dia.log - The Gamer Matters Podcast

Recorded on February 10, 2023. In this episode of dia.log, Meck sets the record straight on Forspoken, Danial attempts to get a driving license, and Anan presents some thoughts on dying live service games. See us collect our thoughts on the state of the industry, articulating why a game can be not as bad as some tweets made it out to be (but still isn't that great) and the fascinating lessons you...

Recorded on January 27, 2023 On this episode of dia.log, Meck went maidenless in the Lands Between during his holiday trip in Elden Ring, Danial talks about a TV show that's video game-adjacent, and Anan played the heck out of the new Dead Space remake. We also take time to hit the beat in Hi-Fi Rush which came out of nowhere with barely a leak. Pump up the beats and let the good times roll, and j...

Recorded on January 13, 2023 The crew's back! Roll for initiative!  Meck and Danial partied up for a tabletop D&D campaign. Anan went to the Lands Between and finally played Elden Ring.  And for some reason, in the gang's train of thought are issues pertaining public transport.   Hop on the coach and take a ride to our next stop!

Recorded on December 20, 2022 This is it. Our annual tradition of discussing, debating and filibustering about video games at the end of each year. Listen to how we convene, convince and vouch for our favourite games of 2022. And call out the worst ones that were on our radar this year.

Recorded on December 17, 2022   It's the end of the year, and as usual, the crew at Gamer Malaya and Gamer Matters, all three or so of us, have gathered around to deliberate on our annual Game Of The Year Awards.   But to have that award deliberation, first, we must have the games. As usual, we have assembled a list of our favourite games of this year. The games that we spent the most ti...

How does time travel work again? Through the magic of editing, the crew had to go to two different timelines to talk about all the games they wanted before 2022 wraps up. With mixed results.  Meck raves on Marvel's Midnight Suns, Danial raves on Need For Speed Unbound. Wait, no one's taking on The Callisto Protocol?  Anyway, there's also now-old but was in-season-then talks on World Cup...

Recorded on November 12, 2022  In this episode of dia.log, Meck went on a long journey in God Of War Ragnarok, Danial discovers the wonders of anime Time Crisis by way of Nikke - Goddess Of Victory, and Anan discovers his tweethandle isn't as obscure anymore and some advice on how to spend on your ten cents.  We also lament the death of Project CARS and recapped the hellish work that was...

Recorded on October 28, 2022 This time on dia.log, Danial committed a warcrime in a video game, Anan goes to another universe and the only thing Meck ranted on and on this time is for a new Sims game because he was busy playing another game that he can't talk on this episode. Stay tuned for that on the next one.  For now, let's cheer on for chainsaw parries and wince at tactical drone strikes...

Recorded on 13 October 2022 In this episode of dia.log, Anan is knee-deep in Death Stranding, Danial builds a house in The Sims, and the crew has (sort of) caught up with Meck and played Deathloop. And that's not the only story about death. We mourn/mock the death of Stadia and its many faults. And that's not the only story about an EA game. Why does Need For Speed Unbound looks good and promising...

dia.log episode 119, recorded on September 29, 2022 Avast, me hearties! The crew has a map this episode of all the destinations we will be visiting: Rainbow Island, Pittsburg and Monke y Island.    Meck explained how Slime Rancher 2 avoids all the raunchy references and is 100% wholesome, Danial is, to no surprise, playing Fallout 76, and Anan discovers the video game equivalent of a Dom...

dia.log episode 117, recorded on September 2, 2022   It's been a long month the last month, so the Gamer Matters crew winds down for a coffee talk about Coffee Talk. Then they head out on foot on their next delivery while Low Roar is playing. Then head for real and venture into AniManGaki 2022 now that cons (as in conventions) are back in season.    Yes, for the third time, the crew...

dia.log episode 116, recorded on August 20, 2022   So let me get this straight. Meck became w i d e , Danial is dancing with dragons, and Anan went to post-apocalypse Disneyland? Or was it Disney World? From spreading the gospel of 21:9 to glorifying Southeast Asian shamanism over British wizardry, the crew went on wild tangents you'll need a calculator to find the total angle of side-trackin...

dia.log episode 115, recorded on August 5, 2022 What did the start of August 2022 have in store for the Gamer Matters crew? Well, a lot. Meck build villages in Sweet Transit and Farthest Frontier and found ways how to mess them up. Danial wax lyrical on the final days of GTA Online, and the whole gang got to play by far our favourite locally-sourced kaiju game (by way of being the only one to fit...

dia.log episode #114, recorded on 24 July, 2022. In this episode of dia.log, Meck bought an air purifier that magically can play games (but at what cost?), Danial is teaching the kids to go Viking, and Anan has thoroughly been washing virtual lands in Powerwash Simulator. The crew also pronounce "Sword Art Online" differently, and had a long talk about why is James Cameron making another new movie...

dia.log Episode 113, recorded on 8 July 2022 Here lies Stanley, confused about why the dia.log feed hasn't been updated for a month. But suddenly, the door he's been staring in a month is opened and he can now see what's inside. Inside. No Stanley, not that door. Stanley, Stanley, please.  In this long-delayed episode of dia.log, Danial presses the skip button in The Stanley Parable Ultra Del...

In this rendition of dia.log, Meck fell into Fall Guys again, Danial fell into submission in games of Smash and... Mahjong? And the crew found out why the uncles and aunties that play Mahjong like Match-3 puzzle games. The crew also spit out other big epiphanies, like how Overwatch 2 is just a big update. And maybe we should let developers branch out and make games that they want to make? Brace yo...

It's June! Well, it's not June anymore by the time this is posted but the crew at Gamer Matters have been diligently working and playing to bring you video games coverage.   Anan took a tour in northwestern France in Sniper Elite 5, Danial survived the horrors of the summer horror movie/game The Quarry, while a low-energy Meck finds paying off debt doing a blue-collar job in space fun, becaus...

It's another episode of dia.log. The crew launched a new segment on the show talking about games that are on PC Game Pass right now: the Game Pass Game Club. We're starting it off with a possible sleeper hit, the narrative RPG Citizen Sleeper.   We also have a rant on why being a vampire in the World Of Darkness sucks (thanks to Meck playing through Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong) and how...

Selamat Hari Raya! The dia.log crew has just recovered from the unexpected (but totally possible) early Eid celebration here in Malaysia, and we celebrated in varying levels of cursed-ness.   Meck hasn't changed his talking points from the last episode and somehow still has stuff to say, Danial embraced the most popular game in the country, and Anan is very enthusiastic about spreadsheets. &n...

Due to understandable circumstances that remain undisclosed, the latest episode of dia.log has now arrived almost a week later.  Meck has been playing games about outer space and inner space, Danial brings up this year's F1 game's new mode, and Anan brings up more PC Game Pass talk, now that it's here.  Also, we spend a good deal of time remembering how long Gamer Matters have been in th...

The crew's backlog games have massively grown overnight thanks to PC Game Pass making its way officially in more Southeast Asia countries. Meck got his hands on Tunic and Weird West. Danial owns way too many Cyberpunk 2077 copies. And Anan is here.  We also weighed in our thoughts on the new rent-a-game-backlog monthly game subscriptions that will be available in the form of PC Game Pass and...

Roll for initiative babay! Meck got his hands on Tiny Tina's Wonderlands, Danial roped us in a wild goose chase about games with the letters "the" in the title. And Anan's here reminding us of the state of the country's economy, this time via coffee pricing.   After gushing so much about Gran Turismo 7 last episode, we have to talk about its awful bits after everybody and their mother knows h...

In this episode of dia.log, Meck conquers the Nürburgringand becomes the Nürburg Lord, Danial is buying games for the price of a couple of Big Macs (or a Subway sub if you're into that), and Anan got a new phone.   The crew dives deep into what they thought of the much-anticipated Gran Turismo 7 and all its quirks and features, share more thoughts on the state of open-world game design and br...

In this episode of dia.log, we welcome back friend-of-the-site Tohka Aryani and share with the crew his exploits on local league racing. Danial is outstation and reports in the state of Cyberpunk 2077, and Meck has confused a British nu-metal band with Guerrilla's open-world cyber-tribal RPG. We delve deep into the next instalment of Aloy and the Magical Airpod: Horizon Forbidden West. There's a l...

Video games! The crew at Gamer Matters are playing a lot of video games right now to keep up with the February deluge of new video game releases. Meck reports back on how there are two indie games with a slick art style, good button presses and quite a difficulty curve in the form of OlliOlli World and Sifu. Danial is now into K-shooters as he tries out the now-free-to-play PUBG Battlegrounds and...