Gamers Week Podcast

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In this episode...
--> Nintendo aired two back-to-back Nintendo Directs this week, and the first covered celebrations for The Legend of Zelda's 40th Anniversary, including the upcoming movie, merchandise, orchestra tours, a new themed Switch 2 plus accessories, and of course, the remake of Ocarina of Time.
--> The second Direct of the week was a 45-minute showcase highlighting new game reveals, release dates, and updates, including Metroid Ravenous and Kirby and the World Beyond.
--> Beginning in November, XBOX will impose monthly cloud gaming time limits for Game Pass subscribers...

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--> Sony is facing a class action lawsuit filed in California's Northern District Court for failing to properly disclose that paying for a downloadable game does not grant permanent ownership. Now the company's lawyers are arguing that if you truly own your digital games, only one copy of any given game could ever be sold, and "reasonable" gamers know that's not the case. 
--> After ditching discs, PlayStation continues replicating XBOX's very bad 2013 by going all in on TV.
--> A swath of angry spouses on social m...

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--> Gamescom Opening Night Live is here, and once again, it was a bumper night full of new game reveals, gameplay deep-dives, and more from Geoff Keighley’s second big show of the year, including Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt — Remastered.
--> Xbox's new disc-to-digital feature is launching imminently, allowing users to add physical copies of games to their digital library.
--> Also: Top 3 New Releases, Retrospective

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In this episode...
--> Over the past few days, a series of videos showing Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay and cutscenes have appeared online, along with an image of what is reportedly the game's complete map. A group called CyberLeek is claiming credit for the leaks, using them to both threaten Take-Two and Rockstar, as well as directing gamers to buy their memecoin.
--> The top 1% of games on Steam earn 84.5% of estimated revenue, and most games barely make anything, according to a new report. 
--> Streetwear brand Supreme has u...

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--> The first Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay reveal, Grand Theft Auto VI: An Extended Look, will debut on Netflix later this month as the streaming service tries yet again to get a piece of that videogame pie.
--> Twitch is under fire for its new generative AI training system that it says is on by default because “if it was opt-in, nobody would opt in.”
--> Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian’s anniversary stream of its own game was smacked down on YouTube for "Body Exposure and Sexu...

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In this episode...
--> The war over physical video game discs rages on as Sony confirms it has heard gamers’ pleas but is nevertheless “cautiously” moving forward with its plans to stop producing discs as of January 2028.
--> Xbox's FanFest world tour is still going ahead even after Microsoft fired thousands of people, including the guy who created it.
--> Capcom is making a life-sized Leon Kennedy statue for Resident Evil’s 30th anniversary, and of course the internet is being totally normal about it.
--> Also: Top 3 New Releases...

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--> Less than a month after Sony announced that it will no longer be producing physical discs for its games as of January 2028 (a move that Microsoft is expected to follow with its next gen console, Project Helix), both Team Blue and Team Green experienced system-wide outages this past week that effectively rendered each gaming ecosystem dead in the water.
--> Microsoft has launched a test for ad-supported XBOX game streaming and promised the ads won't interrupt gameplay.
--> Rare Nintendo Famicombox units have been found in...

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--> Despite the carnage created by new XBOX boss Asha Sharma’s 100 day reset in the name of saving the brand, analysts are predicting that Microsoft will continue to see itself in last place throughout the next console generation.
--> Two years after boasting about how hard it was going on videogames, Hasbro has recorded a "$56 million non-cash impairment" in its second-quarter financial report, arising from the cancellation of several games in development that were expected to release "in 2028 and beyond."
--> For those who have obsessively pl...

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In this Special Episode...
--> What would you create if views, algorithms, and expectations disappeared? At TooManyGames 2026, join our own Ryan Payne with Retro Blast Pat and TheGamersician for a live conversation about what happens when you stop chasing what already works... and instead, start building something that could only come from you.

Watch the panel LIVE! --> https://youtu.be/146CZmmtw8A?si=l07vH9LBM0mlCh1T

Want more from Patrick, aka Retro Blast Pat? --> bsky.app/profile/retroblastpod.com

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In this episode...
--> Microsoft has officially announced layoffs of 3,200 people at Xbox, approximately 20% of the Xbox workforce and the fourth such culling since January 2024.
--> The world is still reeling from Sony’s announcement last week that it will no longer be creating video game discs starting January 2028, but analysts are saying there is nothing fans can do to change the company's mind.
--> Nintendo will stop selling Switch consoles in Europe and some other markets in February 2027, weeks shy of the system's 10th anniversary. 
--> Also: Top 3 New...

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--> Not to be outdone by Xbox’s villain arc, it seems Sony decided to remind the world that it too hates its customer base. We're rounding up the week's awful Sony headlines, including the end of physical disc production for new games in 2028, a rumored $1000+ price tag for PS6, and the official closure of the PlayStation Store on PS3 and Vita.
--> Microsoft has refuted claims that its rival system, the PlayStation 5, is outselling the Xbox edition of Grand Theft Auto 6.
--> Sega is facing backlash af...

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--> After months of waiting, Valve has finally announced that the Steam Machine, its new living room-friendly PC, will start at $1,049 and go on sale beginning June 29th.
--> Rockstar finally answered one of the last big questions around GTA 6: the price. The game will cost $79.99 for the standard edition, and $99.99 for the ultimate edition, with the physical editions now confirmed to be only a code in a box.
--> Sega is re-releasing the original Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis/Mega Drive game and its sequel as $100 Iam8...

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--> Maybe XBOX should have died the hero, but instead, it seems that the gaming giant has finally lived long enough to become the villain. Despite spending the past month shoring up good will with demonstrations that it is listening to fans, this week the company put out enough bad news to last an entire year -- all part of new XBOX boss Asha Sharma's big 100 day reset for the company.
--> EA has formed EA Advertising, a new "platform" dedicated to helping real-world brands advertise in its...

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In this episode...
--> Not-E3 Month continues with Summer Game Fest! Geoff Keighley's annual summer showcase was packed with game reveals, new trailers, and fresh updates on upcoming titles, including Resident Evil Veronica, Mighty Cuphead Adventure, and Final Fantasy VII Revelation.
--> Next up was the Xbox Showcase. The show had a number of big reveals, including the announcement of a return to console exclusives with Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution.
--> Last but not least for the Big Three, we got a new Nintendo Direct featuring 50 minutes...

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In this episode...
-->  June's State of Play officially kicked off the summer showcase season with a sneak peek into the future of PlayStation, including Wolverine, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and God of War Laufey.
--> New XBOX boss Asha Sharma has reportedly warned staff that “hard choices” are ahead as some worry that XBOX is getting bogged down in relatively pointless minutiae.
--> A Nintendo 3DS signed by Shigeru Miyamoto is up for auction, and it's already over $21,000.
--> Also: Top 3 New Releases, Retro Rewind

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In this episode...
-->  Destiny 2's active development is officially coming to a close, and the news just gets worse as it's reported that Destiny 3 isn't in development, and layoffs are planned at Bungie after the game's final update next month. 
--> Riot says "congrats on your $6k paperweights" as a new Valorant anti-cheat update reportedly bricks the PCs of many cheaters.
--> Less than 2 years after his own game fully shut down, Jason Voorhees is coming to Dead by Daylight to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary.
--> Also: To...

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-->  Microsoft is continuing its drive to revamp brand XBOX with the launch of a feedback platform that gives fans the chance to vote on community requests. Predictably, the request with the most votes is a return to exclusives. 
--> Ahead of the release of Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Ubisoft has launched a real-life hunt for a $500,000 treasure out there somewhere in the Caribbean.
--> A bunch of mom-and-pop video game stores have received mysterious shipments of one of the PS4's rarest games, Poop Slinger. 

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In this episode...
-->  Online marketplace eBay has rejected an offer from GameStop to buy the company for $55.5 billion, dealing a blow to the video game retailer’s ambitions to create a rival to Amazon. 
--> Xbox Game Pass is now included, in truncated form, as part of Discord Nitro.
--> Sega has officially canceled its Super Game, which was originally revealed in 2021, slated for release in March 2026, and given a budget of $882 million. 
--> Also: Top 3 New Releases, Gaming History 101

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In this episode...
-->  GameStop has made a $55.5 billion offer to buy eBay, and it remains unclear whether eBay’s board will view GameStop as a credible acquirer for a company four times its size. 
--> Sony is expected to pay $7.8 million in PlayStation refunds after a PSN lawsuit settlement gets preliminary approval.
--> Reggie Fils-Aimé has opened up about the time an Amazon executive gave him a phone call and asked Nintendo to do something "illegal" during the era of the Nintendo DS. 
--> Also: Top 3 New Releases, Nerd H...

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In this episode...
-->  Sony added online DRM to all PS5 and PS4 digital games, causing titles bought after April 2026 to crash and become unplayable if you don’t connect to the internet every 30 days. Then just as suddenly, the company walked it all back.
--> Microsoft’s Xbox hardware revenue continues to tumble, with the company revealing a 33 percent decline as part of its earnings report released on Wednesday.
--> A Brazilian funeral urn and coffin manufacturer is now advertising a new line of coffins styled after several Mario chara...

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In this episode...
-->  In response to lots of negative feedback, Microsoft has cut the price of Xbox Game Pass and announced that Call of Duty titles will no longer be included with the service at launch going forward.
--> A Blizzard lawsuit has killed off a huge private World of Warcraft server while a cease and desist ends another.
--> This past week was packed to the brim with news and reveals for upcoming video game film adaptations, such as Elden Ring, The Legend of Zelda, and more.
...

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-->  The next generation of PlayStation is claimed to consist of three new devices, launching at the same time between $350 and $1,000, according to popular leaker Moore's Law is Dead in a recent live stream.
--> Australian YouTube content creator Karl Jobst is suing Donkey Kong record holder Billy Mitchell for defamation following the conclusion of a previous dispute between the two last year.
--> A 91-year-old Ohio woman was recently surprised by a visit from police during an extended gaming session, which had apparently been so absorbing t...

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In this episode...
--> Boutique physical game publisher Limited Run Games is now promising an end to its infamous delayed order deliveries as it throws its old guard under the bus. 
--> PlayStation has announced a new contest called The Playerbase, and it will allow winners to have their likenesses scanned to appear in PlayStation games.
--> McDonald's has introduced a brand-new Pro Game Menu and an 'Archie' device that will keep you from going AFK while you're eating, but it's only available in Türkiye. 
--> Also: Top 3 New...

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In this episode...
--> The USPTO has rejected Nintendo’s controversial "summon character and let it fight" Pokémon patent, after it was heavily criticized by IP lawyers last year.
--> Sony has announced price increases for PS5, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation Portal, blaming “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.”
--> Microsoft has confirmed that its new Xbox boss scrapped the controversial “This is an Xbox” ad campaign as part of brand reset.
--> A new Star Fox game and a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake are among n...

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In this episode...
--> Epic Games, the multi-billion dollar corporation behind Fortnite, is laying off more than 1,000 employees. CEO Tim Sweeney blames a "downturn in Fortnite engagement" for the move.
--> A new report says that 77% of US Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth players were aged 30 or older, highlighting Square Enix’s struggle to get young people to care about the JRPG series again.
--> A new scientific study concludes that “post-game depression” is real, and RPGs are the biggest culprits.
--> Resident Evil Requiem's terrifying new stalker sounds so disturbing becaus...

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In this episode...
--> Nvidia announced DLSS 5 at GTC 2026, a new iteration of the company's gaming AI suite that it is describing as "the GPT moment for graphics."
--> A judge ruled Monday that video-game publisher Krafton Inc. must reinstate Ted Gill less than a year after ChatGPT suggested the company fire the former CEO to avoid paying out performance bonuses to Unknown Worlds, makers of Subnautica 2.
--> A YouTuber has said they will "return" ownership of a website address that Capcom hid in Resident Evil Requiem, if the game's...

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In this episode...
--> Microsoft has confirmed that the next Xbox is in development. Dubbed Project Helix, the device is described as a “next generation console” that can “play your Xbox and PC games.”
--> Monday’s movie-focused Nintendo Direct delivered the final trailer for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie while revealing new members of its cast – including Donald Glover (a.k.a. Childish Gambino) as Yoshi.
--> Ever since Sony announced the original God of War trilogy was getting the remake treatment, there has been one question being asked louder than...

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In this episode...
--> Just over a month after it launched, the axe has fallen on troubled PvP shooter Highguard. Developer Wildlight Entertainment announced today that the game's next update will be its last, and it will be taken offline on March 12.
--> Sony is reportedly abandoning its strategy of bringing its first-party PlayStation games to PC, with the company now set to return to console-only releases for all but a select number of online titles.
--> Pokémon celebrated its 30th anniversary last week with the Pokémon Game Mu...

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In this episode...
--> A shocking shakeup at Xbox: Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox President Sarah Bond are out. Asha Sharma (President of Microsoft’s CoreAI) is in, despite having no gaming experience. Game Pass is MIA in talks about Xbox's future, and Xbox co-creator Seamus Blackley is predicting that the brand will be "sunsetted." Is this the beginning of the end for Xbox?
--> Bluepoint (the studio behind the widely praised Demon's Souls remake and the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, among others) is being shut down by PlayStation.

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In this episode...
--> Video games need to be cheaper to buy. At least, that’s the opinion coming from attendees at the DICE convention in Las Vegas this week, where thousands of video-game makers have been asking each other the same question: What can we learn from Clair Obscur: Expedition 33?
--> Video game stocks have been getting repeatedly KO’d in recent weeks following the launch of Google’s new generative-AI tool, Project Genie, but experts are saying the program in reality is not the industry killer investors seem to think...

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In this episode...
--> PlayStation gave us the first State of Play of the new year, and it was a banger. The 60-minute plus event brought multiple new games, updates, and more across many storied franchises, including Castlevania, God of War, Silent Hill, and more.
--> Discord announced on Monday that it’s rolling out age verification on its platform globally starting next month, when it will automatically set all users’ accounts to a “teen-appropriate” experience unless they demonstrate that they’re adults.
--> Larian Studios’ multi-award-winning fantasy RPG, Baldur’s Gate 3, is s...

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In this episode...
--> Publisher Sony has just embraced death and patented its idea for bespoke AI-generated podcasts starring the characters from its games.
--> Unity Software Inc. and video game stocks plunged this past Friday on fears of possible artificial intelligence disruption after Google began to roll out Project Genie.
--> Variety reported Tuesday that Tongal, a studio that has developed content for Netflix, NBC Universal and other major brands, is in the process of developing a feature film based on the 1980s gridiron video game, Tecmo Bowl.
...

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In this episode...
--> Ubisoft is following up last week's "portfolio reset" of canceled and delayed games with the announcement that it's exploring eliminating 200 roles at its Paris headquarters through a "voluntary mutual termination agreement," along with a pledge to double down on “player-facing Generative AI.”
--> The upcoming Fable reboot has 1,000 "handcrafted" NPCs, and you can apparently marry every single one of them.
--> Valve needed to "verify" footage of the alien orgy in the new Earth Must Die before it was allowed to launch on Steam.
--> Also...

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--> Even with lots to look forward to, 2026 is steeped in uncertainty. We're discussing predictions for the video game industry in the coming year, including GTA VI, AI use, China, and more.
--> A new report from Forbes confirms that upcoming shooter Highguard didn't pay for the final reveal spot at the Game Awards despite other developers having to pony up six to seven-figure sums to have their trailers included.
--> Nintendo allegedly expressed dissatisfaction at Sega during the development of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games...

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In this episode...
--> Valve’s Steam Machine pricing may have just been leaked by a retailer — and it ain’t cheap.
--> Pocketpair has made the surprise announcement of an official Palworld Trading Card Game. As you’d expect, the announcement has sparked further comparisons between Palworld and Pokémon, which has a hugely popular trading card game of its own.
--> GameStop is closing hundreds of stores just days into the new year as CEO Ryan Cohen aims to take home $35 billion in performance-based stock options.
-->  Larian has...

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In this episode...
--> Now that we have all finished welcoming in the new year with fanfare and no small amount of trepidation, it’s the perfect time to take a look ahead at the biggest games currently scheduled to release in 2026, including Resident Evil: Requiem, Pragmata, 007 First Light, and Grand Theft Auto 6.
--> Sony has patented a "ghost" AI assistance system for when you just can’t be bothered to git gud.
--> An obscure Star Wars video game just became extremely valuable for a wild reason: it can be u...

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In this episode...
--> It's the end of another year, and it was another big one for the video game industry with countless major events, controversies, and trends to take in. We're recapping the 10 biggest gaming news stories of 2025.
--> Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios has come under fire this week following a Bloomberg report that the studio is "pushing hard" for AI and is using generative AI behind the scenes.
--> Capcom is inviting fans to design their own Mega Man boss for Dual Overdrive.
--> Also: To...

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In this episode...
--> The biggest night in gaming sees hypeman Geoff Keighly dish out shiny awards to the best games of the past 12 months -- including indie sensation Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which walked away with nine awards. Of course, the Game Awards also means hours’ worth of game announcements and trailers to sort through, such as Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic, two new Tomb Raider projects, Mega Man: Dual Override, and Larian Studio's bizarre debut trailer for Divinity.
--> In a move that will dramatically reshape the entertainment bu...

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In this episode...
--> It turns out Saudi Arabia will own 93.4% of EA if the buyout goes through, effectively giving the country control of the entire company.
--> GameStop has highlighted its recent payout of more than $30,000 for a rare Pokémon card as evidence that the company’s trade-in program offers fair value — while simultaneously admitting the card had actually been worth at least $3,000 more.
-->  Microsoft has teamed up with rubber footwear brand Crocs to give us some of the most, uh, eyecatching shoes on the market.
--> It...

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In this episode...
--> The nominees for the 2025 Game Awards have been revealed, and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is up for 12 awards, making it the most nominated game in the awards’ history. 
--> While the world elsewhere celebrates the best that gaming had to offer in 2025, review curation site Metacritic has released its list of the worst games of 2025. 
-->  Sony has issued a number of DMCA notices against a fan project working to bring Concord back to life.
--> Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has capped off Steam Machine week by ta...