Aftermath Hours

This week Nathan, Chris, and Riley convene just before the holidays for the final show of the year. We discuss a little of everything: Our favorite Game Awards reveals (Onimusha, an orb game exemplar, is back, and so is Okami!) as well as some that have us less thrilled (more Neil Druckmann nihilism in Intergalactic: The Heretic, Borderlands 4’s continuation of the series’ quiet identity crisis). Then we talk about SAG-AFTRA voice actors demonstrating outside the show and the potential impacts of a Trump presidency on their future prospects. After that, we briefly touch on cameras in games, which absolutely nobody has Opinions about, and then Chris fills us in on the love of his life: Slitterhead. Lastly, we hand out our own awards for the best and worst games media moments of the year. Oh, and we discuss Riley’s holiday gaming dilemmas, all of which would be solved if he just bought a Steam Deck.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Riley MacLeod - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week it’s just Chris and Riley as Nathan has flown off to LA for The Game Awards. We discuss the continued state of the Ziff Davis empire, the United Healthcare shooting suspect's gaming history and what that says about him (mainly nothing) and the mostly positive but sometimes polarizing reaction to Indiana Jones and The Great Circle. We also briefly talk about other news, answer reader questions, and more!   Credits - Hosts: Riley MacLeod, Chris Person - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath! About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Luke are joined by Frank Cifaldi of the Video Game History Foundation, but not until near the end of the episode, because Frank had multiple other podcasts to be on that day (he’s very important). We discuss the unique needs of a video game archive – for example, remote access to games, something the US Copyright Office recently refused to grant after a three-year effort on the part of the Video Game History Foundation and the Software Preservation Network – and what the Foundation has been able to accomplish this year despite a government and industry that often fail to recognize the importance of its work. Also on this episode: The gang (minus Frank) talks about Ubisoft’s decision to pull the plug on XDefiant, OpenAI’s increasingly money-hungry forays into subscriptions (and maybe ads), and our various hyperfixations in Candy Cabs and Star Wars Outlaws. Oh, and speaking of hyperfixations, Chris says that New Year's resolutions are just an amateur hour version of a real project, so take that, me and everybody else.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Luke Plunkett, & special guest Frank Cifaldi - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan and Gita are joined by Ryan Broderick of the fantastic Garbage Day newsletter to discuss all the latest trends in the world of Online. We begin by talking about Bluesky and the potentially fatal blow Twitter has sustained at its hands. Or, well, more accurately, at Elon Musk’s hands, but Bluesky has far and away been the main beneficiary of Trump’s wannabe baby boy’s bumblings. Can the good times last, though? Or will Bluesky eventually become a massive crock of shit, just like every other social media platform? After that, we dig into the myth of The Liberal Joe Rogan and how actual left-leaning and leftist political influencers are adapting in the wake of an election that decidedly did not go their way. Lastly, we speculate about which specific Fortnite skins a fraudster recently purchased with Nathan’s credit card. Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, and special guest Ryan Broderick - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.  

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Chris are, despite the state of the world, in a celebratory mood, because Aftermath just turned one! When we launched this site a year ago, we had no idea how it’d go – we thought it’d either crash and burn or succeed beyond our wildest dreams, neither of which have happened – but we’re exceedingly pleased with where we’ve ended up. We discuss lessons we’ve learned and our favorite moments from the past year, as well as some news – specifically, our own feature about how freelancers are propping up games journalism (and getting paid dogshit for it) and Zenimax workers’ recent strike against Microsoft’s restrictive return-to-office policies. Finally, to sate noted beacon of positivity Luke Plunkett, we talk about some games we’ve been playing recently and, for the most part, enjoying.   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Luke Plunkett, and Chris Person - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan and Riley are joined by special guest Mel Buer of The Real News Network, a very good nonprofit newsroom, to discuss what we, as normal people, can do in the wake of Trump’s reelection and the rise of fascism in the United States. The short version? Organize! Not just your workplace, but also your local community. Meet your neighbors. Start a community garden. Put together a game night. The government isn’t going to save us, so we’ve got to. We also touch on the recent New York Times Tech Guild strike and the callous cynicism that led bosses to refuse reasonable demands even with a massively consequential election bearing down on their news organization. Oh, and we talk about eating our feelings, which all of us coincidentally did recently, for some reason.   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, and special guest Mel Buer - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Riley lament the untimely end of Firewalk, the studio that made Concord to Sony’s specifications and then promptly got dumpstered for it. Once again, creatives are suffering for executives’ poor decision making, and everybody’s worse off for it. Will the industry actually learn from this? We can only hope. Then we move on to yet more media layoffs, this time at Fandom, which owns GameSpot, among other sometimes-baffling properties (TV’s Guide’s website? OK, sure, I guess). We then discuss this week’s largely idiotic Dragon Age review conspiracy theory and, more broadly, where discourse around games happens now and how that impacts people’s perception of the medium. Lastly, we solve the hell out of what would seem to be an impossible puzzle: How does a worm drive a little apple car?    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Luke Plunkett, and Riley MacLeod - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan and Gita are joined by special guest LB Hunktears, formerly of Fanbyte and Blaseball fame, who is now working on a reality show queer romance horror comedy game called Fledgling Manor. We discuss the reality TV shows that inspired it, as well as the strange lack of games about reality TV, given just how game-y those shows’ structures tend to be. We also rank every season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer, a show that has aged like a fine wine if the bottle contained a tiny man named Joss Whedon who you kept learning new terrible things about, and who you had to nudge aside every time you wanted to take a sip. Then we talk about Twitch’s recent string of gaffes involving Israel, including its “inadvertent” failure to re-enable sign ups in Israel and Palestine for a whole year, as well as its very advertent decision to ban several Arab streamers for a month following spurious claims of antisemitism. Lastly, we discuss the best fall flavors and conclude that apple beats the shit out of pumpkin spice. Sorry, but it’s not even close.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, and special guest LB Hunktears - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan and Riley are joined by a very special guest, the Aftermath Discord’s own head moderator Nico “Apple Cider” Deyo (who is also a longtime freelance games journalist), to discuss the trials and tribulations of Asmongold, a Twitch star who found himself in hot water this week when years of escalating reactionary rhetoric culminated in an ill-advised racist rant about Palestinians. This got him suspended from Twitch. Unlike many others who’ve found themselves in similar situations, Asmongold proceeded to post a seemingly sincere apology video and vowed to change. Can he stick with it, though? And is it possible to truly repair the kind of damage he did before he had his midweek epiphany? Then we move on to the weird zombie version of Waypoint, a beloved video game site, that Vice recently dredged up. It’s bad! Lastly, we learn about a new thing Riley hates (Photo modes? For some reason?).   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, and special guest Nico Deyo - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Riley convene to increase their social links by discussing the latest basically-Persona game, Metaphor: Refantazio, which is – at least, so far – Metaphor Re(ally)fantastic. It’s Persona in a Shakespearean fantasy setting with a lot of irritating friction removed. Then we talk about an issue near and dear to Riley’s heart: Netflix canceling shows after a single season and basically foisting responsibility for their success or failure onto viewers like you. After that, we grapple with platforms’ viewership-at-all-costs model and how it has incentivized content creators to cling to their homes – instead of evacuating – during a potentially-deadly hurricane. Lastly, we brainstorm potential video game cameos for our mascot: the Aftermath Aftermug™.   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Riley MacLeod - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Luke, and Riley do their best impression of that one meme where Jonathan Frakes asks you things: What’s going on with Starfield’s new, poorly-received DLC? Why is Star Citizen – a crowdfunded testament to one man’s hubris that’s been in development for more than a decade – forcing developers to crunch in the year 2024? In light of the upcoming TV show and yet another spinoff game, is the Yakuza series spreading itself too thin? And when is an early access game done, really? Then we answer questions about the psychic damage we sustain while trying to play games with branching paths and which power Kirby would gain if he swallowed us (anxiety). Luke definitely does not regret the way he phrased his response to the latter question at all.   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Luke Plunkett, and Riley MacLeod - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan and Gita are joined by games and culture video essayist Jacob Geller ahead of his 24-hour stream to raise money for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. We discuss video game criticism in the age of drive-by culture wars on social media and conclude that – despite how bleak things might seem – there’s still a hunger for truly substantial, meaningful criticism, one that is not decreasing. We also learn about the ins and outs of creating heady essays on YouTube, specifically: Why do they keep getting longer? How do you write for a specific audience without becoming somebody who pre-reacts to every bad faith YouTube comment? Then we move on to this week’s big news: Ubisoft is delaying the new Assassin’s Creed following weaker-than-expected sales of its Star Wars game. Amid all that, as well as an ongoing campaign against Assassin’s Creed for featuring a Black samurai, Ubisoft also decided to issue a statement about how its goal is “not to push any specific agenda.” Grimacing emoji. Lastly, Christmas comes early for Nathan and Nathan alone, because the mailbag is chock full of questions about Goku and karaoke.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, and special guest Jacob Geller - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Luke are joined by comedian and streamer Tom Walker to discuss the latter’s self-made nightmare: an ongoing Grand Theft Auto IV playthrough in which traffic speed is cranked up to max. We talk about how livestreaming comedy differs from traditional forms of comedy like standup and how Twitch chat facilitates a unique sort of chaos that might involve, among other things, a naked person announcing that they’ve spilled wedding cake on their dick. Also, we get two separate Peter Griffin impressions, so you know this is a good one. Then we move on to the big news story of the week: Nintendo suing Palworld, the Pokemon-alike with guns that got big earlier this year. Nintendo might be the purveyor of family-friendly faces like Mario, Link, and Kirby, but its legal team is about as black-hearted as they come. Why, then, do people give Nintendo more grace in these sorts of situations than they do other companies? Finally, we talk about an obscure Australian holiday that has resulted in, as one chatter put it, “mass horse death.”   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Luke Plunkett, and special guest Tom Walker - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Gita, and Riley are joined by Emanuel Maiberg of 404 Media – another fantastic worker-owned website – for a special episode tied in with the Back To School theme week we’ve been running on the site, which focuses on changes, nostalgia, and learning new things. First, we talk to Emanuel about 404’s first year of existence and all the highs, lows, and scoops that entailed. Then we discuss Back To School week more broadly, with a special focus on Luke’s piece about game developers who – faced with unprecedented layoffs and grim future prospects – are leaving the industry entirely and learning how to do something, anything else. Then we briefly touch on the news of the week: PS5 Pro? Looks bad! More Microsoft layoffs? Also bad! Then we extol the virtues of sleeping on the floor.   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, Riley MacLeod, and special guest Emanuel Maiberg - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Riley marvel at the speed with which Sony pulled the plug on its latest live service offering, Concord, a game so focused-grouped for everyone that it ended up being for no one. Are live service games as a whole doomed? Probably not. But the way triple-A publishers approach them – toiling away for years and then releasing something that feels dated on day one – likely is. Then we reflect on the great Twitch vs YouTube livestreaming war, which seems to be ending with a whimper rather than a bang as big-name streamers YouTube signed to multi-million-dollar exclusivity contracts are returning to Twitch now that those contracts are up. With Twitch allowing creators to stream to multiple platforms and YouTube seemingly uninterested in significantly improving its streaming product, why not? In the end, nobody really won The Streaming Wars. Instead, they got distracted trying to copy TikTok. Lastly, we discuss NaNoWriMo’s weird stance on AI, which – as with most supposed defenses of AI as a creative tool – just doesn’t really make much sense. Oh, and Nathan absolutely knocks it out of the park with his segment transitions this week. Do not believe anyone who tells you otherwise!   Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Riley MacLeod - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Gita, and Luke discuss the first big game of the “fall” video game season: Star Wars Outlaws. Despite an enormous budget and a four-year development cycle, reviewers were given just a week to play the gargantuan game before embargo. Not ideal! We discuss how that impacts the way reviewers play and perceive games. Then we move on to Concord, Sony’s new team-based hero shooter that generated more buzz by flopping than by existing in the first place. Why are people so gleeful about tallying up its commercial failings, though? What about the modern internet has broken our brains in this specific way? Lastly, on a happier note, we discuss Tactical Breach Wizards, the brilliant not-quite-XCOM-alike that recently rocketed to the top of our game of the year lists.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Gita Jackson, and Luke Plunkett - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan and Chris are joined by Wired’s Makena Kelly to discuss content creators at the Democratic National Convention. Was it a savvy move on Democrats’ part to give them press access? Did they do a better job of shining light on protesters and their causes than traditional press? And what was the deal with all the rumblings of conflict between creators and journalists? Then we move on to Black Myth: Wukong, a Chinese action-RPG that’s taken Steam by storm, but not without its fair share of controversy. After much ado about sexist undercurrents at the studio that made it and streaming restrictions that asked content creators not to talk about “feminist propaganda,” the game is, like so many others at the heart of endless culture wars… fine. Then we wrap up by figuring out popular video game characters’ political affiliations (Sonic is an anarchist, Mario is center-right, and Zelda has probably overseen at least a handful of drone bombings).    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Luke Plunkett, and special guest Makena Kelly - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Nathan, Chris, and Riley examine the aftermath (lol) of the drama surrounding Deadlock, Valve’s new hero shooter that hasn’t been officially announced yet, and one brave (read: normal) reporter’s decision to, well, report on it. Why, in an industry where regularly unreliable leakers amass hundreds of thousands of followers, did so many people object to a journalist writing about a game to which they obtained legitimate access and which they did not break any NDAs to write about? Then we talk about the live service death spiral that Helldivers 2 now finds itself in a mere six months after receiving near-universal praise upon launch. At what point does live service, as a model, become destructive? Are games – and gamers – worse because of it? Lastly, we discuss some cool games we’ve been playing, like Crush House, in which players must please reality TV-addled masses, and Doom, which might catch on someday.     Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, and Riley MacLeod - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info. 

This week, Nathan, Gita, and Riley gather to reflect on the legacy of Game Informer, a magazine whose 33-year run unexpectedly came to an end late last week when GameStop unceremoniously laid off its entire staff and took down its website’s archive. Then we discuss the parasocial pivots of both the Trump and Harris campaigns, with the former appearing on the broadcast of sycophantic Kick streamer Adin Ross and the latter embracing Brat Summer, a social media phenomenon born of resurgent popstar Charli XCX. After that, we welcome Borderlands into the pantheon of bafflingly bad video game movies by talking about all the other ones, of which there have been approximately one million. Paradoxically, though, there has been one good Borderlands movie: Tales from the Borderlands, a cinematic narrative game that came out years ago. Go watch/play that instead.    Credits - Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.

This week, Luke, Riley, and Chris talk news, sports, sports games, non-sports games, and geography. We start by discussing Wednesday’s layoffs at Destiny developer Bungie, which saw 220 people lose their jobs and other people and teams shuffled into parent company Sony. But throughout all this upheaval, Bungie CEO Pete Parsons has managed to hang on to his classic car collection. Then, we talk about how, instead of getting a new Sonic & Mario Olympics game, we got a crummy mobile game with an NFT attached. This leads us to reflect on the Olympics games of our youths, and how bad the battery life on the Game Gear was. Next, Luke raves about Cataclismo, Riley raves about Thank Goodness You’re Here, and everyone rants about why so many English town names get repeated across the world. Chris and Riley talk about their ice cream makers (ice cream showdown to come!). Last, we answer some reader questions, discussing what game genre we’d like to resurrect, how both we and our pets would do in the Olympics, fake cubes, a horrible new AI device we can’t believe is real, and what the Rashomon of games would be.   Credits - Hosts: Luke Plunkett, Riley MacLeod, and Chris Person - Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude - Subscribe to Aftermath!   About The Show Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.