Vidjagame Apocalypse

Mikel's gone, but the show must go on -- with an all-new third chair and maybe just a tad more soundboard! TL Foster joins Matt and Chris on a more permanent basis, and this all-new VGA triumvirate reboots the show with a very appropriate Top 5: Modern Reboots. Then we duke it out over the  Capcom Fighting Collection 2 , rip and tear into more DOOM: The Dark Ages , wax nostalgic about Retro Classi...

Mikel's farewell show kicks off with our most spoileriffic Top 5 EVER, focusing on games where the hero's death is an unavoidable part of the story - will you tough it out, or skip around with the spoiler-dodging timestamps we throw out before even speaking each entry's name? Once that's done, we'll get into more Doom: The Dark Ages, Revenge of the Savage Planet, Rift Riff, game-industry price-hik...

Inspired by "100 men vs. a gorilla" memes, this week's show sees Tony Wilson of Framework joining us for a Top 5 about games that put the might of an entire swarm at your disposal! We'll also get into Doom: The Dark Ages, Skin Deep, the new GTA 6 trailer, Xbox raising console and game prices, and "antiquated" styles of games that you'd like to see make a comeback. Question of the Week:  Following...

We've been to the "play as a villain" well a bunch of times, but this week's theatrical release of Thunderbolts inspired TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing to join us for a look at games that let you play as whole teams of characters who don't typically play well with others. We'll also get into Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a smattering of Switch and Switch 2 news, Epic's court win against Apple, a...

The long-rumored Oblivion remaster was revealed and released on the same day this week, inspiring us to invite merritt k and Anthony Abatte for a chat about five other games that surprise-released on the same day they were revealed. Then we'll get into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (of course), Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Nintendo maybe not having inventory to fulfill My Nintendo S...

Jay and Silent Bob recently arrived in Call of Duty as premium operator skins, but it's hardly the first time actors associated with Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films have starred in games. Dave Rudden joins us this week to talk about five of 'em, after which we'll talk more about Blue Prince, the Minecraft movie, Switch 2 letting Zelda players repair their weapons with a mobile app, and the m...

This is a big week for strange and cryptic games, and TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins to celebrate the release of South of Midnight with a look at five games that explore the supernatural and seamy sides of the American South. We'll also delve into Blue Prince and Promise Mascot Agency, complain about tariffs, speculate about Donkey Kong Bananza, and hear your thoughts about the Switch 2 r...

In this era of multiplatform releases and more-or-less standardized hardware, it can be easy to forget that great games didn't always stay great once they'd made their way to different consoles and computers. In fact, ports that were rushed, incomplete, or just plain lousy used to be common, and this week, we'll look at five of the most infamously bad ones. Then we'll talk about Atomfall, InZoi, a...

Plenty of games let you change your character's clothes, but in how many does it really matter, from a gameplay standpoint? At least five, which we'll talk about this week with model/stylist/game brand strategist and former journo Aiden Strawhun , who also knows how to talk about Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land way better than the rest of us. We'll also get into The...

Assassin's Creed Shadows is out, and we've got IGN's reviewer - friend of the show Jarrett Green - on to talk about Ubi's massive open-world shinobi-and-samurai adventure in feudal Japan! But first, we'll use this as an opportunity to talk about five other games made by western developers, but set in Japan. Once all that's done, we'll talk about the internet's reaction to Karl Urban's Johnny Cage,...

We just passed Mar10 Day this week, and that got us thinking about all the times console makers have thought, "Hey! What if WE had a cute, highly marketable face to sell OUR hardware?" We'll take a look at five of the least successful attempts at machine-exclusive mascots this week, after which we'll get into WWE 2k25 and Wanderstop, share updated thoughts on Monster Hunter Wilds and Suikoden I &...

Ever wonder why so few games include features like, say, Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system, or minigames you can play during loading events? It's because they are or were locked behind patents - and this week, Jesse "Street Cleaner" Bishop joins us to talk about five such features - as well as the launch of Street Cleaner 3. Then we'll get into Monster Hunter Wilds, Two Point Museum, Everhood 2, t...

Landing a celebrity to star in your game is usually a huge deal - but like a lot of things, celebrities can go bad over time, turning their games into weird cultural artifacts with unpleasant associations. This week, Anthony Abatte joins us to talk about five games with stars who probablly seemed like a great idea at the time, after which we'll get into Street Cleaner 3, Steam Next Fest, Monolith'...

With Avowed's launch casting a spotlight on Obsidian this week, we got to thinking about the studio's unique trajectory, and so  Trone Dowd — who reviewed Avowed for Inverse — joins us to talk about about studios who got nudged off series they created (for whatever reason), and used their ideas to make something new (but familiar). We'll also get into Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza Pirate in Hawaii,...

Mikel's away this week, so Matt and Chris (with accompanying soundboard) invited the  Welcome to the Thing crew to break format a bit with a top 5 that doesn't focus so much on games, but rather game distribution services, technologies, and platforms old and new -- the cable companies of games, if you will. After that, we talk about Civilization VII, more Rift of the Necrodancer, and break down al...

Hero-ing can be a thankless business (apart from all the improbable material rewards for rescuing hapless villagers or whatever), so it's uplifting when games try to show you've made a difference by bringing back all the friends you've made and people you've helped to support you in the final hour. TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins us to talk about five of our favorite such moments, after wh...

Sometimes it's really empowering to embody a pissed-off rage junkie, the kind of human chainsaw who can charge wildly into every confrontation and savagely batter everything in their path. This week,  Jesse Cox joins us for a look at five games that let you do exactly that. Then we'll get our hands bloody with Ninja Gaiden II Black and Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, discover Shady Part of Me, Virtua Fi...

Last week's release of Dynasty Warriors Origins inspired us to spend this episode looking at five of the best games to bear one of the industry's most-overused words in their titles (Origins, of course). Then we'll get into Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, reactions to the Switch 2 reveal, Marvel Snap getting temporarily swallowed by the TikTok ban, and the earliest games you remember adding to your...

Some release dates loom especially large in videogame history (mostly because they factored heavily into marketing), and this week Anthony Abatte joins us as our first guest of 2025 to talk about five of the most significant ones. Then we'll get into Dynasty Warriors Origins, Hyper Light Breaker, the DICE Awards nominees, and the gaming innovations you think are the most important,  Question of th...

The announcements at CES (and their heavy push toward AI) this week inspired us to resurrect the debate-format Top 5 to decide what the five most important technical innovations in gaming are. Did we get it right? Probably not, but you can tell us what we missed. Then we'll get into Sony's freshly announced slate of game adaptations, alleged Nintendo leaks, and the games you're most looking forwar...

We're a quarter of the way into the 21st century, and kicking off a new year of shows the way we always do: with a look ahead to the five announced games we're looking forward to the most. Then we'll get into January's PS+ games, how Riot measures Arcane's success, and your personal Games of the Year for 2024. Question of the Week:  What upcoming game are you most looking forward to in 2025? Break...

It's time for our last show of 2024 - and the end of our Games of Year countdown! This week, we'll get into our top 5 favorites with a roster of guests including Trone Dowd , Steve Guntli , Brendan Hesse , Kevin Erhard and Phil Keeling of  Pixel Lit , Emmett Watkins , Jorge Albor , and TL Foster ! Did your favorite game(s) make the cut? Listen and find out! Question of the Week: What's your person...

2024 is almost over, so it's time to begin our annual Games of the Year countdown - split into two parts, because there's a lot to talk about. This week, we've invited a rotating panel of guests including TL Foster, Steve Guntli , Greg Moore , Tony Wilson , and Anthony Abatte to discuss our favorites; check out entries 10 through 6 this week, and stay tuned for next week, when we'll resume the cou...

This year has been brimming with quality retreads, from brilliant remakes of classic games to remasters of games from just a few years ago, and before we start on our year-end GOTY countdown next week, TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins us to talk about five of our favorite remasters and remakes of 2024. We'll also talk a whole lot about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind with Dan Am...

We've officially entered the final weeks of 2024, which means we get to start on our year-end best lists and tell you about all the stuff we liked the most this year! Let's kick this off with Tony Wilson of Framework and a look at our five favorite DLC expansions, after which we'll talk about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, AntonBlast, PS5 getting 30th-anniversary themes, and your favorite spi...