Jimquisition

Podquisition 471: Weather or Naught

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

The Trashgirl Diaries: J’accuse!

Let the accusations commence!

Podquisition 470: Crone’s Unease

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

Podquisition 469: Suddenly Seasonal

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

Podquisition 468: Accident Prone Planning

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

Podquisition 467: A Vas Difference

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.

The Trashgirl Diaries: Phantom Rectum

A spooky mystery slides in through the back door.

Podquisition 466: Rubber Baby Tuggy Bumps

Such pain.
Games we played this week include:
In Stars and Time (16:00)
Loop Hero (27:25)
Dave the Diver (31:00)
Knuckle Sandwich (42:00)
Lonovo Legion Go (49:50)
Yakuza 0 (53:05)
Deadly Premonition (54:50)
Laika Aged Through Blood (1:07:50)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Layoffs at Unity, Free Radical and Fishlabs (1:12:40)
https://www.polygon.com/23980876/unity-layoffs-weta-digital
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/embracer-ceo-confirms-timesplitters-studio-faces-closure-before-christmas/
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/embracer-lay-off-around-50-people-at-chorus-and-galaxy-on-fire-developer-fishlabs
Full-screen ads interrupt gameplay in Assassin’s Creed, Ubisoft claims technical error (1:15:15)
https://www.pcgamer.com/assassins-creed-players-started-having-their-games-interrupted-by-full-screen-pop-up-ads-but-ubisoft-says-it-was-a-technical-error-and-quickly-patched-it/
Court docs reveal Google wanted to acquire Epic with the help of Tencent (1:18:45)
https://www.pcgamer.com/google-considered-buying-epic-games-according-to-updated-court-documents/
EA filed patent for using player’s voice for generated character speech in games (1:20:55)
https://www.veryaligaming.com/ea-player-voiced-characters-games/
---
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.

Podquisition 465: Consummate Professionalism

We get the job done.
Games we played this week include:
PS Portal (5:40)
Liyla and the Shadows of War (13:40)
Karmazoo (17:05)
An Arcade Full of Cats (23:40)
FlipWitch: The Forbidden Sex Hex (25:55)
AMC’s The Walking Dead: Destinies (34:45)
Quantum Break (49:00)
Dave the Diver (59:25)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Sexual bias case against Niantic moving forward (1:07:00)
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/22/23972339/niantic-sexual-discrimination-lawsuit-gender-bias-arbitration
Epic rollout of age-restricted content in Fortnite has not gone well (1:08:40)
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-admits-fortnites-new-age-ratings-didnt-hit-the-mark-says-a-new-system-is-coming-soon-as-part-of-a-big-in-game-event/
Unity releases early access AI tools for developers (1:17:15)
https://www.gamesindustry.biz/unitys-push-for-responsibly-sourced-ai-tools
SEGA allegedly threatened its unionized workers with layoffs (1:15:45)
https://kotaku.com/sega-sonic-union-layoffs-persona-yakuza-1851026309
---
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.

Podquisition 464: Rapscallion Behavior of the Nineties

It would take so little to change the tone.
Games we played this week include:
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name (9:55)
Karmazoo (18:40)
Alien Hominid Invasion (36:10)
Backpack Hero (45:55)
Bladestorm (51:05)
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News things talked about in this episode:
Call of Duty Modern Warfare III only given 16 months dev time (1:02:05)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-11-09/cod-modern-warfare-3-faces-bad-reviews-after-rushed-development
Strauss Zelnick said a bunch of troubling stuff about AI, pricing (1:08:25)
https://www.inverse.com/gaming/gta-6-generative-ai-take-two-ceo
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/gta-6-publisher-ceo-thinks-videogame-prices-are-very-very-low-for-what-they-offer
Nintendo continues to suggest Switch 2 coming next year while not confirming its existence (1:14:15)
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/10/nintendo-president-reiterates-switch-software-support-into-fy2425
Layoffs hitting Free Radical, Humble Games, and Unity (1:15:45)
https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/9/23954709/unity-layoffs-q3-earnings-runtime-program
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/timesplitters-devs-free-radical-are-reportedly-the-next-embracer-studio-facing-closure
https://techraptor.net/gaming/news/humble-games-layoffs-report
Sony significantly cuts plans for live service games (1:29:55)
https://www.gameinformer.com/news/2023/11/09/sony-has-delayed-half-of-its-planned-playstation-live-service-games
---
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.