Between The Joysticks

I hope you are ready because we are back with another podcast that features a Jon rant about his favorite topic… Xbox Game Pass. Of course this is brought on because Microsoft’s year and a half long acquisition of Activision Blizzard appears to be reaching its conclusion. Nick has completed Final Fantasy XVI and reviews it. Finally we take a look at some news items with a new game announcement, a...

Jon and Nick talk about one of life’s biggest questions… do you play Smash Bros with items on or items off? A debate for the ages. We also take the time to update our Top 10 favorite PS5 games of all time with some huge changes to the list. Finally as fall begins to creep closer we look at 3 games that have started their push for why you should pick them over the myriad of games coming this fall....

We are back to battle Eikons, cast Firaga and ride Chocobos as a new Final Fantasy game is out and we have our early impressions of it. Annapurna won’t let the E3 season die as they too have a showcase with a few interesting titles sprinkled throughout. Also the FTC goes to court with Microsoft and Nick pulls some interesting quotes / reveals from it. Finally Jon brings another trivia game to tort...

Did we say “E3, not E3” was over? Nintendo enters the fray as they officially wrap up the showcase season and flesh out what the rest of the year looks like. Jon and Nick cover the showcase and what looks to be one of the busiest second half of the year in an already busy 2023 for video games. Nick has hit the streets in Street Fighter 6 and talks about it. Finally we talk about the new industry s...

We move into Year 2 of the podcast and what a week to kick it off! Xbox has a lot to prove in its showcase as it highlights the games that are coming and shows off Bethesda’s next big RPG, Starfield. Jon and Nick talk about the show as well as the highs and lows from the Xbox, Ubisoft & Capcom showcases. In a shocking twist, Jon has FINALLY completed Elden Ring and has become an Elden Lord! Yay! P...

We move on to the next showcase of the “E3, not E3”, Summer Game Fest. Join Nick and Jon as they review the showcase, talk about all the announcements and look into the future of the few “E3, not E3” showcases that are upcoming. We talk all about that Spider-Man 2 release date, Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth trailer and all of the new game announcements of the show. Thanks for listening! Intro: Summer G...

We finally got there. We bring our Top 10 Favorite Games of All Time and it takes a long time to get through but let me tell you, it's worth it. From there we preview the next big “Not-E3, E3 Event” from Geoff Keighley, Summer Game Fest. Finally we touch on the games we have been playing including a little known Zelda game that has been the hype of the internet, review Capcom’s RE4 Remake and give...

The Sony Showcase has arrived and it was underwhelming to say the least. Join Nick and Jon as they talk about the much anticipated showcase and give their thoughts on all the announcements and lack of announcements from the show. Thanks for listening! Intro: Jim Ryan, President and CEO of SIE 6 Things: - PlayStation Showcase Review - New Games from Haven / Bungie / Firewalk Studios - 3 Highlights...

I cannot believe it happened. We are getting the long awaited PlayStation Showcase. Are you screaming in joy? I know I am. Jon and Nick talk about the announcement as well as the next entry in the Mortal Kombat franchise which has a very interesting roster. We also get into our Top 20 favorite games of all time and touch on a few more news items of the week. Finally we have some exciting announcem...

The lead up to the rumored Sony Showcase is driving us crazy, but we take the time to talk about the last time PlayStation had a showcase all the way back in 2021. Sony 1st party studios are in the news as we mourn the loss of PixelOpus and celebrate 20 years of Guerrilla Games. Jon finds time to check out the indie title, Tunic and we talk about the 1st year of PlayStation Plus Extra games. If th...

This is your calling card. The Phantom Thieves are here to steal your heart! In this very special bonus episode we travel to Shujin Academy to discuss how a ragtag team of high school students and a talking cat lead to one of the greatest JRPG games of all time! If you have not played or completed Persona 5 there will be spoilers throughout the entire episode. Now let's form a contract and unlock...

Lightsabers and vampires lead us to our longest podcast yet! Redfall’s review score leads to a very candid and open interview with Xbox CEO Phil Spencer and Jon gets fired up. Nick joins Cal Kestis in the fight against the Empire in Star Wars: Jedi Survivor and reviews it. We continue even deeper into our top 50 games of all time and find time to discuss more Star Wars and discuss that rumored Son...

Where is that bonus podcast about Persona 5? We get to the bottom of it with a trial that will shake the very foundation of the podcast. In the ramp up to Episode 50 of the show we start talking about our favorite video games of all time. Finally we wrap up with some news items including a giant blow to Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard, some hot new trailers and May’s PlayStation Plus E...

If you suffer from pyrophobia, beware, as we have a lot of hot things to talk about. Nick has played through the entirety of Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores and reviews it, Sony acquires Firewalk Studios and Dhalsim shows up for a Street Fighter 6 showcase AND demo. Jon surprisingly brings the games by reviewing Neon White and shares his impressions on Vernal Edge. We also find time to talk...

Sony brings us yet another State of Play all about the upcoming JRPG juggernaut, Final Fantasy XVI. We talk about everything shown in the extensive 25 minute showcase. Jon has played the early moments of Resident Evil 4 and has some impressions before moving on to discussing the iconic merchant from the game. We also spend some time talking about our most anticipated games announced so far and tou...

We are back to talk about some out of left field ideas to fix the stagnant sales of PSVR2. Jon and Nick are sticking with their comfort foods and hanging out in Shujin Academy and The Lands Between but that does not stop us from talking about some juicy Sony handheld rumors and reminiscing about what made E3 so great. All this and much more in this week’s episode! Thanks for listening! Intro: Pers...

Beware there are a lot of corpses in this episode. Not only did Jon and Nick commit necromancy in the Diablo IV beta, Nick has killed a lot of Ganados in Resident Evil 4. Speaking of the dead, E3 is dead this year… again, but that won’t stop Geoff Keighley and every publisher from holding its own event. Finally MultiVersus is dying too and is being killed off just so it can be raised from the dead...

We are back and we are fighting dinosaurs, shadows and Elden Lord’s in this week’s episode. Jon and Nick have suited up in Exoprimal and have some impressions. We have a lot of news to chat about including Spider-Man’s release month, Horizon: Burning Shores details and Valves new game announcement. Finally since Nick is playing and loving the JRPG, Persona 5 Royal, we talk about some of our favori...

Long time no see! Hot off our bonus episode we are back to talking about video games. Jon has actually touched a video game! PRAISE THE SUN! Nick is just getting started with the 100 hour JRPG, Persona 5 and has some early impressions. HBO’s The Last of Us has ended but that does not stop us from theorizing about what comes next from Naughty Dog and what we think are some of the greatest video gam...

We are back with our bonus episode for March. In this episode we talk about a show we haven’t mentioned all year, HBO’s The Last of Us. You only experience it once and wow what an experience. We talk about the finale, discuss the entire first season and use our knowledge of The Last of Us Part 2 to predict the future of the show. Spoiler warnings are marked below. So much to talk about in this mon...

The Merchant (Capcom) brings its wares in a quick showcase to show off its upcoming games. Nick is buying it all as he has played Resident Evil 2, 3 and the demo for Resident Evil 4. Jon is umm… has not played a game in 10 days and we should be worried. We may have a future Jack Torrence on our hands. Hopefully talking about his favorite video game openings will cheer him up. We got all this, vide...

What!?!? A late podcast !?!? Due to Fimbulwinter causing a power outage we are slightly delayed but boy do we have a show for you because we did it! We solved how to tackle your backlog! Brilliant! We also have a lot of news and a Final Fantasy XVI preview to chat about. Finally we talk about HBO’s The Last of Us adapting the excellent DLC, Left Behind. All this and much more in this week’s episod...

Welcome to our first bonus episode! In this episode we take a relaxing scenic tour of the USG Ishimura. It would have been more enjoyable if not for the ship being full of necromorphs and that every system in the ship was failing. We talk about what we liked, what we didn’t like, and review the 2023 remake of this beloved space survival horror entry. Apologies for the poor audio! FULL SPOILER WARN...

It finally happened. Sony waited for PSVR2 to release to FINALLY have a State of Play. We talk about all of the announcements in the long awaited, incorrectly predicted showcase. Microsoft and Nintendo have become pals and we touch on that. Nick is exhausted from his time with Hogwarts and Jon heads into the bayou of Louisiana in Norco. Finally we recap another banger of an episode in the amazing...

We are a day late but boy do we have so much to talk about. Sony never did get around to that showcase but PSVR2 reviews are in. To make up for the lack of a showcase Sony piles on the games for the PlayStation Plus Extra games. Seriously… it is insane. We also cover another amazing, incredible episode of HBO’s The Last of Us. Finally if that was not enough, games are dropping left and right and w...