The Geek Bravado Ramble

The game industry bombshells keep hitting as on Mar 2nd, prolific game industry vacuum Embracer Group announced they were buying most of Square Enix's western studios and IPs, including Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex and much more. I talk about the sudden announcement, the borderline fire sale price tag, Square Enix's mismanagement and how clueless their statement on what they'll do with the proceeds seem.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Elon Musk has made a formal commitment to buy Twitter. While he doesn't own it yet, it's likely he will end up doing so. I have mixed feelings on this to put it mildly, but rather than just give my general take on the matter, I thought I would go through a few key things I'd like to see Twitter improve under Musk's ownership that they have been neglecting for years and that I think could make the service better.

People Makes Games Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDPzZkx0cPs

A video exposé into three indie press darling studios was recently release, showing claims of emotional abuse by those at the top. I talk about how the publisher all these companies share did nothing, whether or not the accusations are as severe as they seem and in particular, how the games press has been near totally silent in discussing issues like this, when they come from studios where they are either friends with or worse still, afraid of those who run them.

Unless you've been living under a rock recently, you've heard about the announcement of Microsoft's colossal deal to purchase Activision-Blizzard, the biggest acquisition ever in gaming and one of the largest in history. I give my thoughts on that but also expound on the idea of the heavy consolidation the game industry is going through right now and how it could impact us as gamers.

Everyone's talking about the Metaverse and NFTs right now and largely, not in a good way. I agree with most of that but there's a bigger, perhaps even more sinister reason behind all the hype for these new fads, one that's not being discussed that much.

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy was announced and came out with some hype but certainly not as much as Square Enix's other Marvel flop in The Avengers. This game breaks from a great many AAA expectations lately and while it's not perfect, it was a very pleasant surprise for me and something I hope more people pick up to show the industry we want these kinds of games.

The Artful Escape is a game that came out of nowhere for me but got my attention because of it's subject matter. What I found was a game that is barely a game but is also one of the coolest experiences I've had this year.

The Artful Escape is on Game Pass for PC and Xbox, PS4 and on Steam for PC.

Most provincial governments in Canada and other places around the world have introduced vaccine passports, requiring you to show proof of double vaccination before you can do things like go to restaurants, bars, theaters and gyms. Some employers are also requiring these now. I hate this and think it shouldn't be necessary but the problem isn't the government, it's the anti-vaxxers who are making this necessary. I make this case for this.

Apple recently announced that starting with iOS 15, user photos will be algorithmically analyzed for child sexual abuse and if found, reported to the authorities. Users cannot opt out of this. Some believe this is a great win for the noble cause of rooting out the sick consumers of this content. I and many others believe this is a massive overreach into user privacy from a company that keeps using it as a key selling point and which ultimately will do very little good.

Cancel culture is alive, well and growing and especially in the gaming industry. Two popular and celebrated figures in the development industry recently got cancelled for very different reasons, neither of which should have happened. I discuss these incidents and how this mob of perpetually (and often purposefully) outraged can't be allowed to continue this way.

It's been roughly a year since Mixer very suddenly shut down. I'm still grinding it out in content creation as are many others but a lot of us are still trying to find our footing again in various ways. I refleft on some of the things other streamers are trying to do, as well as where I am now and where at least my short-term future is.

Many have questioned the relevance of the game industry's big trade show for a number of years now. After being cancelled last year due to the pandemic, this year's all virtual show largely left a bad impression on the general public. While I agree with those sentiments, I think this year's event showed incredible potential for those who look beyong just AAA gaming and in this episode, I talk about why.

Recently, three of the core personalities at Giant Bomb announced on the same day that they were leaving the site, effectively putting it on life support. I gave up on the site a couple of years ago but its impact on gaming media of all kinds is undeniable. In this casual port-mortem, I reflect on that, why I stopped following them and what I hope they are able to achieve in the future.

Six Days In Fallujah is a tactical first-person shooter set during a very controversial battle during the Iraq war. The game was originally set to release in the late 2000s, before being cancelled by its publisher and subsequently, having its developer go under. Now it's being brought back by a new developer and publisher and is still very controversial. This has escalated to the point where people in the games industry are calling for it to be censored by the government because it will lead to violence. Many of these same people also make violent games. Jack Thompson is back only the calls are now coming from inside the house. I discuss this.

I'd heard of Outriders but not much more than that before trying out its recently released demo. As someone pretty tired of the live service looter shooter genre, this surprised me in some very welcome ways.

Parler, an alternative to Twitter that had a mostly right-wing user base, was recently kicked off Google Play, the Apple App Store and Amazon Web Services in a suspiciously rapid and coordinated fashion. While I have no love for the platform, I think this coordinated assault by big tech companies to stamp out politically competing platforms, citing the same rules they turn a blind eye to the incumbents for breaking sets a very dangerous precedent. The problem is, I don't know how you properly deal with it either. I discuss that and would love to hear what you all think.

It's been happening for a while but especially with recent event, I've seen this growing trend of people online demanding that everyone use whatever platform they have to scream political opinions and that a failure to do so is tantamount to complicity and even somehow, an act of violence. I am sick of this and of entitled people daring to make demands of what I say. I go on a pretty decent rant about this subject.

The Cyberpunk 2077 launch, burning their console partners and now the sudden backtracking on the release of Devotion on GOG has taken CD Projekt Group's formerly stellar reputation straight off a cliff in the last week. In my opinion, it's an unfortunate and unavoidable end of a creative company that's publicly traded. I discuss this theory and why it worries me that so many even smaller developers and publishers seem to be going public these days.

Cyberpunk 2077 has finally launched after numerous delays and while I think it's a great game, it also has a lot of problems and CD Projekt Red's stellar reputation has taken some significant damage. As someone who was incredibly hyped for the game, I believe a lot of those criticisms are warranted but some are also an example of the gaming community whipping itself into a frenzy of hype that could never be matched. I discuss that while also giving my impressions of the game after 25 hours of it streamed for Extra Life.

If you're in the streaming space, you know about the controversy surrounding Alex Hutchison's tweets. In this purposefully late to the party take on the issue, I do take him and his statements to task but also explore the elements of his statements that whether we like it or not, are true.

In the unbridled nightmare that is the American presidency right now, a lot of people have been rightly blamed for contributing to Donald Trump's rise. However, one person in particular, I think has skirted under the radar and arguably, deserves more blame than most. In this unusual podcast, I discuss that and my reasons for it.

In an absolute mic drop worthy bombshell, Microsoft has announced their intention to buy ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda, Arkane, id Software, MachineGames and Tango Gameworks among others. They are also now owners of some of the world's biggest IPs like The Elder Scrolls, DOOM, Wolfenstein, Dishonored and more. The Internet is buzzing about what this means for the future of these beloved series, especially on PlayStation systems. For as big as this deal is, I think the outcome is going to be very different than many gamers think. I go into detail about this and also why further consolidation is something that should concern us.

A new Netflix series on the history of video games came out of nowhere and was a pleasant surprise for a number of different reasons. I offer up my impressions of High Score, from the perspective of someone who is big into the history of the medium. I was pleasantly surprised!

On this somber 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, many have been sharing their stories of where they were on that day. I wasn't going to originally but I was in a weird headspace today that ended up in me going for a drive and decided to record my story, which was kind of unique or at least so I think. Never forget.

In my hiatus from streaming, I've been working on my backlog and just got a chance to finish Final Fantasy VII Remake on the PS4. While this ramble review is a while after the release of the game, I think I bring some interesting and largely unique perspectives to the review due to having never finished the original back in the day. This game was quite an emotional ride and I go into detail about why.

Don't listen to this if you haven't watched Snowpiercer Season 1 yet and don't want it spoiled.

I didn't know a TV series based on Snowpiercer was coming until it suddenly appeared on Netflix one day so as a fan of the movie, I wanted to check it out. I liked it well enough, right up until the last episode. I talk about my issues with it and what it means for season 2.

The world feels like it's on fire right now. For those reasons and more, I'm personally in a really bad place. This podcast is mostly talking about my own struggles, though I am not unempathetic to the greater madness so many more are dealing with too. I just talk about this struggle for a while because I think it's important for more of us to be open about our struggles so that others know they aren't alone. As always, I am here if anyone needs an ear.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the previously to say the least, divisive leader of my province has been getting a lot of credit for how he's been "leading" through the outbreak and many of his previous detractors are suddenly changing their minds on him. However, much like Rudy Guilliani after 9/11, none of this is based in reality but more just the fact that he happened to be here during a difficult time. I talk about this and why it's a terrible reason to suddenly up your opinion on terrible leaders.

Epic Games has now announced that in addition to making a big push into the digital distribution space, they are now getting into publishing games from other developers. Similar to how they launched the Epic Games Store, they are starting with a bang, offering full funding and creative control to 3 prominent studios, with apparently more to come. I talk about this model, how I'd have a hard time saying no if I was a developer and also how this is completely unsustainable long-term, despite what some short-sighted "developers" think.

Thank you to my small audience for being there for 100 episodes! Here's to many more!

COVID-19 is currently sending society and the economy into a tailspin with no end in sight. Meanwhile, it's become taboo to talk about the country whose lacking regulations and rampant corruption has resulted in not only this pandemic but multiple others. Those whose self-worth is wrapped up in being offended on behalf of others are calling criticizing China racist, failing to understand that one can criticize the state and policies that allowed this to happen without it being attack on the Chinese people themselves. I talk about that with more than a little personal frustation.