AnavCast

Get a discount on home Game Pass installs today!• 02:20 - Game Pass pricing/restructure• 24:44 - Mouse PI game• 27:04 - Church budget meeting• 30:07 - Tycoon games nostalgia• 41:06 - Tiny Bookshop• 48:07 - Xbox logo redesign• 53:24 - Phil Spencer discussion

Whose red truck is that?!• 00:08 - Japan Flower Park• 03:49 - Home Floor Repairs• 17:09 - Xbox Project Helix• 27:41 - Apple CEO Change• 36:57 - Achievement Updates• 46:26 - Multiplayer Socialization• 51:35 - Store Hours

Farmer performs a verification test to prove his identity after his social media accounts were hacked.

Some things are just true. For everything else, there's Mastercard. #unsponsored• 01:55 - Game sharing• 05:58 - Switch 2 features• 11:52 - Digital vs physical• 25:52 - Console pricing• 36:27 - Steam Machine• 47:47 - Moana live-action• 54:37 - Ending franchises

There's like always one episode a season where DiJaDi is just plain-out wrong about something.• 00:59 - Firefly animated series• 19:07 - Animation vs live action discussion• 32:42 - Johnnie buys another Switch 2• 43:36 - Halo lore• 61:29 - Movie theater showtimes

No, this is not episode four.• 00:48 - High Guard shutdown• 02:16 - Digital fashion• 14:18 - Game development costs• 21:23 - Marathon vs High Guard• 29:04 - Live service games• 38:43 - Personal opinions• 64:25 - Collections

*This is not a financial podcast.• 01:11 Show production• 02:32 Steam hardware• 07:04 Bungie's Marathon• 13:15 Overwatch discussion• 21:27 Power washing• 33:36 Resident Evil• 54:51 Dresden books

You know what we're talking about this week.Or you will. Maybe. If we bother explaining it.

Belief is an action. Geoff Keighley, I love you.• 00:33 - Steam Machine Price• 03:00 - High Guard Game• 07:16 - Original IPs vs Sequels• 17:27 - Discord Age Verification• 30:38 - Privacy Concerns• 42:06 - Sacrificing for Beliefs• 47:41 - Mobile Gaming Future

Welcome to the first audio-only episode of our video podcast.• 00:18 - Audio-only visual podcast• 01:33 - High Guard game discussion• 07:20 - Jeff Keighley promotion impact• 21:24 - Steam Machine announcement• 35:40 - PC vs. console gaming debate

Now sponsored by Atlas, the AI browser (not really)!• 00:12 Introductions• 01:32 Award Categories• 19:38 Best Book• 21:18 AI Discussion• 31:23 YouTube Timecodes• 40:26 PowerWash Simulator• 43:55 Closing Recommendations

• 00:49 - Xbox ads• 02:46 - Cloud gaming implementation• 11:05 - Ad-supported gaming• 24:55 - Lord of the Rings• 31:59 - Passionate filmmaking• 37:15 - Steam machine price• 39:56 - Johnnie's Game Pass setup

Crazy that we still don't know.03:59 - Ark addiction11:20 - Steam Deck WoW17:32 - Assassin's gateway23:30 - Steam Machine mystery27:33 - Consumer goodwill32:14 - Dragon romance39:32 - Victory laps

It's the end of an era, and the start of a new one! Happy New Year!

Life is hard. Get a helmet and universal healthcare.

A famous villain once said "let the past die; kill it if you have to." But he also ended that sentence with a preposition, so that might be bad advice.00:00 - Warner Brothers acquisition

Halo and gruntbye.00:00 - Halo

Worse than you could have ever imagined.00:10 - Introductions02:38 - Octopath Traveler03:26 - Xbox naming12:05 - Controller comparisons38:12 - Allowance systems48:19 - Steam Deck testing56:36 - Friendo Year Endo 2025 nominations

The Steam Room is your starting point in the Steam Frame when you're connected to your Steam Machine with your Steam Controller using the Steam Pads and the Steam Pipeline to play your Steam Library.• 00:11 - Intro• 01:04 - Power supply issues• 05:11 - Fortnite iOS• 11:14 - Steam hardware• 30:20 - Xbox concerns• 54:57 - Game Pass• 65:34 - Console future

The new Halo game will end an hour later on Playstation but only during winter.• 00:11 - Podcast absence• 02:13 - Daylight savings• 20:11 - Halo remake• 25:18 - Adding sprint• 29:52 - Story closure• 36:30 - Gears timeline• 46:28 - Game pricing

Look, you all heard me NOT say his mic was fine.• 00:10 - Episode introduction• 00:48 - Mic drops• 04:05 - Computers are problematic• 09:55 - Reading habits• 26:32 - Digital vs physical media• 36:40 - Gaming achievements• 43:31 - Upcoming games• 51:34 - Final Fantasy release

AnavCast is going to be the first Game Pass-exclusive podcast in the world at this rate.• 00:33 - Computer breakdown• 01:18 - Mac vs PC• 20:55 - Healthcare systems• 34:00 - Gaming subscriptions• 40:14 - Final Fantasy Tactics• 45:32 - Game Pass pricing• 53:48 - Subscription exclusives

Funeral services are to be conducted imminently, as soon as Farmer rejoins us.00:00 - Xbox

Johnnie sounds bad. Please don't donate. We like the shoe being on the other foot. Also, Game Pass is still cool (the price increase happened ~32ish hours after this episode was recorded).00:12 - Audio Setup07:04 - Helldivers 211:29 - Final Fantasy Tactics41:55 - Physical Media52:32 - Game Collecting

The Observer Effect is a real thing, and we know because the ghost of Farmer is here.00:36 - Family vacation stress01:38 - Family business dynamics04:47 - Gaming with Helldivers10:05 - Japanese holidays12:45 - Xbox game news

Farmer is in absentia today to be able to carry on AnavCast after we get kicked off the air.01:58 - Nintendo Direct05:05 - Switch Availability15:30 - iPhone 1728:41 - iPhone Air42:07 - AirPods Translation50:25 - Language Learning

We go a little mental with how our brains make gaming associations - from where we play affecting how much we enjoy games, to how updates can clash with our mental image of what a game "should" be.• 00:12 - The Phantom Farmer• 03:41 - Helldivers 2 Strats• 07:30 - Gaming Space• 14:03 - Nobody Wants to Die• 24:26 - Can Games Change Too Much?

The irony is, the game launch wasn't for four more hours.• 00:44 - Season 9 kickoff• 02:10 - Halo on PlayStation• 07:30 - Xbox's hardware future• 13:26 - Microsoft's gaming strategy• 33:46 - PlayStation's verification fee

The full main cast returns for their contractual audio appearance as we talk about whatever Johnnie wants to talk about, including doxxing DiJaDi's very first job and how some dogs just aren't very good ones.• 00:26 - Show Updates• 03:17 - Theater Experiences• 13:40 - Game Difficulty Settings• 23:57 - Music Release Strategy• 30:31 - Seasonal Music Trends• 41:29 - Upcoming Prequels• 46:27 - Social Media Evolution

Lean back, and don't trust Farmer.• 00:13 - Skywalker Family Drama• 05:46 - East Coast Meetup Plans• 12:03 - Horizon Game Lawsuit• 28:47 - WoW Leaning Update• 34:17 - Baldur's Gate Chaos• 44:02 - Too Many Hobbies• 51:54 - Jurassic Flight Simulator

From flea markets to subscription services, games sure have changed. Or maybe we're just old.• 01:59 - Flea market game swapping• 13:43 - Halo x Fortnite event• 18:07 - Battlefield stays grounded• 29:40 - Future of Halo• 40:47 - Game Pass economics• 53:23 - Sales vs subscriptions

Johnnie Who and the Invisible Snares.

The full crew reunites for a deep dive into modern storytelling, exploring how the best tales are the ones that don't hold your hand.• 00:34 - Summer movie marathons & franchise formulas• 05:41 - Modern storytelling & audience engagement• 17:06 - Gaming narratives & player choice• 29:19 - Batman films: past & future• 43:30 - Tech & streaming platform updates

Look up - that's where the prices are.

Sometimes you just need to shut up and take a vacation.

Gaming is hard on the back, and not enough people talk about this.

.

It's the end of an era.

.We don't discuss the Nintendo Switch 2. Like, at all.

We spiral from traumatized toddlers to heated piracy debates, somehow managing to make Magic: The Gathering sound both fun and morally superior.• 00:12 - Craig's in trouble• 01:05 - Dental drama with toddlers• 02:35 - Xbox exclusives dying• 15:06 - Magic addiction begins• 35:33 - Nintendo's iron grip• 49:19 - Piracy ethics throwdownAll death threats must be directed only to DiJaDi, and include an attachment of $5, and must be completely in jest, or else they'll be reported to the appropriate authorities and considered prosecutable.

A tech-laden therapy session about Johnnie's HDMI switcher woes that somehow devolved into yet another conversation about Destiny 2, proving that like an ex you can't quite get over, Bungie's space opera keeps pulling DiJaDi back in despite its questionable life choices.• [00:11] HDMI switcher troubles• [17:27] DiJaDi returns to Destiny 2• [29:25] Star Wars crossover controversy• [34:41] New mech vs tank mode• [37:55] Octopath Traveler review• [41:11] Destiny's story problems• [46:40] Police Simulator announcement

The crew grumbles about manufactured holidays and gaming price hikes, while ironically plotting to create their own totally-not-fake holiday called Anav Day.• 00:11 - Show Intros• 03:01 - Fake Holidays• 25:18 - Xbox Pricing• 34:59 - Game Pass Value• 42:27 - Switch Hardware• 44:09 - Gears Remaster• 48:31 - Anav Day Plans

Somehow managing to connect Pope Francis's passing to a hatred of cozy games, we meander through gaming news while actively avoiding anything resembling relaxation or staying on topic.• 01:07 - Pope Francis tribute• 04:16 - Anti-cozy games manifesto• 14:22 - Switch 2 pricing debate• 27:56 - Japanese housing repair scam• 32:54 - Gaming news roundup

We discuss Bungie's new game, Marathon, while debating the eternal struggle between premium vs. free-to-play games, all while nursing our collective Destiny-shaped emotional wounds.• 00:09 - Sakura festival and Marathon announcement• 13:31 -The problem with free-to-play games• 28:15 = Battle passes and gaming burnout• 34:33 - Marathon's marketing approach• 39:48 - Nintendo Switch 2 and Astroneer news

The crew dives into Nintendo's upcoming Switch 2 and its pricing drama, bouncing between defending and criticizing the gaming giant's decisions while taking entertaining detours through gaming history - from GameCube classics to the days of swapping CD-ROMs between computers.• 00:10 - Switch 2 Basics• 06:34 - Price Talk• 15:00 - Old Tech Stories• 22:27 - Handheld Gaming• 37:37 - Japan vs World• 46:45 - Digital Future

In this season opener, Johnnie and DiJaDi prove that all of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again, as they cycle through familiar patterns: starting with gaming news like Game Informer's revival before inevitably wandering into passionate tangents about book adaptations, Fast & Furious movies, and their shared nostalgia for older games - all while playfully noting the ironic absence of their colleague who demanded the new recording time.• 00:10 - Show intro and schedule changes• 03:05 - Game Informer news• 19:23 - Fast & Furious talk• 24:19 - Wheel of Time discussion• 34:12 - Minecraft updates• 41:24 - Assassin's Creed retrospective

This train has no breaks.

It's Sea of Thieves in Space!

The monolith crumbled. Seeds were planted. A new world is just beginning, as the old one is salted.

Maybe the correlation between Farmer finding out he's not paid and his frequent absences isn't coincidental.