Game Time With Manny

There was essentially no news this week, so we ramble a bit and then get into what we have been playing. Obviously Doom: The Dark Ages is top of mind for both of us, but I also bought a CRT to play extremely relevant releases like Super Smash Bros. Melee and Chibi-Robo. To finish we finally get the time to redo my top ten games of all time list, which to the surprise of no one is not very different!

We had a couple weeks of no bad news, but that all ended this week. If you don't want to hear me get angry and sad about the state of games media then you can skip this one. Xbox Prices go up, GTA VI delayed, Respawn layoffs, Giant Bomb and Polygon gutted. Only the most uplifting topics! Then we move on to what we have been playing! Both Matt and I played some Oblivion Remastered. I focused on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, while Matt also played Forza Horizon 5 and Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. I skip out on my top 10 update again since we went long. Will we finally do it next episode? Who could say.

Finally we get a week without terrible depressing news in the industry! Inazuma returns and is out this August, Switch 2 pre-orders are back on in the US and Canada, The Oblivion Remake is super real and coming out soon, and we know so much more about Mario Kart World. I played Split Fiction, Promise Mascot Agency, and Blue Prince. Matt played Donkey Kong Country Returns HD and Gears of War 4. Both of us played South of Midnight! I was going to redo my top ten games of all time list this week, but I punted until next time. I had a list but I wasn't fully confident with it yet. Look forward to it next time for real!

This week is all about Nintendo. We talk about the Switch direct and then talk about the Switch 2 direct and all of its follow-up for the rest of the time. It's a lot to digest, so make sure you're ready.

The news is not very exciting, but Sony got some new studios and there might be an Oblivion remake? Anyways, Matt played a ton of stuff like Fear and one of the greatest games of all time VIVA PINATA. I on the other hand played the Xenoblade Chronicles X Remake.

This week we go over some cool announcements like the Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3+4 remakes, and what was shown about Pokemon Legends AZ. Then we turn over to the regular awful news of Monolith being closed and the Wonder Woman game getting cancelled... I regale the podcast with tales of the 50+ hours I spent in Monster Hunter Wilds over the course of a week and Matt tells us about how he beat Rogue Legacy! To finish Matt rethought his Top Ten games of all time and lets us know what he decided on. A lot of it is quite surprising!

A bunch of showcases got announced for next week, but we mainly discuss the slew of games announced and shown at the recent PlayStation State of Play. It was actually a pretty good one. We finish off with me talking about the new games I played these past few weeks like Trails Through Daybreak 2, and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii.

Windows is my arch nemesis and changed the volume of my mic, so it sounds super blown out the entire episode. aghhhhhh! Anyways, we talk again about how the entire video games industry is crumbling! At least the Switch 2 joycons can be used as a mouse though! To finish we chat about the games we've been playing and even some like Citizen Sleeper 2 and Rift of the Necrodancer came out in 2025! Get in early!

We hop into the podcast this week to talk about how the Switch 2 was finally unveiled by Nintendo, Sony cancelled some live service games, and Xbox put on a great Developer Direct. We both played a bunch of games, so we talk about those a while before transitioning into determining what the best exclusive Switch games of all time are!

We're back for the first podcast of 2025! We talk a bit about the insane amount of Switch 2 leaks recently, How Assassin's Creed Shadows is delayed again, and how Stardew Valley sold a bazillion copies. I didn't play anything new so Matt tells us about the myriad of games he's been getting into before we transition into a fun game for part 3. True fans may remember when we did Play a game all the way through, just one hour, or not at all and we did it again for a bunch of upcoming and potentially upcoming 2025 games.

The year is ending, so that means it's time for Matt, Noukeo and I to regale you with our top ten video games of the year. For those unfamiliar we start with our number ten and then go around the horn counting down until we reach our number one games of the year. This year it's even more surprising than usual because you have no idea what year the games Matt played will be coming from, while Noukeo and I stuck to 2024. For spoilers here are the time stamps for the games in the order they are talked about in case you want to hear specific things and are wildly impatient. 3:50-Forza Horizon 3 5:52-Wild Frost 10:02-Starwars Outlaws 20:15-Nexomon 22:30-Dragon Age: The Veilguard 34:40-Mafia Definitive Edition 37:55-Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 48:24-Borderlands 58:10-The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak 1:07:38-UFO 50 1:16:17-Vanquish 1:19:18-Marvel Rivals 1:29:43-Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes 1:33:18-Nine Sols 1:37:47-Alan Wake 2 1:40:18-Astro Bot 1:48:34-Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 1:52:11-Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 2:02:05-Balatro 2:08:06-Bioshock Infinite 2:11:15-Zenless Zone Zero 2:27:07-Metroid Prime Remastered 2:30:25-Stellar Blade 2:39:44-Metaphor: ReFantazio

Matt recorded himself going through his thought process on getting to his top ten list for 2024.

Matt and I discuss the highlights of the game awards and how he became totally Balatro pilled before moving into our yearly game of the year categories. This year is a bit different and he played mostly old games, so we hear about those from him but I stick to 2024 and let you know all about what was HOT.

We go over the few news stories and then transition into why I have been watching TV instead of playing games. Don't worry though because as usual Matt has been going absolutely ham and playing a bunch. To finish we bring back a rare part 3 as we figure out what our collective favorite game of 2023 was!

We go over the tidbits of news like the Nintendo Music App, and Sony closing Firewalk Studios. Then we get into all the hot games we've been playing. I have gone hard into Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Matt hit up titles like Prodeus and Dicey Dungeons.

We return with a wildly barebones news week. While we do discuss the disbanding of the studio behind Prince of Persia the lost crown I fill the rest of the time letting you know how I feel about my Alarmo. As for what we have been playing I finished Metaphor and Good Boy Galaxy while diving back into Hades II. Matt finished Saint's Row 2 and moved on to Far Cry 3.

It's been a wild two weeks since the last podcast. Nintendo announced an alarm clock, Ubisoft is in for a potential buyout and the original Red Dead is coming to PC finally. Despite the fact that I had COVID for a week I still managed to play a bit of Zelda, start and stop Victory Heat Rally when I lost my save data, and binge Metaphor: Refantazio for 25 hours! Matt took a much more interesting approach and sampled a ton of games for 15 minutes and reports his feelings on which he might continue and which he thought were no good.

We took an extra week off because I was in San Francisco for vacation! Now that I've returned we go over a lot of news like the very pricey PS5 Pro, TGS announcements, PalWorld being sued by Nintendo, and Assassin's Creed Shadows being delayed. I played SO many new games like the Plucky Squire, Balatro, UFO 50, and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Matt has continued to stick with older games like Dragon's Dogma, Stuntman: Ignition, and Crackdown. We have so much to discuss so this one goes a bit longer than recent episodes!

We return for a week of relatively little news. A pair of Nintendo Directs happened, Annapurna and Remedy teamed up, and... CONCORD GOT SHUT DOWN AFTER TWO WEEKS! Matt regales us with tales of Saints Row 2, Mass Effect, and Super Metroid before I let you know Star Wars Outlaws is pretty mid and Astro Bot is incredible.

My desktop decided that it didn't want to work today so I quickly pivoted to recording on my desktop. There were no issues there until Matt started to talk about the film Anaconda. Coincidence? I'll let you be the juge. Gamescom happened and we talk about that and some of the news surrounding it. I didn't really play much to save myself for the coming barrage of new releases, but Matt played Need for Speed Undercover and Turok (2008)

Video game news always seems to be depressing now. We get upset about some layoffs and then go into detail about the shutdown of Industry staple Game Informer. As for what we played I have continued Octopath Traveler 2, but got into the 2KXO beta and share my thoughts on that. Matt continues to go ham and beat Army of Two, and began playing the first PSP God of War Game.

We are truly in the summer news doldrums now! We talk about the Sag-Aftra video game strike and all of Humble Games suddenly being laid off. Not a very uplifting news segment... Then, I go on about how I am continuing to play Zenless Zone Zero, beat Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, and am continuing to plug away at Octopath Traveler 2. Matt on the other hand decided to try and turn back time to 2008, so he's playing the classic Tomb Raider: Underworld! He also finished that Ratchet and Clank game from last time I didn't even know existed!

The news well is dry, so I talk about going to Enchanted Forest: Water Safari (where the fun never stops). Then we talk a bit about Microsoft changing the Game Pass tiers and pricing. Matt has been in the process of moving and changing jobs so he played a bit of the Ratchet and Clank game that came out in 2013 I had never heard of before. I beat Elden Ring's DLC because I am a god gamer and moved on to getting addicted to Mihoyo's newest Gacha game Zenless Zone Zero.

Is it time for me to get a new mic? Inexplicably the sound quality on my mic was randomly much worse again. It sounds like I'm in an open floor warehouse. Despite that we still talk about how the Nintendo Switch is still alive and kicking with the latest Nintendo Direct. Then we move in to the games we've been playing. I beat Nine Sols and moved right on to Elden Ring and its DLC because I am obviously a god-tier gamer. Matthew has been in the process of moving, so he played some shorter stuff like God of War 3 and Mafia.

Geoff Keighly continues to build Summer Game Fest on the corpse of E3, so we watched all the hot showcases and let you know what we think! Many things were revealed, but nothing too crazy. Matt played a lot of older games and started Hellblade 2 while I mostly played the hottest new metroidvania to hit the market, Nine Sols.

Some combination of my congested voice and my mic being super weird made me sound really blown out this episode, so enjoy that! Matt and I discuss IGN hoovering up a bunch if other game media sites, and do a lot of speculation on what could be shown at Summer Games Fest and all the surrounding showcases. I finally played 2012's Dishonored and loved it and continued the old game train by playing the new Paper Mario remaster (2004's finest). Matt wanted to throw us all off so he played another part of Resident Evil 6 and started Dave the Diver over on PS5.

We return after a month of delays to bring you the news of even more upsetting layoffs and changes in the industry! At least we played a bunch of games! Matt went back to uncharted 2, and played some Mario Party while I went buck wild and played Animal Well, Hades II, Another Crab's Treasure, Eiyuden Chronicle, and Harold Halibut!

It's our 250th episode, but we didn't really prepare anything special. Instead we discuss how Dead Space is on ice again at EA, the insanity a few studio closures, and some hot indie showcases. Matt got extra into hockey these past few weeks so he really only played Metroid Prime. That allowed me to talk at length about the 900 games I played such as Yellow taxi Goes Vroom, Harold Halibut, Dragon's Dogma 2, and Eiyuden Chronicle!

We return from our one episode without layoffs to let you know about some more layoffs. Then we hit the bottom of the news barrel to bring you hot things like maybe Gears 6 is getting announced this summer. In the games section you can hear all about my Stardew Valley Bender before we move into my favorite part of the podcast, which is listening to what wild ass games Matt has decided to play. Did anyone guess the original Borderlands? I sure didn't.

For once the news wasn't dominated by layoffs and studio closures! We discuss a few titles that were shown off and a few release date announcements. The true meat of the episode comes from the metric ton of games we both played over the past two weeks. I finished FF7 Rebirth, and started Stardew Valley (again), and Dragon's Dogma 2! Matt again went ham and played Devil May Cry 2, Call of Duty (the original), Gat Out of Hell and more! Get in now for all this hot video game talk!

Sadly the video game industry is continuing to fall apart so we once again discuss the numerous layoffs and closures that have happened before moving into some slightly more positive news. I played Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth almost exclusively while Matt finished Vanquish and Bioshock Infinite. He's also chipping away at some other games such as the classic Heavy Rain (JASONNNNN!)

Despite the fact that Xbox announced they were doing exactly what all the rumors said people are somehow mostly okay with that now. We discuss how everything is still basically the same. Most of the other news was a Nintendo Partner Direct, which we also talk about. I continued to play Persona 3 Reload and beat the story of Tekken 8. Matt finally beat Alan Wake 2 and then dipped into the well to start Vanquish.

Video game news came at us hard this week, so we discuss the Sony State of Play and do a whole lot of speculation about what the hell is going on with Xbox. I started Persona 3 Reload and have been playing a lot of Street Fighter 6. Matt played a billion games but the ones I was excited about were the Witcher 2 and that weird new free Silent Hill game!

If you thought that the industry was going to get better in 2024 you were wrong. Layoffs are continuing at an alarming pace across the industry in a way that doesn't match up to the excellent software coming out of most studios. Matt and I have both been playing some older games which we go over quickly before getting to the new hotness. I have been dabbling with Tekken and playing more Yakuza 8 than sleeping. Matt has been on that Prince of Persia grind and he's happy to tell us all about it.

Welcome to 2024! We return with news that 2024 still sucks for the video game industry and go over all the layoffs that happened recently. Much to my dismay that's really the only news... On the upside Matt and I played a bunch of games over the past few weeks and we are here to tell you about them! Matt has been playing Alan Wake 2, Forza Horizon 3, and of War 2. I was true to my word and played The Man Who Erased His Name, Ghost Trick, Unpacking, and Cocoon! I'm using a lot of exclamation points here!

It's our annual 2023 GOTY podcast! Buckle up as Matt, Noukeo and I regale you with our top ten games of the year counting from 10 to 1! As usual Matt was kind enough to pay attention and give us time stamps! Only look if you want spoilers! Street Fighter 6- 1:58 Dave The Diver-7:25 NHL 24- 10:54 Suika Game-12:55 Pikmin 4- 15:08 Diablo IV-18:06 Granblue Fantasy Versus Reverie- 21:15 Hifi Rush- 25:51 Steam World Build-28:34 Sea of Stars-32:20 Final Fantasy XVI-37:07 Star Wars Jedi Survivor- 44:06 Bomb Rush Cyberfunk-49:43 The Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie-52:00 Marvel's Spider-Man 2-55:44 Alan Wake 2-1:03:50 The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom-1:10:38 Resident Evil 4 Remake-1:18:55 Baldur's Gate 3-1:23:24 Dead Space Remake-1:29:14 Manny's Number 1-1:39:20

We are back once again for our annual Game of the Year Categories. First we briefly talk about the Insomniac Ransomware attack and a tiny bit about what we've been playing. As usual the categories are top 3 and Matt and I take turns going over our picks. We keep the more spoiler heavy categories to the end, but be forewarned that you might get spoiled anyways. We will be back next week for our regular annual GOTY podcast.

Much like how the Game Awards that happened this past week obfuscated the current crisis of our world and the many layoffs on the video game industry I obfuscated the title of this podcast. While we are normally a fun podcast about video games this one starts a little different. Matt has been having a tough time lately and he talks about it at the beginning of the podcast. I will warn that the themes are heavy, but the message behind it is very important. The rest of the podcast is just as stupid as usual though. We talk about the Game Awards, GTA 6 and the ton of games we've been playing. To finish it off we do a bracket of the top games of 2022 to begin our GOTY block of episodes.

We return after a month long hiatus to regale you with loosely researched news and what I have been playing. Matt and I discuss and make fun of Bethesda commenting on negative Steam reviews as well! The Super Mario RPG remake is good and so is Baldur's Gate 3! I also mention my time with Astral Ascent (Dope) and Knuckle Sandwich (Decent).

We go over some brief news before moving over to the metric buttload of games we played. This might actually be the most games I've ever completed in a 2 week period. I got the platinum in Spider-man 2, and Alan Wake. Then I moved on to beat A Space for the Unbound, Pizza Tower, and WarioWare: Move It! Matt played a strange amount of NHL 24, finished Spider-Man 2 and hit up some Forza. To finish we basically just talk about Spider-Man 2 with full spoilers!

I for sure introduce this as episode 236, but it's 237! We fly through the news because there isn't that much. I played the Alan Wake Remaster to get ready for Alan Wake 2, and Matt played some Forza Motorsport. We both played Mario Wonder, which we both like so far and we also both played Spider-Man 2 which is incredible and we gush about it for like a half hour!

Turns out that despite this being one of the best years of video game releases in history the industry is crumbling from the inside. Our news this week is almost entirely about lay-offs! Matt played several games like a bit of Assassin's Creed Mirage and Final Fantasy 16 while I focused on Cyberpunk 2077 and its DLC exclusively.

So much news happened the past two weeks it was crazy. TGS is ongoing, but there was also the Unity Fiasco, a Nintendo Direct, a State of Play and a ton of general announcements. We talk about it all, and then talk about all of the games. Matt played Dave the Diver, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Final Fantasy 16. While on the other hand I went wild with Mortal Kombat 1, Sea of Stars, the Pokemon DLC, and Cyberpunk 2077. Get in now to hear all the hot deets,

Have you ever wondered what video games were like just a month after 9/11? If so then boy do we have the podcast episode for you right here! However, before Matt regales is with a magazine from the past we talk about various studio closures and layoffs before moving on to a lot of talk about how we don't really like Starfield!

Gamescom has been popping off, but not giving us a lot of news that Matt and I personally care about. Geoff showed a lot of assets though. We mostly talk about what we've been playing this episode. Matt has been hooked on Dave the Diver. while I got almost 100% in Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, dabbled into Armor Core VI, and continued Baldur's Gate 3!

Even with all the stuff in my new recording room it still echoes! I'll have to do something to figure out if I can mitigate that. However, in the meantime Noukeo joins us to talk about Evo, Overwatch 2, and Trails into Reverie. Matt got into Dave the Diver and I have been on a big Baldur's Gate 3 tear. To finish off Matt has to dip out early to make it to dinner on time so Noukeo and I chat about Star Wars: Jedi Survivor for a while and spoil it up.

I am now a homeowner and have moved all my stuff into the house. I am here on the podcast in spirit, but my body is rebelling! Thankfully I make it long enough to talk to Matt about how dope Jedi Survivor is and also some Pikmin 4. The news is pretty light, but with EVO coming up there's still some to talk about!

Two weeks have gone by and we have returned to talk about the Microsoft vs. FTC case, and some other miscellaneous news. Most of this weeks episode is taken up by us talking about the tons of games we've been playing. Diablo 4, and Dave the Diver take up a majority of the discussion.

Nintendo did a surprise direct, which introduced such wild bombs as a Super Mario RPG remake, and Elephant Mario. Matt has been playing all kinds of shit like Far Cry 3, Diablo 4, and Resident Evil 4. I on the other hand went wild with Tears of the Kingdom, Street Fighter 6, and Final Fantasy 16. Will Matt replay RE4 Remake for the 5th time? How do I feel about FFXVI? Tune in to find out the shocking answers!

We went back to Craig the Discord Bot and boy was it not the right move. I left the beginning where we synced up in so you know it was at least correct at first. It drifts over time, but not quite as bad as last time. We will definitely be doing something new for next time. The Summer Games Fest 2023 happened and we talk about all the hottest news before getting into the tons of stuff we've been playing like Street Fighter 6 and Diablo 4!

Matt followed through on the potential of getting a PS5, so now the whole podcast has one. We discuss the PlayStation showcase and then move on to what we've been playing, which happens to be a lot. The Horizon Forbidden West DLC, Oli Oli World, Street Fighter 6, Tears of the Kingdom and We Love Katamari Reroll!