Words About Games

Amy & Moody are joined this week by a huge cast of fantastic guests to draft their picks for Fantasy Game Critic 2022

(Apologies for the lateness of this episode, enjoy having two release at once!)

Amy & Moody are joined by the wonderful Sadie Flayeh to run down the games they're most excited for in 2022.

Amy & Moody are joined by special guest Joe Medforce to chat about Roblox, NFT's, PlayStation accessibility and more!

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

16:45 - Roblox criticized for lack of safeguards for kids, stock-market-like collectibles 

37:28 - Ubisoft To Go Ahead With NFTs, Dismisses Concerns From Workers And Fans 

1:00:38 - US NPD November 2021 Breakdown

1:23:13 - PlayStation launches website to highlight accessibility of its consoles

1:32:44 - Nintendo Indie World reactions

1:45:54 - Fans To Boycott Star Wars Eclipse Over Quantic Dream's Alleged Homophobia And Racism

2:06:59 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head (Crowning A Champion)

2:10:16 - Saying Goodbye To 2021

Amy & Moody are joined by Averil this week to discuss all their thoughts about last week's Game Awards, new revelations about Destiny developer Bungie, a doggo filled intermission & more!

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Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

16:24 - Game Awards show thoughts

35:23 - Game Awards winners reactions 

51:20 - Our favourite trailers/reveals from The Game Awards 

1:12:00 - Intermission

1:16:06 - Bungie CEO apologises after damning report exposes a culture of "overt sexism" at the studio 

1:27:24 - Activision Blizzard workers group announces strike fund, begins unionization effort

1:37:22 - Activision Blizzard asks employees not to sign union cards

1:42:55 - Ubisoft management happy with pace of reforms after workplace harassment reckoning, but employees aren't buying it

1:51:37 - Games Out This Week

1:54:47 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head (The Gunk)

FURTHER READING: https://www.ign.com/articles/bungie-report-battle-soul-work-culture-harassment-crunch

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Want to hang out with us while we play games? Head over to twitch.tv/wordsaboutgames and drop us a follow!  

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Follow Amy Kate on Twitter @jerobolod 

Follow Dafydd on Twitter @DafyddMoody 

Follow Averil on Twitter @elfdaughter

Amy & Moody are joined by Averil White from twitch.tv/elfdaughter to talk about PlayStation's reported Game Pass competitor, the Game Awards, naps and more!

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

13:26 - Report: Sony overhauling PlayStation Plus with new tiers and streaming 

32:21 - Following backlash, Geoff Keighley confirms Activision ‘will not be part of’ The Game Awards 

44:36 - -Game Awards Predictions

1:29:58 - A Better Ubisoft

1:31:18 - Activision Blizzard protest organiser leaving company

1:39:14 - Activision's Raven Software Suddenly Lays Off Staff Despite Warzone's $1 Billion Earnings 

1:47:47 - The Halo subreddit got so toxic that mods have closed it for the weekend 

1:53:19 - Games Out This Week

1:58:49 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker

Amy & Moody sit down to discuss the lawsuit being brought against PlayStation for gender discrimination, what Bobby Kotick considers "speedy", their most played Xbox games and a ton more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

11:56 - PlayStation faces gender discrimination lawsuit

31:54 - Bobby Kotick reportedly considering resignation if workplace issues aren't fixed "with speed"

41:57 - Nintendo joins PlayStation, Xbox in Activision condemnation 

46:00 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets

50:56 - Amazon Studios is reportedly trying to make a Mass Effect TV show

1:14:01 - Dragon Age senior creative director leaves BioWare

1:25:07 - Microsoft reveals letter from that time it failed to buy Nintendo

1:33:54 - Square Enix says Neo: The World Ends with You ‘underperformed’ its expectations

1:36:57 - Moody & Amy check their most played Xbox games

1:44:13 - Halo Infinite multiplayer beta impressions

1:57:36 - Games Out This Week

2:00:41 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Solar Ash & Halo Infinite

Come hang out with us on Twitch! - twitch.tv/wordsaboutgames  

Follow Amy on Twitter @jerobolod

Amy & Moody discuss the latest revalations surrounding Bobby Kotick and Activision Blizzard.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

15:32 - Activision’s Kotick knew of rape allegations, kept them quiet, new report says 

38:47 - Blizzard’s first female co-leader only got equal pay after tendering her resignation

48:32 - Activision Blizzard staff and players are petitioning for Bobby Kotick’s resignation

57:53 - Activision Blizzard's zero-tolerance policy on harassment won't apply to Kotick, staff reportedly told

1:01:35 - Microsoft Xbox boss Phil Spencer tells staff he’s ‘deeply troubled’ by Activision Blizzard 

1:09:23 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets 

1:13:47 - Young people reportedly at risk of far-right extremism through online gaming channels

1:25:42 - Streamlabs accused of plagiarism 

1:34:05 - Forza Horizon 5 early impressions

1:46:43 - How did our Game Awards GOTY predictions do?

2:00:35 - Games Out This Week

2:01:47 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

Amy & Moody are joined by the amazing Joe Medforce to talk about the Game Awards & try to predict the six GOTY nominees.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

2:10 - Who Is Joe Medforce?

17:46 - The Game Awards 2021 Will Actually Focus On Games, Not Celebrities 

37:06 - Let’s predict the Game Awards GOTY nominees

1:02:23 - PS5 Supply Issues Continue While PC Game Sales Spike in Japan / Steam Deck delayed because of 'global supply chain issues' 

1:08:14 - Discord CEO says "no current plans" for NFT integration

1:14:37 - Activision Blizzard contractors granted better salary and PTO

1:27:25 - A Better Ubisoft Tweets

1:32:42 - NPD Breakdown October 2021

1:43:55 - Todd Howard Says You Can "Pick Your Pronouns" In Starfield 

1:49:06 - Forza Horizon 5 will add sign language support in a future update 

1:56:59 - Games Out This Week

2:04:15 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Pokemon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl

Watch us play games over at twitch.tv/wordsaboutgames  

Follow Amy on Twitter @jerobolod

CHECK OUT OUR AMAZING SPECIAL GUEST JOE MEDFORCE:  

Twitter: twitter.com/JoeMedforce

Amy & Moody discuss Sega and Microsoft teaming up for game making, a plethora of AAA companies jumping on the NFT bandwagon in an effort to earn cash by burning the environment down & more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

13:31 - Sega and Microsoft have announced ‘a strategic alliance’ around 

cloud

29:13 - Square Enix Wants To Get Into NFTs And Blockchain Games, Joining EA And Ubisoft

44:55 - Ubisoft employees open public petition seeking support for reform demands 

59:48 - Jen Oneal leaves Blizzard co-leader role, Mike Ybarra becomes sole boss 

1:09:55 - Square Enix removes paid XP boosts from Marvel's Avengers 

1:16:51 - Devolver is now a publicly-traded company, and Sony has bought a stake 

1:23:41 - The pandemic ravaged the theatre industry, so a group of Fallout 76 players performed Macbeth live in-game 

1:29:56 - Back 4 Blood Review

1:52:02 - Games Out This Week

1:57:27 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Bright Memory Infinite

Amy & Moody discuss Activision Blizzard's latest response to its toxic work culture, Ubisoft's lack of response to their's and more.

Time Stamps:

0:00 - Intro

12:19 - Bobby Kotick asks for minimum salary as Activision addresses toxic culture 

23:56 - SOC Investment Group: Bobby Kotick paycut "falls short of lasting changes" 

33:14 - Ubisoft workers demand swifter action from leadership after Activision concedes to employee demands

40:20 - Activision Blizzard's attempt to halt lawsuit rejected

45:54 - Next year's BlizzConline on "pause" as Activision Blizzard looks to "reimagine" event 

53:42 - Let's talk about the Halo Infinite campaign trailer

1:09:37 - Uncharted creative director Amy Hennig is making a Marvel game

1:20:17 - Reacting to the reactions to last week's State of Play

1:28:27 - Nintendo Switch Online's N64 emulator is off to a rough start

1:38:38 - Trans dev who left Guardians of the Galaxy team praises Eidos for crediting her - and doing so correctly

1:41:39 - Behind The Frame Review

1:52:43 - Games Out This Week

2:02:00 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head - Forza Horizon 5