The Weekly Daily - A Gaming News Podcast

Blizzard's got new problems with their games effectively shut down in China after a "bad break-up" with NetEase. Forspoken released with some rather lackluster reviews. Also, we've been playing FFXIV and are looking forward to leaving Ishgard and the Seasonal Affective Disorder that accompanies it behind.

In upcoming games: Silly dodgeball, dungeon crawler in space, and pretty game about taking pictures and stuff.

AGDQ 2023 has concluded, so we give our highlights. With AGDQ ending, we've concluded our Hades runs, and have our best results for that. Plus, bees.

Upcoming games include: A nice point-and-click from a familiar face, anime tactics, and expensive magic parkour sim (with a side of combat).

AGDQ is in full swing once again! Plus, making plans is hard and our progress in our Hades speedruns.

In upcoming games: One that's familiar, one that's cool, one that's a very popular pirate anime.

Happy New Year! A look at a game demo gets us talking about nostalgia in gaming, and we talk more about our progress in bringing down our Hades runtimes leading up to AGDQ.

Continuing from last week, we talk more about our experiences in FFXI and in our forays into Hades speedrunning.

That's right! It's been a year (and six days) since we started on this adventure. We look back on a year of figuring out how to podcast, ponder on the future of the podcast, and talk about our recent foray into a VERY old MMO.

We're back, Chris isn't sick, and we have some Game Awards to talk about. We recap some of the announcements and other highlights from last week's event.

In the upcoming games, a red panda with PTSD and Slavic mythology.

We're back! This is our first episode back since Pokemon Scarlet/Violet released, so we had notes. Aside from that, Pokemon also has some issues popping up with Pokemon TCG Live, the newer version of their online TCG. Plus, Callisto Protocol has a day 1 season pass that includes... extra death animations? And story DLC, of course. Also, EA's submitted another patent, this time for collusion detection in online games, and Facebook says they've made considerable progress with CICERO, an AI that has achieved "human-level performance" in the board game Diplomacy.

For upcoming games, yet another Square Enix release, Warhammer 40k: Darktide, and the aforementioned Callisto Protocol, among others.

Game Awards 2022 approaches, and the nominees for this year have been announced, with a solid selection for GotY and a new category: Best Adaptation. Plus, Splatoon 3's Pokemon-themed Splatfest ended in a landslide, Dark Souls Remastered is back online on PC, and cheat maker AimJunkies' counterclaim against Bungie for alleged hacking and "clandestine surveillance" has been dismissed by the judge. Plus, regarding the real world, Beck goes on a rant regarding art censorship and the looming threat of worldwide conflict.

In upcoming games: Pokemon, third-person action-shooters, and goats.

This week, we talk about the perils of game reviews from publications, a cool idea that EA patented, and more.

Upcoming games include Norse gods, medieval art, aliens and more.

This week, CoD: MW2 released, and with it comes the bugs, balancing, and controversy (including skill-based matchmaking, which we didn't even realize was a controversy). Plus, an update on Adriana Chechik's recovery following injuries sustained and the recent TwitchCon event.

In upcoming games: More spoopy, a new MOBA, and Sanic.

Silent Hill had a pretty big content drop, including a movie and multiple games. Dark Souls 2 is back online on the PC (sort of), but Dark Souls: Prepare to Die edition won't be coming back online. Also, Bayonetta's original voice actress walks back her original statements regarding her offered pay for Bayonetta 3.

In the upcoming games: several spooky games, another Square Enix RPG, and a diver named Dave.

Content warning: One of this episode's stories involves abuse. If you would like to avoid this topic, avoid listening between 39:30 - 44:20.

This week: a 16 billion GP OS Runescape kill, G4 is apparently shutting down, and an follow-up on the status of streamer Adriana Chechik after her injury at TwitchCon. Plus, we're going over the whole deal with the Bayonetta 3 voice acting controversy, and talking briefly on the recent revelations about Amouranth's abusive relationship.

In this week's upcoming games: A highly aesthetic sci-fi/fantasy ARPG, Mario + Rabbids + XCOM, Ubisoft presents Gotham Theft Auto*, and Garbage Pail Kids. Yes. Garbage Pail Kids.

*Gotham Knights is not a Ubisoft game. It's also not a Rockstar game. You probably knew that, but we wanted to clarify.

Overwatch 2 released, and "rocky" would be an understatement. TwithCon featured a little more (but not too much) info on the impending revenue split changes for streamers, as well as an unfortunate incident involving a streamer (and apparently many others) and a foam pit.

Upcoming games for the week include the upcoming Dragon Ball asymmetrical PvP horror game, a Ghostbusters asymmetrical PvP horror game, and another game about potion-making.

It wouldn't be Blizzard release without server issues, and Overwatch 2 has those. Of course, Overwatch 2 isn't the only reason Activision Blizzard is in the news. Playstation's new rewards program might include... *checks notes* pay-to-win customer support? And, despite the last update literally being called "Journey's End", Terraria has yet another "final" update.

Instead of upcoming games, we've got some NextFest games to talk about.

Overwatch 2 just keeps disappointing people as it approaches release. Shin Megami Tensei developer Atlus is suing a fan-made server of their now-dead MMO Imagine. After last week's news, there seems to have been a collective meltdown at Twitch, resulting in everything from petty drama to harassment allegations, as well as the site itself announcing a pay-cut to some of the top content creators on the platform.

This week's upcoming games include a witchy visual novel, a 2D pixel-art point-and-click, the aforementioned Overwatch 2, and more.

There was a massive GTA 6 leak, a Twitch scandal involving a streamer with a gambling addiction, and a counter-suit filed against Bungie by the very same cheat-makers they sued first. Plus, it looks like someone who works (or worked, probably) at Wizard101 got awfully heated, Genshin Impact is getting an anime by the same studio behind Demon Slayer, and we're following up on the Overwatch 2 battle pass info we got last week.

In the upcoming games, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, drums, and a mob murder clean-em-up.

This week, Nintendo Direct gives us a new Fire Emblem, Pikmin news, and more. Plus, Overwatch 2 reveals its plans for character acquisition and AGDQ announces they're pulling out of their Florida venue, opting to go online-only this year due to safety concerns.

In the upcoming games, Metal: Hellsinger is finally upon us, plus a few other gems, including Monkey Island, a Doom 1-like bullet hell, and a game where you play a cybernetically-enhanced samurai that fights robot monsters modelled after monsters from Japanese folklore in a cyberpunk version of Edo Japan.

This week, we come back from a week off to more developments on streamer Keffals and the downfall of the harassment haven known as Kiwi Farms, head of Xbox Game Studios Matt Booty not understanding QA too well, and Callisto Protocol lead Glen Schofield seems to forget what crunch is.

We're also looking at the upcoming games, including French Revolution but with robots and the highly anticipated Splatoon 3.

This week, Gamescom opened with some great trailers, Untamed Isles disappoints backers after a crypto crash leaves the developer in some trouble, and McDonald's is back with the Pokemon Happy Meals (for some people). Plus, the Spiderman mod that got a ban from Nexusmods, Sony's getting sued, and, as always, the upcoming games for the week.

We're back! After a week off, we've returned with Chris' GenCon 2022 experience! Plus, Tencent wants a majority stake in Ubisoft, Indonesia's internet regulations are boxing out gaming platforms, and EVO 2022 had some great announcements. In the upcoming games: a stylish roller-skating shooter, a lamb cult, and more!

Note from Chris: Hey everyone! You may hear some issues with the audio quality. Returning this week, both my internet and PC worked together to make this week's recording extra difficult. I apologize for any sound-related issues, things should be back to normal next week.

In gaming news this week, Neopets got hacked despite what must certainly be the most advanced security system a 20-year-old children's site can provide. Also, more job action from ActiBlizz employees, including unionization from QA workers at Blizzard Albany (formerly Vicarious Visions) and a walk-out from employees across America for gender equity and workplace improvements.

For the upcoming games, a game with Shonen Jump characters (but you probably only know like one of them), trains, Digimon: the Visual Novel, and Xenoblade Chronicles (but 3).

This week, a conversation about Bayonetta 3 and the concept of adjustable censorship, the Bandai Namco hack and what we know so far, and Russia considers producing a state-owned game engine amid major companies ceasing ties with the country in response to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Also, Unity's back in the news for a merger with a company that was once known for installing malware on people's computers. And, as always, the upcoming games for the week, including a cute spoopy game of tag and the Live-A-Live remaster.

Today, we ask ourselves the question: is a successful game a good game? Also, Riot's raising the prices on microtransactions, Gamestop really wants to do NFTs, and... No, Hideo Kojima didn't assassinate former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe. Plus, a look at the upcoming games, including several sidescrollers and a... "cat adventure game."

SGDQ is over, so we're talking about the highs and lows, as well as some of our favorite runs of the week. After that, we're talking a look at Spellbreak's shutdown and the subsequent news of developer Proletariat being purchased by Blizzard. Plus, Unity layoffs seemingly out of nowhere.

CORRECTIONS:

Around the 6:00 mark, Chris mentions the Twitch Chat integration for the Ocarina of Time beta run. The term used was "Here together", NOT "Hello Together"

Around the 10:00 mark, when talking about Mekazarium's post-run speech, Chris says that people thought it was a very "Miyazaki" speech. He meant to say "Kojima".

In light of these mistakes. Chris will subsequently be incinerated and replaced by a (hopefully) less accident-prone robot.

Last episode was all about Next Fest games, so this week we're catching up on what we didn't cover last week. This includes the Dragon's Dogma 2 announcement, which prompted us to try out the game and give our impressions on it. Plus, Heroes of Newerth is gone, Activision Blizzard is at it again, and some potential closure on the Destiny 2 copyright strikes that hit the YouTube community a few months ago.

And, from this week: Summer Games Done Quick is in full swing, and we talk about what we love about these events, and what speedruns we're looking forward to. And finally, The Day Before developer Fntastic has an... "interesting" take on employment.

This week was all about the recent Next Fest! We've rounded up a few demos we played, including some we're looking forward to, some that have potential, and some that are... "unique." Check it out!

We took a week off, and we took it off at the VERY beginning of Summer of Gaming 2022, and boy-howdy, did we have some catching up to do. Plus, last episode we talked about some games, and this episode we PLAYED those games, so we've got our thoughts on V Rising, Diablo Immortal, and the latest Genshin Impact update.

After a couple of announcements involving some upcoming conventions we'll be in attendance for, we take a look at some quick news for the week, including an update on the Dark Souls PC server issue, a new game from the Game Grumps, and some updates on the aftermath of the GameStop stock surge from January 2021. Plus, we take a look at some games we missed from last week, including a Slay the Spire meets Fire Emblem game with a fantasy/retro-tech fusion aesthetic. And for our upcoming game of the week, a Limbo-esque underwater-horror simulator, complete with freaky fish-warging.

This week, Chris just wants to know that he's going into a bot game. In the news, though, Hoyoverse announced a release date for the postponed 2.7 update, Raven Software's QA team won their union vote, and Halo support studio Certain Affinity offers to help employees in anti-LGBTQ/anti-abortion states.

Upcoming games include a new sci-fi RTS, a visual novel set in the year 20XX, and a reboot of a beloved early-2000's 3D platformer.

This week, we talk about our experiences playing Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodhunt, as well as our experiences in the new Apex Legends season. In the news, MiHoYo (or Hoyoverse, as we'll never call it) announces a new game, Bandai Namco acknowledges that the servers for PC Dark Souls are still down, and the Silent Hill reboot gets a leak that seems awfully credible. Plus, a look at the upcoming releases this week, including another Vampire the Masquerade game and an awesome-looking spaceship salvaging simulator.

We also take the time to talk about the tragic, racist attack that was livestreamed on Twitch last week on a grocery store in Buffalo, NY. While we don't go into detail on the attack itself, we understand that it might be a hard thing to listen to, so listener discretion is advised. As we said in the podcast, our sympathies go out to the victims and their families.

Returning from a weekend visit, we talk about how our weekend went (hint: board games were involved). Oddly enough, the Kentucky Derby was also involved. News-wise, though, Nvidia got fined, EVE Online gets Excel, and Chris got click-baited. Then, as always, a look at some upcoming games for the week, including shotgun chess, an FMV game, and Evil Dead.

This week, Chris is down with the sickness (but not in the cool way) and we finally got to play Ember Knights. In the news, Artesian Builds, the custom PC builder that practically ghosted its' customers and employees months ago, finally goes bankrupt. Plus, Square Enix sells off some major studios, Twitch looks into changing the revenue models for its' content creators (for the worse, apparently), Genshin Impact is having some issues, and another Call of Duty is announced (shocking, we know). Finally, we take a look at some upcoming games, including a beautiful homage to old black-and-white movies, a river of loot that acts like Tetris, and more.

Today's episode has us talking about our recent gaming escapades, including the perils of finding the right game for our group size, and in the wake of TERA's shut-down announcement, talking a bit about the emotions that fly in the face of a world ending. Plus, we take a look at the news, including the MTG price hikes, Raven Software's QA union progress, and Elden Ring's "poison panties" getting fixed.

Taking up a slightly different format, we take a detour to talk about horrifying Easter bunnies and the special place in our hearts for MMOs before veering back into some news. Then, a Half Life furry mod gets a special guest, we talk about the intrepid pot-headed fellow aiding Tarnished in the daunting Malenia fight in Elden Ring, and more. Plus, as always, we take a look at some upcoming games to be on the lookout for.

This week, we're looking back at April Fool's 2022 in the gaming community, Fortnite's getting sued for their emotes like it's 2019 and Twitch's most recent attempt at a channel-boost program ends up blowing up in their face (no pun intended) (sorry). And, of course, we're talking about the upcoming releases for the week.

Today we're seeing how the release of the new Final Fantasy game went, checking out the new Stand With Ukraine Humble Bundle, and taking a look at the curious case of the Destiny DMCAs. Plus, a few big games are coming out this week that we're talking about.

Note from Chris: Sorry about the dog cameo! Our poodle is a bundle of pure hatred and chaos. I would say he was reprimanded but there is no punishment that could phase such a being of pure evil and ill-intent. I did tell him he sucks, though.

The Elden Ring is almost upon us! Gather 'round the Erdtree as we discuss what we know about the game and what our plans are for the release. Also, follow-ups on a couple games we talked about, a quick update on the ActivisionBlizzard lawsuit, and Ryu's new... "lighting." Plus, Steam Next Fest is here, so we take a look at a couple games and some demos to try out. 

Nintendo Direct happened last week, so we take a look at some announcements and Beck gets hype on the Chrono Cross remaster. And, of course, we have a mouthful to say about Kirby's Mouthful Mode. Plus, we take a look at the hype over Lost Ark and our impressions from playing it.

Steam's changing their sales slightly, Stadia's winding down, Sony's busting out the golden handcuffs and Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games seems a tad bit annoyed with their player-base. Chris tells Beck how he's totally good at Dark Souls. Also, what's coming next week? (Hint: quite a bit).

Sony buys Bungie, Nintendo continues their addiction to copyright strikes, and Activision still sucks. Plus, our impressions of Pokémon Legends: Arceus, as well as a look at what's coming up.

As promised, we talk about the Microsoft buyout of Activision-Blizzard, some reasons it might be happening now, what that means for games going forward, and about some less-than-ideal responses from Microsoft on unions. Then, we go over Riot's expansion of their "Queue Dodge" program for their employees, as well as their attempt at reformation post-lawsuit. Finally, we dive into our escapades in the newly-released Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel, and talk about what we know about Pokémon Legends: Arceus before it's release this Friday.

AGDQ 2022 has concluded, and we've rounded up a couple highlights along with some of our favorite runs to talk about. When we're done there, we've got a few lighter stories for this week so as not to ruin all the good vibes that the charity event gave us. Silly anime crossovers, silly digital tokens that people pay too much money for, and other news await.

Today we find out Chris might be bad at Pokemon, then we talk about Castlevania's "Memorial NFTs" and Activision's anti-cheat lawsuit. Then we dive into China's heavy restrictions on gaming, both against children and against the industry itself.

As a special easter egg, if you listen closely you'll find our special guest appearance from Resident Canine Gaming expert Humphrey!

Today we look into the curious case of the vanishing game Myth of Empires before diving into the heavier topic of Ubisoft and their recent attrition rates (and some of the reasons those people are leaving). Also in this episode, the Riot Games harassment lawsuit is wrapping up, so we take a look at what that means for the parties involved and where the company might be going forward.

Editor's Note: This episode appears to have some audio issues that we suspect were caused in recording. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope to have this resolved for the next episode.