We joke about “the Bears being back” and “Super Bowl Super Bears,” but after the Bears went to Seattle and punched the Seahawks in the mouth, Rob and Patrick are left with only one option: hey, this team might be good? Like, really good? Like, actually a Super Bowl team?

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The gang discuss the fate of Arkane, the onslaught of games and mods in the age of AI, and whether the election results spell trouble for AI and data centers. Then it’s time to talk the Ocarina of Time remake and (for some reason) Link’s moisture levels. Rob has been playing Ratline and has some thoughts about what makes a good mystery and the difference between theme being a flimsy frame or a load-bearing pillar. Then Patrick’s high on Hellraiser and it triggers some massive introspection about whether we can call it good.

Links: Xbox's Arkane Studios attracts multiple bidders Including Ubisoft, Xbox is merging its Forza developers into a single studio, Itch.io Deletes "a Couple Terabytes of AI Slop" From Platform, Expands Generative AI Filtering,

Discussed:

00:00 - Intro

04:06 - Arkane and the STJV Fighting Microsoft

13:14 - Dan Greenwalt leaves Turn 10

19:16 - The AI slop wave is here

57:23 - Ocarina of Time Remake

1:31:44 - The Ratline

1:53:05 - Hellraiser Revival

2:25:08 - Escape Academy 2

2:26:26 - Paranormasight

2:28:40 - Marathon  

2:29:30 - Outro and Announcements

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In a quest to better understand gaming’s AI moment, Patrick spends an hour with Dr. Luke Dicken, a former data scientist at Zynga and the eventual Director of Applied AI at Take-Two Interactive. Where did the underlying technology behind what is colloquially called "Generative AI" come from? Why do tech companies exaggerate what it’s capable of? What are the optimistic—and pessimistic—outcomes for game developers and players?

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The Chicago Bears played two games last week. And the Chicago frickin’ Bears won both of those games. Rob and Patrick find themselves in a strange place: already happy with the season and what it says about the future, deluding themselves into Super Bowl Super Bears, and already rationalizing how losing to the Seattle Seahawks doesn’t actually mean anything.

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Bruno Dias joins the pod to talk about Nighthawks, Peter Molyneux's AI daydreams, and the scamminess or lack thereof of Star Citizen. Plus, Chia and Janet have been playing Virtue and a Sledgehammer and Over the Hill, while Rob has an old-school arcade racing game to tell you about.

Links: Peter Molyneux speaks candidly about AI: 'We, as the industry, are pretending we're not using AI, but the reality is, it's almost impossible to code now without using AI'

Discussed:

00:00 - Intro

1:45 - Peter Monlyneux is unsurprisingly into AI

48:18 - Nitehawks    

1:09:34 - Over the Hill

1:30:13 - Virtue and a Sledgehamer

1:46:14 - IGF Previews

1:53:03 - New Star GP

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Rob and Patrick can take a deep breath, because not only is Caleb Williams back, but he looked pretty darn good coming off a hamstring tear. Are the Bears back, though? For this week, yes, and we’ll take it. Plus, why exactly did the Philadelphia Eagles allow quarterback Jalen Hurts to play football when he hadn’t slept in more than 24 hours and was experiencing a blood clot?

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It’s not entirely shocking, but BioWare has been shut down and the next Mass Effect has been cancelled. Plus, we’ve been exploring Steam Next Fest demos, opening Lament Configurations, and exploring a bunch of games, including Silver Pines and Well Dweller. Plus, we’ve got a Penguin Colony spoilercast and a review conversation with Rowan Kaiser about Galactic Racer.

Links: EA Closes Bioware, AI Disclosure Extension for Steam

Discussed:

00:00 - Intro

06:45 - EA shutters Bioware

39:40 - Star Wars Galactic Racer

1:19:50 - Well Dweller

1:36:09 - Silver Pines

1:53:37 - Steam Next Fest Demos

1:54:58 - Hell Wait

2:06:00 - Haunted Paws

2:13:17 - Hell Raiser Revival

2:19:24 - Question Bucket

03:30:52 - Penguin Colony   

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The death of Chicago sports (and pop culture) legend Mike Ditka. A Green Bay Packers team on the ropes. A Bears team favored to play in Wisconsin for the first time in decades. A moment to send an entire state into an existential crisis. So, naturally, the Bears played their worst football of the year and got their butts whooped. Rob and Patrick are here to podcast and cope.

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Note: This interview was conducted in collaboration with LudoNarraCon, which explains the podcast’s intro and outro.

Six years ago, Umurangi Generation came out of nowhere and took our breath away. Six years later, designer Tali Faulkner is back with something wholly different, equally bold, and, once again, prepared with a message. Patrick recently had a chance to catch up with Faulkner to learn why penguins and Lovecraft were required to tell this new story. Note: This interview was conducted in collaboration with LudoNarraCon, which explains the podcast’s intro and outro.

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It’s a packed news week on Remap Radio, between Epic Games deciding to go all-in on AI, Double Fine’s unionization efforts falling apart, and a completely botched effort to re-release Total War: Shogun 2. It’s equally packed on the games front, with Patrick having spent time with the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake and rolling credits on Control Resonant. Janet, fresh back from Japan, can finally talk about Slay the Spire, while both Patrick and Chia are digging into Penguin Colony, the latest game from the developers of Umurangi Generation.

Links: Inside the Failed Fight to Unionize Double Fine, Epic Launcher Announcement, Shogun 2 AI Upscaling

Discussed:

9:01 - The Work to Unionize Double Fine

45:54 - Epic Games Drops "Vibe Coded" Launcher

1:24:01 - 999 Developer newest game cancelled

1:32:00 - nVidia stops 5090 Production

1:34:35 - Slay the Spire

1:46:08 - Control Resonant

2:05:51 - Penguin Colony

2:29:42 - Star Wars: Galactic Racer

2:41:45 - Silver Pines

2:42:29 - Hellraiser Revival

2:44:01 - Switch Sports Resort

2:44:24 - Ocarina of Time Remake

3:08:13 - The Question Bucket   

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Rob and Patrick spend 20 minutes in stunned silence, as the Chicago Bears continue their streak of what people seem to call “competence.” And why does it feel so weird to be calm in the face of Packer week, a time of year that usually instills dread? Now, it’s all house money. But it won’t stop Rob and Patrick from cackling like demons if they take down the Packers yet again.

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