Video Game Fury

It's that time of year where summer kicks off and game companies are ready to show off the latest and greatest in gaming. And while E3 may be a distant memory (for now), Summer Game Fest and all of its individual publisher showcases are ready to take part of the festivities. But in particular, we look at the Xbox Showcase and see what they could possibly do to gain consumer trust back in the wake of their latest pitfalls with Redfall and the Activision-Blizzard deal. Could they bounce back in a big way with a bunch of their first party studios ready to showcase their games? We go in-depth with each studio and what they could offer...

The Xbox brand has been hit hard the last couple of weeks between the CMA blocking the Activision Blizzard King acquisition and now with the underwhelming reviews given to the release of Redfall. It has created a situation where many media outlets and content creators are calling for Phil Spencer and team to be removed from running the brand. Are we really at that point for Microsoft to execute on a drastic measure like that? Or is this just a case to repivot and push the direction of Xbox differently? We discuss in great detail...

2023 has seen its share of big game releases so far, but it has also seen its fair share of bugs, glitches, and performance issues. Hogwarts Legacy, Wild Hearts, Wo-Long, Star Wars Jedi Survivor, and The Last of Us Part 1 have all fallen under these buckets of late. It is not a new issue if you've tracked the industry long enough (see Cyberpunk 2077 and Fallout 76 for prior examples), but it also speaks to an issue that we as consumers need to come to terms with when it comes to FOMO and wanting to be part of the real-time conversations. Let's discuss and hash it out!

The last handheld system that Sony had was the Vita, which died a quiet death a few years ago as Sony went full speed on their console support. Which is why it was curious to learn of rumors of Project Q-Lite, which supposedly is either Sony's new cloud gaming handheld or is a dedicated handheld for PS5 Remote Play. The latter seems odd considering many devices support Remote Play today, so why have a dedicated handheld for it? We chat that plus my thoughts on the Diablo 4 beta!

Since 1995, E3 has been a gaming staple to showcase the latest games coming out for consumers to enjoy and to also give publishers and developers a platform to strike deals for the upcoming releases. Over the last 5 years though, it has suffered an identity crisis trying to figure out its presence in a world where digital events can happen and other shows like PAX and Gamescom are managing the global hybrid world of digital and physical much better. That all came to a head this week when the ESA and ReedPop decided to cancel E3 2023 in light of fading interest in the event from publishers. Why did this happen? And what does that mean for the future - if any - of E3? Let's discuss...

Nintendo Switch is on a warpath in sales as it was announced as end of September 30th that they have sold around 114 million devices.  An impressive feat that should be honored even as we call for Nintendo to upgrade its specs or start thinking about its new hardware in the midst of the launch of the Steam Deck and concerns expressed about performance and frame rates.  It does beg the question if they truly need to think about these things if the system continues to sell.  Let's discuss...

I have never played Skyrim before until these last few weeks.  It was a game that came out during a time where gaming was less of a priority in my life.  Building a big sprawling world where you can be immersed it and see your character grow is not an easy game to make.  Bethesda has been kings at making these games for a long while and with Starfield presumably about to makes its debut sometime in 2023, I thought it would be a great idea to share my thoughts on this 11-year-old game as someone new to the franchise.

G4TV is gone....again.  Try as it might to stand out in a 2022 gaming media landscape, it eventually found itself competing with tons of gaming channels across the YouTube and Twitch platforms that consumers have been more drawn to during G4TV's original absence.  What was done wrong and who is to blame?  We deep dive into the fall of a cherished gaming network.

We're only a month removed from The Last of Us Part 1's remake release on the PS5 and already the rumor train is milling over a potential remaster/remake of 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn along with a multiplayer mode involving co-op.  Is this the direction Sony should be taking with their franchises?  Are they forgetting their legacy that brought them to the big dance?  Or is the focus on the here and now as they continue to build this transmedia world of taking their major franchises into the worlds of TV and movies?  Let's break it down...

The launch of Cyberpunk 2077 back in December 2020 will go down as the one of the most critically panned launches in gaming history.  Even with many calling it a good game on its own, it still ruined CD Projekt Red's reputation as they pulled the wool over the eyes of console customers and even Sony itself - forcing them to delist the game from the Playstation Store for a period of time.

Fast forward almost 2 years later and the game has seen many patches - including a next-gen patch to bring it up to snuff with how it should be played and just recently an Edgerunners patch that coincided with the release of the Cyberpunk Edgerunners anime on Netflix.  There is a new expansion next year coming out called Phantom Liberty.  All of this has caused a resurgence of interest in the world that is Cyberpunk where Steam sales and concurrent players have ballooned.

Is this yet another comeback story amidst other games that saw a disastrous launch only to see these companies build themselves back up to saving grace with their fanbases?  Possibly, but maybe not quite yet.  Let's discuss!  

Yesterday was a very bad day for Rockstar Games and Take Two.  And one can only imagine what the week(s) will look like ahead for them.

The GTA6 leaks are the talk of the town right now and could go down as one of the worst game leaks in the history of the industry.  What are the implications of these leaks?  How does Rockstar and Take Two respond?  And what should we as a gaming community be doing to support them (if at all if you go by some folks' responses on social media)?  We discuss...

Streaming services across TV, movies, and video games are all the rage nowadays.  You can't help but be enamored considering the cheap cost of admission and the abundance of content that goes with them.  With that said, one has to wonder if it has a cost to them we're not seeing.  Companies behind these services have to justify the needs to have them with this abundance of content and that could come at a price of quality as well as people not having enough time to watch and/or play all of them.

Today, we explore this more in-depth and see if being in these services are the right thing to be in...

The Last of Us Part 1 Remake was announced last month and is releasing on September 2nd on PS5 and PC platforms.  Timeless as the game is, there has been controversy about whether or not it is a "cash grab" given it is remaking a barely 10-year-old game that already had a remaster on PS4 8 years ago and putting it out on PS5 and PC at $70.  It gives us pause to reflect on if remaking and/or remastering classic games and franchises are all here for the right reasons.  I spend some time sharing those viewpoints and ask the audience to think through if the $70 is worth it...

Video game Christmas has arrived again!  While strange to not call it E3 this year, the excitement is still palpable with Summer Game Fest, Devolver, Xbox/Bethesda, and Capcom all having showcases of new and upcoming games.  That said, you can't help but feel some hesitation on what and when is to come with game delays all around due to the pandemic and game development problems.  Here is hoping we temper expectations, but we know how the gaming world can be when things don't arrive to their expectation.  Let's discuss!

343 had a lot to live up to with Halo Infinite after subpar offering of their campaigns in Halo 4 and 5.  So much so they convinced Microsoft to delay the game a year after when it was supposed to come out for the launch of the Xbox Series X and S platforms.  Did it deliver the punch it needed?  I lay it all out in my review...

I.....I have no words.  But I actually do.  Give it a listen!

The world is being severely challenged right now in the midst of a pandemic.  Not knowing when we are at the tail end, it's created uncertainty on when people can go back to work and when we can safely just be normal human beings again.  The gaming industry is no less feeling this impact with conventions being postponed/cancelled, games being delayed indefinitely, and companies having to adopt work from home strategies.  We analyze what this virus has done to impact this industry and what we can possibly expect the new normal to be.

On the game time segment, I am still grinding Assassin's Creed Odyssey hard with no end in sight.  But Apex Legends and Tyranny are good alternate games to help take away that grind when needed.

Stay safe and healthy out there, friends!

You go away for 2020 for a while and look what happens...

Sony is once again out for E3 2020.  Is Sony making a mistake going into a big holiday console launch?  Or is the real story the fizzling relevance that E3 itself seems to be becoming?

And then delays has shifted tons of key games that we thought we were playing a ton of in the first half of 2020.  What does that means for these games' prospects and how will it stack as they move closer to new console launch windows?

All that and the games I played on my Twitch streams for your listening pleasure!

It's 2019 in a nutshell!  We discuss the year itself, the top 3 games, and what's to come for Video Game Fury's channel!

We've been gone so long, which means there's a lot to talk about!  Find out the scoops on what went down with Blizzcon 2019, how Google Stadia is faring, and the game of the year nominees for the Game Awards 2019.  Let's just say controversy made abundant appearances this month.

And then I give some game dev updates on some courses I'm doing - including a game idea that may come to life at some point in the future!

Loads on the plate this week!  Sony officially announced Playstation 5 for next holidays and we get a little more detail on their plans for the system specs.  Blizzard is also under fire for a recent suspension of a Hearthstone player over his recent Hong Kong protests during a tournament.  We look into what this could mean for their desires to work in the Chinese market as well as how that will affect their upcoming Blizzcon.

And lastly, I share my adventures at New York Comic Con last week - including a deep hands-on with the new Avengers game from Square Enix.  Did it alleviate a lot of my concerns about its showcase at E3 this year?

A Sony-focused episode this week as we recap the State of Play from September!  Plenty of intriguing content to show, but everybody was tuning in for The Last of Us Part 2.  Did they deliver the goods along with a release date?

But the Sony talk didn't end there as recently it was announced that Shawn Layden was leaving Sony in his role as head of their worldwide studios.   No concrete details are given as to why he is leaving, but we speculate on why during this very critical console transition coming up next holidays.

Beyond their State of Plays, Sony has been relatively quiet this year as they presumably get ready for the PS5 generation next year.  Which is why it got all the more surprising when they announced another State of Play coming up on September 24th.  Compared to their last live streams though, this one could have the biggest bang with news that Last of Us Part 2 will have its release date announced along with speculation about the next Batman game from WB Montreal.  We unpack what Sony could bring next to their latest State of Play.

And then it's a fully loaded Game Time segment where Katana Zero, Borderlands 3, and Gears 5 all get big spotlights from me.  All of them have good elements to them, but will they stay with me as I go about completing them?

We're back after a long break - of which I share some updates on where things are going with the show.  But don't worry - we're still committed here to the podcast and we hope you are too!

For this show itself, video game violence is once again a topic of controversy for the U.S. government to bring up during the latest tragic mass shootings.  It's a topic that never dies for as long as video games have existed, but I pose the question to politicians as to what they feel video games really do to us.

Then we get the late-breaking news of Sony buying Insomniac Games out of the way as Sony prepares its already-bolstered lists of internal studios to wage war on Microsoft's recent first party studio transactions going into the next console generation.

And finally - I've finished Red Dead Redemption 2 and present to you a tale of two games with this latest Rockstar presentation.  In one sense, Rockstar achieved a stellar story and experience that shows the slow erosion of Dutch Van Derlinde's gang.  But at the same time, it does something strangely different with its gameplay that to me feels it takes away from the experience.  You'll just have to listen and find out more why I feel this way.

E3 2019 is in the books and I give my thoughts on the event as a whole and what the ESA should look into to get the E3 2020 train rolling the right way.

And in all the E3 2019 hoopla, what have I been up to with gaming and my game dev studies?  You'll just have to listen to find out!

The last of the E3 2019 conferences are in the books and we unravel what they brought to the table for gaming goodness!

The press conferences have commenced!  We talk through all the content at EA Play, Xbox, and Bethesda's shows.  Did Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order get a satisfactory gameplay reveal?  Did Xbox capitalize on Sony's absence this year?  Did Bethesda clean up the mess left from their Fallout 76 launch debacle last year?  There are many answers to these questions that you'll just have to listen to.

We wrap up our press conference previews with covering what Square Enix and Nintendo have in their back pockets for E3 2019.  These two have the most to gain and I explain why.

But not to be outdone - Google had a Stadia Connect this past Thursday to detail their release plans for their new game streaming technology.  It has a lot of promise but I still have my doubts about the support it'll have down the road.

Come check out my Twitch streams on twitch.tv/videogamefury79 on Sunday and Monday as we livestream the big press conferences for E3!

2 episodes in less than a week?  That must mean the hype train is rolling in for E3 2019!

Today we cover the Bethesda and Ubisoft conferences and what may be in store for their shows.  Can Bethesda recover from a shaky launch of Fallout 76?  Will Ubisoft finally unveil the new Splinter Cell game that's been rumored for years?  And will the dancing panda return to make us question if we're alive or not?

Sony finally announced a release date for Death Stranding with a new trailer that came out a couple of days ago.  The release picture of its remaining PS4- exclusive games is becoming clearer, but the more important statement made is we still have no clear clue on what Death Stranding is.  Guess we will find out in November when the Kojima craziness comes our way.

And the E3 hype rolls on!  I preview Microsoft's press conference for this year as we discuss what Xbox has to gain now that Sony is not going to E3 this year.  They have a lot to answer to with not just their next console, but what are the games to get hyped for beyond the Gears 5 and Halo Infinites of the world.

E3 2019 is a few weeks away!  We'll be ramping up with episodes soon on what each of the console makers, publishers, and developers will be doing this year, but I thought it would be good to also look at the E3 event as a whole.  

With companies like Sony completely bowing out of E3 and others questioning the ESA's handling of the event based on a recent Variety article, there has been a lot of discussion on what exactly is the direction E3 is taking or should be taking as it goes into 2019's show and beyond.  Is it an opportunity for indies to take the spotlight?  Should it just be streamed?  Should ESA even run it any more?  A special E3-focused episode is here for you to dive into all of those details!

The latest State of Play from Sony was short but sweet as we got some good reveals of an expansion to a hit game, a remaster for PS4, and a game we haven't heard from in years but will be a good showcase for the remaining PS4 exclusives before the next generation hits.

And EA had their latest investor earnings conference recently and had thoughts about Bioware's Anthem launch and what it could do to improve its processes for launching live service games.  I think it's so much more than that which EA needs to think about when it comes to playing to their studios' strengths.  Let's unpack that on this latest show...

Add another acclaimed studio to the list of those that experience the world of game dev crunch.  PC Gamer got the scoop on NetherRealm experiencing a bad case of the crunch with their Mortal Kombat and Injustice titles.  It seems like we can't go a week without more former and anonymous employees opening up about their crushing experiences working on the games they love.

And Epic continues to say "Your move" to Valve with its big purchase of Psyonix, makers of the popular Rocket League game.  What does this mean for Psyonix's future and more importantly - what is Steam going to do in losing out on these big gets?

It's getting more sadder hearing these game dev crunch stories.  Epic is the latest in studios feeling the crunch and negative effects on quality of life for their employees as they continually support the gigantic success that is Fortnite.  Is this the reality we need to accept or can there be more done to improve?

And Wired opened the doors on the first specs of Sony's PS5 in an interview with Mark Cerny.  The changes to this new console are intriguing and may be the right steps to go considering how high fidelity graphics are today.

Give it a listen and enjoy!

We all know video game development is hard even if we may not be working in it.  But it gets sad to read what Jason Schreier of Kotaku writes on BioWare's issues with managing their teams' well-being in games like Anthem and Dragon Age 4 that you just have to take a stance and make more people aware of the toll these works of art are having on its makers.  We spend a good amount of time going through that to kick things off.

And then it's game time as I discuss my continuing Wild West adventures in Red Dead Redemption 2, my improvements to handling Apex Legends, and finally getting back into the roguelike world of games with Dead Cells!