The Midnight Release

Nintendo has been shaping the gaming world for generations, and its next chapter is just getting started. With the release of the Ocarina of Time remake, we're taking a look back at the games, characters, consoles, and memories that helped make Nintendo one of the most iconic names in gaming. We kick things off with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — revisiting the original 1998 classic,...

Some songs do more than fill the silence. They take us back to another time, reconnect us with people and places we've lost touch with, and bring feelings to the surface that we don't always know how to explain. In this episode of Midnight Reflections , Chase explores the connection between music, memory, nostalgia, and emotion. From the songs that make us feel invincible to the ones tha...

One year. 52+ episodes. Countless memories. We made it to the one-year mark of The Midnight Release , and before we hit the next chapter, we're taking a look back at the games, movies, shows, debates, and personal memories that got us here. From our first trip back to the glory days of GameStop to console wars, Saturday morning cartoons, LAN parties, trading cards, movie trilogies, Disney cla...

Remember when shopping was an event? When a trip to the mall could eat up an entire afternoon, browsing GameStop was half the fun, and finding something unexpected was part of the experience? This week on The Midnight Release , we're revisiting the golden age of the shopping trip. We're going back to the GameStop days of used games, trade-ins, preorders, midnight releases, Game Informer,...

Anime has gone from a niche interest to a worldwide pop culture phenomenon — and we're breaking down how it happened! This week on The Midnight Release , we're looking back at the modern anime boom, from early 2010s hits like Sword Art Online , Attack on Titan , and One-Punch Man to the explosion of My Hero Academia , Demon Slayer , and Jujutsu Kaisen . We'll explore the new wave of...

This week, we’re diving headfirst into one of gaming’s broadest — and most confusing — genres. We break down the difference between Action, Action-Adventure, Action RPGs, and RPGs with action elements, and ask the simplest question we can: Does what YOU do matter more, or does what YOUR CHARACTER can do matter more? From Mortal Kombat, Doom, Sonic, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, GoldenEye, Metal Gear...

For generations, Disney has been more than movies. It’s been songs, characters, video games, VHS tapes, toys, theme parks, and memories that somehow stick with us long after the credits roll. This week on The Midnight Release, Chase and Austin take a trip through the world of Disney and revisit the films that helped shape generations of fans. From Snow White, Cinderella, and The Jungle Book to the...

The Console Wars never really ended — they just got a whole lot more complicated. This week on The Midnight Release, Chase and Austin leave the nostalgia behind and look at the modern Console Wars . PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC gaming, handheld PCs, PlayStation Portal, and the ever-growing world of portable gaming all enter the battlefield. We break down what actually make...

Remember when the weekend actually felt like an event? Before smartphones, constant notifications, streaming, and social media followed us everywhere, weekends had a different kind of freedom. You disappeared for hours, met up with friends, wandered around town, played games until sunrise, and somehow always found something to do. In this episode of The Midnight Release , Chase and Austin take a m...

Dragon Ball didn't just become something we watched — for a lot of us, it became part of who we were. In this episode of The Midnight Release , we're going all in on Dragon Ball — from discovering Dragon Ball Z on Toonami and the legendary Bruce Faulconer soundtrack to fan websites, early internet culture, video games, card games, movies, and the memories that followed us into adulthood....

 From Opening Weekend to Opening Night — The Movies That Owned Our Summers. What made a summer movie feel like an event ? Before streaming, before movies could hit digital platforms weeks after theaters, there was something special about going to the theater in the summer. Trailers, posters, packed theaters, midnight premieres, opening weekends and the feeling that everyone was talking about the s...

The Midnight Release is back with another episode — and this time, we're downloading everything from D23 2026 in a surprise pivot episode with all this news! Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, Kingdom Hearts, Disney Parks and plenty more brought a ridiculous amount of announcements, trailers, reveals and surprises. Chase and Austin break down the biggest news from the weekend, including Frozen...

Midnight Reflections returns with a quieter conversation about something many of us are taught to hide: pain. Some of us become so good at pushing through, minimizing what hurts, and telling everyone “I’m fine” that we forget we don’t have to carry everything alone. This reflection is about resilience, vulnerability, fear, and the courage it takes to let the people who love us share a little of th...

The backlog never sleeps. There is always another game to play, another game on sale, another game we swear we're going to get to, and somehow another dozen games waiting around the corner. This week on The Midnight Release , we're putting nostalgia aside for a bit and taking a look at the ever-growing backlog—what we're currently playing, what we've finished, what we've b...

Some arguments never truly end. This week on Midnight Release, we're revisiting the legendary debates that defined our childhoods, school lunch tables, online forums, gaming communities, and friend groups. Whether it was Nintendo vs. Sega, PlayStation vs. Xbox, Dragon Ball vs. Naruto, Coke vs. Pepsi, or Cartoon Network vs. Nickelodeon, these were the discussions that somehow became life-or-de...

In this fourth installment of Midnight Reflections , Chase explores one of the most common pieces of life advice: "Collect memories, not things." It's a sentiment that many of us agree with. After all, family vacations, first concerts, late-night gaming sessions with friends, and unforgettable moments are often far more valuable than any object we could ever own. But what if the sto...

From VHS tapes and movie rental stores to midnight premieres and DVD special features, we're taking a trip back through the movies that helped shape an entire generation. This week on Midnight Release, we're talking about the films we grew up with—the action blockbusters, cult classics, comedies, dramas, and unforgettable theater experiences that defined our childhoods and early adulthoo...

Before YouTube walkthroughs, Reddit guides, and dataminers revealing everything on day one, gaming knowledge spread through playground rumors, handwritten notebooks, gaming magazines, and that one friend who claimed his cousin worked at Nintendo. This week on Midnight Release , we're diving into the golden age of cheat codes, hidden secrets, GameSharks, and gaming urban legends. From the lege...

What happens when you try to settle decades of arguments in a single episode? This week on The Midnight Release, we're putting everything on the table for our biggest debate yet. From gaming, movies, television, anime, and music, we're attempting the impossible: choosing the greatest of all time. What's the best console ever made? The greatest FPS? The most important game in history...

Some movies tell a great story. Others need three films to become legendary. This week on The Midnight Release , we're diving into some of the most iconic movie trilogies ever created—from Middle-earth and Gotham City to a galaxy far, far away. We revisit the films that defined generations, shaped pop culture, and gave us unforgettable characters, moments, and quotes that still hold up decade...

There was a time when a pocket full of quarters meant an entire afternoon of adventure. This week on The Midnight Release , we're stepping back into the golden age of arcades—from local favorites like Aladdin's Castle, Tek World, Skate World, and Robin's Roost to today's Dave & Buster's, Main Event, barcades, claw machine destinations, and modern entertainment centers....

For as long as I can remember, one number has quietly followed me through life: 724 . It has shown up on clocks, receipts, license plates, addresses, hotel rooms, random moments, and some of the biggest milestones I've ever experienced. Over the years, it stopped feeling like just another number and became something much more—a thread woven through memories, laughter, heartbreak, hope, and th...

There was something special about television before streaming. We didn't binge entire seasons in a weekend—we planned our week around them. This week on The Midnight Release , we're taking a nostalgic journey through the television shows that defined generations. From shows we watched with parents and grandparents like  Cheers , Knight Rider , and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to 24 , Smal...

Some memories aren't tied to major events. They're tied to the little things. The sounds, commercials, furniture, gadgets, and everyday experiences that quietly disappeared without anyone noticing. In this episode, we're revisiting the forgotten pieces of childhood and growing up in the 90s and early 2000s. From CRT televisions, TV Guide channels, dial-up internet, VHS rewinders, an...

Happy Father's Day. In this episode of Midnight Reflections, Chase looks back on growing up without a father figure to introduce him to gaming, movies, anime, music, and many of the hobbies that would eventually shape who he became. From discovering Nintendo with his Papaw and PlayStation with friends, to finding Dragon Ball, Metal Gear Solid, and countless other passions along the way, this...