PC Gamer Chat Log

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Which games seem totally stuck in development? May 16, 2024

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On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Robin Valentine about games that seems stuck in "development hell." Which games have we been anticipating the longest without any concrete update? Which ones may come out the other side and which have fallen flat when the finally show up?

'90s PC gaming veterans roundtable May 09, 2024

Show notes

For our third and final roundtable from GDC 2024, we gathered together a special group of developers who each have more than 30 years of experience making PC games. Our guests:

Jordan Mechner - Karateka, Prince of Persia, The Last Express
Warren Spector - Ultima Underworld, System Shock, Deus Ex
Charles Cecil - Broken Sword, Beneath a Steel Sky
Khris Brown - Voice director & editor for LucasArts, Double Fine, Ubisoft

Our veteran panel discuss how they got into games (and how unlikely their paths could be replicated today), the challenges of making games with the technology of the '80s and '90s, run-ins with celebrity voice actors like Mark Hamill, and—of course—the history of the Knights Templar.

2024 RPG roundtable: Baldur's Gate 3, Avowed, Cyberpunk, In Stars and Time, Elder Scrolls designers May 02, 2024

Show notes

PC Gamer's RPG roundtable returns with a powerful panel of RPG experts to talk lovable and hateable companions, romance (and thirst), how you make a great intro to a massive game, and much more. Joining our panel this year:

Swen Vincke, founder and director at Larian (Baldur's Gate 3)
Carrie Patel, game director and senior narrative designer at Obsidian (Avowed)
Sarah Gruemmer, acting lead quest designer at CD Projekt Red (Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty)
Adrienne Bazir, founder and sole developer at insertdisc5 (In Stars and Time)
Ted Peterson, co-founder Once Lost Games and former writer and designer at Bethesda (The Elder Scrolls 1-4)

Our developers each talk about their current or recent games, as well as other RPGs that have inspired them, from Nier to Disco Elysium. If you'd like more insightful conversation about RPGs, check out last year's roundtable from April 21, 2023.

The State of PC Gaming roundtable (2024) - Larian, Digital Extremes, CCP, Mega Crit Apr 25, 2024

Show notes

Global-editor-in-chief Evan Lahti leads the developers behind some of PC gaming's biggest hits in a discussion on the state of our hobby and the biggest trends, risks and opportunities in PC gaming today. Joining us:

Michael Douse - Director of Publishing, Larian (Baldur's Gate 3)
Rebecca Ford - Creative Director, Warframe
Eyrún Jónsdóttir - VP of Publishing at CCP (EVE Online)
Casey Yano - Co-founder, Mega Crit (Slay the Spire)

In this 80 minute conversation, our guests talk about making "hyper-engaging" games that defy the traditional advice of appealing to as broad an audience of players as possible; the innovation in game development only happening on PC; Steam as a "democratic" platform; industry layoffs and the emerging use of AI in development; and what we should take away from the standout successes of 2024, like Helldivers 2 and Balatro.

Did we think the Fallout TV show season one was rad? Apr 18, 2024

Show notes

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Fallout-enjoyer Chris Livingston about the first season of Amazon's Fallout TV show. Was it rad? Did it succeed at adapting the vaults of the wasteland and selling us on new characters?

What are the white whale games we may never play? Apr 11, 2024

Show notes

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Tyler Colp about the games they should really get kicked out of their favorite genres for not playing yet. Which classic RPGs are the biggest holes in our back catalog and which lengthy story campaigns are just never getting completed? Shame aside though, maybe there are some games that aren't actually the must-plays people say.

Which PC games do you remember from your childhood? Apr 04, 2024

Show notes

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk about the PC games they remember from their childhood. Mollie hailed from the Learning Land while Lauren was an enjoyer of Humongus Entertainment, but did any of those favorite genres stick with us as adults? And did anyone ever discover The Sims any way other than a friend showing it to them?

How's everyone's experience with Dragon's Dogma 2 so far? Mar 27, 2024

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On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Fraser Brown about Dragon's Dogma 2 and all of our time with it so far. Fraser's already clocked over 100 hours adventuring with his pawn, Gorbo while Mollie and Lauren are just getting started. It's been a comedy of errors in weird quest designs, goofy pawns, and wacky combat, but we're all enjoying ourselves despite the critiques so far.

How do PC game launchers stack up in 2024? Mar 25, 2024

Show notes

On this week's Chat Log, Mollie and Lauren talk with Robin Valentine who recently undertook the arduous task of ranking lots of common game launchers. The result? Steam is still unbeatable, but why is that? Other broad launchers like the Epic Store and GOG have made improvements over the years and publisher launchers like the EA app have gotten overhauls too. Where are they still falling short in the year 2024?

How do we really feel about the yellow paint on climbable ledges trick? Mar 14, 2024

Show notes

On this week's Chat Log, Lauren and Mollie talk with Tyler Wilde about the traditional topic of debate for this decade: yellow paint on climbable ledges in games. Players say they're sick of it; developers say it's necessary for showing players the way. What do we say? Well, we're not above having our own little debate about it, that's for sure.

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