Vidjagame Apocalypse

Next week, we'll count down our picks for the top games of 2018 - but our rules exclude remakes and remasters, and it's been an amazing year for those. So with help from USGamer's Nadia Oxford, we're dedicating this week to five of 2018's most impressive remakes, all of which brought long-dead classics roaring back with current-gen polish. We then talk Below, year-in-review games-industry stats, and the expectations-vs.-reality of your holiday toy memories.

With the holidays looming large and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tying up everyone's Switches, GameXplain/IGN alum Micah Seff helps us celebrate by talking about five iconic killer toys that come to life and try to murder people. (It makes sense in context, we swear.) We then switch gears to talk Smash, Ashen, Earth Defense Force 5, Hades, The Game Awards, your favorite obscure game-music tracks, and a whole lot of other stuff in a nearly three-hour megashow!

Headphones are recommended for this week's show, in which VGMpire's own Brett Elston rejoins us to help pay tribute to mind-blowing music from unspectacular games. After that, we move on to Just Cause 4, Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom, Epic's new game store, the swag you scored during Black Friday, and much more.

The holiday season is officially upon us, which means that for one reason or another, a lot of you are statistically likely to get loaded over the next few weeks. If you'd rather watch a game character get sloshed on adult beverages, there are plenty of games that'll let you get your hero drunk - and with help from MacWorld's Leif Johnson, we'll look at five of the most interesting. Then it's on to talking about Darksiders III, Sony opting for PAL versions on the PlayStation Classic, Console Wars getting adapted as a series, and the times games caused friction with family or friends.

Happy Black Friday! We understand a lot of you might be spending time with family over the long weekend - and sometimes, that time can start to feel like a pressure cooker. Why not blow off some steam by listening to us talk about five of the most absurdly dysfunctional families in gaming, with special guest Alaina Yee of PCWorld? Stick around after, because we'll jump into a lengthy chat about Black Friday deals, Fallout 76's launch, Devil May Cry Netflix news, and your favorite Stan Lee characters.