The Cartridge Family

No offense to the new and shiny Resident Evil 3 Remake, but no remaster was more highly anticipated than Final Fantasy 7. The teasers. The delays. The first world agony. Fans endured, and Square Enix finally delivered this gorgeous video game that Joe intends to lose his entire weekend to, certain review scores (from websites we won't name) be damned. Standing in his way? Only his loving wife and child. Moving over to John, he's still into Animal Crossing but his nighttime play sessions don't allow him to enjoy the full experience. Everything of importance is closed, he's catching the same fish, and many of his neighbors are asleep. Hopefully he gets a bit of time this weekend to play during a normal hour. As for Buffa, it's Resident Evil 3 Remake all the time! With the gym closed, he's enjoying RE3 in bite-sized chunks every day from 8:15AM to 9:00AM, but with roughly 5 hours of playtime to see this zombie masher to its bloody end, he's not ready to say goodbye so soon. The plan? Go through Raccoon City all over again, but with end game unlocks. The Family concludes this episode with their thoughts on Sony's controversial PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, and John delivers the beatdown. Up next, the celebrational 100th Cartridge Family episode!

The global pandemic continues and John chose to take drastic measures to ensure his family's survival. He buys fruit and veggies from a local farm, he orders meat from a butcher (at least he's not hunting…yet), and he even cut his own hair! Joe, meanwhile, finally left his house after two months of isolation. What's the one thing keeping these two sane? Animal Crossing: New Horizons! They're passing the time collecting bugs, Easter eggs, and other things. John and his kids have their own copies (John also came up with a clever way for his kids to do chores… with Animal Crossing as the reward), while Joe and his wife are testing the limits of their marriage by occupying the same island! Nintendo… their future is in your hands. Fortunately for Joe, Square Enix's long awaited Final Fantasy 7 remake is nearly upon us, so he'll have something to keep busy with in case his significant other refuses to relinquish the Switch. Meanwhile, Buffa is brains deep into the Resident Evil 3: Nemesis remake. He chooses to live through both the virtual and actual pandemics simultaneously. Find out what he thinks of Capcom's newest survival horror adventure, then stay for his tales of what it's like outside amongst toilet-paper hoarding masses. We close with Joe insisting that Rogue Legacy 2 deserves everyone's attention, and a germ-riddled beatdown that will give you the shivers.

Oh, Sony! You're on top of the world with the PlayStation 4. You've had years to position the PlayStation 5 as the next evolutionary step in your path to continued dominance. There's literally no way you could mess this up. Yikes! Find out how everything went wrong during the week's surprise PS5 tech rundown. We hope you speak Cerny! Then we have GameStop. For one brief moment, we applauded the company for releasing DOOM Eternal a day early to promote social distancing within its stores. But then corporate wasted its good press by refusing to close those stores as the pressure for the United States to shut down amid the COVID-19 crisis intensifies. Why? Well, because GameStop considers itself essential retail, putting its video game business in the same group that most people would drop supermarkets and pharmacies into. People need their physical copies of games just as much as they need Albuterol inhalers, right? Sorry, no. In other news, John has more Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing systems than you do, Joe heaps praise on Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Buffa is ready for the Resident Evil 3 demo. All that and more as we charge ahead to episode 100!

Episode 096 is by far the strangest episode of The Cartridge Family, but we are living in strange times. The world is gripped with Coronavirus fever. Toilet paper is missing. Large cases of water are difficult to find. Hand sanitizer? That was the first to go. With this in mind, there's a lot of Coronavirus talk. Joe quarantines himself on a regular basis so he's doing just fine. John, meanwhile, is apparently sitting on a big stash of toilet paper and rice. Then we have Buffa, who still goes to the gym despite the mass hysteria. Nothing will stop him from achieving those gains! Fortunately, amidst what is now a global pandemic, there's a bright side. For starters, this will probably encourage more people to wash their hands, which can only be a good thing. Beyond that, video games provide a means to escape reality in troubling times. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is out March 20, alongside DOOM Eternal. After that, we have the Resident Evil 3 Remake, where gamers can experience a virtual pandemic while living in a real one. Whoah! Yes, the NBA suspended its season, other sports leagues followed suit, and E3 2020 is toast, but maybe we should relax, sit down on a comfy couch, and fire up our console or PC game of choice. We'll get through this together!

We're little more than two months into 2020 and this year's been quiet for video games, at least until a few days ago. Despite the anemic start, things are heating up in such a big way that Buffa is actually considering a VR-capable PC. Oh boy! In no particular order, Valve served up a generous helping of gameplay for Half-Life: Alyx, and Capcom unveiled several minutes of in-game action for its upcoming Resident Evil 3 remake. We also have Square Enix, which released a demo for its highly anticipated re-imaging of the smash hit PSOne RPG, Final Fantasy 7. Did Joe, our resident RPG aficionado, beat the demo several times over? His response might surprise you. Going back to Half-Life: Alyx, Buffa sort of has the PC itch despite ditching PCs more than ten years ago for Mac. Now, with Asgard's Wrath and Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners already released, with Alyx on the way… is now the time for Buffa to become a member of the PC master race? He already has the Oculus Quest. Now all he needs is an Oculus Link cable and about $1500. What can go wrong? Meanwhile, John successfully introduced video games to his daughters. It seems like everyone in the Benyamine family owns a Switch and copies of Stardew Valley. This is by John's design, as he primes his kids to become professional gamers. We're pretty sure he's going to make competitive Animal Crossing a thing several years from now. Much like in Stardew Valley… he is… planting the seeds. We round out the show with a rumored Star Wars game, Corona talk, and even a little politics following a dramatic Super Tuesday showdown. Only five more episodes until 100!

Buffa's out of town today so it's Joe's turn to type up some nonsense for you to read instead of simply listening to our delightful, weekly gaming podcast. I'm kidding. Buffa's a talented writer and I'm nothing. No one. An ant. A shadow of an ant. Dust. Check out our latest episode. John and I breakdown the latest from Yacht Club Games, Xbox Series X's info dump, and how the Caronavirus is impacting the games industry. Thanks for listening as always and enjoy!

Is it OK to be cool with losing? Does every loss while playing a competitive video game, some pickup basketball at the local gym, or a pie-eating contest need to fill you with unholy rage? According to video game influencer and streaming superstar, Ninja, abso-damn-lutely! Ninja recently took to Twitter to call out people who are OK with losing at video games. The remark peeled back the virtual curtain on his competitive nature, and it sparked a debate amongst the gaming community over good sportsmanship and how people respond to winning and losing at video games. Is it really, just a game? John, Joe, and Buffa have strong opinions! Then, StarCraft: Ghost returns from the dead! The much hyped but ill-fated shooter from Blizzard resurfaced online a few days ago. First as found footage, and then someone uploaded what exists of the actual game for people to play. The three dads were right in the thick of all the StarCraft: Ghost hoopla back in the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube days. Find out what they think about this surprise reveal. In other news, Nintendo unveils a new Switch Lite color, there's an Animal Crossing Direct, and Joe has some more thoughts on Kentucky Route Zero. It's another gem of an episode on the road to 100!

It's Valentine's Day 2020, and the dads spend part of this episode expressing their love for video games! John downloaded the new Dead Cells Bad Seed DLC, while Buffa is all about The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. Joe, on the other hand, needed some Rocket League to clear his brain of Kentucky Route Zero, which might be good? He's not sure yet. Nintendo Switch lounges in airports? Nintendo has plans to bring its Switch to a handful of U.S. airports for people to play while waiting for their flights to take off, but there's a catch that sort of defeats the purpose. Then Sega releases yet another Yakuza game. We spent the 2000s hearing about this popular Yakuza series that was only available abroad, and now Sega has a new Yakuza every other month. It's crazy, but of course, really cool if you're into organized crime. Some sad news… Game Awards creator and host Geoff Keighley says that he won't attend E3 this year for… reasons. The family speculates why everyone's favorite gaming host won't make an appearance at the famous video game convention. Spoiler, it rhymes with the word “honey”. Buffa is back from a short trip to LA, where he played Outriders, the new cover-based shooter from Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly. The game is scheduled the launch holiday 2020 just in time for the next generation consoles, so what's it all about? Buffa has all the info. Last but not least, we cap off the episode with John beating down Joe, and a back of the box for one of Switch Online's newest games, which unfortunately is not Donkey Kong Country. Enjoy the long weekend!

After weeks of John and Buffa telling Joe that his video game time would plummet with a baby to take care of (and Joe to his credit pushing back on this), it finally happened. His little cherub consumed his life and he barely enjoyed two hours of video games this week. Life comes at you fast, Joe! John and Buffa returned to their respective homes after a bit of traveling. While suffering through hours spent on different planes, John passed the time with a little gem called Wilmot's Warehouse, while Buffa cracked open The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening after giving old school game, Magician Lord, the boot. The three dads cover a variety of topics in episode 091, including their thoughts on that downright charming Animal Crossing themed Nintendo Switch, which is being affected by the unfortunate Coronavirus outbreak; same with the Switch version of Outer Worlds. Then, the guys talk about whether owning video game collectors editions make sense the older they get. John is the proud owner of a Red Dead Redemption 2 Collector's Edition, but will he ever get around to putting the puzzle together? Maybe he can tackle the puzzle while wearing the included red bandana and RDR2-branded pins. From there, we top off the podcast with a back of the box reading for the ages that doesn't exactly paint the year 2020 in the best light. But considering the recent goings on with Coronavirus and the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, 2020 hasn't exactly gotten off to a peaches and cream start, so someone mishandling plutonium hidden beneath the Statue of Liberty's dress seems plausible. We're doomed.

We're one month into 2020 and everyone's starving for a shred of info on the next generation consoles. Well, how about the boot-up sequence and jingle for the PlayStation 5? Yup! It appears someone shot a quick video of Sony's new PlayStation firing up, and it's… not bad? It also might not be real. Who knows what to believe with today's Internet? Let's say it's real. Where does the PS5 jingle rank amongst 20 plus years of console boot sequences? Is it better than Dreamcast? Perhaps, but we'll say this much… it's a heck of a lot cooler than the Atari Jaguar's. Meanwhile, the family is busy playing games! John and his kids are addicted to Stardew Valley, while Joe cannot wait to dive into Kentucky Route Zero for the Switch. Buffa, on the other hand, is still trapped in the 90s with a bunch of old retro games. Perhaps he'll gravitate to playing something released in the 2000s next week! The Family visited a New Jersey diner before this recording, so let us know if full bellies and a change of schedule made a difference with episode 90!

John is off in California role-playing Once Upon a Time in Hollywood this week, so Joe and Buffa muscled through the rare two-person show. Thankfully, our lovely personalities made up for John's absence, and we expect him to return with a vengeance next week! What's new? How about the WWE Royal Rumble happening this weekend? Buffa's pumped for that. Joe, on the other hand, is all about a new Switch release, Stories Untold, which rose to critical acclaim on PC a few years ago before finally gracing Nintendo's system. Considering Joe's not a huge fan of scary-ish games, we're surprised he had the guts to see this one through. Bravo! Meanwhile, Buffa has an eye on another Switch release called 198X: The Game, which dropped this past Thursday. Imagine a retro-inspired game comprised of different micro games celebrating some of the best genres the 80s had to offer. Seems totally rad. Will any triple A games come out in the next few months? Out of nowhere, Dying Light 2 succumbed to that nasty delay bug going around and is releasing… sometime in the future. It's a shame because we loved the original Dying Light, but maybe it'll launch right around the same time that the PS5 hits store shelves. Speaking of the PS5, footage leaked of the upcoming exclusive hack-and-slash game, Godfall. It looks solid for a launch title, but will it be enough to get people to spend in excess of $500 this holiday season? Not sure, but hey, any shred of info on the next gen consoles is welcome. Finally, we close the show talking about every gamer's virtual mountain to climb, the old backlog. Now that we have some breathing room between releases, what games will Joe and Buffa play while waiting for the likes of DOOM Eternal and Resident Evil 3? Stay for the video game talk, and learn of Joe's special weekend event that neither John or Buffa were invited to.

So far, the 2020 release schedule is like driving down the highway when your favorite NFL team is playing. Expect delays! Every game is getting pushed. Square Enix delayed its Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Marvel's Avengers, while CD Projekt Red shocked the Internet with a fall delay for its highly anticipated Keanu Reeves simulator, Cyberpunk 2077! That said, it's not all doom in gloom. Resident Evil 3 is still on track for spring (we received a sweet-looking trailer starring the Nemesis), and we think the Cyberpunk rescheduling is actually smart. In fact, our reasoning has nothing to do with developer crunch or even giving them more time to polish the game. Meanwhile, GameStop is doomed. No, for real this time. The company's 2019 holiday sales nosedived compared to 2018, the per share price looks scary, and the CEO blamed the upcoming next generation consoles. Things look bleak! Listen, everyone piles on GameStop because it's so damn easy, but we opted for a different approach. Instead of (only) criticizing its antiquated business model and borderline customer harassment, each of us laid out a plan to save GameStop and prevent the company from closing its doors for good… and we did it in like, a half an hour. Whatever the CEO makes per year, we deserve all of it. Find out what we think about these delays, uncover the mystery behind our GameStop five-point plan, and stay until the end for one of the funniest beatdowns in ages. Then, order yourself a loaded (and we mean… loaded) baked potato. Yum!

It's official! Sony unveiled the logo for the PlayStation 5! And the crowd went… ugh! To be fair, we don't remember Sony hyping up its CES event as THE destination for all things PS5, so this is probably another case of the collective Internet getting excited for nothing. Putting the cart before the horse. Walking before crawling. Chicken before the egg! We can do this all day! The fact that all we received was the PS5 logo, though, begs the following question: when will this next generation of consoles kick into gear? We want to see games, release dates, and price points!  Hey Sony, tell us we can dust off that old PSOne copy of Einhander and relive the 32-bit glory days! John thinks there's a chance that Sony won't even release the PS5 in time for holiday 2020, while Joe feels that for the moment, everything is going according to plan if you follow the PS4 timeline. Does that mean there's a press event on the immediate horizon? Well, if Microsoft and Sony intend to bring new consoles to the market by November of this year, the time is now! As for Buffa, it seems his New Year's resolution to beat more video games is off to a great start. In fact, he already finished three games this month! Granted, each one takes roughly an hour to complete and he stripped all of the challenge from them by taking advantage of unlimited continues, but a beaten game is a beaten game no matter how the credits roll. This episode is a bit all over the place, but when you have three dads juggling careers and kids, we like think that the unpredictability is what makes us… human.

Piss off, 2019! The 2010 decade is officially in the can, and The Family can't wait for 2020 to heat up! That means we have a variety of gaming resolutions (and even some unrelated ones) for the New Year!  We also talk about what we're most looking forward to, from exciting hardware releases to the promise of new games. Cyberpunk, that means you! Aside from all the toasting and confetti, it turns out that Buffa and John have very different opinions of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare single-player campaign, and this resulted in one of the most interesting discussions that we've had on the show, which means the previous 85 episodes were heartless and filled with fluff.  Buffa, the uncultured hoodlum that he is, plowed through the campaign without much care in the world. John, however, viewed the plot through a more critical lens. The most shocking revelation is that, after becoming addicted to multiplayer, witnessing the single-player seems to have ruined the entire game for John. We strongly encourage you to find out why. Perhaps after listening, you'll see some things about the game differently.  What about Joe? Well, in addition to being caught in the crossfire, it turns out that he is the lucky recipient of a game dump that allowed him to grow his collection. His friend, instead of selling unwanted games for profit like a greedy capitalist, preferred to just give them all away. Pretty sure you get automatic sainthood for that.  Come for the Call of Duty chat, and then stay for all those 2020 resolutions. Happy New Year, you adorable listener, you.

It's a miracle we got this epsidoe out... but we did it. And we did it because we love bloviating about games despite our limited time to play them. I guess that's what makes the games on today's show so important, though - we made time for them. Isn't that the highest praise of all? Our most limited resource, time, was dispensed like currency on the likes of Mario, John Marston, Jack Shepherd and so many more these past ten years. We spend this episode both reminicsing and listing our favorite games of the decade all before sending you off into the new year with our merriest of holiday wishes. So, with that we leave you with the remainder of 2019. We hope you remember the past decade as fondly as we do (as far as video games go). Catch you on the other side.

OK, so Geoff Keighley's Game Awards came and event, the winners were crowned, and some new games were revealed, but is this show merely a commercial vehicle used to generate hype, or does it actually celebrate the year in games? Or, can it be both? There's nothing wrong with doing both, right? Right? From Software's Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the 2019 game of the year. Seems fine. Sekiro scored high with critics and fans when it debuted earlier this year. What's not to like? Well, The Family think this might have been a safe pick to shield The Game Awards from becoming the Death Stranding awards. Seriously, who was talking about Sekiro after April 2019? Not us, that's for sure. Joe couldn't stomach the game after four hours, and it didn't land on John's radar, either. No offense to diehard Sekiro fans. Don't @ us, please. After you enjoy the greatest Game Awards breakdown in the literal universe, Buffa will slay you with the best jokes that gaming has to offer. He should just go open for Dave Chappelle today. You won't laugh, nor will you cry. It is truly a special moment in podcast history. Last but not least, it's a beatdown for the ages. You'll never see this coming. And when you have the beatdown stuck in your head for weeks, well, you have us to thank. We think it will “warm” your heart. If you prefer shooting from the hip and stuffing schedules into the paper shredder, this episode of The Cartridge Family will be your favorite. No apologies that it took 84 recordings to get there. We're just happy you've been along for the ride.

It's Friday! It's Friday! The family gets down with Friday, and oh, what a Friday it is! Hideo Kojima's long-awaited cinematic experience, Death Stranding, is available nationwide. Similar to The Outer Worlds, there is much division over Kojima's latest. Joe, who is somehow completing 40 hour RPGs despite having as newborn, can't wait to build bridges in Death Stranding, while John doesn't think he'll give it a shot... at least any time soon, and not for $59.99; oddly enough, the $199.99 Collector's Edition tempts him. Buffa, meanwhile, does not have much of an opinion. In fact, he's barely on today's podcast at all because his daughter (off from school... thanks teachers) is out of sight and predictably pouring pink paint all over the playroom carpet; warm soapy water, don't fail us now! Things get tense when John recaps his recent mall trip (yes, he drove to a real mall) to pick up the new Xbox One Elite Series 2 controller, only to be met by GameStop retail types who looked upon him with disdain. They also presented, how shall we say this... “alternative facts” about GameStop's online inventory system. If you cringe before stepping foot into one of these stores, well, there's no better way to embrace the weekend than listening to John's impassioned tale.

It finally happened! Joe's a freakin' dad! In this week's episode, John and Buffa welcome Joe to the parents club. Yup… just a bunch of dads talking about video games now. Speaking of which, some ish went down in the show's absence. The Outer Worlds is available for all major platforms (cough, not for Switch yet, cough) and Joe and John are about as divided as cats and dogs. Joe thinks this is Obsidian at its most Obsidian, and plans to continue playing this engaging sci-fi romp, while John feels that the game's familiarity to New Vegas and Fallout works against it. Buffa, meanwhile, is working up a sweat with Nintendo's exercise game for the Switch, Ring Fit Adventure. There's a chance that his pecs might explode from repeated squeezes with the game's peripheral, the Ring Con; his new motto, Never Stop Squeezing, might be his undoing. He also put the finishing touches on an article that posted to the family-friendly website, SuperParent. It's a touching tale about the import GameCube that Buffa splurged on way back in 2001, and how Luigi's Mansion became the most important video game in his family's life in 2019. Don't miss it. Last but certainly not least, the fam talks about the recent Aladdin and Lion King retro compilation, Dead Stranding coming to the PC, and the Switch's lifetime sales running neck and neck (and quite possibly overtaking) sales of the Xbox One. It's nuts out there! Enjoy.

Hey, here's something to consider: Buffa isn't the father-father he cracked himself up to be. I mean, would you leave your father-brothers or whatever at home all alone while you frolic at some sort of undisclosed but prominent comic-book related conference in New York? No, you wouldn't. Your Mother-sisters or whatever raised you better than that. At any rate, John and myself were able to muster the strength necessary to conjure one more episode of this All-Time-Great™ Podcast for you before my life fundamentally changes forever in the next few days (I hope and pray). So, do me a favor and listen intently at the yearning in my voice; the yearning for something real - family, world peace, a real answer to climate change... Where am I? See? This is why I need Buffa; someone who isn't a freak needs to write these episode blurbs. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

On today's episode, John and I (you read correctly. Buffa's away, today) dive into the dumpster fires that are PlayStation State of Play and Inside Xbox. These two broadcasts did little to ignite our fandom especially when compared to Nintendo's version of these direct-to-consumer video info-dumps. Enjoy as John and I muck around in this topic for a bit before really giving the ol' sucker punch to Buffa who, just like last time, isn't here to defend himself against the onslaught. As always, thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

Of all the weeks in September 2019, this one will likely be our favorite, and not just because of the pumpkin ice coffees, Halloween decorations, and week 3 of NFL football. There were seismic shifts within the gaming universe that will change everything. First up, we have the Sega Genesis Mini Console, a slick piece of hardware that comes with 42 16-bit games from the 90s, offering up such hits as Sonic the Hedgehog, Gunstar Heroes, and Shining Force. John has one, but Buffa is on the fence despite everyone praising this device as THE new benchmark by which all mini systems shall be judged. You let us know if Buffa's reasoning makes sense. From there, Apple released the new lineup of watches and iPhone 11 phones, but also Apple Arcade. Granted, the service has only been live for a few days (iOS 13 beta testers experienced it earlier than most of us)… but this appears to be the real deal and a possible market disruptor that will prevent Sony and Nintendo from gobbling up some cash on their respective digital stores. Find out why. Finally, Nintendo sent us into the weekend with multiple goodies. We have the brand-new Switch Lite system, which John has two of for some reason. Then there's the critically acclaimed The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, and if you still care about amiibo, well, that shiny new Link will be difficult to pass up; Solid Snake doesn't look bad, either. Oh yeah, and John suddenly unboxed all of his new toys during the podcast, which might be the first non-video podcast unboxing of all time. Thankfully he's so good that you can just close your eyes and see everything.

Welcome to September - a month of new hardware, new games, and the beginning of that beautiful dead tree season: Autumn. We haven't quite hit that Autumn mark yet, but we have hit that Holiday 2019 video game release mark; some of the year's biggest and best are beginning to launch and this week is no exception. As if Gears 5's launch wasn't enough, we had the privelege of watching Hideo Kojima's interpretation of 'Man Peeing' during Sony's Tokyo Game Show stream (hah) this week. We discuss the impact of that urine on the industry at large, but we also pivot to other topics including the newly announced Ring Fit and Ring Fit Adventure from Nintendo. It's a wild show so we thank you for joining us and hope you enjoy!

It's one of those special weeks in gaming where Nintendo decides to bestow upon us their gracious glut of gaming goodness (aliteration). So, the fam is here to talk all about it and make sure you, the loyal listener, are up to date on mostly everything that was announced during this week's Direct. That's pretty much all we talk about this episode because, well, our alliegances are pretty clear by now. It's been 77 episodes, after all. Thanks as always for listening and, if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to The Cartridge Family on your favorite podcast app. Enjoy!

Today's show is new territory for the fam: John and myself hold down the fort with little help from our third man, Buffa. To be honest, we really make him atone for his vacationing sins in the form of a reverse beatdown. You can catch all the audio violence your heart desires at the end of the show. Before that, though, it's business as usual. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

On today's 75th episode of The Cartridge Family, the fam enjoys ill Buffa's recounting of the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked Conferece which he attended in Brooklyn just a few short weeks ago. We go on to discuss John's new whip and all the gaming he does while driving. We discuss my insufferably dorky pasttime of journaling about each and every game that I play before wrapping things up with our weekly beatdown. Today's show was especially fun since we were able to record in person. Thanks as always for listening and enjoy the show!

Ninja surprised the world today with his big announcement that he's moving away from his trusty Vitamix in favor of his namesake Ninja Mixer, which he claims will "blend all of my smoothies real good". A dash of competition never hurt anyone (this certainly isn't true), but we can't help but feel this is just another example of video game exclusivity which is, if nothing else, annoying. Aside from Ninja, the boys talk Modern Warfare the and info drop we received this week along with a redacted retro game description delivered courtesy Chris Buffa. Thanks as always for listening and enjoy!

On today's episode of everyone's favorite gaming (adjacent) podcast, The Cartridge Family, we learn all about special guest Jason Onorad's famous Filent Mignon and how he can, in fact, treat a block of tofu in the same manner. That's right, John's away and we did our best to fill his John-sized whole with a similar shaped brother-brother before diving into the usual hijinx. It's a fun episode and we look forward to Jason hopping on the mic again, sometime. Oh, by the way, if anyone has a copy of Next Generation magazine from 1996 featuring a review of Bubsy 3D, please hit me up. Thanks as always for listening and enjoy!

Be sure to beat the heat this summer and keep that dial tuned to the The Cartridge Family FM, a brand new radio station in the year of our Lord, 2019, ran entirely by us, The Cartridge Family. While you're out there cruisin' in the summer sun, elegantly dodging the pools of dog urine just outside the Buffa residence, be sure and shove today's episode into your cassette deck. I'm not going to lie, today's show was weird, so thanks more than ever for listening.

Congratulations to you in your discovery of this, the first Weekend Edition of our beloved podcast. What does Weekend Edition mean, exactly? Well, it means we were unprepared, missing a member of our regular crew, and clumsily scraping together a show so as to not miss a publishing week, entirely. That said, we do have a fun, albeit brief, episode for you chronicling the announcement of the Nintendo Switch Lite as well as even more Super Mario Maker 2 chat. Finally, the gang gangs up on Joe, as is customary by now, for not having played some of gaming's finest and most classic gems before we wrap things up with a Asif's guest-spot beatdown. As always, thanks for listening and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

The boys and special guest Asif Khan gather 'round the proverbial campfire and bloviate about Super Mario Maker 2 for the majority of today's show. Then, we collectively salivate at the prospect of finally playing Metal Wolf Chaos XD, a FromSoftware joint that never made its way west back when it released on the original Xbox. It is, after all, July 4th here in the States and with that comes a heavy dose of Texas-sized (capital P) Patriotism. So, sit back and relax as we salute the Great American Video Game. Also, if you're not American, we're really glad you're here, too. Enjoy!

All the best teams come in threes. A few years back we had Lebron, Wade, and Bosh carrying Miami to a championship or two. Also, you have the Three Stooges, and how can we forget, the classic tri-nucleous American family which consists of (you guessed it) three parents. It's a classic, tried-and-true number that's proven to be the perfect amount of people to accomplish just about anything... which is why I'm so confused that today's episode, consisting of just John and myself, was so incredible. Sit back and enjoy your favorite power-duo as they carry you through some of the best stories in gaming this week. Thanks for listening and enjoy!

It pains me to announce that the fam isn't getting along. The father-fathers are threatening a divorce or something while the father-brother is pleading to them and insisting they stay together for the father-brothers. It's all very confusing and there are many, many lawyers involved to help sort through the mess, but one thing is clear as day: This isn't your father-father's The Cartridge Family. By now, surely, you've asked 'what is he talking about?' to which I reply 'listen to the show to find out'. But, if you insist on having a small teaser of what's to come: the fam gets into their first fight. It wasn't pretty but it was bound to happen sooner or later. Also, we re-cap, to Buffa's dismay, the many announcements from last week's E3 2019. Thank you for listening and enjoy the show.

It's the Friday before E3 2019 and hype is mounting as we enter a press-conference packed weekend. Buffa and John are packing their bags and soaring across the land to bring you first-hand reactions and impressions from the year's ultimate industry event. But, before they head out, we've got one more show for you. I'd like to tell you that we don't get severely sidetracked by Xbox-branded hygiene products, but then I'd be lying to your face. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

E3 approaches and with it our predictions for everybody's favorite video-game trade show. The family gathers 'round the dinner table and dishes on their gaming hopes, dreams, and outlandish wishes. Beforehand, however, we of course pay tribute to the Headlines Goddess, the one who bestoweth the headlines upon us. This week's blessing is, of course, much lighter than most weeks considering everyone's saving their haymaker's for mid-June, but we nonetheless cover all the important stuff including the rebirth of the iPod Touch. So, if you're looking for an outstanding way to kill an hour, look no further. We've got you covered. Enjoy!

Come one, come all to the 65th episode of The Cartrige Family. Today, we enjoy Buffa and John's new Oculus Quest ownership and the heartaches of owning one during a bout of pink-eye. The boys go on to discuss three ports of old Resident Evil games on the Switch and why you should be wary of purchasing. John, Buffa and myself get geared up for the upcoming Panic Playdate, a cute little handheld consoles from the makers of your favorite PHP editor(?). And, finally, we wrap up the show with what is sure to be remembered as the most gruesome edition of Buffa's Back-of-the-box Beatdown to date. Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe and follow us on all our channels.

[Spoiler Warning] We discuss Game of Thrones Season 8 a bit early in the show, between 11:00-17:00. The boys got together a bit early this week (two days early) to make sure they didn't 'pull a Cartridge Family' and leave ya'll hanging for another 5 months. Good thing we got together, too, because we've created one of the most prolific archives of sniffle-laden voice-over work the world has ever seen. Sometimes it's worth it to be the best at literally anything. Today's show, despite our best efforts, takes some time to celebrate the Nintendo 64. Joe gives the boys a short quiz about the beloved console, the answers to which can be found below. I'll program these quizzes better in the future so that the answers aren't visible unless you click. Sorry. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

You'll hear me preface the show with something similar, but I wanted to kick things off this week by announcing a small pivot in our approach to The Cartridge Family. John, Chris, and myself all enjoy gaming a little differently these days compared to our younger years, so I thought it was time this podcast (more offically) reflected our patriarchal duties and/or husbandry. For a better explanation of what I'm referring to, just press play below. Don't worry. This isn't going to be a vastly different listening experience compared to week's prior - instead, I'm simply endeavoring to carve out a small notch in the video games mediasphere for this podcast. This marks the end of my explainging our re-brand. You'll never hear another word about it. Until next year when we become a New York Knicks Fancast, or something. Thanks for listening, as always.

Welcome to May, 2019. Shall we just pretend we didn't take a multi-month recording hiatus? I won't tell if you don't. On today's show the boys catch up on the past few months in gaming before marvelling at Joe's incredible and impressive ability to play video games despite his adult responsibilities. The fam also discusses three different films on this episode, which is a first for this gaming podcast. Our apologies in advance. We missed you and we're glad to be back. Happy Friday to all.

The end is approaching! Well, the end of 2018. End of the year episodes are known for deep reflection, reminiscing on memories and getting into intense arguments about what is the true definition of a video game mascot. On this episode join us as Andrew and John talk extensively about Super Smash Ultimate and all of the good Fire Emblem characters, Chris's salt gun and Joe being Santa all along. Thank you so much for sticking around with us during 2018 (and if you are just joining us, welcome!). Regardless if this year was difficult or enjoyable we are happy to have you here with us. Enjoy the show!

The Game Awards were last night (and, for some, this morning), and in the middle of all the pomp and circumstance (who was Christoph Waltz wearing?!) was actually a pretty cool show! It took five years to get Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony to take the stage together, but that was nothing compared to the controversial decision over Game of the Year. It's safe to say John is in full Red Dead fanboy mode on this one. We also talk Basketball. Not NBA 2K, not NBA Live, but…Basketball. Is it any good? Who knows? Who cares?! With a name like that, we're talking about it, and we're going to be playing it. That is, if we're not playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and some of the other games that we mention in headlines. For now, put on your discounted Dolby Atmos headphones and bask in the glory of a new episode of The Cartridge Family!

Happy last day of November to you on this final Friday of the month. We've got just a few more weeks in the year left and, as a result, we're winding things down on the podcast in antipation of an exciting, new year. Before we take a short, holiday hiatus we'll be bringing you a few more festive (not really) episodes to wrap up the year. Today, we finally make some real headway in Red Dead Redemption II. John and I are absolutely enamored with the game and the level of polish that went into making it come alive. This is in stark contrast to Bethesda's Fallout 76, a game that seems to be missing even a single trace of TLC. We talk about Fallout 76's Canvas bag debacle before diving into Elon Musk's latest automobile-related promises of romance until finally wrapping up the show with our weekly beatdown. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show!

On today's show we learn that John is a pig murderer. We also, however, talk about games on today's show. It's a lighter week as far as news goes, but we discuss the release of Battlefield 5, learn about Andrew's early impressions with Pokemon Lets Go, and catch up on our progress with Red Dead Redemption 2. We round out the back half of the show by going over the upcoming Game Awards 2018 and how our personal opinions compare to the list of nominees. It's an odd show but a fun one. Thanks for listening and happy holidays!

I have some mixed emotions on Red Dead Redemption 2. The game is objectively amazing. It is sometimes, however, at odd's with itself. Of course, if you're curious about my feelings here, my recommended method of ingestion is podcast but, in short, I have some qualms with how certain bugs affect the experience. Why did mounting my horse in Saint Dennis result in unarmed assault of a passerby? Why does this sort of thing happen so frequently? In other news, it is snowing here in New Jersey. Snowing, for me, means game time. The soft, wet and white slush outside is definitely putting me in the spirit of things. At any rate, we've got a fun episode for you today. We'll be going over some things we missed last week, a Russion Nintendo live stream gone awry, and the horrors of high-resolution Pokémon. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show.

It's been difficult to make time for Red Dead Redemption 2, a game that demands your attention and deserves to. It's a big, beautiful world out there, and if you've only got 45 minutes a day to set aside for gaming, it'll be tough to get through this one. But, that's what weekends are for. Here's to hoping this coming weekend is filled with lots of lazy games of dominoes, sunset viewings, and elk skinning (gross). Not only is the fam having trouble making time for RDR2, they're having trouble making time for the podcast. So, we've got a slightly snappier show for you today, but as always it is a fun one. Join as as we discuss Red Dead, the Smash Direct, gaming-themed cooking implements and how that would affect my marriage, and so much more. Thanks for listening and enjoy today's episode.

I've never been much of a mainstream guy. I'm no hipster; I shop almost exclusively at Old Navy. When it comes to gaming, though, I'm not usually the one reaching for Call of Duty or Fortnite. This isn't a protest or commentary on those games, I just tend to like a certain type of game (JRPG) that tends not to be super popular compared to the aforementioned titles. Despite all that, however, I find myself salivating at the prospect of digging into the lush, vast Wild West that Rockstar Games has (painstakingly) sculpted for our enjoyment. Luckily, we've got the day off tomorrow so I think I'll be diving in head first into this epic and incredibly well reviewed adventure. If you're doing the same, best of luck out there. In the meantime, enjoy our show!

John and I spent a day or two in Ohio with the Janitor (proper noun) himself, Asif Khan, this week. While we were there, we discussed all sorts of things including the state of the games industry, the housing market, and the likelihood of the All-Time Caveliers defeating the All-Time Knickerbockers (zero percent). But, what we failed to properly address was the concept of Broccolli as a meat substitute. Fortunately for the listening audience, the fam took up the helm and managed to define a stance on that very subject. It is very controversial. We've got a great show, today. Thanks for listening!

Sometimes my father brothers travel long distances to do work outside of the country. Right now is one of those times. They're all away. All of them. So, I'm left here to fend for myself and somehow put together a podcast with no father-brothers. Luckily, I'm surrounded by talented and interesting colleagues of all kinds, and so putting together a last minute show was easy as pie. On Today's show, my good friend Vin Genova joins me to discuss his initial (but exhaustive) impressions on Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. Afterward, I ask my new good friend Chris Higgins (Managing Editor at http://allgamers.com) how he's enjoying his time with Assassins's Creed Odyssey. We dive into a bunch more, too, all listed below so thank you as always for listening and enjoy the show!

It's that time of the year again, folks! Things are moving quickly and getting more interesting with each passing day. We've got patent news from industry giant Bungie indicating a potentially new IP they're working on, Nintendo's plans to refresh the Switch's hardware as early as next year, and an alleged peak behind the curtain at what appears to be a new, unnanounced Harry Potter game. It's only the first week of October, so who knows what's in store for us next week as games continue to release in anticipation of the holiday season. Until then, we'll keep drooling over these Red Dead Redepmtion II trailers. We hope you enjoy today's episode of The Cartridge Family - an episode we've crafted for you with the utmost care. Thanks for listening and be sure to subscribe to the show so you never miss a beat!

It's nice to be back into the swing of things here. Needless to say, the fam wasn't getting their much-needed chator gamingfix until we got back on our usual podcasting grind. Onto today's episode: If you're anything like me, it was difficult focusing on games this week, what with the Kavanaugh stuff going on and Dragon Quest XI being super over-rated. It sure does warm my heart that I'll be lending Andrew my copy of the game - takes some of the guilt out of the equation, ya know? Anyway, we've got a great show for you, even if John couldn't be a part of it. Enjoy!

So, first of all, many apologies for the multi-week gap in our content schedule. I would like to formally say that "We're Back" and things should be running smoothly again. For the record, this is what happens when you replace your old trusty iMac for a Macbook Pro with literally no useable ports on it so all of your audio equipment you've been hoarding for over a decade is now obsolete. My bad, ultimately, but can't a guy complain a little? See below for a list of topics covered on today's show. As always, thanks for listening!

Its been about a year since we started this podcast. Last summer, myself, John Benyamine, Chris Buffa, and Vin Genova took control of your ears and haven't let go since then. In that time, Vin has moved on to other ventures while the fam here gained an exemplary new member in Andrew Zucosky. It goes without saying that having extended relatives over for supper is everyone's favorite pasttime. The same is true for this family. Welcome back Vin. We missed you and we'll miss you again after this episode. Unfortunately, our guest comes to fill in the void left by our father-fathers. John's in Germany at Gamescom and Buffa's with his other family on vacation. Fear not, though, dear listener as this episode is sure to entertain as we discuss Nintendo's latest Nindie's Showcase, Battlefield V's preorder woes, Bad North's performance hiccups, Andrew's mixed feelings on Battle for Azeroth, Amazon's removal of their gaming discounts, and so much more. We wrap up the show with the 4th and final installment of our Octopath TravelerGame Club. This was a fun one. Thanks for listening!