The VGBees Podcast

This week, Niki joins (for about half an hour) from the Fandom Chamber of Audio Recording in San Francisco to help John find a Lexus LS 400 he can buy. They're joined by special guest Tim Rogers , who helped the crew rethink their camera and monitor setups. Whatever notes John had for the show...don't worry about it. Instead, Tim and John spent 2.5 hours discussing: Yasuke being cool as hell in As...

This week, Niki and John are joined by Polygon's Patrick Gill, who goes deep on why Monster Hunter Wilds is so good, his most recent video guide on the game, and which weapons Niki and John should used based on their chosen professional wrestling style. Good stuff. Also: The fucking Strains are at it again Scopely buys Niantic's gaming wing for $3.5b Saudi fund inks 3-year deal with Capcom for Str...

This week, Niki and John are joined by former Fanbyte colleague and current PC Gamer writer Andrea Shearon! We had to ask our resident Final Fantasy XIV expert about Yoshi-P leaving the Square-Enix Board of Directors and about the future of the company. Also: Sega is the best-reviewed publisher of 2024 Sega is releasing fewer games but doubling down on big franchises Monster Hunter Wilds has a mas...

This week, Niki and John are joined by bestie of the show Michael Higham to discuss cooking habits, the games we're playing, and the news of the week, including: the secret to great homemade ranch the Pokémon Presents Pokémon Legends: Z-A Pokémon Champions Warner Bros. closing Monolith and canceling Wonder Woman CEOs and their marketing strategies Bossa Games' CEO's weird LinkedIn post Avowed Sout...

This week, John and Niki are joined by the one and only Merritt K, one of the brilliant minds behind Fledgling Manor . The show starts, of course, with the most important news of the week: how much the Nintendo Tip Line cost per minute. Also: NetEase laying off the Seattle Marvel Rivals team Microsoft's new Muse generative AI initiative Niantic in talks to be purchased by Scopely for $3.5b Hades I...

This week, John asks Niki all about Split Fiction , the follow-up to award-winning It Takes Two . It is another one of those, for better or worse (mostly better). They also dive way, way, way into the big changes coming to Overwatch 2 . What are they? Do they matter? Where did this franchise lose its way? Also: Sony's State of Play Saros Tides of Annihilation Shinobi: Art of Vengeance Darwin's Par...

This week, John and Niki discuss what it would take to get them to attend the new ESA-fronted conference called iicon starting next April in Las Vegas. It's like GDC but worse, somehow. Also: Metal Gear Solid Delta gets a release date Grand Theft Auto 6 confirmed for fall 2025 timeline on new Nvidia cards coming back in stock Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Virtua Fi...

The entire sports world was shocked when 5-time All-NBA 1st Teamer and 25 year old megastar Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for a Randy's donut and some unpaid parking tickets. Okay maybe it's not quite that bad, but it's really, really, really close. Your local basketball experts and fans of both teams in question, John and Niki, break down what you need to know about why the tra...

This week, Niki and John dive into the news that BioWare is downsizing and outsourcing part of Mass Effect 5 's development. More than that, it strikes our hosts that maybe the series should go away if it means saving the jobs of the remaining employees tasked with such a burden. Anyway, it's a good discussion about a complicated problem. Also: the Video Game History Foundation's excellent new dig...

This week, Niki and John take in the most recent Xbox Direct showcase and dive into each game discussed, including: Ninja Gaiden 4 South of Midnight Expedition 33 Doom: The Dark Ages They also discuss the cancelation of Celeste follow-up Earthblade and the blog post announcing it. In addition, the news that EA is disappointed in the sales of both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports FC 25 is ex...

This week, Niki and John discuss the biggest story in games. That's right, it's the MegaByte Nation Gaming Expo from Los Angeles, CA! What are Game Hogs up to? What does a UMD of old Family Guy episodes cost? Oh also we discuss the official announcement of Nintendo Switch 2, including: form factor changes Joy-Cons are also mice? guesses about the new Mario Kart speculation on release date and much...

This week, Niki is laying low to escape the horrible fires facing Los Angeles. John runs solo, discussing the games news of the week, including: Nintendo Switch 2 rumors the delay of Assassin's Creed Shadows Tencent's designation as a military organization the new LEGO Game Boy We also answer your HIVE QUESTIONS and discuss John's fleet of emulation devices. Here are some links for donations/cause...

This week, Niki and John both shake off their respective Holiday illnesses to come together for the first episode of 2025! They reflect on what they might have missed in 2024, including: Mouthwashing 1000xResist Metaphor: ReFantazio The Rise of the Golden Idol Also, what would the first episode of the new year be without predictions for games to play in 2025: Death Stranding 2: On the Beach FBC: F...

It is that time of year! VGBees has awarded its official (well John and Niki's) Games of the Year 2024! We had two overlaps, so we cover eight total games and wow we had a blast revisiting the year's very best games. Not to spoil the surprise (stop reading if you don't want to know), but in alphabetical order we discuss: Astro Bot Balatro Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Content Warning Crow Country Indi...

Niki and John go through a whirlwind of big games news this week, including the revelation that Woody Johnson is steering New York Jets personnel decisions with advice from his sons, Brick and Jack, derived from Madden 25 player stats. Also: the Charlotte Hornets Grinch a PS5 away from a child Sony invests big in Kadokawa (FromSoftware's parent company) the Switch 2 is called Switch 2 (probably) A...

This week, Niki worked an entire human day within the span of two human days to work Gamespot/Giant Bomb's TGA coverage and lived (thrived!) to tell about it. John asks burning questions like "what was the deal with those long sandwiches Dan Ryckert was giving to people?" Then, they get into the meat of The Game Awards 2024, including: The Witcher 4 Elden Ring Nightreign Virtua Fighter Onimusha: W...

HARK! An early holiday gift from VGBees is upon us! We have reunited Nerium, Natalie Flores, and Michael Higham to unpack Dragon Age: The Veilguard in the style of acclaimed former Fanbyte podcast 99 Potions. Did we like it? Who are our favorite companions? Did Solas live up to the villain hype? If you like this bonus, know that in the future, we'll be putting big fancy bonus episodes like this be...

This week, Niki calls in from the cartoon construction zone that is their house this week. That didn't stop Niki and John from talking about this week's video game news, including: Ubisoft studio closures XDefiant 's shutdown Elden Ring follow-up not in development the forbidden conversations we're hearing during Call of Duty matches We also talk about the stuff we're playing AND we answer so so s...

It's a Thanksgiving Week miracle! Niki and John recorded a podcast early in the week so they could take the rest of the week off! Wow! What foresight! Sure, there's some video game talk, but Niki also introduces the podcast to Car From Japan , the most important website of all time. Need a short truck? Need an old Lexus LS 400? This site has you covered. Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS...

This week, Niki presents John with a long dissection of Days Gone , not even remotely a new video game. Still, it is welcome information which it is a game both of them missed when it came out five years ago. Did you know the main character's name is Deacon St. John? Now you do! Also: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 YIIK: A Postmodern RPG Star Wars Battlefront Battle...

This week, Niki is back and with them comes the revelation that Xbox has gone and found itself an official breakfast partner. That's right IHOP is the official breakfast partner of Xbox and Niki and John are going to bring you all the crucial details right here on this very podcast. In less vital news: Nintendo's desired damages from Pocket Pair Everything is Xbox (according to Phil Spencer) Balat...

This week, Niki is on vacation and John is left to his own devices. After planning a 99 Potions reunion to discuss Dragon Age: The Veilguard , the Election happened! Between the emotional fallout from that and other scheduling issues, we're delaying that for a couple weeks. So yeah! It's John, talking to you, dear listener, about video games. But also...the Election. If you're bummed about it and...

This week, Niki and John explore the world of Champions Tactics: Grimoria Chornicles , an Ubisoft-published video game that wants you to shell out a preposterous amount of money on NFTs. Can you image a better time to be launching a game like this? Wow! Also, the dynamic duo discuss: the closure of Firewalk Studios the new Pokemon pack-opening game the Nintendo Music app Call of Duty: Black Ops 6...

This week, Niki and John could not for the life of them remember the names of the peak Covid Call of Duty games, so they leaned into it for content. Gotta find inspiration where you can these days. Frank Underwood also makes his return the show! VGBees only does big guests. Also: Hades 2 new updates Balatro Dave the Diver UFO 50 Halo 2 John enlists Niki to help him buy a new TV, which just depress...

On this weeks' show, Niki and John go DEEP on the new NBA 2K25 DLC Gravity Ball . What does it mean for the franchise, its audience, and new players? Hope you like 50 minutes of exploring all of that! But that's not all! There was a big third party partner Xbox Showcase that was actually pretty good, including: Alan Wake II: The Lake House FBC Firebreak Blindfire Cronos: The New Dawn Like a Dragon...