The Bobby Blackwolf Show

Latest Episodes:

932 - 04/13/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - What Nintendo Could Have Done To Make Mario Kart World Cheaper Apr 20, 2025

Show notes

Nintendo is assessing the tariff situation, and made a statement that the Switch 2 price was not made with the tariffs in mind. The 46% tariffs on Vietnam were paused for 90 days, but the 10% tariff went into effect. If you ask Google and Reddit, the physical version of Mario Kart World is $90 in the US - however, if you ask Nintendo, it is only $80. The confusion is because the internet is broken. Then we ask the multi-million dollar question - how could Mario Kart World's price have been lowered? You probably wouldn't like the answer as a consumer - but it's a reckoning a lot of AAA titles that are feature-filled or take innovation and risks will have to come to grips with. Then we talk to Rob about the price of everything gaming related, even though our wages haven't gone up to pay for it.

931 - 04/06/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - The Impact Of Tariffs On Nintendo Switch 2, Board Games, and Tabletop Games Apr 13, 2025

Show notes

The Nintendo Switch 2 was announced on the same day the United States announced sweeping tariffs across every other nation on the planet. This caused the initial pre-orders for the Switch 2 to be delayed in the US. Vietnam, where Nintendo moved production to from China, had come to the negotiating table as of the recording of this show, and after recording this show, the reciprocal 46% tariff has been paused for 90 days (however the initial 10% still remains.) Board Games designed in the US are affected, too, because there just isn't the manufacturing capability or capacity in the US to do the specialty parts that many board games need. This means that board game prices will either soar, or people will just stop designing new board games. Tabletop Game makers are also facing some tough decisions about how to go forward with their business when the only good manufacturing for their niche product is in a highly tariff'd country.

930 - 03/30/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Nintendo Virtual Game Cards, Sony Preserving Their Gaming History Apr 06, 2025

Show notes

Before the Switch 2 reveal, Nintendo revealed the Virtual Game Card system, a solution to a problem not many people were having - which caused confusion. We break down who it's for and why it might not be something you would use, since you can opt out of it. Game Informer is back! At least the magazine and staff is - thanks to a crypto company. No word on the amazing Game Informer Vault, though. Sony is preserving PlayStation history on tape backups in a cold storage vault at an undisclosed location, but it's not for researchers - only for internal company use. Then we talk to Rob about the Virtual Game Cards and who they're for.

929 - 03/23/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - SNESs Are Faster Now, Accessibility Features To Have Better Indicators Mar 30, 2025

Show notes

Yakuza is leaving Game Pass and it's all one of our listener's fault. The United Videogame Workers union has started to help the game industry unionize. Standard accessibility labels are coming across several online storefronts. SNES's are faster now, and it's because of Nintendo skimping on a resonator, so it speeds up over time. Portal is getting a new pinball machine courtesy of the Multimorphic P3 platform. Then we talk to Rob about Arcade1up and how it sounds like they are about to go under - and how our TRON cabinets are now worth a lot of money.

928 - 03/09/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Is Acclaim Really Returning, Or Is It Just The Trademark? Mar 23, 2025

Show notes

Discord is in talks to go public, which means that we're nearing the time when the platform might become less usable as profits will become more necessary. Forza Horizon 5 on the PlayStation 5 will require an Xbox account linked to your PSN account to play. Classic game publisher Acclaim is returning! While everyone is talking about which games they could resurrect, the reality is only the trademark was purchased, and the new company doesn't own any of the former Acclaim catalog. There's a lot of live investigation about who owns what rights to what games, with a lot of attention to Wizards & Warriors. We still aren't positive who owns it. Then we took a call about Jeff Jarrett's involvement with Acclaim and why that is a red flag. Then we talk to Rob about Acclaim and my old Flappy Bird clone that maybe Acclaim can publish.

927 - 03/02/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - PEGI Reclassifies Balatro, Warner Bros Closes Game Studios Mar 09, 2025

Show notes

We start off talking about preservation of television video from the late 90's and 2000's - and why it looks a lot worse today than we remember when it first aired. PEGI has reclassified Balatro and Luck Be A Landlord down to a PEGI-12 rating from a PEGI-18, which was given because it had elements of gambling. PEGI's statement described how it was modifying its rating rules to account for "fantastical elements" in games like Balatro. EA has released the source code for many of their Command & Conquer titles, which are fun to go through and will help the modding community greatly, but won't really teach you how to make a game in 2025. Warner Bros is closing Monolith Productions, Player First Games, and WB Games San Diego, and cancelling their projects, including a Wonder Woman game. Monolith Productions had patented the "Nemesis" system from Shadow of Mordor, and now Warner Bros holds on to the patent until 2036, while most likely not using it in any more games - but will stop other games from incorporating the same mechanic. Then we talk about how March is gonna have a lot of great game releases.

926 - 02/23/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Marvel Rivals Design Team Laid Off, Twitch Destroying Gaming History Mar 02, 2025

Show notes

Twitch is going to be destroying a decade of gaming history by limiting all Twitch channels to only 100 hours of highlights on their account, affecting only 0.5% of active channels, which apparently include everyone I know in the speedrunning community. An entire US based team of designers has been laid off by Chinese company NetEase, even though they worked on the hugely successful Marvel Rivals. Limited Run Games has put out a warning regarding some recently released NES cartridges that may damage the cartridge or the console due to faulty voltage regulation. Then we talk with the chat about asset reuse and the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series, now that Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is out.

925 - 02/16/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Malware Game On Steam, E3 Replacement Not For You Feb 23, 2025

Show notes

A malware infected game was released for free on Steam and delisted - but not before a thousand gamers downloaded and launched it. Valve recommends you format your PC. The creators of E3 have a new industry trade show, and seem to be doing everything in their power to not make the consumers interested - which is great. Former Activision CEO claims that buying Bizarre Creations, the creators of Project Gotham Racing and Blur, was a "bad decision". Then we talk to Rob about if he bought Civilization VII, and about how No Man's Sky's previous expedition rewards got wiped out on consoles.

924 - 02/02/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Sonic The Hedgehog Speed Cafe Impressions, Forza Horizon Coming To PS5 Feb 11, 2025

Show notes

I visited the Sonic The Hedgehog Speed Cafe pop-up restaurant in Atlanta - a place where you are paying for the experience and not for the culinary excellence. (But the food was fine!) We had a listener correct me on calling the Meta Quest 3 a "low-end" VR headset, and then point me to Arcade Time Capsule, a five story VR arcade. (Bring your own games!) Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation this year. Then we talk to Rob about the Video Game History Foundation and what he searched for when it opened its digital library.

923 - 01/26/25 Bobby Blackwolf Show - Physical Game Spending Halved Since 2021, Video Game History Foundation Library Online Feb 02, 2025

Show notes

The first part of the podcast is actually about me getting two new kittens! It takes up the first 15 or so minutes. EA is retiring the Origin PC client, which means that they are no longer supporting DRM for titles on 32-bit PC's, so older computers won't be able to launch The Sims anymore. US spending on physical video games has halved since 2021, spelling doom for people who don't want to lose access to their purchases. The Video Game History Foundation has brought most of their library online for research purposes - magazines, dev notebooks, and other things that aren't the games themselves. Then we talk to Rob about the Video Game History Foundation and what he'd search for first when it goes online.

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