Author: Scott

I don’t know that I would call it a complaint, but saying we have too many video games sure seems like a good problem to have – for the player.

But having too much of anything is almost certainly going to, at least, end up being bad.

I don’t know when we might see the negatives for this and maybe we already are – I keep, as best I can, a running total of job losses in video games alone for the year. Now some of those come from mergers and buyouts but a lot just come from studios who release a game and then don’t make that money back so they have to cut staff and sometimes just close up shop altogether.

I’m not sure releasing fewer games would help the situation but it sure would give me more time to buy what I want and play it while waiting for the next thing (that’s a really funny joke if you know my buying/playing habits, but we’re talking in a general sense here). I know it would give more games more time to soak. Time to own the shelf space or the mind space of the players.

Breathing room. Not only for the game but the consumer as well.

I don’t know the result of this or when/if we ever see one. I worry that with all the games releasing and a fair chunk of them being very good titles, they’ll miss the boat. Studios releasing in an uncrowded space could make their money back but not currently it seems. And more failures to reach money goals means more layoffs and closures means less games.

Maybe there’s an ebb and flow to that. Maybe we’ve done this before and I just wasn’t paying attention. Maybe this is blown out of proportion. I just know you don’t hear us talking about playing the latest titles almost ever in the sense that we’ve played them. But, man, that’s a lot of job losses for the year so far.

Ubisoft, it has been 4,423 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 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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Surprise! Tariffs make things more expensive. I actually didn’t have to finish writing that. The whole smart document thing saw “tariffs make things…” and it completed the rest of it.

So yeah, now we’ve got the second price hike in 6 months for Microsoft consoles. We’re at a point where if you bought a Series X back in 2020 when they launched, you could sell it now five years later for a profit. And that’s even if you’ve used it for that long as well. Also amazingly, you could trade that in at a game store and now get FAR more for it than you would have 6 months ago.

It’s ridiculous. It’s also ridiculous with how much a console is going to cost. PS5’s were already up there and now the Xbox family is kinda surpassing it – in price mind you. Also, let me go back and point out that we’re nearing 6 years of these consoles being around. You look at ANY other time previous and tell me when you’ve seen the consoles GO UP in price where it isn’t a collectible but still on the shelves. Sure, they’ve released upgraded versions of these things with the Pro models and what not, but it’s never been like this before that I can remember.

And I won’t even bother to think what will happen when these companies start showing off their next generation of hardware. It feels like that is something on the horizon but I’m honestly hoping it is way down the line when we’re past this whole tariff thing and things have settled a bit. If it doesn’t, we’re probably looking at 800-1000 dollar consoles.

I don’t know if that’s the “sky is falling” mentality, but we’re already in the 650-750 range with what’s out there now and going beyond that with better hardware and stuff, the price will be significantly higher. If you want to get in now, you should. Do it before the price hike takes effect on October 3rd.

I saw another trailer for the Splinter Cell animated series for Netflix and I’m very excited for it. It won’t fill that void of having a new game in the series but it’s something to remind people it exists and hopefully resurges Ubisoft to get on the ball with whatever they’re working on. Ubisoft, it has been 4,416 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 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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We’d planned to bring you one of our first interviews in I don’t know how many years but some technical issues have pushed that through to next week.

We’ll be talking with Aaron Gwynaire about his new game NEYYAH.

As for today’s show, it’s a lot about Nintendo. Both with their Nintendo Direct held on Friday and a little something about their IP protection. We focus more on the direct, however.

I’m glad to see them supporting Mario for the 40th anniversary, although a massively overpriced port of two games wasn’t on my bingo card – however, given their recent releases of Switch 1 ports to Switch 2 with upgrades and making them SEVENTY DOLLARS, I shouldn’t be surprised.

Come to think of it, watching that direct and seeing some first party releases like Yoshi, Metroid, and others, I’m only now realizing that those will also come with a price tag of seventy or higher. And Nintendo doesn’t do discounts. Not anymore. What little they do is barely anything worth waiting for. And it’s likely I’ll move to buying their titles used much further down the road.

Not that it matters. My backlog is full of great things to play and as each week passes my PC gaming wish list keeps dropping in price with sale after sale. I’ll be fine for gaming. Just not…Nintendo gaming – though I have a full backlog there as well.

What I don’t have is Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,409 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 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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It’s been a few weeks and in that time I seemed to have found some games to actually put some time into. Nothing new, of course, but given I haven’t played them yet, they’re new to me.

Recently I finished Astro’s Playroom. This was a pack-in title with the PS5. A console purchased in November of 2020. And it’s so very weird to go back and finish something that you hadn’t touched since January of 2021. There’s a few trophies from the game that scatter from November of 2020 to January 2021 and then a MASS of them all within the most recent weeks. And that’s the weird part. If it wasn’t pulling me in then, why now?

I don’t know. It’s over with and was a fun little title and pretty cool to get as a free download – we don’t really get a lot of those anymore with our console purchases – or at least we didn’t back then. We still don’t but the Switch 2 did have the option of getting it with Mario Kart World. And if you buy an Xbox I think it comes with a month free of Gamepass which is a massive library to pick from, so I guess it isn’t all bad there.

It was fun to find games again to play, and continue to play – not just a few moments of gaming and then be done with it. I’m hoping the streak will continue because I’ve got a lot more to look into or just to continue to play. With some new stuff on the horizon as well. Oh! Hey! The two Horizon games I haven’t played either.

Still no Splinter Cell game to play, yet. But next month we get an animated series. Sorry, Ubisoft, fine print says that doesn’t count. We want a brand new entry into the series. And it has been 4,402 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 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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Just a note for the show – Labor Day is next week here so we won’t be back live until September the 6th.

With Gamescom come and gone we’re sort of set for the year on upcoming releases. I mean, there’s plenty of releases to come but I don’t see anything too surprising to show up that we didn’t already know about – except for where Nintendo stands. They do their own thing on their own time – and that only relates to first party titles.

The next big gaming thing we’re looking at next will be the Game Awards. That overly long advertisement for games with an award or two thrown in for good measure. But that’s in December.

Right now, we’re getting into the “-ber” months, and my usual situation there is that whatever you might want, if you can wait, might be better bought at a discount come November or December. It fluctuates as far as what you might be interested in and if it’s worth waiting for a discount. For instance, I’m looking forward to Ball X Pit. I don’t know the price yet on that title, but it’s not likely something I’ll sit on. You probably have a few games like that as well.

In the meantime, I’ll continue looking for a game to hold me over for a while. I’ll try again today to see what grabs me and go from there.

Maybe I’ll go back to an old Splinter Cell game considering there’s no risk of getting burned out on that title before a new one is released. Ubisoft, it has been 4,388 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 3,563 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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It’s not unlike us from time to time to sort of stray off topic for a little bit. And by “us”, I mean “me”. And that’s the case early in this episode and throughout as I try and remember the very first comic book I ever read. At some point I’m going to have to go digging. I’m pretty sure I still have the issue and would know it when I see it.

But now I’m doing the same thing here as I did on the show. So let me try to stick to gaming for a moment if only to say that I really haven’t branched out and played very much. Still kind of in limbo for now as to what to sink my teeth into. It’ll come to me eventually. And it’s not something I’m bothered by. Just like the comic book, I’ll know it when I see it…or feel it as it were. God knows my backlog is SCREAMING for attention.

It would have been nice maybe to have that Dragon Age remaster. Given the nostalgia of the previous 3 right now are the only things keeping that franchise in any kind of positive memory considering what Veilguard did to it. I never played it so I don’t know and I hardly played those previous 3 but I kind of would like to revisit them and see if it holds my attention. Our tastes, in all sorts of ways, change over time and I’m curious if now I could actually get into the series. I sort of did with the second one but not near enough to remember anything. And it was all the way back on the 360, I think.

Something will eventually fall into my lap and you’ll hear me gush over it week after week, it just takes some time.

Speaking of time, Ubisoft, it has been 4,381 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 3,563 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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Still haven’t found a game to hold my attention in recent weeks and now, seemingly, months it feels like.

I have a lot of quick games I play. Little things that I can spend however much time I want with them and back out whenever. But nothing on a story driven basis or anything like that to really keep me coming back and advancing.

Avowed was on a really good path at doing that for me but it was just so big. Eventually the size of that game and my need to explore everything I could in every map just broke me down to a gaming exhaustion.

So I’m looking for something to hold me but not something to engulf me, you know? The Battlefield 6 beta looked kind of fun while watching streams but I don’t know how well I work with mouse/keyboard controls just yet. Typing this is better than it used to be but I’m still mistyping keys on the regular here while I do this. Although…Avowed would be a good way to test out how that’s working for me since that was the game I was playing when it started to become an issue.

What I don’t want is another live service game to get into and what’s strange is that WB Games, after failing spectacularly with it a year ago, seems to want to give me just that. I mean, there could be a way to make that work, but it was a pretty big fail for them and it’s just strange how they want to try again so soon. Even with the same intellectual property.

At this point, I might actually take a live service Splinter Cell, if that’s the only way I could get one. Ubisoft, it has been 4,374 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 3,563 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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Another quick note to let you know we will NOT be doing a show next weekend.

This week however was more just chatting and rambling. Which, I get it, is most of what we do anyway. It’s been a minute for me since I have settled on a game to play. Got a good ways through Avowed, made some progress in Doom The Dark Ages, went through the main story of Clair Obscure, and put some time in with Assassin’s Creed Mirage, but for the most part it’s just been me dipping my toe into a game here or a game there. Something that doesn’t require a multiple play commitment. I can be in and out of it and move on if I want.

Outside of a few exceptions of games built, literally, to do just that, I guess I’m trying to find my next multiple play commitment. That is, something that holds me and keeps me coming back to it so I can advance the story and finish the game. I lost that with Avowed, Doom, and Mirage. Getting into them significantly but ultimately getting burned out on them before finishing. Or, in Mirage’s case, just not being gripped by the story.

Of course, my backlog overfloweth. There’s a number of games on my PC and console that I could probably jump into and find what I’m looking for. That’s pretty much my weekend now where gaming is concerned – looking. Browsing. This is something I am extremely good at – wasting time window shopping. However, every now and again, something stands out. Something grabs my eye or attention and sometimes that something can be pretty good.

So the search continues.

Maybe I could go back and play an old Splinter Cell. Sure as hell won’t be playing a NEW Splinter Cell anytime soon. Ubisoft, it has been 4,360 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 3,563 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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We go away for two weeks and then come back with not so great news. MASSIVE layoffs at Microsoft and a really odd back and forth between publishers and devs concerning Subnautica 2 – only really leading to a delayed (and at this point maybe cancelled) game.

And more news (mostly not good) that we didn’t get to.

For the Microsoft stuff, you can’t really get away with spending 70 Billion dollars and come away clean. I’d like to think if a company could it would be MS, but no, they had to cut 9,100 jobs. That’s only so far. I doubt they stop at that number. Also, so we’re clear, I’m not saying it’s justified. It stinks all the way around and will do so again when they continue the cutting spree.

As for Subanutica 2, it seems like that will end up in court. Likely further delaying the games release and, depending on the outcome, making it probably harder to release the game. It’s a story I haven’t really been following the public opinion aspect of, though I do a timeline event rundown in the episode.

Other than that it’s still not great news with layoffs at Cyan Worlds (MYST/Riven) and the complete lack of any significant gaming done over the past two weeks or so from myself. But, of course, I have my reasons and you’ll hear about them in this episode.

What you WILL NOT hear in this episode is any sort of announcement of anything Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it has been 4,353 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 3,475 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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It’s hard to shake off the pull of something successful. I mean, it can be easy if you’re outright against it or don’t have the means to obtain it or whatever. Basically, there’s exceptions, right?

But I’m speaking in the sense, as almost always I do here, in terms of video games. A successful console may be a pull but the price may be the wall too high to get over. So, there’s that. But when it’s a game itself, you may pause to give it some thought.

Death Stranding 2 is out and the scores for this thing are far higher than I was expecting. Not that I felt it wouldn’t do well, but maybe on par with the first game. Except it has far outshined in scores upon release. And it makes one curious what all the fuss is about. I own the first one but I never played it. I might decide to give it a go here soon.

We’re not doing a show next week and the week after that is a bit up in the air for now, but keep an eye on our socials. Bluesky, Discord, Twitter, and Facebook. We’ll be sure to let you know what’s going on.

So that’s it for this show post. No clever connection to talk about Splinter Cell, but the count up continues. Ubisoft, it has been 4,332 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 2,422 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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So, about that write up last week…

I think I mentioned that Borderlands 4 would be a test for that $80 third party gaming pricing. Turns out, it won’t. Since they are basically pricing it as pretty much any other current gen triple A game. I don’t know what game will eventually be that test, but I’m sure we’ll get there.

I’m going to keep this post short as it’s not all that comfortable to type currently, but hopefully that’ll change in the coming weeks. Currently, I’m just playing what I can with a controller or just a mouse and, so far, that’s working out pretty well.

I’ve mentioned Marvel Snap on the air a lot and currently, if you follow reddit or the discord for it, that game is going through some things at the moment. Player satisfaction is WAY down. Either one of those places or just the Steam/App review pages will tell you the problem. I don’t have much of an opinion on the matter. Not that I’m neutral – I lean heavily towards more power to the players in most cases. Same with devs if you can tell the publishers are getting in their way. Snap is, now, self published. The devs are the publishers and they all carry the responsibility of their decisions for the game. And it seems like they are making the wrong decisions.

I’ve yet to unbox my Switch 2. I’m pleased to see it selling so well, but I just haven’t gotten around to doing all the set up and stuff needed when getting a new console. Plus, that whole system transfer thing seems a little confusing, especially if you have unique situations to account for. Still, it’ll get done this weekend or next.

So that’s it for this show post. No clever connection to talk about Splinter Cell, but the count up continues. Ubisoft, it has been 4,325 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 2,422 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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“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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