Total Playtime

It’s an emergency episode this week: both Alice and Brendy were away, so I had to dial in from Vegas to assist Nate in judgement of the main news events. This lead to some sub-optimal audio and a diminished runtime, for which I can only beg your forgiveness. Other errors include misrepresenting how mobile game advertising works and incorrectly saying that Frank Oz puppeteered ET, when in fact ET was played by three different actors. Just a shining example of what happens without Alice there to organise things, really, although we do nail the segues so we’ve got that going for us. You can listen to the episode right here, or find it on your podcasting platform of choice.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWAcast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeThanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, to Marsh Davies for our art, God Ribbon for our music and Alix Attenborough for our editing. Send us your preferred endings and ET at [email protected]. Enjoy the benefits of our partnership with jank.cool. If you like the podcast, please leave us a positive review on your podcast platform of choice: it helps other people discover it,and think how much fun they’ll have.Links!Barry Manilow can be seen at the Westgate every month this year. Hades 2 changed the ending and that’s fine actually because mythology. Microsoft Gaming is Xbox again. Game Pass Ultimate is a bit cheaper and won’t have new Calls of Duty in it. Jonty wrote about Samson for Jank. Boiling Point’s patch notes are rightly famous. The NYT on Dwarf Fortress. Ea-nāṣir achieved immortality. Games!Horizon: Zero Dawn. Mass Effect 3. Turns out somebody made a game based on bad mobile game ads but not in the way I thought. Dwarf Fortress on Steam. Recommendations!Make some blood bread and watch One Battle After Another.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a rare treat this week’s episode is not talking about layoffs, but I contrived to introduce them as additional context for Pete Hines being savagely critical of what happened to Bethesda, so the narrative thread is maintained. Otherwise this is quite a good-natured look at the latest PC gaming happenings, including what turned out to be some extremely inaccurate guesses at what hackers had stolen from Rockstar, and what will doubtless prove to be extremely inaccurate guesses at what’s in Epic’s Disney-character extraction shooter.Other highlights this week include Brendy driving up some hills and becoming troubled by them, Nate establishing himself as our resident Jeff Kaplan correspondent, and the ease with which you can Mandela Event yourself into believing just about any idiotic Gamergate-y conspiracy theory is a real thing because they’re all so ridiculous as to be plausible. Plus: troublesome dogs, IRL Pope beef, some very ill-advised rake-stepping on the topic of classic Square Enix games and our judgement of three recently-released videogames, which is a lot rarer than it should be given that’s what the podcast is supposed to be about. We make no promises as to if this will continue. Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen. You can join them to unlock more episodes at https://www.patreon.com/c/TotalPlaytimePodcast. Thanks also to Marsh Davies for our art, God Ribbon for our music and Alix Attenborough for our editing. Tell us why rental cars don’t have automatic gearboxes and why Jonty and Nate are wrong about Kingdom Hearts at [email protected]. Enjoy the benefits of our partnership with jank.cool. If you like the podcast, please leave us a positive review on your podcast platform of choice: it helps other people discover it, and think how much fun they’ll have.Links!Jeff Kaplan revealed that Blizzard did not amend the size of Tracer’s butt. Rockstar was hacked again but didn’t even care, and since we recorded the episode it was revealed that the data was just proof of how much money it makes from GTA Online, the leaking of which actually caused Take Two’s share price to increase so yeah that all checks out. GTA 6 is coming out on 19th November FYI. There was some IRL Avignon pope beef. Pete Hines has some opinions about what happened to Bethesda, which is not entirely surprising. Bloomberg reported that Epic is making an extraction shooter with Disney characters. Jeremy Peel talked to the Samson devs. Games!Jeff Kaplan’s new game is The Legend of California. Kingdom Hearts 4 is coming. Tlatoani: Aztec Cities. Samson. Moves Of The Diamond Hand. Exit 8. Recommendations!Exit 8, War Machine, Takdaneh Natural Sour Cherry Juice, Primal and Rosie Cheeks Slime Shop.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we have fun (for a given value of fun) discussing Epic's mass layoffs, Sony's dynamic price testing, and the difficulty in reviewing Crimson Desert, maybe. One of these results on an extended discussion of the world's favourite glassy-eyed YouTuber. Please note, Jimmy, that the title is a lighthearted joke; I beg, do not turn your eye of Sauron upon us. Plus! Brendy gets unaccountably upset at us for saying things about mining but in a way that sort of implies we find mining sexually arousing. He genuinely seemed upset during recording as well. I don't think it was a bit. iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeThanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Send in what your regional time for woodlice is to [email protected]. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.Links!Epic shitcanned a thousand people, and the Fortnite team are a bit like 'WELP'. Chet Falizsek went on a tear about it. Rumours abound that PlayStation are testing dynamic pricing. Now maybe spotted in the wild? Crimson Desert for some reason became the latest saviour of single player games (I think off the strength of one cool trailer maybe??) and then was distinctly mid. Paul Tassi wrote about how the review build was significantly different to the retail version.Games!Reanimal, Slay The Spire 2, and Hardspace Shipbreaker (and Edwin did write an article about the unionisation aspects!)Recommendations!The UK series of Last One Laughing, the sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary, and to look up and attend any of your local amateur dramatics societies.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we bring you an accidentally AI-themed extravaganza, as Krafton lost their Unknown Worlds/Subnautica 2 lawsuit for the funniest reason possible: they asked ChatGPT what to do. But just before that, Nvidia unveiled their new Super Sampling and its more like Super SLOP, am I right? Many came out to mock the TikTok-beauty-filterfication of Grace from Resi Requiem. And just before that, Jeff Kaplan, formerly Jeff from the Overwatch team (he's always the Queen from the Overwatch team of our hearts) dealt with some residual C-suit trauma by going on a podcast. Not this one, though. Maybe one day.You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting app of choice:iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeThanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art, Alix Attenborough for our editing, and God Ribbon for our music. Do not email me about Disco Elysium at [email protected]. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.Links!ARC Raiders is replacing some of the genAI, and Digital Foundry saw Nvidia's DLSS5 and thought it was great, but everyone else made fun of it. Nvidia's CEO says we're all wrong; Kotaku asked a bunch of devs and they all hate it too. The Subnautica 2 lawsuit got weird (apparently it's coming out in May now, a decision Brendy describes as 'SUSPICIOUSLY fast'), Jeff Kaplan had a bad time.Games!Nate clamped his own mouth shut rather than talk about AoEII again, but Brendy has been playing Slay The Spire 2, and Alice has been playing Esoteric Ebb! They wrote about them on a website. Alice also got to play the demo for the upcoming Darkside Detective game, Backside of the Moon. She was very excited.Recommendations!1997 Australian comedy The Castle, Death Rider by Rhuairidh James, and commissioning an independent artist (specifically, this one) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s a quiet one this week, as Alice is away doing mysterious things and Nate is away on a secret mission which you’ll have to hear about in two weeks’ time. It thus falls to Jonty and Brendy to ruminate on Xbox without Phil Spencer, games journalism without humans, and deciding which Pokémon starter would be the best restaurant starter. You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting app of choice:iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Submit your Pokémon recipes at [email protected]. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.Links!Phil Spencer left Xbox, along with Sarah Bond. Everybody except Brendy regards him as a lovely bloke who knew a lot about games. The new boss is a creation of pure business and maybe that’s for the best. Metacritic pulled the Videogamer’s Resi Requiem review for being written by AI after nearly all the staff were laid off. Clint Hocking has left Ubisoft again. We would only eat one of the new Pokémon starters. Games!The tooth-cleaning game Jonty couldn't remember was Shark Dentist. Brendy loves Airframe Ultra; you may also consider Star Wars: Galactic Racer and Deathgrip. The other games we played were The Ratline, Beyond Words, Word Play and Resident Evil Requiem. Marathon is out today so you can find out yourself if Jonty’s just really bad at it.Recommendations!Werner Herzog’s Instagram and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week it's a conspiracy theory special, as Alice develops increasingly outlandish theories about the forces and decisions that shape the games industry, the pharmaceutical industy and the world, and Jonty and Brendy try and talk her down. Plus, layoffs again, pondering the ideological opposite of Rivers Cuomo, why the AI era is dumb and stupid, and a truly inspired Alien: Isolation mod idea.You can download the podcast right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen (join them here!) and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Submit to the Sausage Mailbag at [email protected]. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool.Links!AI is eating all the RAM. Component shortages are coming for routers. If you want to read 10,000 words about OpenAI being a scam then Ed Z has you covered. Rob Fahey on how consoles left families behind. Lots of Highguard devs got laid off. Do not post on X. Some industry lessons from the Highguard launch, one of which is that the world can change a lot over the course of a game's development. There are some wildly disparate voice actors in Mewgenics and Edmund McMillen swears that's intentional. He also went on Post Games.Games!Mewgenics. Super Meat Boy. Relooted. South of Midnight.Recommendations!Glen Baxter. This game engine is from the 90s. Columbo is on Channel 5 in the UK and a number of episodes are up on YouTube.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was claimed that Sydney Sweeney was excited about the Split Fiction movie, and that’s an excuse for Alice to be absolutely livid about the Split Fiction game, so please strap in for ten uninterrupted minutes of her choking on her own bile. After that, we manage to find time to discuss the nature of Morrowind, people choosing not to go to GDC, Highguard’s doomed pact with Geoff Keighley, the most Alan Partridge thing Alice has ever said, and more.You can download the podcast right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeThanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. Share your recommendations of games and shrimp at [email protected]. Make the most of our partnership by viewing Jank.cool and perhaps joining the Discord.Links!Syd is not actually hype about the Split Fiction script. Bruce Nesmith reckons Morrowind doesn’t hold up. Nate never visited the Crab Palace. Lots of people said they’re skipping GDC this year but the organisers say it’s fine. Highguard’s debut went badly which the dev considers “risky in hindsight”, although they’re trying hard and the 5v5 mode is now permanent. Please enjoy MerritK’s post in the Jank newsletter, and the rest of Jank.cool come to that. Iron Lung is in cinemas now. Brendy reviewed TR49. Games!Split Fiction. The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Highguard is free. Everything Is Crab. TR49. Recommendations!Moldovan Rara Neagra, Shitstorm by Fernando Sdrigotti, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, Andycruns on BlueSky. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode was previously exclusive to our Patreon backers, but we're making it available to everybody to show what you're missing behind the paywall. You can get access to more Text Adventure plus a year of other subscriber episodes, at patreon.com/TotalPlaytimePodcast.Text Adventure is our videogame book club, in which we and a guest read a videogame novelisation and try very hard to like it. In this episode we are joined by Johnny Chiodini to read Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, which turns out to be story about a neocon Alan Partridge who's totally devoid of emotional intelligence and incredibly bad at stealth. Which is quite close to how we played Splinter Cell but not, we suspect, the outcome they were aiming for for. Music by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon backers. Please consider joining them and enabling us to continue our quest to find a games book that isn't absolutely terrible.Games!You can still buy the first Splinter Cell game, but the remake is out soon(ish)LinksThis is the book most of us read and this is the one Nate read.Recommendations!Going to the charity shops in the most fancy area available to you, London Centric's snail farmer mafioso article, thermal instant cameras, and the Realms Unknown podcast which has featured our own Nate! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a heady intersection of belief systems this week, as we combine Alice's insomniac enthusiasm for weird Instagram crystal sales with Nate's rigorous interrogation of Tim Cain's Types Of Quests. Plus: a horny dog, a nightmarish Pikachu, the Roman god of webinars and Games Anubis joins our increasingly incoherent pantheon.You can listen to the episode right here, or find it in your podcasting apps:iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Nate's Quiz will be coming to Patreon next month, but in the meantime we have many other fine episodes to which you get full access by subscribing at patreon.com/totalplaytimepodcast. Thanks to all our current Patreons for making the podcast happen, and to Marsh Davies for our art and God Ribbon for our music. You can suggest quest types and your means of death at [email protected]!Tim Cain's 9 types of Quest. The moderately nightmarish Lego Pikachu is yours for £179.99. Various people will sell you bootleg plans for Lego Metal Gear Rex and probably also the Horizon Zero Dawn Tallneck because Lego long since sold out. Facepunch offered to buy New World after it was given 12 months to live.Games!Assassin's Creed Origins and New World, but only if you bought it already.Recommendations!The Holdovers, Tokyo These Days and The Long Walk. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's 2026, and Alice's dog is still being a dick so she had to leave Jonty, Nate and Brendan to share their gaming New Year's Resolutions, only for the wheels to come off immediately because Nate won't commit to playing new games and Brendan won't commit to resolutions as a concept. We were nevertheless able to muster some recommendations along important discussion of the Eurovision of games, becoming The Balls Guy and the unsettling experience of joining an ARC Raiders suicide cult.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeMusic by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon supporters, without whom this show would not exist. Consider joining them at https://www.patreon.com/c/TotalPlaytimePodcast. Share your comments and additional New Year's Resolutions for Alice to [email protected]!People are convincing themselves that Half-Life 3 is coming. The plan for Subnautica 2 is mostly litigation.Games!ARC Raiders. Mon Bazou. Totally Legit Wheeler Seller. Let's Build A Zoo. Ark Nova. Crusader Kings 3: Roads to Power. Nivalis. Streets of Fortuna.Recommendations!but the games were good. Get yourself a snake plant, and schedule an input day but don't give Nate any credit for it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Merry Christmas, sausages one and all, and please enjoy our seasonal gift of grumbling about a Geoff Keighley event. All four of us, plus Anthony Hopkins, took time out from Christmas shopping/wrapping/disorganisation to judge the best of the year-end awards season, and also debate movie series that Alice should binge-watch in her act of seasonal self-harm.Plus: the least-qualified discussion of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 on any gaming podcast this year, Lenny Kravitz as recession indicator, Rolf the Dog smoking a joint with Joe Rogan and finally building The Interat. Correction: Alice mistakenly credited Rage 2 to Ubisoft when it was of course Bethesda and Jonty was too polite to point this out UNTIL NOW.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeMusic by God Ribbon, art by Marsh Davies and our entire existence care of our Patreon supporters, who remain the most special sausages even in the face of stiff seasonal competition. Thanks again for making all of this happen. You can send us comments, feedback and suggestions for terrible movie franchises to [email protected]!Star Wars Fate of the Old Republic, Ace Combat 8, Bradley the Badger, Control: Resonant, Tomb Raider: Catalyst, Sunset Overdrive, Order of the Sinking Star, Ontos, Total Warhammer 40k, Stupid Never Dies, Gang of Dragon.Links!The interminable appearance of the Street Fighter Cast. Here is a music journalist getting mad at "gaming 'journalists' and other slack-jawed, brainless zombies" for disrespecting Andrew WK's E3 performance. Damion Schubert pointed out that Game Awards pricing is actually pretty good by contemporary marketing standards. Casey Hudson and Jason Schreier disagreed on when Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic will come out. The Divinity trailer was gross AF. The internet was entirely normal about the Divinity statue. The first trailer for Baldur's Gate 3 was also a bit much. Alan Hazelden on being part of a Jonathan Blow game. Some people got hype, and then disappointed, by Half-Life 3 again. Anthony Jeselnik's Top 10 books of 2025.Recommendations!The Sycamore Gap Mystery and The Salt Path Scandal (here's the Observer exposé), A Passion for Passion, the Inside of You podcast, The Three Body Problem.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode we discuss the (frankly, needlessly) controversial HORSES, an Italian surrealist horror game that has been banned from Steam and, latterly, the Epic Game Store, and boy everyone and their mother has been yapping about it. What do we think of Steam's ban? Is nudity ever okay? And what's up with this Ian dude? (Answers: Steam can do what they want but this is still bad; no, live in shame you freaks; it is beyond the remit of this podcast to discover that). A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our Patron supporters, who are all too hot for TV. You can share comments, suggestions, and NO FEEDBACK WHATSOEVER to [email protected] can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeLinks!*deep breath* Horses got banned from Steam, in events described by the devs here and supplement by a statement from Valve; Eurogamer also further interviewed Pietro Righi Riva, studio director, here. The game was also yoinked from Epic and briefly delisted by Humble (a summary from the Verge here). This kerfuffle despite the fact that most people who play the game kind of shrug at the content (Edwin, at our old stomping ground, seemed to like it, and his review provides a lot of context). Also, Ian Bogost rose from the dead to remind us that games shouldn't have stories anyway, and if they do they're bad. Horses is available on Itch, Humble and GOG.Games!Brendy has been shredding in Skate Story. Jonty has been playing The Séance of Blake Manor and is incorrect about it. Santa Ragione's website with links to their other games is here.Recommendations!Brant recommends The Ooh Directory (via PCGamer), Jonty recommends internet newsletter Read Max, and I recommend cooking channel Kaz Cooks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We celebrate the birth of the Xbox 360, and God's own sausage-in-a-suit-jacket Phil Spencer. But mostly the Xbox 360. We reminisce about what the 'box mean to us, and Jonty reveals some of the behind-the-scenes dead-eyed virtual child Milo goss you've been waiting for. Plus! Games Satan returns with possibly his weirdest question yet.A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and the best sausages in the world, our Patreon supporters, for financing our silliness. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and Xbox memories to [email protected] can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeLinks!Eurogamer's piece on the end of the 360, and their hub of 360 articles. Here's the Milo demo, and the whole 2010 conference that Jonty was at if you're arsed. Enjoy the 360 reveal feat. Elijah Wood on PCGamer.Recommendations!Conceited by Lola Young, Wharf Aquatics, Wirecutter's mystery Amazon pallet unboxing, and The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week is another two-hander, as Jonty and Nate are both away, so Brendy earns his keep by joining me as we have mild opinions about Rockstar delaying Grand Theft Auto VI, but stronger opinions about Rockstar firing a bunch of developers out of nowhere. We also discuss an interesting interview from Tomas Sala, developer of Bulwark and The Falconeer, AND, as a special treat, we've been playing some topical and current video games this week. A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and ethical and sensible Patreon supporters for financing our silliness. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and union support to [email protected] can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeLinks!GTAVI is delayed, but Strauss Zelnick is like 'no worries m8'. Rockstar has been accused of union busting and can suck it if this is indeed the case (since we recorded Rockstar are facing legal action). Tomas Sala on finding a sustainable dev life away from virality, via Eurogamer.Matthew "Iggy" Kowalski needs a kidney.Games!Arc Raiders! Dispatch! The Séance of Blake Manor!Recommendations!Bronder recommends Gutshot by Amelia Gray, and I recommend A Very Vexing Murder by Lucy Andrew Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're down a Jonty (not permanently, don't worry) but up a new chair, thanks to our Patreon pals! And it's been a week of upheaval elsewhere, as Microsoft and Xbox has been the focus of a lot of news. Halo is re-back, but also on PlayStation!? What do we think this means for hexboks? Nothing particularly encouraging, but Brendy is annoyed by some Halo rocks. PLUS Nate makes fun of AI, and Alice has been playing Bloodlines 2, as is her curse.A big thank you to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our very cool and majestic Patreon supporters for being the wind beneath our wings - a wind that allows for a new host, no less. You can share comments, suggestions, feedback, and strong opinions about Halo rocks at [email protected]!Xbox allegedly pushes for 30% margins, is unconcerned by other platforms, and is putting arguably its flagship product on the Sony box. Remember when the internet stopped working? That was because of one software bug, but best not to worry unless your bed bricked. EA signed a deal with Stability AI, and it's fun to laugh at bad AI, unless you're on dating apps, I guess.Games!Keep Driving! Bloodlines 2! PowerWash Simulator 2! Dawn Of War! Carimara!Recommendations!Make a kind of mincemeat toast instead of a mince pie, observe Stewthius, the perpetual stew, watch ish's terrifying Minecraft social experiments. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alice is unavailable so we are joined by another voice of podcasts past: James Archer, the RPS master of waring hard. He assists us in considering the latest collection of furious developer commentary and shares his judgement on the handheld Xbox thing, for which he is rewarded by being anointed Archbishop of Games Canterbury. You may think these freeform attempts at rolling our own belief system are unsustainable but we're British (derogatory), this stuff is in our blood.Thanks to God Ribbon for our music, Marsh Davies for our art, and our beloved Patreon backers for funding the podcast and make it happen. You can share comments, suggestions and prospective papal edicts at [email protected]!Game File revealed that Ubisoft cancelled a Reconstruction-era Assassin's Creed game. Glen Israel left 343 Industries in an extremely portentous way. Halo already did an anime. The IWGB union published an open letter savaging the management at Build A Rocket Boy. The ROG Xbox Ally X.Games!Assassin's Creed Freedom Cry. Halos Infinite and 4. Prototype lets you punch people into spaghetti by design rather than graphical error. Everybody loved Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, eventually. Rimworld Odyssey. Dawn of War: Definitive Edition. There's an updated version of Red Alert in Command and Conquer Remastered. Battlefield 6. Cloverpit.Recommendations!Tenggar Cavalry, Kartuli and Peacemaker. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Circumstances forced us to once again talk about serious things this week, as EA has (subject to approval, lol) been bought by a consortium of definitely not the worst people you don't know. Meanwhile, we got a first look at Insomniac's Wolverine game, and for a 'cat rescued from a tree' sorry of levity, Randy Pitchford posted through Borderland's 4's PC optimisation problems.Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can start our own ethically pure esports league. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is [email protected]!Don't worry, universally beloved Andrew Wilson is staying on at EA (here's SuperJoost on the acquisition). Wolverine is exceptionally violent, possibly in retaliation for his being kidnapped and ransomed. Borderlands 4 works fine on PC, thank you very much, and Randy Pitchford is fine about it (more on this from HitPoints)Games!Borderlands 4 is fine on PC, stop asking! Marvel at the dynamically soiling onesie in Baby Steps, write your own jokes here about Megabonk, and go off the titular world in RimWorld's new Odyssey DLC. Plus: pleasing moments in Hades 2!Recommendations!The Woolwich Harbour ferry, the town of Cleethorpes, and the reboot of Matlock. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alice has been Nic Cage Wickerman'd by her own dog, a sorry state of affairs, but one that does at least tie in with talking about Hollow Knight: Silksong, a somewhat popular game, as we understand it. You know who else is popular? That Mario fella. He turned 40 this past weekend (sort of, if you start counting from Super Mario Bros. rather than Donkey Kong, which is technically Mario's first appearance even though he was called Jumpman at the time) [deep breath]. Also Nate torments us with a medieval bestiary and we conceive of a gritty Wind In The Willows reboot. What's not to love?Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can force Jonty to go to Gamescom as Business Arbiter. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is [email protected]!Happy Underwhelming 40th Birthday Nintendo Direct to Mario! Including a tiny tease of the next Mario movie. Reviews are dripping out now for Silksong (including IGN, which hadn't drapt at time of recording), but hilariously the first patch made it easier. People are saying it's too hard, in fact. Three (mini) Kobolds In A Trenchcoat.Games!Silksong has been out a couple of weeks, the bugs are too sexy. Hades II has been out for longer, but the pretend kind of out where you get two releases, like the Queen. Strange Antiquities is a very lovely Purveyor Of Cursed Items simulator for fans of Strange Horticulture.Recommendations!Jonty makes the bold statement that The Usual Suspects is a good movie, Alice responds that so is The Ballad Of Wallis Island, and Nate double recommends Alien Earth and Blue Eye Samurai. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alice went to Gamescom and she's here to tell us all about it: games, German KFC, stealing from the Capcom booth and posing with the Farming Simulator tractor. A pretty standard Gamescom experience, all told, although she didn't go to the shitty bar that all the other Brits attend or get completely screwed by the German rail system so there's still room for improvement. Plus: the in-game currency for life, big worm, and forcing Jonty to cosplay as a militarised squid-dog.Thanks to our Patreon backers for making this podcast possible! Please consider joining them so that we can force Jonty to go to Gamescom as Business Arbiter. Our music is by God Ribbon, our art is by Marsh Davies and our inbox is [email protected]!The Trap Door is available on YouTube. Legendäre Burger bei KFC. GameDiscoverCo. Why Silksong took so long to make. The Snyder Cut. We are blessed to know The Blorko Guy (who also has a podcast).Games!Silksong is indeed out now although you can't download it. Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 does not exist in Alice's world. Hirogami is also out now. Resident Evil Requiem. Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Pragmata. NUTMEG! A Storied Life: Tabitha. The Séance of Blake Manor. Monsters are Coming! Rock & Road.Recommendations!The Van Gogh Museum, Deva Roman Experience and Star Trek: Picard - re:View. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Nate's on deadline so it's just Alice and Jonty this week, considering the newly independent Digital Foundry, the not-at-all-newly-scandal-engulfed Roblox, the latest on the Subnautica 2 and Itch.io drama, and all the games we've been playing. Anybody would think this is a podcast about videogames or something.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWArt by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. Funding for this entire endeavour is by our Patreon backers and to them we are truly thankful.Links!Krafton vs Subnautica devs continues. Digital Foundry on going independent. Roblox banned vigilantes and Lousiana sued Roblox. Alice's new book. The Observer investigation into The Salt Path.Games!Rosewater, and Roger, Strange Jigsaws, Occlude, Word Play, Wordatro, Battlefield 6.Recommendations!Vivian Dies Again and What a Glut of New Oasis Books is Leaving Unwritten. Palm Springs is on Amazon, not Neflix, we regret the error. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alice was out of action this week, so Jonty and Nate met up to ponder Battlefield 6, cringe over Jonty's new collection of sex games, and reposition the Bioshock jar in the fridge. Plus: the thicc man of Europe, the best artillery in videogames, and another attempt at deal-making. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Art by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. Links!Itch.io is re-indexing free adult content. Countess Lita played No Mercy. Tom Clancy's Tom Clancy was just a huge submarine nerd. GOG gave away a bunch of sex games for freedom. Ars Technica's deep dive on Battlefield and the misery of AAA development. Everybody was playing Battlefront 2 and EA couldn't have cared less. Splinter Cell Conviction at high framerate. God departed RPS and left some parting wisdom on games coverage. Games!Battlefront 6. Star Wars Battlefront (2004), Dawn of War, with Winter Assault DLC. Total Annihilation. GTA Online. Splinter Cell Conviction.Recommendations!Hit Points and Cells at Work!. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a first for us, this week we end up discussing a developing news story, which then further developed after we recorded on Monday night. Had we recorded after Itch also took down adult content we would probably have been less complacent and more angry. As it is, we're still pretty angry about payment processors leveraging their Victorian prudishness to censor the internet. We're also angry at the UK government, the wizard lady author, and Alice's older brother - but that's sort of not his fault.In happier news, we're not angry at the game discovery app Ludocene, which is actually good, or you, the listeners, who have sent in some nice messages. We welcome further messages, which you can send to us at [email protected] can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Games!Bollocks Pit.Links!Steam took down a bunch of sexy games, which a tedious pressure group claimed responsibility for. Waypoint took down a couple of articles about that, which Streisand-effected Waypoint into near oblivion. After we recorded, Itch delisted anything tagged to indicate it had adult content while it audits everything. Consider all this also in the context of, for example, the UK's tedious and ill-conceived Online Safety Act, which is why you have to give BlueSky your picture and niche cycling forums have closed.In better news, Ludocene, the game discovery app in testing right now, is good! Alice endorses it.RecommendationsJonty recommends the YouTube channel 'British Movie Commentary Collection', which is exactly what it sounds like. Alice recommends the sitcom Such Brave Girls (also please send her pictures of your miniature painting). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It would be nice to do an episode in which we don't talk about layoffs, wouldn't it, but it's once again the main news event so we have to. Jonty and Nate conferred to despair over Microsoft's cutbacks, consider potential comedy games, and commend some actually good news about games media. Alice is both unwell and furious, for unrelated reasons, but will return for future episodes. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Microsoft laid off another 9,000 people despite their roadmap "never looking stronger". Hat Trick are looking for comedy games. News Knight is regrettably still available. MindsEye does not need external saboteurs. Krafton was remarkably snotty about replacing the leadership of Subnautica 2. Kotaku was sold and Paste launched Endless Mode.Games!Perfect Dark. Forza Motorsport. Subnautica 2 (and Subnautica). Ark Nova.Recommendations!Nate recommends Jurassic World Dominion and Jonty recommends Overclocked: An Archive of Graphics Card Box Art. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We catch up on the undrama around Mindseye, a game that was both unexpected and unexpectedly terrible. Plus, all of us have actually been playing games this week, and Jonty has his first game of Sweeten The Deal (with poor attempts at speaking French).You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Mindseye sucks, but you only think that because you've been paid off, unlike the streamers who had their streams cancelled last minute. NexusMods has new, possibly sus owners.Games we've been playingPromise Mascot Agency! Void War! The Baby Steps demo! Date Everything!RecommendationsDouble Fine's post on when Full Throttle released, back issues of The Fortean Times (also my new book is coming out).  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're all thoroughly exhausted from Keigh 3, a weekend containing an interminable number of videogame presentations. Join us as we navigate what actually happened at Summer Game Fest, State Of Play, the Xbox Showcase, et al. There are several games we liked!You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Jonters has summarised the big three here.From State Of Play: Pragmata, Baby Steps, Jams Bend Fist Light, the PSVR Thief game, Hirogami.From Jeff Fest: Resident Evil Requiem, Felt That, Atomic Heart 2From the Xbox Showcase: There Are No Ghosts At The Grand, Clockwork Revolution, The Outer Worlds 2.Elsewhere this weekend: Mandrake, Big Walk, The Alters.Games we've been playingDuck Detective: The Ghost Of Glamping, Logic Town, Squeakross, Boltgun - Words Of Vengeance, Vampire Survivors.RecommendationsJonty has recommended a fishy pasta recipe, and for details you will have to listen to the episode. Alice recommends the artist Abi Stevens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we, despite all being busted, discuss Palworld's woes, Marathons woes, and also the philosophical question of what it means to be a 'beasted butler'. Plus! Jonty has been playing Helldivers II and getting grit in his shower (the two events are unrelated).You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!They're making an Elden Ring movie! Unfortunately online games are doomed. Palworld has responded to Ninty's impending copyright claim (also at GamesFray, the author apparently being a Trump fan with a Libertarian streak). What's going on with Marathon? Bungie admit to taking at least one artist's work and the rumour is that Marathon needs to be a top-5-of-the-year game to be considered a success.Games we talked aboutHelldivers 2. Hearthstone. Out Of Hands.RecommendationsGBOL having adventures in All The Gear, Everyone Is Wrong About The Lamentus, and MV Freedom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week there was even more news about what remains of games media, and a new GTA 6 trailer following the delay of GTA 6, which itself is probably bad news for games media. It's rough out there, folks. We discuss all of these things plus Sean Bean, the joke that will kill Nate, and the GTA feature requests of the Gaming Anti-Pope. Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Will Alice ever outrun the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Pope Crave accidentally became a real media outlet. Giant Bomb bought Giant Bomb in an all-Jeff transaction. Jeff Prime saluted Kinda Funny. Polygon was bought by Valnet, which is probably bad. The GTA 6 trailer came out and it wasn't on the date predicted.The GTA 6 website contains enough material for like five different magazine cover features, we used to be a country. Do not become addicted to Latinas. Jonty reviewed Revenge of the Savage Planet. Qanon Anonymous.Games!Crusader Kings 3, Revenge of the Savage Planet and Skin Deep.Recommendations:Alice recommends The failure of Pop Quiz Hotshot, Jonty recommends Carpoolers by Alejandro Cartagena, Nate recommends The Floozies, Marvel Years and Moon Tricks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The internet briefly tore itself apart over how good games are allowed to be, most specifically Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, a French JRPG (??) that everyone loves - or possibly loves too much. We discuss this, Todd Howard cucking us (and indie games) by shadow-dropping the Oblivion remaster, plus our reviews of Blue Prince and Old Skies.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!EA revealed their XCOM but Star Wars game (on the 19th). Sure, whatever. The Oblivion remaster came out, but the Skyblivion folk say they will continue their work. Raw Fury will too, no matter how many times they have to release a game! Clair Obscur is out and did really well and everyone loves it. (FYI the BDS movement is calling for boycotts of Xbox)Games!Blue Prince and Old Skies.RecommendationsGrow your own tomatoes, support trans rights and charities, go to protests and buy from cool trans businesses, creators, authors and artists. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Jonty is away in Europe not doing counter espionage, so Alice and Nate talk about Bungie's new game Marathon, which looks fine, I guess. We discuss whether it's worth going to see the A Minecraft Movie (no). Also, Nate explains Civ 7 and Age Of Empires patches, and forces Alice to design an absurd breakfast.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Why hello there, Marathon. Civ 7 and AoEII are both getting updated. Critical support for Phoebe Waller Bridge. No support for Jared Hess.Games!Promise Mascot Agency. It's really good!RecommendationsNate recommends Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerlands and Alice recommends Floating Hotel by Grace Curtis. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ubisoft's latest stab-fest did really well, hurrah! But they still did that weird subsidiary plan with Tencent, hurroo. At least the official Ass Creed social media account got in a few shots. Plus: Bloodlines 2 delayed again, Game Informer is back, and we prepare to fight Gul'dan. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!The CWA formed a games union! Cool! Game Informer is back, but at what cost? AC: Shadows did good numbers, and so did this burn on Elon Musk, but Ubi still sold 25% of their best franchises to Tencent, in a move that just kind of instinctively feels bad. FightinCowboy going off on his Shadows stream, however, felt good. Bloodlines 2 is delayed again. I first previewed it like 6 years ago, lol.Games!Schedule I. The Beekeeper's Picnic. AC: Shadows.RecommendationsJonty recommends Father John Misty, Nate recommends the Shamrock Shake, although it is now no longer available in the UK so here is its Wikipedia page, and I recommend Out There Screaming: An Anthology of Black Horror. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week everyone is trying to make fetch happen, from the leaked demo of an infinitely genAI small-talking NPC, to Ubisoft finally launching the rumoured Animus Hub alongside Assassin's Creed Shadows. Sometimes you just have to do something to get your manager off your back. Plus: we've been playing Wanderstop and looking at Split Fiction.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Everyone hates fake Aloy, although Ashly Burch has a more measured take. Games writers got mad at one guy in particular. I will fucking piledrive you if you mention AI again by Nikhil Suresh. Assassin's Creed Shadows is the first to feature the Animus Hub, may God have mercy on our souls, but also we're hoping Shadows does well for all our sakes. The writing in Split Fiction might not be that great and Josef Fares isn't that concerned about genAI.Games!Split Fiction. No Case Should Remain Unsolved. Wanderstop.RecommendationsJonty recommends you grow some rosemary and put it on steak, and I recommend the book Character Limit and the podcast QAA (for the Nth time). Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The I've had three hours of sleep and can't think of a better title edition! This time we discuss Warner Bros. doing more redundancies and how digital ownership is an illusion. Plus! Steam Next Fest demos, and the new discoverability app everyone's talking about. And more! We've been playing Avowed, and a cool free text-based puzzle game feat. mysterious deaths.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon. LinksWB shut down good studios and have good systems in their Indiana Jones warehouse of patents. You don't own your Amazon ebooks. The Video Game History Foundation is preserving games. Dominic Tarason has a great free games spreadsheet. Ludocene is having a crack at a different, better kind of game discovery.GamesCantaloupe Chronicle, Do No Harm, Type Help, Avowed, ResogunRecommendationsThe Sky Thief article on Rolling Stone; Todd In The Shadows. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our episode this week was recorded... this week! Regular episodes are back on current events schedule. We talk about techxecutives, trying to make Meta happen, and argue about review scores, as games media are cursed to do until the sun explodes. Plus! We've been playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, My Summer Car, and Spirit Swap.You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/total-playtime/id1790845149Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1jPv8y9BRzqATFT7zXRxKWRSS: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/6786cf573ceecdbe85eac067Acast: https://shows.acast.com/total-playtimeArtwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Lawsuits are fake, Avowed and Civ 7 reactions, lol at Meta's terrible ad, VR devs don't feel great about Meta, being all gamergatey bites Kingdom Come II on the bum, sorry, you're legally not allowed to review my game poorly.Games!Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Spirit Swap, My Summer Car.Recommendations:25 commandments for journalists, by the late Tim Radford (his obit. can be found here), the musical And Juliet, the film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, and the documentary Boyzone: No Matter What. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's another catchup episode we recorded far too long ago! The next one will be more timely, but here we're discussing the games that we're most looking forward to in 2025. Mushrooms! Dinosaurs! Kings! Some of these games have already come out and we take no responsibility for their quality. You can listen to the episode directly right here, or find it in your pod catching apps.Artwork by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Jonty's picks: GTAVI! Fable! Doom: The Dark Ages! Commandos Origins! That Half-Life thing! Mouse: PI For Hire!Alice's picks: Mushroom Musume! Dead Letter Dept! Eldritch House! Avowed! (The Mermaid Mask! Promise Mascot Agency!)Nate's picks: Civ VII! Kingmakers! Subnautica 2! Atomfall! Jurassic Park: Survival!Recommendations this week are SBC Hyrdra-Collagen gel, St. Elwick's Newsletter Association, Video Nasty, and Blank Check. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this bumper episode of Total Playtime we discuss everything* that we would have discussed if we were on air at the time, except we all** got fired*** six months ago. Where things are out of date or have changed since we recorded we have endeavoured to provide more up-to-date context in the links below. Thanks for listening!*Not everything**Two of us***were made redundant.Links!Neil is a big seal. "Soft layoffs" impacted Ziff Davis More recent GDC survey than the one we mention indicates even more people are impacted by layoffs. Digital Foundry: John vs. Palword. Nintendo sued Palworld. Swen from Larian did a good speech. Catly initially looked like it might be AI but the devs have since denied it and released another trailer. Read Max's thesis that people like AI because people like bad art. Stage Fright looks cool, as did Outer Worlds 2 and One Move Away. The Witcher IV is happening. Naughty Dog's new IP looks like shit Star Wars. Borderlands 4 is ready to drop the hottest memes of 2011. Recommendations: Bookmarked by Chris, Matt's Off Road Recovery, Lidl Spicy Salami Sticks, and Skulls: An Exploration Of Alan Dudley's Curious Collection. Find game links on Patreon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a big commitment, deciding whether to listen to a new podcast, so for our first episode we're giving you a little taster. An amuse bouche but for the ears, as it were. Alice, Nate and Jon(ty) introduce themselves anew to you, our lovely little sausages, and talk a bit about what the podcast will be. Or at least what they hope it'll be. Tell us what you hope it'll be at [email protected] by Marsh Davies. Music by God Ribbon.Links!Recommendations this week are Ed Zitron's long rant about why the internet sucks and whose fault it is, and Matt Levine's Bloomberg newsletter Money Stuff to make heavy duty finance stuff more understandable. Plus a trio of nature recs from Nate: the Netflix documentary Our Oceans for good whale footage, the YouTube channel Extinct Zoo, and the PBS Eons podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.