Jimquisition
Audio home of The Jimquisition, featuring its lovely little podcast, Podquisition - starring Jim Sterling, Laura Kate, and Conrad Zimmerman!
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Episodes
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
Thursday Feb 01, 2024
We’re just not qualified.
Games we played this week include:
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (10:30)
Metroid Dread (26:50)
Granblue Fantasy Relink (32:50)
Interaction Isn’t Explicit (35:30)
Go Mecha Ball (40:30)
Celeste 64 (51:50)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Microsoft lays off 8% of its game division despite 49% revenue increase in Q2 (59:05)
https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/25/24049050/microsoft-activision-blizzard-layoffs
Eidos Montreal staff laid off, previously unannounced Deus Ex game canceled (1:05:05)
https://www.polygon.com/24054575/deus-ex-game-canceled-layoffs-eidos-montreal
SEGA of America to drop 61 employees in March (52:15)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/sega-of-america-to-lay-off-61-employees
Early Suicide Squad players had the game finished for them (59:40)
https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/suicide-squad-kill-the-justice-league-game-pulled-offline-1235890502
Bloodborne Kart won’t be Bloodborne Kart anymore (1:10:00)
https://www.eurogamer.net/bloodborne-kart-isnt-allowed-to-be-called-bloodborne-kart-anymore-but-it-is-still-coming
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Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
Thursday Jan 25, 2024
What a terrible strain.
Games we played this week include:
Piñata Smashlings (5:35)
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (16:15)
Last of Us Part II Remastered (28:15)
Palworld (33:35)
Home Safety Hotline (48:05)
Luck Be a Landlord (53:30)
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News things talked about in this episode:
MiG Switch flash cart could lead to bans for second-hand game buyers (59:05)
Rockstar and Remedy logo thing got settled late last year (1:05:05)
https://www.eurogamer.net/take-two-and-remedy-in-trademark-dispute-over-r-logo
Developer Piranha Bytes seemingly dropped by Embracer Group (52:15)
https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-owned-elex-studio-piranha-bytes-is-trying-to-save-itself-from-closure-dont-write-us-off-yet/
Riot lays off more than a tenth of its staff (59:40)
https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/2024-rioter-update
After selling off all their previously acquired IP, Square Enix things it needs more diverse offerings (1:10:00)
https://www.ign.com/articles/square-enix-president-says-the-company-wants-to-release-fewer-more-diverse-games
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Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Photo Credit: Rebecca Brown / CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Thursday Jan 18, 2024
Sounds like a cozy spot, doesn’t it?
Games we played this week include:
Luck be a Landlord (4:25)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (17:20)
Last of Us Part II Remastered (24:30)
The Gnorp Apologue (33:15)
Legend of Grimrock (39:25)
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (39:25)
The Shopping List (49:40)
The Witcher 3 (51:20)
Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (51:55)
Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (53:40)
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News things talked about in this episode:
UK retailer GAME ends trade-ins because locations are increasingly in Sports Direct stores (43:30)
https://www.eurogamer.net/uk-retailer-game-to-cease-video-game-trade-ins-staff-say
Rockstar and Remedy Games in a legal tiff over their logos (49:30)
https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2024/01/16/rockstar-parent-company-take-two-files-trademark-dispute-over-remedys-logo
Lost Boys latest studio hit by Embracer layoffs (52:15)
https://www.pcgamer.com/embracer-owned-lost-boys-interactive-reportedly-undergoes-sizable-layoffs/
GameShark re-emerges as AI company and drops a Switch 2 release date rumor (59:40)
https://kotaku.com/switch-2-release-date-leak-ces-gameshark-ai-shark-1851159992
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Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Thursday Jan 11, 2024
Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean we all should be.
Games we played this week include:
God of War: Ragnarok (7:45)
Luck be a Landlord (15:50)
Grand Theft Auto V (22:25)
Lies of P (23:15)
Buckshot Roulette (26:40)
Pokémon (30:10)
Orc Massage (33:25)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Another round of layoffs hits Unity, Twitch, and Bossa Studios (43:30)
https://www.theverge.com/2024/1/8/24030695/unity-layoff-staff-25-percent
https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2024/01/10/a-difficult-update-about-our-workforce/
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/bossa-studios-lays-off-one-third-of-its-staff
Netflix considering plan to insert ads into its published games (49:30)
https://www.wsj.com/business/media/netflix-eyes-ways-to-make-money-from-videogames-in-potential-pivot-705bd3b3
SAG-AFTRA makes AI deal for game voice workers seemingly without consulting them (52:15)
https://www.pcgamesn.com/sag-aftra-ai-voice-actor-reaction
Lawsuit claims discrimination at Activision-Blizzard against old, white men (59:40)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ex-activision-exec-accuses-publisher-of-discriminating-against-old-white-guys
Xbox bans Baldur’s Gate 3 players who have default share settings on while saving sexy content (1:05:45)
https://www.pcgamer.com/xbox-insists-its-willy-nilly-bans-of-baldurs-gate-3-players-from-its-online-services-are-not-automatic-suggests-turning-off-its-opt-out-feature-to-avoid-horny-upload-crimes/
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Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Photo Credit: Santosh Kumar
Wednesday Jan 10, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
Thursday Jan 04, 2024
The future is inevitable.
Games we played this week include:
Tekken 8 (23:35)
Grand Theft Auto V (26:50)
Midnight Suns (40:55)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Switch flash cartridge announced, internet immediately links Gary Bowser to it (14:55)
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/jailed-nintendo-hacker-gary-bowser-denies-link-to-new-switch-flash-cart/
Square Enix will commit even harder to AI in 2024 (47:10)
https://kotaku.com/square-enix-president-artificial-intelligence-ai-games-1851133573
As Kotick leaves ABK, former employees point out how he made games worse (1:21:50)
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/01/former-call-of-duty-dev-says-decisions-made-by-bobby-kotick-made-our-games-worse
---
Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Photo Credit: Hamed Saber
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Thursday Dec 21, 2023
Oh, yeah, that thing is about to happen isn’t it?
Games we played this week include:
Vampire Survivors (18:35)
Midnight Suns (19:40)
Grand Theft Auto V (25:24)
Pokémon Scarlet/Violet (33:25)
Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising (41:15)
Diceheart (53:20)
Slay the Princess (1:00:00)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Ransomware group releases trove of material stolen from Insomniac Games (1:07:15)
https://www.cyberdaily.au/culture/9959-snikt-rhysida-dumps-more-than-a-terabyte-of-insomniac-games-internal-data
Internal Sony documents give candid view of concerns over ABK acquisition (1:19:15)
https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/microsoft-could-disrupt-and-threaten-playstation-business-sonys-alleged-xbox-fears-laid-bare-in-massive-hack
ABK studios are ending hybrid work (1:21:50)
https://www.eurogamer.net/abk-workers-alliance-responds-to-activision-blizzard-ending-hybrid-working
ABK settles California worker discrimination suit (1:24:20)
https://www.wsj.com/tech/activision-blizzard-to-pay-around-50-million-to-settle-lawsuit-that-spurred-microsofts-takeover-4dc1178b
Valve delivers festive DOTA 2 bans (1:26:00)
https://www.polygon.com/24002666/dota-2-frostivus-2023-bans-valve-toxic-lump-coal
---
Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Photo Credit: Daderot
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Thursday Dec 14, 2023
Back to the drawing board.
Games we played this week include:
Vampire Survivors (18:35)
Grand Theft Auto V (26:40)
Thirsty Suitors (33:55)
Persona 5 Tactica (39:25)
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News things talked about in this episode:
E3 officially pronounced dead after years on life support (41:15)
https://kotaku.com/is-e3-dead-2023-canceled-esa-1851092261
Zelda producer thinks older style Zelda games are worthless garbage now (49:10)
https://www.ign.com/articles/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-interview-nintendo-eiji-aonuma-hidemaro-fujibayashi
The Day Before imploded a few days after (53:05)
https://www.eurogamer.net/the-day-before-publisher-apologises-for-game-as-steam-refunds-open
Union workers at Zenimax get historic win over use of AI (1:02:30)
https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/zenimax-union-strike-tentative-agreement-over-ai-usage-in-workplace
---
Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Photo Credit: Tony Knox
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Thursday Dec 07, 2023
Talk to your doctor.
Games we played this week include:
In Stars and Time (11:20)
While the Iron’s Hot (26:25)
PS Access Controller (36:10)
Gangs of Sherwood (45:05)
Pinball M (1:04:15)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Layoffs at New World Interactive and Codemasters (1:12:40)
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-embracer-spiral-continues-as-insurgency-sandstorm-studio-new-world-interactive-lays-off-employees/
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/f1-developer-codemasters-affected-by-layoffs
Electronic Arts frees a few more accessibility patents (1:15:15)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/ea-shares-more-accessibility-patents
You could have a branded Yorkshire Tea controller (1:18:45)
https://www.eurogamer.net/you-can-get-yorkshire-tea-xbox-and-playstation-5-controllers-for-150
---
Buy official Jimquisition merchandise at thejimporium.com
Find Laura at LauraKBuzz on Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and Patreon. All her content goes on LauraKBuzz.com, and you can catch Access-Ability on YouTube every Friday.
Follow Conrad at ConradZimmerman on Twitter/Instagram/BlueSky and check out his Patreon (patreon.com/fistshark). You can also peruse his anti-capitalist propaganda at mercenarycreative.com.
Wednesday Dec 06, 2023