Vidjagame Apocalypse

Platinum Games is a studio known for extreme action and distinctive gameplay, so with Bayonetta and Vanquish out again as 10th Anniversary editions, let's take a look at some of the most unique gameplay hooks they've come up with, with help from Cicero Holmes of Rivals of Waterdeep. Then we'll briefly talk Maneater with Tripwire Interactive CEO John Gibson, get excited for Double Dragon & Kunio-Ku...

Today is Valentine's Day, so let's take a look at some of gaming's most iconic couples, with help from Larry Charles of Striking Distance Studios. We then take a close look at Dreams, Geoff Keighley's departure from E3, and your favorite Black videogame heroes.

In honor of Black History Month, TL Foster joins us this week for a celebration of five of our favorite Black videogame heroes, all of whom took the spotlight in their own games and helped redefine what their franchises could be. Then it's on to a look at The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics, a quick dip into GeForce Now, and your dark horse games of the decade.

It's finally time to reveal our picks for the greatest games of the past 10 years! And because we chose the list purely based on our personal preferences, dismissing silly ideas like "importance" or "cultural impact," we invited USGamer Editor in Chief Kat Bailey to lend some authenticity (and skepticism) to the proceedings before taking a look at your favorite games of the past 10 years.

Our march through the greatest games of the past 10 years continues this week, as Greg Moore rejoins us to run through five of Chris' personal picks ahead of next week's top 10. Then it's on to a look at Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Horizon: Zero Dawn PC rumors, and what E3 still means to you.

Our ongoing series on the greatest games of the 2010s continues! After covering five of Mikel's picks last week, this week's show focuses on five of Matt's nominees, with Jorge Albor of Experience Points along for the ride. Then it's on to Sony skipping E3, the Epic Games Store's success, and the games you're most looking forward to this year.

This isn't just our first show of the new year - it's our first show of a new decade! With that in mind, let's jump on the 2010s nostalgiawagon and count down our top 25 games of the previous decade, five games at a time. With TL Foster along to pass judgment, join us as we embark on a multi-episode series of Top 5s personally selected by each host (starting with Mikel's picks this week), eventual...

It's time for our seventh annual end-of-year show, in which we invite a rotating panel of guests to help us count down our top 10 games of the year! This year's show clocks in at just under 4 hours(!), and features appearances from Chris "Cbake" Baker, Carolyn Petit, Greg Moore, Steve Guntli, TL Foster, Leif Johnson, Kayla Zumbaum, and Jorge Albor! Join us, why don't you? Here's a quick cheat shee...

Who says 2D's dead? The year-end cavalcade continues as we take a look at five of our favorite retro-styled games to arrive this year, with help from Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski of Ultra 64! Then it's on to Wattam, news from the Game Awards, a new Xbox, and your favorite new characters of 2019.

2019 has been a great year for new and original games, and it's introduced a ton of new characters to the gaming canon. This week, Leif Johnson of MacWorld.com joins us to talk about five (OK, six [OK, seven]) new characters whose antics this year left us wanting to see more. Then it's on to MechWarrior 5, SuperMash, Nintendo Direct and Sony State of Play (we'll talk about the Game Awards next wee...

PlayStation turned 25 this week! To celebrate, we invited PNB Podcast's TL Foster and Kayla Zumbaum to join us for a dive into the past and a look at five much-loved PSOne exclusives that never made the jump to later generations. Then we'll take a quick look at Phoenix Point, get wistful about the return of Toys 'R' Us, and hear about the games you crowdfunded and loved.

Shenmue 3 is just the latest example of crowdfunding as a way to bring back series and genres long thought dead – or to create new ones. This week, Steve Guntli and Woody Ciskowski of Ultra 64 join us to look at five of the best games ever to be funded by crowds, after which we dip into Sniper: Ghost Warrior Contracts, take a closer look at Stadia and streaming in general, and find out which villa...

Prequels can be tricky. Fans already know what happens next, so if you wanted to tell the story of doomed heroes on an ill-fated mission, they might be able to guess how it ends before they even start playing. TL Foster of PNB Podcast joins us for a look at five games whose heroes you knew were fated to fail, after which we'll talk about Jedi: Fallen Order, Pokémon Sword and Shield, The Game Award...

This week, Jorge Albor of Experience Points Podcast returns as we take a look at five examples of a strange modern gaming trend: semi-interactive sequences that make you stagger, stumble, or crawl helplessly while dramatic things happen around you. We then take a deep dive into Death Stranding, breathe a sigh of relief at the Sonic movie redesign, and dig into your favorite oddball games. QUESTION...

Does Death Stranding really represent the arrival of a whole new game genre? To find out, we invited USGamer's Kat Bailey to tell us about the "strand" genre and to look back at five other games that defied any conventional genre definitions, becoming very much their own thing in the process. Then it's on to Death Stranding, Luigi's Mansion 3, BlizzCon news, and your favorite mundane stuff to do i...

This week straddles the line between October and November, between Halloween and harvest season - and so does our show, with a look at five games that combine elements of farming and horror. Then it's onward to Outer Worlds and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, PlayStation Vue winding down, and your favorite villains.

Our final show before Halloween sends off October by tackling no less an evil than Satan himself, as we look at five of our favorite games that let you go toe-to-toe with the Devil. Things then get relaxing as we visit Eastshade, get excited about SUDA and SWERY joining forces, and shiver at the scariest games you've ever played.

Zombie hordes are a dime a dozen; chances to actually join them, less so. This week, GameXplain/IGN alum Micah Seff rejoins us to talk about games where a hero's demise turns them into flesh-hungry cannibals (at which point other heroes usually have to put them down). Then it's on to Disco Elysium, Ninja Saviors, Fortnite (briefly) disappearing into a black hole, and your scariest carnival stories...

Once-beloved children's entertainers are blazing nightmare fuel in videogames, where white makeup and red noses are all but synonymous with sadism and murder. While this week's Laser Time explores evil clowns in wider pop-culture, we're drilling down to find five of the most terrifying clowns ever to menace gamers. Then it's on to Indivisible, PlayStation 5 news, and your creepiest arcade experien...

It's our first show of October, and tradition dictates spooky content. So join us in welcoming Podouken cohost Adam, who'll help us navigate through some of the most memorably fun horror-themed games ever to hit arcades. Then it's on to Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Shawn Layden leaving Sony, and the classic game series you'd like to see get FMV offshoots.

Whether you think of them as "full-motion video," "FMV," or "a regrettable trend in game design," cheesy interactive movies once seemed poised to take over the game industry - and with the help of MacWorld's Leif Johnson, we brave stilted dialogue (and our own audio issues) to revisit five fondly remembered FMV games from the distant '90s. Then we bite into Apple Arcade's games, get charmed by Lin...

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening makes its adorable comeback this week, so with the help of not one, but two towering guests - Chris Baker and Brett Elston - we dig into five of the best Zelda games that unfolded somewhere other than Hyrule. Then it's on to Borderlands 3, Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, Dread Nautical, and the videogame music you made up your own lyrics for.

The Dreamcast, Sega's beloved but doomed final console, just turned 20 this week! To celebrate, Heidi Kemps of gaming.moe joins us for a look at five games that made the best use of the VMU, Dreamcast's memory card/second screen/handheld device. Then it's on to River City Girls, Gears 5, Apple Arcade news, and the long-lost platform exclusives that you think deserve a second chance.

Everyone loves hippies! Right? Or at least enough to put a few of them in videogames. This week, PNB Podcast's TL Foster returns for a look at some of the ways games have depicted counterculture dropouts, after which we'll dig into Astral Chain, Blair Witch, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, and a slew of other new releases, along with a ton of Nintendo Direct news and the games you'd like to see in...

Being a Disney animator used to mean you were among the world's best creators of hand-drawn, 2D animation - an art form that's fallen out of favor in Hollywood. Luckily, there have been a few times that Disney alums have lent their considerable skills to making 2D games, and we'll dive into five of the best. After that, we snap back to modernity with Control, Knights and Bikes, the apparent resurr...