Dropped Frames Episode 387

We're back to catch up on the state of the AAA games indus... OH GOD. Everything is on fire! Okay how about the surprise hit Helldi~Oh no! Marvel Rivals also went into Closed Alpha Test this week and we'll tell you all the ways that it's not like Overwatch. Hades 2 amazes, we gush over V Rising, fall into the ANIMAL WELL and more!  0:00 - The echo2:00 - The news by Zeke2:50 - The Helldivers 2 drama17:55 - Now on to Microsoft45:00 - More layoffs incoming59:00 - Switch 2 announcement soon?1:02:30 - Marvel Rivals controversy1:17:00 - Playing Marvel Rivals1:40:15 - EA wants Advertisements inside games1:50:55 - Hades 22:02:00 - ANIMAL WELL2:15:30 - V Rising 1.02:35:00 - HOMM 32:46:00 - Stellar Blade2:49:00 - Dead Island 22:52:40 - Another Crab's Treasure2:53:30 - Little Kitty Big City2:56:20 - Finishing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth2:58:40 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we unpack the crazy announcements that Escape From Tarkov developed Battlestate Games made and the proceeding community backlash, what were they thinking?! Nintendo goes after Garry's Mod, Fallout 4 degen, no Blizzcon this year and Switch 2 will be backwards compatible? Then we get into the newest games of the week - Stellar Blade, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU. Sandland and more!  0:00 - intro2:10 - TV Show updates5:30 - X-Men '977:30 - Escape From Scamtov28:00 - Nintendo going after Garry's Mod/Skibidi Toilet37:10 - Switch 2 hardware rumors43:00 - Microsoft wants a new Fallout sooner49:30 - Fallout 4 next-gen update55:50 - No Blizzcon in 20241:02:40 - Elite Dangerous turning into Star Citizen1:09:00 - Twitch Subs issue resolved?1:11:50 - Tiktok banned?1:13:30 - Stellar Blade1:37:40 - Zeke plays Boshy again for some reason1:43:00 - Snowrunner1:48:10 - Dark Souls 3 Randomizer1:58:30 - Lords of the Fallen update2:02:20 - Icarus2:04:20 - Sandland2:09:20 - Fallout 762:15:40 - Total Warhammer 32:17:15 - Bellwright2:25:30 - Tales of Kenzera: ZAU2:29:40 - Dead Island 2 comes to Steam2:36:40 - The Police Mystery2:40:20 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cohh has had a lot more time to catch up on other visual mediums and we have a lot to say about the newest video game adaptation: Fallout! Keanu Reeves joining the Sonic the Hedgehog universe, Ubisoft locks up Jabba the Hutt & 7 Days to Die enters 1.0 after 12 years of development! We also praise the BAFTA game awards for being exactly what we want for industry award shows. In games we've been playing No Rest for the Wicked, Rise of the Ronin, Planet Crafter and more! 0:00 - Just Dance lore8:30 - Watching TV10:00 - Fallout TV series discussion40:00 - Upcoming video game adaptations45:00 - Keanu Reeves is playing Shadow the Hedgehog51:10 - Jabba the Hutt locked up56:00 - Kingdomcome Deliverance 21:05:30 - The BAFTAs1:13:00 - Hades 2 Technical Test1:14:00 - 7 Days to Die entering 1.01:21:00 - Cities Skylines 2 still busted1:30:30 - Triple I Showcase1:40:00 - World of Warcraft FOMO1:48:00 - Tipping devs?1:54:10 - No Rest for the Wicked2:08:00 - Steam Reviews2:34:00 - Rise of Ronin2:40:00 - Planet Crafter2:49:00 - Manor Lords2:52:30 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the eve of the eclipse we reconvene to chat about the destruction of the games industry (not really!) with new data suggesting new games are being played by an increasing minority of players, Bandai Namco's Harada talks about modern multiplayer games, new info on The Witcher 4 & BAFTA's most iconic video game character! We review Dragon's Dogma 2, play Stellar Blade and more! 0:00 - 109.5 The DF11:50 - The Eclipse17:45 - 60% of games played are 6 years old or more.44:10 - Roku Ads55:00 - Harada on multiplayer games1:01:00 - Baldur's Gate 3 popularity explosion1:05:00 - The Witcher 41:12:10 - BAFTA announces their most iconic video game characters1:19:30 - Dragon's Dogma 2 Review1:32:10 - DD2 spoilers1:46:40 - Bioshock Infinite replay1:57:30 - Stellar Blade demo2:08:10 - Once Human CBT32:24:00 - Content Warning2:34:00 - Helldivers 2 2:39:30 - Stardew Valley 1.62:51:55 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We get demonetized fast this episode as we wish everyone a Happy Easter and debate what Triple I means. We chat about our time with South Park: Snow Day, our reaction to Marvel Rivals, Waffle Houses in Tekken, our continuing travels in Dragon's Dogma 2, Alone in the Dark, Horizon: Forbidden West on PC and more!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cohh has returned with tales from his week at GDC! News has also returned from GDC as we learn Larian Studios is done with Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons, Ubisoft shows off generative AI & more! We chat about the Apex Legends hack, Riot's MMO resurfaces, Dawntrail gets a release date and then we talk a whole bunch about Dragon's Dogma 2! 0:00 - Frosted tips 5:30 - Bidets 9:30 - TV 12:20 - Cohh went to GDC 31:40 - Larian done with Baldur's Gate 44:50 - Ubisoft AI 54:30 - Will Smith was making a zombie game? 58:50 - APEX Legends hack 1:03:30 - Riot's MMO not set in League of Legends 1:07:40 - FFXIV Dawntrail gets a release date 1:12:00 - Overwatch 2 PVE completely scaled back 1:14:40 - Steam families 1:17:40 - Watch Parties dead on Twitch 1:34:20 - VR 1:36:20 - Dragon's Dogma $2.99 2:02:00 - Dragon's Dogma 2 is amazing also 2:42:40 - Alone in the Dark 2:45:00 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cohh is out this week as he makes his way to GDC so joining us this week is Jesse Cox to chat about Tik Tok, a whole bunch of studios being unembraced, PS5 Pro, Summer Games Fest and a whoooooole lot of Final Fantasy! 0:00 - Sweetened iced tea9:30 - Hotel Zeke14:30 - Dragon's Dogma nightmare fuel16:30 - TIK TOK TOE20:00 - Pig butchering scams47:00 - Battlefront Classic Collection woes53:30 - PS5 Pro specs!57:00 - Summer Game Fest1:08:00 - Saber Interactive Embraces1:20:00 - Runescape1:30:00 - FF7 Rebirth only sell 23k physical copies in Japan1:33:00 - Palworld 1:41:00 - Helldivers 2 secrets1:48:00 - Final Fantasy XVI coming to PC soon1:50:00 - final Fantasy XIV is too easy?1:56:00 - theatrythm 2:19:00 - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth2:25:40 - Dragon's Dogma 22:31:00 - Project Zomboid2:39:30 - Astroneer2:49:00 - TELEVISION2:59:00 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're joined by Dan this week to chat about a whole lot of bad and depressing news as the games industry and the streaming industry continue its downward trend. Luckily there are great games to play now and in the near future such as: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Dragon's Dogma 2 where we share our nightmare fuel creations from the free character maker Capcom released! 0:00 - The age of Eminem3:40 - Zeke purrs11:00 - WB removing all Adult Swim published games15:30 - WB also doubling down on GaaS despite failures25:50 - Rooster Teeth shuts down30:50 - Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama passed away38:25 - Ghost of Tsushima coming to PC41:40 - Yuzu and Nintendo settle - Yuzu forced to shutdown46:45 - Twitch in 20241:27:00 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth2:07:45 - Dragon's Dogma 2 character creator2:22:10 - Sons of the Forest2:52:40 - Supermarket Simulator2:56:10 - DF Bit: No Rest For The Wicked/Unicorn Overlord2:58:50 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We were not prepared for the amount of good games in the month of February, but here we are! Elden Ring returns with the trailer for its upcoming expansion - Shadow of the Erdtree and surprising no one, it's a banger! Helldivers 2 still continuing to break its peak concurrent player records on Stream, we go down the list of survival games that have released in the last month and so much more! 0:00 - February5:00 - Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree13:20 - Suicide Squad under performs14:20 - Nintendo has no debt19:50 - PSVR2 getting PC support23:20 - Helldivers still peaking 26:00 - Big and small updates30:40 - Bungie gets a scolding by Sony33:00 - Names that are fun to say37:00 - Project L is now 2XKO42:50 - Gigantic is back?48:30 - Palworld hits 25 million players50:20 - Harada on Tekken54:00 - Lots of games in February57:20 - Skull & Bones underperformed58:40 - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth reviews1:01:40 - Balatro1:11:25 - Pacific Drive1:38:30 - Nightingale1:47:15 - Sons of the Forest 1.02:05:20 - Last Epoch 1.02:38:50 - FF7 Remake replay2:52:00 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Award season is upon us, but for the game industry and content creator industry - We chat about all the big winners at The Streamer Awards and The Dice Awards that took place over the weekend. Helldivers 2 is suffering from success as another megaton weekend stops players from entering the game. Skull & Bones also launched! 0:00 - Democracy 9:10 - The Streamer Awards 37:35 - The DICE Awards 47:50 - Horse Armor in Diablo 4 58:45 - Skull & Bones - The first AAAA game 1:13:40 - The XBOX podcast 1:19:00 - Embraced 1:23:40 - Golden Sun 1:32:24 - Deep Rock Galactic Survivor 1:42:25 - Banishers: Ghosts of Eden 1:52:00 - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 2:00:00 - The end of February is intense for games 2:09:55 - Halo Season 2 2:11:35 - ShoutoutsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.