Bargain Bin Gaymers

Davey and Mitch

Bargain Bin Gaymers is the LGBTQ+ gaming podcast that looks after your wallet and your representation. Hosted by Davey and Mitch — two self-proclaimed gaymers from Melbourne, Australia — the show covers affordable video games, queer indie game developers, Nintendo and retro gaming, video game movies, and the latest news from across the LGBTQIA+ gaming community. Every episode, Davey and Mitch bring their honest, funny, and unapologetically queer perspective to: 🎮 Game reviews — from bargain bin finds to new releases worth your coin🎬 Video game movie reviews — is it cinema-worthy or a wait-for-streaming?🏳️‍🌈 Interviews with queer game developers, academics, and community figures🕹️ Retro gaming deep dives and nostalgia trips📰 Queer gaming news, pop culture, and community chatWhether you're a lifelong gaymer, an LGBTQ+ gamer looking for a community, or just someone who wants great game recommendations without breaking the bank, this is your show. New episodes drop twice a month. 🎙️ Find us everywhere: 🌐 Website: bargainbingaymer.com 💬 Discord: discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr ❤️ Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/bqn 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bargainbingaymers 🎮 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/bargainbingaymer Bargain Bin Gaymers is part of the BQN Podcast Network, produced by Double T Media

  1. Aug 2

    Nocturnals: Cacti Coast, Companions and Cannibals with Max and Pablo from Cowboy Toad Games

    Davey is flying solo at for a chat with two guests who are, frankly, serious gamer couple goals. Max and Pablo are Cowboy Toad Games, the boyfriend team behind 2024's Nocturnals, the game that kicked off this podcast's love affair with LGBTQIA+ developed games. They're back with the sequel, Nocturnals: Cacti Coast, currently in development for a 2027 release. Max returns for his second appearance on the show, and Pablo joins for the first time. In this episode: What it actually feels like to have your partner make a video game as a love letter to you, and why Pablo says the more valuable thing was the two of them landing their dream jobThe moment they realised Nocturnals was going to be a career and not just a passion projectThe new companion system: characters who travel with you, whose interests sometimes conflict, and who can be absent from your playthrough entirelyChoosing where to go, including the slaughterhouse, and why location choice makes each player's story their ownKeeping Ted grounded while adding stealth, because he's a scared young man and not James BondWriting characters who are so closely based on yourselves that a fan wiki lists Ted and Diego as a real couple living in CornwallMeeting Izzy, the bratty new companion voiced by Max's little sister, plus Randy and MariaThe lessons from the first game's spaghetti code, and how better organisation now means a dialogue change takes three seconds instead of a re-renderPlaytesting revelations, including the friend who kept walking straight into the cannibalsHow Pablo's soundtrack is evolving: real instruments, proper software, and recurring character motifs this time aroundWhy Cacti Coast is worth the wait to 2027, and what the extra time buys, including localisation, mobile done properly from the ground up, and Ted's journal systemThe relationship question: how do you run a business, ship a game and stay boyfriends? Areas of responsibility, honest expectations, and a hard stop at the end of the working dayPlay the original Nocturnals on Steam or mobile, and follow Cacti Coast development on the Cowboy Toad Games Discord. Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr Support the BQN Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn Support BBG directly on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers

    Nocturnals: Cacti Coast, Companions and Cannibals with Max and Pablo from Cowboy Toad Games
  2. Jul 27

    The State of LGBTQIA+ Gaming in 2026: Where Did All the Queer Characters Go? (feat. Dr Xavier Ho)

    Dr Xavier Ho returns for a second week running — same shirts, narrative continuity intact — for a proper conversation about where queer gaming actually sits in 2026. It's a topic week, not a yap week, and the topic is a big one. Mitch reckons he's simultaneously never been more represented and less represented. Davey has noticed the platforms, storefront features and Pride Month spotlights quietly disappearing. Xavier, fresh off six months of leave, has been playing nothing but indie games — and that's where all the queer stories are. In this episode: Where queer representation has gone: why the good stuff has been relegated to indies while AAA plays it safeThe "quiet chill" — Gayming Magazine's Robin Gray going from 20+ awards sponsors to four or five, and storefront Pride features vanishingShadow banning, age verification, and the itch.io/PayPal delisting that made queer adult content unsearchable and unsellableWhy the tabletop and TTRPG scene is thriving where digital is struggling — and how it got safer after 2013Discord's age verification problem for people who aren't outWhat good queer representation actually looks like: Mitch wants big, loud, memorable and unmissable; Xavier makes the case for slice-of-life (We Are OFK); Davey wants rebellionWhere to actually find queer gaming spaces in Melbourne right now — including ACMI's long-running women and non-binary game nightsThe funding problem: devs literally relocating interstate to qualify for different grants💬 Tell us what you think — join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr ❤️ Support the BQN Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn ☕ Support BBG directly on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers

    The State of LGBTQIA+ Gaming in 2026: Where Did All the Queer Characters Go? (feat. Dr Xavier Ho)
  3. Jul 20

    Let's Yap: Xbox Layoffs, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake & the Rise of Double-A Games (feat. Xavier Ho)

    Dr Xavier Ho from Monash University returns to Bargain Bin Gaymers, and it's Yap Week at the Bulldog — three gaymers squeezed onto one couch, one associate producer named May, and enough industry talk to power a small game studio. Davey, Mitch and Xavier get into the news that's actually mattering right now: Microsoft cutting 3,200 Xbox jobs and spinning off Compulsion Games, Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs. Is this the end of AAA as we know it — or the start of a proper double-A renaissance? In this episode:What everyone's been playing — Sunderfolk (Xavier's D&D-style party game), NieR: Automata (Mitch's philosophy homework), and Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake (Davey's current obsession)The Xbox reckoning — 3,200 jobs, four studios spun off, and whether Compulsion, Double Fine, Ninja Theory and Undead Labs are actually better off freeIs gaming heading for another crash? Davey brings up the 1983 E.T. moment and asks whether GTA 6 could be the harbingerThe double-A renaissance argument — why Gen Z doesn't care about photorealism and why the middle tier is where the best games are coming fromSony's tone-deaf social media moment — because reading the room is hardA packed Release Radar covering every game landing before end of July: Fading Echo, Tears of Metal, Avatar Legends, Disgaea Mayhem, Dino Blade (yes, a Souls-like where you're a Spinosaurus with a sword), Ronin, Splatoon Raiders, Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD, Halo Campaign Evolved, BloodRayne, Sextet, Mistfall Hunter, Truxton Extreme, and Xenoblade Chronicles XThe Bargain Watch List: Xavier flags the Non-Binary Coded Games Steam Fest (running now) and the "Figuring It Out" itch bundle of queer identity novellas and short stories🎧 Xavier is back next week for a deep dive on the state of LGBTQIA+ gaming — subscribe so you don't miss it. 💬 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr ❤️ Support the BQN Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn ☕ Support BBG directly on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers

    Let's Yap: Xbox Layoffs, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Remake & the Rise of Double-A Games (feat. Xavier Ho)
  4. Jul 13

    Star Fox 64 vs the Switch 2 Remake: Gen Z Plays Both, 29 Years Apart

    Mitch thought Fox McCloud was just a Smash Bros character. Time to fix that. Gen Z Plays is back: Davey sits Mitch on the couch (with Pike the dog supervising) and hands him an N64 controller to play Star Fox 64, the 1997 classic Australians knew as Lylat Wars. Then, for the ultimate glow-up comparison, they fire up the brand new Star Fox remake on Nintendo Switch 2. Same game. 29 years apart. In this episode:The Lylat Wars story: why Australia got a different name, how Star Fox 64 launched the Rumble Pak, and the sequel that was finished but never releasedMitch's honest verdict on the 1997 original: genuinely inventive branching-path design, "hideous" graphics, and villains who all sounded suspiciously fabulousRIP Falco, lost in the very first level (famously)Everything you need to know about the 2026 remake: Velan Studios' shot-for-shot glow-up with a new voice cast, real-time cinematics, orchestral score and 60fpsThe big debate: is $99.95 AUD fair for a shot-for-shot remake of a 29-year-old game? ($84.95 on the eShop, $89 at JB Hi-Fi)Slippy Toad voice discourse, hot Falco takes, and why remakes might be the smartest way to introduce a new generation to classic franchisesDavey's plea to Nintendo: give us a proper sequel, and remake Star Fox Adventures while you're at it🎥 Want to actually watch Mitch play? Full gameplay videos with his live reactions are exclusively on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn 💬 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr ☕ Support BBG directly on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers

    Star Fox 64 vs the Switch 2 Remake: Gen Z Plays Both, 29 Years Apart
  5. Jul 6

    Physical vs Digital: Sony Kills the Disc, GTA 6 Goes Code in a Box, and What You Actually Own

    Do you enjoy owning the things you pay for? Sony has other plans. This week Davey and Mitch dig into the biggest shake up gaming has seen in years: Sony announcing that physical disc production for all new PlayStation games ends from January 2028, GTA 6 launching in November with no disc at all (that pre order box you paid up to $159.95 AUD for contains a download code and a dream), and the PS3 and Vita digital storefronts closing in some markets from August 2026. The boys go full investigative journalism on the economics of it all: why pressing a disc costs cents, who actually pockets more when you buy digital, and why Sony has always hated the pre-owned market. Plus the environmental angle nobody agrees on, with one study saying discs are 100 times more carbon intensive and another saying the exact opposite, and the genuinely nuanced (drink!) conclusion that the greenest game you can buy is a second-hand disc from the very bargain bins this move is about to kill. Then it's a proper pros-and-cons showdown. True ownership, preservation and price competition versus instant access, convenience and the fact that digital distribution is the reason most queer indie games exist at all. The conversation gets real about deplatforming, payment processor pressure on Itch and Steam, and shadow banning of queer content, because when digital is the only copy, delisting can mean erasure. Also in this episode: Davey falls for The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (the cozy JRPG that screams $45 but costs $90), Mitch grabs NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition on Switch 2 for just $22 AUD, the Release Radar covers Moonlight Peaks, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Digimon Story Time Strangers, Echoes of Aincrad, Palworld 1.0, Ascend to Zero and Dtopia, and the Bargain Watchlist rounds up the Steam Summer Sale, PlayStation's July Savings and the eShop's shockingly cheap Final Fantasy VII deals. All prices in beautiful Australian dollarydoos. It's Dry July! Davey is raising money for cancer research. Donate here: https://www.dryjuly.com/users/david-willett Support the show and the BQN Network at patreon.com/bqn or shout us a coffee at ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers. Join the Discord: discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr

    Physical vs Digital: Sony Kills the Disc, GTA 6 Goes Code in a Box, and What You Actually Own
  6. Jun 9

    Gayming Awards 2026 Reaction + Let's Yap: Bond, Bleach & a Big Night for Queer Games

    Mitch is back from the moving boxes (now officially a Fitzroy/Collingwood gay) and reunited with Davey for a proper catch-up, a Summer Game Fest debrief, and a full reaction to the 2026 Gayming Awards. Fresh off last week's solo interview with Gayming founder Robin Gray, the boys react to the winners of queer gaming's biggest night, brought to you by World of Wonder, hosted by Erica Ishii and Drag Race favourite Dawn. In this episode: What we're playing: 007 First Light (Davey finished it in one weekend), Breath of the Wild on Switch 2, Lego Batman, and a surprisingly good Bleach gacha gameSummer Game Fest debrief: Final Fantasy VII, a Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake, Alien: Isolation 2, two new Cuphead games, Palworld 1.0 and a TMNT: The Last Ronin reveal from the Bayonetta teamGayming Awards 2026 reaction: Date Everything, South of Midnight, Trixie Mattel, Jennifer English, Dungeons & Drag Queens and moreWhy this year's awards are absolutely worth watching back, even now, you know who wonA Pride Month message: don't just repost, show upThe Release Radar (and a heated discussion about why Star Fox has a double chin)Now the ceremony has aired, head over to Gayming's socials for the full winners list and watch the show back at gaymingmag.com. 💬 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr ❤️ Support the BQN Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn ☕ Support BBG directly on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers

    Gayming Awards 2026 Reaction + Let's Yap: Bond, Bleach & a Big Night for Queer Games
5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Bargain Bin Gaymers is the LGBTQ+ gaming podcast that looks after your wallet and your representation. Hosted by Davey and Mitch — two self-proclaimed gaymers from Melbourne, Australia — the show covers affordable video games, queer indie game developers, Nintendo and retro gaming, video game movies, and the latest news from across the LGBTQIA+ gaming community. Every episode, Davey and Mitch bring their honest, funny, and unapologetically queer perspective to: 🎮 Game reviews — from bargain bin finds to new releases worth your coin🎬 Video game movie reviews — is it cinema-worthy or a wait-for-streaming?🏳️‍🌈 Interviews with queer game developers, academics, and community figures🕹️ Retro gaming deep dives and nostalgia trips📰 Queer gaming news, pop culture, and community chatWhether you're a lifelong gaymer, an LGBTQ+ gamer looking for a community, or just someone who wants great game recommendations without breaking the bank, this is your show. New episodes drop twice a month. 🎙️ Find us everywhere: 🌐 Website: bargainbingaymer.com 💬 Discord: discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr ❤️ Support us on Patreon: patreon.com/bqn 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@bargainbingaymers 🎮 Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/bargainbingaymer Bargain Bin Gaymers is part of the BQN Podcast Network, produced by Double T Media

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