Jimquisition

We’re just not qualified. Games we played this week include: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (10:30) Metroid Dread (26:50) Granblue Fantasy Relink (32:50) Interaction Isn’t Explicit (35:30) Go Mecha Ball (40:30) Celeste 64 (51:50) --- News things talked about in this episode: Microsoft lays off 8% of its game division despite 49% revenue increase in Q2 (59:05) https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/25/24049050/microsoft-activision-blizzard-layoffs Eidos Montreal staff laid off, previously unannounced Deus Ex game canceled (1:05:05) https://www.polygon.com/24054575/deus-ex-game-canceled-layoffs-eidos-montreal SEGA of America to drop 61 employees in March (52:15) https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sega-of-america-to-lay-off-61-employees Early Suicide Squad players had the game finished for them (59:40) https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-game-pulled-offline-1235890502 Bloodborne Kart won’t be Bloodborne Kart anymore (1:10:00) https://www.eurogamer.net/bloodborne-kart-isnt-allowed-to-be-called-bloodborne-kart-anymore-but-it-is-still-coming --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.

1 Feb 20241h 15min

What a terrible strain. Games we played this week include: Piñata Smashlings (5:35) Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (16:15) Last of Us Part II Remastered (28:15) Palworld (33:35) Home Safety Hotline (48:05) Luck Be a Landlord (53:30) --- News things talked about in this episode: MiG Switch flash cart could lead to bans for second-hand game buyers (59:05) Rockstar and Remedy logo thing got settled late last year (1:05:05) https://www.eurogamer.net/take-two-and-remedy-in-trademark-dispute-over-r-logo Developer Piranha Bytes seemingly dropped by Embracer Group (52:15) https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-owned-elex-studio-piranha-bytes-is-trying-to-save-itself-from-closure-dont-write-us-off-yet/ Riot lays off more than a tenth of its staff (59:40) https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/2024-rioter-update After selling off all their previously acquired IP, Square Enix things it needs more diverse offerings (1:10:00) https://www.ign.com/articles/square-enix-president-says-the-company-wants-to-release-fewer-more-diverse-games --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com. Photo Credit: Rebecca Brown / CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED

25 Jan 20241h 14min

Sounds like a cozy spot, doesn’t it? Games we played this week include: Luck be a Landlord (4:25) The Super Mario Bros. Movie (17:20) Last of Us Part II Remastered (24:30) The Gnorp Apologue (33:15) Legend of Grimrock (39:25) Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (39:25) The Shopping List (49:40) The Witcher 3 (51:20) Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (51:55) Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (53:40) --- News things talked about in this episode: UK retailer GAME ends trade-ins because locations are increasingly in Sports Direct stores (43:30) https://www.eurogamer.net/uk-retailer-game-to-cease-video-game-trade-ins-staff-say Rockstar and Remedy Games in a legal tiff over their logos (49:30) https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/01/16/rockstar-parent-company-take-two-files-trademark-dispute-over-remedys-logo Lost Boys latest studio hit by Embracer layoffs (52:15) https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-owned-lost-boys-interactive-reportedly-undergoes-sizable-layoffs/ GameShark re-emerges as AI company and drops a Switch 2 release date rumor (59:40) https://kotaku.com/switch-2-release-date-leak-ces-gameshark-ai-shark-1851159992 --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.

18 Jan 20241h 17min

Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean we all should be. Games we played this week include: God of War: Ragnarok (7:45) Luck be a Landlord (15:50) Grand Theft Auto V (22:25) Lies of P (23:15) Buckshot Roulette (26:40) Pokémon (30:10) Orc Massage (33:25) --- News things talked about in this episode: Another round of layoffs hits Unity, Twitch, and Bossa Studios (43:30) https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/8/24030695/unity-layoff-staff-25-percent https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2024/01/10/a-difficult-update-about-our-workforce/ https://www.gamesindustry.biz/bossa-studios-lays-off-one-third-of-its-staff Netflix considering plan to insert ads into its published games (49:30) https://www.wsj.com/business/media/netflix-eyes-ways-to-make-money-from-videogames-in-potential-pivot-705bd3b3 SAG-AFTRA makes AI deal for game voice workers seemingly without consulting them (52:15) https://www.pcgamesn.com/sag-aftra-ai-voice-actor-reaction Lawsuit claims discrimination at Activision-Blizzard against old, white men (59:40) https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ex-activision-exec-accuses-publisher-of-discriminating-against-old-white-guys Xbox bans Baldur’s Gate 3 players who have default share settings on while saving sexy content (1:05:45) https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-insists-its-willy-nilly-bans-of-baldurs-gate-3-players-from-its-online-services-are-not-automatic-suggests-turning-off-its-opt-out-feature-to-avoid-horny-upload-crimes/ --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com. Photo Credit: Santosh Kumar

11 Jan 20241h 11min

Let the accusations commence!

10 Jan 202449min

The future is inevitable. Games we played this week include: Tekken 8 (23:35) Grand Theft Auto V (26:50) Midnight Suns (40:55) --- News things talked about in this episode: Switch flash cartridge announced, internet immediately links Gary Bowser to it (14:55) https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/jailed-nintendo-hacker-gary-bowser-denies-link-to-new-switch-flash-cart/ Square Enix will commit even harder to AI in 2024 (47:10) https://kotaku.com/square-enix-president-artificial-intelligence-ai-games-1851133573 As Kotick leaves ABK, former employees point out how he made games worse (1:21:50) https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/01/former-call-of-duty-dev-says-decisions-made-by-bobby-kotick-made-our-games-worse --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com. Photo Credit: Hamed Saber

4 Jan 20241h 1min

Oh, yeah, that thing is about to happen isn’t it? Games we played this week include: Vampire Survivors (18:35) Midnight Suns (19:40) Grand Theft Auto V (25:24) Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (33:25) Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising (41:15) Diceheart (53:20) Slay the Princess (1:00:00) --- News things talked about in this episode: Ransomware group releases trove of material stolen from Insomniac Games (1:07:15) https://www.cyberdaily.au/culture/9959-snikt-rhysida-dumps-more-than-a-terabyte-of-insomniac-games-internal-data Internal Sony documents give candid view of concerns over ABK acquisition (1:19:15) https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/microsoft-could-disrupt-and-threaten-playstation-business-sonys-alleged-xbox-fears-laid-bare-in-massive-hack ABK studios are ending hybrid work (1:21:50) https://www.eurogamer.net/abk-workers-alliance-responds-to-activision-blizzard-ending-hybrid-working ABK settles California worker discrimination suit (1:24:20) https://www.wsj.com/tech/activision-blizzard-to-pay-around-50-million-to-settle-lawsuit-that-spurred-microsofts-takeover-4dc1178b Valve delivers festive DOTA 2 bans (1:26:00) https://www.polygon.com/24002666/dota-2-frostivus-2023-bans-valve-toxic-lump-coal --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com. Photo Credit: Daderot

21 Des 20231h 32min

Back to the drawing board. Games we played this week include: Vampire Survivors (18:35) Grand Theft Auto V (26:40) Thirsty Suitors (33:55) Persona 5 Tactica (39:25) --- News things talked about in this episode: E3 officially pronounced dead after years on life support (41:15) https://kotaku.com/is-e3-dead-2023-canceled-esa-1851092261 Zelda producer thinks older style Zelda games are worthless garbage now (49:10) https://www.ign.com/articles/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-interview-nintendo-eiji-aonuma-hidemaro-fujibayashi The Day Before imploded a few days after (53:05) https://www.eurogamer.net/the-day-before-publisher-apologises-for-game-as-steam-refunds-open Union workers at Zenimax get historic win over use of AI (1:02:30) https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/zenimax-union-strike-tentative-agreement-over-ai-usage-in-workplace --- Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday. Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com. Photo Credit: Tony Knox

14 Des 20231h 7min