PC Gamer Chat Log

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie call in Harvey Randall to talk about all the many summer gaming showcases we watched this month. Along with our own PC Gaming Show there was the Xbox Games Showcase, a State of Play, and the Summer Game Fest too. What were we most excited to see and which games were no-shows this year?

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren called upon Robin Valentine to talk about the evolution of gaming slang. We've pulled together a new guide to all the gaming terms and trends you need to know, but where did some of these words even come from? And how did "instagib" become a thing anyway?

On this week's Chat Log podcast, Lauren and Mollie talk with Tyler Colp about the weird world of brand tie-ins and crossovers in gaming. Why is it always high fashion or energy drinks that get put into games and what even makes a decent brand tie-in event?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Ted Litchfield about the upcoming week of summer showcases in June. The early June period which was once E3 is now unnamed, but that hasn't stopped Summer Game Fest, Microsoft, Ubisoft, and other publishers from pulling together a big online video presentation in the style of ye olde E3 press conferences. What are we expecting to see revealed th...

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Morgan Park about the live service game fatigue we've been feeling. Why does every game need a battle pass and seasonal updates and limited time events? We used to really enjoy those things but now it's starting to feel like homework, isn't it?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Robin Valentine about games that seems stuck in "development hell." Which games have we been anticipating the longest without any concrete update? Which ones may come out the other side and which have fallen flat when the finally show up?

For our third and final roundtable from GDC 2024, we gathered together a special group of developers who each have more than 30 years of experience making PC games. Our guests: Jordan Mechner - Karateka, Prince of Persia, The Last Express Warren Spector - Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Deus Ex Charles Cecil - Broken Sword, Beneath a Steel Sky Khris Brown - Voice director & editor for LucasAr...

PC Gamer's RPG roundtable returns with a powerful panel of RPG experts to talk lovable and hateable companions, romance (and thirst), how you make a great intro to a massive game, and much more. Joining our panel this year: Swen Vincke, founder and director at Larian (Baldur's Gate 3) Carrie Patel, game director and senior narrative designer at Obsidian (Avowed) Sarah Gruemmer, acting lead quest d...

Global-editor-in-chief Evan Lahti leads the developers behind some of PC gaming's biggest hits in a discussion on the state of our hobby and the biggest trends, risks and opportunities in PC gaming today. Joining us:  Michael Douse - Director of Publishing, Larian (Baldur's Gate 3) Rebecca Ford - Creative Director, Warframe Eyrún Jónsdóttir - VP of Publishing at CCP (EVE Online) Casey Yano - Co-fo...

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Fallout-enjoyer Chris Livingston about the first season of Amazon's Fallout TV show. Was it rad? Did it succeed at adapting the vaults of the wasteland and selling us on new characters?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Tyler Colp about the games they should really get kicked out of their favorite genres for not playing yet. Which classic RPGs are the biggest holes in our back catalog and which lengthy story campaigns are just never getting completed? Shame aside though, maybe there are some games that aren't actually the must-plays people say.

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk about the PC games they remember from their childhood. Mollie hailed from the Learning Land while Lauren was an enjoyer of Humongus Entertainment, but did any of those favorite genres stick with us as adults? And did anyone ever discover The Sims any way other than a friend showing it to them?

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Fraser Brown about Dragon's Dogma 2 and all of our time with it so far. Fraser's already clocked over 100 hours adventuring with his pawn, Gorbo while Mollie and Lauren are just getting started. It's been a comedy of errors in weird quest designs, goofy pawns, and wacky combat, but we're all enjoying ourselves despite the critiques so far.

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Robin Valentine who recently undertook the arduous task of ranking lots of common game launchers. The result? Steam is still unbeatable, but why is that? Other broad launchers like the Epic Store and GOG have made improvements over the years and publisher launchers like the EA app have gotten overhauls too. Where are they still falling short in...

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Tyler Wilde about the traditional topic of debate for this decade: yellow paint on climbable ledges in games. Players say they're sick of it; developers say it's necessary for showing players the way. What do we say? Well, we're not above having our own little debate about it, that's for sure.

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Morgan Park about how it feels to actually get good at competitive games. Between Mollie's Tekken tournaments and Morgan's time as a ranked Rainbow Six Siege player, they have stories about how super sweaty matches can really change their relationship with a game. Is getting that good actually worth it?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Jacob Ridley about getting into the daunting custom keyboard scene. We've all seen the beautiful keyboards with pleasant ASMR clicking on our social feeds, but Jacob is going to tell us how to actually get started—hopefully without totally scaring us off.

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Harvey Randall about one of the most divisive topics: categorizing games. Sure, things are easy when we're just talking RPGs—unless it's ARPGs versus action RPGs. Don't even get us started on cRPGs. What about the Metroidvanias and the Roguelikes—and are Soulslikes a real genre too?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie quiz each other on games from the current PC Gamer Top 100 list with some Steam user reviews. Can we guess which top 100 game each review is referring to? Did either of us actually manage to memorize the list?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Chris Livingston about the ongoing Steam Next Fest. What demos are we playing this time and which ones are launching soon that you should have your eye on?

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with two time Steam Deck owner and reviewer Tyler Colp about how the portable PC is fitting into all of our gaming lives. Are we actually taking it out of the house or just sitting on the couch? Does streaming from our PC or putting it in docked mode actually feel worth it?

On this week's Chat Log podcast, Lauren and Mollie talk with Ted Litchfield about speedrunning. What makes it so fun to watch gamers go fast and how on earth do they actually figure this stuff out? And what are some of the coolest speedrunning tricks we've seen in action?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Harvey Randall about game tutorials. Who among us are the guilty tutorial skippers and who's suffering through those dozens of popups? And what kinds of tutorials do we actually like, anyway?

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie take a look at the year ahead in PC gaming. What are our way too early GOTY predictions and how about some personal gaming resolutions? This year's release calendar looks way different than 2023's did at the same point in the year so what are we really in for in 2024?

On this week's Chat Log, we're saying goodbye to 2023. Did we predict anything correctly about how this year of PC gaming would go? We may have gotten the game of the year wrong, but did we stick to any of our own goals?