The Fallout TV series is out, it's great, and it's making us think of other, less-fortunate game-to-movie/TV adaptations - the ones languishing for decades in development hell, continually changing hands only to fade into obscurity. We'll look at five of the most striking examples this week, after which we'll get into Harold Halibut, Children of th…

Super Metroid turns 30 in the US on April 18, so we're celebrating the genre it kick-started by inviting Brendan Hesse for a debate-style Top 5 about the best Metroidvanias. Then we'll get into Season 1 of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Star Wars Outlaws, The Rogue Prince of Persia, and your favorite videogame x brand cross-promotions. Que…

Localizing games from Japanese to English (or vice versa) can be a delicate process, and sometimes yields results that are strange enough to become cultural phenomena on their own. This week, Greg Moore joins us to look at five famously weird localization decisions, after which we'll get into Freedom Planet 2's console release, (still more) Dragon'…

"Janky" can mean a lot of things in the context of games, but this week - hot on the heels of Dragon's Dogma 2 - it means weird, faintly shoddy-feeling fun, and Jarrett Green joins us this week to talk about five games that are arguably beloved because of their jank. We'll also talk (a lot) more about Dragon's Dogma 2, plus Alone in the Dark, Marve…

The right music can make an already memorable moment unforgettable, and this week Tony Wilson of Framework joins us for a look at five games that expertly surprised us with unexpected musical moments, elevating their stories in the process. Then we'll get into Rise of the Ronin, Alone in the Dark, the newly greenlit Sims movie, State of Unreal 2024…

Akira Toriyama passed away at 68 on March 1, leaving behind a rich legacy of iconic manga, anime, and (largely dragon-themed) videogames. To mark his passing, we're joined by TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing for a look at five game franchises to which he lent his talents, after which we'll get into Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, Contra: Operati…

This week is bookended by Ufouria The Saga 2 and WWE 2k24, both of which let you switch characters on the fly by tagging in partners - so with help from Emmett Watkins Jr., we'll count down five games that had some of the coolest character-swapping mechanics. Then we'll dig into Unicorn Overlord, Balatro, announcements from the Xbox Partner Preview…

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is out, and being that it's the middle entry in a trilogy, we've invited Brendan "The Crawl" Hesse to talk not only about the game (he finished it), but for a a debate-format Top 5 about other trilogies with fantastic middle entries. We'll also get into Pacific Drive, the Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, news from the Poké…

2014 was a big year for series swan songs, when a number of once-huge videogame franchises launched what would end up being their last installments (as of this writing 10 years later, anyway) - so this week, we pay tribute to five of our favorite series that have now been dead (or at least dormant) for a decade. Then it's on to Mario vs. Donkey Kon…

Skull and Bones is out this week, so we're reinventing one of our earliest Top 5 topics and debating the best-ever pirate games! Will your favorites find swashbuckling glory or be keel-hauled into ignominy? Then we'll get into Helldivers 2, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, and the villains…

Beloved actor Carl Weathers passed away last week, and TL Foster joins us to help pay tribute with a look at five games Weathers either appeared in, or that included the characters he brought to life. Then we'll get into Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Foamstars, the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo, Disney buying a stake in Epic, and the fig…

Tekken 8's launch has us captivated this week, so Anthony "BruceWayneBrady" Abatte joins us to talk about it — and about five of the fighting-game series' most noteworthy spinoffs. Then we'll get into the PlayStation State of Play news, the simultaneous reveal and cancellation of an unproduced Deus Ex, and your favorite games that rip off other gam…

We're continuing to play with format this week, starting with a non-traditional Top 5 about sequels that went by completely different names. Why's it non-traditional? We don't even start with a set list, and debate to decide it right there on the show! Then we'll delve into a slew of new releases including Palworld and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealt…

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is out this week, and we're all big fans! Before we dig into it on the show, though, it also inspired this episode's (traditionally formatted) Top 5, about series that have gotten more than one reboot over the years. Then we'll talk about Billy Mitchell settling with Twin Galaxies, GameStop backing off NFTs, and the…

With Tekken 8 launching in a matter of weeks, this week's Top 5 pays homage to other series that managed to hit at least eight games (and kept the number somewhere in their titles) - but with a twist, as we continue to experiment with new Top 5 formats. This week, we combine a trivia contest and a debate over which games should be included... to, u…

Let's start off 2024 right: With a look at five games we're especially looking forward to in the next 12 months! Then we'll get into the Polymega retro console (and Mikel's nearly four-year wait to get one), the 14,000 games Steam added in 2023, the first human being to "beat" NES Tetris, and your personal Games of the Year for 2023. Question of th…

If you've been following along the last few weeks you should know our top 10 games of 2023. What you probably don't know (unless you're a Patreon subscriber) is how we arrived at the final order for our list. Every year we record a Patreon-exclusive episode where Mikel, Matt, and Chris duke it out to decide on the order of our top 10. Patrons have …