With Niki on board the Artemis II to fix their Outlook situation, Lotus and John tackle the news and games of the week, including:

• Eidos-Montreal lays off 124 employees
• Stellar Blade's Shift Up acquires Shinji Mikami's brand new studio
• Stormgate loses online support because their server provider was bought by an AI company
• US Patent Office rejects overbroad Nintendo patent
• S&box, the follow-up to Garry's Mod, is out later this month
• PSA: the Steam versions of some classic Capcom games contain DRM not found on other storefronts
• The Gaming Historian retires from the channel
• The Perfect Tower II exponentially expands the systems typically found in incremental games
• Lucid Blocks has some charm, but maybe not the juice
• Project Hail Mary is uneven but still made John cry
• Alamo Drafthouse has completely ruined its value proposition
• Summer House might be Bravo's most soulless show (that John can't stop watching)
• Your Hive Questions are answered, including if ET would be better with legs

Thanks for listening! Leave us a review and we may read it on the show! Join The Hive!

This week, Lotus, Niki, and John contemplate Nintendo's strange (but maybe deliberate) choice to launch Animal Crossing's Switch 2 edition, Pokemon Pokopia, and Tomodachi Life in one tidy two month stretch. Also:

• Epic lays off 1,000 due to Fortnite "underperforming"
• OpenAI cans Sora and Disney exits investment
• Alex from Street Fighter 6 married his adopted sister!
• Nintendo to price digital and physical differently
• PlayStation raising all hardware prices
• Nintendo planning new Star Fox, Ocarina of Time remake, no 3D Mario in 2026
• Wanderstop dev Ivy Road is shutting down
• Funi Raccoon Game is Irish in surprising and delightful ways
• Tomodachi Life's demo reminds us why the Wii era was so successful
• Marathon might make it????
• BLΛƆKPIИK has a new EP out!
• We answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord

Thanks so much for listening! Leave us a review and we'll read it on the show!

This week, the crew gets completely redrawn on the fly by Nvidia's new AI-powered technology that everyone besides Digital Foundry seems to hate! How do they look? So lifelike, I bet. While getting yassified (and polluting water sources near data centers!), John, Niki, and Lotus discuss:

• DLSS 5 and its introduction to the world
• Why everyone hates DLSS 5
• Jensen Huang's hilarious responses to the criticism
• Saudi Arabia's EGDC acquires 5% of Capcom
• Remedy's FBC: Firebreak gets its final major update; commitment to stay online
• Ubisoft's Red Storm Entertainment studio to cease game development
• Crystal Dynamics lays off 20 despite working on two Tomb Raider games
• Rubato is a 2D physics platformer that scoffs at genre
• Should you play Slay the Spire 2 with a calculator on hand?
• Pokopia is a lot of game
• Funi Raccoon Game asks "what if Super Mario 64 was made by the most online people you've ever encountered?"
• Your Hive Questions straight from Discord, including our thoughts on Geoff Keighley's dad not getting a mention during the Oscars

As always, thanks for listening, leave us a review, and considering joining The Hive!

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John played some great games and took a full week off from games news because there just wasn't anything to talk about! What's that? [holds earpiece] I'm being told there was a lot of news this week. Okay. Well. Here's what they talked about, I guess!

1. Sony testing dynamic pricing everywhere but Japan
2. EA conducting layoffs at Battlefield 6 devs
3. GDC will return to San Francisco despite everything
4. Resident Evil 4 director Shinji Mikami has a new studio
5. SAG-AFTRA issues "do not work" order for Mega Man: Dual Override
6. PEGI ratings getting overhaul targeting loot boxes and dark patterns
7. Jeff Kaplan left Blizzard after CFO gave him a nightmarish ultimatum
8. V-Bucks receive a significant price hike
9. Slay the Spire 2 is more of the same, yes, but it's also better than the first one
10. Lost and Found Co. is impossibly cute and a lot of fun
11. Pokémon Pokopia continues to delight and mechanically excel
12. Marathon is the pleasant surprise of the year
13. Your Hive Questions have us wondering what we'd teach Ditto

Thanks again for listening and please leave us a review and tell your friends about us!

1. Nintendo sues the US government over tariffs
2. Yoshi gets a bobblehead night with the LA Dodgers
3. Netflix CEO thinks $16b will be cut at Warner Bros after Paramount purchase
4. Japan's labor laws obfuscate games industry turmoil
5. Unity cutting access to asset store to "Greater China Region"
6. The Sims 4 is getting a rev share UGC marketplace
7. US government allegedly looking at forcing Tencent to divest from American investments
8. Sony reverses PC porting policy
9. Asha Sharma tweets about Xbox's next console
10. Kalshi engages a minor in affiliate work
11. The joy of community in Pokémon Pokopia
12. Maximum everything in Terraria
13. Resident Evil Requiem features an all-time great voice performance
14. Marathon is pretty great, actually, despite all of Bungie's troubles

Finally, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

1. Michael beat Resident Evil Requiem and John played it on Switch 2
2. The global storage shortage gets very real with Seagate and Western Digital allocating stock of hard drives through 2026
3. Valve is revisiting the timeline of their new hardware suite
4. Steam Deck OLED stock is out intermittently in major regions
5. Sony and Nintendo both evaluating delays and price hikes for hardware
6. TiMi's Montreal studio closing
7. Turns out we were right about pretty much everything we discussed regarding Tencent and Highguard last week
8. Microsoft Japan under investigation for monopolistic practices
9. Discord delaying age verification amid backlash
10. skate developer laying off unknown number of staff
11. New York Attorney General suing Valve over loot boxes
12. UK Advertising Committee issues enforcement over loot boxes
13. Eurogamer hit with layoffs
14. Blueprint pitched a Bloodborne remake before its closure
15. Pokemon Winds & Waves revealed for 2027 release
16. Michael and Niki played Marathon
17. Niki and John played Vampire Crawlers
18. Niki played Titanium Court
19. Michael played Cicadamata
20. The crew answers your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord

Thanks for listening! Join The Hive by going to vgbees.com/join today!

This week's show was packed to the gills with discussion-worthy topics and that was before Phil Spencer announced his retirement, Sarah Bond resigned, and Asha Sharma ascended the Xbox throne. From there, Lotus, Niki, and John discussed:

1. Sony shutting down Bluepoint
2. Tencent allegedly funded Highguard
3. Castlevania franchise and Metal Gear Solid V dev Shutaro Ida passed away at 52
4. Hideki Sato, "Father of Sega Hardware," passed away at 77
5. Open-source engine Godot overwhelmed by AI-generated change requests
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 ad banned in the UK
7. Substack and Polymarket partner up
8. Saudi fund takes full control of Evo

We played:

1. Overwatch
2. Moonrot

We also answered your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord!

Folks, this week was VERY jam-packed with discussion-worthy games news and that was BEFORE we even welcomed Game Informer's Charles Harte to the show. Together, Lotus, Niki, John, and Charles discussed:

1. Mewgenics' blend of deep, enjoyable tactical combat and off-putting breeding mechanics
2. The, let's call them rancid, vibes of Mewgenics' central thesis
3. Mewgenics' commitment to not understanding a punchline
4. Mewgenics' bewildering cameo list

Sony's State of Play was very busy, as well, including:

1. A Return to PS2 Era of sorts
2. Kena: Scars of Kosmora
3. A new Dead or Alive game in a very different fighting game landscape
4. Is Control Resonant what we want? Does it matter? Are they even showing us much?
5. Star Wars Galactic Racer sure does look like a Burnout game (complimentary)
6. Marathon is actively lying about what it is, but maybe that's smart????
7. Metal Gear Solid 4 is breaking PS3 containment
8. God of War: Sons of Sparta looks kinda bad, but it's out now

And wow, the hits don't stop there:

1. Discord's age verification is going to get messy
2. Discord's Teen Council sounds like a waking nightmare
3. 2XKO lays off significant staff because the game failed to hit its audience
4. Ubisoft employees in Europe begin three-day strike while the company explores "voluntary termination" option for 200 positions in France
5. Highguard team lays off significant staff just weeks after launch

We played/watched:

1. Mewgenics
2. Relooted
3. Tears of the Kingdom
4. Peloton
5. Iron Lung (the film)

We also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our lovely Discord and update you on big happenings at Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati.

1. Iron Lung opens #2 at domestic box office, paving the way for perhaps a new wave of independent film distribution
2. Ashes of Creation developer closes after clash between Creative Director and Board
3. Borderlands 4 Nintendo Switch 2 port "on pause" indefinitely
4. Poker Night at the Inventory is getting a new release after years of license limbo
5. Crunchyroll to produce original games

Plus, there was a Nintendo Partner Direct:

1. Orbitals was best in show (again)
2. Resident Evil Requiem actually looks great on Switch 2
3. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth coming to Switch 2 this summer
4. Lotus and Niki bully John about disliking Fallout 4
5. The entire panel is split about whether The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is a good title
6. Turok: Origins looks like Monster Hunter with guns kinda

We played:

1. Ball x Pit
2. Tears of the Kingdom
3. Titanium Court
4. Hermit and Pig

Finally, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our lovely Discord.

1. Moisturizer
2. Haircare
3. Peloton
4. Tchoukball

Okay but they did get down to the most important games news of the week, including:

1. The Highguard team quit their shadowdrop plans to take a slot at The Game Awards
2. Could Geoff not fill the last slot of the evening?
3. What does it mean for next year's pricing for trailer space?
4. Why Highguard's reworked launch strategy might not pay off
5. Why the Highguard preview event could've worked in their favor with a different strategy
6. Dr Disrespect lied about attending the Highguard preview event
7. Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 missed expectations as Paradox is down year over year in operating profit
8. Jeffrey Epstein was banned from Xbox Live in 2013
9. Peloton lays off 11% of its staff amid AI failures
10. Should we kill the CEOs in our heads?
11. Is there literally any benefit from creating Nintendo knockoffs in Google Genie and writing about it?

We played:

1. Highguard
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
3. MARVEL Cosmic Invasion

We also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord, including:

1. Which burner on your stove is the best burner?
2. What's your next tattoo?
3. Is an MBA worth it?
4. If you couldn't talk about video games, what would the show be about?

1. Ubisoft's major reorg, including game cancelations and new structures
2. Tencent getting into podcasts, which we're sure will go great
3. Marathon gets a release date and a surprising collector's edition
4. Capcom experiments with generative AI to stop being creative
5. Fable takes a baffling stance on morality in the year 2026
6. Highguard is out so very soon

We played:

1. Animal Crossing: New Horizons
2. Séance at Blake Manor
3. Poco
4. TR-49

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

1. AGDQ's haul and interesting future
2. Hytale's long path to Early Access
3. Meta's VR investment goes toe up
4. Steam Community Awards face major changes
5. Spry Fox spinning out of Netflix
6. Inverse & The Verge see games-related layoffs
7. Steam rewrites their generative AI disclosure rules

We played:

1. Animal Crossing New Horizons
2. Angeline Era
3. Type Help

Also, your burning HIVE QUESTIONS are answered from our lovely Discord.

1. The passing of Sega cofounder David Rosen
2. Discord files for an IPO
3. New Life is Strange is leaked to ratings site
4. Jason Schreier causes Take-Two's stock price go down, kinda
5. Minecraft getting new baby animals
6. Larian's CEO still doesn't seem to understand Gen AI
7. Independent Games Festival nominees announced

We played:

1. Vital Shell

Also, your burning HIVE QUESTIONS are answered straight from our lovely Discord.

1. Twitter's Gen AI CSAM and sexual violence catastrophe
2. Microsoft's CEO begging us to stop calling Gen AI "slop"
3. GOG cofounder buys GOG from CD PROJEKT (which he also cofounded)
4. GPUs are going to get even more expensive
5. Splitgate sequel is not going very well

We played:

1. Formless Star, the follow-up to sublime Franken
2. Final Fantasy IX, perhaps the best of the entire franchise

We also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our lovely Discord.

Hello! Another year has flown by and Niki, Lotus, and John are here to talk about their favorite games and gaming-adjacent things from 2025! Included in the GOTY chat:

1. Donkey Kong Bananza
2. Hades II
3. Avowed*
4. Ball X Pit
5. Pokemon Legends: Z-A
6. Blippo+
7. Kinophobia
8. Mario Kart World
9. The Nintendo Switch 2

Also, the news of the week!

1. Star Citizen will eclipse one billion dollars in investment soon
2. Clair Obscur's Indie Game Award was rescinded for AI inclusion
3. Vince Zampella dead at 55

We answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord!

*Microsoft and Xbox are still complicit in the genocide in Gaza. Go to nogamesforgenocide.com for more information and to sign the pledge today.

1. Larian's CEO decides to drag his company into a gen AI quagmire
2. People Make Games boycott Xbox (and transforms John's thinking in the process)
3. League of Legends is getting a massive rework
4. Naughty Dog is already crunching on Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
5. JK Rowling likely to pocket a ton of royalty dollars on the Harry Potter x Fortnite collab
6. Physical games and hardware had its worst month in basically forever
7. and more!

We played:

1. Pokemon Legends: Z-A
2. Q-Up
3. POCO
4. Deadlock

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our wonderful Discord.

This week, Niki, Lotus, and John are all here to discuss the Biggest Night in Gaming™ aka The Game Awards. Included in the overall discussion:

• Casey Hudson's Star Wars RPG
• Larian's horrifying trailer for Divinity
• Capcom flubbing Leon Kennedy and Mega Man, somehow
• Control Resonant isn't quite what we want but that's okay
• Star Wars Galactic Racer is the Y2K game our failing economy yearns for
• The Street Fighter movie's vibes are off-the-charts bad
• Gang of Dragon sure does look like a Yakuza
• Ace Combat 8 is also here to remind us that the economy is in great shape
• 4Loop and Highguard are both incredibly DOA games
• Coven of the Chicken Foot is cute, but what else?
• Jon Blow's Order of the Sinking Star is a bunch of other stuff in one kind of confusion package
• Trailers allegedly cost anywhere between $450,000 and $1,000,000 to show at the event
• 19,000 games were released on Steam in 2025 and 49% of them have fewer than 10 reviews

We played:

• Angeline Era
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A

As always, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Netflix is buying Warner Bros. for $82.7b, including WB's games
• Ron Gilbert's Death by Scrolling had big trouble finding publisher money
• Horses banned by Epic Games Store
• EA's buyout is going 93.4% to the Saudis
• Mina the Hollower needs to be a huge hit, Yacht Club admits for some reason
• No Players Online is back on Steam after spurious DMCA takedown
• Tim Cain is back...well kind of he wasn't ever really gone it seems like...at Obsidian

We played:

• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Horses
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A
• Asbury Pines
• Angeline Era

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Horses banned from Steam and the oddities surrounding it
• Splash Damage enters consultation ahead of layoffs
• Coatsink to lay off roughly half their studio
• Nintendo to acquire 80% of Bandai Namco Studios Singapore
• DDR5s and SSDs face massive price hike amidst shortage
• Demonschool does something fun with their credits

Here's what we played this week:

• HYPERBEAT
• Morsels

Finally, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Tencent's ultimate investment in Ubisoft
• Yoko Taro's projects keep getting canceled
• Unity coming to Unreal
• Megabonk withdraws from The Game Awards
• Unknown Worlds vs Krafton gets unbelievably weird
• Roblox CEO says the wildest things you can imagine on a podcast

Also, Lotus and John played/watched/listened to:

• One Battle After Another (film)
• Lingo 2
• Berserk B.I.T.S.
• The Phlegms' new album Gulp (album)
• Pluribus (television show)

We, of course, answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Valve's Steam Machine, Frame, and Controller all due in 2026
• Halo Infinite's final update coming this month
• The mishandling of The Game Awards Future Class is another black mark on whatever legacy Geoff Keighley is trying to leave
• Sony's fiscal report shows 40% share of software revenue to live service games
• Marathon apparently coming by the end of March 2026
• Arc Raiders uses AI voices and people are weird about people being weird about it
• Ambrosia Sky suddenly has a complicated release structure for some reason
• The Indie Game Awards are back on December 18th
• The average games industry salary is $142,000 but please do not believe that
• They gave Samus Aran a shitty little sidekick in Metroid Prime 4

Also, John & Lotus played:

• The Meow Wolf Grapevine missing kid ARG
• Dreamfather Loves You
• The Good Old Days
• Skies of Arcadia Legends

We, of course, answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

Also!

• Grand Theft Auto VI is delayed
• Rockstar's fired employees were allegedly leaking information (uh huh)
• Protests erupt outside Rockstar
• Texas sues Roblox (get ready to get acquainted with Ken Paxton, one of the worst dudes in the world)
• Borderlands 4 sales lagging
• Avowed 2 might be coming (according to disgraced Obsidian founder)
• Surprise! Executives believe Steam has a monopoly on PC Games market!
• Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra has been delayed
• Concord is fodder for UK House of Commons debate
• Square Enix lays off over 100
• Square Enix wishes to move 70% of QA and debugging to generative AI
• Unbeatable delayed at the finish line

This week, the crew played:

• The Outer Worlds 2
• Kinophobia
• Settlemoon
• Pokémon Legends Z-A
• Marvel Snap

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

John gave himself such a strange and wonderful birthday gift this year by asking Joe from the Joe Is Hungry YouTube channel for ninety minutes of his time. Joe, kindly, obliged. And this is the result. If you've never watched Joe Is Hungry, it is a fast food review channel with a growing and vocal fandom. You'll understand. Interview includes:

• Joe's background as a nurse
• the origin of the huge knife
• the cats!
• Joe's video editing philosophies and how he learned the trade
• Joe's feelings on the GoPro 10
• Joe's origins on the web
• Joe's stance on drive-thru AI bots
• and much, much more

If you like bonuses like this, please tell your friends to JOIN THE HIVE.

• EA's generative AI tools all suck and no one likes them
• Amazon is cutting tens of thousands of jobs
• Many Amazon Games projects have shut down
• Amazon Games was apparently (???) competing with Steam the whole time
• Don't Nod is working with Netflix IP for upcoming project
• Huge Animal Crossing New Horizons update is coming
• Nintendo is selling a huge Breath of the Wild vinyl set
• Take-Two & Rockstar do some union busting
• Stasis
• Deep Sleep Trilogy
• Kinophobia
• Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
• Once Upon a KATAMARI

Plus, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

• the 30% margin mandate
• flooding the zone with Fallout news, The Outer Worlds 2, Keeper, and Ninja Gaiden 4
• the inevitable return of Halo
• Halo Campaign Evolved being one of the worst titles ever
• Grunts aren't supposed to glisten
• dev kits see huge price hike

PLUS:

• Krafton is "AI first"
• Jennifer Hale doesn't know Mass Effect 5 is doomed
• Pokemon Legends Z-A is really funny??? On purpose????
• Ball x Pit is one of John's games of the year

We also answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely (free!) Discord.

• Assassin's Creed lead departs Ubisoft
• Tencent and Sony apparently worked on a The Last of Us project together
• Tomunobu Itagaki's legacy
• Hard Drive's descent into 2005 internet bullshit
• Quantic Dream's new multiplayer project
• Lumines Arise
• Ball x Pit
• Pokémon Z-A
• Danchi Days
• Horripilant
• The Third Shift
• The Séance of Blake Manor
• Sepulchron
• and much more!

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

But also!

• the dense delight of Digimon Story: Time Stranger
• the apparent end of Hyper Light Breaker's development
• the rumor that AMD needed a 10,000,000 unit commitment for Xbox's dedicated handheld
• Nintendo's slide into Disneyfication
• Ubisoft's canceled Reconstruction Era, anti-Klan Assassin's Creed
• why is former Halo art director vagueposting on LinkedIn?
• Megabonk's relationship with cringe and Risk of Rain 2
• Shadow Labyrinth being itself, for better or worse
• Hades II's self-inflicted narrative challenges
• a thorough review of a new Windows PC
• Absolum's rapid ascent to many Best of 2025 lists

We also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's huge price hike
• interpreting the latest in Microsoft's non-plan
• Obsidian bearing the brunt of Microsoft's decision-making
• Jared Kushner and Saudi Arabia are taking EA private
• Seumas McNally Award Winner Consume Me's greatness
• Wheel of Fortune on the PlayStation 5
• Hades II is simply wonderful to play
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles gets an apology from John
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 continues the odd but welcome tradition of cutting room floor direct sequels

All of this and your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

• Wolverine's profoundly bloody introduction
• the Returnal of it all of Saros
• a brief look at new Virtua Fighter Project details
• the impossible bigness of Ananta
• a conversation about remakes prompted by the perplexing Deus Ex remaster
• Forza Horizon 6 and how the game can recapture past magic
• Easy Delivery Co. and John unironically calling a game cozy in 2025
• Niki's evolving relationship with skate.
• Higham going long on Trails in the Sky and its new remake
• Baby Steps

As always, we also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• the very interesting misfire that is Skate.
• Dying Light: The Beast is apparently great but we can't get past the Hinterlands of Dying Light 2
• the poor PC performance of Borderlands 4 and Randy Pitchford's admittedly very, very, very funny (if wildly unprofessional) responses to that criticism
• the flatness of NBA 2K26
• Tears of the Kingdom two and a half years later
• Peloton's Lanebreak
• the inextricable link between Queen Elizabeth dying and our layoff at Fanbyte
• how free to play trains us to invest less

We, of course, answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• paying for Super Mario Galaxy again
• Nintendo remembers Super Mario Galaxy 2 exists
• the new Mario movie is just Super Mario Galaxy
• Super Mario Wonder for Switch 2
• Mario Tennis Fever
• Yoshi and the Mysterious Book
• Virtual Boy on Nintendo Switch Online
• Samus has a cool bike in Metroid Prime 4 Beyond now
• Hades II is out SO soon
• Pokemon Pokopia
• Dinkum
• Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave
• Donkey Kong Bananza DLC
• Dragon Quest VII Reimagined
• and more!

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

That, and:

• The downfall of games crit
• The value of asking piracy forum dwellers to weigh in on the most popular game of the year
• 007 First Light gameplay
• Football Manager 26
• College basketball coming to NBA 2K
• Firaxis layoffs
• Kirby and the Forgotten Land for Switch 2

Also, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Layoffs at Giant Squid & Rec Room
• Conversation boundaries and etiquette
• Sword of the Sea
• We Are OFK
• Circuits Royale
• Pokemon Red Rescue Team
• Pokemon Rescue Team DX
• Metal Gear Solid 3 Delta
• and more!

Also, we answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
• Black Myth: Zhong Kui
• Resident Evil Requiem
• World of Tanks: Heat
• Ghost of Yotei
• World of Warcraft Midnight
• UNBEATABLE
• John Carpenter's Toxic Commando
• Hollow Knight: Silksong
• LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight

Plus, a big, big dive into why Lotus is DONE with Marvel Rivals.

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS directly from our Discord.

• the breakdown of "games journalist" as an idea
• Hardspace Shipbreaker goes to Blackbird 100%
• common core math
• drinking in parking lots
• Frankenstein shoes
• adult braces
• getting addicted to going to the hospital

We also answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

What remains is still a rip-roaring two hours of video game bliss, including:

• Mage Arena
• Merge Maestro
• Primal Planet
• Fortnite's new Power Rangers/Halo season
• Puzzmo
• and more!

Also, we answer ALL your HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

• The stranger side of big PR gaming events
• Terri Schiavo (really)
• Ray Romano's net worth
• Nintendo Partner Showcase
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Which eight Capcom games outsold Monster Hunter Wilds this quarter
• and much more!

We also answer your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our Discord.

• College Football 26
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• What if the Switch 2 Lite has an OLED?
• The simple brilliance of Tennocon
• What other PR teams miss about the process of making games

They also go very deep on this week's payments processor crackdown on adult Itch.io games and the government's continued assault on sex work, queerness, disability, etc. We offer a whole lot of unfiltered thoughts with very little by way of a solution. :-)

Anyway, we also had a blast cracking a cold one and answering ALL of your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS this week from our Discord.

Also, we discuss the rise of fascism as expressed via:

• Roblox verifying the identities of children via AI
• Financial transaction companies cracking down on Steam's adult content
• The 24/7 amateur surveillance state

Also, books! Ever heard of them? We answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS directly from our Discord.

• AEW All In Texas
• The Steam Summer Sale
• Peak
• Rematch
• Songs/games of the summer
• Seasonal/weather-specific games

We also answer your HIVE QUESTIONS from Discord.

• The importance of sources in investigative journalism
• Advice for disabled writers working in the field
• The most out of pocket interactions we've had as disabled people (oops, all Christian mysticism!)
• The joy of breaking outside of accessibility coverage (to some extent)
• The excitement of community reporting
• How layoffs disproportionately affect disabled workers
• And much more!

We also answer some of your HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord. We also compare head and torso sizes/shapes. You're welcome!

• nearly half an hour of AEW All In Texas preview discussion (sorry non-wrestling fans)
• Kotaku's sale to Keleops
• Microsoft's astonishing layoff round of 9,100 employees
• Perfect Dark reboot canceled and studio shuttered
• EA's bonkers 100,000,000 player expectation for Battlefield
• Bonk!
• Shmups!
• Half Sword
• SGDQ 2025

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.

• Andrew Wilson's obscene pay bump at EA
• Microsoft's upcoming massive layoff
• Peak sells 2m copies
• Nintendo "fixes" something everyone thought was fine in Mario Kart World
• the dark corners of Cyberpunk 2077
• and much more!

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord!

• the indefinite Marathon delay
• 3rd party titles apparently lagging on Switch 2
• historic sales figures for Switch 2
• Xbox's core strategy
• Mario Kart World
• Donkey Kong Bananza
• Cyberpunk 2077 on Switch 2
• Poxel
• FBC: Firebreak
• Deltarune

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord community.

• Summer Game Fest swag
• Sonic Racing: Crossworlds
• Lumines Arise
• MindsEye
• Mario Kart World
• the rise of fascism and incompetence of our oppressors
• Nintendo Switch 2 first week sales figures
• and much, much more

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our lovely Discord.

The VGBees Way.

Is it a fun episode? Yes. John tackles the Sony State of Play and thoughts on Elden Ring: Nightreign while we get lots of really fun cameos from folks across games media!

Video version recommended on this one, but the audio is definitely worse there. We'll record more "normal" eps during SGF.

Thanks for your patience and support! Hive Questions will be called upon this weekend!

• Coverage expectations of Geoff's big show
• EA's cancelation of Black Panther and the closure of Cliffhanger
• Memories of E3
• Battle Aces shutting down
• Tencent's recent catalog
• Xbox moving away from proprietary handheld (for now)
• Elden Ring Nightreign's PC problems
• getting paid to hate a game

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord!

• Joe is Hungry
• Tommy Tallarico
• owning a business like owning a car?
• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tactical Takedown
• To a T
• Deliver At All Costs
• Star Citizen

We answer your HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord like we do every single week!

• Jenna's PAX East
• Karaoke go-tos
• Ending our time with Blue Prince
• Nintendo Switch 2 colliding with Summer Game Fest
• The non-story of Kingdom Hearts IV's screenshot drop
• Bungie possibly lifting stolen art directly into Marathon's alpha
• and more!

Also, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS, which you can provide for us every single week on our Discord.

• big questions about how independent games outlets can survive
• killing Avatar Aang in Fortnite
• flying an X-Wing in Fortnite
• glitching a car out of existence in Fortnite
• the genius of Fortnite nearly eight years in
• the act of play in Despelote
• grounding yourself when you're disappearing into games (or whatever, frankly)

We answer your HIVE QUESTIONS every single week on the show, but you must JOIN THE HIVE to do so!

Very wild and sad and emotionally-draining day, but we still go around to other topics, including:

• What to make of the State of Play for Borderlands 4
• Apple losing the ability to block third party payment platforms
• Xbox price hikes
• Skin Deep, the new hilarious immersive sim from Blendo
• Jar Jar's in Fortnite now
• Clair Obscur is still unbelievably French

We even got Jeff to briefly talk about Blitzball. What a treat.

As usual, we pulled your burning HIVE QUESTIONS straight from our Discord like we do every single week.

• the Nintendo Switch 2 preorder mess
• Donkey Kong Bananza's clear connection to Red Faction
• how Mario Kart World is attracting the haters
• Marathon alpha
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the world's most French game
• explaining Blue Prince

All of this and your HIVE QUESTIONS, answered each and every episode.

• The reveal of Bungie's Marathon
• New Mario Kart World details
• The good and bad of Blue Prince, one of the year's most polarizing games
• Leaving the bloat behind in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Also, Jess commits to getting John into Magic: The Gathering at SGF this year. Niki's clean and will not participate.

Finally, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS, featuring some bangers about music, mediocre games that never drop price, and snacks.

• More tariff changes
• More Switch 2 preorder delays
• The GameCube controller has bizarre limitations
• The Piranha Plant camera for Switch 2 is 480p
• Those Titanfall 3 rumors
• A Slay the Spire mod with waifus

Also, we played:

• South of Midnight
• Hot Wax
• MTG Arena

As always, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS, which you can ask each and every week if you're a member of The Hive.

I decided it was worth recording a public feed bonus with my friend and former colleague Imran Khan to discuss the event. We covered a lot of ground, including:

• A recap of Wednesday's announcements
• Trump's specific new tariffs announced Wednesday afternoon
• Nintendo's response on Friday
• How this expands WAY beyond Switch 2
• Why manufacturing jobs will not be created sustainably here in the US
• Why this moment may or may not radicalize the average gamer
• How these conditions may cause more delays, price increases, and supply issues

If this is your first time thinking about things like this, welcome! We don't judge! Just consider looking at your hobbies getting priced out of your comfort zone as the first step in looking at the world in a more intersectional way! Okay!?!

If you like the idea of maybe making more bonus podcasts, consider supporting us at vgbees.com/join.

• The console's price point
• Mario Kart World's features & $80 price point
• What $80 Nintendo games mean for the industry
• Why Switch 2 costs what it costs
• Double mice with Drag x Drive
• The shocking reveal of Bloodborne spiritual successor The Duskbloods
• Enhanced editions of Nintendo Switch games
• Donkey Kong Bananza

Also, we discuss games we've been playing, including:

• South of Midnight
• Atomfall
• Avowed

Finally, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS, including one about exploring weird themed grocery store Jungle Jim's in Cincinnati.

• The strange (reported) rollout plan for Switch 2
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Eternal Life of Goldman
• Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream
• Rhythm Heaven Groove
• Marvel Cosmic Invasion
• Nintendo Virtual Game Cards (?????)

Also discussed:

• Cristiano Ronaldo joining Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
• Tencent & Ubisoft creating a new subsidiary to house certain IP
• Avowed
• R.E.P.O.
• All Systems Dance
• Assassin's Creed Shadows

The crew also answers your burning HIVE QUESTIONS like we do each and every week!

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch (aka Abogada Kate) is an immigration attorney in Austin, TX, serving families and individuals through the complicated and sometimes harrowing immigration process. In this conversation we cover:

• How the day to day work of an immigration law office has changed since November 2024 and since Trump took office
• How our rule of law has eroded and what advice Kate would have for citizens and non-citizens during this unstable period
• Thoughts on the Mahmoud Khalil case
• How the legal profession is responding to the Trump administration's tactics
• The process of becoming a US citizen
• The prospect of overhauling our immigration system
• The beauty of being a country of immigrants
• How attitudes about labor can shape the immigration conversation for better and for worse
• How we can protect non-citizens and permanent residents

If you would like more resources on the rights of immigrants, go to https://www.abogadakate.com/safety/ to download guides on what to do if an immigrant is approached at home, at work, in their cars, etc.

• Yasuke being cool as hell in Assassin's Creed Shadows
• The Easy-Bake Oven Witcher 3-ification of Assassin's Creed
• Sports gambling and the possible equivalent in games
• Horse Armor
• Pomeranians
• Lost media (and if that's even what we'd call what people are referring to as "lost media" now)
• Kitchen Nightmares

And a lot more, honestly! We also answer some of your burning HIVE QUESTIONS, including a rundown of all the weird things we call our dogs.

• The fucking Strains are at it again
• Scopely buys Niantic's gaming wing for $3.5b
• Saudi fund inks 3-year deal with Capcom for Street Fighter 6 tournaments
• The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is getting a remake soon
• Power Wash Simulator 2 announced

Also discussed:

• Fortnite
• The Forever Winter
• Skin Deep
• Half Sword
• Avowed
• Mullet Madjack
• Fragpunk

As always, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS like we do each and every week! Lots of wrestling chat in this one, if that's your pleasure.

• Sega is the best-reviewed publisher of 2024
• Sega is releasing fewer games but doubling down on big franchises
• Monster Hunter Wilds has a massive launch
• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• 25 years of PlayStation 2
• Avowed
• Lost Records: Rage & Bloom
• Rue Valley
• Fruit Fight
• Kingdom Come Deliverance II

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS like we do each and every week.

• the secret to great homemade ranch
• the Pokémon Presents
• Pokémon Legends: Z-A
• Pokémon Champions
• Warner Bros. closing Monolith and canceling Wonder Woman
• CEOs and their marketing strategies
• Bossa Games' CEO's weird LinkedIn post
• Avowed
• South of Midnight

We also answer ONE of your Hive Questions this week. Yep. Ran out of time. We're going to record a bonus to get to the rest of them, so stay tuned for that if you're a Hive Member!

• NetEase laying off the Seattle Marvel Rivals team
• Microsoft's new Muse generative AI initiative
• Niantic in talks to be purchased by Scopely for $3.5b
• Hades II gets a big update (and into some interesting territory with SAG-AFTRA)

Also, we talk about Avowed and 1994's hottest game, Stone Protectors.

We answer your HIVE QUESTIONS, including who we would cast in this year's star-studded Call of Duty ad.

Also:

• Sony's State of Play
• Saros
• Tides of Annihilation
• Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
• Darwin's Paradox
• Onimusha
• Reality Break
• Tekken Tag Tournament 2: Wii U Edition
• Avowed

Of course, your HIVE QUESTIONS are also answered like they are each and every week!

• Metal Gear Solid Delta gets a release date
• Grand Theft Auto 6 confirmed for fall 2025
• timeline on new Nvidia cards coming back in stock
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
• Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
• Marvel Rivals
• Eternal Strands
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Of course, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS like we do each and every week.

Your local basketball experts and fans of both teams in question, John and Niki, break down what you need to know about why the trade happened, what happens to both of these teams, and the long-term effects this trade may have around the league.

They also get into why sports are great and why the current crop of major team ownership is in it for entirely the wrong reasons. Come for the jokes about how this basically shaved 10 years off of John's life, stay for the genuinely heartfelt conclusion about why sports are all about community.

Some media you might be interested in:

• ESPN's longform piece about the trade
• The bizarre Nico Harrison press conference
• The Shams tweet everyone thought was fake

• the Video Game History Foundation's excellent new digital archives have launched
• Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PS5 with crossplay
• Microsoft's two-sided strategy
• Eternal Strands
• Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O.
• Ninja Gaiden II Black

We also answer your HIVE QUESTIONS, including "what's the video game equivalent of 'hot singles in your area?'"

• Ninja Gaiden 4
• South of Midnight
• Expedition 33
• Doom: The Dark Ages

They also discuss the cancelation of Celeste follow-up Earthblade and the blog post announcing it. In addition, the news that EA is disappointed in the sales of both Dragon Age: The Veilguard and EA Sports FC 25 is examined through a lens that understands the latter is much, much, much more interesting and noteworthy than the former.

As always, the duo answers your burning HIVE QUESTIONS, including whether $100 video games will catch on and which game would make the best musical.

Oh also we discuss the official announcement of Nintendo Switch 2, including:

• form factor changes
• Joy-Cons are also mice?
• guesses about the new Mario Kart
• speculation on release date
• and much more!

We also answer your Hive Questions like we every single week! Which game would change the hearts and minds of a Footloose-style town that hates video games?

• Nintendo Switch 2 rumors
• the delay of Assassin's Creed Shadows
• Tencent's designation as a military organization
• the new LEGO Game Boy

We also answer your HIVE QUESTIONS and discuss John's fleet of emulation devices.

Here are some links for donations/causes to help aid in the recovery of Los Angeles.

• Watch Duty - donations go toward running an incredibly helpful tracking service for Angelenos
• Canine Rescue Club - helping match displaced pets with fosters in times of great distress like this
• Gear Drive Fire Support - organizing local needs in a handy spreadsheet
• Pasadena Humane - providing emergency care and treatment of animals affected by the fires
• California Community Foundation - donating to their wildlife recovery fund directly contributes to local recovery efforts
• World Central Kitchen - providing meals for first responders and others in need of nourishing meals
• All Power Books - local Los Angeles bookstore organizing distribution of shelf stable food, water, and other necessities to people in need

• Mouthwashing
• 1000xResist
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• The Rise of the Golden Idol

Also, what would the first episode of the new year be without predictions for games to play in 2025:

• Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
• FBC: Firebreak
• Pokemon Legends: Z-A
• Skate
• Judas

We also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS like we do each and every week!

Not to spoil the surprise (stop reading if you don't want to know), but in alphabetical order we discuss:

• Astro Bot
• Balatro
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Content Warning
• Crow Country
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Path of Exile 2
• Thank Goodness You're Here!

No HIVE QUESTIONS in this special episode, but you can always join and ask us questions every single week and we'll answer them on the show!

• the Charlotte Hornets Grinch a PS5 away from a child
• Sony invests big in Kadokawa (FromSoftware's parent company)
• the Switch 2 is called Switch 2 (probably)

As far as what we've been playing, well:

• Path of Exile 2
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Marvel Rivals

As always, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS on the show and this week we went deep on why we're not convinced Indy's new adventure is a true immersive sim. Stay tuned this week for our first ever Hive Five Games of the Year podcast!

Then, they get into the meat of The Game Awards 2024, including:

• The Witcher 4
• Elden Ring Nightreign
• Virtua Fighter
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword
• Okami Sequel
• Project: Robot
• Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet
• Astro Bot winning Game of the Year
• and much more!

Also, what did giving the Game Changer Award to a (perfectly nice and helpful) business development director at Tencent say about the industry's current tenuous situation?

We, of course, answer your HIVE QUESTIONS like we do every single week.

We have reunited Nerium, Natalie Flores, and Michael Higham to unpack Dragon Age: The Veilguard in the style of acclaimed former Fanbyte podcast 99 Potions.

Did we like it? Who are our favorite companions? Did Solas live up to the villain hype?

If you like this bonus, know that in the future, we'll be putting big fancy bonus episodes like this behind The Hive, VGBees' premium subscription. Your support allows us to do many more of these! We'd love to do more of these!

• Ubisoft studio closures
• XDefiant's shutdown
• Elden Ring follow-up not in development
• the forbidden conversations we're hearing during Call of Duty matches

We also talk about the stuff we're playing AND we answer so so so so many of your amazing Hive Questions, which had us planning a trip to Disney World in Orlando, Florida.

Sure, there's some video game talk, but Niki also introduces the podcast to Car From Japan, the most important website of all time. Need a short truck? Need an old Lexus LS 400? This site has you covered.

Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS, including:

• What has to be in your Thanksgiving spread?
• Which games get you in the holiday spirit?
• Which games have you played many times and still return to?
• What's the "but doctor, I am Pagliacci" of video games?

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• YIIK: A Postmodern RPG
• Star Wars Battlefront
• Battlefield
• Titanfall
• Apex Legends

We also gave The Game Awards on this one! You're welcome, Geoff! As always, we answer your HIVE QUESTIONS and it took us directly to the heart of All Elite Wrestling this week.

• Nintendo's desired damages from Pocket Pair
• Everything is Xbox (according to Phil Spencer)
• Balatro
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket

And of course, all of your burning HIVE QUESTIONS are answered!

So yeah! It's John, talking to you, dear listener, about video games.

But also...the Election. If you're bummed about it and don't want to hear it, I understand. You can skip to the 24 minute mark to get past it and onto Strauss Zelnick, Take-Two CEO, being way too excited about the Election and the company's sale of Private Division.

Also:

• Switch 2's backward compatibility
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Astro Bot
• Marvel Snap

John also answers your burning Hive Questions. Be good to each other, everyone! See you next week.

Also, the dynamic duo discuss:

• the closure of Firewalk Studios
• the new Pokemon pack-opening game
• the Nintendo Music app
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard

And much, much more. As always, your Hive Questions are answered, including John's admission of his worst ever Halloween costume. It's worse than you think!

• Hades 2 new updates
• Balatro
• Dave the Diver
• UFO 50
• Halo 2

John enlists Niki to help him buy a new TV, which just depresses him. Why are TVs expensive?

As always, we answer your burning Hive Questions, including one about whether VGBees is a pro Mario Party publication.

But that's not all! There was a big third party partner Xbox Showcase that was actually pretty good, including:

• Alan Wake II: The Lake House
• FBC Firebreak
• Blindfire
• Cronos: The New Dawn
• Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

There was a Pokemon leak, too! Busy week! And of course, we answer your burning Hive Questions.

This week, John & Niki are joined by none other than IGN's Michael Higham, VGBees' number one fan and supporter. Michael played all of Metaphor: ReFantazio and graced us with a deep dive on the game's vibes, story, mechanics, and much more. Seems like another banger in a year full of them. Also discussed:

• Roblox and the Hindenberg Research report
• Nintendo Alarmo
• Starfield: Shattered Space
• Elder Scrolls
• Persona

We also answer your burning Hive Questions, including "what is the video game equivalent of Aaron Rodgers getting Robert Saleh fired?"

The dynamic duo also answers your burning Hive Questions, covering ground including:

• naming pets after video game characters
• working on one game franchise for over a decade
• comparing Randy Pitchford favorably to Neil Druckmann
• 3D Mario games vs 2D Mario games
• the Megalopolis video game of our dreams
• the best steward of a future AEW video game
• and more!

• Ghost of Yotei
• Legacy of Kain 1 & 2 Remastered
• Hell is Us
• Overwatch
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

As always, your burning questions from The Hive are addressed and answered!

Also this week:

• Switch 2 possibly leaked
• Concord's team is in limbo
• shockingly positive Dragon Age: The Veilguard previews
• the PSX-styled PS5 fleet
• the breadth of UFO 50

Your Hive questions are also answered and the podcast got emotional over the loss of communal spaces and arcades!

• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
• I Am Your Beast
• Super Mario Odyssey
• Astro Bot
• Final Fantasy VIII
• Soulcalibur
• Power Stone

As always, we answer questions straight from The Hive!

• Concord
• Marvel Snap
• Balatro

We also answer your burning questions from The Hive and wow, y'all really asked some good ones this week!

As always, you can join The Hive and ask us questions each and every week!

• Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door Remake
• The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
• Astro Bot
• the Double Dragon movie
• who we'd put in Fortnite next
• and much more!

As always, we answer YOUR questions from The Hive! You can join The Hive right now and ask questions each and every week!

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 6
• Lynked: Banner of the Spark
• InZOI
• Masters of Albion
• Civilization VII
• Borderlands 4

We also answer your Hive questions, like which celebrity should Hideo Kojima put in the next Death Stranding but is too scared to do so? Spoilers, there is one correct and immediately agreed-upon answer from your hosts!

As always, you can join The Hive to get your burning questions answered on the show each and every week!

• 2XKO
• Madden 25
• Fortnite
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• The Plucky Squire

We also answer questions from The Hive and continue developing the all-important VGBees Census!

Also discussed:

• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• The Borderlands film
• Wolfeye's Dishonored/Prey-like new RPG
• College Football 25

With Hive questions like:

• When you do consider a game completed?
• What ancient game do you want to see a Balatro for?
• Does a LEGO minifig have fingers or thumbs?

As always, you can join The Hive and ask us questions we'll tackle every single week!

• Thank Goodness You're Here!
• Steamworld Heist II
• College Football 25
• Madden NFL 25
• NBA 2K25

Also, Hive questions about:

• Richard Garriott
• Peter Molyneux
• Shane McMahon
• Bubsy (essentially)
• Grand Theft Auto (complete with thorough discussion about why the modern political nature of these games is so goofy and outdated)

As always, become a member of The Hive to have your questions answered on the show!

• No Man's Sky 5.0
• Flock
• Dungeons of Hinterberg

The crew also (clumsily) dissected the ramifications of Bethesda and World of Warcraft teams forming wall-to-wall unions this week. Seems particularly big in the face of Humble Games shutting down and the weird spin Ziff Davis put on the closure.

Hive questions include:

• What's the gaming equivalent of saying Macbeth in a theater?
• Are curved monitors a scam?
• Who should write the Skibidi Toilet movie?

This episode marked the debut of The VGBees Census, a new segment designed to pull biographical and taste information from our guests. This week's test subject was cohost Niki Grayson. Thanks Niki! Also, happy birthday Barley!

As always, you can join The Hive and ask questions in our Discord and we'll answer them on the show!

• whether Niki should see Longlegs
• not wearing headphones on video calls
• hanging doors

Oh also video games, including:

• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Bioshock Infinite
• Emio - The Smiling Man

In hour two, they're joined by Secret Base's Kofie Yeboah, who is as excited as everyone else about the return of EA Sports' college football...aptly called College Football 25. John also asks about Skip Bayless, in what is likely the only time he will ever come in on this program. Thanks for your patience.

As always, join The Hive and ask questions and we'll answer them on the show!

- our favorite jazz musicians

- which wines pair best with human aging

- disgusting Aperol

- Cody Rhodes' appalling chosen aesthetic

OH ALSO video games!

- Zenless Zone Zero

- Supermoves

- Xbox Game Pass tier changes

- Steam Deck

- 2K's rumored FIFA game

- College Football 25

- Riot's canceled platform fighter

As always, you can support VGBees by joining The Hive over at https://vgbees.com/join

- The new Switch Online slate (it's weird)

- Fragpunk's closed alpha

- M. Bison is live in Street Fighter 6

- The Land Beneath Us puts an interesting spin on roguelites

ALSO, we answer questions directly from The Hive!

- Will AAA development ever find a path to sustainability?

- Which Kingdom Hearts game is the best?

- Have you ever thought about roasting your own coffee beans?

This and more in this week's episode!

Join the Hive at https://vgbess.com/join

Anyway! The crew covered a lot of ground this week including:

• Guy "Dr. Disrespect" Beahm's overdue ouster from the public consciousness in the wake of the revelations of his "inappropriate" correspondence with a minor in 2017
• Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble
• Chained Together
• Fortnite

The crew also discusses the best sales at the beginning of the Steam Summer Sale and answers the burning questions directly from The Hive!

• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Mario & Luigi: Brothership
• Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
• Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics
• The New Denpa Men

Later, they're joined by writer, author, and budding miniature painting YouTuber Merritt K to chat everything Warhammer 40,000, including:

• What's in the heads of the guys from Space Marine 2?
• Do Space Marines have balls?
• Why did the Squats go away?
• and much more!

Don't forget to Join the Hive!

Covered in this episode:

- LEGO Horizon Adventures

- Wanderstop

- Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind

- Skate

- Fable

- Doom: The Dark Ages

- South of Midnight

- Gears of War E-Day

- Dragon Age: The Veilguard

- Monster Hunter Wilds

- Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess

- Fear the Spotlight

- Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

- Hyper Light Breaker

Topics covered:

• Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has a new name and it's pretty bad
• Microsoft's rumored handheld
• The $200M disaster of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Thanks for being here! See you next week!

TL;DR, they're both excited to be doing this again together.

This week, our hosts are eaten up with what makes a game "finished" in 2024 and does it even matter? Hades 2 is certainly big for an Early Access game, but how does it evolve between now and 1.0?

John's wondering what was up with that weird Neil Druckmann interview and Niki's just asking questions about that very unfortunately Destiny 2 leak.

If you can believe it, another massive publishing company is getting in bed with AI for reasons that make sense (if you're a suit who doesn't care about the majesty of human creativity).

Also discussed:

• The Rogue Prince of Persia
• Wildermyth's bow and exit
• What we expect to see at Summer Game Fest

Head to VGBees to sign up to be informed when the site launches! We'll have tons of SGF coverage!