Gamers Week Podcast Gamers Week Podcast

The 2024 finalists for the Strong Museum's Video Game Hall of Fame have been announced, highlighting another selection of influential titles from across multiple eras. This week, we're taking a break from the doom and gloom of recent video game headlines to play Keep It or Kill It with the 40 games that have been voted into the Hall of Fame since inductions began in 2015.

We'll also be talking about how Sony has stopped producing PSVR2 amid a “surplus” of unsold units, how Epic Games' Fortnite will now allow creators to build and profit from their own "official" Lego Islands games, and how LinkedIn is planning to add gaming to its platform.

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Hosts: donniegretro, retrogamebrews, wrytersview
Opening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Patron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretro
Closing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli Takanen
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Shockingly, Nintendo has decided that it likes having a $1.3 billion grossing movie and would like another. On Mar10 Day, Shigeru Miyamoto graced the internet with the announcement that the company is hard at work on a sequel to the wildly successful Super Mario Bros. movie. But that wasn't the only news we got last week about video game film adaptations, and we're joined by Ben Magnet of the Basement Arcade Pause Menu Podcast to look at a roundup of movie headlines.

We'll also be talking about how Circana's Mat Piscatella has called GTA 6  the most important thing "to ever release in the industry, so no pressure," how Hasbro says Baldur's Gate 3 is "just the first of several new video games" to come, and how former CEO of Activision Blizzard Bobby Kotick is apparently interested in buying TikTok as a new bill in the US threatens to either ban the app or force its sale.

Finally, class is in session with Professor Ryebread in our Gaming History 101 segment. This week, we're looking at Street Fighter: The Movie, the game.

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- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub
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Hosts: retrogamebrews, wrytersview, BenMagnet27
Opening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Patron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretro
Closing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli Takanen


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For the last several months, it seems like video game news has been little more than a layoff-of-the-week carousel. With a fairly bleak release schedule ahead, upcoming projects getting canceled left and right, and the industry as a whole barely recognizable from the pandemic booms just a few years ago, it's worth asking... are we on the brink of another video game crash? Spoiler: No, but we discuss the reasons it seems that way and what we think may be happening instead.

We'll also be talking about how the developer of the Switch emulator Yuzu will pay $2.4 million to settle with Nintendo a mere week after news of the lawsuit broke, how Rooster Teeth (the company behind the popular Halo parody Red vs. Blue) is shutting down after 21 years, and how the Alan Wake 2 composer "violated one piano with adult toys" to create the horror game's nightmarish soundtrack.

Finally, Donnie takes us all the way back to March 1996 in Retro Rewind.

We love our sponsors! Please help us support those who support us!
- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub
- Connect with CafeBTW at linktr.ee/cafebtw
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Hosts: wrytersview, donniegretro, retrogamebrews
Opening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Patron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretro
Closing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli Takanen
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Lay Off Fest 2K24 continues as Sony announced on Tuesday it will be laying off 8% of PlayStation employees around the world, or 900 people. The layoffs will affect even major PlayStation studios (such as Naughty Dog, Insomniac, Guerilla Games, etc.) that are home to some of the company's most successful IP, like The Last of Us, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Horizon Zero Dawn, and more. We're joined by SanityCrypto of It's Virtually A Podcast to discuss the state of the industry, what the heck is happening at Sony, and how games released five or so years from now will be affected by the mass layoffs in the gaming industry in 2023 and 2024.

We'll also be talking about how Nintendo has filed a lawsuit against Switch emulator Yuzu alleging that the software had helped enable the illegal downloading of one million copies of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and how indie podcast network Realm has appointed Peter Levin to its board of advisors to help them adapt video game IPs into podcasts.

Finally, class is in session in our Gaming History 101 segment. This week, we're looking at the Tomb Raider theme park ride.

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We love our sponsors! Please help us support those who support us!
- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub
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Hosts: donniegretro, wrytersview, SanityCrypto
Opening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Patron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretro
Closing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli Takanen
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With PlayStation's recent announcement that it won't have any new entries in its major first party IP this year and Xbox's big "business update" being little more than a meeting that should have been an email, it's time to admit it -- the console wars just aren't what they used to be. In fact, it seems like both Sony and Microsoft have different ambitions altogether. We're joined by RedAuxPDX and Ducks in Disguise of Pixel Pond production company to talk about the future of consoles, console wars, and whatever the next big technological jump may be.

We'll also be talking about the new trailer for the Borderlands movie adaptation, how Respawn is developing a first-person Star Wars Mandalorian game, and how the 1997 cult film Starship Troopers is getting a new lease on life thanks to the popularity of Helldivers 2.

Finally, class is in session in our Gaming History 101 segment. This week, we're looking at the Nokia N-Gage.

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We love our sponsors! Please help us support those who support us!
- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub
- Connect with CafeBTW at linktr.ee/cafebtw
- Visit A Gamer Looks At 40 at linktr.ee/agamerlooksat40

Hosts: wrytersview, donniegretro, redauxpdx, ducksindisguise
Opening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Patron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretro
Closing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli Takanen


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A new report is shedding light on just how much EA invested in its single-player FPS Immortals of Aveum, which received mixed reviews and was deemed a financial flop, resulting in about 45% of the studio's workforce being laid off shortly after release. The studio's CEO blames the packed release schedule of 2023 that put Immortals of Aveum up against behemoths like Diablo 4, Tears of the Kingdom, and Baldur's Gate 3. But developers who actually worked on the game are telling a different story. We're joined by Bill Tucker, host of A Gamer Looks At 40 Podcast, to discuss the reasons why Immortals of Aveum may have failed, as well as what it might mean for the future of AAA games.

We'll also be talking about the new study that shows more gamers than ever are identifying as LGBTQ, how the developers behind the upcoming and long-awaited Silent Hill 2 remake are blaming Konami for the game's poorly received combat trailer, and how gaming's least famous but most recognizable voice has broken cover to chat PEGI 18 and his €200 paycheck.

Finally, class is in session in our Gaming History 101 segment. This week, we're looking at defunct retail chains that sold video games despite not being gaming-focused stores.

We love our sponsors! Please help us support those who support us!
- Check out the Retro Game Club Podcast at linktr.ee/retrogameclub
- Connect with CafeBTW at linktr.ee/cafebtw
- Visit A Gamer Looks At 40 at linktr.ee/agamerlooksat40

Hosts: donniegretro, wrytersview, agamerlooksat40
Opening theme: "Gamers Week Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Patron theme: "Chiptune Boss" by donniegretro
Closing theme: "Gamers Week Full-Length Theme" by Akseli Takanen
Support the show