H.A.M. Radio Podcast

Well, this is it! Our final episode of the H.A.M. Radio Podcast. It's a bit surreal, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't more excited than sad. I truly am ecstatic at the idea of our new show H.A.M. Radio Live and I believe it will be loved even more by all of you than this show. With that said, we have had some phenomenal memories here. We've been able to lift many voices, bring their careers to new levels, and most importantly, share a lot of laughs. From myself, Lone, Noah, Karak, and Dustin, thank you for supporting our little podcast. When I launched it in 2014, I had no idea how long it would live. Truth be told, it could easily continue on as is and be perfectly fine, but it's time for a leap of faith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the beginning of the end and what better way to get all of that started then a good ol' extended thoughts episode? This week was Gamescom and that means lots of updates on games dropping at the beginning of 2022 and the end of 2021. From TMNT to a new Marvel game, the boys are digging what they saw. However, Halo also remains the familiar roller coaster since its gameplay reveal last year. With the latest possible release date, more news on multiplayer progression, campaign not being shown, it's time for a gutcheck. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we slide into mid August, gaming news is picking up and so is Matty news! We drop some big updates coming to H.A.M. Radio that were explained on the Patreon, but dive a bit deeper! On the gaming front, Bethesda, Halo, and Gamescom dominate the conversation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Much is unfolding on opposite ends of the industry. Tapping into nostalgia and the limitless pool of profit, Rockstar is reportedly doing remasters of fan favorite GTA games in the form of a trilogy. If all goes well there then it's off to Red Dead with yet another! On the modern front, Blue Box Game Studio continues to give consumers a headache. In this time capsule episode, Matty & Dustin attempt to tap into just what the heck is happening and if this is all one big ruse. Beyond that, Gamescom is on the horizon where Xbox will be hosting a show of their own providing a multitude of updates for a variety of their upcoming 2021 titles. As the year begins to both wind down and heat up, there is still much left to uncover! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Things are finally starting to move after a quiet summer! Dead Space Remake news, 2K making a Marvel game, Ghost Of Tsushima receives a big update, and a new South Park game is in development. It's a wild time! Dustin and Matty dive in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is an EA filled week! After butchering the likes of Visceral Games, EA has handed off the Dead Space IP to studio EA Motive for a remake. While rumored for sometime, we now have confirmation on the highly anticipated next gen survival horror title! Coming much sooner is Battlefield 2042 which continues to look impressive. The base game alone looked spectacular to Matty and Dustin, but with the newly announced Battlefield Portal, things have been elevated. Returning to maps of old with custom game modes can give this entry the long sought after legs some recent Battlefield titles missed out on! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a week of unlikely events for gaming, we start things off with Valve's new console. We've seen them toy around with hardware, but now they're diving into the console space with the Steam Deck. Matty is all in meanwhile Dustin is much more reserved about things. Which one will make a breakthrough? In other wild news, Nickelodeon... yes, Nickelodeon... IS GETTING A SMASH BROS GAME! What?! Arguably the most Matty game of all time leads to a deep dive on "what if?" Hugh Neutron? Denzel Crocker? These memes are endless. Oh, more seriously, there's the Persona 25th anniversary, so your resident Persona experts who teamed up for "The Future Of Persona" are now speculating on what could drop throughout the next year. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What a week! Nintendo kicks things off by disappointing many fans with its newest model. It was expected to be a full technical upgrade that is capable of displaying at 4K, but what we got was a revision. Admittedly, it is the most significant revision yet however that won't be enough. Matty & Dustin sink their teeth into the newest piece of plastic to hit the market. GTA 6 and Assassin's Creed leak the same week years ahead of their respective launches as well! Quite the mess, indeed, as both games appear to have live service elements of some sort. What does this mean for the future of single player games? Matty and Dustin will attempt to dissect, but time will tell more than anything. Lastly, we got a State Of Play for the month of July. The main question being whether or not this falls in the bin of other mediocre State Of Plays. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's this?! A morning episode?! With coffee cups firmly grasped, Matty and Dustin crawl out of bed to get the job done bright and early. Fortunately, there is plenty of exciting game news to perk us up such as Dead Space making a return. Inspired by Resident Evil 2 Remake, EA looks to revive the dormant Dead Space franchise through EA Motive. What will this renaissance in survival horror reap? Matty and Dustin analyze with sleepy eyes! In other and much bigger news, PlayStation has been making plenty of moves to bolster their offerings to fans! Housemarque, Bluepoint, and Nixxes now are officially (and unofficially) apart of the first party family. While not in an arms race with Xbox, they are acting the most aggressive we have seen them in some time. The hunger between these two companies grow as do the pissfarts! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Xbox has shown their hand with a slew of announcements for both now and the future. It is time PlayStation shows their fans what is coming beyond Horizon, God Of War, and Gran Turismo. Amidst this are rumors of a Kojima Silent Hill game! What in the world is this Blue Box conspiracy theory? Dustin and Matty dive deep into this rabbit hole. Aside from that, Dead Space appears to be making a grand return at EA Play Live in July. Hailing from EA Motive, the report states this will be a re-imagining! With EA enjoying a revival spree, what else would we like to see them touch up next? That plus hilarious stories of shock and awe like that time Matty realized it was his friend farting the whole time. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

E3 returned this year and it was... interesting to say the least. As always, there were great reveals, neat surprises, and unexpected twists! However, it was also a catastrophe compared to prior years. Messy and out-of-place conferences, tone deaf moments, and weak debuts plagued the return of the biggest week in gaming. With that, Matty, Karak, and Dustin sweep through a week of mayhem and round up the best and worst it had to offer! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're back! Matty and Dustin to team up to take on all manner of conference predictions. Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox, 2K, Ubisoft, all of 'em! It's a good time with threats, bets, and makes it an overall mess! On top of that, we sink into the latest news on PlayStation's perceived hesitation to commit to next-gen development and what is causing strife amongst fans. Plus, a massive 2K leak boasting a new Borderlands (or Wonderlands?) game plus XCOM x Marvel?! It's a wild one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's the pre-E3 drought. Matty, Karak, and Dustin roam the desert in search of anything to discuss and, suddenly, Ubisoft and Bethesda appear! Starting with Ubisoft, it appears that the sexual misconduct allegations revealed last year hasn't seen the strong change that was demanded of both consumers and the internal workers. Another report has came up and spawned a trending hashtag #HoldUbisoftAccountable which is receiving mounting attention as it should. We have spoken positively on the show about our generally positive interactions with the company, but the notion of Ubisoft's free pass must be discussed. On the Bethesda side of things, Starfield rumors aplenty! Jason Schreier provided further clarification on his comments, stating it's possible that those who had reported 2021 heard from Microsoft sources while he was in contact with Bethesda. What do this mean for Starfield? We dive in! Oh, and poop stories. Hey, you asked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mass Effect, Dark Alliance, Game Previews, and more! Oh my! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The highlight of this week has been a war waged between Epic Games and Apple in the courtroom. The fallout of said war has been a slew of documents from high ranking, well known executives across all of gaming. Suspicions are being confirmed as we learn more about the inner workings of both Xbox and PlayStation behind key decisions in both companies' dealing with Epic Games. Matty, Karak, and Dustin sift through the available documents and dig into where things may be heading! Furthermore, another major loss for CD Projekt Red and Matty can't get a laugh out of the gang to save his life during this episode. Listen and cringe away! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

PlayStation has enjoyed a strong week. Announcing their commitment to exclusives is one thing, but following that up with Returnal and a beautiful showing of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart has the displayed their undeniable ability to win fans over with their jaw dropping presentation. Between these two, excitement has surged back into the PlayStation brand once more after a tough couple of weeks for them. What's great about this industry is that MULTIPLE brands can succeed at once! Xbox is reportedly working with IO Interactive, the developers of Hitman, on an exclusive fantasy RPG. Clearly taking a page out of the PlayStation playbook, Xbox hopes to offer than same undeniable value. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Matty works on his 2.0 overhaul, Karak and Dustin did a fantastic job with our 300th episode or... really 299.5. In a true celebratory manner, the boys dig into a ton of current and upcoming games. From NieR, to Necromunda, Returnal, and plenty more! While the industry sits in the trenches of claiming there are "no games," both Karak and Dustin show that's not exactly the case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The games industry proves time and time again that what you read on the internet does not represent real life! Last I could recall it was Pokemon Sword & Shield's launch which exploded despite controversy, This time, it's PlayStation whose brand new console is the fastest selling and continues to beat out records. Regardless of reports dropping regarding internal issues, things are looking good for them and that's good because of the competition it can create. What will be more telling is the long term numbers, so pay close attention to that! In this solo episode, we tackle the Square Enix rumors, Wasteland 3 expansion information, and your Patron questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, we labeled our episode around PlayStation and Xbox marching in opposite directions. After today's reporting, that could not be more clear. A report from Bloomberg has stated the niche days of PlayStation are over and they care only for the big guns. Even moderate successes like Days Gone from Bend Studio are being folded into the operations over at Naughty Dog for multiplayer efforts. As PlayStation whittles down their offerings to highly refined AAA exclusives, you can't help but ask "What are they doing?" As more rumbles occur involving PlayStation Game Pass, the trio digs into what a potential competitor could look like. In other news, Deathloop is delayed, Kojima may be joining up with Xbox, and Matty ate a ton of fake crab. That and, of course, much for you to enjoy in this episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Matty spent the day with his family in remembrance of his grandmother and Karak is out with some fatigue. With that, Dustin steps up in a big way. In a first for the show throughout a total of nearly 300 episodes, it's a solo show with not Matty, but Dustin! Big thank you to him for helping out in a major way, keeping our streak alive, and please do send him some love! This week, Xbox pushed things forward with backwards compatibility as PlayStation marches in the exact opposite direction. What does this mean as technology begins to evolve? Dustin dives in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When people said console wars, we had no idea there would be this much bloodshed! This week, reports are in that PlayStation decided to take three of their own in the name of battle. The PlayStation 3, PSP, and PS Vita are all respectively having their digital storefronts shutdown if website The Gamer is to believed. Provided they are, it would show Xbox and PlayStation are marching in completely opposite directions. What does this mean for the future of backwards compatibility at all and is it too late to start collecting physical copies of these games? Dustin and Matty dive deep. Furthermore, we have Call Of Duty rumors and a nifty Xbox indie showcase to peruse plus, most importantly, your Patron questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a solo show and a doozy of one! Xbox continues to make major Xbox Game Pass additions and Starfield rumors are mounting. How will all of this end up? What is the end game plan and what is Xbox hoping to accomplish? PlayStation battled back with major announcements of their own! Sony acquiring EVO?! HUH? Also, they're teaming up with Jade Raymond in a Hideo Kojima like partnership. Let's dig into that alongside the Gotham Knights delay and your Patron questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After months of theorizing, the answers are here. Bethesda is officially joined up with Xbox. The results? More exclusives, 20 Bethesda games on Xbox Game Pass, and a summer event teased for this year. The potential of IP and technology combinations between all 23 of these first party studios leaves a lot for us to dream up. Age Of Empires: Tamriel? What of Fallout Tactics? A Halo spin-off by iD Software? The ideas roll on and Matty and Karak have plenty of them. Sifting through months of dialogue, they break it all down! Plus, more on Dying Light 2. Recently, a large expose` broke citing major development issues for the game as well as much of its staff exiting. Now, the developer has spoke and they are asking for our attention in the coming week. Will it be another delay? We investigate! That plus Square Enix Presents and YOUR Patron questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's real! After an early reveal in 2019, Elden Ring went completely dark as fans eagerly awaited updates to come via From Software. They never did until this week when a massive leak hit the game containing an internal gameplay trailer as well as a trademark of a potential show where this can all be delivered. Furthermore, the Switch Pro rumor mill looks to be heating up again and this time with tangible details. From 4K output to an OLED screen, we scrap the details together and talk on the future of Nintendo's little hybrid that could! That plus more on the Sinking City controversy and your Patron questions! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To say this past week was incredibly hectic would be an understatement. Anthem Next gets cancelled after months of speculation and that leads to a major change for Dragon Age 4. What will happen in the future to BioWare? Or what of the rumored March event for Bethesda and Xbox? Will they end up making games from Bethesda exclusive and will more be revealed? How about the brand new Pokemon games that were announced?! STATE OF PLAY. HALO UPDATES. YOUR QUESTIONS. Just so much to sift through and all of it exciting, so let's get right into it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a quiet week, but the boys managed to turn this into nearly a three hour episode because we are secretly mystical beings. The major occurrence was the return of a long-form Nintendo Direct, something the game's industry hasn't seen in over 500 days. With all that build-up, certainly Nintendo had to have something massive to deliver. The question is did they? Matty, Karak, and Dustin sink their teeth into that very question. Otherwise, Diablo 2 is making a return after months of rumors and it is coming this year! On top of that, we mull over the future of Bungie, Silent Hill, other Konami IP, and your Patron questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dustin and Karak hold down the H.A.M. fort while Matty is out! This week's biggest happening is one that was in the making for 5 years. Warner Bros. has locked the Nemesis System down tight and now developer will have to pay to license that mechanic. What does the bearded duo make of this in another noisy week of gaming? We dissect! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a BioWare themed week, so settle in! Mass Effect Legendary? It's coming soon. Knights Of The Old Republic ports for modern consoles and Switch? Seemingly on the way. What do the boys make of this insane turnout of RPGs that defined an era of gaming? We discuss! Furthermore, the bloated Embracer Group has only become bigger with notable acquisitions. This time, they spent their cash on Gearbox, best known for Borderlands, and Aspyr Media, a team mostly dedicated to ports who is now working on the KOTOR remake/reboot! The industry has entered a strange period where everyone is looking to sell and companies are itching to buy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Major complications occurred, so guess what? You got Matty for another week! Heck of a week too given that Cyberpunk 2077 is receiving modding tools. What does this mean for the future of CD Projekt Red? Will they end up walking the same road as Bethesda? We discuss! Furthermore, rumors of a reboot for Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic continue to cycle throughout the industry. Naturually, KOTOR fanboy Matty needs to dedicate a large time slot to this news. All that plus Hitman 3's success and Microsoft's bank account decorate the show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're riding solo this week! With Karak and Dustin out of this mix, Matty takes the reigns of the show to interact more directly with the audience and answer some more questions, such as ones about the newest release, Hitman 3. Hitman 3 is one of the more replayable games you'll see, but what else about it really shines? Matty digs into that along with the eyebrow raising price change for Xbox Live Gold. After years of goodwill, Microsoft decided to have their own bout with bad PR and bumped up the price. We also laid our eyes on the newest Resident Evil, plus Vicarious Visions merging with Blizzard and Cyberpunk's newest patch! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Star Wars gaming very well may be saved! EA's exclusivity to the Star Wars deal has dissolved with the reveal of a Ubisoft open world Star Wars game and the boys are dreaming of the possibilities. However, this is happening under a new umbrella called LucasFilm Games and it isn't limited to just Star Wars. Bethesda's Machine Games is working on an Indiana Jones game! Mix that in with CD Projekt Red publicly apologizing as lawsuit breathe down their necks and you're caught in the middle of one of the most polarizing weeks in recent memory. Toss in a Resident Evil showcase announcement, Pokemon Diamond and Pearl rumors, Matty's hatred of Pokemon Snap, and it has made for an eventful time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

CD Projekt Red really faced the music this past December with the release of Cyberpunk 2077. For days upon days, there was seemingly a new issue cropping up for the once highly praised studio. Since Christmas, there has been a void and with that calmness, one Reddit user saw opportunity to peddle misinformation which then quickly spread across the web leading to CDPR breaking their silence to quiet things down. The conversation leaves us in a familiar position of irresponsible reporting, Reddit threads citing things fans want, and the actual delivery of the product from the people working on it. In an otherwise quiet week, Nintendo has made a big acquisition with a long term partner dating back to 2005. Even more interesting is the subdued problems of Dying Light 2. The once promising open-world RPG has gone dark and now is seeing another noteworthy exit. That alongside Karak's absolute hatred of The Witcher 3 on Switch in our 2021 kickstart! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pandemic Studios was one of gaming's greatest. Bringing us the likes of Star Wars: Battlefront 1 & 2, Lord Of The Rings: Conquest, The Saboteur, Destroy All Humans, and both Mercenaries games, they really managed to define a lot of titles in their lifespan. Sadly, in 2009, Pandemic Studios closed their doors and never reopened. What's the story behind this? Today, Matty sits down with multiple former developers and leaders who worked at the studio to answer this question. Were things as great on the inside as it was on the outside for consumers? Did this team bite off more than they could chew? Through Cameron Brown, Tom French, and Scott Warren, Matty brings the answers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FUNNY EPISODE ALERT! I don't remember the last time I genuinely hysterically laughed on a podcast, but this episode is one for the books. FightinCowboy joins Matty, Karak, and Dustin to discuss the awards given out voted by you, the listeners! From best open worlds, to the Anti Consumer Award, and yes, the "It's Pretty" award... it's all here! Furthermore, the boys delve into important topics such as Cyberpunk 2077's ongoing controversy, the one-cube debate, and whether or not socks should remain on during intimate moments? It's a wild episode as we start to wrap-up 2020! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2020's biggest game has finally arrived. Cyberpunk 2077 was announced back in 2012 before going dark and reappearing years later after the The Witcher 3. The hype was high and with that so are expectations. On the PC front, things look strong, but beyond that it's a bit of a warzone. To cool things off, the boys debate more about how much ice should be in your drink rather than the bugs and performance issues plaguing Cyberpunk. The game's industry's popularity contest also occurred, but reveals were the main focus. From "It Takes Two" to "Crimson Desert," there were plenty of nice looking games to sink our teeth into! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

BioWare has done borderline everything to step further away from their glory days. From stripping away role-playing elements, honing in on multiplayer, and making radical changes in their established franchise, it's sad to say that this company is a far cry away from what they once were. Today, another blow hit the team hard as their studio head along with the director of the anticipated Dragon Age 4. What does this mean for the long heralded studio? Also, Dead Island 2 lives despite being about the undead! How exactly does this game keep kicking around? Same could be said for the Halo Infinite rumors which persist onwards as the game sits in limbo without an update. That and much more in this week's show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A video game is comprised of many moving parts. Narrative, gameplay, music, performances, accessibility, and the list goes on. Every year, the game's industry gets together for a little popularity content called The Game Awards and this time around we decided to sift through the nominations with our own picks on what we think will win! Fret not, we will have our very own show dedicated to a game-of-the-year conversation boasting multiple categories that will poll from within our own audience in the coming weeks! For now, we settle for the popularity contest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's quite rare that we ever get a look into the operations and planning of companies, but sadly CapCom suffered a huge leak laying out what to expect for roughly the next five years. From Street Fighter to a new Dragon's Dogma, it's all out in the wild. On a more positive note, IO Interactive shocked the world by announcing a new 007 game which is one of gaming's best fits rivaling that of Insominac Games with Spider-Man. The boys also parse over the comments of PlayStation boss Jim Ryan on the future of cross-gen titles and some of the game-of-the-year nominations for this year's Game Awards show! That and staring at trees highlight this wonderful episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finally, the next generation of game consoles has ARRIVED! Matty, Karak, and Dustin all have both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 in hand alongside plenty of games tested. From Demon's Souls Remake, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Assassin's Creed Valhalla, and Godfall, to Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold Wars and Astro's Playroom; it is truly a jam packed episode! Lots of impressions to go around and, of course, lots of Patron questions answered as well. Next gen is HERE! Get hyped! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is the calm before the storm. The next generation of consoles are right around the corner and we have loads of PlayStation 5 impressions to sift through. We don't have to wait long for the coverage on launch titles to arrive either as Miles Morales reviews have dropped and we have those to mull over too! PlayStation didn't hesitate taking over the week as there were rollouts for details on Demon's Souls Remake and upgrades coming to backwards compatibility features. It is only going to heat up more as we're a week away! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our longest episode of 2020? Sure, why not?! This week, we dig into one of the industry's most elusive titles, Cyberpunk 2077, that has thrown yet another curveball our way. What do the boys make of a third delay for the highly anticipated RPG? Matty, Karak, and Dustin also dig into the latest AAA release, Watch Dogs Legion, which they've had since prior to launch! Furthermore, Halo Infinite sees even more staff changes and Anthem attempting to start a bounce back by tapping into the community for ideas they have for Anthem 2.0. Lastly, Matty gets roasted like a Thanksgiving turkey for believing in the possibility of The Old Republic returning... Sad times.

The boys sink their teeth into important questions like is a poptart a ravioli or what comes first when making a sandwich? Then, it's onto more trivial matters such as Bethesda being coincidentally sued after a big deal made Microsoft or the debut of Fallout 76's Steel Dawn DLC. While those are easy to digest at face value, what of the strange choices surrounding Vampire The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 and the very first Fire Emblem being localized after many, many years? This and much more in this week's (hilarious) episode!

It seems like everything always makes its way back to the Bethesda acquisition by Microsoft! Phil Spencer participated in another interview, this time shedding more light on the plans he has for both Bethesda and Halo. Furthermore, in a week seemingly dominated by RPGs, Assassin's Creed Valhalla has gone gold and the highly anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 shared its fourth Night City Wire. As always, the boys sift through the listener submitted questions regarding a very busy week for games!

Dustin and Karak held down the fort today while Matty went to physical therapy! In this week, Avengers has hit quite the snag! A game that seemed ripe for success has plummeted to the bottom of the player base rankings. Interestingly enough, Sucker Punch enters on the other end of the spectrum hoping to reap some form of success from the multiplayer space. The only difference? It's free! That, alongside much more, headline this week's show!