In-Game Chat

I had forgotten what it means to be on the cusp of a GTA release. I admit, my memory isn’t at all what it used to be, but you might also forget that the last time we were here was 2013.

I’d forgotten not about the build up to release as far as hype is concerned, but what it means for other games. Absolutely no one wants to go up against something like a new GTA release. Expansion for it, maybe, but an actual new installment in the franchise – nope.

We touch on this a bit at the end of the show, but the amount of pressure on some studios is probably tremendous. The indie folks too, but if anyone can compete with a GTA release, it’ll be the indies. Maybe back in 2013 I could have said something different here but in today’s world when you spend THAT much time and THAT much money on a big game release from a big publisher, going up against GTA will ruin you. Doesn’t matter the money, the marketing, the word of mouth, you will sink.

It also doesn’t matter that this is a GTA without the main man behind most of the games from Rockstar. We don’t know how that will work out, but GTA 6 essentially has a free pass. It is going to sell SO many copies and SO many consoles. In this era where every triple A title release absolutely NEEDS to sell well to keep a lot of studios and publishers in business, the timing on their release against whenever GTA hits is make or break in some cases and real close to it in others.

Speaking of needing a win, Ubisoft, it has been 4,233 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 1,493 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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“Listen to the thunder…”

This is probably one of the more unusual episodes we’ve done. And we’ve done a lot of unusual episodes before, but this one dealt with some pretty severe weather coming into our area and, as such, we had to cover it.

Not something we mind at all, by the way. We are, first and foremost, a service to provide the public with information. And weather information is extremely important. More so in this area and with what we were dealing with. Luckily, for us, we got through it without much fanfare. Something we sadly can’t say for areas around us here in the south.

This is an episode that dips into gaming while also navigating an upcoming storm system approaching our area and listening audience.

I was debating not even doing a show, but I knew I’d be at the station anyway so…might as well.

As for gaming, it’s been a rough last few hours or so with everything so I will say I put in more time with Avowed (after the storms) and I am still loving every minute of this game. More so as it begins to open up more and more with story and quests and people you meet along the way. This one is going to take a long time, and I’m okay with that. It’ll be my dip in from time to time to advance along as I play other…not as chunky…titles.

For now, enjoy the show, be thankful for what you have given currently what some people don’t and just take care of yourself and those around you.

Ubisoft, it has been 4,226 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 1,383 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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“I hope that somethin’ better comes along…”

By now you should know that when I like a game, it’s probably on the simplistic side of things. We always referred to Destiny as a “my first mmo” kind of thing. And so it seems with Avowed.

It’s beginning to click for me but the more I pay attention to WHY it’s clicking, I find it’s because I’m not bothered with other aspects of games like it. I won’t say they’ve streamlined the process but they’ve broken it down a bit to be more digestible to newcomers and the like. And that isn’t to say they’ve done a disservice to the game or the players who REALLY sink their teeth into these types of games, but they’ve more so made it more accessible to people like me.

It isn’t punishingly difficult (I’m playing on normal, however) and, to carry that theme of punishment along here, they don’t penalize you over micro management. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve played but I have a feeling I know NOTHING of the sense of scale of this game. I’m a good many hours in but I’m barely into the first area of the game. At least it feels that way. I’ve felt like I’ve walked a good distance in the game and I’m filling out the map quite well, yet – it still feels “tutorial-ish”. Like I haven’t yet really cracked open this game to see what’s inside. And so far, I’m drawn into doing that. To keep going and see how this opens up – does it open up at all – what’s next – just how big is this game?

All of that is to say that I’m on this train at the moment and I’m good with it until the next stop – that being whatever comes next that pulls my attention away. Assassin’s Creed in two weeks is a possibility.

The game that won’t pull me away is Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,219 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 1,383 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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“The next best thing to the enjoyment of a good time is the recollection of it.”

We’re two months in for the year and currently sitting around 1200 job losses in the gaming industry. A number that will only go higher, of course, as the year goes on.

This week, among other studios, we lost Monolith. I’ve got a lot of fond memories of Monolith games. There’s more to the list to add here that I didn’t even cover in the show. And maybe, hopefully, I’ll remember them for the next episode cause there’s a few I’d still like to discuss.

Around 2001 or 2002, I built my first PC. I did so with the single goal of playing Max Payne with mods. But, you know, that got the ball rolling. Back then, we didn’t have games at the click of our fingertips. You still needed to venture out to buy a box that had a disc that would go into a drive and install on your PC. What that means is that, for the most part, that’s all I played.

Until another game would release, and again, let me remind you of the year – we had gaps in games releasing that had any weight to them as being something to go out and pick up, at least on PC. And one of the few purchases made during this time was Tron 2.0 – a Monolith game.

What an amazing game that was so early on in my PC gaming life. It’s been forever since I’ve gone back to look at it on a video or whatever so I have no idea how it holds up but back then it was fantastic.

We’re going to miss a lot from this company and those people. Monolith didn’t just make a new game, that made an innovation to go along with it. From the enemies they scanned for their first game, Blood, back in 97, to the enemy AI used in FEAR, to the most recent and most innovative NEMESIS system used in Shadow Of Mordor/War – a system they were planning to implement in their Wonder Woman game, now cancelled.

I hope in time we hear of people from the studio getting jobs elsewhere or forming their own studio, if possible. I think there’s a lot more to be offered here from them and I hope, somehow, we’ll be able to see that come to fruition. For now, however, it’s just goodbye.

It’s hard to go from that back into my schtick for poking fun at Ubisoft. I still want my Splinter Cell game and I’ll still tell you it has been 4,212 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released. But maybe now I’ll start also reminding you that there’s been 1200 job losses since January 1, 2025.

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“Patience is a virtue”

A virtue I’m well acquainted with – except for when the internet is down.

It was a weird weekend. After this show wrapped we had bad weather come through and that required me to put on my day job pants and monitor things for where I work. That got me in VERY late, so I knew I’d be an hour or so behind on getting the show out.

Only to wake up to no internet. Gone all day long and finally back sometime in the evening hours. And that’s why you’re getting the show now, instead of yesterday. My apologies.

I also had a whole thing written about Days Gone, but thinking back over it now it just really doesn’t matter. Sony’s giving us a remaster of a game when THEY KNOW good and well what remaster the public is asking for.

And it was NEVER Days Gone.

It was Bloodborne. It will always be Bloodborne. We want a remaster and a PC release.

For now, however, if you have a PS5 you really owe it to yourself to pick up AstroBot. If we were in the business of giving away games like we did back in 2008, this would be the game we give away each week for like 2 months. It is just SO very well done.

And speaking of what gamers want…or, more specifically, what I want and what I will always want – is Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,198 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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“You couldn’t live with your own failure, where did that bring you?”

Back to Batman.

I get the need to want to work on something else. I understand how tiring it is to keep doing, mostly, the same thing over and over again. As well as trying to bring more to the table to keep it fresh. But none of this is to put the blame on Rocksteady. That blame falls to the WB games people in charge who shifted it all to a “Games As A Service” model and made them go back to square one and start over again.

All we really wanted was more Batman. Now, it seems, we’ll be getting exactly that sometime in the far future. And I think it’ll do well, as long as it is more of what we had before with more being brought to the table to keep it fresh.

It’s something I wish EA would do with Burnout. But, and this is also a concern with Rocksteady and Batman, so many of the core staff that worked on Burnout have moved on to other studios and companies. Makes you wonder that even if they go back to the well, does the water taste the same anymore?

I’d have the same concern over Splinter Cell, but at this point we’re too far out to compare or even care. Ubisoft, it has been 4,191 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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“Let a joy keep you. Reach out your hands and take it as it runs by.”

I’m still putting in time with AstroBot. It’s a great little game to come home to, if that makes any sense. Like, it’s a comfortable TV show. A feel good book. Something to take away the worries of the day.

A single level in that game can do this. Well, one of the full levels – the challenge levels might have the opposite effect. Even still, getting through a challenge level still gives you a pretty great sense of accomplishment. So, maybe that works too.

We have a lot of those games in our lives. And they’re all different for all of us. Mine is AstroBot (at the moment) or a good puzzle box game (currently scratching that itch with Boxes: Lost Fragments – it’s real cheap). For others maybe it’s a racing game or an RPG to get lost in or just some quick phone app game. We all have our escapes and we all escape to different places.

It’s just nice to be able to have that. Especially on the rough days or weeks or months even.

I really hope you have something like that for you. Doesn’t have to be a game. It can be a book, or a magazine, or even a YouTube channel or something you like to check in on daily or weekly. Whatever it might be, I’m glad you’ve found it and have it. And if something like that doesn’t exist for you, I hope you’re able to search one out. It could even be some sort of hobby like a Lego build you work on a few minutes a day or something.

Enjoy the things that bring you joy.

And yeah, still calling out Ubisoft over Splinter Cell. It has been 4,184 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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Snap back to reality…

So, this time last week I was wondering what had happened to Marvel Snap. Turns out they’re owned by a company the US Government doesn’t want operating in the US. Anyway, that lasted all of maybe two days or so. Everything is somewhat back to normal. And players will be seeing quite a bit of compensation for the downtime. That offer has pretty much silenced the talk of what was being said this time last week: why weren’t we told?

Did the folks at Marvel Snap not know who owned them? And if so did you not ask about the upcoming ban? And if you didn’t know…how? The answer we all got was that Second Dinner, the developers and, basically, the face of Marvel Snap, did NOT know they’d be getting banned. And something about that just seems odd. However, that’s as far as I’ll go with the question because it’s very likely we’ve already gotten the truth (they didn’t know) or we never will.

After finishing Indiana Jones the other weekend I moved on to Astro Bot on the PS5. I can’t praise this game enough. I gush about it in the episode but it’s so much more than what I’m able to say. It is an unbelievable breath of fresh air where gaming is concerned for me. It’s bright, cute, charming, fun, surprising, amazing, creative, and, oddly, original. I say “oddly” because it feels like a Mario platformer. It’s the nearest thing to it for comparison, but it has held my attention far more than Mario Odyssey ever did. I am enjoying every single moment I sit down to play, always coming away from it impressed and surprised by what they had in store for me with each new level.

What IS NOT surprising, of course, is the lack of Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,177 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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Just as a note, I’m writing this the day after we recorded this episode. Yeah, some things have happened since then and we’re absolutely going to talk about it on the NEXT episode. For now, I want to keep this content relevant to the episode it’s attached to, even though it does have to do with gaming, we’ll talk about Marvel Snap in the next episode.

For now, it’s all about the Switch 2. Which…really isn’t that much. We got an announcement trailer with no voice over or much else except a reveal of the console. That’s it. We’ll know more coming up in April, but until then we wait – for probably more leaks. Because we still need to know what kind of performance with this thing we’re dealing with. As well, what are we looking at as a game library? A big one with backwards compatibility, of course, but who else is jumping on this ship and releasing games for the Switch 2. Also, what other little tricks are being kept secret with that console? Then, of course, there’s the release date and the price still to come. So, yeah, still more information to be had and we’ve just got to wait it out.

In the meantime, I’ve wrapped up my adventure with the new Indiana Jones game and will be moving on to something else – I just haven’t yet figured out what that’ll be. I’m eyeballing platformers for right now, but we’ll see. I also wouldn’t mind a third person adventure/action game as well – Spider-Man 2 or an Assassin’s Creed perhaps.

What game it WON’T be is, of course, Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,170 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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New Year. New Switch…Too.

I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a leak for a console like this. It’s almost like how new phone products get leaked because of all the third party manufactures – but this is for a new console. And I’m surprised that Nintendo has said NOTHING about it. They also haven’t done their usual litigation trigger happy nonsense to get these things removed. I guess to do so would acknowledge the existence of a console they haven’t officially/formally announced, maybe?

At the same time, what do they care? It isn’t damaging the company or making money off copyrighted material. If anything it’s only drumming up interest in the product and more so on when they will officially announce the new console. Given the success of the Switch and knowing we’d have a follow up that is (now obviously) more of the same, this doesn’t hurt them in any way. Because regardless of leaks to the form, we still don’t have much of an idea of what it can do – and that’s where Nintendo holds all the cards.

We have no idea of the power of the Switch 2, but it’s an easy guess it’ll be better than the first while still not reaching current Xbox/PS5 sort of output. But no one is asking for that. We also don’t know about the screen – OLED or LCD or something in between. Then there’s the games, of which, we know nothing about. Oh, and also the price, of course.

So the mystery is still there.

However, the mystery of the missing Splinter Cell is still out there. It’s been 2000+ days with no Elder Scrolls 6 info. It’s been near double that for the wait of GTA6 – but we’ve been promised both with teases and trailers. Not so with Sam Fisher. Ubisoft, it has been 4,163 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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As always, thank you for listening and continuing to support us here at In-Game Chat.

Another season comes to close and along with it another year as well. We don’t really look back on the year in this episode so I’ll try to do so here in this post.

From kicking off this year with that massive Insomniac games leak and what was to come from them and the Marvel IP to the birth of Balatro and the massive popularity of the Pokemon-like PalWorld. And that was just the first two months of the year.

But wait, what about Suicide Squad? It launched in February, took a beating in the ratings, but survived the year (barely), which, at the time, we thought was probably going to be the biggest flop of the year. Then came Concord and lasted a whole week.

This year video games continued their push into other types of media, mostly television with Fallout earlier in the year and Secret Level later on. As well as the second season of Arcane. It’ll continue to expand into 2025 with the second season of The Last Of Us and more on the way as these things start to get handled properly. The well of good stories has always been there, they’ve just been pulling them out with a broken bucket, really.

Sony came under fire with the release of Helldivers 2 and that whole issue of making a Playstation account just to continue to play it. Nintendo STILL hasn’t confirmed the Switch 2. No really, they haven’t. Not in an official capacity. And Microsoft closed 4 studios in the span of a DAY.

Speaking of, as a state of the industry sort of thing, it wasn’t great. Job losses a plenty over the year and more stories about that than I would like but it spans the entire 12 months.

And that’s a bit of the year that was. As for my personal gaming year, my Steam Replay says I played 38 games this year, and that’s a lot more than last year and the year before. A ton of demos and I’ll continue that trend this year. Seriously, don’t skip the demo fests that Steam puts out every few months. Some real gems in there. I also dipped back into the well of the Burnout series, eventually doing the 100% on Burnout Paradise PC. And now I’m closing out the year with this Indiana Jones game that has just been phenomenal to play through.

Still no Splinter Cell this year. Will it happen in 2025? The betting man in me says “nope”. But I’m oddly optimistic. Ubisoft, it has been 4,142 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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These things take time…

And it seems that 10 years is about the time it takes to iron out the kinks of The Game Awards. I can’t tell if maybe I’m just not as critical or that they actually fixed their problems but I have very little in the way of notes about this year’s presentation.

All of the complaints from years previous seem to have been addressed with the only exception being the overall length but – it’s an awards show. Find me one that falls under 3 hours and I’d be surprised. It’s the smallest of complaints and it feels more like a personal preference, for me, really.

Regardless, I was satisfied with the show and the results and the announcements. I mean, again, there was very little to complain about for this one compared to years past. If they use this as a base to start from I think it’ll only get better.

Speaking of those announcements. Most of what got all the talk afterwards are games we likely won’t see until 2026 or 2027 or even further out maybe. Witcher 4 had a long video but the game only recently (like a month ago) went into full production. Some games didn’t even have titles but used their internal project names. I’m all for surprising and unexpected announcements, but given how far out they are we’ll have forgotten about them by the time we get any more information – and even then it’ll still be a long wait for release.

That last bit is kinda nit picking, really. This was a show that listened to the criticism from the years previous and actually improved because of it. Honestly, there’s no higher praise I can give it.

Well another year is coming to a close and The Game Awards were the last chance this year that we might see something for Splinter Cell. And we didn’t. Ubisoft, it has been 4,135 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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“I’m listening…”

If you’re looking to hear someone over analyze themselves as to how they play or buy video games…well, you’ve come to the right place. After all that back and forth I sometimes boil it down to the great words of a TV show theme song: “It’s just a game, I should really just relax.”

But that’s just part of how I’m wired. To figure out the “why” of things, especially pertaining to myself and my own habits of gaming, shopping, whatever. I include shopping there because, as you’ll hear in the show, I absolutely consume a massive amount of information on products when I’m looking to make either a big purchase or a smaller purchase but for a very important item. For example, the big purchase for this year is looking at computer monitors. A small purchase for this year but a very important item is a gaming mouse. Either way, I’m going to go back and forth over finding something I want and then going between whatever I pick and continue to narrow down the options.

It’s annoying as hell. More than half the time you end up doing one of two things: You either go back and forth so much you eventually talk yourself out of buying it OR you go so far down the rabbit hole you can’t take it anymore and just end up picking something because you’re tired of reading about it.

It has always been this way with me but not so much for games. You can easily see that by simply looking at ANY of my online game libraries on Steam, Epic, or GoG. Sales are what drive me in that direction. The only problem I run into there is if I want the game on PC or on console. And lately, it’s been more and more a PC thing for me. And yet, the other edge of that sword is that PC games don’t see the discounts like console games do.

Hmm, looks like I went and analyzed myself again. Anyway, our time for this session is up. But one more thing:

Is Splinter Cell in the room with us now? It’s not, of course. Ubisoft, it has been 4,128 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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What a bargain!

It’s sales week/month. Not sure how long this goes for, because while this is the big sale day of Black Friday later on this week you’ll actually see sales from now until the end of the year. And yeah, some of those will be better/worse than what we’re getting this week.

Currently, I’m on the hunt for a second monitor for my PC. However, I’ve been on this hunt for like, 3 Black Fridays now and I always seem to delay long enough that the feeling passes. This year looks like it might be the year. PC gaming monitor prices are currently REALLY good. I’ll keep you posted on how that turns out.

As for games, well, there’s a lot to pick from but I think most of what I’m looking for will be more easily purchased next year when the discounts are a bit deeper. Plus, I tend to want PC versions of games and those discounts usually don’t fall as far as their console cousins. It’s all a part of the digital world we (PC Gamers) live in.

There’s no show next week. So go out and grab those deals and play those games. That’s my plan for the holiday. I say that now knowing full well I’ll come back in two weeks to tell you all I played was Marvel Snap.

I wish I could tell you I played that new Splinter Cell, but we know who’s to blame for that not happening. Ubisoft, it has been 4,114 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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The future feels uncertain.

Well, duh. It is the future and it will always be uncertain. Still, it doesn’t mean I can’t wonder what will come of it. And while you might think this is some existential pondering on my part, it’s far more…well, actually it’s far less than that.

I’m once again talking about the future of our hobby and more specifically our consoles and PC parts. If things go as we’ve been told they would go (and so far they have), this $700 PS5 Pro might look like a bargain in another year or so.

Then there’s the aspect of building or upgrading a PC. Buying a TV for the console. Physical copies of games. The list goes on and on. And, honestly, it’s not worth worrying about at the moment because we just aren’t there yet. Would it be wise to stock up on a good deal on a new TV right now or pick up a new component or two for the PC – probably. Does it mean you get the PS5 Pro over a regular PS5? Eh, not really.

The cost of our hobby is likely to rise and possibly significantly. But we don’t know when and we don’t know IF it will. That’s the thing about existential future pondering – it doesn’t get you very far because nothing’s happened yet. That isn’t to say you can’t be prepared but new consoles are who knows how far out and all we’ve got to go on is a mid-generation refresh with the Pro. And whatever the Switch 2 ends up costing.

I worry it will get out of hand. I don’t know that it will but I worry that it might. And I wonder how we’ll respond to whatever may come. Prices staying the same gives us an idea of how it’ll be most likely, but what’s the likelihood of that happening? Again, the future feels uncertain.

Well, duh.

I am absolutely certain we aren’t getting a Splinter Cell movie any time soon. As for the game, Ubisoft, it has been 4,107 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

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