CD Project Red has announced that employees working on Cyberpunk 2077 will start mandatory crunch, adding a sixth day of work to their required schedule. This is in addition to any “non-mandatory” crunch they are already doing.

What We’re Playing

Colby: Tiny Troopers Joint Ops XL, Island Saver, Zombie Driver Cliff: Among Us, DoS2, Black the Fall, A Hat in Time, Hades, Untitled Goose Game Hans: EOT, Beat Saber, E:D, NMS

News

• We Have Dates for EA Play Coming to Game Pass
• Xbox One Games SCREAM on an Xbox Series X
• Expansion Memory for Your Series X Are Stupidly Expensive
• You Can’t Play xCloud on Your iPhone, But Xbox Remote Play Will Work
• Amazon Launches a Stadia Competitor Called Luna
• Get Awesome SoT Sails And Help Raise Money to Fight Cancer

Questions

Vinny: What Horror Movie Franchise deserves a video game? How would it play out? Single Player? Multiplayer? I’m excited for the spoopy season if you couldn’t tell!  

Charisma_Icon: Election is approaching… Which 2 video game characters are running for president?  

PolyNerdic: Inspired by watching a streamer smash his glass top desk in a fit of rage earlier this week, have any of you ever lost control of yourself and broken anything of value in a fit of game induced rage?

Princess_Megan: What is your favorite Halloween movie? Mine is The Nightmare Before Christmas! 

Princess_mansocks: What is your favorite microwavable treat?

Cheap/Free Games

Game Pass

• Doom Eternal (Android & Console) – October 1
• Drake Hollow (PC) ID@Xbox – October 1
• Brütal Legend (Console) – October 8
• Forza Motorsport 7 (Android, Console & PC) – October 8
• Ikenfell (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – October 8

Xbox Games with Gold

• Slayaway Camp: Butcher’s Cut ($16.99 ERP): Available October 1 to 31 on Xbox One
• Maid of Sker ($24.99 ERP): Available October 16 to November 15 on Xbox One
• Sphinx and the Cursed Mummy ($14.99 ERP): Available October 1 to 15 on Xbox One & Xbox 360
• Costume Quest ($14.99 ERP): Available October 16 to 31 on Xbox One & Xbox 360

Playstation Plus

• Vampyr
• Need for Speed: Payback

Epic Games Store

• Pikuniku
  Help peculiar characters overcome struggles, uncover a deep state conspiracy, and start a fun little revolution in this delightful dystopian adventure!

Twitch Prime

• Rocket Arena
• SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell
  SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell is the world’s only competitive heavy metal first-person platformer. Slice every last millisecond as you race and blast your way through deadly arenas. Teleport, jump, fly, bounce and drop in a hundred merciless and fast-paced maps for the ultimate prize: Your soul!

Elite Dangerous: Horizons DLC will be free shortly

In what might be the biggest surprise of the year, Microsoft bought Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax for $7.5 billion. They now own The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom and a ton more, with all future games coming to Game Pass!

In other news, the PS5 was less than stellar, PlayStation is trying to compete with Game Pass with their new PlayStation Plus Collection, and the government has started looking into Riot Games and Epic because of Tencent’s investment. 

What We’re Playing

Colby: De Blob, Tiny Troopers Joint Ops, Mars Power Industry, Toybox Turbos, Sine Mora, Hotshot Racing
Cliff: Hades, D:OS2
Dylan: THPS, AVENGERS, BORDERLANDS 3

Questions

Vinny: So over the past week, we have had the orders/preorders of the PlayStation 5 (shit show), NVIDIA 3080 GPU (SHIT SHOW), and the Xbox Series X/S (Seemingly a Shit Show, breaking in real time). How is it that in 2020 we’re still struggling to get these big preorders out the door in a timely fashion to people that actually want them? PS5 released at a random time when no one was expecting it, the NVIDIA 3080gpu got grabbed by a bunch of bots to the point of at 8:59am it said it was coming soon, at 9am it said out of stock on all etailers/retailers, and the Xbox Series X/S with the planned time of 11am est, has numerous sites crashing, issues checking out, etc. What do you think can be done to fix this max preorder debacle and especially how to prevent bots from nabbing up consoles.

Megan:

Also Megan: 

With Microsoft buying Bethesda, do you think games like Fallout and Elder Scrolls will become exclusives, earlier releases with the titles going to Sony at a later date, or just more pricey for  Sony to put on the Playstation platform?

Wepaman: What video game character has the best grade A, 5-star hair that you wouldn’t mind wearing?

Cheap/Free Games

Epic Games Store

• RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 Complete Edition
  Build the park of a lifetime and rediscover the critically acclaimed rollercoaster simulation bestseller. Feel the thrill of a genre-defining classic, complete with two huge expansion packs.

Xbox Games Pass

• Company of Heroes 2, September 17 (Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)
• Halo 3: ODST, September 22 (Android, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)
• Destiny 2: Shadowkeep & Forsaken, September 22 (Android, Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)
• Night in the Woods, September 24 (Android, Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)
• Warhammer: Vermintide 2, September 24 (Android, Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

Rocket League

https://www.pcgamer.com/rocket-league-goes-free-to-play-on-the-epic-games-store-next-week/

You Can Pet the Dog Bundle

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/you-can-pet-dog?partner=byteme

Goose Game

https://www.pcgamer.com/how-to-tell-your-geese-apart-in-the-upcoming-untitled-goose-game-co-op-mode/

Life is Strange 2 Ep 1

https://www.pcgamer.com/life-is-strange-2-episode-1-is-now-free-to-play-forever/

NES/SNES Online

https://www.ign.com/articles/donkey-kong-country-2-diddys-kong-quest-leads-september-2020s-nintendo-switch-online-snes-and-nes-games

Can you believe that we made it all the way to 200!?! And to celebrate, we brought some of our closest friends on to the podcast for a live 2-hour extravaganza! It’s a little bit different than what you are probably used to, but we had a great time! 

It’s been a staring content between Sony and Microsoft for months now, but with the leak of the Series S over the weekend, Microsoft decided to pull back the curtain and reveal the launch date and price for the Xbox Series S and Series X. 

• Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity Stealth Drops
• Super Mario 3D All-Stars Gets a Release Date
• And Other Mario 35th Anniversary Info
• Minecraft is Coming to PSVR
• Rise of the Triad is Getting a Remaster in 2021
• You Can Now Play Doom On a Pregnancy Test

What We’re Playing

Colby: Drake’s Hollow, daBlob
Cliff: Yooka-Laylee, Tell Me Why
Dylan: Spellbreak, Fortnite, Artifact 2.0 Beta, Fall Guys

Questions

Vinny: Why do Games as a Service get the amount of hate they do? Is it only critically that they receive the hate? Games as a Service games that are just launching seem to always face the issue of ‘it’s not a complete game’, even with knowing they plan to support it for years to come. Avengers got this treatment. Anthem proved that statement. Should we always judge Games as a Service like an Anthem, or should we expect Games as a Service to become like a Destiny?

Megan: I was bs’ing with my brother, and we were discussing how the rise of Marvel movies turned a  previously nerdy niche into mainstream pop culture. What nerdy thing do you love and would you like to see have this kind of rise?

Charisma_Icon: What do you like in a good egg scramble?

Wepaman: What goodie would make you buy the collector’s edition of a game? Like a working Batarang?

Princess_mansocks: What is your favorite Funko pop figure?

Cheap/Free Games

Epic Games Store

• Railway Empire
  In Railway Empire, you will create an elaborate and wide-ranging rail network, purchase over 40 different trains modeled in extraordinary detail, and buy or build railway stations, factories and attractions to keep your network ahead of the competition.
• Where the Water Tastes Like Wine
  Where the Water Tastes Like Wine is a Narrative-Adventure game about traveling, sharing stories, and surviving manifest destiny. Players wander across a folkloric Depression-era United States at their own pace, meeting strangers with their own stories to tell.

Humble Choice

https://www.humblebundle.com/subscription

Totally Tropico

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/totally-tropico

The choice is yours, you can buy an Xbox Series X, a PlayStation 5 and probably a Switch OR a Geforce 3090. You have to really, really like PC games to pick the latter. 

• Stern Avengers: Infinity Quest
• Sony Is Thinking About Bringing More First-Party Games to PC
• Pirate Battle Royale is Coming in Early September
• Fall Guys Raises $1 Million for Charity
• Sea of Thieves is Getting Dogs and New Content
• 12 Seconds is Coming Soon and Bring Some Real Star Power

What We’re Playing

Colby: Viva Pinata, Graveyard Keeper, Hypnospace Outlaw
Cliff: Battletoads, The Turing Test, Divinity Original Sin 2
Hans: Tarkov, Torchlight 3 

Questions

DA VINSTER: What’re your thoughts on battle passes in games? Do they add to the experience for you…do they take away cause you may feel you’re obtaining fewer items from the base game? Overall thoughts…good, bad?

Charisma_Icon: With the masterpieces that Hamilton and Greatest Showman now on Disney+, what video game do you think would make a great musical?

TheDonz: If you could pick one member of the discord to drop into any survival type game which person would it be and what game? Also if they are a Patreon then you get to gift them one item to assist in their survival as a thank you!!

Mansocks: How many of you are going to buy Marvel’s Avengers after seeing Vinny stream it?

Cheap/Free Games

Epic Game Store

• Into the Breach

Xbox Games with Gold

• Tom Clancy’s The Division ($29.99 ERP): Available September 1 to 30 on Xbox One
• The Book of Unwritten Tales 2 ($19.99 ERP): Available September 16 to October 15 on Xbox One
• de Blob 2 ($19.99 ERP): Available September 1 to 15 on Xbox One & Xbox 360
• Armed & Dangerous($9.99 ERP): Available September 16 to 30 on Xbox One & Xbox 360

Game Pass

• Crusader Kings III (PC) ID@Xbox – Available today!
• The Jackbox Party Pack 4 (Console) ID@Xbox – September 3
• Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (Console & PC) – September 3
• Tell Me Why: Chapter Two (Console & PC) – September 3
• Touhou Luna Nights (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – September 3
• World War Z (PC) – September 3
• Star Renegades (PC) ID@Xbox – September 8
• Disgaea 4 Complete+ (PC) – September 10
• Hotshot Racing (Console) ID@Xbox – September 10
• Tell Me Why: Chapter Three (Console & PC) – September 10
• Destiny 2: Shadowkeep & Forsaken (Console) – Coming Soon

Twitch Prime

• Autonauts – Travel the universe, setting worlds in motion through the power of automation
• Pumped BMX Pro – Master 60 levels and over 200 challenges while pulling off as many radical stunts as possible on one of 15 bikes
• Effie – Live a unique fantasy adventure and relive the look and feel of old-school videogames in this 3D action-adventure game
• Tiny Troopers Joint Ops – Command a team of small soldiers–war might be hell, but this is the funniest way to fight in one
• Outcast: Second Contact – Take off on an exploration of Adelpha, an alien world as beautiful as it is dangerous

Playstation Now

• Resident Evil 7
• Final Fantasy 15
• WWE 2K19
• Observation

Troll Corner

Good Lord Ubisoft, Get Your Shit Together
https://www.ign.com/articles/ubisoft-to-remove-raised-black-fist-imagery-from-tom-clancys-elite-squad-following-controversy 

It’s a AAA extravaganza this month, but a few cool indies snuck in. Stadia is even getting a little bit of love!

• Marvel’s Avengers (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC) – September 4
• NBA 2K21 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, PlayStation 4, Xbox One) – September 4
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 And 2 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – September 4
• The Outer Worlds: Peril On Gorgon DLC (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – September 9
• eFootball PES 2021 (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – September 15
• Spelunky 2 (PlayStation 4, PC) – September 15
• Crysis Remastered (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) – September 18
• WWE 2K Battlegrounds (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC) – September 18
• Serious Sam 4 (Stadia, PC) – September 24
• Mafia: Definitive Edition (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Stadia, PC) – September 25
• Baldur’s Gate III (Stadia, PC) – September 30 

https://open.spotify.com/embed-podcast/episode/7mtIw4Leyd9vC6E5M6wv6Q

Epic, Google and Apple are in a slap fight over paying app royalties all in the name of…freedom? But the folks who really have the most to lose are app store devs using the Unity engine that might see their apps delisted.

Other Video Game News

• Sony Is Working on a New VR Headset (But it Might not be PSVR) 
• Ghost of Tsushima is Getting a New Co-op Mode This Fall 
• Untitled Goose Game is Also Getting a Free Co-op Mode in September 
• Please, Please, Please Give Me a Firewatch Movie 
• The Switch is Getting a BUNCH of New, Cool Games 
• Ashraf Ismail Has Been Fired By Ubisoft After Harassment Accusations 

What We’re Playing

Colby: Wizard of Legend, XenoCrisis, UnderMine, Halo, Graveyard Keeper Cliff: Divinity: Original Sin 2, Carrion
Dylan: THPS Demo

Questions

DA VINSTER (Vinny): With the delay of halo infinite, what is the must buy title for the series x/ps5 launch title. Furthermore, how important are launch day titles? Are they as important as some think they are or are they only impactful short term.

Mister Polite: What game always gets in your way of playing games in your back log?

Call Me Handsome: What video game characters would you like to run for president?  I want Duke Nukem and his VP is The Predator.

Princess_Megan: If you could bring any historical figure to the present day to play a video game with,  who would you play with and which game would you play?

How Do We Human podcast:

Cheap/Free Games

Epic Game Store

• Enter the Gungeon
• God’s Trigger

Game Pass

• Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC) –  August 17
• Spiritfarer (Console & PC) ID@Xbox –  August 17 
• Battletoads (Console & PC) – August 20
• Crossing Souls (PC) ID@Xbox – August 20
• Darksiders: Genesis (PC) – August 20
• Don’t Starve: Giant Edition (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – August 20
• New Super Lucky’s Tale (Console & PC) – August 21
• Hypnospace Outlaw (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – August 27
• Tell Me Why: Chapter 1 (Console & PC) – August 27
• Double Kick Heroes (Console & PC) ID@Xbox – August 28
• Wasteland 3 (Console & PC) – August 28
• Crusader Kings III (PC) ID@Xbox – September 1
• Resident Evil 7 Biohazard (Console & PC) – September 3

Troll Corner

 

With effectively zero warning, Microsoft pulled the plug on Mixer this week, stating that “It became clear that the time needed to grow our own live streaming community to scale was out of measure with the vision and experiences we want to deliver to gamers now.” Existing Mixer Partners are being redirected to Facebook Gaming (a destination that a lot of folks aren’t pleased with.) 

Other Video Game News

• The Games Industry Faces a Reckoning As Sexual Assault and Harassment Survivors Name Names
• What is the PS5 Going to Cost? 
• Facebook Acquires Ready at Dawn 
• Are You Bummed About the Cyberpunk Delay? Maybe a Comic Book Will Tide You Over 
• Nintendo’s Mobile Experiment Might Be Over 
• Billy Mitchell Got His Records Back 

What We’re Playing

Colby: Torchlight 2, Ryse: Son of Rome, West of Dead
Cliff: FarCry 4, SkateBIRD, Erica, Lord Winklebottom Investigates, Super Animal Royale
Hans: EFT, Valorant, Xenophobe 

Questions

Vinny: Inspired by the Marvel’s Avengers video game, what ensemble cast would you like to have their own game? Story based? Co-op? Both?

Brooke: What stupid reason made you quit playing a game? (https://www.cracked.com/pictofacts-1805-tell-us-now-what-dumb-thing-made-you-walk-away-from-game-you-liked/)

Mister Polite: Playing the Last of Us 2 and it’s odd.  I love the game but it’s not fun.  It’s dire, depressing, sad and feels like it’s just going to get worse.  Is there a game/movie/book that you loved but at the same didn’t enjoy it?

Princess Megan: Ignoring any dangers in the game, which video game would have the nicest spot(s) for a vacation? For example, it could be a beach, amusement park, forest, or anywhere you could see yourself wanting to visit if it was real.

Mansocks: Crunchy or Smooth Peanut Butter?

Cheap/Free Games

Epic Games Store

• AER Memories of Old
  • Transform into a bird and fly to explore and experience a vibrant world of floating islands in the sky. Venture down into lost ancient ruins where each step leads you closer to the end of the world.
• Stranger Things 3: The Game 
  • Play through familiar events from the series while also uncovering never-before-seen quests, character interactions, and secrets!

Twitch Prime

• Mad Tracks
  • Mad Tracks is an action packed toy car game. Play mini games and race in everyday places. Have immediate fun – guaranteed

Small Bites

Colby tells us about mobile games he hates and one that he likes called Best Fiends.

Just to be on the record, Cliff called this at least a month ago. The bad news is there isn’t going to be a PAX West or PAX Australia this year. The good news is that they are replacing it with a nine-day virtual show!

Other Video Game News

• Video Games as Medicine
• Smart Delivery is Even Smarter Than You Think
• Star Wars Squadrons Looks Amazing and It’s Only $40
• Spider-Man Miles Morales Is A Stand-Alone Expansion
• He’s the Reason Why The PS5 Looks Like a Router

What We’re Playing

Colby: Diablo 3, Skyrim
Cliff: Mass Effect Andromeda, Grim Dawn/Geforce Now, Desperados 3
Dylan: Meat

Questions

Davinster: Pick 3, the rest disappear forever!

Mister Polite: If you could be a NPC what video game would you want to be in?

Think about this question and then watch this video that Megan sent us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYsyTq8pF2g&feature=youtu.be

TheCapturedEddie: What’s one positive thing you liked so far from an “E3” event and one thing you didn’t. Whether it be games or a vague announcement, or Stadia.

Tr1pletrouble88: Counterpoint to your answer from last week’s question, do you think that Xbox could innovate and make a sort of Bluetooth headset that runs on the Xbox but streams to a headset?

Cheap/Free Games

Fight for Racial Justice Bundle

https://www.humblebundle.com/fight-for-racial-justice-bundle

Jump Rope Challenge

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendos-jump-rope-challenge-is-available-now-on-switch-for-free

Steam Summer Game Festival

https://www.pcgamer.com/steam-game-festival-summer-edition-puts-dozens-of-free-demos-at-your-fingertips/

Get Origin Access for $1

https://www.pcgamer.com/get-a-month-of-origin-access-for-less-than-a-dollar/

Get the Witcher 3 for Free If You Own It Somewhere Else

https://www.polygon.com/2020/6/16/21293225/witcher-3-wild-hunt-free-gog-galaxy-download

Small Bites

Slay the Spire is great on iOS and is only $10

Fallout 76 players trying to participate in the Fasnacht Parade just can’t seem to get enough intestines to fill up the butcher’s icebox. I know, it sounds like we made this up, but I swear it’s a real problem.

Other video game news:

• Phil Spencer is Still Feeling Good About This Year’s Game Releases
• Looking Forward to GTA 6?
• Kingdom Hearts is Getting a Disney+ Series
• The Dark Side of Online Sports

Questions

DaVinster: What’s a game that you got addicted to years after it released? Currently, for me it’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

Mister Polite: Adding on to Vinny’s what game do you regret not playing. Like for me, GTA3 and GT4 are games that came out during the years that I didn’t play a lot of games and going back to those games would be extremely hard.

Megan: Is it Friday yet?…with many places doing virtual tours because of the virus, if you could go anywhere in a VR true to life fully immersive 3D world, where would you go?

Glitch Bunny: BLEND THREE VIDEO GAME CHARACTERS TO MAKE ONE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER WHAT WOULD THEIR GAME BE

Hans: Favorite Waffle topping. Syrup, Chocolate, fruit?

Cheap/Free Games

Playstation Plus

• Call of Duty: WWII
• Star Wars Battlefront II

Games with Gold

• Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (June 1–30)
• Coffee Talk (June 16-July 15)
• Sine Mora (June 16–30)
• Destroy All Humans (June 1–15)

Game Pass Xbox

• Cities Skyline: Console Edition
• Alan Wake
• Golf With Friends
• Red Dead Redemption 2
• Minecraft Dungeons
• No Man’s Sky (June)

Game Pass PC

• Cities Skyline
• Alan Wake
• Plebby Quest
• No Man’s Sky (June)

Twitch Prime

• 16 games free currently: https://twitch.amazon.com/tp
• 20 free SNK games this summer: https://bit.ly/3emNKEm

Epic Game Store

• Maybe Borderlands?

Humble Bundle

• https://www.humblebundle.com/games/cities-skylines