Game Buoy Podcast Episode 175 – Very Emergency: Game Buoy Remake Project Episode 2

Ahoy, mateys, and welcome to the GAMEBUOY.ORG video game podcast – your port of call for gaming news and views that maybe aren’t on your radar, but most definitely should be! On this episode, recorded Sunday, May 25, 2025, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy discuss the current state of gaming journalism!

This episode is part of the Game Buoy Remake Project, a series of themed episodes revisiting previously discussed topics. This week, the Podcast Pirates follow up on Game Buoy Podcast Episode 6 – Gaming Journalism and the Industry, originally published July 1, 2012.

HOT TOPIC IS THE WAY THAT WE RHYME [2:32]

– Aftermath gave space for former Polygon employees to say goodbye to to the site and share their favorite memories.
– Kingdom Hearts Missing-Link has been canceled.
– Square Enix has shared new screenshots from Kingdom Hearts IV.
– Sony is considering increasing the price of the PS5 to compensate for tariffs.
– Doug Bowser says that physical games are still key part of Nintendo’s business.
– FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time sold 500,000 copies in its first two days!
– LEVEL-5 has announced a free DLC update coming for FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time called ‘Update the World!’
– Danganronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka has announced a new multi-genre adventure game, SHUTEN ORDER, due out September 5 for the Nintendo Switch eShop and PC via Steam.

RELEASE UPDATES [22:29]

– Tales of the Shire: A Lord of the Rings Game is out on July 29, with a limited physical release on PS5 and Switch, and available digitally on both platforms as well as Xbox Series and PC.
– Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra has been delayed to early 2026.
– Killer Instinct Gold is now available on Nintendo 64 – Nintendo Switch Online.
– Toaplan Arcade Collection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 is out for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and Switch on August 14 in the west, two weeks ahead of its Japanese release.
– Parasol Superstars comes out on September 16 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, and Switch.
– Persona 5: The Phantom X is launches on June 26 for iOS, Android, and PC via Steam.
– Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II is coming to PS5 this summer.

CULTURE CLUB [25:19]

– The title of the next Super Mario Bros. movie appears to be Super Mario World.
– Blue Protocol: Star Resonance is launching for PC and mobile in English this year.
– Hideo Kojima has a USB drive with ideas for games for Kojima Productions to use after his death.
– Jade Raymond has departed Haven Interactive Studios.
– A Monster Hunter Wilds x Street Fighter 6 collaboration is coming to Monster Hunter Wilds starting on May 28.
– The Leeroy Jenkins video is celebrating its 20th anniversary.

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO [32:32]

– Final Fantasy XI was almost shifted into maintenance mode in 2024, but an outpouring of fan support changed Square Enix’s mind.
– A UNIQLO x Pokémon Trading Card Game line of shirts will arrive in August.
– Ultra Beasts are coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket in the new Extradimensional Crisis expansion pack, coming on May 29.

SO CONTROVERSIAL [42:54]

– Players made a Darth Vader AI in Fortnite say terrible things, and SAG-AFTRA has filed an unfair labor practice charge.
– Nintendo of America updated its EULA so that it can brick your console if it detects you are running a modded console or pirated software.
– WizKids’ Baldur’s Gate 3 minis were so bad that the company had to offer refunds.
– Bungie has admitted that stolen artwork was used in Marathon‘s alpha build.
– Geoguessr has pulled out of the Esports World Cup due to Saudi Arabia’s history of human rights violations.
– Randy Pitchford responded to concerns that Borderlands 4 may cost $80 by saying that “real fans” will figure out a way to buy it.

DOOM AND GLOOM [1:01:42]

– The Lego Group has shut down the fan game Bionicle: Masks of Power after years of development.
– Tribe Nine will shut down in early 2026, after only eight months of operation.
– Gun Media is ending development on Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Game less than two years after its release.

RUMOR HAS IT [1:08:26]

– Friday the 13th: The Game may be getting a revival.
– Marketing for Marathon has reportedly been canceled following the plagiarism controversy.
– An Arc System Works leak may have given insight into why so many third party Switch 2 titles will be coming out on Game Key Cards.
– Rayman looks to be getting an AAA revival after last year’s announcement of an “exploration phase.”
– Shuhei Yoshida said that sequels for fan favorite PS Vita games Soul Sacrifice and Freedom Wars were in development before resources were shifted to the development of the PS4.

DISCUSSION TOPIC [1:18:01]

This week, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy discuss the current state of games journalism! As part of the Game Buoy Remake Project initiative, they take a look back at Game Buoy Podcast Episode 6 – Gaming Journalism and the Industry. Back in 2012, games journalism was a bit of a “boy’s club” with an incestuous relationship with the gaming industry, and the Podcast Pirates were championing sites such as 1UP that should have been the standard rather than the exception. Now, over a decade later, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy reflect on the status of games journalism in the wake of Polygon’s mass layoffs and Giant Bomb’s newfound independence. Thanks to Pete Volk’s Polygon “exit interviews” and investigative reporting from Aftermath’s Luke Plunkett, they share insights directly from those in the field. The Podcast Pirates then examine how games journalism has improved and declined since 2012, and how their expectations have changed. They discuss what they would like to see from gaming journalism moving forward, and contextualize its current state of affairs in the larger sphere of journalism as a whole, its relationship with late-stage capitalism, and a societal shift in the way consumers engage with journalism and the news.

Resources discussed:

– Pete Volk’s Polygon Exit Interviews
– ‘There Are So Few Of Us Left’: Even Full-Time Games Journalists At Big Websites Are Feeling It In 2025 (Aftermath)
– Freelance Video Game Journalists Are Propping Up The Industry, And Many Are Being Paid Dogshit In Return (Aftermath)

WHAT’S UP [2:10:16]

Captain Spike has been playing Assassin’s Creed Shadows and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. First Mate Slaggy McWaggy has been playing Balatro and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

SOCIAL LINKS QUESTION OF THE WEEK [2:19:53]

Hello folks, this week we’re looking at the recent kerfuffles in games journalism impacting beloved sites Giant Bomb and Polygon! Are you excited for Giant Bomb’s newfound independence?

BONUS QUESTION

What is your games journalism/news destination nowadays? It seems so many great sites have dried up! Keep sharing the links!

SUPER DELUXE BONUS QUESTION

What defunct gaming sites of yesteryear do you miss/wish were still in operation? (Please only respond if you’re comfortable with us reading your responses on air, thanks! )

EXITLUDE [2:24:02]

SHOUT OUTS – “FRIENDS OF BUOY”

– Orange Lounge Radio, where every gamer has a voice
– Aftermath, an independent, worker-owned website about video games, other media and internet culture
– The Bobby Blackwolf Show, a weekly internet radio show and podcast discussing the latest news in gaming as well as sometimes reminiscing about gaming’s history
– Video Game Realness, a dose of gaming chit chat among friends
– Nintendo Pow Block, a dive into the week that was in the world of Nintendo
– Sasha’s Retrobytes, “bytes” of vintage gaming including magazine scans and photographs
– Defunct Games, your daily source for modern video game reviews, exciting trivia competitions and old school magazine analysis
– Craig, Slaggy McWaggy’s robot boyfriend a multi-track voice channel recording bot for Discord

Also, our theme music was done by the late, great Zelda Reorchestrated, which lives on in the form of ZREO: Second Quest!

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