Red Barrel Report

On the eve of Matt’s trip to Japan, Mike and Matt take on AI and what it might mean for the games industry (spoiler: much of it probably not great) as well as discussing good and not so good TV.

Mike and Matt talk some more about FF VII Remake (Matt's finished it now), for the first time about Over the Hill, and for the eleventeenth time about the Division 2. Then it's on to the sad news about BioWare (and the other 350 jobs lost at EA). We finish with rants and raves about the new Resident Evil movie (spoiler: it's great), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (spoiler: it&ap...

Mike and Matt dig into Control Resonant, FFVII Remake (and the real Seventh Heaven) and Sony's move to extend the PS5 lifecycle with QSSR.  We finish with some heartfelt praise for all the complainers out there, along with rants and raves on James Bond, Man City and the Steam Deck. Enjoy! 

Mike and Matt discuss Star Wars Zero Company and Control; Netflix's gaming strategy; Xbox doing a (Metal Gear?) solid for Hideo Kojima; and among other things, The Bee Gees and Neil Diamond (!?)

Mike and Matt play The Division 2, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and Danganronpa. They also discuss their favourite games from Gamescom and the elephant in the room that is GTA VI. And they're impressed (and a little surprised) that Xbox is starting to get some things right. Enjoy!

Mike and Matt discuss quite a few games, including the new/old Halo (good buy or goodbye?), Splatoon Raiders, Denshattack and The Mound: Omen of Cthulu. They then move on to review some good and not so good financial results from Sony, Microsoft and Capcom. They end with rants and raves about Keigo Higashino, the SuperStation One, good and cheap audio gear, and why some videogame companies are not...

Mike and Matt survey the steaming pile of wreckage that is the game industry in 2026. Please note that we recorded this after the leaks of the Microsoft job cuts but before the official announcements.  We also both thought that the new Star Fox game was really quite good.

Things are a bit different this week but we manage to talk about First Light and Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, and why games are expensive. And, as per usual, we rant and rave. 

Mike and Matt talk about many things, including Mixtape and Pragmata; financial and pricing updates from the Big 3; and Kurosawa, Legends (TV series) and more!

In which Mike and Matt ponder how much more can be charged for a games console; discuss what the Epic layoffs might mean for the industry; and give their views on Paper Mario, Yotei, Project Hail Mary, PS5 controllers and more!

Mike and Matt discuss a busy week of news and gaming, kicking off with Microsoft's Helix project, before moving on to Yotei and Pokopia, and then giving a call out to Konami's SNES classic The Legend of the Mystical Ninja ...

In which Mike and Matt consider Phil Spencer’s legacy, discuss Xbox Helix and give at least one person’s considered opinion on Marathon 

Mike and Matt look afresh at Firewatch, celebrate the achievements of Sega's Hideki Sato and discuss possible next-gen delays

Mike and Matt discuss what Lego and videogames might have in common; prices and console lifecycles; whether VR is over; and what 2026 might have in store for gamers.

Mike and Matt discuss the big stories of the year, from GTA delays, to Bungie, to harsh commercial realities. They also look at the year's games, and their piles of shame ...

0:00 Mizuguchi! 11:00 Ubisoft’s financials  16:28 Japanese hardware sales 19:15 What we’ve been playing/Recommendations

Mike and Matt look at the GabeCube announcement, a welcome console price war (if only in Japan) and wonder what's going on at Ubisoft

Mike and Matt talk about Keeper, Double Fine's latest release; Nintendo's and Sony's financials; and what they've been playing, watching, and reading. Enjoy!

FIRST the Saudis buy EA THEN Ghost of Yotei is here! AND Xbox price increases PLUS what we've been playing FINALLY our recommendations

Mike and Matt talk about Donkey Kong Bananza; payment processors and why they care about video games; and what they have been playing and watching. Enjoy!

RBR Episode 6 In which Matt and Mike talk Microsoft's strategy, the video game industry's business culture, whether games are too long and we learn about Matt's visit to the Nintendo museum

Mike and Matt look at the after and before of the Switch 2 launch, while also considering Death Stranding, and where next for video game auteurs (and MGS)

You know what they say, if you're not writing a story someone doesn't want written, you're doing PR. 

Matt and Mike return with more thoughts on the topics that matter: AA games, Nintendo Switch 2 and how tariffs might affect videogame prices. 

Matt and Mike get into game pricing, who's growing the market and whether consoles are toys (Nintendo), consumer electronics (Sony) or software publishing platforms (Microsoft).