YoVideogames!

This week we have a special guest on the show: Madfinger Games' PR and Comms Director - Rick Lagnese! Madfinger Games is currently developing Grayzone Warfare, an MMO FPS in early access, but has its beginnings in mobile games. You might think that is a huge leap, but there is a clear through-line from their earliest games to today. Developing and self publishing a AAA title is no easy feat and we...

Oh, okay Sony. I don't know why people are so hard to please these days, but this was a solid presentation. Went from one game on the horizon to now like half a dozen dropping just in September? Pragmata isn't dead? Romeo IS dead? Overall this is one of Sony's better state of play presentations - let's get into why!

It's that time of year where things slow down. The calm before the storm of summer announcements. E3 may be dead but the excitement of E3 week lives on. Unfortunately, it means this time of year - unless there is a major leak - is usually quiet. But that's okay because this episode we talk about areas of the world, mythologies and cultures that could come to prominence in gaming. With the US indus...

Subjectively, yes. There are games I would pay 80 for and not feel bad. Although one problem may be that you don't know until you own it and have played it - whether it is worth it. Profits in the game industry have never been higher, so why is Randy saying he needs the real fans to shell out 80 bucks for a game? What makes a game "high end" in his mind, and thus worth the extra money? The fact is...

Alright, who the hell knows what's coming for Summer GamesFest 2025. Microsoft has blown it's load so maybe we have a shocking Xbox Games Showcase in June, or maybe it is a dead zone. Sony has Ghost of Yotei and Marathon, but Marathon is in rough shape by many accounts. And Nintendo is going to do its own thing. What's that leave? Two hours of Death Stranding 2? We spend half the episode talking a...

1000xRESIST was a GOTY contender for Matt last year and by a twist of good luck we got to sit down with Remy Siu, the creative director, for the one year anniversary of release. With such a small team, Remy wore a lot of hats. He comes from a performing arts background, and during the COVID shutdown he found himself with the time to start learning Unity, and the prototype for 1000xRESIST was born....

This week saw the buying of Polygon (and subsequent layoffs), GiantBomb's implosion (and subsequent staff exodus) and in a bright spot Clair Obscur Expedition 33 released (it is great!) So, why is the industry seemingly cannibalizing itself at the height of its fortunes? Well, we've said it before: short term gains to entice investors. Alanah Pearce just did a deep dive video all about it. In her...

In this week's episode we wanted to keep it fun and light again. So, we talk about the true enemy of a good time: realism. Okay not always. Some realistic elements can really add to a game. Certain mechanics being realistic adds authenticity, or keeps a loop challenging and fresh. But when does realism go too far? Also in this episode: reasons Miami sucks. Reasons LA sucks. Matt finally played GTA...

There are already PS6 rumors gaining momentum. Does this further prove that PS5 has been sort of a dud? I don't know. And we aren't going into how true or possible this rumor is: just talking about what it would take to be a success. Plus, I share more YoVG deep lore. correction I misspeak about Marathon: I have only seen the official gameplay trailer and I say "when you watch the influencer/conte...

The Switch 2 was revealed a week ago and for a short time, a very short time, spirits were high. Since then, Nintendo has had to push back the pre-order date, take back the announced price, and do damage control on their planned variable pricing for games. The biggest culprit? Trade uncertainty as big ol' tariffs start hitting everywhere. But it turns out: the increased price was planned BEFORE ta...

I think the technical term for this is: a pickle. In a vacuum, Nintendo had an excellent direct. This is shaping up to be a wonderful launch. Especially if you consider players who will only own a Switch 2 - there is a host of excellent games coming to the Switch 2 within the first few months, to say nothing of excellent games in the first year! But this isn't a vacuum, so we have to address the e...

Nintendo's Switch 2 Direct is coming and all the rumors say it is going to be one hell of a show! We have special guest Stealth40k on to discuss what we know, rumors and hopes. Also, apologies for my audio quality on this one: Windows switched my mic to my webcam, and because we were recording when it happened - no pop up to let me know. So cool. Very good feature.

We've gotten plenty of things wrong over the years. It's rare to say it as content creators, but for another evergreen episode this week, we thought: lets talk about being hilariously wrong. We cover everything from anime we were wrong about to being wrong about one of the biggest games of all time. So, lube up your ears and let us guide you on a journey of a few of our favorite missed calls!

Comin' in with another breezy fun evergreen episode! Industry news is still sort of rough - although there is some cool rumors/leaks - and we wanted another fun episode. So, let's talk about game genres. We are going decade by decade from 1900 - 2000 and picking a genre, and making up a game that would best encapsulate that decade in our minds. We are mostly referencing the USA, because we are of...

Industry news is mostly sad atm and we decided we need a fun episode. A positive episode. We need to bring back the solid game. The 7 outta 10 - you're gonna have a good time, it's worth the money game. Maybe a hidden gem, maybe a game that we just need to admit got too much hate. Was I braver than Matt with my choices? Yes. Does that mean I am correct? Also, yes. I keep winning! Let us know your...

The hits keep coming to development teams everywhere. At least this time it can't be said to be a surprise... Well, at least not totally. WB "old yeller'd" 3 studios this week, including Monolith Productions. Which is surprising given that team's pedigree and the fact that it was working on a big budget Wonder Woman game. When we look closer at the Wonder Woman game, though, it seems it was still...

Look, if you have a game that fails spectacularly you can expect to be laid off. If your game explodes, and hits the top of the charts? Well, you can expect to be laid off then, too. It's only business. An increasingly volatile, confusing business. Marvel Rivals has been a massive success for Chinese publisher NetEase, and just as season two is about to release: they did the natural thing. They la...

Maybe my expectations were super low, but I thought this was a pretty good State of Play. Was it incredible? Face Melting? No. But there was something in there for everyone. And a couple things looked right up our alley. So, successful in my mind. What did you grade this State of Play?

Capcom had a pretty awesome spotlight. Granted - lots of stuff from last year, but announcing demos for a lot of them was very cool. Personally, I got the main thing I wanted which was more info about Onimusha. Plus we got more eyes on with Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (which I couldn't remember the name of because ya boy started running again and I made the mistake of doing it too close to record...

The recent Xbox Developer Direct was... Pretty dang good. Refreshing after several years of lackluster showings. Shortly after, Phil Spencer gave an interview that added fuel to this new fire. Xbox is committing to a new philosophy. Will Sony change things up too? Nintendo? Ok, probably not Nintendo; things are going well for them.

Nintendo has finally made an official announcement about the Switch 2. No real  information was included/confirmed but there were hints to where they are going. Additionally EA revealed a shortfall in sales with Veilguard. We discuss whether or not this puts Bioware in danger, but also whether their expectations would have caused a shortfall no matter what.

Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft, decided to address the rumors that Ubisoft is for sale. The buyout by Tencent failed, because the Guillemot family wanted to sell the company, but somehow retain control. Which, as you may already know, is insane. So Tencent apparently passed. But Yves says Ubisoft is not actually for sale. in his words, they are exploring: "various transformational strategic and ca...

Happy New Year! I hope you're spending this time with family, and friends - but if you have to work, I hope our sweet salty voices keep your ear holes good company. 2024 was a year full of lessons. Some good, some bad, but lessons nonetheless. And with those lessons we are going to try and pick out some trends for 2025 and beyond. Which is always fun because if we are right, cool, if we are wrong,...

Matt's calling this one the Blue Sky episode. Which is not a reference to the new social media platform - no it's a concept that Walt Disney loved to use when brainstorming ideas for his park: aim for the blue sky and we will worry about reality later. So we're doing that now, but with gaming hopes and dreams.

Suffice to say I was dead wrong about this years show. I was so confident it would be a nothing burger that I didn't even watch this year. I figured: if anything interesting is shown, I'll check it out later. Well, several interesting somethings were shown. Plus some surprises and oddities with the awards.