856: BALSA WOOD BOYS

Tam's back in the hosting seat and joined by Grubb, Dan, and Mike to tell him all about Giant Bomb's wild Extra Life 2024 stream and give their updated thoughts on Black Ops 6, the latest Jackbox games, and Pokémon TCG Pocket. After that: News from Nintendo, PlayStation, and more, and YOUR emails!

This week we go back to the year 1991 with Black Ops 6 and Indie Horror game Fear the Spotlight, we chat about our brief time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and the Monster Hunter Wilds Beta, as well as another Metaphor: ReFantazio check-in. We also recap the hottest and biggest news popping off like PlayStation shutting down Firewalk Studios, the developers behind Concord.

This week we crown the four games that are the SCARIEST! Is a creepy mansion and a dog bursting through the window enough to keep a game on Mt. Rushmore?

This week we've got a SPOILERCAST for Nintendo's Alarmo, a whole bunch of Steam Next Fest Demos like Star Vaders and Ballionaire, grappling rockets and clouds in Echo Point Nova, and punching dudes in Batman Arkham Shadow. We also recap the latest situation happening with the team behind Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, a grip of Nintendo Switch 2 stories, and many more!Visit https://bit.ly/GBXL24 if you'd like to sign up to stream for Giant Bomb's Extra Life team this year or make a donation towards Children's Hospitals!

We have ourselves a little party as Dan tells us all about Mario Party Jamboree, Grubb attacking and parrying the GOTY backlog with Nine Sols, jumping and gliding in Europa, examining holes in Silent Hill 2, and a couple more games as well! We also examine metaphors in Metaphor: ReFantazio and dive into all of the newest video game news!

Our friends Lex Luddy, Jessica Cogswell, and Michael Higham join Shawn and Jan to chat all about Metaphor: ReFantazio as they skate on swords and destabilize governments!

This week we select the all of the Gokus when given the Goku option in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, Mike and Jan gush over Metaphor: ReFantazio, Grubb hits the balls with Pinball Spire, and a handful of other games too! We also recap this week's top stories and the best emails!Dan's impression of Mike "Jimming the camera" at every innuendo: https://www.giantbomb.com/a/uploads/original/153/1530215/3635508-danjimming.gif

We cap off the week by tying up some loose ends with a couple games and talking about our time with the long awaited Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team!

We've got Jason Schreier on the podcast today to chat about his upcoming book, Play Nice: The Rise, Fall, and Future Of Blizzard Entertainment! We also talk about Dan's adventures at the Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan, the gang enjoying more of their time in Echoes of Wisdom, going through a bullethell in Kill Knight, and Mike starting a child gang war in Frostpunk 2. We also find time to answer an email and talk about the week's biggest news stories! Preorder Jason's book here: https://www.hachetteboo

We have Lex Luddy on the show to talk about Startmenu starting a Patreon! We also chat about Balatro on mobile, some PS3 gems, and building bed bridges in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom!