Sometimes it's really empowering to embody a pissed-off rage junkie, the kind of human chainsaw who can charge wildly into every confrontation and savagely batter everything in their path. This week, Jesse Cox joins us for a look at five games that let you do exactly that. Then we'll get our hands bloody with Ninja Gaiden II Black and Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, discover Shady Part of Me, Virtua Fighter 5 REVO, and Eternal Strands, and talk about GTA 6 news, the Microsoft Developer Direct, and your favorite videogame prequels.

Question of the Week: Have you ever enjoyed going full "dark side" in a game, whether because of a linear story, moral choices, or just free-form sadism (a la Sims)? Tell us about it.

Break song is Berserker by Love Among Freaks. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Last week's release of Dynasty Warriors Origins inspired us to spend this episode looking at five of the best games to bear one of the industry's most-overused words in their titles (Origins, of course). Then we'll get into Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, reactions to the Switch 2 reveal, Marvel Snap getting temporarily swallowed by the TikTok ban, and the earliest games you remember adding to your backlog.

Question of the Week: What's your favorite prequel and/or origin-story game?

Break song is Black Betty/Castle Rock (as performed in Rayman Legends). Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Some release dates loom especially large in videogame history (mostly because they factored heavily into marketing), and this week Anthony Abatte joins us as our first guest of 2025 to talk about five of the most significant ones. Then we'll get into Dynasty Warriors Origins, Hyper Light Breaker, the DICE Awards nominees, and the gaming innovations you think are the most important, 

Question of the Week: What's the first game you remember adding to your backlog?

Break song is Supersonics by The Presidents of the United States of America. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The announcements at CES (and their heavy push toward AI) this week inspired us to resurrect the debate-format Top 5 to decide what the five most important technical innovations in gaming are. Did we get it right? Probably not, but you can tell us what we missed. Then we'll get into Sony's freshly announced slate of game adaptations, alleged Nintendo leaks, and the games you're most looking forward to in 2025.

Question of the Week: What do you think is the most important innovation in gaming?

Break song is Push a Little Button by Ninette. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We're a quarter of the way into the 21st century, and kicking off a new year of shows the way we always do: with a look ahead to the five announced games we're looking forward to the most. Then we'll get into January's PS+ games, how Riot measures Arcane's success, and your personal Games of the Year for 2024.

Question of the Week: What upcoming game are you most looking forward to in 2025?

Break song is Love is a Long Road by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

It's time for our last show of 2024 - and the end of our Games of Year countdown! This week, we'll get into our top 5 favorites with a roster of guests including Trone Dowd, Steve Guntli, Brendan Hesse, Kevin Erhard and Phil Keeling of Pixel Lit, Emmett Watkins, Jorge Albor, and TL Foster! Did your favorite game(s) make the cut? Listen and find out!

Question of the Week: What's your personal Game of the Year for 2024?

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

There's a lot of chat this week, so here's a quick timestamp cheat sheet if you'd like to skip ahead to unveil each entry:

0:02:32: #5 with Trone Dowd and Steve Guntli

0:30:16: #4 with Brendan Hesse

0:45:12: #3 with Kevin Erhard and Phil Keeling

1:11:03: #2 with Emmett Watkins and Jorge Albor

1:28:47: #1 with TL Foster and Brendan Hesse

2024 is almost over, so it's time to begin our annual Games of the Year countdown - split into two parts, because there's a lot to talk about. This week, we've invited a rotating panel of guests including TL Foster, Steve Guntli, Greg Moore, Tony Wilson, and Anthony Abatte to discuss our favorites; check out entries 10 through 6 this week, and stay tuned for next week, when we'll resume the countdown at #5 and drill down to our Game of the Year.

Question of the Week: What's your personal Game of the Year for 2024?

Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

There's a lot of chat this week, so here's a quick timestamp cheat sheet if you'd like to skip ahead to unveil each entry:

0:08:29: #10 with TL Foster

0:33:09: #9 with Tony Wilson

0:47:26: #8 with Anthony Abatte

1:11:30: #7 with Steve Guntli and Greg Moore

1:37:34: #6 with Anthony Abatte and TL Foster

This year has been brimming with quality retreads, from brilliant remakes of classic games to remasters of games from just a few years ago, and before we start on our year-end GOTY countdown next week, TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins us to talk about five of our favorite remasters and remakes of 2024. We'll also talk a whole lot about Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind with Dan Amrich (who wrote its dialogue and voices the Blue Ranger), Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and your favorite DLC from this year.

Question of the Week: What's your personal Game of the Year for 2024?

Break song is Mass Destruction -Reload- by Lotus Juice. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We've officially entered the final weeks of 2024, which means we get to start on our year-end best lists and tell you about all the stuff we liked the most this year! Let's kick this off with Tony Wilson of Framework and a look at our five favorite DLC expansions, after which we'll talk about Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, AntonBlast, PS5 getting 30th-anniversary themes, and your favorite spinoffs of established series.

Question of the Week: What's your favorite DLC of 2024?

Break song is Night Springs by Keira from Alan Wake II. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Once a game series reaches a certain level of success, spinoffs are inevitable; some of them spawn their own franchises, like Mega Man X, while others rapidly fizzle into obscurity, like Mega Man Soccer. This week, merritt k and TL Foster join us to celebrate five of the latter category, after which we'll get into Trombone Champ: Unflattened, Loco Motive, the Xbox Avatar app disappearing, and the games you felt the least fulfilled after beating.

Please help support this week's guest by wishlisting merritt k's awesome soon-to-be-released game, Fledgling Manor: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3238510/Fledgling_Manor/

Question of the Week: What's your favorite spinoff (the more obscure, the better) from an established series? 

Break song is Nowhere Fast by Fire Inc. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Nov. 27 would be Bruce Lee's 84th birthday, and that's as good an excuse as any to get Anthony Abatte on for a howl-filled discussion of our favorite unauthorized Bruce Lee knockoffs in fighting games. Then we'll talk about STALKER 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Great God Grove, The Game Awards 2024 nominations, and the songs you associate with specific videogames (that didn't include them).

Question of the Week: What’s the least fulfilled you've ever felt after finishing a game?

Break song is Be Like Water by RZA. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.