YoVideogames!

Oh shiiii-- Did you see this coming? Did you know we were gonna try and explain one of the most dense and convoluted games entailing 25 years of writing and rewriting?

Yes! Yes? Oh.

Well okay, I guess it's no surprise. We've wanted to do this for a bit, but now...

We begin our tale with ancient history. The discovery of The Conduit. An impossible machine, long buried on earth, and with its discovery the birth of a utopia... Or so it seems.

To celebrate American Independence Day, we're doing a fun one this week: just chatting about the American games industry over the years. We also find out that I know maybe more about Rollerblading than any of us ever knew (even me).

We're back! I moved across the country and had to catch up on Nintendo's presentation, so what's the verdict? To me: pretty good. Maybe even great really. I swing back and forth on it. Matt likes it too, though he points out that clearly Nintendo isn't "firing on all cylinders".

What does this mean for the back half of 2024? While not a banner year, it looks like 2024 will be far from the desert I feared it would be... Well, except for Sony.

While we wait on Nintendo's upcoming Direct - let's talk about the rest of showcase season. Did Xbox pull off a victory? Did Sony make a strategic decision to hold back their biggest announcements? Did Ubisoft show they still make big games besides Assassin's Creed? I was able to attend the Xbox Games Showcase in person and Matt was able to attend Summer Games Fest in person. And that let us form an opinion about whether they better in person than in a direct?

Keighley tempered some hopes this past Sunday, saying this years Games Fest was going to be smaller. Personally, I think it took some balls to say it outright, rather than trick people into expecting huge news. Though that does beg the question - if he is tempering expectations: just how little will be announced?

Also we talk about expectations for Xbox, namely that they had better melt some faces because they have burned every tiny bit of goodwill anyone has left for them right down to the nub.

So, is Summer Games Fest 2024 going to be a bummer? Will Xbox make me trip over my own erection in excitement? Does hentai actually have good story or are we all just lying to ourselves?

Only one way to find out.

Sony kept its promise and held their State of Play on the very last day of the month they said it would happen. That can't possibly mean anything. For some, there were delightful surprises. Let's talk about those...

We gather here today to celebrate and mourn beloved IP dead and gone. Maybe to return (probably not though, who are we kidding).

Is the cost/benefit of cross over marketing worth it? Are these hit shows, movies, book series etc leading to more game sales? Are they expanding the brand value?

I would argue that that isn't their purpose, or at least not the main purpose. Let's talk about why!

Plenty of industry news this past week and little of it good. Each of the big three had there own storm to weather. With Nintendo holding off investors, Sony fighting an army it created, and just this morning Microsoft announcing further studio cuts - there are storms ahead for each.

Remember that time we said E3 is dead and it seemed we were nuts? Granted we called it a little early, but still... Well... Sure looks like exclusivity is heading that way too.