NO SICK DAYS | Work. Game. Podcast.

Start with deep dives into the mechanics of Chris and John's most recent picks: Atelier Ayesha and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Segue with an Anthem story about the devs ignoring the loot problem in a hilarious fashion. Top it off with the technology, merits, and future outlook of cloud gaming - playing games hosted on another computer and streaming them like Netflix. Serve with coffee and voila: today's episode.

John uses his powers of beer entrepreneurship for good, which angers people who hate happiness. Business trials and family life impede Chris and John's gaming so they travel back to a magical time - school in the 90s. (Magical due to gaming, not so much the school.) Experience their first rage quit, release hype, piracy, mobile game, shareware, and more. We cover most of the era's big titles, but more importantly: assess how these games shaped our gaming habits (and lives).

It's there in the title! We give Anthem more time than it deserves. Chris has a bone to pick with Epic. John has a bone to pick with Anthem. Loot-Shooters are a thing. Hyphen? No hyphen? You decide!

Chris and John post up at 4th Tap Brewing during the weekly Smash Bros. tournament hosted by Smash United. As usual, they proceed to shit all over many beloved games. This time the whole looter genre is targeted. Inspired by Anthem, they debate why games like it, The Division 1, Destiny 1+2, and Diablo 3 all launched in such a poor state. Topical! Wow! They also score their first interview with one of the top Smash players in the Texas scene (Armada | Drago, Twitter: @The_Dragonite).

We're back! Yeah, season 2. We had some life events. But here we are, still talking about games. Chris finds the limit of game narrative and John is still talking about world-building from Rockstar. Plus Apex and getting your ass kicked by 12 year old kids. Oh, and we've got a game with prizes. Get on it.

Welcome to episode 15. Just shy of 29 years. Not 29 years of podcasting, but 29 years of yakkin' about video games. Only 15 episodes of turning those conversations into a podcast. John takes another shot at No Man's Sky with the NEXT release, they share gameplay trailers of Red Dead Redemption II and Doom Eternal, and then some other stuff. What stuff? John reviews a bunch of trending mobile games while Chris tears apart grinding in games in all it's forms. He's coming for you, Monster Hunter, Diablo, and even Stardew Valley fans.

John spends a bit of time with Talos Principle and Reign, Chris talks Pillars 2 expansions, and then they dig into For Honor and fighting game training techniques. Like, REALLY dig in. Probably more than you should care about, but they care about it, so...look you've come this far right? What's a bit further? Oh, and then they hot take the top open-world/sandbox games ever made according to PC Gamer. Arguments! Controversy! Get Immersed!

Two guys talking about the pros/cons of turn-based strategy combat and real-time pause combat. You didn't know you needed that in your life, did you?! Also, John starts to dig into the Devolver lounge at the brewery, Chris shares some choice words for Gamestop.

3DSish, Pillars 2ish, Shin Megami Tenseiish, and a whole lot of XCom-2. Also, we argue about the usage of the world vanilla. Yeah, we've got your hard-hitting podcast right here.

We go through every game announced at E3 with all the in-depth, careful, rigorous analysis you've come to expect from the stellar journalists at No Sick Days. Every. Single. Game. Disclaimer: There are no journalists at No Sick Days. Disclaimer: We do not know what rigorous analysis means. It just sounded really intense.

Here we talk about fail states, death, and game saves.

Our very first bonus episode, recording from the floor of Dreamhack ATX 2018 across three days. You're welcome.

We spent three days stumbling around Dreamhack. Then we sat down and recorded us talking about it for like, at least an hour. Maybe a bit longer. You're welcome.

Back and forth about: The Rockets (also not a sports podcast) PubG vs Fortnite (lawsuits!) Lineage II (the grind is real) Ultima 7 Technomancer Wasteland 2 / Baldur's Gate 2 Tekken 7 (training!) DreamHack (this weekend!) ...and more. Links: - "How World of Warcraft's Quests Came To Be" https://kotaku.com/how-world-of-warcrafts-quests-came-to-be-1826372544 - AIAS Game Maker's Notebook "Jeff Kaplan of Blizzard Entertainment" http://interactive.libsyn.com/jeff-kaplan-of-blizzard-entertainment - "Stop Wasting My Time - WotC" XCom2 Mod https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=620600092

Meandering on about: - Dreamhack (almost here!) - Lineage 2 (enough already) - Blood Bowl 2 (bad at luck) - Andrew Reitano and Super Russian Roulette (fun for the whole family!) - Mutant League Football Reboot (eh) - Madden Games (so many) - NFL Blitz (wrestling! executives! compromise!) - Vice Article: https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/nzpmgq/how-in-the-hell-did-nfl-blitz-ever-get-made - NBA 2k17 (9th round!) - Super Mario Odyssey (on the run)

Ramblin' about: - New name! (Only 6 episodes late) - Name that song - Lineage II (John, stop.) - Shadow Tactics (Not Strike.) - Blood Bowl 2 (and the demise of the Bogus Journeymen) - Delta Green (You can be Scully if you want) - Vikings (like, a whole bunch about Vikings without really teaching you anything)

Ya know. This: - Lineage II Revolution (John, stop.) - HQ (Scott has all the words) - Shadow Strike (Real time, real time) - Blood Bowl 2 (In video game format!) - For Honor (Back for more) - Texas Showdown (Tekken! Dragonball Fighter Z, Street Fighters n such)

Dang, we're organized this time. - Obligatory Lineage II Revolution (It's short, don't worry) - Zero-K (TA revival?) - War Thunder (Mmmm....explosions) - LOOT BOXES (Illegal in two countries!) - Mars: War Logs (it's a game) - Metro 2033 (it's a slightly better game) - Enter the Gungeon (it's an even slightly better game) - Cuphead (don't get mad, bro. It's an even better game) - Avengers: Infinity Wars (all the spoilers. stop before part 3 starts)

- Lineage II (you know it, still at it) - Dawn of War (tossin nades) - Fatal1ty (still relevant? maybe? ehh?) - Star Wars Battlefront II (not about loot boxes) - Superhot (mmmmm....tastey time mechanics) - Sleeping Dogs (so much to offer!) - Grand Theft Auto (a bunch of them) - Ready Player One (never gonna talk about this again)

Yakkin' about games like: - Dragon Ball Fighter Z (so many moves, so little time) - Lineage II (more! reaching the 140's) - PubG Mobile (death by environment) - Sleeping Dogs (ultimate romance simulator) - Dynasty Warriors 9 (well, more like the whole series, and some other related games, and somewhat that historical period)

Episode 1 of what has a working title of "So, What Are You Playing?" In this episode: Lineage II Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild Halo 5 Cities: Skylines Layers of Fear Dragon Ball FighterZ For Honor