Day One Patch Podcast - The Finest Gaming Podcast

In this week's Gaming Fun Fact, we explore the world of the very first commercially available arcade game - Computer Space. Computer Space was a precursor to Pong, being shipped in an arcade cabinet that looked like something straight out of Star Trek. Computer Space sold over 1000 units and was controlled entirely by buttons (no joystick) where a player would control a ship trying to take down hostile flying saucers.

Microsoft has announced an E3-like Xbox Games Showcase coming in hot this summer on June 9, 2024. Game announcements will include games from Xbox Game Studios, Activision Blizzard, and Bethesda. We also got a look at a graphic that was intentionally redacted, but looks very much like Call of Duty (maybe Call of Duty: Gulf War).

Redfall, the vampire game with quirky characters, a horrible launch, and an apparently terrible update schedule has started to concern some players that purchased the $100 Bite Back Edition of the game. As of recording, the last update for Redfall was approximately 6 months ago, with no reveal or date set for the release of the expensive edition's included DLC.

Square Enix is re-evaluating how it approaches games, being more selective about which games to develop. Unfortunately, this comes at a great cost to the tune of $140 million dollars and several cancelled gaming projects.

Xbox is entering the VR space by partnering with Meta to create a limited-edition Meta Quest headset bundle - this news comes to us as apart of Meta's recent announcement that they will be powering third-party headset makers such as Lenovo and Asus.

Fallout fever has gone and got us down! The Prime Video show has ignited a flurry of Fallout popularity resulting in Fallout 76 hitting one million players in a single day and a surge of players on Fallout 3, 4, New Vegas, and Shelter. Even we've been playing Fallout 76 again in anticipation of the new update that's already in the PTS!

The much anticipated Fallout 4 next-gen update has finally come out...and in typical Bethesda style has been suffering from a collection of issues. On PS5 some users can't even claim a free copy if they own it via PS Plus (a bug that is being addressed for PS Extra and (maybe) PS Plus Collection owners), Xbox users are having issues with the update's capabilities only having a 60fps mode with no 4k resolution...and PC users are having a myriad of random issues including missing textures and some guns firing stop signs instead of projectiles.

Sarah Bond has confirmed through emails to her staff that Xbox has created a dedicated game preservation team that is working to ensure our digital libraries will be accessible on as many future consoles as possible.

As also confirmed in Sarah's emails, Xbox is working on a next-gen console that promises to be a massive technological leap. We offer our insights and speculation as to what the future of Xbox hardware looks like.

The Fallout series has premiered this past week on Prime Video, some have heralded it as one of the best video game adaptations to-date...while others are plagued by holes that they've found in the lore. We explore the first and second episodes, offering our opinions and thoughts on the series we've seen so far.

Video Game Fun Fact: This week's fun fact revolves around Fallout 3's iconic handheld nuclear launching device - the Fat Man. As ridiculous as it sounds, the Fat Man's design was inspired by a real cold war era weapon called the M-388 Davy Crokett Tactical Nuclear Recoilless Rifle that was put into service in two models including the M28 (light) and M29 (heavy).

We also discussed the recent news out of Apple regarding it's take on emulators on the App Store. Previously, emulators were banned from the App Store causing users to look to workarounds, or Android devices. But now Apple has loosened up these rules, opening up the App Store to emulators provided that all laws are followed in their distribution.

Despite the long silence from the KOTOR remake, it is apparently alive and well according to the Saber Interactive CEO himself.

Then in the Query Corner Question, we discuss the current gaming landscape and our obsession with re-releases of old games. Should old games be brought onto modern platforms for game preservation? What about remasters and remakes of the same games time and time again?

Video Game Fun Fact: During the development of 2003's Call of Duty, its codename was "MOH killer" or "Medal of Honor killer" as the series was going after EA's acclaimed WWII shooter series. Much like Medal of Honor at the time, the Call of Duty campaign was originally going to follow a sort of James Bond-like character taking on hundreds of soldiers solo. To avoid being too similar to Medal of Honor and the Wolfenstein series, they changed the campaign into what became a series staple - three distinct campaigns covering different allied factions including the US, British, and Russians through key WWII battles and events. This multiple perspective campaign appeared in several Call of Duty games over the years including Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3, Call of Duty: Finest Hour, and more.

With GTA6 close (we hope) to release, tech experts are saying to not expect it to run at 60fps on PS5 - even if a PS5 Pro model does get released.

Phil Spencer is interested in having more game launcher offerings on the Xbox console, a move that could see the likes of the Epic Games Store and Steam find their way onto the Xbox Series X | S. We discussed how we think the competition may react and how third-party launchers may look on a platform that is currently designed around selling games from the Microsoft Store.

After a recent trip, Phil Spencer offers his feedback on using his Lenovo Legion Go while travelling - offering us insight into what he'd like to see from portable gaming (ie seamless cross-saves, Xbox dashboard on-the-go). With the console market not growing past ~100 million units for the "generation winner" will Xbox be making a handheld to grow its sales and help fulfill Phil Spencer's vision of gaming on the go?

Video game fun fact of the week: Mercenaries 2 held a promotion shortly before it launched where it offered free gas in north London and LA for a day. The promotion transformed the gas stations with Mercenaries 2 themed posters and paid actors playing the part of the mercenaries. Unfortunately, the promotion went off the rails a bit in London as it caused gridlock and an overall public disturbance so severe that the promo had to be cut short around 4 hours into it.

Dragon's Dogma 2 has been released to rave reviews from those that are enjoying the gameplay...however, many are flocking to Steam to express their dislike of the newly discovered microtransactions in the game.

PSVR 2 has reportedly paused it's production in order to clear out some inventory. The virtual reality headset that is designed as a very expensive accessory for the PS5 console is seemingly not selling as well as expected - does this spell doom for VR on PS5?

Larian isn't planning on making any Baldur's Gate 3 DLC/Expansions and also isn't working on Baldur's Gate 4 as the studio looks to make something entirely different than Dungeons & Dragons.

PS5 Pro seems early...but also right on time? With the difficulty in grabbing a PS5 in the year following its launch, man gamers may feel as though it's too early for there to already be an upgrade to the PlayStation 5. However, it appears that this pro model is not only in production, but also coming as soon as the holiday season 2024.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection was a much anticipated launch by Aspyr, bringing the classic first two Battlefront games back into the modern gaming sphere with new maps and large online battles. However, its recent launch has resulted in disaster following several server errors, connectivity issues, and bugs.

The Suicide Squad game has been anything but successful, with many gamers blaming its focus on games-as-a-service instead of deep storytelling as we've grown to expect from the game's developer, Rocksteady. Unfortunately the allure of potential profits are keeping WB in on games-as-a-service as the studio will be doubling down on its live service offerings.

Xbox has confirmed the games that are coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch with release dates including: Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush, Grounded, and Sea of Thieves.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree gameplay trailer and release date was just revealed, giving us an insights into what the highly anticipated DLC is story-wise and how big the new section of the map is.

PSVR2 is being tested on the PC with the functionality expected to be released later in 2024.

Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection is coming bundling both the first Battlefront (2004) and Battlefront 2 (2005). This collection supports a bundle of bonus maps and 64-player online multiplayer battles.

This week the Official Xbox Podcast hosted a business update to address a series of rumors and speculation that has been spreading like wildfire through the internet surrounding Xbox's future console business, exclusive games, and releases on third-party platforms (ie PlayStation). Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty lay out all the details we could have asked for and more about the future of Xbox and their approach to games and consoles moving into the future.

Join us as we discuss these updates and more from a temporary recording setup.

Rumor and speculation surrounding Xbox's new unannounced business plans has stirred up a flurry of articles and videos online. It seems likely that Xbox is planning on releasing some of their most famous games on PlayStation 5 for the first time, including big hitters like Starfield and Sea of Thieves.

Furthermore, some believe that a move like this will inevitably be apart of a plan to discontinue Xbox consoles altogether, followed by big Xbox names like Phil Spencer leaving the company. The Xbox division has recently seen a 49% revenue increase following the Activision-Blizzard acquisition, an indication that software alone can drive enough revenue to possibly drop hardware.

Is Xbox exiting the console market? Will PlayStation be left as the only standing mainline console, other than Nintendo - a company that is largely seen as being in it's own market and not in direct competition to Sony or Microsoft?

PlayStation's January 2024 State of Play was this week announcing and showing off a collection of upcoming games including:

• Stellar Blade
• Death Stranding 2
• Rise of the Ronin
• Until Dawn Remaster
• and more...

The PS Vita was and is loved by a dedicated fan base keeping their handhelds alive over a decade after their first release. Even though the Vita was released in 2011, there has been no sign of a Sony/PlayStation handheld beyond the remote play centric PlayStation Portal that recently released in late 2023. Recently, however, there appears to be a leak that states that a new PlayStation handheld centered around playing full blown console games is in early development - with at least 2 years of work left before it sees the light of day. Could this be the Steam Deck competitor console gamers have been waiting for?

Pong and Atari are known for being pioneers of the video game industry, but they weren't the first. This week we discussed some of these early video games including Tennis for Two and the Magnavox Odyssey.

Apple has finally opened the App Store up for video game streaming services. Previously, apps like Xbox Game Pass were blocked by the App Stores' policies because each and every video game included in the Game Pass collection would need to be Apple approved. This red tape has now been removed, opening the door for Game Pass, GeForce Now, and other services.

Microsoft has cancelled a new Blizzard survival game that was in development after 6 years of development, alongside a flurry of layoffs that resulted in 1900 people being let go (8% of the gaming division's staff).

Xbox Developer Direct 2024 showed off a collection of great looking games including Bethesda and Machine Games' Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Avowed, Visions of Mana, and Ara History Untold.

Ubisoft director says gamers will et more comfortable not owning games with subscription services like Game Pass and Ubisoft+ finding success in the market.

Nvidia will release new GPUs this month including the RTX 4070 Super, RTX 4070 Ti Super, and RTX 4080.

Samsung TVs are getting a new controller for the Samsung Gaming Hub. Unlike existing compatible controllers, the new Samsung controllers are able to control the power and volume of the TV.

HBO has hired Kaitlyn Dever to be Abby in the upcoming The Last of Us season 2.

Ubisoft has signed up for Nvidia's AI-generated video character tool called ACE (Nvidia Avatar Cloud Engine).

Happy 2024! It's our first episode of the year and coincidentally is releasing exactly 11 years since our first episode launched.

This week we'll be discussing MSI's new Steam Deck competitor called The Claw - it should give us a good look at mobile PC gaming on the Intel side of things.

Switch 2 speculations are always floating around, but this time some former Nintendo employees offer up their insight into what the next Nintendo console may look like.

Xbox released a fridge not that long ago and now they're back at it with an Xbox toaster available from Walmart (in select regions).

Then for the Query Corner Question: How bad should a bug be to warrant a delay?

The sequel to 2019's Gears 5 could soon be revealed after an alleged tease by one of the level designers potentially working on the project. Is Gears of War 6 coming in 2024?

E3, the annual "Christmas for gamers" has officially be cancelled indefinitely. The show has recently struggled to get back on its feet after being cancelled due to COVID in 2020, returning in 2021 as a digital-only event, and then once again being cancelled for 2022. The event was supposed to return to the LA convention center with a revitalized showcase, but sadly it seems the event won't be coming back for the foreseeable future.

Starfield's recent reviews on Steam have fallen to a "Mostly Negative" rating. Bethesda has promised a series of updates to the game on a regular basis in 2024, including a story expansion...but will it be enough to revitalize this struggling space game?

The teaser for Monster Hunter Wilds was shown off at the Game Awards 2023, showcasing what appears to be a first for the series - an open world.

Gaming in Review 2023: This year was absolutely loaded with game releases both big and small. How did this year's absolutely stacked collection land in the hearts of gamers.

Starfield's design lead took to Twitter/X to talk about his thoughts on all the negative feedback that Starfield is getting. He wrote a long thread that covered several points including: a reminder that games are developed by hard working people, he doesn't criticize games anymore due to his position at Bethesda, and that games are made in a particular way for a reason (ie technical limitations) that most of us won't understand unless that behind-the-scenes information is revealed and verified.

The Last of Us Online has been cancelled due to Naughty Dog's concerns over supporting it long term. Due to the amount of resources that it takes to run a games as a service title, Naughty Dog was concerned it would affect their future single player games.

Insomniac has sadly been hacked and affected by ransomware. An online auction has begun for the data on top of a ransom demand, with the data including information on their new game - Wolverine, as well as employee personal data.

The Game Awards 2023 just wrapped up so let's talk about it! We discussed a collection of the awards including: Best Ongoing Game, Best Multiplayer Game, Game of the Year, and more. We also covered some of our favorite reveals including Light No Fire; a new game from the creators of No Man's Sky about a large-scale procedural planet that you can build on and explore with your friends, Rise of the Ronin; an open-world samurai game, Skull & Bones (again), and much more!

This past week we also got the first official trailer for Grand Theft Auto VI and we discuss our impressions at this first and early look at the mega popular franchise's latest entry, coming in 2025.

Despite some comments by Xbox CFO Tim Stuart about the hope that Game Pass would end up on all screens, including those of the PlayStation and Nintendo - Phil Spencer has clarified, or maybe doubled back a bit by stating that there are currently no plans to get Game Pass onto PlayStation and Nintendo.

According to some Christmas lists, the demand for physical games have dropped below subscriptions and virtual currency. This comes as little surprise, considering the value that game subscriptions like Game Pass bring to the table. Coupled with the popularity of games like Fortnite that use virtual currency to purchase in-game items.

After having members of the public disrupt both The Game Awards 2022 and Summer Game Fest 2023, Geoff Keighly has confirmed that the security for The Game Awards 2023 has been enhanced. He did not elaborate much, understandably, as revealing security measures would open the door for them to be circumvented. Fingers crossed these security enhancements keep the show running smoothly this year.

Xbox sales in Europe have collapsed with a 52% drop from October last year, meanwhile PlayStation has seen an increase of 143% in the same time period.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake fell on hard times alongside the difficulties found at its original developer Aspyr. Embracer Group moved the development following these problems over to Saber Interactive - the developers of the recently delayed Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2. Complete silence on the project's progression sparked worry that the game was doomed to be cancelled but according to Boomberg reporter Jason Shreier on X, the project is still being worked on in some capacity.

Ad placements are no stranger to video games, as seen years ago in games like Crackdown and Rainbox Six: Vegas on the Xbox 360. Typically these ads have been limited to in-game advertising like billboards and banners that would fit within the world the game is portraying. More recently blatant banner ads have been found in games' main menus and console home screens, but have steered away from appearing in-game. For some Assassin's Creed Odyssey players, in-game banner ads started showing up within the game's map...but Ubisoft has since removed them claiming that it was a technical error all along.

This week Ryan, Tim and Matt discussed The Game Awards 2023 Nominees for Game of the Year, Best Action Game, Best Audio Design, and much more!

Rockstar has broken their silence on GTA announcing that a trailer for GTA 6 is coming in December 2023.

What do you think about video game movies? Well they're going to keep on coming, this time with Nintendo confirming that they're working on a live-action Zelda flick. Will the tone by like the games, or more serious?

Valve has announced a Steam Deck refresh with the Steam Deck OLED. This new model has an OLED screen, increased battery life (30-50% estimated), and a new chip.

This week Tim and Matt discussed Bethesda's mindset while developing Fallout 76, having come off so many game of the year awards from their previous titles, they felt infallible...and then they launched Fallout 76. Xbox's earnings post-Starfield launch have some good and some bad - namely an increase in game services and a decrease in hardware sales, is streaming taking over gaming? The PS5 slim has an optional optical disc drive that requires an internet connection to set up, a questionable requirement that leaves questions for those interested in game preservation. Steam has finally released SteamVR 2.0 after the beta dropped this September.

This week Matt and Tim discussed some of the recent top gaming news stories including Minecraft 300 million sale milestone, Bethesda's Pete Hines has announced his retirement, Nintendo accounts give us hints at what the Switch 2 may be, and Game Pass will have to wait until 2024 for Activision-Blizzard games.

Then in the Query Corner Tim asks if Larian's development methods are going to impact how some devs work in the future with the massive success of Baldur's Gate 3.

Microsoft has finally acquired Activision Blizzard, after months of deals, lawyers, and regulatory concerns. We cover some of the biggest games/franchises from Activision Blizzard. Sony confirms there will be a PS5 slim this holiday season. Ubisoft thinks physical sales will drop lower than they are now. Then in the Query Corner Question: Why do legendary items not have legendary stats? Especially if they're legendary in the game's world (ie the most powerful ring that saved our land).

Samsung's game streaming service beta for their Game Launcher is coming to an end as it prepares for release. Microsoft's massive Activision-Blizzard deal finally looks like its coming to a close. Should game fatigue (ie too many games in a series that feel the same) affect game review scores? How are review scores impacted by reviewers that have experience with a like-game, versus those that have no like-experience?

In this episode we discussed:

• PlayStation Boss Jim Ryan's upcoming retirement and what it means for the industry
• AAA Publishers are "milking their top franchises" according to a leaked Phil Spencer email
• Capcom exec says that game prices are too low
• Gaming on the iPhone, are the consoles in trouble?

This week the guys record in-person for the first time in a long time to discuss the massive Xbox leak that included a new Xbox Series hardware refresh, Phil Spencer's desire to purchase Nintendo, Oblivion remake, and much more. They also discussed the new Sea of Thieves solo mode that lets you play alone or with friends in a private session with some limitations.

The crew's all here to discuss this packed week of gaming news. We discussed the PlayStation State of Play, Nintendo Direct, and some gaming surprises at the iPhone 15 event.

In the PlayStation State of Play September 2023, they showed off:

• New Spider-Man 2 gameplay
• Resident Evil 4 DLC
• Resident Evil 4 for PSVR2
• Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Deep Earth Collection (faceplates and controller colors)
• Roblox for PS4
• Helldivers 2
• and more!

The Nintendo Direct September 2023 showed off a upcoming games, including:

• Paper Mario The Thousand-Year Door HD
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong Remake
• F-Zero 99
• Princess Peach: Showtime!
• Tomb Raider 1, 2, 3 Remasters
• Luigi's Mansion 2 HD
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
• Super Mario RPG remake
• Tombone Champ
• and much more!

On the iPhone 15 front, it was revealed that the iPhone 15 Pro would be getting some AAA games released on it including Assassin's Creed Mirage, Resident Evil 4, and Death Stranding. These games are not mobile versions either, they are the full experiences that you would expect to see on console.

This week on the Day One Patch Podcast, Ryan and Matt discussed the alleged Nintendo Switch 2 reveal to developers behind closed doors and how it seems to be on part with Xbox Series and PS5. The guys also discussed the Starfield launch, talking numbers and sharing their own experiences in the game. Sadly, there was also more bad Skull and Bones news to discuss as the game still isn't out and has lost it's third creative director.

In this episode of the Day One Patch Podcast, Adriano and Matt discuss the week's top gaming stories - including the headliner: PlayStation Plus is getting a major price hike. The guys also discussed Xbox's upcoming auto-upload to OneDrive feature, PlayStation Portal's release date confirmation, and in the Query Corner - did The Elder Scrolls 6 announcement affect the Microsoft buyout?

The end of an era as the Xbox 360 store closes on both the console and browser (marketplace.xbox.com) in 2024. Epic is working to make cross-play easier, with tooling available to developers to access their in-game overlay for friends, invites, and more. Tim's been playing Baldur's Gate 3 on and off stream, Ryan's been doing the same, and Matt's been min/maxing in No Man's Sky.

This week on the Day One Patch Podcast - Ryan, Adriano, Tim, and Matt discussed the top gaming news stories of the week including the headliner, the Red Dead Redemption Port is priced...quite high for some. Microsoft has shortened the Game Pass trial period ahead of the Starfield release. And the Uncharted movie...might "definitely" get a sequel.

This week on the Day One Patch Podcast Ryan, Tim, and Matt discuss a bunch of this week's gaming news including...

• Streaming gameplay to Discord is coming to Xbox consoles
• The Xbox Companion App on Windows has been discontinued, moving players to the existing Xbox app
• GameStop is exiting the crypto market
• Classic Call of Duty servers on Wii and DS have been shut down

Ryan and Matt tackle this week's top gaming news including the big Project Q leak demoing the device running Android, the patch that saved old Call of Duty games' multiplayer, and PlayStation 5 reaching a sales milestone of 40 million sales.

Matt and Tim tackle this week's gaming news in this episode of the Day One Patch Podcast. The boys discuss the recent EU regulations that may be putting replaceable batteries into the next Switch and Steam Deck iterations by 2027. Microsoft's recent FTC trial completion (victory?) has resulted in Sony finally signing a 10-year deal...but this time it's only for Call of Duty. Then of course there's some rockiness with Diablo IV...the recent iteration to the franchise has been taken in with much praise but its latest patch version 1.1.0 has some players review bombing the game.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumors, reports, and more. This week Ryan, Tim, and Matt discussed the potential 2023 release of a PS5 Slim according to Microsoft as a part of their FTC Activision-Blizzard merger trial. The guys also discussed the alleged Assassin's Creed: Black Flag remake and how it may come out before Skull and Bones sees the light of day. To cap things off they talked about Peter Molyneux hyping his next game by saying it has a mechanic that has never been seen in a game before.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumors, reports, and more. This week Ryan and Matt discussed the Xbox FTC Trial including its leaked emails on Microsoft's spending habits, redacted information showing through, and the competitive nature (or maybe lack thereof) of the Activision-Blizzard deal. The guys also discussed Nintendo's comments on how they intend to make the next-gen console a smoother transition account-wise with what we hope will be a simple login to an existing Nintendo account that will give gamers access to their previous purchases - much like how PlayStation and Xbox Live accounts have worked for generations.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumours, reports, and more. This week Ryan, Tim, and Matt discussed the top stories of the week including the headliner - the Meta Quest 3 has been officially announced. The guys also discussed the development troubles that Redfall's team experienced, and the newly announced Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumours, reports, and more. This week Ryan, Tim, and Matt discussed the top stories of the week including the headliner - Overwatch 2's upcoming PvE mode has been cancelled. The guys also discussed the EU approving of Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard acquisition, a game dev that thinks Game Pass hurts sales, and then we touch Summer Game Fest's announced partners.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumours, reports, and more. This week Ryan, Tim, and Matt discussed the top stories of the week including the headliner - Phil Spencer drops some hard truths on the potential future of Xbox. The boys also discussed the flop that is Redfall - a release that might be similar to the initial state of Fallout 76, and AAA franchises may start taking over 1 billion dollars each to make - raising the stakes in an already competitive gaming market.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumours, reports, and more. This week Adriano, Ryan, and Matt discussed the top stories of the week including the headliner - Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard deal has been blocked by the CMA in the UK. The boys also discussed Microsoft Teams, the physical version of Star Wars: Jedi requiring a download, and Epic Games has lost to Apple in court again over App Store rules.

Skip the intro and jump straight into the episode at 00:15:21

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumours, reports, and more. This week Tim, Adriano, Ryan, and Matt discussed the top stories of the week including the headliner - Microsoft has a new franchise sequel in the works that may take a decade to develop. They also talked about Sony's acquisition of AAA multiplayer studio Firewalk Studios, and Gary Bowser - the Switch hacker - has been released from prison with a hefty amount still due to pay Nintendo.

Welcome to the Day One Patch Podcast, where we cover the week's gaming news, rumours, reports, and more. This week Tim, Adriano, Ryan, and Matt discussed the top stories of the week including the headliner - Redfall is launching with a cap of 30 FPS via Quality Mode. They also discussed a recent Microsoft internal Hackathon that resulted in a concept similar to the Steam Deck, with Windows 11 running in a handheld gaming mode. And a milestone for gaming sees the Super Mario Bros. theme inducted into the Library of Congress - the first video game tune to do so.