Glixel Podcast

We've seen SO many games this week – so in the space of just one hour, we each try and narrow things down to a small handful of games that really stayed with us. Everything from big blockbusters like God of War to indies like Donut County and The Artful Escape or Miguel's favorite – Sea of Thieves. We're joined by our writers Luke Winkie and Steven T. Wright for this episode, so there are six of us to listen to.

John enthuses about Call of Duty: WWII, Miguel recounts his experiences as a pirate in Skull & Bones, Simon realizes he actually really likes Shadow of War – in part thanks to the accents – and Luke describes his time with the new Monster Hunter. Also some updates on Assassin's Creed Origins, That's You, Ashen, Destiny 2, The Artful Escape and a bunch of other stuff.

Luke enthuses about Mario + Rabbids, John and Miguel give their impressions of Super Mario Odyssey and Rachel fills us in on Doom VFR, Fallout 4 VR and her playthrough of the Wolfenstein 2 demo.

There's a lot to go over since last night's podcast, and tonight the usual crew is joined by our writer Luke Winkie. In a little over an hour we tackle Bethesda's quick 40 minute showcase that included VR versions of Doom and Fallout 4 as well as a glimpse of Link in Skyrim and a brand new Wolfenstein game. Then we hit Ubisoft's phenomenal lineup, with everything from the surprising Mario + Rabbids game, the beautiful Assassin's Creed Origins, climaxing with the (new) reveal of Beyond Good & Evil 2. Then we work our way through Sony's lineup, which included DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn, a new look at God of War, and a lengthy look at Insomniac's stunning Spider-Man game.

42 Xbox games at E3 – 22 of them are some flavor of "exclusive" for Xbox One (although Microsoft's interpretation of that word might be different than yours) – we go through the whole list on the second of our daily podcasts from E3 2017.

We got to play Star Wars Battlefront 2, Need for Speed Payback, A Way Out and more at Electronic Arts' big pre-E3 shindig in Los Angeles today. We talk about our impressions of each, and particularly how impressed we were with the co-op only A Way Out.

Following last week's E3 predictions show, this week we dig into the challenges faced by Microsoft this year. If the big stories are going to be PlayStation's dominance and the quality of Nintendo's Switch lineup – how can the Xbox stand out? What games does it need to reveal? What could it possibly do? Absent a new Halo, what would it take to completely reinvigorate the way we all look at the Xbox?

In the first of two episodes ahead of E3, we ponder the biggest, most exciting announcements that will happen at the show. Will Electronic Arts show anything unexpected? Will the next Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer show up at the Sony media event? What will Microsoft show to wow us on the Scorpio? For that matter...what will Scorpio end up being called? Will Nintendo repeat their performance last year, and end up "winning" E3 by just showing a small number of superb games that stand out from the dour, post-apocalyptic, war-obsessed shooters being peddled by everyone else?

This week we're joined by special guest Ryan O'Donnell from Area 5 to talk about the biggest announcement of the week: Destiny 2. Bungie showed a huge amount of the game this week, and Miguel was in Los Angeles at the showcase to see it live and get his hands on the game. He shares his impressions of the single player, PvP and strikes, plus we dig into whether the PC version is potentially held back by the console-based roots of the series.

As promised, we've all been playing a lot of Prey over the past week and we have plenty to talk about. Also this week, Simon talks about his discussion with Sony R&D guru Richard Marks about PlayStation VR, we give our impressions of new VR "lightgun" style shooter Farpoint, and John enthuses wildly about how much he loves the new Forza Horizon 3 expansion pack, Hot Wheels. John and Rachel have a bit of a Crosswords with Friends rivalry developing also.

After a few weeks away (sorry about that) we're back, and ready to dig into today's release of Prey. Is it really what we thought it was going to be? Turns out it's not quite the "Dishonored in space" type game we were expecting, and borrows heavily from Bioshock, Half-Life and even survival games. 

With Microsoft finally releasing the specs for its upcoming Xbox Scorpio super-console, we dig into what it might mean for games in the year ahead and speculate on when we might see the new console, how much it might cost, and whether virtual reality support was a major consideration as it was for Sony with the PS4 Pro.

The first trailer for Destiny 2 dropped earlier this week, and despite not showing any gameplay at all, there's plenty to learn from what little it showed. Significantly, it leans hard into jokier style thanks to Nathan Fillion's Cayde-6 that seems unlikely to be the representative of the tone of the final game. We also dig into the best games of 20 years ago, and remember Bungie's Ghost In The Shell-alike Oni, which was published by Rockstar back in 2001.

On this week's podcast (episode 22 for those of you keeping count) John, Simon, Rachel and Miguel ponder what the future might hold for the Mass Effect series after the poor reception Andromeda received this week. While there's a good chance it has sold very well, the fact that it has a Metacritic score of just 74 and a user rating that's even lower has to mean the studio is taking a long hard look at whatever it does next. Later, Simon and Miguel argue over Simon's wishes to see a future Zelda game with more realistic, higher-fidelity visuals

In just a few short days we'll all have the pleasure of playing Mass Effect Andromeda and complaining about its weird animation and oddly scripted story, but for now you'll just have to make do with us moaning about it for 20 minutes. After we suck all the fun out of one game you're looking forward to playing, we move on to trying to pin down the dichotomy that is Ghost Recon Wildlands. On one hand it's a brilliantly realized sandbox shooter, and on the other its a clumsy attempt at tackling contemporary geopolitics. Could they have done it better? Finally, Miguel enlightens us on his latest obsession: the Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game.

With Simon out sick, this week we're joined by Area 5's Ryan O'Donnell to really dig into what we love most about the breathtaking The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Prepare yourself for a full-on blast of unbridled enthusiasm. Before we do that and put Rachel to sleep though, John walks us through the next batch of PlayStation VR games (including Starblood Arena, the awesome-sounding Descent-style multiplayer shooter) and we talk about how Ghost Recon Wildlands reminds us of the Far Cry games.

Between the four of us, we definitely have some mixed feelings about the Switch so far. We're all in agreement that Zelda is an incredible achievement, and probably one of the best games that Nintendo has ever made, but we definitely have some misgivings about the device itself – both the hardware (especially the Joy-Cons, which are an acquired taste) and the system software. For all the advancements we've seen on PC, mobile and other consoles (including some of Nintendo's own) there's a lot about the Switch that feels incredibly out of date.  Also on this episode – a special piece of exclusive #content – the first ever audio unboxing of a Nintendo Switch, freshly delivered by the UPS guy.

We manage to talk about the completely brilliant PlayStation 4-exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn for over an hour without really spoiling anything major. At least we hope so. Much as we were desperate to talk about some of the major story beats and crazy sci-fi reveals from later in the game, Rachel kept us in check with an air horn.

We talk about the big news story of the week – as first reported by the Wall Street Journal – PewDiePie, AKA Felix Kjellberg – the most successful YouTube personality in the world – being dropped by Disney subsidiary Maker Studios after he released videos duping semi-clueless contractors from the online task marketplace Fiverr into brandishing a sign that read "death to all Jews," and paid a guy to dress up like Jesus and expunge Hitler of his sins. Then, to lighten the mood, Rachel tells us all about Arkane's upcoming "Dishonored in space" game, Prey. John and Simon desperately wanted to tell you about Horizon Zero Dawn, but they're not really allowed to until next week. That certainly didn't stop them from trying though.

After we so confidently predicted on last week's podcast that Destiny 2 couldn't possibly be released this year, Activision went and announced that the game would be out before the end of the year. We talk about this, what the next "traditional combat' Call of Duty from Sledgehammer Games might be, and ponder what the three virtual reality games that Valve has said it's making might be (our bet: something Portal.) Later in the show, we discuss the fact that this year's big gaming expo E3 2017 will be open to the public for the first time, with 15,000 tickets going on sale on Monday. What can you expect if you're lucky enough to score a ticket? Could it possibly be worth the $250 asking price?

This week we're joined by Ethan Einhorn, the former creative director from Sega of America who is now at VR studio Midas Touch Games. Ethan tells us about his time with Steve Jobs back when the App Store first launched, and how Jobs accurately predicted the huge success of Super Monkey Ball. The bulk of our conversation this week is all about Nintendo stuff though. With Fire Emblem Heroes out now for both iOS and Android, we talk about whether the move from 3DS to smartphone has been successful, and learn how it stacks up for a series veteran like Einhorn. He's played literally hundreds of hours of previous Fire Emblem games – and even describes Fire Emblem Fates as his favorite game of all time. We also tackle the Nintendo Switch again – this time based on some real hands-on time with the system.

In Keith Stuart's story about the importance of Mass Effect: Andromeda for us this week, he posits that "we’re seeing an exodus in the 'triple A' blockbuster sector, away from scripted experiences toward sprawling open-world adventures, where the plot is secondary to world-exploration, sub-quests, item collection and player-generated narratives." We explore this in light of the games we've played so far this year, and question whether more and more games will follow the likes of Ubisoft's For Honor where the relationships formed with other players are ultimately more important than those provided by a story. We also tackle Resident Evil 7's scary moments, Hitman's enduring appeal, and our excitement for Guerrilla Games' upcoming Horizon Zero Dawn. 

Will Rachel be as grumpy about the Switch as she was last week? Has John changed his mind about it again? What did Miguel think of Halo Wars 2 when he played it? If Simon hates horror games so much, how is Rachel going to get him to play Resident Evil 7 on a livestream next week? Is Ghost Recon Wildlands something really special? What's a "gacha" mechanic? All these questions answered and more. 

Immediately after Nintendo announced the March 3 launch date, $299 price point and first batch of games for its new Switch console, we gathered to discuss whether we think it'll be a hit or a miss. Is The Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and quirky controller-waggling game 1, 2, Switch enough to make it a success on day one? Some strong opinions ensued.

This week we talk about our predictions for the year ahead and dig into why 2017 is such a pivotal year for so many aspects of video games. We'll see the death of the idea of conventional "console generations," we'll see new types of game emerge, and witness the effect that both esports and Overwatch will have on games across the board.

On the latest episode of our weekly podcast a slightly hungover team talks their games of 2016 and where they ranked on our 50 Best Games of 2016 mega feature. They also polish their crystal balls to provide their predictions for 2017. Will the new Switch console be the hardware hit Nintendo needs? Will we see a teaser for Skyrim 2 at E3? What can Blizzard do next with Overwatch?

We discuss how awesome Super Mario Run turned out, John talks about what it was like chatting with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and Rachel reveals her secret to getting Hideo Kojima to open up to her about the soundtrack for Death Stranding. 

John Davison, Simon Cox and Miguel Lopez (Rachel is on vacation this week) talk about what may end up being the biggest game of the year (Super Mario Run) and the team helps John think of questions for his upcoming conversation with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Then the conversation slips into appreciation of The Last Guardian and the delights of cat-bird wrangling.

Were this year's Game Awards a success? Is there really only so much that an awards show can do for a form of entertainment that insists on presenting itself as an "industry" rather than something more artistic? And what was up with the weird robot razor blade? John Davison, Rachel Weber and Simon Cox argue about whether any problems you might have with The Game Awards might actually be the fault of something larger.

Why are the biggest releases of the year selling so badly? Are people just tired of sequels? Is it because everyone is still playing last year's stuff? Is it all Overwatch's fault? John Davison, Miguel Lopez, Rachel Weber and Simon Cox argue about what might be to blame.

Our weekly podcast with John Davison, Simon Cox, Rachel Weber and Miguel Lopez. On this episode they talk Watch Dogs 2 (including the NSFW anatomical detail on some of the NPCs), our 50 Most Iconic Video Game Characters of the 21st Century, the 15th anniversary of the Xbox and Gamecube and Halo memories. Oh, and a little game called Genital Jousting. 

Dishonored 2, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, the NES Classic and whether we can actually spot a 4K game on PS4 Pro without anyone actually telling us it's doing anything different first. We also talk about the awesome indie games that were on show at the Day of the Devs event last weekend in San Francisco, including Moblets, Gang Beasts, Spy Party, and the unforgettable Sausage Sports Club. Make sure you check out Glixel.com when it launches next week!

This week John Davison, Simon Cox and Rachel Weber are joined by Cy Wise from virtual reality game developer Owlchemy Labs (Job Simulator, Rick & Morty Simulator) to chat about some of the weird stuff designers have to think about when making VR games. How do you stop people falling over? Why is elbow tracking important? Plus, we ponder the really important questions like - what do you call someone that's actually in VR? Are they a player? A user? A participant? A VRgonaut? Also: We enthuse about Titanfall 2 (again) and needlessly grumble about Sony's shoddy PlayStation Pro packaging.

John Davison, Simon Cox, Rachel Weber and Miguel Lopez take on the big gaming questions of the day. Can we fall in love all over again with Skyrim: Special Edition? What's the deal with Bethesda and reviews? Is Titanfall 2 a contender for game of the year? Does Switch have a touchscreen? Perhaps most importantly, what's with Simon and staring at stones? 

John Davison, Simon Cox, Rachel Weber and Miguel Lopez discuss Nintendo's big reveal this week. Who's it for? Can it deliver on what the Wii U couldn't? Does it have a shot at success when it's competing with not just the PS4 and Xbox, but also phones and tablets? We also talk about the trees and trains of Red Dead Redemption 2.