CORE - Core Gaming for Core Gamers

Latest Episodes:

CORE 501: Clarity Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

Get your ‘500+ Episodes’ mugs at Frogpants.shop now before its too late!. We recapped The Game Awards: Jon loved Resident Evil Requiem, Scott is into Total War Warhammer 40k, and Beau liked Gang of Dragon. We mostly bounced off Highguard.

News: Steam Winter Sale is live. Fallout Season 2 has started. We discussed Netflix buying WB (details at core.show). Supervive is shutting down after 7 months.

Played: Scott is on Path of Exile 2 and Mutant Football League 2. Jon is trying demos like Pragmata and back in FFXIV. Beau is on Witcher 3 and other sick-friendly games this week.

Ozzfudd notes Scott can finish Far Cry 4 and 5 in minutes via secret endings. Just another Nick suggests Super Fantasy Kingdom. Email us at SHOW@CORE.SHOW!

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CORE SPECIAL: 2025 Game Awards Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

Audio edition of our watch-a-long! Listen along with us! Video version will be up on CORE.SHOW shortly.

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CORE 500: 500 of These! Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

Welcome to episode 500! Finishing Dispatch, loving Split Fiction, playing Demeo DND, and the Hordes of Hel! Plus Shinobi is underrated, Divinity still has a lot of stuff on the ground, Witcher 3, and a LOT of prep for tonight’s Game Awards. (coming in a separate post.)

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CORE 499: Primed Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

🎉 500 EPISODE MUGS NOW AVAILABLE!

Get yours reserved before we hit the limit!

https://frogpants.shop

⚠️ SPOILER POLICY CLARIFICATION

Going forward:

1. We'll do our best not to offer major spoilers on narrative elements

2. We'll give ample warning to pause, skip ahead, or come back later

3. We'll front-load discussions with spoiler-free content

- Scott will play BGM over spoiler sections for podcast listeners

- Jon is doing YouTube chapters ASAP once the episode posts

NOTE: This has never been a spoiler-free show, but we're making extra effort for those asking. You have personal responsibility to avoid spoilers if they matter to you.

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🎮 MAIN TOPIC

THE FEW GAMES OF DECEMBER 2025

Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Octopath Traveler 0, Metroid Prime 4, Yakuza 0 Director's Cut, Terminator 2D: No Fate, & More.

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📰 NEWS ROUNDUP

🐴 Indie Game "Horses" Keeps Getting Banned

Banned from Steam, Epic, and now Humble. Still available on Itch.io and GOG.

🎬 Justin Lin to Direct Helldivers Movie

The Fast & Furious director takes on the video game adaptation.

🐺 SO MUCH WITCHER

- Witcher 4 NOT coming in 2026

- Witcher 5 and 6 also in the works

- Witcher Remastered on the way

🔞 WickedWhims Has 300K Daily Logins

Sims' biggest sex mod sees massive daily usage

🧛 Paradox Takes Blame for Bloodlines 2

Publisher says responsibility for poor sales lies fully with them, not developers

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🎮 WHAT WE'VE BEEN PLAYING

SCOTT

⚠️ Possible Spoilers: Did I finish Dispatch? Have to wait and see!

Split Fiction - Incredible co-op game. Most FUN game this year!

PowerWash Simulator 2 - Still the best CHORE CORE of 2025.

JON

CyberPunk 2077 - Done everything in base game, Phantom Liberty awaits

Marvel Cosmic Invasion - Started and finished

SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance - Sleeper hit! (Scott confirms)

BEAU

Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt continues

Noobs Are Coming

Jump Space

Rocksmith 2014 - We're back

Star Citizen - I forgot about it... sorry

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CORE 498: Law of Threes Nov 29, 2025

Show notes

Scott dropped a Patreon vs Core.show support comparison video—check it at Core.show for the breakdown. Also posted an article about RAM prices going absolutely bonkers right now. The advice? Wait it out. Don't be the person overpaying because you can't control yourself.

News Roundup:

WoW: Midnight Gets Real

Jon brought the news: World of Warcraft's next expansion drops March 2nd, 2026. Mark your calendars, prepare your excuses for missing work.

Half-Life 3 Copium Intensifies

People—including "insiders"—still think HL3 is getting announced this year. Spoiler: It's not. It never is. Stop doing this to yourselves.

CD Projekt Reality Check

No Witcher 4 or Cyberpunk 2 at the Game Awards. Shocking absolutely no one.
Cyberpunk 2077 hit 35 million copies sold, outpacing The Witcher 3's trajectory
Cyberpunk 2 is still years away. Hang in there, chooms.

GAMES PLAYED

Scott's Games

Dispatch

Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault

No Way Home

Guild Wars 2 Milestone

Jackbox Party Pack 11

Jon's Games

Cyberpunk 2077?

Beau's Games

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - Finished

Witcher 3

Total Chaos

And LOTS MORE!

Contact: show@core.show | Text: tenhams.com

Links: Frogpants.com/core

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CORE 497: Claire Obscured Nov 21, 2025

Show notes

Main Topic: Game Awards Nominees. Megabonk dev withdraws "Best Debut Indie" nomination (made previous games). Claire Obscur: Expedition 33 breaks record with 12 nominations. Notable snubs: ARC Raiders, Dispatch, Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Other News

Xbox Partners Showcase (Tides of Annihilation, Vampire Crawlers, Total Chaos)

Epic/Unity partnership for Fortnite integration

Krafton AI controversy re: Subnautica 2 bonuses

Dispatch skill requirements discussion

First live-action Zelda movie set photos

Our Week in Gaming

Shared: Dispatch progress (Beau completed, Jon restarted, Scott finished Episode 1)

Beau: Claire Obscur Act 3, Slay the Spire boardgame, No Man's Sky Normandy unlock, Vampire Survivors VR

Scott: Forestrike (standout), Shelldiver (incremental gem), Advance Wars binge, Moonlighter 2 purchased, Cleared Hot, Guild Wars 2 reinstalled

Jon: Cyberpunk 2077 continues

Fallout 4 pricing clarification from NickLandry - Anniversary Edition upgrade options explained, Xbox Play Anywhere support added.

Links: Patreon.com/coreshow | CORE.show | frogpants.com/core

New article on CORE.show: Vegas conversation about AI threats + why GoldenEye is the GOAT.

CORE.show vs Patreon (frogpants.com/core)

Episode 500 commemorative mug dropping at frogpants.shop this weekend!

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CORE 496: Open The Valve Nov 14, 2025

Show notes

Valve has three new hardware options for you, and we talk about them in detail today. Plus all the news and stuff you can stand, as well as a visit from Bobby for a nice little WoW update!

GAMES PLAYED

SCOTT

Tavern Keeper

JON

Dispatch

CyberPunk 2077

BEAU

Farthest Frontier

Jump Space

REPO

ARC Raiders

Vampire Survivors VR

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CORE 495: Laminate Your Stones Nov 07, 2025

Show notes

All the details on CORE.show, and what you can get from it! WoW is not coming to consoles, says game lead at Blizz. Fortnite has all the cartoon dads now. Rockstar doing some devious firings. Your Steam Deck can now download while asleep! Warhammer Survivors is HAPPENING! Blizzcon tickets go up tomorrow. Playstation Portal finally does cloud. The return of Nexeopardy! All the games of the week and loads more.

SCOTT

Hoop Land

Mech Havoc

Utopia Must Fall

JON

The Outer Worlds 2

Cyberpunk 2077

Dispatch

BEAU

ARC Raiders

Aliens: Dark Descent

Ball X Pit

Dawn of War: Definitive Edition

Jump Space

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CORE 494: Cross Me Again... Oct 31, 2025

Show notes

Nintendo wants you to feel like those happy pandemic times again with a big update to Animal Crossing on Switch 2. Also, all the games of November, the Amazon Games layoffs and the apparent shutter of New World. Civ 7 trying to fix things. Claire and Cloud together at last. All the games we played plus all the usual stuff Enjoy!

SHARED PLAY THIS WEEK

Slots & Daggers

SCOTT

Powerwash Simulator 2

Warside

JON

The Outer Worlds 2

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection

Dispatch

BEAU

Aliens: Dark Descent

Fellowship

Jump Space

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CORE 493: Impossible Task Oct 24, 2025

Show notes

How does anyone make a definitive list of the best games? It’s impossible, but we talk about the latest attempt anyway. Plus, Remedy losing their CEO after Firebreak did so poorly, and Vampire Survivors adds DLC to DLC. We also field a load of your questions this week, along with the usual dork-athon, and the games we played to boot!

SHARED PLAY THIS WEEK

Battlefield 6

SCOTT

Superliminal (beat it!)

Battle-Suit Aces

Yet Another Zombie Survivors

Geometry Survivor

Dungeon Clawler

Slots and Daggers

JON

Dispatch

The Outer Worlds 2