YoVideogames! – Details, episodes & analysis

Capcom had a pretty awesome spotlight. Granted - lots of stuff from last year, but announcing demos for a lot of them was very cool. Personally, I got the main thing I wanted which was more info about Onimusha. Plus we got more eyes on with Capcom Fighting Collection 2 (which I couldn't remember the name of because ya boy started running again and I made the mistake of doing it too close to recording time. Find me here: a little breathless, thirsty and apparently woozy - BUT I'LL GET GUD I SWEAR). Beyond those two games, of course we should all be excited for Okami 2 and most of us are very excited by the new Monster Hunter.

Other whoozy brain farts (new band name): The Don Lee movies I was talking about Binging was the Round Up franchise. Very Fun, just solid cop movie shit and Don Lee is a tank as always. This franchise has the added benefit that many of the great Korean character actors are featured through out and you'll recognize them all over Korean cinema and TV after you watch this.

The recent Xbox Developer Direct was... Pretty dang good. Refreshing after several years of lackluster showings. Shortly after, Phil Spencer gave an interview that added fuel to this new fire. Xbox is committing to a new philosophy. Will Sony change things up too? Nintendo? Ok, probably not Nintendo; things are going well for them.

Every year the same question pops up: is TGA really an awards ceremony? Is it valid? Or is it just a popularity contest? The answer of course is: yes. It may mostly be a popularity contest, and awards are given out mostly based on sales and crowd opinion rather than critical/quality opinion - that's debatable. BUT the value of the TGA in my opinion is that it offers the clearest window into where the industry itself is going. Why? Because the industry responds to sales and popularity - not critical reception. All award ceremonies are meant to legitimize an industry and let them pat themselves on the back. TGA is essentially the game industry advertising itself to the work - not to gamers specifically.

Plus we talk about a couple specific categories and their nominees.

Sony released it's first State of Play for 2023 and there were a couple surprises outside of the presentation too. Let's hop in and talk about Sony's outlook for 2023!

Whole lotta GaaS games are getting the axe! Many companies who went all in on live services games are now in hot water. At one point it was considered the golden goose, with an EA CEO famously saying: "If you make a single player title and don't have micro transactions - you're a [expletive deleted} idiot."

Of course they went on to get lootboxes all but banned and brought intense scrutiny to microtransactions in general. Truly the villain we needed - we thank them for their service.

So, was it EA who shot the golden goose? Ubisoft or Square getting greedy? A mix? Let's discuss!

It turns out Nintendo won't be light on releases this year. Both of us were delightfully surprised by this direct. But the direct being so big is probably why they didn't want to bother going to E3. Perhaps the back half of 2023 will be light on releases...

Free to play games may be running out of GaaS and E3 won't have any of the first party publishers attending. Bubbles are bursting all over and who's to say whether it is a good or a bad thing long term. Join us as we talk about the reckoning!

For the first time in years - Microsoft seems to have a little something for everyone. Personally we were delightfully surprised by the new Tango Gameworks shadow drop - Hi Fi Rush. While this line up isn't the most exciting line up we have ever seen, it is fun. And it points to Microsoft having a very good E3 this year. Let's talk about their first six months of 2023!

Ubisoft is a sinking ship. And not just because of the latest Skull and Bones delay. It just seems like it cannot get out of their own way. From unexpected bombs like Rainbow Six Extraction, to a road map littered with GaaS titles, it can't help but feel like we are watching a once legendary publisher in its death throws.

25 years ago began possibly the greatest year in gaming. 1998 saw the likes of Metal Gear Solid, Ocarina of Time, Half Life, Resident Evil 2, Banjo Kazooie and much much more. Has there ever been a year as great for as many genres all at once? Has there ever been another year where every publisher was pushing their slate this hard?