Save State EP 07 - BioWare Deserved Better

Epic Games wants to change the rules around AI training, and Tim Sweeney has found himself in another argument over who gets to control creative work. The company plans to loosen restrictions on using content created with Unreal Engine and MetaHuman to train artificial intelligence, while maintaining protections for individual developers. But how much control will developers actually have?This week on Save State, Josh digs into Epic's proposed licensing changes, the potential benefits of AI in game development, and the questions surrounding ownership and permission. There's also a look back at Unity's disastrous runtime fee controversy and why changing the rules on developers is never as simple as updating a license agreement.Then there's Rockstar. With Grand Theft Auto VI approaching, employees at the company's UK studios are preparing for a union recognition vote that runs directly through the game's launch. Josh examines the extraordinary timing, an ongoing legal dispute over employee dismissals, and what collective bargaining could realistically accomplish in an industry where staffing needs change dramatically between projects.Finally, Nintendo gives us something to celebrate. Its latest Indie World showcased 23 games in just 15 minutes, including Witchbrook, Tenjutsu, Threads of Time, and City of None. From magical colleges to four-color adventures, there's plenty to get excited about.Plus, the Critics Consensus on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and Final Fantasy Resonance, both earning Play It Gold recommendations from Vertical Slice Games. And November kicks off with a packed release calendar, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake, World of Warcraft: Forever, and more.Save State is a weekly video game podcast from Vertical Slice Games, hosted by Josh Lurie.New episodes every Monday.More from VSG: https://www.verticalslicegames.comSupport the show: https://members.verticalslicegames.comGo Play Something Good.

BioWare is gone. After more than 30 years, Electronic Arts has closed the studio behind Mass Effect, Dragon Age, Jade Empire, and some of the most influential RPGs ever made. And just one day later, a leaked trailer for the canceled Mass Effect: Universe offered a painful glimpse of what might have been.This week on Save State, Josh Lurie looks back at BioWare's extraordinary history, from three medical students working out of a basement to the games that changed how we think about storytelling and player choice. But this isn't just a farewell. EA's new ownership, its $55 billion leveraged buyout, and billions in acquisition debt raise serious questions about the future of creative development. Josh also takes on the claim that BioWare's inclusive storytelling was responsible for its downfall.Then it's time for another installment of "What Crappy Thing Is Xbox Doing This Week?" Fortune reports that Microsoft's next-generation Xbox could cost between $1,200 and $1,800. Nothing has been officially announced, but those projections raise an obvious question: who could afford the next Xbox, and who would actually want one at that price?With Halloween approaching, we turn to something considerably more enjoyable: the best horror games to play this weekend. Why did Resident Evil 4 top VSG's rankings while Alien: Isolation barely made the list? And does the best horror game necessarily have to be the scariest?Plus, the Critics Consensus on Final Fantasy Resonance, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, Stupid Never Dies, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, along with upcoming releases including Phantom Blade Zero and Emberville.Save State is a weekly video game podcast from Vertical Slice Games, hosted by Josh Lurie.New episodes every Monday.More from VSG: https://www.verticalslicegames.comSupport the show: https://members.verticalslicegames.comGo Play Something Good.

Rockstar's original plans for Grand Theft Auto VI were so ambitious that even Rockstar had to scale them back. Bloomberg's new reporting reveals just how enormous Project Americas was supposed to be, how much the company has grown, and what it took to turn that vision into the game we're finally getting in November.This week on Save State, Josh Lurie gets into Rockstar's abandoned ambitions, Activision's claim that Call of Duty doesn't get enough credit for its success, and Ubisoft's decision to cut jobs at the studio behind the successful Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced.Then there's Star Wars: Galactic Racer, whose developers used a homemade board game to figure out whether their roguelike progression system was actually fun. It's a terrific little story about game development that doesn't involve a billion-dollar budget or an executive promising to revolutionize the industry.Plus, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, the impending closure of Legacy Games, and the return of Wing Commander III.Save State is a weekly video game podcast from Vertical Slice Games, hosted by Josh Lurie.New episodes every Monday.More from VSG: https://www.verticalslicegames.comSupport the show: https:/members.verticalslicegames.comGo Play Something Good.

Episode 5 of Save State. This week: Google and Unity want to make game development accessible to almost anyone through AI. That's exciting, but making a playable game and making a good game are two very different things. Josh talks about his own experience with AI, what these tools can actually accomplish, and why Steam's discovery problem could get much worse.Then we look at Xbox's new XP division, Hollywood's growing interest in gaming, and whether turning games into entertainment franchises could eventually hurt the games themselves. Plus, newly surfaced Perfect Dark footage raises some uncomfortable questions about Microsoft's management of the canceled reboot.We also cover Sony selling VR patents to Meta, the latest GTA VI leaks, Richard Garriott's efforts to reclaim Ultima, and Star Wars: Galactic Racer. This week's Weird Game is Trash Day, a cooperative adventure about raccoons stealing garbage.New episodes every Monday.Don't forget to check out VSG at verticalslicegames.com for video game reviews, news, Checkpoint, and much more. Thank you for your support!

Episode 4 of Save State. This week: Gears of War: E-Day is nearly here, The Coalition appears to have delivered, and we look at why successful game development can still leave teams worried about what comes after launch.Then we dig into the live-service obsession that reshaped Sony, why ARC Raiders proves that success can create as many problems as failure, and what the shift from physical games to digital licenses really means for players and publishers.We also ask whether video games are becoming too expensive to make and too expensive to buy at the same time.Plus: the Steam Autumn Sale, Checkpoint is now live at Vertical Slice Games, and this week’s Weird Game is Wizard Harder Or Get Laid Off.New episodes every Monday.Don’t forget to check out VSG at verticalslicegames.com for video game reviews, news, Checkpoint, and much more. Thank you for your support!

Episode 3 of Save State. This week: Bungie admits Marathon hasn’t found the audience it hoped for and puts Destiny back at the center of its future, Microsoft pushes deeper into its Xbox reset as Activision takes responsibility for Halo, and Silent Hill somehow completes one of gaming’s strangest franchise comebacks.Plus: Control Resonant’s verdict is in, Well Dweller is quietly putting up huge review numbers, Garfield is apparently fine, and Gears of War: E-Day enters Early Access this week.New episodes every Monday.Don’t forget to check out VSG at verticalslicegames.com for video game reviews, news, and much more. Thank you for your support!░ slot 09 recovered — where every save begins: CH_CKP_INT

Episode 2 of Save State. This week: a review-score deep dive on why Wolverine's 78 average is basically an insult, Blizzard's enormous bet on 2029 and 2030, a hard look at whether Bungie's Marathon can survive long enough to matter, and a story I didn't expect to be covering — what's actually happening at IGN.New episodes every Monday.Don't forget to check out VSG at verticalslicegames.com for video game reviews, news, and much more. Thank you for your support! 

Episode 1 of Save State. This week: a horror game ships something that should never have made it past QA, Sony has a genuinely strange week losing its biggest auteur bet to Xbox, and I put the law degree to use on Nintendo's tariff-refund "sale." Plus verdicts, what's coming up, and the week's quick hits.New episodes every Monday.Don't forget to check out VSG at verticalslicegames.com for video game reviews, news, and much more. Thank you for your support!

Welcome to the trailer episode of Save State, a new weekly podcast from Vertical Slice Games (VSG). I'm Josh, and I've spent almost a decade building VSG into an independent, no-nonsense game review aggregator and news outlet. This is the same thing, in your ears: no filler, no padding, just what's worth your time.New episodes every Monday.Don't forget to check out VSG at verticalslicegames.com for video game reviews, news, and much more. Thank you for your support!