No Crisis Yet!

The Rehearsal Season 2 ups the ante while still saying true to the original format. But what IS the joke?

NOTE: Jon's end of the conversation has atrocious audio quality for reasons only known to the audio gods. Jon and Ben discuss how Amazon's Fallout show nearly perfectly threads the needle regarding a notoriously hard-to-nail tone of the games.

Ben and Jon avoid re-litigating the rote marketing exercise of Starfield and focus on the new Armored Core and the increasingly diminishing returns of fidelity in new games.

Todd Howard and company are at it again but this time INNNNNN SPAAAAAAAAACE.

Did Barry find redemption? Who assumed the mantle of Logan Roy? Jon and Ben discuss and analyze the series finales of Barry and Succession.

Ben and Jon check-in at the halfway-ish mark on both Succession and Barry. How much misery can either of them handle?

Andor trades lightsabers and rote space battles for a grounded examination of authoritarianism and that decision has made it the best Star Wars project in decades.

Note: This episode was recorded late in 2022 but Jon just got around to editing it. Enjoy! Jon and Ben discuss the Steam Deck's incredible potential and the demise of Stadia.

Nathan Fielder's and HBO's The Rehearsal examines artifice, reality television, and our expectations of the media we consume. It's all fodder for a great discussion between hosts Jon and Ben, who nailed it all in one take. Or did they?

Jeff Gerstmann leaves Giant Bomb, Disney still owns everything, No Man's Sky holds up, and GTA VI is infuriating capital G gamers.

Elden Ring's mysteries are laid bare as the hosts plumb the depths of From's most accessible, widely known, and impeccably-designed open world title.

Ben and Jon discuss their soulsborne backgrounds how it shaped their experiences with From Software's Elden Ring.

Ben and Jon dig into their experiences with both the original Matrix and the latest entry into the series.

This episode went off the rails at the end due to copious Suntory whiskey imbibing, but it was all in service to our diehard fans. The image of corp war soldiers wearing Mickey Mouse Ears while firing lasguns will forever be etched into my mind.-JonRelevant show links:Peter Molyneux's gross embrace of NFTsMicrosoft's Blizzard acquisitionMiSTer AddonsMetal Gear Solid 4 Was a MistakeThe Problem with NFTs

Ben and Jon discuss Double Fine's sequel to Psychonauts while examining the impact Tim Schafer and old LucasArts games have had on their lives.

Ben revisits the Normandy while Jon click-click-clicks through Path of Exile. Ubisoft is taking Assassins Creed live. We kick the door in on Blizzard's Cosby Suite.

We finally record face-to-face after over a year. Giant Bomb has split up. Jon has strangely realistic dreams. Ben loves video essays about Dark Forces.

Jon and Ben flex their art cop credentials while discussing the case of Disco Elysium.

Jon's side of the recording was garbled by errant radio signals, so the quality on his side isn't great. Listen at your own peril.Valheim on Steam

Jon feels burned by CD Projekt Red while Ben stalks targets through beautiful vineyards. VR and its applications are discussed.

Cyberpunk 2077 delights and disappoints in equal measures. What went wrong? Can it be salvaged? When will the t-posing stop?

2020. Yoked ladies. Character arcs. Brutality. 2020.

Jon can't stop participating in the humanitarian disaster that is DayZ and Ben is moving corpses across the country.

Ben and Jon compare and contrast their approaches to the POWER struggle *wink* on Outer Worlds' first planet.

Jon and Ben dive into the grimy, gritty Scorsese simulacrum and come away pleasantly surprised.

Jon and Ben are completely smitten with Nordic paranormal shooter Control.

Tarantino's latest film is ripe for discussion, and Ben and Jon dive in head first.

Ben and Jon speculate on how off-the-rails Tarantino will go in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, debate Leonardo DiCaprio's acting skills, and our dark, Disney future.

Jon and Ben wax philosophic on the direction of the industry, storefronts, Epic exclusivity, and other industry gossip.

Ben and Jon break down the brilliance of HBO's Chernobyl and espouse their love for Jared Harris.

Jon dishes on life as a cult leader while Ben relays tales from Outer Wilds.

Randy Pitchford, gaming world cultures, and old Half-Life servers are on tap in this episode.

Sekiro is good. Sekiro is great. Ben and Jon love Sekiro and it is good and great.

Jon takes a deep dive into Paradox's Hearts of Iron IV and Ben talks up his return to Colombia and Rapture as he replays Bioshock Infinite.

Riverdale is one of the trashiest, shameless, inane, and plot-free experiences in television. And we love it.

Ben and Jon take a long, hard look at the games they played in 2018.

We came, we saw, we played through an eight hour epilogue. Jon and Ben discuss their experiences finishing one of the largest video game projects of all time. SPOILERS.

The game of the year has finally arrived in all of its cow-punching, cigar munching glory.

The boys discuss Rockstar crunch, old CRPGs (again), and the quality of life for game developers. Also Red Dead Redemption 2 hype.

Red Dead Redemption 2 hype runs high while Ben and Jon discuss modern CRPGs and how accurately Rockstar will model horse testes.

The boys discuss the shortcomings of Castle Rock and Jimmy's descent into the underworld in Better Call Saul. Also Mission Impossible: Fallout.

Everything old is new again. Jon is slamming his head against Troika's Arcanum, while Ben is dodging and slashing his way through Dead Cells.

We seem to have hit a time warp; we're talking about Breath of the Wild, No Man's Sky, and the fun and whimsical world of toxic fandoms!

The Terror is an exercise in brutality, hopelessness, and humanity's problematic relationship with nature. We love it, of course.

We're talking about Elder Scrolls Online, E3 2018, and the Fallout 76 reveal.

The Americans has ended and Ben and Jon are here to pick up all the pieces and discuss the show one final, bittersweet time.