Podcasts about PlayStation

The holiday season is here, which means we're off for a bit. But, of course, new episodes never cease rolling out! Thus, we've arrived at the first of our two Christmastime traditions: Recounting the most consequential 'moments' in the world of PlayStation and beyond for the past calendar year. As usual, we've each selected five choices for 15 total, and they touch on topics like the first concrete rumors surrounding PlayStation 6, Helldivers 2's surprise migration to Xbox as Microsoft itself brings its whole slate of games to PS5, multiple Grand Theft Auto VI delays, the reemergence of Insomniac's Wolverine, Hermen Hulst's sudden demotion, Sony suing Tencent over the blatant Horizon ripoff Light of Motiram, and much more. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Gangland Wire, Gary Jenkins sits down with Bob Cooley, the once–well-connected Chicago lawyer who lived at the center of the city's most notorious corruption machine. After years out of the public eye, Cooley recently resurfaced to revisit his explosive memoir, When Corruption Was King—and this conversation offers a rare, firsthand look at how organized crime, politics, and the court system intersected in Chicago for decades. Cooley traces his journey from growing up in a police family to serving as a Chicago police officer and ultimately becoming a criminal defense attorney whose real job was quietly fixing cases for the Chicago Outfit. His deep understanding of the judicial system made him indispensable to mob-connected power brokers like Pat Marcy, a political fixer with direct access to judges, prosecutors, and court clerks. Inside the Chicago Corruption Machine Cooley explains how verdicts were bought, cases were steered, and justice was manipulated—what insiders called the “Chicago Method.” He describes his relationships with key figures in organized crime, including gambling bosses like Marco D'Amico and violent enforcers such as Harry Aleman and Tony Spilotro, painting a chilling picture of life inside a world where loyalty was enforced by fear.   As his role deepened, so did the psychological toll. Cooley recounts living under constant threat, including a contract placed on his life after he refused to betray a fellow associate—an event that forced him to confront the cost of the life he was leading. Turning Point: Becoming a Federal Witness The episode covers Cooley's pivotal decision in 1986 to cooperate with federal authorities, a move that helped dismantle powerful corruption networks through FBI Operation Gambat. Cooley breaks down how political connections—not just street-level violence—allowed the Outfit to operate with near-total impunity for so long.   Along the way, Cooley reflects on the moral reckoning that led him to turn on the system that had enriched and protected him, framing his story as one not just of crime and betrayal, but of reckoning and redemption. What Listeners Will Hear How Bob Cooley became the Outfit's go-to case fixer The role of Pat Marcy and political corruption in Chicago courts Firsthand stories involving Marco D'Amico, Harry Aleman, and Tony Spilotro The emotional and psychological strain of living among violent criminals The decision to cooperate and the impact of Operation Gambat Why Cooley believes Chicago's corruption endured for generations Why This Episode Matters Bob Cooley is one of the few people who saw the Chicago Outfit from inside the courtroom and the back rooms of power. His story reveals how deeply organized crime embedded itself into the institutions meant to uphold the law—and what it cost those who tried to escape it.   This episode sets the stage for a deeper follow-up conversation, where Gary and Cooley will continue unpacking the most dangerous and revealing moments of his life. Resources   Book: When Corruption Was King by Bob Cooley Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. 0:03 Prelude to Bob Cooley’s Story 1:57 Bob Cooley’s Background 5:24 The Chicago Outfit Connection 8:24 The Turning Point 15:20 The Rise of a Mob Lawyer 23:54 A Life of Crime and Consequences 26:03 The Incident at the Police Station 50:27 The Count and His Influence 1:19:51 The Murder of a Friend 1:35:26 Contracts and Betrayal 1:40:36 Conclusion and Future Stories Transcript [0:00] Well, hey guys, this is a little prelude to my next story. Bob Cooley was a Chicago lawyer and an outfit associate who had been in, who has been in hiding for many years. I contacted him about six or seven years ago when I first started a podcast, I was able to get a phone number on him and, and got him on the phone. He was, I think it was out in the desert in Las Vegas area at the time. And at the time he was trying to sell his book when corruption was king to a movie producer And he really didn’t want to overexpose himself, and they didn’t really want him to do anything. And eventually, COVID hit, and the movie production was canceled. And it was just all over. There were several movie productions were canceled during COVID, if I remember right. A couple people who I have interviewed and had a movie deal going. Well, Bob recently remembered me, and he contacted me. He just called me out of the clear blue, and he wanted to revive his book and his story. He’s been, you know, way out of the limelight for a long time. And so I thought, well, I always wanted to interview this guy because he’s got a real insider’s knowledge to Chicago Outfit, the one that very few people have. [1:08] You know, here’s what he knows about. And he provides valuable insight into the inner workings of the Outfit. And I don’t mean, you know, scheming up how to kill people and how to do robberies and burglars and all that. But the Chicago court system and Chicago politics, that’s a, that’s a, the, the mob, a mafia family can’t exist unless they have connections into the political system and especially the court system. Otherwise, what good are they? You know, I mean, they, they just take your money where they give you back. They can’t protect you from anybody. [1:42] So I need to give you a little more of the backstory before we go on to the actual interview with Bob, because he kind of rambles a little bit and goes off and comes back and drops [1:54] names that we don’t have time to go into explanation. So here’s a little bit of what he talked about. He went from being, as I said before, Chicago Outfit’s trusted fixer in the court system, and he eventually became the government star witness against them. He’s born, he’s about my age. He was born in 1943. He was an Irish-American police family and came from the Chicago South side. He was a cop himself for a short period of time, but he was going to law school while he was a policeman. And once he started practicing law, he moved right into criminal law and into first ward politics and the judicial world downtown. [2:36] And that’s where the outfit and the old democratic machine intersected. He was in a restaurant called Counselor’s Row, which was right down. Bob had an office downtown. Well, he’s inside that system, and he uses his insider’s knowledge to fix cases. Once an outfit started noticing him that he could fix a case if he wanted to, he immediately became connected to the first ward power broker and outfit political conduit, a guy named Pat Marcy. Pat Marcy knew all the judges He knew all the court clerks And all the police officers And Bob was getting to know him too During this time But Bob was a guy who was out in He was a lawyer And he was working inside the court system Marcy was just a downtown fixer. [3:22] But Bob got to where he could guarantee acquittals or light sentences for whoever came to him with the right amount of money, whether it be a mobster or a bookmaker or a juice loan guy or a crap politician, whoever it was, Bob could fix the case. [3:36] One of the main guys tied to his work he was kind of attached to a crew everybody’s owned by somebody he was attached to the Elmwood Park crew and Marco D’Amico who was under John DeFranco and I can’t remember who was before DeFranco, was kind of his boss and he was a gambling boss and Bob was a huge gambler I mean a huge gambler and Bob will help fix cases for some notorious people Really, one of the most important stories that we’ll go into in the second episode of this is Harry the Hook Aleman. And he also helped fix the case for Tony Spolatro and several others. He’s always paid him in cash. And he lived large. As you’ll see, he lived large. And he moved comfortably between mobsters and politicians and judges. And he was one of the insiders back in the 70s, 60s or 70s mainly. He was an insider. But by the 80s, he’s burned out. He’s disgusted with himself. He sees some things that he doesn’t like. They put a contract out on him once because he wouldn’t give somebody up as an informant, and he tipped one of his clients off that he was going to come out that he was an informant, and the guy was able to escape, I believe. Well, I have to go back and listen to my own story. [4:53] Finally in 1986 he walked unannounced they didn’t have a case on him and he walked unannounced in the U.S. Courthouse and offered himself up to take down this whole Pat Marcy and the whole mobster political clique in Chicago and he wore a wire for FBI an operation called Operation Gambat which is a gambling attorney because he was a huge gambler [5:17] huge huge gambler and they did a sweeping probe and indicted tons of people over this. So let’s go ahead and listen to Robert Cooley. [5:31] Uh, he, he, like I said, he’s a little bit rambling and a little bit hard to follow sometimes, but some of these names and, and, uh, and in the first episode, we’ll really talk about his history and, uh, where he came from and how he came up. He’ll mention somebody called the count and I’ll do that whole count story and a whole nother thing. So when he talks about the count, just disregard that it’ll be a short or something. And I got to tell that count story. It’s an interesting story. Uh, he, he gets involved with the only own, uh, association, uh, and, uh, and the, uh, Chinese Tong gang in, uh, Chicago and Chicago’s Chinatown. Uh, some of the other people he’ll talk about are Marco D’Amico, as I said, and D’Amico’s top aide, Rick Glantini, uh, another, uh, connected guy and worked for the city of Chicago is Robert Abinati. He was a truck driver. [6:25] He was also related to D’Amico and D’Amico’s cousin, former Chicago police officer Ricky Borelli. Those are some of the names that he’ll mention in this. So let’s settle back and listen to Bob Cooley. Hey, all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in studio gangland wire. This is Gary Jenkins, retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective. And, you know, we we deal with the mob here once a week, sometimes twice a week on the podcast. And I have a special guest that hadn’t been heard from for a while. And, you know, to be honest, guys, I’ve kind of gotten away from the outfit. I’ve been doing a lot of New York stuff and Springfield, Massachusetts and all around the country. And I kind of got away from Chicago. And we’re going back to Chicago today. And I’m honored that Bob Cooley got hold of me. Now, you may not know who Bob Cooley was, but Bob Cooley was a guy. He was a mob lawyer in Chicago, and he really probably, he heard him as much as anybody’s ever heard him, and he did it all of his own accord. He was more like an undercover agent that just wasn’t officially designated an FBI agent rather than an informant. But anyhow, welcome, Bob. [7:37] Hello. Nice meeting you. Nice to meet you. And I’ve talked to you before. And you were busy before a few years ago. And you were getting ready to make some movies and stuff. And then COVID hit and a lot of that fell through. And that happened to several people I’ve talked to. You got a lot in common with me. I was a Kansas City policeman. And I ended up becoming a lawyer after I left the police department. And you were a Chicago copper. And then you left the police department a little bit earlier than I did and became a lawyer. And, and Bob, you’re from a Chicago police family, if I remember right. Is that correct? Oh, police, absolute police background, the whole family. Yes. Yeah. Your grandfather, your grandfather was killed in the line of duty. Is that right? [8:25] Both of my grandfathers were killed in the line of duty. Wow. In fact, that’s one of the reasons why I eventually did what I did. I was very, very close with my dad. Yeah, and your dad was a copper. [8:38] He was a policeman, yeah. And in fact, you use that term. I, for many, many years, wouldn’t use that word. It just aggravated me when people would use the word copper. To me, it would show disrespect. Oh, really? I said to us in Kansas City, that’s what we call each other, you know, among coppers. Oh, I know. I know. But I know. But, you know, I just, for whatever reason, one of the things that aggravated me the most, in fact, when I was being cross-examined by this piece of shit, Eddie Jensen, the one I wrote about in my book that was, you know, getting a lot of people killed and whatever. And he made some comment about my father. and I got furious and I had to, you know, my father was unbelievably honest as a policeman. [9:29] Everybody loved him because they didn’t have to share, uh, you know, but he was a detective. He had been written up many times in true and magazines and these magazines for making arrests. He was involved in the cartage detail. He was involved in all kinds of other things, but honest as the day is long. And, and, um, but, uh, again, the, uh, my father’s father was, uh, was a policeman and he was killed by a member of the Capone gang. And, uh, and when he was killed, after he was killed. [10:05] The, uh, well, after he got shot, he got shot during a robbery after he got shot, he was in the hospital for a while. And then he went, then he went back home. He went back home to his, uh, you know, to his house, uh, cause he had seven kids. He had a big family too. And, uh, stayed with his, you know, with his wife and, and, and eventually died. And when he died they had a very mediocre funeral for him. They had a bigger, much bigger funeral when Al Capone’s brother died. But during that time when I was a kid when I was about 13, 12, 13 years old, I worked among other places at a grocery store where I delivered to my grandmother. My grandmother lived in South Park which later became Mark Luther King Drive. She lived a very, very meager life because she basically had nothing. [11:09] What they gave them for the, at that time, what they gave them for the police department was a portion of the husband’s salary when they died, whatever. It was never a big deal like it is now, you know, like it is now when policemen get killed in the line of duty. and I’m thinking at the same time I’m thinking down the road, You know, about certain things from my past did come back to affect me. [11:38] Doing what I was doing, when I got involved, and I got involved absolutely with all these different people. My father hated these people. I didn’t, you know, I didn’t realize how much. I didn’t realize much when I was growing, you know, when I was growing up and whatever. And even when I was practicing law and when I opened up Pratt-Mose, I would have my father and mother come along with other people. And the place was all full of mobsters. I mean, we’re talking about, you know, a lot of Capone’s whole crew. A lot of the gunmen were still alive. In fact, the ones that ran the first award were all gunmen from Capone’s mob. And never said a word, never said a word about it. You know, he met my partner, Johnny Diaco, who was part of the mob, the senator, and whatever colitis could be. My dad, when my dad was dying. [12:38] When my dad was dying, he had what they didn’t call it, but it had to be Alzheimer’s because my dad was a unbelievably, he was a big, strong man, but he was never a fighter, sweet as could be to anybody and everybody. When he started getting bad, he started being mean to my mother and doing certain things. So we finally had to put him into a nursing home. When I went to see him in the nursing, and I had a close relationship with my dad because he saved my life many times when I was a kid. I was involved with stolen cars at school. I should have been thrown out of school. It was Mount Carmel, but he had been a Carmelite, almost a Carmelite priest. [13:25] And whatever, and that’s what kept me from being kicked out of school at Marquette when they were going to throw me out there because I was, again, involved in a lot of fights, and I also had an apartment that we had across the hall from the shorter hall where I was supposed to stay when I was a freshman, and we were throwing huge parties, and they wanted to throw me out of school. My dad came, my dad came and instead of throwing me out, they let me resign and whatever he had done so much, you know, for me. Yeah. [14:00] Now when I, when I meet, when I meet him up in the hospital, I, I came in the first time and it was about maybe 25 miles outside, you know, from where my office was downtown. And when I went in to see him, they had him strapped in a bed because apparently when he initially had two people in the room and when somebody would come in to try to talk to him and whatever, he would be nasty. And one time he punched one of the nurses who was, you know, because he was going in the bed and they wouldn’t, and he wouldn’t let him take him out. You know, I was furious and I had to go, I had to go through all that. And now, just before he died, it was about two or three days before he died, he didn’t recognize anybody except me. Didn’t recognize my mother. Didn’t recognize anybody. Yet when I would come into the room, son, that’s what he always called me, son, when I would come in. So he knew who I basically was. And he would even say, son, don’t let him do this to me when he had to go through or they took out something and he had to wear one. Of those, you know, those decatheters or whatever. Oh, yeah. [15:15] Just before he died, he said to me, he said, son, he said, those are the people that killed my father. He said, and his case was fixed. After, I had never known that. In fact, his father, Star, was there at 11th and State, and I would see it when everyone went in there. Star was up there on the board as if there’s a policeman or a policeman killed in the line of duty. When he told me that it really and I talked to my brother who knew all about all that that’s what happened, the gunman killed him on 22nd street when that happened the case went to trial and he was found not guilty apparently the case was fixed I tell you what talk about poetic justice there your grandson is now in that system of fixing cases. I can’t even imagine what you must have felt like when you learned that at that point in your life. Man, that would be a grief. That would be tough. That’s what eventually made me one day decide that I had to do something to put an end to all that was going on there. [16:25] I’m curious, what neighborhood did you grow up in? Neighborhood identity is pretty strong in Chicago. So what neighborhood do you claim? I grew up in the hood. First place I grew up, my first place when I was born, I was at 7428 South Vernon. Which is the south side, southeast side of the city. I was there until I was in sixth grade. That was St. Columbanus Parish. When I was in sixth grade, we had to move because that’s when they were doing all the blockbusting there in Chicago. That’s when the blacks were coming in. And when the blacks were coming in, and I truly recall, We’ve talked about this many times elsewhere. I remember knocking on the door and ringing the doorbell all hours of the day and night. A black family just moved in down the street. You’ve got to sell now. If you don’t, the values will all go down. And we would not move. My father’s philosophy, we wouldn’t move until somebody got killed in the area. Because he couldn’t afford it. He had nine kids. he’s an honest policeman making less than $5,000 a year. [17:45] Working two, three jobs so we could all survive when he finished up, When he finished up with, when we finally moved, we finally moved, he went to 7646 South Langley. That was, again, further south, further south, and the area was all white at that time. [18:09] We were there for like four years, and about maybe two or three years, and then the blacks started moving in again. The first one moved in, and it was the same pattern all over again. Yeah, same story in Kansas City and every other major city in the United States. They did that blockbusting and those real estate developers. Oh, yeah, blockbusters. They would call and tell you that the values wouldn’t go down. When I was 20, I joined the police department. Okay. That’s who paid my way through college and law school. All right. I joined the police department, and I became a policeman when I was 20. [18:49] As soon as I could. My father was in recruit processing and I became a policeman. During the riots, I had an excuse not to go. They thought I was working. I was in the bar meeting my pals before I went to work. That’s why I couldn’t go to school at that time. But anyhow, I took some time off. I took some time off to, you know, to study, uh, because, you know, I had all C’s in one D in my first, in my first semester. And if you didn’t have a B, if you didn’t have a C average, you couldn’t, you kicked out of school at the end of a quarter. This is law school. You’re going to law school while you’re still an active policeman. Oh yeah, sure. That’s okay. So you work full time and went to law school. You worked full-time and went to law school at the same time. When I was 20, I joined the police department. Okay. That’s who paid my way through college and law school. All right. I joined the police department, and I became a policeman when I was 20, as soon as I could. My father was in recruit processing, and I became a policeman. Yeah, yeah. But anyhow, I went to confession that night. [20:10] And when I went to confession, there was a girl, one of the few white people in the neighborhood, there was a girl who had gone before me into the confessional. And I knew the priest. I knew him because I used to go gambling with him. I knew the priest there at St. Felicis who heard the confessions. And this is the first time I had gone to confession with him even though I knew him. [20:36] And I wanted to get some help from the big guy upstairs. And anyhow, when I leave, I leave about maybe 10 minutes later, and she had been saying her grace, you know, when I left. And when I walked out, I saw she was right across the street from my house, and there’s an alley right there. And she was a bit away from it, and there were about maybe 13, 14, 15 kids. when I say kids, they were anywhere from the age of probably about 15, 16 to about 18, 19. And they’re dragging her. They’re trying to drag her into the alley. And when I see that, when I see that, I head over there. When I get over there, I have my gun out. I have the gun out. And, you know, what the hell is going on? And, you know, and I told her, I told her her car was parked over there. I told her, you know, get out of here. And I’ve got my gun. I’ve got my gun in my hand. And I don’t know what I’m going to do now in terms of doing anything because I’m not going to shoot them. They’re standing there looking at me. And after a little while, I hear sirens going on. [22:00] The Barton family lived across the street in an apartment building, and they saw what was going on. They saw me out there. It was about probably about seven o’clock at night. It was early at night and they put a call in 10-1 and call in 10-1. Assist the officer. Is that a assist the officer? It’s 1031. Police been in trouble. Yeah. And the squad’s from everywhere. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. So you can hear, you can hear them coming. And now one of them says to me, and I know they’re pretty close. One of them says to me, you know, put away your gun and we’ll see how tough you are. And I did. [22:42] Because you know they’re close. And I’m busy fighting with a couple of them. And they start running and I grab onto two of them. I’m holding onto them. I could only hold two. I couldn’t hold anymore. And the next thing I know, I wake up in the hospital about four days later. Wow. What had happened was they pushed me. Somebody, there was another one behind who pushed me right in front of a squad car coming down the street. Oh, shit. Yeah, man. And the car ran completely over me. They pulled me off from under the, just under the back wheels, I was told were right next to, were onto me, blood all over the place. Everybody thought I was dead. Right. Because my brothers, my one brother who was a police kid that, you know, heard all the noise and the family came in. I tried to prostrate my house and they all thought I was dead. But anyhow, I wake up in the hospital about three days later. When I wake up in the hospital, I’m like. [23:54] Every bone of my body was broken. I’m up there like a mummy. And the mayor came to see me. All kinds of people came to see me. They made me into an even bigger star in my neighborhood. The Count lives down the street and is seeing all this stuff about me and whatever. Jumping quickly to another thing, which got me furious. Willie Grimes was the cop that was driving this quad. He was a racist. We had some blacks in the job. He was a total racist. When my brother and when some others were doing their best to try to find these people, he was protecting them. Some of them, if they caught, he was protecting them. [24:48] I was off the job for like nine months when I came back to work. I never came to the hospital to see me. I mean, everybody came. Every day, my hospital went. Because one of the nurses that I was dating, in fact, she was one of those killed. That’s when Richard Speck wound up killing her and some of the others at the same time. It was at the South Chicago Hospital. Holy darn. What they did for me, I had buckets in my womb with ice. We were bringing beer and pizzas and whatever. Every day was like a party in there. When I finally came back to work, it was 11 o’clock at night. I worked out in South Chicago, and I’m sitting in the parking lot, and the media is there. The media, they had all kinds of cameras there. Robert Cooley’s coming back to work after like nine months. They wouldn’t let me go back. [25:51] I’m walking by the squads. And Willie was a big guy. He was probably about 220, a big one of these big muscle builders and all that nonsense. [26:04] He’s sitting in the first car. The cars are all lined up because when we would change, when we would change at like 11 30 uh you know the cars would all be waiting we jumped into the cars and off we go as i’m walking by the car i hear aren’t you afraid to walk in front of my car. [26:26] I look over and he had a distinctive voice i walk over to the car and i reach in and i start punching them, and I’m trying to drag them out of the car. The cameras, the cameras are, you know, they’re all basically inside. They’re all inside. You know, as you walk in there, they’re all inside there. When I do, I eventually walk up there. But the other police came, and they dragged me. They dragged me away, and they brought me in, and whatever. We got transferred out the next day out of the district. And the first policeman I meet is Rick, Rick Dorelli, who’s connected with, who’s a monster. He’s connected with them. And, and he’s the one who told me, he said to me, you know, we played cards and he realized I was a gambler, but I had never dealt with bookmakers. And he said, he says, yeah, you want to make some money? You want to make some easy money? Well, yeah, sure. You know, uh, you know, and thinking that’s, you know, working security or something like that, like I had done back in Chicago, you know, like I had done on the south side. And he said, I want you to make some bets for me with somebody who said. [27:43] And I remember him using the term. He said, I want you to be my face. He said, and I want you to make some bets for me. He said, and he said, and if you, if you’ll do it, I’ll give you a hundred dollars a week just to make the bets for me. And then, you know, and then meet with these people and pay these people off. And I said, sure. You know, I said, you know, why? He says, because I can’t play with these. people he said i’m connected with him he said and i’m not allowed to gamble myself he said but he told me he said i’ve got a couple people i take bets from i’ve got my own side deal going so i want you to do it i want you to do it and i’ll give i’ll give you to them as a customer, and you’re gonna be a customer and he’s and he tells people now that i got this other police He’s in law school. He comes from a real wealthy family, and he’s looking for a place to bet. He’s in Gambia. He’s looking for a place to bet. [28:47] So I call this number, and I talk to this guy. He gives me a number. When you bet, you call, and you do this, and you do that. And I’m going to get $100 at the end of the week. Now, I’m making $5,200 a year, and they’re taking money out of my chest. I’m going to double my salary. I’m going to double my salary immediately. Why wouldn’t you do it? That’s fantastic money at the time. So I start doing it. And the first week I’m doing it, it was baseball season. [29:19] And I’m making these bets. He’s betting $500 a game on a number of games. And he’s winning some, he’s losing some. But now, when I’m checking my numbers with the guy there, he owes, at the end of the week, he owes $3,500. [29:38] And now, it’s getting bigger and bigger, he’s losing. I’m getting worried. What have I got myself into? Yeah, because it’s not him losing, it’s you losing to the bookie. That’s what I’m thinking. I’m thinking, holy, holy, Christopher, I’m thinking. But, you know, I’ve already jumped off the building. So anyhow. I’d be thinking, you better come up with a jack, dude. It’s time to pay up, man. Anyhow, so when I come to work the next day, I’m supposed to meet this guy at one of the clubs out there in the western suburbs. [30:21] I’m supposed to meet the bookmaker out there. And Ricky meets me that morning, and he gives me the money. It’s like $3,400, and here’s $100 for you. Bingo. That’s great. So, okay. When I go to make the payment to him, it’s a nightclub, and I got some money in my pocket. Somebody, one of the guys, some guy walks up. I’m sitting at the bar and, you know, I hear you’re a copper. I said, pardon me? He says, I hear you’re a copper. He was a big guy. Yeah. I hear you’re a copper. Because at that time, I still only weighed maybe like, well, maybe 60, 65 pounds. I mean, I was in fantastic shape, but I wasn’t real big. And I said, I’m a policeman. I don’t like policemen. I said, go fuck yourself. or something like that. And before he could do anything, I labeled him. That was my first of about a half a dozen fights in those different bars out there. [31:32] And the fights only lasted a few minutes because I would knock the person down. And if the person was real big, at times I’d get on top and just keep pounding before they could do anything. So I started with a reputation with those people at that time now as I’m, going through my world with these people oh no let’s stay with that one area now after the second week he loses again, this time not as much but he loses again and I’m thinking wow, He’s betting, and I’m contacted by a couple of people there. Yeah. Because these are all bookmakers there, and they see me paying off. So I’m going to be, listen, if you want another place to play, and I say, well, yeah. So my thought is, with baseball, it’s a game where you’re laying a price, laying 160, laying 170, laying 180. So if you lose $500, if you lose, you pay $850, and if you win, you only get $500. [32:52] I’ve got a couple of people now, and they’ve got different lines. And what I can do now is I check with their lines. I check with Ricky’s guy and see what his line is. And I start moving his money elsewhere where I’ve got a 30, 40, sometimes 50 cent difference in the price. So I’d set it up where no matter what, I’m going to make some money, No matter what happens, I’ll make some money. But what I’m also doing is I’m making my own bets in there that will be covered. And as I start early winning, maybe for that week I win maybe $1,000, $1,500. And then as I meet other people and I’m making payments, within about four or five months, I’ve got 10 different bookmakers I’m dealing with. Who I’m dealing with. And it’s become like a business. I’m getting all the business from him, 500 a game, whatever. And I’ve got other people that are betting, you know, are betting big, who are betting through me. And I’m making all kinds of money at that time. [34:14] But anyhow, now I mentioned a number of people, A number of people are, I’ve been with a number of people that got killed after dinner. One of the first ones was Tony Borsellino, a bookmaker. Tony was connected with the Northside people, with DeVarco, the one they called DeVarco. And we had gone to a we had gone to a I knew he was a hit man, we had gone to a basketball game over at DePaul because he had become a good friend of mine he liked hanging with me, because I was because at that time now I’m representing the main madams in Chicago too and they loved being around me they liked going wherever I was going to go so I always had all kinds of We left the ladies around. And we went to the basketball game. Afterwards, we went to a restaurant, a steakhouse on Chicago Avenue. [35:26] Gee, why can’t I think of a name right now? We went to a steakhouse, and we had dinner. And when we finished up, it came over there. And when we finished up, I’d been there probably half a dozen times with him. And he was there with his girlfriend. We had dinner and about, I’d say it was maybe 10, 30, 11 o’clock, he says, you know, Bob, can you do me a favor? What’s that? Can you drop her off? He said, I have to go meet some friends. I have to go meet some friends of ours. And, you know, okay, sure, Tony, not a problem. And, you know, I took her home. [36:09] The next day I wake up, Tony Barcellino was found dead. They killed him. He was found with some bullets in the back of his head. They killed him. Holy Christopher. And that’s my first—I found that I had been killed before that. But, you know, wow, that was—, prior to that, when I was betting, there was i paid off a bookmaker a guy named uh ritten shirt, rittenger yeah john rittenger yeah yeah yeah he was a personal friend yeah was he a personal friend of yours yeah they offed him too well i in fact i he i was paying him i met him to pay him I owed him around $4,500, and I met him at Greco’s at my restaurant he wanted to meet me out there because he wanted to talk to me about something else he had a problem some kind of a problem I can’t remember what that was. [37:19] But he wanted to meet me at the restaurant so I met him at Greco’s, And I paid him the money. We talked for a while. And then he says, you know, I got to go. I got to go meet somebody. I got to go meet somebody else. I got to go straight now with somebody else. And he said, I’ll give you a call. He said, I’ll give you a call later. He said, because, you know, I want to talk to you about a problem that I have. He says, I want to talk to you about a problem that I have. I said, okay, sure. He goes to a pizza place. Up there in the Taylor Street area. That’s where he met Butchie and Harry. In fact, at the time, I knew both of them. Yeah, guys, that’s Butch Petrucelli and Harry Alem and a couple of really well-known mob outfit hitmen. Yeah, and they’re the ones that kill them. I’m thinking afterwards, I mean, But, you know, I wish I hadn’t, I wish I hadn’t, you know, I wish I could save him. I just gave him. Man, you’re cold, man. [38:34] You could have walked with that money. That’s what I’m saying. So now, another situation. Let me cut in here a minute, guys. As I remember this Reitlinger hit, Joe Ferriola was a crew boss, and he was trying to line up all the bookies, as he called it. He wanted to line them up like Al Capone lined up all the speaks, that all the bookies had to fall in line and kick something into the outfit, and Reitlinger wouldn’t do it. He refused to do it no matter. They kept coming to him and asking him his way. I understand that. Is that what you remember? I knew him very well. Yeah. He was not the boss. Oh, the Ferriola? Yeah, he wasn’t the boss, but he was kind of the, he had a crew. He was the boss of the Cicero crew. Right. I saw Joe all the time at the racetrack. In fact, I’m the one who, I’m the one, by the time when I started wearing a wire, I was bringing undercover agents over. I was responsible for all that family secret stuff that happened down the road. Oh, really? You set the stage for all that? I’m the one who put them all in jail. All of them. [39:52] So anyhow, we’re kind of getting ahead of ourselves. Reitlinger’s been killed. Joe Borelli or Ricky Borelli’s been killed. These guys are dropping around you, and you’re getting drawn into it deeper and deeper, it sounds to me like. Now, is this when you – what happens? How do you get drawn into this Chicago outfit even more and more as a bookie? Were you kicking up, too? Well, it started, it started, so many things happened that it just fell into place. It started, like I say, with building a reputation like I had. But the final situation in terms of with all the mobsters thinking that I’m not just a tough guy, I’m a bad guy. [40:35] When I get a call, when Joey Cosella, Joey Cosella was a big, tough Italian kid. And he was involved heavily in bookmaking, and we became real close friends. Joey and I became real close friends. He raised Dobermans, and he’s the one who had the lion over at the car dealership. I get a call from Joey. He says, you’ve got to come over. I said, what’s up? He says, some guys came in, and they’re going to kill the count. They want to kill the count. And I said, And I said, what? This is before the Pewter thing. I said, what do you mean? And so I drive over there, and he says, Sammy Annarino and Pete Cucci. And Pete Cucci came in here, and they came in with shotguns, and they were going to kill them. I said, this was Chicago at the time. It’s hard to believe, but this was Chicago. And I said, who are they? I didn’t know who they were. I said, who are they? I mean, I didn’t know them by name. It turns out I did know them, but I didn’t know them by name. They were people that were always in Greco’s, and everybody in Greco knew me because I’m the owner. [41:49] But anyhow, so I get a hold of Marco, and I said, Marco, and I told him what happened. I said, these guys, a couple of guys come in there looking for the talent. That are going to kill him because apparently he extorted somebody out of his business. And I said, who were they with? And he said, they were with Jimmy the bomber. They were with Jimmy Couture. [42:15] I said, oh, they’re for legit then? I said, yeah. I said, can you call? I said, call Jimmy. I knew who he was. He was at the restaurant all the time. He was at Threatfuls all the time with a lot of these other people. And I met him, but I had no interest in him. He didn’t seem like a very friendly sort of anyone. I could care less about him. I represented a lot of guys that worked for him, that were involved with problems, but never really had a conversation with him other than I. [42:53] I’m the owner. So I met with him. I wrote about that in the book. I met with them and got that straightened out where the count’s going to pay $25,000 and you’ll get a contract to the… He ripped off some guy out of a parlor, one of those massage parlors, not massage parlor, but one of those adult bookstores that were big money deals. Oh, yeah. So when I go to meet these guys, I’m told, go meet them and straighten this thing out. So I took Colin with me over to a motel right down the street from the racetrack, right down from the racetrack, and I met with him. I met with Pete Gucci. He was the boss of, you know, this sort of loop. When I get finished talking with him, I come back, and here’s the count and Sammy, and Sammy’s picking a fork with his finger and saying, you know, I rip out eyes with these. [43:56] And the count says, I rip out eyes with these. And I said, what the fuck is going on here? I said, Pete, I said, you know, get him the fuck out of here. And you all at the count said, what’s the matter with you? You know, these guys are going to kill him. And now the moment I get involved in it, he knows he’s not going to have a problem. You know, he’s pulling this nonsense. [44:23] So anyhow, this is how I meet Pete Gucci and Sammy Annarino. After a while, I stopped hanging around with the count because he was starting to go off the deep end. Yeah. Yeah. [44:39] And we were at a party, a bear party with, I remember Willie Holman was there, and they were mostly black, the black guys up there on the south side. And I had just met this girl a day or two before, and the count says, you know, let’s go up to a party, a bear’s party up there on Lakeshore Drive. If we go up there, we go to this party, it’s going to be about maybe 35, 40 people in there, one or two whites, other than the players. And other than that, we’re the only white people there. When we walk into the place, there’s a couple of guys out there with shotguns. It was in a motel. And you walk through like an area where you go in there, and there’s a couple of guys standing there with shotguns. We go in and we go upstairs and, hey, how are you? And we’re talking with people. And I go in one room. I’m in one room. [45:45] There were two rooms there. I’m in one room with a bunch of people and, you know, just talking and having a good old time. And the count was in the second room. And I hear Spade. He always called me Spade. Spade, Spade, you know. And I go in there, and he’s talking with Willie Holman. I remember it was one of them. He was the tackle, I think, with the Bears and a couple of others. And this whole room, all these black guys. And he goes, that’s Spade Cooley. He says, him and I will take on every one of you. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we’re in a room, and he goes, that’s what he says. You know, him and I will take it on every one of you. And Willie did that. He calmed down. He’s telling him, calmed down. What the fuck? It was about a week or so after this. And because I had been out with the county, he’s calling me two or three times a week to go out. And we’re going, a lot of times it was these areas in the south side with a lot of blood. He liked being around Blacks. [47:00] That’s when I met Gail Sayers, and I met some of these others through him. But a lot of the parties and stuff were in the South Side out there, mostly Blacks and all. But we had gone someplace for dinner, and we’re heading back home. We’re heading back to my place, and we’re in his car. He had a brown Cadillac convertible. On the side of it, it had these, you know, the Count Dante press. And he always ran around. He ran around most of the time in these goofy, you know, these goofy outfits with capes and things like that. I’m driving and when we’re talking and I’m like distracted looking at him. And I’m waiting at a stoplight over there right off of Chicago Avenue. And as we’re there. [47:48] I barely touched the car in front of us, you know, as I’m drifting a little bit and barely touch it. There were four guys in the car and, you know, and the one guy jumps out first, one guy jumps out first and then second one, and they start screaming. And when the count gets out, the guy starts calling you, you faggot or something like that, you know, whatever. And as the other one gets out, I get out of the car. And the next thing I know, they jump back in the car, and they run through a red light, and they disappear. Somebody must have recognized them. One of the other people there must have realized who this is that they’re about to get into a little battle with. In fact, they ran the red light. They just ran the red light and disappeared. They come, no, no, no, no, no. And we go off to my apartment and I’m here with this girl, another girl I had just met a day or so before, because I was constantly meeting new people, uh, running around and, uh, we’re sitting on the couch. I’m sitting in the couch next to her and the count, the count was over there. And he suddenly says to her, he says, he says, this is one of the toughest people I’ve ever met. He said, and he says, tell her how tough you are. Tell her how tough you are. [49:10] I said, you know, I said, you know, you know, and he says, tell them how tough you are. And I said, John, you know, and he walks over, And he makes a motion like this towards me. And he barely touched my chin. But I thought he broke it. He then steps back and he goes, I got to cut this hand off. He says, you saved my life. He said, you saved my life. He said, the only two friends I’ve had in the world were my father and you. He says, I wasn’t even that crazy about my mother. That’s when I said then he goes and he stands and I’m looking at it now he stands up against the window I looked up on the 29th floor, he stands by the window he says get your gun he says and I want you to aim it at me, and say now before you pull the trigger and I’ll stop the bullet, I’ll stop the bullet this guy was nuts and I said I said, what? [50:28] He says, before you pull the trigger. [50:36] Tell me before you pull the trigger and I’ll stop the bullet. He wanted me to shoot him. He stopped the bullet. When I got him out of there, Now when he’s calling me, I’m busy. I’m busy. Once in a while, I’d meet him someplace. No more driving or whatever. That was smart. I hadn’t seen him in probably five or six months. And this is, again, after the situation when I had met with Anna Randall and Gooch and the others. I’m up in my office and I get a I get a call from the county, and he said and I hadn’t probably seen him even maybe in a month or two at all and he said, can I come over and talk to you and I was playing cards in fact I had card games up in my office and, we called him Commissioner. [51:41] O’Malley Ray O’Malley, he was the head of the police department at night. On midnights, he got there at 4 to 12. He started at 4 to 12 until midnights. He was the head of them. He was the commissioner. He was in charge of the whole department. He used to play cards up in my office. We had big card games up in my office. And when he’d come up there, we’d have the blue goose parked out in front. We’d have his bodyguard sitting out there by my door. When he was playing in the games. This went on for a couple of years. [52:15] I was at the office, but, you know, I’m at the office playing cards. [52:20] And I had a, it was a big suite. We had, you know, my office was a big office in this suite. We had about six other, you know, big, big suites in there. And so he comes over, he comes over to meet with me. And so I figure he’s in trouble. He’s arrested. He says, I’ve got a situation going. He says, well, you can get a million dollars. And he said, but if I tell you what it is, he says, and you’re in, he said, you got to be in. I’ll tell you what it is. I said, John, if I need money, I said, you get $2 million, then you can loan me if you want, but I don’t want to know what it is. I said, I just don’t want to know what it is. [52:59] It was about a week or two later. It was a pure later, basically. It was a pure later caper. Yeah, guys, this was like the huge, huge. And the one he set it up with was Pete Gucci, the guy that was going to kill him. That was the one who set it up. I knew that. I thought I remembered that name from somewhere. I don’t remember. They ended up getting popped, but everybody got caught, and most of the money got returned. No, no. No bit that the outfit kept, I understand, if I remember right. What was the deal on that? There was more to it than that. Just before that happened, I go up, and Jerry Workman was another lawyer. Actually, he was attorney up in the office, post-rending bank. When I’m going up into the office, I see Pete Gucci there. This is probably a week or so after the situation with the count. Or maybe even a little bit longer than that. I said, Pete, what are you doing? I said, what are you doing here? Jerry Workston’s my lawyer. Oh, okay. [53:55] Okay. He said, I didn’t know you were off here. I said, yeah. I said, Jerry’s a good friend of mine. Okay. And as I’m walking away, he says, you tell your friend the count to stop calling me at two, three in the morning. He says, I got a wife and kids and whatever. And I said to him, I said, Pete, you got no business dealing. I don’t know what it is. I said, but you guys got no business dealing involved in anything. You got no business being involved with him. And I walked away. I see him and I see him as he’s leaving. I see him as he’s leaving and say goodbye to him. Jerry was going to be playing cards. [54:39] It was card night too. Jerry was going to be playing cards in my office because the people would come in usually about 9 o’clock, 9.30 is when the game would usually start. I talked with Jerry. He had been in there for a while. He was arrested a day or two later. The fbi comes in there because he had stashed about 35 000 in jerry’s couch oh really that was his bond money he got that was his bond money if he got to get bailed out to get him bailed out that was his bond money that was there that’s how bizarre so i got involved in so many situations like this but anyhow anyhow now sammy uh, So it’s about maybe a week or two later after this, when I’m in the car driving, I hear they robbed a purulator. The purulator was about a block and a half from my last police station. It was right down the street from the 18th district. That was the place that they robbed. And not long after that, word came out that supposedly a million dollars was dropped off in front of Jimmy the bomber, in front of his place. With Jimmy the bomber, both Sammy Ann Arino and Pete Gucci were under him. They were gunmen from his group. Now I get a call from, I get a count was never, you never heard the count’s name mentioned in there with anybody. [56:07] The guy from Boston, you know, who they indicated, you know, came in to set it up. The count knew him from Boston. The count had some schools in Boston. And this was one of his students. And that’s how he knew this guy from Boston that got caught trying to take a, trying to leave the country with, you know, with a couple thousand, a couple million dollars of the money. Yeah, I read that. It was going down to the Caribbean somewhere and they caught him. And Sammy Ann Arino didn’t get involved in that. He wasn’t involved in that because I think he was back in the prison at the time. [56:44] Now, when he’s out of prison, probably no more than about maybe three or four months after all that toilet stuff had died down, I get a call from Sam, and he wants me to represent him because he was arrested. What happened was he was shot in a car. He was in a car, and he had gotten shot. And when they shot him, he kicked out the window and somehow fought the guys off. When they found him there in the car and in his trunk, they found a hit kit. They said it was a hit kit. How could they know? It was a box that had core form in it, a ski mask, a ski mask, a gun, a gun with tape wrapped around it and the rest of it. Yeah. And he’s an extra time. Mask and tape or little bits of rope and shit like that. I’d say no. So he was charged with it, and he was charged with it in his case, and he had a case coming up. I met him the first time I met him. He came by my office, and he said, you know, and I said, no, that’s not a problem. And he says, but I’ve got to use Eddie Jensen, too. [57:52] And I said, I said, what do you mean? I said, you don’t need Eddie. And he says, I was told I have to use him. Jimmy Couture, his boy, he said, I have to use him. I know why, because Eddie lets these mobsters know whenever anybody’s an informant, or if he’s mad at somebody, he can tell him he’s an informant, they get killed. And so I said, you know, that piece of shit. I said, you know, I want nothing to do with him. I had some interesting run-ins with him before, and I said, I want nothing to do with that worthless piece of shit. You know, he’s a jagoff. And I said, you know, I says, no. He said, please. I said, no. I said, Sammy, you know, you don’t need me. He knows the judge like I know the judge, Sardini. I said, you know, you’re not going to have a problem in there. I get a call from him again, maybe four or five days after that. He’s out of my restaurant and he says, Bob, please. He said, You know, he says, please, can I meet you? He says, I got a problem. I go out to the meeting. And so I thought, there’s something new. I want you to represent me. I want you to represent me, you know, on the case. And I says, did you get rid of that fence? He says, no, I have to use him. But I says, look, I’m not going to, I want, no, Sammy, no, I’m not going to do it. He leaves the restaurant. He gets about a mile and a half away. He gets shotgunned and he gets killed. In fact, I read about that a couple of days ago. [59:22] I know it’s bullshit. They said he was leaving the restaurant. It was Marabelli’s. It was Marabelli’s Furniture Store. They said he was leaving the furniture store. What they did was they stopped traffic out there. They had people on the one side of the street, the other side of the street, and they followed, they chased him. When he got out of his car and was going to the furniture store, They blasted him with shotguns. They made sure he was killed this time. After that happened, it’s about maybe three or four days after that, I’m up in my office and I get a call. All right, when I come out, I always parked in front of City Hall. That was my parking spot. Mike and CM saved my spot. I parked there, or I parked in the bus stop, or in the mayor’s spot. Those were my spots. They saved it for me. I mean, that was it, for three, four, five years. That’s how it was. I didn’t want to wait in line in the parking lot. So my car is parked right in front of the parking lot. And as I go to get in my car, just fast, fast, so walking, because he was at 134 right down the street from my office and he parks like everybody else in the parking lot so he can wait 20 minutes to get his car. [1:00:40] And, and, and Bob, Bob, and, you know, and when I meet up with him, I’m both standing and we’re both standing right there in front of the, in front of the, uh, the parking lot. And he was a big guy. He weighed probably about 280, 290, maybe more. You know, mushy, mushy type, not in good shape at all. In fact, he walked with a gimp or whatever. And he says, you better be careful, he says. Jimmy Couture is furious. He heard what you’ve been saying about me. [1:01:17] You’ve been saying about me. and something’s liable to happen. And I went reserved. I grabbed him, and I threw him up on the wall, and I says, you motherfuckers. I said, my friends are killing your friends. [1:01:34] I said, my friends, because he represented a number of these groups, but I’m with the most powerful group of all. And when I say I’m with him, I’m with him day and night, not like him just as their lawyer. Most of them hated him, too, because most of them knew what he was doing. Yeah most of these and most of these guys hated him and i said you know but i and and i just like you’re kissing his pants and i don’t know if he crapped in his pants too and uh you know because i just turned around i left that same night jimmy katura winds up getting six in the back of the head maybe three miles from where that took place yeah he was uh some kind of trouble been going on for a while. He was a guy who was like in that cop shop racket, and he had been killing some people involved with that. He was kind of like out away from the main crew closer to downtown, is my understanding. Like, you were in who were you in? Who was I talking about? Jimmy Couture? Jimmy Couture, yeah. He was no, Jimmy Couture was Jimmy Couture, in fact, all these killers, we’ll try and stay with this a little bit first. Jimmy Couture was a boss and he had probably about maybe a dozen, maybe more in his crew and, He didn’t get the message, I’m sure. [1:03:01] Eddie Jensen firmly believes, obviously, because it’s the same day and same night when I tell him that my friends are killing your friends. [1:03:14] He’s telling everybody that I had him kill, I’m sure. Yeah, yeah. Because it was about another few days after that when I’m out in Evanston going to a courthouse. And there you had to park down the street because there was no parking lot. Here I hear Eddie, you know, stay. I’m going to say Bob, Bob. And when he gets up, he says, Bob, he says, when I told you, I think you misunderstood. When I told you it was Jimmy Cattrone. it was it was jimmy katron was a lawyer that you know worked in out of his office close friend of mine too he was a good friend of mine it was jimmy it was jimmy katron that you know not because he obviously thought he believed so he’s got all these mobsters too bosses and all the rest thinking that i was involved in that when i when i wasn’t uh when i was when i wasn’t actually But it’s so amazing, Gary. And that’s one of a dozen stories of the same sort. I met unbelievable people. I mean, we’re talking about in New Orleans. We’re talking about in Boston. Now, if you were to say, who were you with? Always somebody’s with somebody. Were you with any particular crew or any particular crew. [1:04:41] Buzz, were you totally independent? [1:04:46] Everybody knew me to be with the Elmwood Park crew. And that was Jackie Cerrone before Michael, I mean, before Johnny DeFranco. That was Jackie Cerrone. Okay. That was Giancana. That was Mo Giancana. Mo was moving at the clubhouse all the time. That was the major people. [1:05:13] And where was their clubhouse? What did they call their clubhouse? Was that the Survivors Clubhouse, or what was the name of their operation? Every group had one, sometimes more clubhouses. Right. That was where they would have card games in there. They’d have all kinds of other things going. the place was full of like in Marcos I call it Marcos but it was actually Jackie Sharon’s when I first got involved Jackie Sharon was the boss who became a good friend of mine, Jackie Sharon was the boss and Johnny DeFranco was, right under him and then a number of others as we go down, our group alone we had. [1:06:04] Minimum, I’d say, a thousand or more people in our group alone. And who knows how many others, because we had control of the sheriff’s office, of the police department, of the sheriff, of the attorney general. We had control of all that through the elections. We controlled all that. So you had 1,000 people. You’re talking about all these different people who we would maybe call associates. It would be in and out of our club all the time. Okay. Yeah. We’re talking a number of policemen, a number of policemen, a number of different politicians of all sorts that we had. I knew dozens of people with no-show jobs there. We had control of all the departments, streets and sanitation, of absolutely urbanizing. We controlled all the way up to the Supreme Court. What about the first ward, Pat Marcy, and the first ward now? Was your crew and Jackie Cerrone’s crew, did that fall into the first ward, or were they totally there? How did that relate, the Pat Marcy and the politicians? And I found out all this over a period of time. [1:07:28] Everything had changed right about the time I first got involved with these people. All these people you’ve read about, no one knows they were still alive. I met just about all of them when I got connected over there with the first word. A lot of the, we were talking about the gunmen themselves. All the Jackie not just Jackie but I’m talking about Milwaukee Phil Milwaukee Phil and all the rest of them they were over there at Councilors Row all the time because when they were to meet Pat Marcy, what they had there in the first war and, It just so happened, when I started in my office, it was with Alan Ackerman, who was at 100 North, where all their offices were upstairs. The first ward office was upstairs. [1:08:22] And below the office, two floors below, I found out on this when I got involved with them, we had an office. looked like it was a vacant office because the windows were all blackened out. That’s where he had all the meetings with people. When Arcado or Yupa, anybody else, any of the other people came in, this is where he met them. When the people from out of town came in, we’re talking about when, what do you think? [1:08:58] But when Alpha, when Fitzgerald, when all these people would come in, this is where they would have their meetings. Or these are the ones who would be out with us on these casino rides. When these people came in, this is where they would do the real talking because we’d go to different restaurants that weren’t bugged. If this office was checked every day, the one that they had down below, and nobody, nobody, their office was, I think it was on the 28th floor, the first ward office. You had the first ward office, and right next to it, you had the insurance office when everybody had to buy their insurance. Obviously at upper rates big office connected to the first ward office when the back there’s a door that goes right into into theirs but the people were told you never get off or you get off you get off at the office floor but then you you walk you you get off it and i’m sorry you get off it at the. [1:10:11] You don’t get off at the first ward office you get off at one of the other offices one of the other offices or the other floors and when you come in there, then you’ll be taken someplace else after that a double shop that’s where they would go and in fact when I had to talk to Petter Cary messages or whatever people like Marco couldn’t talk to Marcy. [1:10:41] Only a few people could. Only people at the very top level could. Marco, he was a major boss. He could not talk to Marco. If he needed, you know, whatever. Marco D’Amico. Marco was, you had, Marco was the one right under Johnny DeFonza. Yeah. Marco’s the one that was in charge. He was the one who was in charge of all the gambling. Not just in Chicago, but around all those areas in Cook County. We had not just Chicago. They were also the ones that were in charge of all the street tax, collecting all the street tax. That’s where the big, big money was also. Everybody paid. What happened was in the 70s, right as I got involved

This week on Mega Dads Live Adam and Antonio revisit the biggest stories of 2025 and put Marvel Cosmic Invasion to the test!

Sometimes a good redemption story is why we play games we didn't like a second time. This is one such story. PLUS, more platinum questions from SpecBob!THE EPISODE ABOUT THE WELCOME SCREEM:https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/O0AP028fnZbMY NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL:https://www.youtube.com/@PlayStationDailyPodcastJOIN THE DISCORD and talk PlayStation with the PSD+ community:https://discord.gg/pEDZDp4kTGFOLLOW ME ON TWITCH and watch me record the show LIVE:https://www.twitch.tv/psdailypod/FOLLOW ME ON BLUESKY at psdailypod:https://bsky.app/profile/psdailypod.bsky.socialFOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK at ps.daily.pod:https://www.tiktok.com/@ps.daily.podIntro and Outro music is "The Concord Crew" by Daniel Pemberton from the Concord soundtrack.

As is tradition (?) around here, over the holidays we're doing another extended ranking, and this year it's a two-part tier list of... every startup sound we could find across video game consoles, handhelds, and computer operating systems. Where does a startup sound end and menu music begin? Is it possible for a sound to sound the way that khakis look? Just how dank is the Dreamcast sound, anyway? We explore those and other questions in this part one of two!The tier list as of the end of this episode: https://tinyurl.com/tp319-sound-tiers-684jfsdi Support the Pod! Contribute to the Tech Pod Patreon and get access to our booming Discord, a monthly bonus episode, your name in the credits, and other great benefits! You can support the show at: https://patreon.com/techpod

It is time to pop a couple of cold ones and enjoy as our two brothers, Alan (@alanross84TBK) and Thom (@Mr_MMAction) provide a Redux of their 16th #WrestlingCompanion as they sit back and watch WCW Starrcade 1999. Fan of gaming streaming? Check out 1/2 of The BroKast, @alanross84TBK on Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/ttvalanross84tbk). Visit rogueenergy.com and use the code ‘2702' to get 10% off products. Rogue Energy is a premium energy and focus supplement designed to optimize your mental and physical performance. Visit laxedy.com and use the code ‘BRO247' to get 15% off products. Laxedy can enhance your performance with their analog grips. These grips can be used on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo Switch. Visit triumphchairs.com and use the code ‘BRO247' to get 10% off products. Triumph Chairs is a gaming chair company specializing in comfort and performance. Visit cinchgaming.com and use the code ‘BRO247' to get 5% off products. Cinch Gaming manufactures custom professional gaming controllers for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles. Visit playeronecoffee.com and use the code ‘BRO247' to get 5% off products. Player One Coffee develop coffee recipes custom-tailored to gamers, creatives, developers and just about anybody who really enjoys a cup of coffee. Visit victoriouseyewear.com and use the code ‘BRO247' to get 10% off products. Victorious Eyewear develop blue light blocking gaming glasses designed to eliminate digital eye strain and help you remain comfortable and focused. Visit sprkix.com and use the code ‘BRO10' to get 10% off products. SPRKIX Apparel specialises in pro wrestling apparel including t-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, jackets, hats and stickers. More info? Apple iTunes: The BroKast Podcast Podbean: The BroKast Podcast Spotify: The BroKast Podcast Castbox: The BroKast Podcast HiCast: The BroKast Podcast Twitter: @TheBrokast Instagram: The BroKast Podcast E-mail: brokast2@gmail.com YouTube: The BroKast: Podcast and Gaming

In the week between Christmas and New Year, we're listening back to some of our favourite episodes of 2025, this episode was first published in March.Japanese ‘kidults' revolutionised pop culture in the 90s and 00s, turning to their inner children to cope with economic crisis and post-industrial societal ills, despite being ridiculed. As the milestones of adulthood - property, marriage and careers - become increasingly difficult for millennials and Gen Z to achieve - are westerners now turning to ‘kidulting' to find answers? This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today: http://thetimes.com/thestoryGuest: Matt Alt, author of Pure Invention: How Japan Made the Modern World.Host: Manveen Rana.Producer: Sam Chantarasak.Further listening: Studio Ghibli: Is this the end for the Japanese studio that inspired Pixar?The South Korean culture machine that conquered the worldClips: SEGA, Pokémon Theme/POKEMON, MSNBC, CNN, AJ+, Sony, PlayStation, CBS, SXSW, TikTok/@otakuintokyo, TikTok/@kaitlyneats, Your Name/dir. Makoto Shinkai/CoMix Wave Films/Toho.Photo: Getty Images.Get in touch: thestory@thetimes.com.This podcast was brought to you thanks to subscribers of The Times and The Sunday Times. To enjoy unlimited digital access to all our journalism subscribe here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Das SHOCK2-Team wünscht allen VIPs, Lesern, Hörern & Partnern ein schönes Weihnachtsfest, einen guten Rutsch und alles Gute im neuen Jahr! Auch das Jahr 2025 lassen wir mit dem traditionellen Xmas/Silvester-Sonderpodcast ausklingen! Michael, Hanns Peter Glock & Christoph führen mit einem Überraschungsgast in diesem Jahr gemeinsam durch die Sendung rund um das Spiele-, Film-, Serien-, Gadget & Comic-Jahr 2025 in der legendären XXXL-Länge von epischen von knapp 31 Stunden! Natürlich werden auch Leserfragen beantwortet und als Gäste begrüßen wir Fabian Döhla (CD Projekt Red), Alexander Amon (Gameminds, Der Standard, Hi, Tech!), Florian Scherz (Spiele, die ich vermisse), Rene Findenig (Heute), Peter Zellinger (Der Standard, Mörderisches Österreich, Hi, Tech! ), Alexander Olma (iPhoneBlog, Bits & So), Richard Löwenstein (Journalist/Spieleentwickler), Mustafa K. Isik (Geek on Air, AWS), Daniel Dorner (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Clemens Stangl (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Jan Krumlin (Adeptus Stammtisch). Thomas Reisenegger (Future Friends Games), Moritz Mehlem (Comic & Rollenspiel Experte), Felicitas Furtenbach (SHOCK2 Kids), Fatih Olcaydu (Meister aller Klassen), Konstantinos Fotopoulos (Videogame Übersetzer), Tristan Stadler (Siren Games), Clemens Spitzer, Ben Zöchling & Nikolai Barislowitsch (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Christoph Kurl und seine beiden Söhne Paul & Felix (MGN Podcast), Andreas Zahrl (Kautzner Computer Museum), Anne-Sophie & Martin Seiler (Lausch & Plausch), Steffen Volkmer (Panini Comics, Comics & Bier), Dirk Ziegert (Mr. Retro bei SHOCK2), Martin Erasmus (Vienna Comix) sowie der Journalist und Übersetzer Roland Austinat. Neben dem großen Podcast in sechs Teilen erwarten euch in den nächsten Tagen auch ein paar exklusive SHOCKMAS-Gewinnspiele!

Fredrik och Poki ger forna år en match, när de ska samsas om dåtidens bästa spel. Detta ÄR "Retro GOTY!".Dags för retrospel - eller vad nu 2010-talets spel är?! Upplägget är som vanligt; Vi lyfter först våra personliga topp tio spel för året i fråga - denna gång spelåret 2010! Därefter gör vi den titulära RETRO GOTY:n.Vilka är spelen som hamnar i vår gemensamma "Game of the Year" á 2010? Lyssna och lär kära lyssnare!Exempel på spel som tas upp:3D Dot Game Heroes,Assassin's Creed II (PC),Bayonetta,Bejeweled 3,Bioshock 2,Castlevania: Lords of Shadow,Civilization V,Dante's Inferno,Deathsmiles,Demon's Souls,Fallout: New Vegas,God of War III,Heavy Rain,Just Cause 2,Last Rebellion,Limbo,Mass Effect 2,Mega Man 10,Metro 2033,Red Dead Redemption,Splatterhouse,StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty,Super Mario Galaxy 2,Super Meat Boy,Supreme Commander 2,White Knight Chronicles,Xenoblade Chronicles,Dessa och många många fler (obs! Vi spoilar inte de som ligger i våra personliga topplistor ovan!

Verho: Curse of Faces doet een beetje denken aan laagwaardige variant van The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Althans, daar deed het Joe van Burik aan denken. Maar heeft Sam van Zuilen dat ook zo ervaren? Dat hoor je in deze aflevering van onze winterreeks 12 Games of Christmas. Én traditiegetrouw moet Sam het nog even hebben over Helldivers II. Vragen of opmerkingen? Mail ons op allinthegame@bnr.nl Over All in the GameAll in the Game is de podcast over games voor iedereen. Wanneer er iets speelt in de wereld van games, hoor je dat hier: spannende ontwikkelingen, boeiende onderzoeken en natuurlijk de nieuwste releases om te spelen op je PlayStation, Xbox, pc of welk platform dan ook. Onder leiding van BNR's techredacteur Joe van Burik hoor je gesprekken met andere gamekenners, zoals beursnerd Jochem Visser, techredacteurs Niels Kooloos en Daniël Mol én popcultuurkenners Donner Bakker en Sam van Zuilen. Ook hoogleraar computerwetenschappen Felienne Herman en universiteit docent Laura van der Lubbe schuiven geregeld aan, en je hoort bijdragen van audioproducers André Dortmont en Wesley Schouwenaars, Elke week hoor je minimaal één aflevering van All in the Game. Of juist meerdere, wanneer er veel speelt in de wereld van games. Soms met impressies en analyses over actuele ontwikkelingen en nieuwe games. Andere keren kun je luisteren naar interviews met makers van bijzondere games, van Grand Theft Auto (GTA) tot Baldur's Gate 3 - zowel Nederlandse als internationale ontwikkelaars. Of we praten met e-sport-atleten, onderzoekers en andere experts in de wereld van videogames, in onze rubriek Main Game. En regelmatig laten we iemand van BNR Nieuwsradio aanschuiven om te vertelen over diens favoriete game van vroeger in de Retro-rubriek. In deze podcast kijken we verder dan alleen wat een game leuk maakt: we bespreken juist ook in de culturele, maatschappelijke, economische en technologische impact ervan. Jaarlijks gaat er immers zo'n 200 miljard euro om in de wereldwijde game-industrie, dat is al (vele jaren zelfs) daadwerkelijk meer dan de muziek- en filmindustrie bij elkaar opgeteld. Zo hoor je bij All in the Game niet alleen wat je moet spelen - en op welk nieuwe (game)platform - maar kun je daar nog bewuster mee bezig zijn, over praten en natuurlijk van genieten. Of het nou gaat om Super Mario of Sonic the Hedgehog, Fortnite of Roblox, voetbalgames van EA Sports FC of de FIFA, Call of Duty of Battlefield, League of Legends of Dota,of goude oude titels zoals Tetris, Rollercoaster Tycoon, The Sims of zelfs Snake. En we hebben ook aandacht voor liefhebberijen die dicht op games zitten, zoals Dungeons & Dragons, Lego en de films, series en strips rond reeksen zoals Star Wars en Marvel. Het komt allemaal aan bod in All in the Game. All in the Game werd als podcast al in 2022 opgenomen in het archief van Het Nederlands instituut voor Beeld & Geluid in Hilversum - als eerste podcast van BNR Nieuwsradio en één van de eerste gamepodcasts van allemaal. Gezamenlijk met talloze Nederlandse televisieprogramma’s, radioshows, games, websites, webvideo’s en podcast vormt dit materiaal de Nederlandse mediageschiedenis. Over Joe van BurikJoe van Burik is presentator, podcastmaker en techredacteur bij BNR Nieuwsradio. Je hoort hem bijna dagelijks in de Tech Update met het laatste nieuws over digitale technologie, en gaat daar in BNR Digitaal (samen met Ben van der Burg) elke woensdag dieper op in met gasten uit de techwereld. Daarnaast maakt hij onder meer de podcast All in the Game, voor iedereen die meer wil horen over videogames. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Nerd Chat:-Steam 2025 wrapped-PlayStation 2025 wrapped-Nintendo 2025 wrapped-Was there an Xbox 2025 wrapped??Plus what we've been playing and the best food we had this week.0:00 Hello and welcome to the show5:00 PlayStation Wrapped 202511:55 No one has a Nintendo wrapped...16:45 Xbox Wrapped by TrueAchievements27:50 Steam 2025 Wrapped48:00 Nerd Chat shoutouts51:55 Permabans / GGs1:00:45 Jose opens Bacon's gift1:02:41 What have we been playing or watching?1:23:00 The best food we had this week1:34:00 Closing and end of showGaming. Food. The Good Old Days.Streaming Thursday nights. New episodes posted Fridays.#SeeYouOnlineFollow us everywhere: @TheNerdChatAll links: https://linktr.ee/thenerdchat#PlayStation #Xbox #Nintendo #Steam #GamingPodcast #SeeYouOnline

Das SHOCK2-Team wünscht allen VIPs, Lesern, Hörern & Partnern ein schönes Weihnachtsfest, einen guten Rutsch und alles Gute im neuen Jahr! Auch das Jahr 2025 lassen wir mit dem traditionellen Xmas/Silvester-Sonderpodcast ausklingen! Michael, Hanns Peter Glock & Christoph führen mit einem Überraschungsgast in diesem Jahr gemeinsam durch die Sendung rund um das Spiele-, Film-, Serien-, Gadget & Comic-Jahr 2025 in der legendären XXXL-Länge von epischen von knapp 31 Stunden! Natürlich werden auch Leserfragen beantwortet und als Gäste begrüßen wir Fabian Döhla (CD Projekt Red), Alexander Amon (Gameminds, Der Standard, Hi, Tech!), Florian Scherz (Spiele, die ich vermisse), Rene Findenig (Heute), Peter Zellinger (Der Standard, Mörderisches Österreich, Hi, Tech! ), Alexander Olma (iPhoneBlog, Bits & So), Richard Löwenstein (Journalist/Spieleentwickler), Mustafa K. Isik (Geek on Air, AWS), Daniel Dorner (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Clemens Stangl (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Jan Krumlin (Adeptus Stammtisch). Thomas Reisenegger (Future Friends Games), Moritz Mehlem (Comic & Rollenspiel Experte), Felicitas Furtenbach (SHOCK2 Kids), Fatih Olcaydu (Meister aller Klassen), Konstantinos Fotopoulos (Videogame Übersetzer), Tristan Stadler (Siren Games), Clemens Spitzer, Ben Zöchling & Nikolai Barislowitsch (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Christoph Kurl und seine beiden Söhne Paul & Felix (MGN Podcast), Andreas Zahrl (Kautzner Computer Museum), Anne-Sophie & Martin Seiler (Lausch & Plausch), Steffen Volkmer (Panini Comics, Comics & Bier), Dirk Ziegert (Mr. Retro bei SHOCK2), Martin Erasmus (Vienna Comix) sowie der Journalist und Übersetzer Roland Austinat. Neben dem großen Podcast in sechs Teilen erwarten euch in den nächsten Tagen auch ein paar exklusive SHOCKMAS-Gewinnspiele!

This week's episode features Blood: Refreshed Supply, Project Motor Racing, Nice Day for Fishing, A.I.L.A, Bodycam, Kiosk, Big Trouble in Little Chimney, and Dino Land. Anyway and as always, thank you for watching or listening, I hope you enjoy this here episode, and I hope you have a wonderful wonderful rest of your day. (And if you haven't already, or are a listener and not a watcher, please like, subscribe, hit the bell, and all that jazz; it may not seem like much, but it goes a long way in helping support the show and site in general. I would appreciate it greatly.)

Please consider supporting the show on Patreon!You can also join our free Discord server, or connect with us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok!"A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself."The NieR Automata analysis concludes! Joined by Dave (Tales from the Backlog), we talk through the final three endings of the game in detail. One of the game's main themes — that of a Will to live, a meaning to life to stave off what has been variously called "The Absurd," "Nihilism," and more — is on full display as we see more characters than not grapple with it. Between what the game presents and the supplemental lore canon, there's loads to talk about. Hope you love the show today. Enjoy!Smash Interview with Yoko TaroInterview with Yoko Taro and Yosuke SaitoStanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyInternet Encyclopedia of PhilosophyThank you for listening! Want to reach out to PPR? Send your questions, comments, and recommendations to pixelprojectradio@gmail.com! And as ever, any ratings and/or reviews left on your platform of choice are greatly appreciated!

The First Berserker: Khazan (2025) is the definitive, blood-soaked origin story of the Dungeon & Fighter universe, developed by the combat wizards at Neople and published by Nexon. Released on March 27, 2025, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S, it is an Action-RPG that dares to bridge the gap between the surgical precision of Sekiro and the chaotic, loot-heavy addiction of Nioh.

rWotD Episode 3158: Shadow Tower Welcome to random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Friday, 26 December 2025, is Shadow Tower.Shadow Tower is a 1998 action role-playing video game developed by FromSoftware for the PlayStation. The game was originally released in Japan by FromSoftware on June 25, 1998 and in North America by Agetec on November 23, 1999. Shadow Tower shares many similarities with the King's Field series of video games. A sequel, Shadow Tower Abyss, was released for the PlayStation 2 exclusively in Japan.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:34 UTC on Friday, 26 December 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Shadow Tower on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Joey.

Das SHOCK2-Team wünscht allen VIPs, Lesern, Hörern & Partnern ein schönes Weihnachtsfest, einen guten Rutsch und alles Gute im neuen Jahr! Auch das Jahr 2025 lassen wir mit dem traditionellen Xmas/Silvester-Sonderpodcast ausklingen! Michael, Hanns Peter Glock & Christoph führen mit einem Überraschungsgast in diesem Jahr gemeinsam durch die Sendung rund um das Spiele-, Film-, Serien-, Gadget & Comic-Jahr 2025 in der legendären XXXL-Länge von epischen von knapp 31 Stunden! Natürlich werden auch Leserfragen beantwortet und als Gäste begrüßen wir Fabian Döhla (CD Projekt Red), Alexander Amon (Gameminds, Der Standard, Hi, Tech!), Florian Scherz (Spiele, die ich vermisse), Rene Findenig (Heute), Peter Zellinger (Der Standard, Mörderisches Österreich, Hi, Tech! ), Alexander Olma (iPhoneBlog, Bits & So), Richard Löwenstein (Journalist/Spieleentwickler), Mustafa K. Isik (Geek on Air, AWS), Daniel Dorner (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Clemens Stangl (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Jan Krumlin (Adeptus Stammtisch). Thomas Reisenegger (Future Friends Games), Moritz Mehlem (Comic & Rollenspiel Experte), Felicitas Furtenbach (SHOCK2 Kids), Fatih Olcaydu (Meister aller Klassen), Konstantinos Fotopoulos (Videogame Übersetzer), Tristan Stadler (Siren Games), Clemens Spitzer, Ben Zöchling & Nikolai Barislowitsch (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Christoph Kurl und seine beiden Söhne Paul & Felix (MGN Podcast), Andreas Zahrl (Kautzner Computer Museum), Anne-Sophie & Martin Seiler (Lausch & Plausch), Steffen Volkmer (Panini Comics, Comics & Bier), Dirk Ziegert (Mr. Retro bei SHOCK2), Martin Erasmus (Vienna Comix) sowie der Journalist und Übersetzer Roland Austinat. Neben dem großen Podcast in sechs Teilen erwarten euch in den nächsten Tagen auch ein paar exklusive SHOCKMAS-Gewinnspiele! Teil 4: Ab 27.12. Teil 5: Ab 28.12. Teil 6: Ab 30.12.

Happy Holidays from video games

In this weeks episode: Kev just wants books and presents; Sheepdog is racing other animals; Anna ticks another game off the list before the end of the year and Pab does his best to stay calm and collected. All this and much more on episode 634 of MGP! Merry Christmas folks!Get FM26 for £41.32 using discount LOLLUJO here:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bit.ly/FM26lollujo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sheepdog's book, Nyaegling can be found ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠You can also click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠to play his game Prismyck for free! If you have any messages or questions for the gang then send them over to : ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Mgukpodcast@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kev now has an affiliate link with The Lego Store so if you do all your Lego shopping through this link you'll be helping ol' Kev out:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://blockpartyuk.shop/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Kev also has an affiliate link with LOADED (formerly CDKeys); so if you want the latest PC/ console games at low prices click the link below:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠http://bit.ly/CDKeyslollujo⁠⁠⁠

Sapevi che gli italiani parlano di Natale anche in piena estate? Esistono tantissime espressioni idiomatiche legate al Natale che usiamo tutti i giorni, in qualsiasi periodo dell'anno. Se non le conosci, rischi di non capire cosa sta dicendo il tuo amico italiano quando ti dice: "Ma che, credi ancora a Babbo Natale?" Espressioni Italiane Legate al Natale (Che Usiamo Tutto l'Anno) Espressioni Con Babbo Natale 1. "Credere Ancora a Babbo Natale" Questa è una delle espressioni più comuni in italiano! La usiamo quando vogliamo dire che qualcuno è ingenuo, credulone, cioè che crede a cose impossibili, poco realistiche o troppo belle per essere vere. L'espressione fa riferimento alla figura di Babbo Natale, in cui credono tipicamente solo i bambini piccoli. Sfumature D'Uso Questa espressione può essere usata in modo affettuoso (con un bambino o una persona dolce) oppure in modo più critico o sarcastico (con qualcuno che dovrebbe essere più realista). Tutto dipende dal tono di voce con cui viene pronunciata! Esempi In Contesti Diversi Contesto lavorativo: "Marco pensa che il capo gli darà un aumento del 50%." — "Ma dai! Crede ancora a Babbo Natale!" Contesto amoroso: "Lucia è convinta che il suo ex tornerà da lei." — "Poverina, crede ancora a Babbo Natale..." Contesto quotidiano: "Mio figlio pensa che se studia il giorno prima dell'esame, prenderà 30." — "Ah, crede ancora a Babbo Natale!" Varianti Dell'Espressione "Credere alle favole" → molto simile, ma leggermente meno forte; "Vivere nel mondo dei sogni" → enfatizza il distacco dalla realtà; "Credere che gli asini volino" → più rara e colorita. In Un Dialogo Realistico Anna: Sai, ho conosciuto un ragazzo online. Dice che è un principe di Dubai e che vuole regalarmi una villa! Giulia: Anna... dimmi che stai scherzando. Anna: No, perché? Sembra sincero! Giulia: Tesoro, tu credi ancora a Babbo Natale. È chiaramente una truffa! Attenzione! Non usare questa espressione in contesti formali o con persone che non conosci bene: potrebbe sembrare offensiva! È perfetta tra amici, familiari o colleghi con cui hai confidenza. 2. "Non Sono Mica Babbo Natale!" Questa espressione la usiamo quando qualcuno ci chiede troppe cose, troppi favori, e vogliamo dire: "Ehi, non posso fare miracoli! Non posso accontentare tutti!". È un modo simpatico per mettere dei limiti senza essere troppo bruschi. Sfumature D'Uso Di solito ha un tono scherzoso ma deciso. Può essere usata anche in modo più serio se qualcuno esagera davvero con le richieste. Esempi In Contesti Diversi Contesto familiare: "Papà, mi compri l'iPhone nuovo, la PlayStation e anche la bicicletta?" — "Piano, piano! Non sono mica Babbo Natale!" Contesto lavorativo: "Potresti finire questo progetto, rispondere a tutte le email e preparare la presentazione per domani?" — "Calma! Non sono mica Babbo Natale, una cosa alla volta!" Contesto tra amici: "Mi presti 100 euro? Ah, e mi accompagni all'aeroporto alle 5 di mattina? E poi mi tieni il gatto per due settimane?" — "Ehi, non sono mica Babbo Natale!" Nota Grammaticale Sulla Particella "Mica" La parola "mica" qui rafforza la negazione ed è molto usata nell'italiano parlato! "Non sono Babbo Natale" e "Non sono mica Babbo Natale" significano la stessa cosa, ma la seconda versione è più enfatica e più espressiva. La particella "mica" deriva dal latino mica (briciola) e si usa per negare qualcosa che l'interlocutore potrebbe pensare o supporre. Varianti Dell'Espressione "Non sono mica un mago!" → stesso concetto; "Non ho la bacchetta magica!" → simile, enfatizza l'impossibilità; "Non faccio miracoli!" → più diretto. In Un Dialogo Realistico Collega: Senti, potresti coprire il mio turno sabato? E anche domenica? Ah, e finire il report che dovevo fare io? Tu: Aspetta, aspetta. Non sono mica Babbo Natale! Posso aiutarti con una cosa, non con tutte! Collega: Dai, ti prego! Tu: Scelgo io: ti copro sabato, ma il report lo fai tu. Affare fatto? 3. "Fare Il Babbo Natale" Questa espressione significa essere molto generosi, regalare tante cose, pagare per tutti o fare molti favori a qualcuno. Evoca l'immagine di Babbo Natale che distribuisce regali a tutti. Sfumature D'Uso Può essere usata in senso positivo (quando apprezziamo la generosità di qualcuno) o leggermente critico (quando qualcuno esagera con la generosità, magari per fare bella figura o per secondi fini). Esempi In Contesti Diversi In senso positivo: "Ieri Luca ha pagato la cena a tutti, ha comprato i biglietti del cinema e poi ci ha anche accompagnati a casa." — "Wow, ha proprio fatto il Babbo Natale! Che generoso!" In senso leggermente critico: "Il nuovo fidanzato di Marta fa sempre il Babbo Natale: regali, fiori, cene... secondo me sta esagerando per impressionarla." Contesto lavorativo: "Il capo oggi ha fatto il Babbo Natale: ha dato un bonus a tutti!" Varianti Dell'Espressione "Essere generoso come Babbo Natale"; "Avere le mani bucate" → spendere troppo (ma più negativo); "Essere di manica larga" → essere generosi, spendere facilmente. In Un Dialogo Realistico Mamma: Com'è andata la cena con gli amici? Figlio: Benissimo! Marco ha fatto il Babbo Natale: ha pagato tutto lui! Mamma: Tutto? Per tutti? Figlio: Sì! Cena, dolce, caffè e anche l'amaro. Non ci ha fatto pagare niente. Mamma: Che ragazzo generoso! Invitalo a cena da noi, voglio ringraziarlo! 4. "Aspettare Qualcosa/Qualcuno Come i Bambini Aspettano Babbo Natale" Questa espressione descrive un'attesa piena di entusiasmo, di emozione, di impazienza. Pensa a come i bambini aspettano la notte di Natale: non dormono, sono eccitati, contano i giorni, i minuti. È sempre usata in senso positivo e un po' tenero. Esempi In Contesti Diversi Per un evento: "Giulia aspetta il concerto dei Coldplay come i bambini aspettano Babbo Natale. Parla solo di quello!" Per una persona: "Da quando Marco è partito per lavoro, sua moglie lo aspetta come i bambini aspettano Babbo Natale." Per un oggetto: "Ho ordinato il nuovo iPhone e lo aspetto come i bambini aspettano Babbo Natale: controllo la spedizione ogni cinque minuti!" Per un'uscita (film, libro, serie TV): "I fan aspettano l'ultima stagione di quella serie come i bambini aspettano Babbo Natale." Varianti Dell'Espressione "Aspettare con ansia" → più neutro; "Contare i giorni" → enfatizza l'attesa; "Non vedere l'ora" → molto comune, meno poetico. In Un Dialogo Realistico Amica 1: Hai visto Sara? Non parla d'altro che del suo viaggio in Giappone. Amica 2: Lo so! Lo aspetta come i bambini aspettano Babbo Natale. Ha già fatto tre liste di cose da vedere! Amica 1: Tre liste? Amica 2: Sì: una per Tokyo, una per Kyoto e una per il cibo. Quand'è che parte? Amica 1: Tra due mesi! Amica 2: Poveretta, sarà lunghissima questa attesa! Espressioni Con l'Albero Di Natale, il Presepe e il Panettone 5. "Sembrare Un Albero Di Natale" Questa espressione si usa quando qualcuno è vestito in modo troppo appariscente, troppo colorato, con troppi accessori: orecchini enormi, collane vistose, bracciali, anelli, vestiti brillanti, paillettes ovunque... Attenzione: questo NON è un complimento! È una critica, anche se spesso viene detta in modo scherzoso. Sfumature D'Uso Tra amici può essere una battuta affettuosa: "Amore, sembri un albero di Natale!" (detto ridendo). Con persone che non conosci bene, è decisamente una critica. Può essere usata anche per oggetti o luoghi, non solo persone. Esempi In Contesti Diversi Per una persona: "Avete visto come si è vestita Carla per la festa? Sembrava un albero di Natale: vestito rosso con paillettes, orecchini verdi giganti, collana dorata..." Per un luogo: "Hanno decorato il negozio come un albero di Natale: luci ovunque, festoni, pupazzi... non si capisce più niente!" Per un oggetto: "La sua macchina nuova ha così tanti accessori che sembra un albero di Natale." Varianti Ed Espressioni Simili "Essere agghindata/o come un albero di Natale" → con il verbo "agghindare" (vestirsi in modo eccessivo); "Sembrare una vetrina" → troppo "esposta", troppo appariscente; "Essere carica/o come un mulo" → avere troppe cose addosso (ma si usa più per borse e bagagli). Curiosità Culturale Gli italiani generalmente apprezzano l'eleganza sobria. C'è un detto che dice: "Prima di uscire, guardati allo specchio e togli un accessorio." Questa espressione riflette proprio questa mentalità: meglio essere semplici ed eleganti che esagerati! In Un Dialogo Realistico Mamma: Tesoro, sei pronta? Dobbiamo andare al matrimonio! Figlia: Sì! Come sto? Mamma: Ehm... cara, non ti offendere, ma sembri un albero di Natale. Togli almeno la collana O gli orecchini. Insieme sono troppo. Figlia: Ma a me piacciono! Mamma: Lo so, ma "less is more", come dicono gli inglesi! 6. "Spuntare / Tornare Come Il Panettone A Natale" Il panettone è il dolce natalizio italiano per eccellenza. Ogni anno, puntualmente, a novembre inizia a comparire in tutti i supermercati, bar e negozi. Usiamo questa espressione per parlare di qualcosa o qualcuno che torna puntualmente, in modo prevedibile, sempre nello stesso periodo o nelle stesse situazioni. Sfumature D'Uso Può essere usata in modo neutro (per descrivere qualcosa di ricorrente), affettuoso (per qualcuno che torna sempre) o leggermente critico/ironico (per qualcuno o qualcosa che torna in modo un po' fastidioso o troppo prevedibile). Esempi In Contesti Diversi Per una persona che si fa viva solo in certi momenti: "Hai visto? Marco mi ha scritto per il mio compleanno." — "Ah, Marco! Spunta come il panettone a Natale: si fa vivo solo quando gli conviene!" Per un argomento ricorrente: "Ogni volta che vedo mia zia, mi chiede quando mi sposo.

Au programme :C'est l'épisode traditionnel GotY ! Cette année on est encore plus nombreux que d'habitude, pour encore plus de jeux et de discussions que d'habitudes. Enjoy!Thomas :1) Backlog: Cyberpunk 20772) GaaS:3) Trooop de jeux: Hell is Us4) Spotlight: Eternal Strands, The Alters5) Grrr: Clair Obscur Expedition 336) Plateforme: PC (Shadow)7) GotY: Blue PrinceNoddus :1) Backlog: Astroneer2) GaaS: The Finals3) Trooop de jeux: Arc Raiders, Monster Train 2, Hades II4) Spotlight: Q-Up5) Grrr: Black Ops 7, Split Fiction6) Plateforme: PC / PC console7) GotY: Blue Prince, Abiotic Factor InterludeDany (il est dans nos coeurs) :1) Backlog: Sea of Stars2) GaaS: Diablo 43) Trooop de jeux: Absolum, Deltarune, Silent Hill f, Marvel Cosmic Invasion4) Spotlight: Dispatch5) Grrr: Death Stranding 26) Plateforme: PC (master race)7) GotY: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Blue prince, Dispatch, Hades 2Eska :1) Backlog: Citizen Sleeper, Dragon Age The Veilguard, Minishoot Adventures2) GaaS: 3) Trooop de jeux: Hades II, Absolum, Mario Kart World, Dispatch, Moonlighter 24) Spotlight: Is This Seat Taken, South of Midnight5) Grrr: Avowed, The Outer worlds 26) Plateforme: Switch 27) GotY: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ball x Pit, Ghost of YoteiJK :1) Backlog:2) GaaS:3) Trooop de jeux: Ball x Pit, Arc Raiders4) Spotlight: The Supper: New Blood5) Grrr: Hollow Knight: Silk Song6) Plateforme: PC7) GotY: Rue Valley, Split Fiction, Routine, Dispatch, Avowed, Hell is Us, Citizen Sleeper 2, Wanderstop, Absolum, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Cassim :1) Backlog: Dredge2) GaaS: Overwatch 23) Trooop de jeux: Abiotic Factor, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles4) Spotlight: Suikoden I & II HD Remaster5) Grrr: Blue Prince6) Plateforme: PC (Linux)7) GotY: Peak, News Tower, Doom The Dark Ages, Two Point MuseumPatrick :1) Backlog: Persona 5 Royal, Tears of the Kingdom2) GaaS: Street Fighter VI3) Trooop de jeux: Forestrike, Ghost of Yotei, AC Shadows, Dispatch, Arc Raiders, Hyrule Warriors Les Chroniques du Sceau, Trails in the Sky4) Spotlight:5) Grrr: Blue Prince6) Plateforme: Switch 27) GotY: Ball x Pit, Absolum, Shinobi, Expedition 33, Fantasy Life i---Infos :Animé par Patrick Beja (Bluesky, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok)Co-animé par JK Lauret (Twitter).Co-animé par Maïté “Eskarina” (Bluesky).Co-animé par Cassim Montilla (Bluesky).Co-animé par Valentin Cebo (Noddus) (Bluesky).Co-animé par Thomas Méreur « Amaebi » (Bluesky).Co-animé par Daniel Charbit (Twitter).Produit par Patrick Beja (LinkedIn) et Fanny Cohen MoreauMusique par Daniel Beja.Le Rendez-vous Jeux épisode 428 – GotY 2025, nos jeux de l'annéeLiens :

Did you get a PS5 for Christmas and new to the console? This welcome episode gives you all the core things you need to know and welcomes you to the PlayStation Daily+ podcast and our Discord where you can get all your questions answered!THE EPISODE ABOUT THE WELCOME SCREEM:https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/O0AP028fnZbMY NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL:https://www.youtube.com/@PlayStationDailyPodcastJOIN THE DISCORD and talk PlayStation with the PSD+ community:https://discord.gg/pEDZDp4kTGFOLLOW ME ON TWITCH and watch me record the show LIVE:https://www.twitch.tv/psdailypod/FOLLOW ME ON BLUESKY at psdailypod:https://bsky.app/profile/psdailypod.bsky.socialFOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK at ps.daily.pod:https://www.tiktok.com/@ps.daily.podIntro and Outro music is "The Concord Crew" by Daniel Pemberton from the Concord soundtrack.

Olá Amigos e Amigas Gamers! Sejam bem-vindos a mais um podcast do Gamer Como a Gente! Neste episódio vamos analisar a combinação curiosa de exploração e puzzle roguelite de Blue Prince, um jogo bastante único! Apertem o play e vamos lá! Confiram o vídeo do Gamer Maker's Toolkit que o Diego mencionou: http://youtu.be/9K7zYN6_-2I Dúvidas, sugestões, xingamentos, desafios ao mestre platinador é só chamar a gente no email: gamercomoagente@gmail.com Podem também deixar seus comentários nas postagens e não se esqueçam de acessar o nosso Instagram e Blue Sky. Arte da vitrine: Rodrigo Estevão Edição: Diego Ferreira

Das SHOCK2-Team wünscht allen VIPs, Lesern, Hörern & Partnern ein schönes Weihnachtsfest, einen guten Rutsch und alles Gute im neuen Jahr! Auch das Jahr 2025 lassen wir mit dem traditionellen Xmas/Silvester-Sonderpodcast ausklingen! Michael, Hanns Peter Glock & Christoph führen mit einem Überraschungsgast in diesem Jahr gemeinsam durch die Sendung rund um das Spiele-, Film-, Serien-, Gadget & Comic-Jahr 2025 in der legendären XXXL-Länge von epischen von knapp 31 Stunden! Natürlich werden auch Leserfragen beantwortet und als Gäste begrüßen wir Fabian Döhla (CD Projekt Red), Alexander Amon (Gameminds, Der Standard, Hi, Tech!), Florian Scherz (Spiele, die ich vermisse), Rene Findenig (Heute), Peter Zellinger (Der Standard, Mörderisches Österreich, Hi, Tech! ), Alexander Olma (iPhoneBlog, Bits & So), Richard Löwenstein (Journalist/Spieleentwickler), Mustafa K. Isik (Geek on Air, AWS), Daniel Dorner (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Clemens Stangl (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Jan Krumlin (Adeptus Stammtisch). Thomas Reisenegger (Future Friends Games), Moritz Mehlem (Comic & Rollenspiel Experte), Felicitas Furtenbach (SHOCK2 Kids), Fatih Olcaydu (Meister aller Klassen), Konstantinos Fotopoulos (Videogame Übersetzer), Tristan Stadler (Siren Games), Clemens Spitzer, Ben Zöchling & Nikolai Barislowitsch (SHOCK2 Redaktion), Christoph Kurl und seine beiden Söhne Paul & Felix (MGN Podcast), Andreas Zahrl (Kautzner Computer Museum), Anne-Sophie & Martin Seiler (Lausch & Plausch), Steffen Volkmer (Panini Comics, Comics & Bier), Dirk Ziegert (Mr. Retro bei SHOCK2), Martin Erasmus (Vienna Comix) sowie der Journalist und Übersetzer Roland Austinat. Neben dem großen Podcast in sechs Teilen erwarten euch in den nächsten Tagen auch ein paar exklusive SHOCKMAS-Gewinnspiele!

Whoa, Shuhei!  We’ve got a lot to talk about.  Stack it up!  Join Matt, Alex and Yield as they discuss, among other things, Lego Horizon Adventures, Dispatch, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Intergalactic.  What’s more, we share our thoughts on the Divinity violence controversy, and we ponder lackluster November physical hardware and software sales.  It’s never always sunshine and rainbows, but we hope that all of our listeners have a happy and healthy winter holiday season. And if you think that’s all, then you’ve got another thing coming!  We hit the high notes, and we hit the low notes, but we’ll always bring the banter.  What are you waiting for? Dive in! As always, the opinions fly fast and heavy! Look out for this super-sized show, as the seemingly smallest conversation veers off into a multiverse of chit-chat. Sounds cool, huh? That’s the fancy way of saying “derailment.” And there’s plenty of that to go around! Let’s dance, Heroes of the XMB! We are happy and proud to share that Proven Gamer has partnered with the Humble Bundle! The Humble Bundle is a fantastic initiative and program that allows games to score a litany of games on the cheap — all while making charitable donations to various groups and organizations. You can click here for the details on Proven Gamer's Humble Bundle partnership. In a bit of big news that would make the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles proud, iHeartRadio, Pandora and Spotify host episodes of Trophy Whores. It's a tremendous honor for the show to be part of two massive and respected entertainment communities, and Proven Gamer have only the fans to thank for pushing the podcast to soaring heights. The Trophy Whores work hard to put out a quality weekly show, but they owe so much love to their listeners, who keep the show strong and growing. If you want to support the show via Patreon, then check out our page, which shares the tiers for all of our Patrons! We appreciate your support (and your ears)! Please subscribe to the Trophy Whores feed in iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn, IHeartRadio, Stitcher, or RSS and please leave a review. We won't give you cookies, but it will help us make the show better. You can find us on Twitter: @TrophyWhores and @ProvenGamer You can also email us at TrophyWhores. If you wish, you can always download the show here – Trophy Whores 699 – Gruesome Physical Game Sales

Support my work on Patreon- https://patreon.com/realdavejackson Join the Tales from the Backlog Discord server- https://discord.gg/kAqSBb6jH2 Buy me a coffee on Ko-fi- https://ko-fi.com/realdavejackson With the world being the way it is, it's a rare treat to play a game that's just pure joy from start to finish, and that is exactly what Astro Bot (Team Asobi, Sony, 2024) brings. From the opening cutscene to the final boss, Astro Bot is both one of the greatest platformers ever made and a joyous celebration of 30 years of Playstation history. I treasure a game like this as a player, and almost even moreso as a critic. I hope you enjoy the discussion! Guest info: Josh Covel (he/him) * Check out Still Loading Podcast https://www.stillloadingpodcast.com/ TIMESTAMPS * 0:00 Title Card * 0:33 Introductions * 6:11 Our Histories with Astro Bot * 9:42 Opening Thoughts * 13:06 Game Setup and Playstation History * 23:08 Criticisms of The Playstation Tie-Ins * 39:34 Gameplay & Powerups * 49:20 Complexity and Difficulty * 1:00:19 Collectibles and Secrets * 1:08:15 Music and Sound Design * 1:23:55 Closing Thoughts and Recommendations * 1:29:13 Still Loading Podcast * 1:34:58 Spoiler Wall and Patron Thank-Yous * 1:37:34 Spoiler Section- Playstation Themed Levels * 2:01:43 Final Level and Miscellaneous Favorite Things Music used in the episode is credited to Kenneth C M Young. Tracks used: I Am Astro Bot (ASTRO BOT Remix), Disco Tree, Big Wave, You Know What You've Got To Do, Drake's BOTtune, Bot of War Social Media: BlueSky- https://bsky.app/profile/tftblpod.bsky.social Instagram- https://www.instagram.com/talesfromthebacklog/ Cover art by Jack Allen- find him at https://linktr.ee/JackAllenCaricatures

Help us by sharing our podcast to your friends and also please review us on Apple Podcast. You can find our social media pages on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JayNbaypodcast/

Trophy hunting is a ton of fun but comes with some unfortunate changes in thinking. It's time to bring its dirtiest corners into the light.MY NEW YOUTUBE CHANNEL:https://www.youtube.com/@PlayStationDailyPodcastJOIN THE DISCORD and talk PlayStation with the PSD+ community:https://discord.gg/pEDZDp4kTGFOLLOW ME ON TWITCH and watch me record the show LIVE:https://www.twitch.tv/psdailypod/FOLLOW ME ON BLUESKY at psdailypod:https://bsky.app/profile/psdailypod.bsky.socialFOLLOW ME ON TIKTOK at ps.daily.pod:https://www.tiktok.com/@ps.daily.podIntro and Outro music is "The Concord Crew" by Daniel Pemberton from the Concord soundtrack.

But I did like it. A lot. (Please don't hurt me Undertale fans.) This episode is, surprise surprise, all about Undertale, an RPG where you can complete the entire adventure without killing a single soul...or you can kill everyone if that's your fancy. It's up to you (or me in this case) to decide what kind of tale you want to tell. Spoilers: I went the pacifist way. Anyway and as always, thank you for watching or listening, I hope you enjoy this here episode, and I hope you have a wonderful wonderful rest of your day. (And if you haven't already, or are a listener and not a watcher, please like, subscribe, hit the bell, and all that jazz; it may not seem like much, but it goes a long way in helping support the show and site in general. I would appreciate it greatly.)

Follow The Trophy Room Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PSTrophyRoom Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/2PglU1a Discord: https://discord.gg/wPNp3kC Twitter: https://twitter.com/PSTrophyRoom Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/badbit ****** This week on The Trophy Room, we close out the year with our PlayStation 2025 Wrapped episode, breaking down the biggest stories, defining moments, and industry shifts that shaped PlayStation and gaming over the past year. We also take time to honor a devastating loss to the video game industry. Vince Zampella — Battlefield franchise lead, Call of Duty co-creator, Respawn Entertainment founder, and one of the most influential figures in modern gaming — has tragically passed away. We reflect on his legendary career, from Medal of Honor and Call of Duty to Titanfall, Apex Legends, Star Wars Jedi, and the record-breaking launch of Battlefield 6, and discuss the massive legacy he leaves behind. On the news front, Naughty Dog finds itself back in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. A new report reveals mandatory overtime (crunch) imposed on staff to complete a demo for Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, reigniting conversations around workplace culture, missed deadlines, and sustainability inside PlayStation Studios. We discuss what this means for Naughty Dog, Sony, and the broader industry as crunch continues to clash with modern development values. Plus, we dive into: • Our full PlayStation Wrapped 2025 breakdown • Naughty Dog landing firmly on the “not nice” list this year • A look back at the highs, lows, and turning points of 2025 • Community reactions, reflections, and end-of-year takes This is a packed, emotional, and thoughtful send-off to 2025 — celebrating what went right, questioning what went wrong, and remembering one of gaming's true legends.

Let's be honest: This whole Light of Motiram thing was shady from the get-go. A game that blatantly rips off Guerrilla's Horizon franchise, created by the publisher-and-developer combo that was later revealed to have unsuccessfully pitched Sony a Horizon spin-off beforehand? They call that 'dead to rights.' And now it's official, because Sony's lawsuit against Tencent over this facsimile has been dropped with prejudice, and the game has been delisted from Steam. That's a win for PlayStation, and an even bigger win for creativity in the AAA space. We discuss. Plus: Sucker Punch co-founder, long-time producer, and studio lead Brian Fleming is officially retiring from the team after 28 years, Bungie's Marathon is slated to come to PS5 in March, Hollow Knight: Silksong is getting a free nautical expansion in '26, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Should we expect devs to lean more deeply into attractive characters? Do we think "made using AI" warnings will appear on games at some point in the near future? Who's to blame for Highguard's tepid response at The Game Awards? Is it strange if a wheelchair-bound listener wants to proudly wear a Stand Down shirt? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro0:37:46 - A nice note from William0:43:47 - Andrew and Steven0:52:25 - Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble is out in some European countries0:53:55 - Light of Motiram case dropped1:02:24 - Sucker Punch's co-founder is leaving1:15:19 - Marathon gets a release month1:28:21 - Silksong sells 7 million with an expansion on the way1:31:05 - Ubisoft acquires an Amazon team1:32:32 - Mega Man Star Force Legacy collection announced1:35:14 - US sales data1:47:35 - What We're Playing (Terminator 2D: NO FATE, Dying Light: The Beast, Marvel Cosmic Invasion, The Outer Worlds 2, Destiny 2: Renegades (The Star Wars Expansion), Skate Story, Tomba 2, Metroid Prime 4)2:11:17 - Featuring "attractive female characters"2:27:14 - Game studios and AI2:45:51 - Will the DRAM shortage effect consoles?2:53:46 - One handed gaming2:57:39 - Highguard3:08:25 - Games that will never get revived Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Check out the Spawncast Network: https://www.patreon.com/Spawncast Ryan: https://www.youtube.com/@MysticRyan Spawn: https://www.youtube.com/@SpawnWave #Sony #PS5

It's Christmas and we are talking about Grinch fries, more Metroid, and PlayStation portals.Hosts:KenRyanAnthonyTopics CoveredMetroid Prime 4RoutinePragmataPlayStation Portaland more... Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Check out the Spawncast network: https://spawncastnetwork.com/ Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/spawnwave Panel: MVG: https://www.youtube.com/@ModernVintageGamer RGT85: https://www.youtube.com/@RGT85 Celia: https://x.com/CeliaBeee Evan: https://www.youtube.com/@KimerexProjekt #Nintendo #Sony #Microsoft

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Thank you for the support! Run of Show - 00:00:00 - Start00:07:19 - HousekeepingToday after, KFGD, you'll get:GAMESCAST - The Fantasy Critic finaleAfter Gamescast is Game Showdown, the season finaleThen the STREAM is the Kinda Funny White Elephant Gift Exchange!If you're a Kinda Funny Member:Today you're getting TWO Gregways! A 25-minute one about Portillo and Cole AND a 19-minute one including a preview of KF Day 2026!Thank you to our Patreon Producers:Karl Jacobs, OmegaBuster, & Delaney "The Somm" TwiningThe Roper Report   -00:09:40 - Naughty Dog Studio Orders Employee Overtime for ‘Intergalactic' - Jason Schreier00:22:30 - Site of the Year! -  KFGD Awards00:27:20 - Xbox's Canceled Perfect Dark Game Had 'Entire Chapters' of Motion Capture Recorded, and a Doomed Rescue Plan to Salvage a 'Slimmed Down' Version - Tom Philips @ IGN00:35:30 - Story of The Year -  KFGD Awards00:41:52 - Ad00:47:35 - Baldur's Gate 3 Developer Will Hold Fan Q&A About Dev Processes Following AI Backlash - Rebekah Valentine00: 53:03 - Reporter of the Year -  KFGD Awards00:56:33 - All the winners from The Indie Game Awards - Press Release00:58:45 - Wee News!01:00:15 - SuperChats & You‘re Wrong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Season 4, Episode 12 Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:02:13 - First Question & Housekeeping 00:04:24 - Round Robbin' 00:30:09 - BONUS STARS! 00:41:04 - Final Feudy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:06:03 - The Champ 00:14:56 - Housekeeping 00:17:17 - The Fantasy Critic 2025 Finale 00:23:08 - 8th Place 00:28:39 - 7th Place 00:33:52 - 6th Place 00:41:22 - 5th Place 00:54:38 - 4th Place 00:59:10 - 3rd Place 01:05:24 - 2nd Place 01:12:27 - 1st Place 01:20:44 - SuperChats 01:30:37 - Rules for 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:06:03 - The Champ 00:14:56 - Housekeeping 00:17:17 - The Fantasy Critic 2025 Finale 00:23:08 - 8th Place 00:28:39 - 7th Place 00:33:52 - 6th Place 00:41:22 - 5th Place 00:54:38 - 4th Place 00:59:10 - 3rd Place 01:05:24 - 2nd Place 01:12:27 - 1st Place 01:20:44 - SuperChats 01:30:37 - Rules for 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Season 4, Episode 12 Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:02:13 - First Question & Housekeeping 00:04:24 - Round Robbin' 00:30:09 - BONUS STARS! 00:41:04 - Final Feudy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Season 4, Episode 12 Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:02:13 - First Question & Housekeeping 00:04:24 - Round Robbin' 00:30:09 - BONUS STARS! 00:41:04 - Final Feudy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:06:03 - The Champ 00:14:56 - Housekeeping 00:17:17 - The Fantasy Critic 2025 Finale 00:23:08 - 8th Place 00:28:39 - 7th Place 00:33:52 - 6th Place 00:41:22 - 5th Place 00:54:38 - 4th Place 00:59:10 - 3rd Place 01:05:24 - 2nd Place 01:12:27 - 1st Place 01:20:44 - SuperChats 01:30:37 - Rules for 2026 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Sony and Tencent have resolved their issues over that Horizon clone, Exodus' studio head has stepped down, and Todd Howard Fallout 5 will be affected by the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat athttps://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo CodeKINDAFUNNY Thank you for the support! Time Stamps - 00:00:00 - Start 00:09:02 - HousekeepingCelebrate the end of My Hero Academia with Mike and Barrett as they watch the entire final season live for the FIRST TIME this Saturday at 5pm PT. Live only on twitch.tv/kindafunnygames!Today after, KFGD, you'll get:GAMESCAST - Fallout Season premiere ReviewAfter Gamescast Mike places somethingIf you're a Kinda Funny Member:Today's Gregway is 20-plus minutes about how much Greg hates story mode difficulty!Thank you to our Patreon Producers: Karl Jacobs, OmegaBuster, & Delaney "The Somm" Twining The Roper Report   - 00:10:30 - ‘Holy f*** guys, we're not replacing artists': Larian boss responds to AI backlash - Andy Robinson @ VGC 00:24:48 - Sucker Punch co-founder Brian Fleming is leaving after 28 years - Vikki Blake @ GiBiz 00:29:54 - Hardware Sales In The US Just Had Worst Month In 30 Years - Eddie Makuch @ Gamespot 00:39:35 - We got a new trailer for a Castlevania-inspired Metroidvania - Twitter 00:41:50 - A ‘98% complete' version of the cancelled Game Boy Color Resident Evil port has been shared online - Chris Scullion @ VGC 00:47:50 - Wee News! 00:51:14 - SuperChats & You‘re Wrong Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:02:03 - Housekeeping 00:05:21 - Kinda Funny's Game of the Year Check-In 00:33:38 - SuperChats 00:35:25 - Too Many GREAT Games 00:56:06 - SuperChats Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Time Stamps: 00:00:00 - Start 00:02:03 - Housekeeping 00:05:21 - Kinda Funny's Game of the Year Check-In 00:33:38 - SuperChats 00:35:25 - Too Many GREAT Games 00:56:06 - SuperChats Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Once Upon a Galaxy is a new card battler that's getting great reviews on iOS, Android and Steam! Download it now, for free. http://kindafunny.com/galaxy ARC Raiders is a multiplayer extraction adventure video game, set in a lethal yet vibrant future earth. Available now for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. Hit the link to play it now: https://bit.ly/3KNpqkN Go to http://hellofresh.com/KINDAFUNNY10FM now to Get 10 Free Meals + a Free Breakfast for Life! Exclusive $35 off Carver Mat at https://on.auraframes.com/KINDAFUNNY. Promo Code KINDAFUNNY Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices