The podcast gang chat about the latest State of Play, the sheer disappointment of the Silent Hill 2 remake, becoming The Veilguard in Dragon Age, Crow Country, and more.

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:15:01 - Housekeeping

0:22:06 - State of Play thoughts

0:58:18 - Silent Hill 2 trailer :(

1:11:39 - pop quiz!

1:13:28 - Indie Game of the Week - Tiny Bookshop (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2133760/Tiny_Bookshop/)

1:16:33 - Dragon Age lives!

1:28:06 - Geoff Keighley hopes Nintendo will participate in Summer Game Fest one day

1:34:22 - Like A Dragon: Yakuza TV series coming to Prime later this year

1:43:34 - milkshaked

1:44:10 - Abubakar Salim addresses "fever pitch" of racism received after launch of Tales of Kenzera: Zau

1:55:15 - Crow Country Review

2:01:18 - Half-Life 1 & 2

2:09:46 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

Check out our Indie Game of the Week Steam curator page to see all of our previous selections: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7857031/

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

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

The podcast gang are here this week to talk about what they think we'll see, and what they want to see, out of the next couple of weeks of gaming showcases (note: this episode was recorded prior to the PlayStation State of Play and Silent Hill Transmission).

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:14:08 - Summer Game Fest Predictions

1:13:51 - Indie Game of the Week - Aikyam (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2363840/Aikyam/)

1:20:21 - Sony apologizes after completely botching interview with Naughty Dog boss Neil Druckmann

1:34:21 - ‘Last of Us’ Season 2 Casts Jeffrey Wright as Isaac, Reprising His Video Game Role

1:39:24 - Yakuza: Like A Dragon

1:45:36 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1:48:31 - Another Crab's Treasure

1:51:07 - Yu-Gi-Oh: Master Duel

1:54:44 - Assetto Corsa Competizione

1:59:37 - Gran Turismo 7 Update 1.48

2:02:06 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

Check out our Indie Game of the Week Steam curator page to see all of our previous selections: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7857031/

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

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

Vitz and Moody take over for the first section of this episode thanks to technical issues, and the very end of the podcast also basically falls apart. I'd apologise for that, but Discord is turning into a worse and worse product as time marches on.

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:06:00 - Call of Duty 2024 will launch into Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft has reportedly decided

0:17:46 - IGN Entertainment acquires Eurogamer, GI, VG247, Rock Paper Shotgun and more

0:27:49 - Ubisoft headcount declined by 1,700 on the path to its highest net bookings ever

0:36:40 - Indie Game of the Week - Until Then (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1574820/Until_Then/)

0:37:55 - Amy returns

0:39:24 - What games are we most looking to playing in 2024 and beyond?

1:49:07 - Paper Mario remake confirms companion is trans after references removed from original 2004 translation

1:52:50 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head (this is where Discord basically dies, feel free to stop watching/listening here)

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

Check out our Indie Game of the Week Steam curator page to see all of our previous selections: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7857031/

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

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:22:22 - Amy's Animal Well Review (spoiler free section)

0:31:25 - Animal Well SPOILERS START HERE

0:52:20 - The PS Plus category names are confusing

0:55:30 - Indie Game of the Week - Crowsworn (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1614330/Crowsworn/)

0:59:50 - Square Enix "aggressively pursuing" new multiplatform strategy after reports FF7 Rebirth underperformed on PlayStation

1:13:44 - Xbox’s Sea of Thieves was the best-selling digital PS5 game in Europe last month (AMY WAS RIGHT SUCK IT)

1:15:54 - PlayStation is replacing Jim Ryan with two CEOs

1:22:51 - Half of PlayStation's users aren't on PS5

1:28:58 - Is PC gaming the way?

1:37:44 - Former Deviation Games devs form new Sony studio

1:41:28 - Xbox president responds to studio closures as "commitment to make sure that the business is healthy for the long term"

1:59:39 - Pentiment and We Are OFK win Peabody Awards for Interactive & Immersive Entertainment

2:02:20 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

Check out our Indie Game of the Week Steam curator page to see all of our previous selections: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7857031/

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

Check out the Words About Games Diaries blog at wordsaboutgames.net

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:09:59 - Free Palestine

0:22:46 - Video games

0:24:02 - Housekeeping

0:26:45 - Todd Howard thinks Starfield was divisive because it was too different from past Bethesda games

0:37:00 - Xbox Series S parity is an anchor holding back games

0:42:24 - Amy pitches her version of the Indiana Jones game trailer for the Xbox Summer Showcase

0:45:18 - Good faith criticism is fun, but enjoy what you enjoy

0:47:52 - Activision Blizzard boosts Microsoft earnings, but Xbox console sales plummet

1:02:32 - Why does Call of Duty need a separate showcase this Summer?

1:05:41 - Indie Game of the Week - Beyond Galaxyland (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1543710/Beyond_Galaxyland/)

1:12:06 - ID@Xbox April 2024 thoughts

1:33:14 - EA Japan Exec Criticises Japanese Ratings Board For Allowing Stellar Blade Uncensored But Banning Dead Space

1:38:51 - Square Enix abandons £112m of in-development projects in an effort to improve quality

1:51:39 - GAME is selling a £200 Fallout TV show backpack

1:55:59 - Enemy Density, Player Frustration & World Building: A Dragon's Dogma 2 Subtweet

2:00:51 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

Check out our Indie Game of the Week Steam curator page to see all of our previous selections: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/7857031/

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

Check out the Words About Games Diaries blog at wordsaboutgames.net

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

Apologies for Moody's slideshow-like appearance, Discord decided to play a cruel trick on him this week I suppose

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:14:00 - We're raising money for Special Effect!

0:23:39 - Sony mulling Paramount buyout - reports

0:33:55 - Sony Says Stellar Blade Art Referencing Racist Language Was Unintentional, Will be Patched Out

0:44:21 - Bethesda remembers Starfield exists, promises more "soon"

0:55:59 - Indie Game of the Week - Sunset Hills (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1791590/Sunset_Hills/)

1:00:13 - Tribeca Game Festival line-up announced

1:06:14 - Dragon's Dogma 2

1:25:58 - Vitz Patel's Monthly Gran Turismo 7 Report

1:31:16 - Amy & Moody finished watching Fallout

1:37:16 - FALLOUT SPOILERS START HERE

1:58:19 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head Begins

Graphics & Intro by Vitz Patel

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

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

Check out the Words About Games Diaries blog at wordsaboutgames.net

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

We're raising money for Special Effect! Donate to help an awesome cause and help us hit milestones that will turn into awesome livestreams (and eventually awesome YouTube videos): https://justgiving.com/page/wagspecialeffect2024

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:17:24 - We are raising money for Special Effect!

0:20:24 - Former Blizzard boss reckons you should be able to tip developers 'another $10 or $20' on top of $70 games

0:33:34 - Our thoughts on the Fallout TV show

0:49:10 - Balatro

1:00:30 - Indie Game of the Week - Tiny Tires (https://store.steampowered.com/app/2433790/Tiny_Tires/)

1:04:22 - Keanu Reeves Joins ‘Sonic 3’ as Shadow

1:09:57 - Jabba isn't just in the season pass of Star Wars: Outlaws

1:17:08 - Maybe it's the "sales expectations" and "$70 games" that are the problems

1:23:06 - IGN are hiring a video producer, just after firing a video producer

1:29:01 - UK studio Kwalee is making layoffs to create room for new hires

1:32:35 - GTA 6, BioShock publisher Take-Two to lay off hundreds and cut projects

1:36:57 - Our Nintendo Indie World showcase thoughts

1:49:46 - The Walking Dead publisher crowdfunding big-budget Invincible game

1:57:37 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

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

Check out the Words About Games Diaries blog at wordsaboutgames.net

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel

Time Stamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:21:12 - Is Xbox Game Pass still worth the money?

0:54:01 - Should you even play games day one?

1:06:13 - Indie Game of the Week - Jump Ship (https://store.steampowered.com/app/1757300/Jump_Ship/)

1:10:01 - Why are younger generations embracing the retro game revival?

1:29:36 - Hidetaka Miyazaki's advice for challenging game design: 'Trust players'

1:37:31 - Capcom fans ask for new Dino Crisis and Mega Man games as sequel survey continues

1:44:01 - Why are we suddenly so obsessed with tracking player count numbers?

1:51:51 - Pokemon's $300 Venasaur Statue Uses Solar Beam To Light Up Your Room

1:53:45 - Stellar Blade Director Recommends Eve Wears As Much Clothing As Possible

2:03:01 - OpenCritic Head-To-Head

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

Check out the Words About Games Diaries blog at wordsaboutgames.net

Support our work on Ko-Fi - ko-fi.com/wordsaboutgames

Follow Amy Kate on Bluesky & Instagram @itsmeamykate

Follow Moody on Bluesky @dafyddmoody

Follow Vitz everywhere @VitzPatel