In-Game Chat

Before we get to the (bad) news this week, a reminder that we’ll be off next weekend due to the holiday.

Also, a massive thank you to all of you who helped us reach our goal covering our server costs for the year. We appreciate that more than you know and we can’t begin to express what it means to us. Seriously, thank you.

Now for the bad news. This was a week packed full of what normally would be pretty amazing news but it’s just all bad because of…everything.

In any other reality the Steam Machines release would have been a pretty big deal of good news but the prices threw water on that fire pretty quick. And it only made people look even closer into it to find more limitations than anything else – specifically because of how much you’re paying for the thing. The higher the price the more you need to know what you’re buying.

Staying in alternate realities, the pre-order for GTA6 would be massive! But we have no numbers yet on what that is and the price, ultimate edition, along with the whole “no physical” editions has turned the whole thing a bit sour to some folks.

While also being in the dark timeline, Xbox console prices are increasing a THIRD time. Six whole years into this generation this SHOULD NOT be happening, but it is. And it’s only going to get worse.

Then there’s the job losses. Which, as you’ll see below, has now increased and will increase again. Last year, in total, we had about 5,300 job losses and we’re very close to hitting that mark THIS year.

It’s bleak. And hope does not seem to be on the horizon.

But at least that new Star Wars racer plays like Burnout.

Ubisoft…it’s been 4,696 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 4,658 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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And the bad news just keeps rolling on.

To start with, after the wonderful help and generosity with the help of our hosting costs – our host decided to increase our costs. If you are able to help, and I get that we’re living in times right now where helping, financially, is difficult, we appreciate even the least little bit. It’s all laid out in the post just below this one on our website. So, again, thank you.

As for the other bad news, Microsoft is currently in the reaping part of that whole phrase/verse/proverb. And it really sucks. We keep a running tally of job losses at the end of each of these posts and that number is about to go WAY up. Nothing has happened yet but it’s likely to in the weeks to come.

And it’s happening with Bungie & Sony as well.

I’m not sure what the good news could be or any kind of silver lining in all of this is, but I don’t think it’s going to stop or slow down any time soon. There’s a whole ripple effect that’s going on with a near perfect storm of economic issues, RAM issues because of AI (and the economy), and game/console development issues because of the RAM and the economy.

As much as I harp on Ubisoft for never releasing another Splinter Cell – it won’t save them. I get now why they are just, seemingly, going with a remake. It’s been…it’s been 4,689 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,895 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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By now, you know the drill. And it’s a little annoying to have to do this again but as my luck would always have it, our hosting costs went up.

It went from $155 to $191. Odd ass numbers, I know but I’m being as transparent as possible on this cause it means so much to me the generosity and trust you show us.

We had an amazing response last week and were pretty much covered at that point until Monday when Dreamhost emailed me about the price increase.

Again, as before, we appreciate you listening to the show, downloading the audio, watching on YouTube and Twitch. You’re the reason we’re still doing this now in our 20th year. And, also, again, the situation here is not a make or break one. We’re going to cover the funds for hosting, but if help is out there we appreciate whatever you can do.

Again, we want to thank you for your continued support every single year and for however you can help us here. We don’t have merch to offer or anything like that for your donation, but we’ll be forever thankful for whatever you can donate.

And even if you can’t, we’re good. We promise. Thanks for taking the time to read this and thank you for your support and for listening.

-Scott

To start this off I need to thank all of you for listening over the years and being as supportive as you’ve always been. And to specifically thank Dave, Sarah, & Bryan.

We have hosting costs coming up next month and their generosity has gone further than I ever expected to make that possible. This is what was talked about at the beginning of the show and before the first hour was done, we’d already made our goal – thank you each from the bottom of our heart and thank you all for your continued support of this show.

As for the news, that’s about the only happy news we have. I mean, yeah, we cover some more of all the games shown off last week, but then we talk about more closings and people losing their jobs – at both Ubisoft and Microsoft. That and what’s to come for PC and console players alike – which is more price increases. And the outlook for how they’ll go about selling you a brand new Xbox or PS6. While no one has announced prices yet, I think it’s mainly because, right now, at this point in time with the way things are price wise, you’d be asking A LOT from your consumers. We’re likely talking 4-digit prices or the whole 999 thing.

I miss building PCs. That fun little hobby done every several years or so has evidently faded away as well given the prices of components.

Oh, I completely forgot about the “no shows” of our big games reveal week – and at the top of that list you have ONE guess as to what I’m talking about.

Ubisoft…it’s been 4,682 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,300 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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Well, as is every year, we’ve reached the point where EVERYONE wants to show their games.

And it’s too damn much!

Seriously, spread the love here. Not everything has to be done in the first weekend of June. Also, why does everyone think it should? You are not doing any devs or publishers any favors by doing this. The big guns just drown you out. And I’m writing this right now before we get to Microsoft and the PC Gaming Show.

Hundreds of games revealed, announced, updated…and they’re just thrown into the maw. You could spread all of this out over the summer with nearly something almost every week for gamers.

But they wanna cram it into the span of about a week. Do yourself a favor and take some time to watch the different gaming showcases over a longer span of time. You’ll find more games you’re interested in and you’ll have the time to digest them, to think about them, and get a better indication of what all is out there.

This whole episode is a recap of Sony and Summer Games Fest and we barely get through all of it. And that’s just TWO shows. There’s been like…5 or 8 of them already with more to come. And I hate to complain about too many games, right? But that’s not it. I love all the games. I’m complaining because there is no time to come up for air or for any of them to get time in front of your eyes before the next shiny thing comes floating by.

Oh well, still a chance to get a Splinter Cell popping up at some point. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,675 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,300 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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Goodbye. Again.

I was contemplating doing a post during the week break we took. When the Destiny news broke, I’d thought to say some words about it given we’d be another week before we could talk about it.

Never did get around to it so consider this THAT post.

It’s been a few years since I last played Destiny 2. After the ban there was no way for me to do so without starting completely over and I had no intention to walk that road again. Regardless, I was still absolutely stunned to hear that Bungie would cease updating Destiny 2 any further. It suddenly felt a bit like it did when I realized I’d never play the game again.

And then I started reading forums and Reddit posts. They read like eulogies. And suddenly everyone else was feeling what I’d felt a few years ago. I mean, they still had the game to play but they wrote as though the plug was pulled. I get that this means the end of the game. We won’t get new expansions, DLC, news coverage…and without content to fuel the conversations, that’ll eventually go away as well.

The ban never made me angry with the game or the players or the memories I had of it. Might have been a tad peeved with the customer service aspect but them’s the rules and I’d accepted it rather quickly.

But now everyone’s sharing in my feeling of the end of an era. It was a bit of a different ending for me but the result is pretty much the same. The game…is over.

And as I missed it before I will miss it again but this time as everyone else who are…mourning…their losses.

As much as I’d love to count the days until we get a Destiny 3, it’s unlikely to ever happen. Or, that if we do, it might not come from Bungie. So I’ll continue to count for Splinter Cell, and as much as I do want that game, I’ll always hope for what maybe possibly could have been in a 3rd outing of the Destiny franchise.

Ubisoft, it’s been 4,668 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,300 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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As is usual this time of year, we’re not doing a show next week to coincide with a holiday here stateside.

Coming back, we’ll be leading into the big summer game event stuff where we find out that rumors were true or false or better or worse than we expected.

For now, we’ve had a good run of releases. Forza Horizon 6 and Subnautica 2 this past week with LEGO Batman and 007 First Light on the horizon for this week and next. I’m looking forward to both of those latter releases even though it may be some time before I get to one or both of them.

As for everything else, we’re highly anticipating two things. A price/release date for the Steam machines, and more news about GTA6 – mostly the price for that one since we have a release date already. A new trailer is likely on the way as well.

But that Steam machine pricing is a big one considering what’s going on with memory issues and just the overall increase in price of…well, everything. It’s going to be a nice precursor to what we may see as far as prices for the next Xbox and PlayStation.

And it’s probably not going to be good.

Even with the summer fest of games on the horizon, I’m willing to bet good money we still won’t see Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,654 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,300 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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What a strange time to witness the state of video gaming as it currently stands.

I thought 2020 was an odd time with the release of the new consoles but here we are six years later and I’d have never believed you could tell me that those same consoles will be MORE expensive six years later – oh, and we’d have no idea of when the NEXT systems would be released.

That’s the kind of strangeness that I’m talking about. The questions of how we got here and why we got here are already answered. It’s the “when will this end” that we’re trying to figure out and “what’ll it cost”.

Of course, as it has been all year and a good chunk of last, AI is to blame. And those same questions before about the consoles apply to AI. When will it end and what will it have cost us when it does?

Because a price will be paid, in some form or another, for all of this AI stuff.
I mean, we’re currently paying it in the form of the price of RAM and other PC components. And our console price increases, again, SIX years into this generation.

The outlook is bleak.

About as bleak as waiting for a new Splinter Cell game.

Ubisoft, it’s been 4,647 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,300 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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Do we need another controller for something? Well, yes, we do. Do I personally need this controller? No, absolutely not.

I don’t need the Steam controller but I can totally see myself owning one at some point in the future. And I do like the idea of it and what it’s trying to do. I was there for the first one and rarely ever used it – either because of its functionality or the tech for streaming games to a bigger tv from a different room just wasn’t there yet.

But given my time with the SteamDeck and how it controls, I’m pretty optimistic for what this new controller can do. That and reading the reviews of it. Plus, playing the SteamDeck docked as it displays on a larger screen works out just fine given how the Switch works. Not to mention, by the time I ever get around to owning one of these things plenty of other people will have had lots of time with it to get a better idea of how well it works.

So yeah, that’s my thought on the Steam Controller. I won’t be there on day one but I will be there one day.

And one day, I might be playing Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,640 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,298 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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Advertising feels evil. And that’s so strange to say, but I look at how many ways we attempt to avoid it and it feels like it’s something we just don’t want to mess with at all. We skip them on pre-recorded things, we subscribe to ad-free tiers, we try to block them out on our websites…we don’t seem to want them in any part of our lives.

Especially not in our gaming. But it’s already there for some of you. Heavily so in the mobile market. And that’s the part that I’m worried the most will make its way into our other gaming aspects. The ones where you get so much stuff per day and beyond that you either wait or pay or watch ads to gain…something, in the game that is mid beneficial for you. That, or we get to choose a full price game with no ads or a smaller priced game with ads. Something of that kind of…f—kery is likely on the way at some point.

The recent gamepass price drop was a concern. Yes, they dropped the price but if that doesn’t bring people back to it, what then? What lengths are planned to go to get money back into the game, so to speak? Gamepass with ads? A cheaper tier to be sure but how will the ads be implemented and if it’s enough of a revenue generator, how does it stay out of everything else?

Anyway, the ad monsters aren’t here yet and we can all be thankful for that for the time being. But I feel like it’s only a matter of time before someone does something and then the flood gates open for everyone else. I don’t know how bad it’ll get, but I feel like we won’t notice until it’s way too late.

Speaking of late, still no Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,633 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,248 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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I seem to have stumbled upon another “type” of game that I enjoy. The kind of game where you try to break it. Not actually break it but you take its rules and gameplay and find ways to do absurd things with it.

It’s the nature of the game itself and could easily be called “ways to crash your PC”. There was Ball X Pit and CloverPit, Vampire Survivors and Mega Bonk, and now I’m doing the same with Raccoin. I’ll probably stream some gameplay here not long after this has been posted.

I’m always surprised by what can hold my attention. More and more it’s games that let you play for about 30 minutes or so before you’ve done what you needed or wanted to do and then it’s your choice to continue or to stop. It always makes me wonder if my tastes are changing but then I look at what’s coming out that’s exciting to me and realize that no, my tastes are just as they’ve always been. I say that because I saw a new video of the Lego Batman game due next month and I’m just as excited for it as I would be any other game in the Arkham series.

In other news, Matt’s still alive and finally getting around to Cyberpunk. And finally getting around to joining us for his first episode of the year.

In other bad news, more layoffs and more price increases.

In no news whatsoever, we’re still waiting on Splinter Cell. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,626 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,248 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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How’s that line go again? The things we own end up owning us.

It probably doesn’t apply in this instance but we talk about the whole physical and digital ownership thing where, for a good long while now I’ve found myself owning more digital than physical. Likely the case when you prefer playing on PC more than console. And when you have the addition of subscription services it only expands that digital ownership.

And there’s the question of if we even really own these digital copies. Discussion for another time I suppose.

I know this past week saw the price increase of all things PlayStation 5. And while those are outrageous prices I’m almost positive another one will come prior to the release of GTA6. It may come from Sony or Microsoft or both, but expect it to happen if the current state of the world continues. Specifically AI and gas.

That’s about as good as my predictions can get because if you were to ask me about the next Splinter Cell, well, I’d rather try to touch the moon than take on that kind of thinking.

Ubisoft, it’s been 4,612 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,037 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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We took a week off and we wish we came back with good news but it’s still depressing week after week.

This seems likely to be the case going forward. Studio closures and lay offs. It’s just a question of how big each one is and which studio goes next.

We didn’t even cover the recent story about the money being spent with triple A studios. That reminds me – I need to remember to talk about the story next week.

Oh, and more bad news: Nintendo and Sony are raising their prices. Nintendo on their games and Sony on their consoles.

Listen, we’d love to just talk about the games we play and enjoy and we do get around to that, but this industry keeps shooting itself in the foot. And it isn’t the developers. It’s the studios, the corporates, the higher ups making the mistakes and the screw ups and everyone below paying the price for that. It’s the constant need to improve AI and replace people with it. It’s massively over spending and the consequence is laying off over 1000 people in a DAY.

It isn’t the nature of the beast. It isn’t just the way the world works. It can be changed and it NEEDS to be changed.

And if it ever does change we’ll talk about it, but until then we’ll keep pointing it out how it still hasn’t. Every week.

I don’t want to tie in the Splinter Cell clock into such a serious topic so I won’t. But here’s where we stand with waiting on Splinter Cell: 4,605 days.

Also, there’s been 2,883 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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You’ll have to forgive me for getting completely sidetracked as we turn to someone who bought a pre-built PC. But not just ANY pre-built. Dude went ALL out with 64 gigs of RAM and a massive 5090 GPU.

So, yeah, that kinda grabbed my attention a bit there. Given the times we currently live in when we talk about RAM prices going way up and causing the prices of graphics cards to also increase.

All of this was after we started talking about what the next Xbox would likely cost. And what Valve’s Steam Machine might also cost. New tech is always exciting but no matter the thrills, the specs, the bells AND the whistles…it’ll all get kind of buried under the weight of whatever the price tag is. And that’s currently unknown for us. And may be for some time.

At any other point in time previous, we’d already know the price. We’d already have the details. But they’re taking their time on getting there and it’s because of the price of RAM. Full stop.

The Switch 2 got in under the gun and, for now, was able to avoid the spike in prices. But that won’t last much longer before they have to replenish stock and the price will likely affect that. But Valve’s new PC will be our first look at just how bad it has become. And give us a better idea of what to expect from the next Xbox and the PS6.

Start saving.

Ubisoft, it’s been 4,591 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 1,626 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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Listen, there is still bad news. More AI stuff and more studio closings and people losing their jobs. It’s still pretty bleak. And it isn’t likely to change for quite some time.

But, in an effort to not yet again sound like a broken record of just horrible news every week, I’d like to pose a question to you.

If you could wipe the memory of any game you’ve played, so that you could experience it again for the very first time, what would you pick?

What game made such an impression on you that going through it again, with a fresh mind and fresh eyes, would be your choice?

Half-Life 1/2 were amazing games with mechanics we’d never seen before at the time, but if only your memory of it was wiped, would it be what it was then by playing it today?

I had a few picks for myself. Mark Of The Ninja was one. It’s a game I’ve not played in a long time and would likely feel like playing it for the first time. Another was Bioshock Infinite (probably Bioshock 1, as well).

Those two games, while playing them wouldn’t seem at all much different than anything else out there…it’s their stories that I want to experience again for the first time. And it’s a bit hard for me to find something else like that – although I’m sure they exist. I just can’t think of them at the moment. Maybe Braid. Maybe.

So let us know what your picks are. And maybe for a little bit we aren’t thinking about job losses and AI running up the tab on all our fun stuff and everything else going on at the moment. At least for a little bit.

At this point playing ANY Splinter Cell game would feel like I’m playing it for the first time again. Ubisoft, it’s been 4,584 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 1,626 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2026.

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