Vidjagame Apocalypse

We enter our second week of Spooptober™ with a look at how the happy haunts of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion have been portrayed in five different games — one of which turns 20 in a few days. Then we'll marvel at Forza Motorsport and the Robocop: Rogue City demo, scratch our heads at the PS5's strange new modular makeover. and hear about the abandoned game servers you've haunted in the past.

QOTW: Obviously, Matt and Chris geek out about Disney park appearances in games. What real-world location do you geek out about when it appears in a game?

Another spooky season is upon us, and this one arrives alongside a new Castlevania series! To mark the occasion, we've invited Mike Williams back on to revisit five of the worst-reviewed Castlevania games to see whether they really deserve their bad reputations. Then we'll get into Assassin's Creed Mirage, The Lamplighters League, the "official" pronunciation of Cait Sith, and the times you switched console allegiances.

QOTW: Have you ever "haunted" an old game server well past its prime? Tell us why and what it was like!

The one-two punch of Cyberpunk 2077 rolling out version 2.0 and Phantom Liberty inspired us to grab Brendan "The Crawl" Hesse for a look at five games that managed to win back hearts and minds after especially rocky launches. Then we'll dive into Resident Evil 4 Remake's Separate Ways DLC, Phantom Liberty, and El Paso, Elsewhere before talking about Jim Ryan leaving PlayStation and your favorite Mortal Kombat Fatalities.

QOTW: How many times have you switched allegiances and changed your primary gaming platform?

Mortal Kombat 1 hit this week, so we're starting this week's show with a look at five games that sought to recapture its blood-spraying, digitized-actor magic back in the '90s. Joining us are Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski, formerly of Wii Universe and Ultra 64, and presently (in Steve's case) of CinemArcade and Puppet Masters / Castle Freaks. Then we'll dig into MK1 and LIes of P, talk about some of the big stories from the Xbox leak, and hear about your favorite racing games.

QOTW: What's your favorite Mortal Kombat fatality?

Not too long ago, any publisher worth its salt had to have at least one major racing franchise - but somewhere along the line that changed, leaving us with a relative handful of big-deal arcade racers and sims for dedicated speed freaks. WIth this week's release of The Crew Motorfest and the first new F-Zero game in 20 years, let's take a look at five once-huge racers that retired long ago, after which we'll get way too deep into Thursday's Nintendo Direct and Sony State of Play, more Starfield chat, the Unity debacle, and the genres you think Bethesda should tackle next.

QOTW: What's your all-time favorite racing game?

This is a massive week for RPG fans, with Starfield and Baldur's Gate III both hitting consoles - but before we get into that, Chris "cbake" Baker joins us to talk about five games that - despite being licensed from American comics, cartoons, and movies - never saw the light of day in the US! (He also plugs his new book, X-Wings, Lightsabers, and Scorpion Vader, available now on Amazon.) Then we'll dig into the aforementioned RPGs, a smattering of Nintendo news, and the games or series you think should get Digital Eclipse's Gold Master Series treatment.

QOTW: Now that they've done fantasy, post-apocalypse, and sci-fi, what genre would you like to see a Bethesda-style RPG set in?

Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon marks the landmark mecha series' return after a 10-year absence - so this week, Greg Moore joins us to talk about five other mecha series that are overdue for a return. Then we'll get into Armored Core VI (of course), The Making of Karateka, Goodbye Volcano High, Samba De Amigo: Party Central, Sea of Stars, the Switch outselling the Wii, and who you think the new voice of Mario should be.

Question of the Week: What game deserves The Making of Karateka/Digital Eclipse Gold Master Series treatment next?

Charles Martinet, iconic voice of Mario, is stepping down from the role - and whie it's difficult to imagine the character without him, he's far from the first actor to embody the plucky Brooklyn plumber. This week, Dave Rudden and Anthony Abatte join Chris and Mikel for a look at five other actors' takes on Mario, after which we'll get into Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, Immortals of Aveum, a smattering of news from Gamescom and Opening Night Live, and the games you'd like to see get a Quake II-style glow-up.

QOTW: Who do you think should be the next voice of Mario?

When Mikel's away, Chris and Matt (and TL) will play - and we're not just talking about how much fun Chris had playing with the soundboard this week. In this episode, we stretch the limits of our format - and possibly your patience - to its utmost, as we forego individual game entries and talk about game design tropes that just won't die. Then it's back to business as usual as we break down the new Madden game, the surprise rerelease of Quake II, all the news from the THQ Nordic Digital Showcase, and more. Did we mention there's a soundboard?

Question of the Week: What classic game deserves a Quake II-style glow-up rerelease?

This week, the incomparable Greg Moore joins us to talk about his experiences shadowing pro players at this year's EVO fighting-game tournament - and to keep the theme going, we'll talk about five characters from non-fighting games who somehow ended up as mainstays in fighting series. Then we'll go deeper into Baldur's Gate 3, EVO announcements, Nintendo patenting systems in Tears of the Kingdom, and your favorite mainstream actors who crossed into games.

QOTW: What famous character should be in a fighting game who hasn't already been?