Vidjagame Apocalypse

Latest Episodes:

View Askew Actors in Games with Dave Rudden - Vidjagame Apocalypse 623 Apr 19, 2025

Show notes

Jay and Silent Bob recently arrived in Call of Duty as premium operator skins, but it's hardly the first time actors associated with Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films have starred in games. Dave Rudden joins us this week to talk about five of 'em, after which we'll talk more about Blue Prince, the Minecraft movie, Switch 2 letting Zelda players repair their weapons with a mobile app, and the most money you've ever spent on a console at launch.

Question of the Week: Do you have fond memories of any "companion-app" gaming experience? Should these still be a thing?

Break song is Clerks by Love Among Freaks. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Southern Gothic - Vidjagame Apocalypse 622 Apr 12, 2025

Show notes

This is a big week for strange and cryptic games, and TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins to celebrate the release of South of Midnight with a look at five games that explore the supernatural and seamy sides of the American South. We'll also delve into Blue Prince and Promise Mascot Agency, complain about tariffs, speculate about Donkey Kong Bananza, and hear your thoughts about the Switch 2 reveal.

Question of the Week: What's the most you have ever spent for a console at launch (via bundles, secondary market, etc)?

Break song is You've Got to Walk by Ben Babbitt and the Bedquilt Ramblers. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Terrible Versions of Classic Games - Vidjagame Apocalypse 621 Apr 04, 2025

Show notes

In this era of multiplatform releases and more-or-less standardized hardware, it can be easy to forget that great games didn't always stay great once they'd made their way to different consoles and computers. In fact, ports that were rushed, incomplete, or just plain lousy used to be common, and this week, we'll look at five of the most infamously bad ones. Then we'll talk about Atomfall, InZoi, and - of course! - the Switch 2 reveal, plus your views on dressing characters for aesthetics vs. stats.

Question of the Week: What are your thoughts on Switch 2? Did it live up to your expectations? Are you excited? Disappointed? Let us know.

Break song is Rocket Man as performed by William Shatner. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Clothes Make the Character - Vidjagame Apocalypse 620 Mar 28, 2025

Show notes

Plenty of games let you change your character's clothes, but in how many does it really matter, from a gameplay standpoint? At least five, which we'll talk about this week with model/stylist/game brand strategist and former journo Aiden Strawhun, who also knows how to talk about Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land way better than the rest of us. We'll also get into The First Berserker: Khazan, new announcements for Monster Hunter Wilds, the return of Game Informer, and the game names you've habitually mispronounced.

Question of the Week: Do you dress your game characters purely for power and stats, or more for aesthetics?

Break song is Cover Girl by RuPaul. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Games Set (But Not Made) In Japan - Vidjagame Apocalypse 619 Mar 21, 2025

Show notes

Assassin's Creed Shadows is out, and we've got IGN's reviewer - friend of the show Jarrett Green - on to talk about Ubi's massive open-world shinobi-and-samurai adventure in feudal Japan! But first, we'll use this as an opportunity to talk about five other games made by western developers, but set in Japan. Once all that's done, we'll talk about the internet's reaction to Karl Urban's Johnny Cage, the SNES mysteriously getting faster with age, and your long-standing gaming regrets.

Question of the Week: Inspired by the Suikoden remaster, what's a game name you've habitually mispronounced, either by mistake or (for comedy's sake) on purpose? Were you ever embarrassingly corrected? Tell us about it.

Break song is We're the River City Girls by Megan McDuffee. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Not-Quite-Marios - Vidjagame Apocalypse 618 Mar 14, 2025

Show notes

We just passed Mar10 Day this week, and that got us thinking about all the times console makers have thought, "Hey! What if WE had a cute, highly marketable face to sell OUR hardware?" We'll take a look at five of the least successful attempts at machine-exclusive mascots this week, after which we'll get into WWE 2k25 and Wanderstop, share updated thoughts on Monster Hunter Wilds and Suikoden I & II HD Remaster, and hear which games you think should have a Nemesis System of their own.

Question of the Week: Do you have a persistent regret about a game (i.e., did you finish a game the "wrong" way, miss a piece of a story, make a bad decision, etc., that you've never gotten around to correcting)?

Break song is the credits music from Gex. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Patent-Protected Features - Vidjagame Apocalypse 617 Mar 07, 2025

Show notes

Ever wonder why so few games include features like, say, Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system, or minigames you can play during loading events? It's because they are or were locked behind patents - and this week, Jesse "Street Cleaner" Bishop joins us to talk about five such features - as well as the launch of Street Cleaner 3. Then we'll get into Monster Hunter Wilds, Two Point Museum, Everhood 2, the reveal of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4, and your personal feelings about game demos.

Question of the Week: If it weren't patent-protected, what game or series do you think could benefit from something like the Nemesis system?

Break song is It Ain't Safe by Street Cleaner & NormallyRetro. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Problematic Stars - Vidjagame Apocalypse 616 Mar 01, 2025

Show notes

Landing a celebrity to star in your game is usually a huge deal - but like a lot of things, celebrities can go bad over time, turning their games into weird cultural artifacts with unpleasant associations. This week, Anthony Abatte joins us to talk about five games with stars who probablly seemed like a great idea at the time, after which we'll get into Street Cleaner 3, Steam Next Fest, Monolith's closure, and the games you'd like to see do a pirate-themed sequel.

Question of the Week: With Steam Next Fest launching a ton of demos onto the service, do you typically play demos to sample games, or do you just jump right in and buy ones you're interested in? (And did you have a favorite from Next Fest?)

Break song is Although the Sky by Dorkus64. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Spiritual Successors (By the Original Creators) - Vidjagame Apocalypse 615 Feb 21, 2025

Show notes

With Avowed's launch casting a spotlight on Obsidian this week, we got to thinking about the studio's unique trajectory, and so Trone Dowd — who reviewed Avowed for Inverse — joins us to talk about about studios who got nudged off series they created (for whatever reason), and used their ideas to make something new (but familiar). We'll also get into Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza Pirate in Hawaii, the Street Fighter movie's new director, Nintendo discontinuing the Gold Points program, and the obscure games you'd like to see return via a streaming service.

Question of the Week: Zelda did it. Assassin's Creed did it. Yakuza did it. What game series should take to the high seas for a pirate adventure next?

Break song is Fly Me To The Moon (∞ Climax Mix) by Bart Howard and Helena Noguerra. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Get the Cables! with Welcome to the Thing - Vidjagame Apocalypse 614 Feb 15, 2025

Show notes

Mikel's away this week, so Matt and Chris (with accompanying soundboard) invited the Welcome to the Thing crew to break format a bit with a top 5 that doesn't focus so much on games, but rather game distribution services, technologies, and platforms old and new -- the cable companies of games, if you will. After that, we talk about Civilization VII, more Rift of the Necrodancer, and break down all the big news from this week's State of Play. It's a fun one, we promise! (Did we mention Chris is manning the soundboard this week?)

Question of the Week: What obscure or impossible-to-play game do you want to be playable on modern platforms?

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

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