Vidjagame Apocalypse

Mar 28 2025 500 ep. 137 mins 10.7k

Vidjagame Apocalypse Podcast artwork

Videogame-industry veterans Mikel Reparaz and Anne Lewis rally their colleagues for weekly discussions about games, the industry, and the circus of egos and information that surrounds it all.

Comedy Technology TV & Film

Copy RSS

Subscribe on Podcast Addict

Clothes Make the Character - Vidjagame Apocalypse 620

Mar 28 2025 194 mins

Plenty of games let you change your character's clothes, but in how many does it really matter, from a gameplay standpoint? At least five, which we'll talk about this week with model/stylist/game brand strategist and former journo Aiden Strawhun, who also knows how to talk about Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land way better than the rest of us. We'll als

Games Set (But Not Made) In Japan - Vidjagame Apocalypse 619

Mar 21 2025 202 mins

Assassin's Creed Shadows is out, and we've got IGN's reviewer - friend of the show Jarrett Green - on to talk about Ubi's massive open-world shinobi-and-samurai adventure in feudal Japan! But first, we'll use this as an opportunity to talk about five other games made by western developers, but set in Japan. Once all that's done, we'll talk about the internet's reaction to Karl Urba

Not-Quite-Marios - Vidjagame Apocalypse 618

Mar 14 2025 157 mins

We just passed Mar10 Day this week, and that got us thinking about all the times console makers have thought, "Hey! What if WE had a cute, highly marketable face to sell OUR hardware?" We'll take a look at five of the least successful attempts at machine-exclusive mascots this week, after which we'll get into WWE 2k25 and Wanderstop, share updated thoughts on Monster Hunter Wilds a

Patent-Protected Features - Vidjagame Apocalypse 617

Mar 06 2025 156 mins

Ever wonder why so few games include features like, say, Shadow of Mordor's Nemesis system, or minigames you can play during loading events? It's because they are or were locked behind patents - and this week, Jesse "Street Cleaner" Bishop joins us to talk about five such features - as well as the launch of Street Cleaner 3. Then we'll get into Monster Hunter Wilds, Two Point Museu

Problematic Stars - Vidjagame Apocalypse 616

Feb 28 2025 144 mins

Landing a celebrity to star in your game is usually a huge deal - but like a lot of things, celebrities can go bad over time, turning their games into weird cultural artifacts with unpleasant associations. This week, Anthony Abatte joins us to talk about five games with stars who probablly seemed like a great idea at the time, after which we'll get into Street Cleaner 3, Steam Next

Spiritual Successors (By the Original Creators) - Vidjagame Apocalypse 615

Feb 21 2025 176 mins

With Avowed's launch casting a spotlight on Obsidian this week, we got to thinking about the studio's unique trajectory, and so Trone Dowd — who reviewed Avowed for Inverse — joins us to talk about about studios who got nudged off series they created (for whatever reason), and used their ideas to make something new (but familiar). We'll also get into Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuz

Get the Cables! with Welcome to the Thing - Vidjagame Apocalypse 614

Feb 14 2025 204 mins

Mikel's away this week, so Matt and Chris (with accompanying soundboard) invited the Welcome to the Thing crew to break format a bit with a top 5 that doesn't focus so much on games, but rather game distribution services, technologies, and platforms old and new -- the cable companies of games, if you will. After that, we talk about Civilization VII, more Rift of the Necrodancer, an

Clap if You Believe in Heroes with TL Foster - Vidjagame Apocalypse 613

Feb 07 2025 172 mins

Hero-ing can be a thankless business (apart from all the improbable material rewards for rescuing hapless villagers or whatever), so it's uplifting when games try to show you've made a difference by bringing back all the friends you've made and people you've helped to support you in the final hour. TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins us to talk about five of our favorite such m

Angriest Heroes with Jesse Cox - Vidjagame Apocalypse 612

Jan 30 2025 130 mins

Sometimes it's really empowering to embody a pissed-off rage junkie, the kind of human chainsaw who can charge wildly into every confrontation and savagely batter everything in their path. This week, Jesse Cox joins us for a look at five games that let you do exactly that. Then we'll get our hands bloody with Ninja Gaiden II Black and Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, discover Shady Part o

Origins Oranges Oregons - Vidjagame Apocalypse 611

Jan 25 2025 151 mins

Last week's release of Dynasty Warriors Origins inspired us to spend this episode looking at five of the best games to bear one of the industry's most-overused words in their titles (Origins, of course). Then we'll get into Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, reactions to the Switch 2 reveal, Marvel Snap getting temporarily swallowed by the TikTok ban, and the earliest games you remembe