Author: Scott

“You cannot f___ the future, sir. The future f____ you.”

So, we’re back to the discussion of $80 games, and to get right to the core of it—this is happening. It was probably always going to happen.

Inflation affects everything—food, materials, consumer goods—prices inevitably rise, and video games are no exception. The same goes for consoles.

Now, I know I gave Randy Pitchford a lot of grief for saying that “real fans” would find a way to afford $80 games, but the reality is, being a fan has nothing to do with it. The cost of the hobby is going up, and that means gamers will need to be more selective about what they buy. What I said on the show, and what I meant, was that as game prices climb, they compete more with the essential expenses of everyday life.
We’re also likely to see lower debut numbers—fewer sales, fewer players at launch—as prices continue to rise. Instead, major sales events, like holiday discounts, will probably become the more significant moments sales increase – depending on the discount.

It’ll be interesting to see whether the topic of price increases comes up in the coming weeks, with all the non-E3 news rolling out—Summer Game Fest, press conferences, and other industry events. Chances are, though, that pricing won’t be addressed directly. It’s just not the kind of thing publishers like to spotlight. But make no mistake—it’s a looming shadow over the entire industry.

Speaking of non-E3 Summer Game Fest, will this be the year we get a Splinter Cell announcement? My money is on “No”. Ubisoft, it has been 4,304 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 2,322 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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How do you solve a problem like GTA 6?

What I mean by that is that when you have a game like GTA 6 it sort of dominates the store shelves – it dominates the topic of conversation. And getting back to the store shelves that’s the problem. When you release a game like this, anything released a few weeks ahead of time and then a few weeks to a few months afterwards is sort of in the dark. So what do you do with your game?

If you’re in Indie, a small developer, then you’ll be fine, no problem there. But if you’re a bigger company releasing another Triple A game you’ve got to steer clear of the behemoth that is GTA 6. So either 2026 is going to have a stacked opening year and a stacked closing year or people are not going to care and they’re just going to release their games when they release them. But I don’t think the big guys want to do that. They want to steer clear of GTA 6 because they know they can’t compete. We’ve seen it before on smaller scales. For example The Horizon sequel was released I think late February had about a week on the store shelves and then Elden Ring released and nobody talked about Horizon afterwards.

Now some are worried that maybe that date won’t hold in May of next year for GTA 6 release but I feel like they’re pretty good about setting a date and keeping it and that’s fine. You can worry about if a game is going to make its release date or if it’s going to be pushed back – it’s likely not going to get pushed up. So you roll your dice. You release in February/March maybe early April at the latest but then where do you go after it releases. And what happens if it has the online component ready to go out of the gate?

Not to make predictions, I’m not very good at those, but I would have to say that we’re going to have a very stacked February and March of 2026, a dead summer, and then we’ll see releases start to pick up as usual late August early September on into the holidays. Maybe.

But back to my question at the beginning. The answer is, you don’t. You just get out of its way.

If I had a choice between buying GTA 6 or a new Splinter Cell game, well, I’d buy GTA 6 cause there is no new Splinter Cell game. Ubisoft, it has been 4,290 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 2,140 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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We might be done for a while talking about the Switch 2 (but not for very long), but in its place we now have GTA 6.

Just swapping one evil for another. And no, they aren’t really evil, but those prices sure are. Oddly enough, prior to like a month ago, GTA 6 was the one we thought might usher in the higher priced games or at least be the standout who could get away with it. Then Nintendo kicked down the door and did it first – oddly something else I did not see coming.

Now Microsoft has increased their pricing and Sony probably isn’t very far behind. I don’t know how long this pricing is going to last but usually when things go up and people buy them they rarely come back down. Because once you’ve broken through that barrier and people accept it, they buy into it, you don’t usually back track on that. Sales will come and go, sure, but it’s only up from here.

Where Microsoft is concerned their first party titles will be going up in price, but as we all know their first party titles end up day one on GamePass. Now I’m not sure if game price increases will increase subscribers to game subscription services, but it absolutely is a selling point that Sony and Nintendo just don’t have. Microsoft says our games are $80 but our Game Pass subscription will let you play all of these games as soon as they release without you having to buy them. So, buy our console, buy our subscription service and play all these games.

I guess my point is… our hobby is not getting any easier to keep up with – financially. Thankfully there’s independent studios, there are smaller titles with just as big of ambitions – it’ll be these creators and these developers that keep a lot of us coming back to our hobby. Sure new console releases, big AAA titles will be out – but now that you’re spending $80 to $100 per game it’s not like you’re picking up three or four within 6 months much less however many get released in a year. Of course, that brings me back to game subscription services – Microsoft has them, EA has them, and Ubisoft has them. Full on pay ever how much a month and our library is yours to play as you please.

I don’t know that I’ll own a new Splinter Cell game but I’m pretty sure I’ll subscribe to play one. Ubisoft, it has been 4,283 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 2,140 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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So, maybe for a while we might be done talking about the Switch 2?

Pre-orders are out (some oddly still available) and now it’s just the waiting game until June 5th. I was able to get in a pre-order myself, but I’ll be on the fence for either keeping it or canceling. And if I’m REALLY honest with myself, it’s likely to get cancelled.

For as long as I can remember with the new console releases, I’ve usually been there day 1 with these things. And it has perhaps taken me that long to realize…I don’t need to do that. Or, better yet, it took a release like this to show me.

For me, there’s a single game, maybe two, that I would be interested in playing. For other consoles like an Xbox or Playstation, there’s the promise of long running franchises and subscription service releases that I felt pretty confident about when making the purchase. Here, however, lies none of that. I rarely pick up my current Switch console – and it’s got a lot of games, but I don’t play them. Again, for me, if we’re looking at MY pros and cons, that con list is WAY longer than the pros. And more significant as well.

But that’s just me. This isn’t me saying it’s a bad system or that you’re wrong for wanting it. This is just where I stand currently on what this system means to me. And the reason I know this is because of all this back and forth with keeping or cancelling the pre-order. Because going back to all those years of day 1 console releases, the desire to purchase was pretty clear. This current feeling? This is telling me otherwise, but because of MY gaming habits.

As I have said so many times in the show, we’ll see how it plays out.

I wouldn’t hesitate, however, to preorder a new Splinter Cell game. Ubisoft, it has been 4,269 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 1,783 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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We’re finally getting to order our Switch 2’s. Well, pre-order them. We’re also finally settled on a price and, as it turned out, it was the price we knew all along anyway.

So, for now, it’s the $450/$500 situation. That price won’t change through the release on July 5th. Although given how quickly things have changed over the past few weeks, something drastic could actually happen, but I don’t really wanna do that for now. I think it’ll remain the same up to that point. When that supply, however, is exhausted, the price for the next stock coming over could likely be different. It won’t be a lower price, but it might be higher.

You face a choice right now if you are looking to get a Switch 2. You have to understand that the $450/$500 options will be the choice from here on out. Tariffs or not, that’s the base price. It will never go lower, outside of used units or a sale a good long year or so into the life of the system. If you want to wait until the fall or until more games are out for it you’d like to play, there’s a risk that the price will increase. It all depends on the word of the year, and I’ve said it before – tariffs.

I can’t actually predict the future but I can tell you the scalper market is going to go NUTS with this. Ebay will be flooded with pre-order sales and unit sales and the prices will be exactly what you expect – STUPID.

Still, I think I’m gonna try for it. At the very least try and secure a pre-order and then that’ll give me time to decide if I really want to do this or not. And if you’re going to try for it too on the 24th, well…may the odds be ever in your favor.

I wonder what the baseline game costs will be by the time we get a new Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,262 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 1,713 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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It’s been two weeks and I’m past the point of being tired of talking about tariffs. At least where Nintendo is concerned. And, I guess, where our gaming hobby is concerned. PC components, consoles, games, digital or otherwise, just tired of talking about it and speculating on it.

At this point I’m of the mind that regardless of the price, I’m sitting out for a while until the games show up. And they will, of course, but at a price point I’m not at all very comfortable with. And that will also shape my decision for whenever I look into getting a Switch 2. That’s kind of where I was when this was announced originally. And likely where I’ll stay for a good portion of the Switch 2’s life probably. Keep in mind that I am saying this now and long time listeners will remember me saying something similar for the original Switch release – then I had one on day one. So…yeah.

Now, about that Marathon gameplay reveal. It’s the new game from Bungie, the folks, of course, behind Halo and Destiny. It’s a shooter (surprise!), and there’s loot (surprise surprise!), and it is, seemingly, a team based shooter. Listen, the people who made Destiny and Halo telling me they’re going for a PVP experience is NOT the selling point for me as it may be to some. I absolutely suck at PVP in games and did so especially in Destiny. I will say, however, that they can give me ALL they want of that 8 minute cinematic they showed off. I need a whole series or movie based around that entire thing. It was great. And if you haven’t seen it and want some exceptional sci-fi settings and themes in your life, seek it out.

While you’re out there, see if you can find the next Splinter Cell game. Ubisoft, it has been 4,254 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 1,632 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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You’d think around an hour would be enough time to really go over everything going on with Nintendo, but apparently not with the way we do it. But yeah, this is what we’re talking about for the whole second hour of the show.

We didn’t finish the conversation and we’re likely to have it again once we figure out what this new console will end up costing.

Look, tariffs aside, it wasn’t a great showing for the console. The price itself and more so the games are really gonna test a lot of people’s decision making here. But beyond that, even if the prices were reasonable, it still lacked a pull for me. Mario Kart was it. For me. And that wasn’t enough a few days ago to spend FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. It also won’t be with whatever price we eventually land on that’ll be higher than that. It needs more original games – and again, this was if the prices were reasonable. As it stands now, having more original games just means more $70-$80 titles. Something that won’t justify a purchase with whatever price we end up getting for the hardware itself.

This also makes me wonder how far they will go with making cross-gen games for the two systems. Also, will those new games cost the same across generations? If Metroid Prime 4 is released on both Switch and Switch 2, will the price for each be the same?

There’s a lot of questions still to be answered, but for the most part, none of them matter until we get an idea of what this machine will cost. And then after, how well does this thing sell at that tariff-ied price point?

Ubisoft just got a massive billion dollar bailout, but one franchise was NOT a part of the deal, care to guess which one? It has been 4,247 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 1,632 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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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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