

00:47:25 - Doublefine + Kiln

00:53:56 - Forza Horizon 6 & Outro

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Xbox's now-annual early-year showcase returns next week! We know Fable and Forza Horizon 6 will be there, but what else will show up? We've got predictions. Plus: Hellblade and Wolfenstein are reportedly getting new sequels, Forza Horizon 5 is still selling huge all these years later, The Witcher 3 might drop a new expansion many years after the last one, Anthem shuts down, renowned Xbox 360-era developer Twisted Pixel is closed, and more!

00:00:00 - Xbox Developer Direct Predictions

00:20:06 - Ninja Theory is working on Hellblade 3

00:28:49 - Wolfenstein 3 may be on the way

00:39:38 - Forza Horizon 5 sells 5 million copies on PS5

00:49:17 - Witcher 3 DLC

00:59:55 - Anthem is officially dead

01:05:03 - Meta has shut down Twisted Pixel & Outro

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The Xbox world lost two wonderful people over the holidays: longtime Microsoft hardware team member Albert Penello and game industry legend Vince Zampella, whose credits include co-creating Call of Duty, Titanfall, Apex Legends, and many more. Xbox marketing boss Aaron Greenberg joins us to remember Albert, who was an absolute joy to everyone he met and who he knew extremely well both at and outside of work. And then we spend the rest of the episode talking about Vince and the great guy he was as well as the monumental impact he had on both the Xbox (Call of Duty 2, Titanfall) and the larger games industry. Thank you to Gamertag Radio's Parris Lilly for joining us this week as well.

00:00:00 - Did you guys play anything over the holiday break?

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What to do during a quiet holiday week with no news? How about we argue amongst ourselves? Haha well sort of: we decided to rank the four Xbox console day-one launch lineups we've had so far, and let's just say we definitely did not all agree on how these rankings should go. Enjoy and happy holidays!

This weeks show is hosted by Ryan McCaffrey, Miranda Sanchez, Michael Higham, and is produced by Nick Maillet

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