Life threw us a bit of a curve ball and kept us from recording this week. Have some fresh scraps of random recordings as we put out a few fires.

This week Shrink & Rage puzzles over the monthly game club before tackling some news.

Do you have feedback for the show, have a response for something we said, or something we should know about? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] stop by our Discord, or tweet us @VGLPodcast.

Finally, if you wish to throw us some cash to help improve the show, and for various show related projects, you can do so by supporting our Patreon campaign.

July Gameclub: Professor Layton and The Curious Village 10:19

Next Gameclub: Death Stranding 38:43

ESRB proposes facial age estimation technology for parental consent 39:12

Sony agrees to 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft 50:33

Microsoft Ends Xbox Gold 1:01:33

Community Corner 1:20:39

Bear Sex Scene Sends Baldur’s Gate 3 up Steam Charts

Will Ubisoft Delete Inactive Accounts?

ESRB Face Scans

Eurogamer: ESRB proposes facial age estimation technology for parental consent

Sony Agrees to Call of Duty Deal

The Verge: Sony agrees to 10-year Call of Duty deal with Microsoft

The End of Xbox Gold

Tweet (Scuk it Muskrat)

Pure Xbox: Xbox 'Game Pass Core' Reportedly Replacing Xbox Live Gold This September

Announcement

Forbes: It’s Time For Microsoft To Put Online Multiplayer In All Levels Of Game Pass

Balder's Gate Bear Sex

PC Games N: Baldur’s Gate 3 leaps up Steam charts after bear sex reveal

Will Ubisoft Delete Inactive Accounts?

PC Gamer: Your Ubisoft account can be permanently deleted for 'inactivity,' but Ubisoft says that won't happen if there are purchases attached to it (Updated)

The Verge: No, Ubisoft won’t delete your game-filled accounts, it claims

The weather got in the way of recording this week. We'll be back next week for game club!

This week Shrink & Rage talk about the FTC... again while Shrink takes a video game vacation.

Do you have feedback for the show, have a response for something we said, or something we should know about? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] stop by our Discord, or tweet us @VGLPodcast.

Finally, if you wish to throw us some cash to help improve the show, and for various show related projects, you can do so by supporting our Patreon campaign.

• Games We Played 2:17

• Denuvo wants to convince you its DRM isn’t “evil”

Rage:

Arcade Paradise

Shrink:

Pillars of Eternity

Microsoft and the FTC... Again

Games Industry Biz: Canada regulator says Microsoft-Activision deal "likely" to harm competition

The Verge: Microsoft wins FTC fight to buy Activision Blizzard

The Verge: Microsoft and UK regulators agree to pause their Activision battle to negotiate

Dutch Government Banning Loot Boxes?

Games Industry Biz: Dutch government seeks to ban loot boxes

Are Classic Games Endangered?

Games Industry Biz: 87% of classic video games are 'critically endangered', says game history organisation

Is Denuvo Evil?

Ars Technica: Denuvo wants to convince you its DRM isn’t “evil”

Minecraft Wiki Leaving Fandom?

PC Gamer: Official Minecraft wiki editors so furious at Fandom's 'degraded' functionality and popups they're overwhelmingly voting to leave the site

Video Games and Tik Tok Caused the French Riots?

Kotaku: Video Games And TikTok Are To Blame For French Riots, Says Prez

Because our usual recording day took place on Independence Day, and we didn't want to deal with nutters shooting off fireworks in the background, we took a week off for some rest and totally not being sick.

This week Shrink & Rage hold the monthly game club and check out the news.

Do you have feedback for the show, have a response for something we said, or something we should know about? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] stop by our Discord, or tweet us @VGLPodcast.

Finally, if you wish to throw us some cash to help improve the show, and for various show related projects, you can do so by supporting our Patreon campaign.

Gameclub: Cassette Beasts 8:55

Next Gameclub Game: Professor Layton and the Curious Village 55:22

A Splatoon 3 player took over a Nintendo shareholder meeting over male customisation options 1:00:17

DDoS attack on Blizzard leads to more calls for a Diablo 4 offline mode 1:14:03

Google reportedly testing feature to play games on YouTube 1:25:59

Splatoon 3 Player Upset Over Male Customisation

VG 24/7: A Splatoon 3 player took over a Nintendo shareholder meeting over male customisation options

Gamer infiltrated Nintendo meeting to complain about Splatoon 3’s lack of male poses

Diablo 4 DDoS Attack

Techspot: DDoS attack on Blizzard leads to more calls for a Diablo 4 offline mode

Google Trying Game Streaming... Again?

Games Industry Biz: Google reportedly testing feature to play games on YouTube

This week Shrink & Rage talk about EA splitting, FTC slowing Microsoft/Blizz Activision coming together, and where gamers game.

Do you have feedback for the show, have a response for something we said, or something we should know about? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] stop by our Discord, or tweet us @VGLPodcast.

Finally, if you wish to throw us some cash to help improve the show, and for various show related projects, you can do so by supporting our Patreon campaign.

• Games We Played 3:17

Rage:

Pokemon Crystal

Shrink:

Per Aspera

Starbound

Where Do Gamers Game?

Video Games Biz: Study: 47% of gamers play on multiple platforms

FTC Taps Brakes On Microsoft/Activision Blizzard Buyout

FTC temporarily blocks Microsoft Activision Blizzard buyout

EA Sports and EA Games Split

IGN: EA Sports and EA Games Splitting Apart in Internal Shakeup

Rage:

F1® 23

Roots of Pacha

Fields of Mistria

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six® Extraction

Halls of Torment

It's Only Money

Park Beyond

Cassette Beasts

Voidigo

Shrink:

Starship Troopers: Extermination

Street Fighter 6

Sons of the Forest

Returnal

RE4 Remake

Amnesia the Bunker

This week Shrink & Rage roll the dice and try to deduce what really happened with Disco Elysium?

Do you have feedback for the show, have a response for something we said, or something we should know about? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] stop by our Discord, or tweet us @VGLPodcast.

Finally, if you wish to throw us some cash to help improve the show, and for various show related projects, you can do so by supporting our Patreon campaign.

• Games We Played 5:15

• Investigation: Who’s Telling the Truth about Disco Elysium? 51:31

Games We Played

Rage:

Railway Empire 2

Shrink:

School Girl Zombie Hunter

Farworld Pioneers

News

Trucking Company Ad in American Truck Sim

Gamestop: Real Trucking Company Is Buying Billboards In American Truck Simulator To Help Recruit Staff

Community Corner

Entering the Disco Elysium Shitstorm

People Make Games

GameStop Fires CEO

The Verge: GameStop fires its CEO / Matthew Furlong is out as GameStop CEO, while meme stock investor Ryan Cohen is taking on the role of executive chair.

Diablo 4 Microtransactions

IGN: Now Diablo 4 Is Out in the Wild, the True Horror of Its Costly Microtransactions Has Revealed Itself

Twitch Content Guidelines

Ars Technica: Twitch reverses overlaid stream sponsor ban after mass creator backlash [Updated]

And... the repeal

A rough night, not in that way, left one of us too tired to perform... in that way. 

This week Shrink & Rage go to the metaverse in Persona 5 then talk about Nintendo and non-Nintendo related news.

Do you have feedback for the show, have a response for something we said, or something we should know about? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] stop by our Discord, or tweet us @VGLPodcast.

Finally, if you wish to throw us some cash to help improve the show, and for various show related projects, you can do so by supporting our Patreon campaign.

May Gameclub: Persona 5 Royal 3:37

Next Gameclub: Cassette Beasts 57:45

After killing legal access to hundreds of 3DS games, now Nintendo's going even harder on illegal access 1:00:37

Nintendo, Steam, Dolphin and the DMCA 1:09:00

Knockout City Releases Server Software 1:17:15

The Lord of the Rings Gollum devs “deeply regret” its dismal reception 1:20:25

3DS Patched to Stop Homebrew

Games Radar: After killing legal access to hundreds of 3DS games, now Nintendo's going even harder on illegal access

Nintendo, Steam, Dolphin, and the DMCA

Offical Statement

Reddit Comment 1

Reddit Comment 2

PC Gamer: Nintendo blocks Steam release of Wii emulator Dolphin

VGC: Nintendo has blocked the Steam version of GameCube and Wii emulator Dolphin

Knockout City Releases Server Software

Offical Statement

Lord of the Rings Gollum's Mess

PC Games N: The Lord of the Rings Gollum devs “deeply regret” its dismal reception