The Press Start Podcast

There's plenty to unpack from this week's PlayStation State of Play including Concord and the newly announced Astro Bot. PS VR2 made a last minute pitch to pick up their flailing headset with a PC adapter, but it's too little too late as far we're concerned. Summer Game Fest may also be on the "quieter" side this year, and The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time might be on the horizon after all....

With the Summer Game Fest mere weeks away (and the leaks already leaking) we offer up our official SGF 2024 predictions. James has also reviewed Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and gone hands-on with Multiversus in a preview. 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Review 09:14 - Multiversus Hands-On Preview 17:03 - Summer Game Fest 2024 Predictions 50:31 - The Best FPS Games...

The long-awaited Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 is here, but how does the sequel to the critically acclaimed game stack up? Is it enough to turn around Xbox's misfortune and improve their slate of exclusives? We review the game and discuss Stellar Blade burgers, Nintendo's acquisition of Shiver Entertainment,  the potential imminent BioShock announcement, Toys For Bob teasing something new, and more! 0...

After a turmultous week at Xbox, the gang dissect Xbox's strategy and how they might do better by their studios and fans. They're not the only one amending their strategy though, with Square Enix moving away from exclusivity deals, and PlayStation appointing dual-CEOs. We discuss all this, Animal Well, Cryptmaster, the Rogue Prince of Persia delay, and more! 00:00 - Intro 00:51 - Animal Well First...

This past week: the Helldivers 2 community launched a crusade to reverse some questionable decision-making from PlayStation; Nintendo confirmed the Switch 2 will be unveiled this year; Batman Arkham Shadow, a new VR game for the Meta Quest 3 was announced; a cancelled Vicarious Visions produced Donkey Kong game was unearthed; and Resident Evil 9 rumours surfaced online. We discuss all this and mor...

Xbox has announced a Showcase for June as part of Summer Games Fest, which has replaced E3 as the key mid-year video game event. We speculate what we might see, chat about the upcoming Call of Duty 2024 game developed by Treyarch, weigh in on Square Enix cancelling $220M worth of games, and how the magnetic Joy-Cons might work on the Switch 2 if rumours are the be believed.  00:00 - Intro 03:53 -...

We share our thoughts on Stellar Blade, TopSpin 2K25 and No Rest For The Wicked. James is back from Japan and catches us up on his adventure, before we also discuss Embracer splitting into three, Atari bringing back the Infogrames publishing label, and the latest Assassin's Creed Hexe leaks. 00:00 - Intro  00:39 - Jame's Time In Japan 05:28 - Stellar Blade Review 16:32 - TopSpin 2K25 Review 19:21...

With speculation that EA's upcoming Black Panther game will be an open-world title after a job listing, we declare we're over them. Sometimes less is more. We weigh in on the Star Wars Outlaws controversy, review Harold Halibut, preview Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, discuss Fallout some more and more! 00:00 - Intro  00:31 - Harold Halibut Review 07:44 - Tales of Kenzera: ZAU Preview 09:43 - Fallout Playe...

Brodie's back on the show and binge-watched the whole of the new Fallout Prime Video TV series and is positively glowing about it. We're equally excited about the newly announced The Rogue Prince of Persia, and cautiously optimistic for Star Wars Outlaws based on the new trailer. It's a sad state of affairs for Dead Space though after the EA Motive were moved to work on Battlefield. We discuss all...

Rumours are that PlayStatation will host a big event next week. That's got us excited! So does speculation that Hollow Knight: Silksong may suddenly be imminent. We also discuss what games you should be playing right now, Tales of Kenzera: Zau coming to PlayStation Plus Extra and more! 00:00 - Intro 00:33 - What Should You be Playing Right Now? 09:09 - PlayStation Showcase Predictions 16:57 - Holl...

Trouble might be afoot at Rockstar is recent reports are an indication. Could it result in the delay of Grand Theft Auto VI? Should it be delayed, we'll have a couple of Marvel games to play, both of which look awesome! We discuss all this, Sony Bend potentially making a live service game, Keiron's impressions of Stellar Blade, and more! 00:00 - Intro 00:46 - GTA 6 Delayed 2026 07:50 - Marvel 1943...

It's an episode full of reviews, including our Dragon's Dogma 2 review, Princess Peach: Showtime, Rise of the Ronin and Alone in the Dark. We also touch on the rumours circulating around a PS5 Pro and PlayStation's upscaling tech. 00:00 - Intro 01:03 - Dragon's Dogma II Review 17:22 - Princess Peach: Showtime! Review 26:56 - Rise of the Ronin Review 38:56 - Alone in the Dark Review 49:50 - PS5 Pro...

We've played Team Ninja's latest, the PlayStation 5 exclusive Rise of the Rōnin. How does it stack up against other Team Ninja games, and the likes of Ghosts of Tsushima and Sekiro? We also weigh in on the Spider-Man multiplayer trailer leaks and ponder if Insomniac could make a good live-service title in line with PlayStation's evolving strategy. Summer Games Fest 2024 has also been confirmed to...

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League fell well short of expectations but WB is still committed to live service and mobile games. Are they crazy to double down? Or is there some truth that it's the best way to generate consistent return in games? Toys For Bob is also going independent, The Outlast Trials review is out, we've got a new trailer for Dune: Awakening and James has previewed Dragon's D...

Reports have emerged that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be released March 2025 after an internal delay. Can Nintendo wait that long given 2024 looks light on for new games? Details have also leaked around Assassin's Creed Infinity, and the PS VR2 is getting PCR support. We talk about all this and more! 00:00 - Intro 00:55 - Nintendo Switch 2 Delayed to March 2024 10:23 - PS VR2 Getting PC Support 19:...

Final Fantasy VII is here and is now the second-highest-rated Final Fantasy of all time. Does Harry (who wrote Press Start's Final Fantasy VII Rebirth Review) feel as positive about the game as the rest? We also unpack the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree gameplay trailer, all the announcements from the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase and discuss the list of Xbox games coming to PlayStation. 00:...

It's business as usual at Xbox... Or is it? We unpack everything discussed during Xbox's business update in the wake of numerous reports multiple Xbox games would be released on other platforms. James has also played Banished: Ghosts of New Eden and reviewed it more favourably than most. We find out why, and hear from Brodie on his review of the new metroidvania, Ultros. Apologies for Ewan's recor...

It's been a turbulent week for ol' Xbox as reports emerged that more Xbox 'exclusives' were destined for multi-platform release. Phil Spencer has announced a business update next week, but that is not going to stop up speculating what the heck Xbox are up to in light of this developing story. We've spent more time with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice league so are able to share our review of the g...

We delayed the show a litte this week to discuss the PlayStation State of Play that happened on Thursday morning. Whilst there was plenty of announcements, the latter half of 2024 looks quiet. We talk about all this, the surprise Silent Hill: The Short Message drop and the lukewarm reception to Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.  00:00 - Intro 01:03 - It's PlayStation Portal Day 04:19 - Steam...

The Xbox Developer Direct this week, but it's not just Indiana Jones: The Great Circle that's got people talking this week. Palworld has set the internet on fire with criticism that it copied Pokémon and speculation about its use of AI. We discuss the problematic nature of the survival game, everything announced at the Xbox Direct including Hellblade II and Avowed, and our review of The Last of Us...

The gang's back together in the new year, so we reflect on Press Start's official Top 10 Games of 2023, which caused quite a stir in the comments. We compare the final list against everyone's votes before getting into our gaming predictions for 2024. Will we finally see the Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 Pro released in 2024? 00:00 - Intro 00:53 - Brodie's Back! 01:27 - Prince of Persia: The...

After years of speculation, we believe 2024 will finally be the year Xbox games come to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, especially if recent reports are to be believed. We discuss this, Kieron's preview of Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Shannon's PlayStation Portal impressions and our most anticipated games of 2024 in the first episode of The Press Start Podcast for the year! 00:00 - Intro 00:...

After being the target of a hacker group earlier last week, the group behind the ransomware attack have published the stolen documents online revealing a tonne of information about Insomniac’s upcoming games. Naughty Dog has also revealed they were stopping development on The Last of Us Online and rumours around the PlayStation 5 Pro circulate again. We discuss this, the Death Stranding movie in t...

In the wake of The Game Awards, rumours start to swirl around the newly announced OD, a mysterious new cross-media project from Hideo Kojima with collaborator Jordan Peele. FNTASTIC, the developers of the troubled game The Day Before, has shut down after the game launched poorly and "failed financially." We react to this news and look back at our 2023 predictions, to see how many we got right. 00:...

The Game Awards 2023 had tonnes of game reveals and incredible games up for awards. We react to everything announced at The Game Awards and share our thoughts on whether the most deserving game won Game of the Year.  00:00 - Intro 00:59 - Overall Impressions 06:10 - All of The Game Awards 2023 Winner 19:05 - Everything Announced At The Game Awards 2023 29:56 - Outro The Press Start Podcast is Pres...