Black Myth: Wukong is out, and Tony Wilson of Framework has been playing it - but also, Sun Wukong's defiance of Heaven inspired this week's Top 5, about games driven by rebellion against the gods. We'll also get into Dustborn, Arco, reveals from Gamescom's Opening Night LIve, and the "terrible" works of pop culture you'll die on a hill to defend.

Question of the Week: Name the favorite game of any politician (not a quiz, just make up something funny).

Break song is Sorrow by Bad Religion. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The Borderlands movie opened last weekend, and we've got things to say about it. It also underwhelmed at the box office, putting it on track to be a major flop - but will it flop as hard as the videogame-based movies in this week's Top 5, all of which lost millions in theaters? While we wait to see, we'll get into The Crush House, SteamWorld Heist II, Beetlejuice in MultiVersus, and the first game magazines you remember reading.

Question of the Week: What’s a piece of pop culture or media that's generally regarded as terrible, but you'll die on a hill to defend anyway?

Break song is Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Game Informer's plug was shockingly pulled last week, bringing the last of the major US videogame magazines to an unceremonious end. We'll leave it to others to properly eulogize GI, but we'll mark its passing by inviting Dan Amrich and Dave Rudden (both former editors of GamePro and other mags) to talk about five of our all-time favorite game magazines. Then we'll get into Volgarr the Viking II, World of Goo 2, a new Darksiders, and some things you were introduced to by videogames.

Question of the Week: What’s the first game magazine you remember reading? Specific issues if possible.

Break song is the Nintendo Power commercial jingle. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters, and we're so fixated on Marvel's foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-breaking murder-goof that we're going to talk about five games he stars in, and invite the legend Chris Baker - who worked on many of them and made headlines for refuting the "$100,000,000" rumor - to talk about them with us. Then we'll get into Thank Goodness You're Here, videogame voice actors going on strike, our favorite PlayStation mascot getting their own controller, and your experiences with gaming competitions.

Question of the Week: What was something you were first introduced to (like, say, Deadpool or sports) through video games?

Break song is Theme of Deadpool by Hideyuki Fukasawa. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The recent release of Twisters inspired us to spend this week's Top 5 segment talking about five of the best tornadoes in games, because why not, and we even invited Tony Wilson of Framework to help us talk about 'em. Then we'll get into Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, Veritus, Kunitsu-Gami, EVO 2024 announcements, and the cool stuff you've won in contests.

Question of the Week: Inspired by Nintendo World Championships and EVO, tell us about a gaming competition you participated in (whether win, lose, or draw). 

Break song is Tornado of Souls by Megadeth. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

This week's launch of EA Sports College Football 25 marks the return of the NCAA Football series after an 11-year absence, so TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins us to talk about it and five other long-dead or dormant sports franchises that we'd love to see come back. Then we'll get into Anger Foot, Yeah! You Want "Those Games," Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Beat Them! 2, the cancellation of Crash Bandicoot 5, and the funniest games you've ever played.

Question of the Week: Have you ever won anything in a contest? Tell us about it.

Break song is Sports! by Tim and Eric. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Games that are pure parodies - ones that (mainly) target a single game from a competitor to emulate and lampoon - are relatively rare for a lot of reasons, but we scraped together enough to make them the subject of this week's Top 5. After that, we'll look at The Case of the Golden Idol's Xbox debut, the Xbox Game Pass price hike, 3DS's Puzzle Swap finally getting "beaten," and your favorite games starring playable monsters and/or animals. 

Question of the Week: What's the funniest game you've ever played?

Break song is Never Stop Sneakin' by HyperDuck Soundworks. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We're heading into the 4th of July weekend, when Americans traditionally celebrate Jaws' 1975 attack on Amity Island, so this week we'll (finally!) look at five games where you get to play as a bloody great shark. Then we'll talk about Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, The First Descendant, Nintendo's anti-scalper strategy, and the characters you'd like to sese appear iin Mortal Kombat 1 next.

Question of the Week: What is your favorite game starring a monster or animal you can play as?

Break song is Jaws by Lemon Demon. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We're halfway through another year, so we've grabbed Brendan Hesse to help us take a look back through the past six months and pick out our five favorite games from 2024 so far. Then we'll get deeper into Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, rumors around upcoming additions to Mortal Kombat 1's roster, and your favorite games to come out this year.

Question of the Week: Who should be the next Mortal Kombat guest character?

Break song is Bosk on a Segway by MC Chris. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdree is out at last today, and we've got Tony WIlson of Framework on to talk about his experience with it - but first, we're going to talk about five DEEPLY suspicious. wildly creepy NPCs who actually proved trustworthy in spite of setting off alarm bells in our heads. Plus we'll talk about the Nintendo Direct reveals — including Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdome — as well as Still Wakes the Deep, #BLUD, and much more!

Question of the Week: What's your personal Game of the Year for 2024 so far? (As in, a game that's come out in the past six months.)

Break song is You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover by Bo Diddley. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.