It's the end of the year and Rob has crawled out of the ruins of his home repairs long enough to talk to Axe of the Blood God's Kat Bailey about the ruins and rebuilding opportunities in game journalism. Kat talks about the challenges of making game journalism relevant to the communities most engaged with games, and the challenge of adapting a model that has its origins in print to our fractured digital age. Plus, Kat tells Rob which RPGs he needs to go back to, and tells everyone what is the one RPG they shouldn't miss this year. Then Cado and Rob solve lasers.

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With Rob (still) out, Papa Bear returns (again). Patrick, Cado, and Austin recorded this ahead of The Game Awards, which helps explain three hours of talking (extensively) about board games, Cado and Austin attending (but not meeting up at) PAX Unplugged, an unhealthy obsession over (opening packs in) Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket, a small amount of Eagles talk, a slightly bigger amount of New Waypoint talk, and more. Plus, Patrick’s been playing (and loving) Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, while Austin’s got thoughts on Mouthwashing and Indika

Discussed: Let me tell you about Netrunner 2:08, PAX Unplugged 26:46, Pokemon Card Game Pocket 49:01, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle 1:25:10, Mouthwashing 1:48:35, Indika 1:53:56, Caves of Qud 2:03:51, The Question Bucket 2:0813

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Though Rob is out because of some ongoing construction, Patrick, Janet, and Cado were lucky to find a suitable replacement: Austin Walker. Naturally, we must first address the breaking news of a Gundam series coming from the creator of Neon Genesis Evangelion. But after that, it’s several long discussions on Arctic Eggs, 1000xResist, NYU’s recent No Quarter exhibition, Arco, Grunn, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. We talked about so many games that we had to cut the news section! But hey, we had some great questions about early access and puzzles.

Discussed: Gundam News 3:58, Arctic Eggs 13:43, No Quarter 40:39, Arco 52:40, Grunn 59:52, 1000xResist 1:03:35, Dragon Age Veilguard 1:36:22, The Question Bucket 1:51:08, Outro and Announcements 2:43:40

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Over the recent holiday, the Chicago Bears were once again a national embarrassment, losing in disastrous and nightmarish fashion for all the world to witness. But for the first time in their 100-year history, the Bears fired their head coach mid-season. Is this reason for optimism? Dread? A reason for Patrick to open a beer on a Monday night while recording a podcast?

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One Twilight movie wasn’t enough for us during Save Point. We had to keep going. And fortunately, Austin was kind enough to join us for the complete madness that is Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. And no, we could not get enough of this movie’s very weird baby.

Intro 00:00, Movie Start 11:08

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When Remap came together in New York to raise money for Save Point, there was only one way to celebrate a reunion with Natalie: continue watching the Twilight movies. We’ve already watched most of them, but did you know the last one was split into two parts? Sure, why not?

Recap 00:00, Movie Start 29:36

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Congratulations! You and the rest of Remap survived until S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Naturally, Rob has been spending an extraordinary amount of time in The Zone, but first, we have to talk about 2024’s The Game Awards nominees, Steam being called out for harboring nazis, and rumors Sony might buy the media company Kadokawa, who owns a significant chunk of FromSoftware. Elsewhere, Janet’s been trying to figure out if she’s smart enough for Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, while Patrick has disappointing news to share about a few hours spent playing Avowed.

Discussed: The Game Awards Nominees 0:39, Sony looking to purchase From Software's Stake Owner 30:30, ADL Release Report on Nazism on Steam 38:15, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 51:27, Alan Wake: The Lake House 1:37:40, Lorelai and the Lazer Eyes 1:49:00, Echos of Wisdom 2:13:27, Avowed 2:16:10, Lego Horizon 2:48:56, Grunn 2:50:49, Outro and Announcements 2:54:36

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There’s no better way to bring back Sports! than to patiently wait for the Chicago Bears to sucker us back into caring, before smashing our hearts into pieces. Go Pack Go? Rob and Patrick do their best to sit in front of a microphone and make sense of what happened Sunday.

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Hot off hosting Save Point in New York, Rob and Patrick find themselves trying to figure out the puzzle box that is the (slightly more powerful) PlayStation 5 Pro. Fortunately, Janet and Cado are here to help us rationalize Rob’s latest impulsive purchase. In the news, we discuss Pocket Pair revealing what Nintendo’s upset about with Palworld, learn Tequila Works made a bunch of interesting games we’ve never heard of, and spend a little time processing Trump’s re-election.

Discussed: Rob Bought a PS5 Pro 11:58, The Patents that Pokemon is suing Pal World over 58:17, Class Action Lawsuit against Ubisoft over the closing of The Crew 1:04:54, Tequila Works shutting down 1:13:37, Veilgaurd 1:20:10, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 1:23:57, Indika 1:29:41, Lego Horizon 1:30:30, Veilguard 1:37:57, Ghost of Tsushima 1:53:14, Echos of Wisdom 2:05:08, The Election 2:07:04

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We’re collectively getting ready for Save Point, a charity stream where we’ll be gathering in New York to hang out, play games, and raise money. But first, many of us have been playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard, leading us to pick apart why this RPG franchise has experienced so much whiplash over the years. Plus, Patrick has finished Life Is Strange: Double Exposure and has a lot of thoughts on iit. One last programming note, folks: this was recorded ahead of the election.

Discussed: Dragon Age: The Veilguard 0:11:42, Life is Strange: Double Exposure 1:25:44, Rebirth 1:57:26, NSFW Jackbox 1:59:29, CODBLOPS 2:11:52, Mailbox 2:20:03

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It might’ve been inevitable, but the news that Sony is shutting down the developer of Concord is still distressing. Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado unpack what that disaster says about the state of game development, before turning their eyes to labor walkouts at DON’T NOD and Activision Blizzard. Elsewhere, Janet has finished Life Is Strange: Double Exposure and is not very happy with where the story ends up. Fortunately, Rob’s having a great time with the campaign for Black Ops 6. In The Question Bucket, we consider reasons for buying The Ultimate Monitor.

Discussed: Sony Closes Firewalk 11:45, Layoffs at Don't Nod 37:15, Black Ops 6 QA strike over Return to Office Policy 1:04:10, Mouthwashing 1:12:11, Black Ops 6 1:21:38, Double Exposure 1:39:20, The Question Bucket 1:55:51

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