Game Scoop! 820: Our Most-Anticipated Fall 2025 Games

24:15Justin Davis:They're doing a good job with all the collections of their older games for the most part, I think. I don't know, Mark, have you played Metal Gear Solid 3? No, same as you. I'm excited to check it out. Yeah. You don't know, maybe you're about to bring this up, but something very weird and funny that's happening in August and September is that Helldivers 2 is coming to Xbox, and then Gears of War is coming to PlayStation. Yep. What is this? On, like, the same day, I think. Oh, is that true? Is it, like, the same day? I think it's, like, the same day. Yeah, you're right. You're right. I'm looking at it now.

24:46It's August 26th. So that's, like, video game crossover day. I love it. Yeah.

24:50Justin Davis:Yeah. This is kind of like what we were talking about last week. Just wondering about those PlayStation exclusives coming to Xbox. Maybe someday. Maybe. On August 29th is Shinobi Art of Vengeance continuing the year of the ninja. I'm excited for this one. I think we've got a recent preview up that was very positive on this game from Michael Hyam. And this is being handled by the team behind Streets of Rage 4, which I loved. So it's a very stylish 2D action hack and slash game. you know Shinobi goes back to the Sega game going back to the arcades and then had several entries on the Genesis and then I think there were some 3D versions in the 2000s for the Playstation 2 but I never played those I mean it's interesting we're getting this right after what was it called Ragebound?

25:34yeah I mean yeah

25:36Justin Davis:like I said Assassin's Creed Shadows earlier in the year Ninja Gaiden 2 Black got earlier in the year then Shinobi Ninja Gaiden and then Ninja Gaiden 4 coming and then Ghost of Yote Mark it's the year of the ninja. It really is. Speaking of ninjas, Damon's he's gone. Oh yeah. We just lost your audio. Your video, I mean.

26:01Justin Davis:Yes, speaking of ninjas, a ninja snuck in here and stole my camera. No, my camera's battery died, so we're going to make do with this camera for now. So please enjoy a new look at my little office here. And a new perspective on me. Okay, getting into September. Justin, we've got on September 5th. Everybody's Golf Hot Shots. I know. I'm excited. I mean, I hope it's good. Like, this franchise, like, I love the Everybody's Golf games, but there's also been some clunkers in the series too, and it can be sometimes hard to know, like, are we going to get one of the good ones or are we going to get one of the iffy ones?

26:37So, I hope it's good. That game looks... I cannot wait. I always love a good golf game, and it's been

26:45Justin Davis:a while like there aren't as many as there should be it's just like golf games because and we got that Mario Golf a few years ago that wasn't great yeah so I don't know I'm excited I hope hopefully hopefully this is one of the good ones yeah and then on September 12th we get Borderlands 4 coming to everything except the switch 2 that'll be a little delayed it looks really cool yeah I want to check it out like I said before I loved Borderlands 2 but 3 didn't really do it much for me so you know I hope this is more Borderlands 2 Mark, how about you? Yeah. No, I'm super excited for this game. I made a short list myself, and this one is on there as the game I know will just be fun.

27:23I don't really care if the story is incredible or whatever. I know it'll just be a good time to play. And so, yeah, I'm very excited for this game. I mean, they're not using the phrase open world. They have some other marketing word for it. But just the big, wide-open gameplay space and sort of run up and do main missions and find side missions. Like, obviously, that's been done many, many times across many, many games. But, like, you know, Borderlands hasn't really been like that, or at least not in spaces this big and wide open based off of, you know, some of the previews and stuff. So I think that will be a great time.

27:58Yeah, it's a good game to just kind of turn your brain off and just accept what it gives you. It's fun to play. What zany stuff is Claptrap going to be up to this time?

28:09Justin Davis:That little rascal. Yeah. Yeah. Another Trails game comes out on September 19th. Again, I don't know which one this is. So four Trails games in two months. That's 400 hours of gameplay. Yeah, yeah, that's true. And then on September 30th is Final Fantasy Tactics, which I'm super, super excited for. And then that same week, we're getting two good remasters that week because we're also getting Pac-Man World 2 Repack. Oh, is that a good one? Is that a good one? I mean, I don't know. I mean, the trailer looked kind of interesting. I think Pac-Man World Repack is on PlayStation Plus and we downloaded it and Kinko messed around with it but he wasn't, I don't think he was super impressed but Final Fantasy Tactics I'm super excited to return, I haven't played it since it first was out in 98 or whatever I'm trying to think maybe that's true for me too, did it ever get ported to anything else?

29:04I know the game well

29:05Justin Davis:it was on iOS that's right, that's where I replayed it I think I might have reviewed the iOS version. Oh, yeah. I mean, like this game is, you said 98. I was nine years old. So I remember I played like an hour of it when I was a kid, and it was just beyond my understanding, especially since at that point, like I was playing other Final Fantasy games, and I was like, this is nothing like those. I don't understand what's going on. Why are we stuck in squares? I don't want to play this. But now I love those kinds of games. So I, I, I, this one's getting remade from like the ground up, like rebuilt from the ground up.

29:41Yeah, because they like lost all the old code. They lost the source code. That's so funny. I mean, it's not really funny. It's actually kind of like sad.

29:49Justin Davis:Yeah, yeah. Well, now there's new source code. Yeah. One thing that's always stuck with me is that, you know, you, you, you build this huge party with all these different characters and different classes. And I remember you can send them off onto like missions on their own so that they like improve their skills. and they'll like report back on what happened. And the dialogue was always really funny. It was like, I searched really hard and I got a good feeling. That's always just really stuck with me then. It's good. All right. Okay. October 2nd, Ghost of Yote. Yeah. That's a big one. Yeah, that's probably the biggest one for me personally.

30:24We have an interesting shape to this year with huge games like Ghost of Yote and Borderlands coming out. You know, Mafia is coming out this week. earlier because I'm presuming because of GTA, right? Like every game was trying to get out of the way of GTA and now we have kind of a front loaded 2025 as a result. I guess October is not that early, but still, you know, a little bit early. Yeah. Yeah. Go see Yotai. Also on my list, Yotai, likely to be one of the best games that will fall. No doubt.

30:53Justin Davis:Yeah. I mean, I just... It looks great. I guess it's a little bit less exciting to talk about maybe because it's a known quantity. It's a sequel to an excellent game already. I think it's gonna be mostly more of the same great stuff. So okay, bring it on Yep, don't already. Yeah Don't really need to debate much there But then on October 21st is Ninja Gaiden 4 which I'm excited to check out The 3d games are not my favorite Ninja Gaiden So much more of an old-school like 2d Ninja Gaiden fan than like the new Ragebound, but it's been so long It's been over ten years since Ninja Gaiden 3 And it's what is the Platinum doing this one?

31:30Justin Davis:Or is it? No. I don't know, actually. That's a good question. I forget who it is. Nobody knows. Yeah, there's no way. But anyway, I'm just excited to see a modern day 3D Ninja Gaiden in 2025. How that feels and looks. Like, obviously, there's the NES ones. But this is a direct continuation that goes back to, you know, what the Tecmo games on the original Xbox, right? Like Ninja Gaiden and Ninja Gaiden Black. And like those were sort of they're not Souls likes, but they were doing that like ultra hard third party character action, just unapologetically going to kick your butt and you have no choice but to just get good.

32:08Like it was doing that way before, you know, Demon's Souls and Dark Souls. Yeah, I looked it up because I didn't want to be wrong. Yes, it is being made by Platinum. Yeah, cool. It's like being published by Microsoft, but it's still on every platform. So I couldn't remember what the deal was there. uh we also have uh battlefield 6 is in october that's october 10th yeah that's been yeah not

32:33Justin Davis:really like my kind of game it wouldn't be on my personal list but sure yeah they're saying the right stuff like i i i'm one of those guys who are like i'm not a gigantic battlefielder call of duty guy but i do like to play them every few years right and like it's previewing really well like they they seem to be it seems to be made by a team that has their pulse on kind of like what do people want and what do they need to deliver to kind of win them back after a few sort of iffy Battlefield entries. They weren't even that iffy, right? But they just didn't, you know, they didn't sort of stick. Yeah.

33:04Luckily, there's two open betas for this one. So that's what will make my decision. Like, I'll jump in with some friends, I'll play it, and if I feel compelled to play more, then I'll grab it when it comes out. But I wouldn't say my hype level is through the roof on this one.

33:22Justin Davis:We still don't have a release date for its counterpart for Call of Duty this year. Yeah, Call of Duty. Cobblops? Cobblops 7. Cobblops 7. I have a few games if you're done, Damon. I'm not done, but... Oh, sorry, go ahead. By all means, I'm not trying to be militant about it. When does this episode go live? Friday, this Friday. Okay, cool. Well, no, no, no, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that. That's old habits. Either tomorrow or Thursday, whenever I'm done editing it. Okay. Okay. Then I'm really excited for Mafia. That game looks cool. Yeah. I remember Mafia 3, open world. It was okay. I did not dislike it as much as other people.

33:58But this game is like a story-driven, more linear, seems like a shorter experience. I think it looks cool. You get to upgrade your knife. Yeah. Every video I've seen on the game, it looks really, really cool. And it's just getting an original linear story. That just doesn't happen very often, it seems like anymore. So I'm excited for that. I'm also excited for Hell is Us, which comes out next month. We're getting a demo for that next week, so we'll get to see if that's cool. I need a primer on what that is. A lot of people keep saying it looks like Death Stranding, but I don't think it does. It looks more like an action game, but it's kind of semi-open world.

34:44There's puzzles and places to delve into. It just looks super stylish. There it is. That's the game. It kind of plays a little bit like Stalker, where there's not going to be very many map markers and anything like that. You need to just talk to people, and they'll kind of just tell you where to go. And then you kind of have to find your way there. So you get a little bit of Elden Ring vibes. I don't know where people are getting the Death Stranding, but I keep hearing that. So maybe there's something I haven't seen. This looks like a Mark Medina game. There's a lot of puzzles and stuff. Like they showed a recent like gameplay deep dive and it showed him, you know, under a crypt.

35:24And it's like looking – Krypton looking at a wall with like symbols and stuff. And it's like you have to figure stuff out. And so maybe I'm just excited from a guides aspect to have like a really guide-y game to dive into. But I think it looks cool. I think it looks fun. There's a new – I don't even know if I'm going to play it. But I'm delighted that it exists, that there's a new Katamari game coming out.

35:44Justin Davis:I just saw that when I was looking at release dates today, yeah. And I watched the trailer. It was in some showcase recently. And the trailer, the conceit of the game is that it's kind of time travel. So you're traveling around as a Katamari through these different historical time periods and gobbling things up. Seems fun. Yeah, cool. And then I have one more, Kronos the New Dawn, made by Bloober. Bloober's been, they did great with Silent Hill. So I expect them to hopefully continue that trend. And it looks like Dead Space, which my only introduction to playing Dead Space was the remake. That was, what, last year?

36:22And I liked it a lot. And this game, like you could see by the B-roll, just looks like Dead Space again. So I am excited to see if they stick the landing because I know sometimes we had the other one, something protocol. Callisto Protocol. So it's like I know it doesn't always land, these kind of slow-paced, spooky monster games. But this one is previewing well, and I am interested to try it out. Unfortunately, as much as I love the team at Bloober, you still just don't always know what you're going to get. Because it's like you have layers of fear where you're like, this is kind of a PT knockoff, but it is cool.

37:02And then they did Medium, which was not great. And then they do Silent Hill, which was fantastic. And so we will see. And then, yeah, the other games on my list were Borderlands and Ghost of Yote. Both very exciting games to look forward to. I like that weird helmet. Yeah. Yeah. This game looks gross. It looks like a big daddy from Bioshock. It does.

37:26Justin Davis:Justin, I'm excited to play Plants vs. Zombies again. Yeah. Replanted. We're old enough now. We've talked about it on Scoop many, many times over the years that, like, accessing and playing video games, it's hard. Like no other artistic or creative medium has this problem. You can listen to, you know, Led Zeppelin four. Like it's not, it's not an issue to listen to music or watch old movies, but video games get lost over time, get hard to play the resolution and the technology. And so, you know, like we've been around long enough that like we're getting remakes of things that I didn't even know I wanted or needed a remake of.

38:03I would absolutely play plants for zombies again. Give me Peggle next.

38:07Justin Davis:I mean, they made Piggled 2, made Piggled 3. Again, there's not enough of these games. I think, actually, I'm really glad this is happening, but, like, this is coming from PopCap. Like, what is... I don't know. I think what happened to PopCap is, like, one of the saddest stories in the past, like, 20 years of gaming. Because they basically created the casual gaming industry with Bejeweled, with the help of The Sims. They're coming out, like, right around the same time. I'll admit that. But yeah, they just had a string of it, like incredibly polished casual puzzle games that are super fun, that can be enjoyed by anyone.

38:44Justin Davis:And they just had like hit after hit after hit. And then they just kind of got gobbled up into EA and were forced to make Garden Warfare games. And then who knows what they're doing on a day-to-day basis today. What was the fish one? Oh, Feeding Frenzy. Feeding Frenzy. I like those. That was really good. I had it on XBLA. Astro Pop on XBLA. There's so many good ones. Yeah. So that's like a whole podcast topic right there. I know just devs that because like, I mean, I grew up playing Westwood games, you know, Command and Conquer, and then they got cobbled up by EA and man, it's it is said I have to assume with this game they're testing the waters like they want to see like, do people still care about plants versus zombies?

39:26And then maybe they'll maybe they'll mean something because they messed up.

39:29Justin Davis:Plants versus zombies 2 was like a free to play. Yeah. Just kind of a gross mess. No, thank you. And then on October 29th, I don't care what anyone says, I'm excited for Outer Worlds 2. What do you mean? What does that mean? A lot of people, there's been a lot of complaints about this game. Obsidian's third game of the year, by the way, if you count Granite 2 Early Access, which is pretty wonderful. Third release of the year. Yeah, yeah, avowed, granted 2. I liked avowed a lot too. Then Outer Worlds. Yeah, I love Outer Worlds 1. I have to assume any negativity is just that, like, these games are smaller and, like, whatever.

40:07But, like, the first game was great. Well, they're not even that small. It's just people get used to it. They hear, like, you know, what I wouldn't even describe it as open world. But they hear, like, you know, third-person open-zone RPG. And they think it's going to be 120 hours. And then when it's only 30, they're like, ugh. Which is nuts because I loved Avowed way more than Starfield. Yeah, for sure. Yeah. It does seem like Obsidian is just kind of like this younger brother to Bethesda Game Studios, right? This is their Fallout, Avowed is their Elder Scrolls. But it's like I'm almost liking these more than Bethesda's output as a play.

40:50So, I mean, I guess I'm just going off Starfield. Right. Well, that's the thing, right? for a couple there's a couple like on the one hand they're putting games out right so yeah for nothing but like look at their output yeah it's not taking them seven years to release a game and like i didn't like starfield either but like when when when you're taking that long like take take a decade to make a game if you're gonna make you know one of the one of the goats right like if you're gonna make a skyrim you know but when you have one bet every seven to ten years and then it and then it comes and goes like Starfield, then it just hurts all the more, right?

41:25Yeah. I've heard that they're going to try to more or less relaunch Starfield next year with a bunch of changes, PS5, with a new expansion. But I just move on. Just Elder Scrolls, just get it going. I mean, my thing is like, you know, if any company could pull that off, it would be Bethesda, right? Like obviously they've supported Fallout 76, you know, which is a different thing because it's a live service game. But, like, there's a history of turning things around, you know, within and without that studio. Like, you know, Cyberpunk got relaunched to critical acclaim. But, like, Starfield's problem is that that game is just boring.

42:04It's a boring game in a boring world. And, like, the world building and characters are just boring and not very interesting. And so, like, you can't patch that together. Like, you can patch together, like, the fixes that a game like Cyberpunk needed. Yeah. It's true. Yeah, yeah. Cyberpunk's good. They were lucky that their game was just broken. Yeah, exactly. I am excited for Outer Worlds, too. Also, Sam's not here, so I'm going to speak for him. He's excited for Metroid Prime 4 and Silk Song.

42:36Justin Davis:Yes, there was going to be time to comment on those. I was going through games that actually have release dates. Yeah, at the end, I was going to give shout-outs to those games that we should be coming. We just don't have dates for. And absolutely, I want to play Metroid Prime 4. And sure, I'll play Sixth Song, too. I think late in December, isn't that when the new Octopath comes out? It's early in December. It's the fourth. Yeah, Octopath Traveler Zero. Yep. Yep. That's on my list, too. I want to play that. I like the Octopath games a lot. I liked two more than one. So, yeah, sure. New Octopath with like 30 different characters.

43:09Justin Davis:Sure. Wait a second. It's not eight? Not eight. Nope. What? Now there's a lot. Octo? Well, anyways. You know what I'm weirdly kind of excited to try again? The Avatar game. It's getting a bunch of changes, and it's adding a third-person mode, and the gameplay looks kind of cool. So I might give it a proper go because I played the first, I don't know, hour or so, and I was like, eh, this is fine. But I'm always willing to give games a second try. There's a bunch of stuff that's supposedly coming this year. supposedly Kirby Air Riders is coming out this year, which I wouldn't necessarily care about, except it's a Sakurai game, right?

43:51And he only makes bangers. So, you know, okay, like I'll give that a shot. Like there's a new Professor Layton supposedly coming out this year. Okay. If it makes the release, Lost Soul Aside is next month. Hopefully that is fun. I don't, I don't know. I wouldn't be surprised if it got delayed again. They just came out with a trailer confirming the release date, but until I see it, I don't believe it just because that game's been delayed so many times.

44:20Justin Davis:But it looks cool. Well, October's going to end on a couple of retro-themed games that I'm super excited for. October 31st, we get Terminator 2D, No Fate, which looks incredible. 2D, you know, action, run, and gun, shoot them up with just the best pixel art with, like, licensed likenesses from all the characters, you know, from Terminator. Got very contra-looking gameplay here. I hope this is really good. It's the Bitmap Bureau, which they're not super familiar with their work, but they've released a handful of retro games that all have really great pixel art. Most of them have pretty good reviews, so I have high hopes for this one.

44:59Justin Davis:And then that same day is Mina the Holler, which is the long-awaited next game from Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight. And then this one is more of a top-down Link's Awakening-like. That's finally coming out? Yep, that's coming out on Halloween. Oh, man, that's so rad. I know. I wasn't aware of that. Yeah, those two games on October 31st. Man, that's crazy. It's like that's absolutely, you know, based off their pedigree and history. Like a game of the year candidate, right? Yep. I mean, it's just kind of sneaking in there. It's going to come out and just be one of the best games of the year. Probably.

45:32Probably. Yeah. I don't know about you guys. I think there's a lot to look forward to still to come this year. There is a good amount. There's also a lot that I haven't played yet this year. I still want to play Wuchong and I want to play more Donkey Kong. And there's so many games that I haven't played. So I'm fine with no GTA 6 and I'm fine if this is the lineup. But we still have Gamescom coming up. So who knows what sneaks in there at the end. Yeah. I'm starting to feel a little bit like I don't really believe in like video game backlogs. It's like just play when you want to play. Stop playing something when you don't want to play it anymore.

46:05But I do feel like I've been traveling a lot for work this year. so I keep getting after that I had this interruptive experience of like, ooh, I still want to do Kingdom Come. I still want to do this. I do feel behind in a way that in other years I didn't care as much. I'm like, ah, I'll play it if I want to play it. Yeah, there's legitimate games I want to play but then there are other games where I, yeah, like I've heard Ninja Gaiden Rage Mountain is very, very good and I haven't, but maybe I'll play it one day. I wouldn't consider it a backlog game.

46:41Justin Davis:Ragebound is probably what I should start now that I'm done with Donkey Kong. I hear it is incredible. Good recommendation. I mean, I did a preview for it. I played the first few levels and they were great.

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50:27Justin Davis:News update this week Nintendo has announced they're raising prices for the original switch and accessories Like the Alarmo It was up ten times. I get it. Missed my chance Okay, so what the switch to the base model is 450 bucks you can get get it with Mario Kart world for 500 bucks So now the original switch model is $340 it's been 300 for eight years now. Never got a price drop. So that goes up$40. And the OLED model is now$400. So the Switch OLED is now$50 less than the Switch 2. Absolutely wild. That's completely nuts that that is that price. No one should buy one and nobody will buy one. The only way that any of these get sold are to confuse grandmas that accidentally buy the wrong thing.

51:23yeah i don't i don't understand in this world why why anybody would buy an oled for when for 50 more you're getting a bigger screen it's not an oled but it's a bigger screen and you're getting access to all of those games and every future game for the next eight years and i don't like the answer to that question of like what like this makes no sense especially in the context of switch two and i don't want to be the sky is falling and i i hope i'm wrong but it's because the switch two is about to be, you know,$125 more expensive, right? They just haven't, you know, they're still holding meetings, you know, to figure that out.

51:56Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.

51:58Justin Davis:My guess is that, you know, there are tariffs in all the territories where they do their manufacturing, China, Vietnam, and Japan. So I think they, I'm sure they're being hit on their hardware manufacturing for the Switch 2, and they're just holding off, like Justin was saying, like it's a brand new console. They don't want to raise the price on it. Yeah. Early adoption is important. And so you would think – I mean it's like already in stock everywhere. It's not really – so my guess is that they have front-loaded manufacturing to get a lot of them out. And so they want – they need those out there to sell software for Donkey Kong and Mario Kart and Metro Prime 4.

52:38But it's almost without question that this thing will be$5.50 in a – Well, I mean at least. In a few months. If not$5.99. I mean, I would – and by the way, like when the Switch 1 prices went up, it was that day. So, you know, it's like, hey, we're raising prices because of tariffs. And then like the target prices were like immediately raised. No warning. Yeah. And so they might not do that with the Switch 2. They might say, hey, the price is going up in 30 days, like which honestly, like, you know, that's a sales tactic too. Like, right? You better buy now. But there's a chance, like if you're considering buying a Switch 2, maybe you should just go ahead and grab it.

53:23Now might be the time. Same with PlayStation. PlayStation is the only one that's held off so far as far as price increases. You could still get a Slim for like, I think it's$400 and then get the Slim with the disk drive for$450. And then the Pro is obviously$700. And those prices have held. Of course, at this point, we would have seen price drops, and it hasn't really dropped much. But I assume that they will go up. I think – so I'm thinking back. And so it's like PS4, I want to say it was 400 when it launched with the Xbox One being 500 because it was bundled with Kinect. And then PS5 and Series X was 500.

54:06I think$500 for the new – I think that that was – that will be a pipe dream for PS6 and whatever the next Xbox is. Those will almost assuredly launch at$700 or$800. Yeah. The future is bleak in some ways. We just talked about a bunch of rad video games. I know. Oh, the future of video games is great. But it's like if you zoom out, it's like maybe the zoomed out perspective is a little bit more troublesome than the zoomed in. Like the next few months are going to be cool. Yeah. I mean, it's I believe and look, a commenter can tell me if I'm completely off base here. My understanding of tariffs and how they work is that if something's on the boat now, if it's already on the way to the United States, it's not subject to tariff increases.

54:54I think it's only like new, new imports, like products that you're manufacturing and trying to import into the United States kind of starting now, like whenever the tariffs go into effect. So like if there's warehouses full of Switch 2s in the U.S. right now and they're already saturated throughout Targets and Walmarts and Best Buys all around the country, Nintendo could conceivably say, let that invent, like, OK, we're going to sell these for this price. And then the price is going up in four weeks, six weeks, eight weeks. Like they could do that, but they might just tear the bandaid off and say, no, it's just a unilateral price increase right now.

55:30But I don't think they're paying the higher import price until – except the things are loaded onto the boat at the time the tariff is going to affect. So hopefully I'm not talking out of my rear end. I've just seen a lot. I've looked into things before, and I'm seeing a lot of – it's hard. It's like I don't want to get politically whatever, but people are learning, right? It's like there was the knife guy where he's like, I manufacture my knives in America. Turns out all the steel comes from wherever else. And so it's like – and the thing is it's like these – video games mostly, except for the Xbox, are based in Japan.

56:13The Xbox is obviously made other places, not in America. And so the video game industry is definitely going to take a hit when it comes to tariff stuff, for sure. A lot of surprise Pikachu face with, like, what do you mean? Like, my steal that I import from overseas, I now have to pay a tariff on. Yeah.

56:38Justin Davis:What this means, I think, for the original Switch, the Switch one, is that, you know, the PlayStation 2 has been the best-selling console since it was released back in 2000. And we always just kind of thought that number is attainable, like 155 million units sold. Nothing else came close, not the 360 or PS3 or PS4. Nothing came close except for the Nintendo DS. But in recent years, it really, Switch just kept selling and selling and selling. And we were like, wait, is the Switch going to catch up to the PS2? Well, no, I don't, no, I don't think it. It probably won't. now. So there you go. Enjoy your first place trophy PlayStation 2.

57:18Justin Davis:It was a DVD player. Nothing else ever stood a chance. Yeah, it's true. So that means the Switch never got a price drop. Ever. It was$300 when it launched and stayed$300 forever until they raised the price and then discontinued it. It got a cheaper model with the one that can't plug into the TV. But still. Yeah. And Microsoft, I forget what Xbox prices are, but they raised pretty dramatically as well. They raised earlier this year, in May. It's, man, it's rough out there. I mean, I do think, like, you know, this is a subject I brought up on the show before. Like, Nintendo's refusal to lower prices on game hardware and software.

58:03It's both, like, really friendly to the consumer and, like, so rude to the consumer. of like you want to buy this six-year-old game it's 60 bucks like screw you we're never going to drop the price of our games but the flip side is you can buy securely unlike ubisoft like the moment you buy one of their games it's going to be half off in like a month right whereas like so if you if you like this dollar cost averaging of like i don't think the switch 2 is worth buying today i just don't like i don't think it's worth 500 i think it's too expensive but if you're gonna to buy one ever eventually you might as well buy it now because it's gonna be the same price or even higher and if you think you're gonna want one in two years it's like well why not like you'll get if you buy it now you'll have 600 more days with it for the same price yeah that's what ryan mccaffrey did he he you know he wants to play gta 6 on on what will you know will be the best console at the time and he went and got a pro because yeah he's like i i'm not gonna you know primarily an Xbox gamer and just built a really fancy PC, but he the pro is almost assuredly going to raise in price.

59:09And so it's like, you gotta just go do it now. It sucks, the weird like, chokehold we're all in. You don't even need to use it. Like,$500 is a lot of money, so people can decide for themselves if they can spend that. But like you could conceivably get the Switch 2 and just put it in your closet. Like, you know, like you spend$500 now or $600 next year. It's never going to get cheaper, but it will probably get more expensive. Weird times.

59:45Justin Davis:Well, that brings us to Video Game 20 Questions. Our suggestion this week comes from Colin in an undisclosed location. Colin says, long time, first time. On the outset, I want to say nostalgia is a hell of a drug. I was introduced to gaming by a cousin on his Super Nintendo, instantly was hooked. My first gaming vehicles I had were the Sega Genesis, Game Boy Advance, N64, and PS2. I'm a faithful gamer to this day, currently playing on my PC, PS5, Series X, and Switch. Dying to get a Switch 2. Well, maybe see our previous conversation on that, Colin. I also still play my GameCube, N64, PSP, and DS.

1:00:19Justin Davis:I'm looking to expand my collection of retro games. I just got a copy of Mega Man Network Transmission for the GameCube. I'll stop rambling now. Great podcast. I always look forward to new episodes. I have two recommendations or suggestions for 20 questions in no particular order. So number one, he recommended Road Trip or Road Trip Adventure for PS2. No. I've never heard of that one. You didn't pick that one. I've never heard of that one, so I picked his second suggestion. So with that, let the questioning begin. Road Trip Adventure. Never heard of it. Colin sounds exactly like my age, though.

1:00:53I know. I know Desert Bus. Penn & Teller's Desert Bus for the Sega CD, though. Yeah, that is a game. Okay, did this game come out in the 70s, 80s, or 90s? No. Oh, boy. All right. Let's see. Well, he primarily started, sounds like, in 2000, so that's no surprise we're in there. No, he said Sega Genesis and stuff, I think, didn't he? Oh, did he? Okay. Let's see. Can you play this game on the Nintendo Switch? No. Hmm. uh is this game exclusive to one of the platforms not anymore oh oh but it was it was a launch exclusive was this a launch exclusive for a sony platform yes see this is why i was never good at the 20 questions that we had on the website because you don't get those nuances like The hits.

1:01:48You don't get the hits. Okay, let's see here. So it was a launch PlayStation game, but it is now on other things. But after 2000, so at least PS2. Was it a launch exclusive for the PS2? Yes. Yeah. Wow, okay. Let's see here. But then it went other places? It's funny because... It could be Disgaea. It could be anything. Yeah. It's probably Disgaea. Okay. Was it made in Japan? No. It's not Disgaea. Wow.

1:02:32Not made in Japan. It eliminates a lot. Yep. I'm letting you jump in here. I've been monopolizing the questions. I know. I know. That's because you're just so much better at it than me. No, that's because I care less.

1:02:50Okay, well, let's see here. Is this game part of a series that is still running today? Not today. Oh, but possibly recently. Let's see. PS2. That was really before PlayStation hit their stride with their first party. unlikely it's a first party game if it eventually went multi-platform but it could be look we got hell divers coming out on xbox this week yeah but that's what's weird is because it's like i feel like this is a different time right where games cost so much that they eventually just pour other places where it's like fantasy 10 never came to xbox like yeah it might be on steam i don't know if that counts yeah um okay okay okay but it wasn't made in japan is it helpful to know what i I'm having a hard time.

1:03:42I have a closet full of PlayStation 2 games, but I'm having a hard time picturing, like, game genres back then other than RPGs. Yeah, I mean, there's, like, stuff like Call of Duty. Okay, was this a sports racing or puzzle game? um hmm it's one of those genres of a sort so could be something like Grand Theft Auto um because PS2 had three which are now everywhere but they launched exclusively on PS2 one of those genres of a sort so like Grand Theft Auto is kind of a racing game not really is this game oh but he said he said the series is not running today and Grand Theft Auto is about to have a new game so it would not be that is it a is it a sports game of a sort no is it a puzzle game of a sort no that's 10 so it's a racing game of a of a sort of a sort on PS2 it was eventually actually got ported to other stuff, but launched on the PS2, not made in Japan.

1:05:05Is this studio still making games? No. Whoa. Okay. So it's not Project Gotham Racing because that was Xbox. Correct. Yeah. And then there's like Need for Speed, but those studios all still exist. It could be Need for Speed. But no, but that's like Namco. I also don't know if there's still like someone could tell me like yeah there's a new Need for Speed game that came out last year and it sold 8 million copies I'd be like oh or they could say there's not been one in a decade I would believe either of those answers there was a new Need for Speed like last year is that true? yeah there was like a cell shaded one so I don't think it would be that what else?

1:05:52racing games. Just PS2 racing games. Or maybe, but maybe it's a... Well, this came out on Dreamcast, but like, well, and GameCube. But like, there's Crazy Taxi. I'm trying to think, like, maybe it's a driving game. Well, that's what they call Gran Turismo. That's kind of what I went to. It's a game with driving. That's why I was thinking Grand Theft Auto. Because, like, there is racing in that game, but... What about Burnout? Yeah. They're not making Burnout games anymore. Damon said the studio's not in business. Obviously, EA is still in business. Yeah. I don't... Criterion made the old Burnout games, didn't they?

1:06:38Alright, I'm gonna do the cheating... I'm gonna do the cheating question. Tell me what the cheating question is first. Have we named the game yet? I think we need to wait on that. It's too early for that.

1:06:51Justin Davis:Okay. But you only have three questions and a guess. What? That's not true. We have like 10 left. No. Wait, really? Yeah, I already said you're at 10. I thought you said we're at 10. Maybe you're at 11. Wait, Joe, what have we done? We're definitely over 10 because I said that's 10. Yeah, you said there's 10, but I feel like we've only asked one. Okay, I think you've done 11, and I just opened my fist. We might be missing a hand. Okay, I think you're at 11. Got it. That's why I shouldn't open my hands.

1:07:24Do you race cars in this game? Do you drive cars in this game? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Because I was thinking, I'm like maybe in a racing of a sort, and maybe it's some weird snowboarding games or something. Okay. So cars are definitely. Okay. But I just want to. Go for it. Is racing the main objective? Like, is that what you're doing in this game? Or does this game, like, I don't know how to word it. Is this a racing game? We don't. We already. Because I don't. Okay, hold on.

1:08:04Justin Davis:You already know that it's a racing game of a sort. And so now you want to ask if it's a racing game? He said of a sort. No, no. Okay, of a sort. Well, what's the of a sort? What does that mean? That means it's got to be burnout, right? Because it's like. There's a good chance it's burnout. We know it's Cars. So Cars really helps me because then it's like there was weird, you know, there's like whatever the Star Wars thing was. Oh, yeah. There was like cart racing games, you know, so it's like it eliminates all of that junk. Is the purpose in this game to crash your car? No. Aw. Well, shoot. Yeah.

1:08:46Are you sure?

1:08:51um are you positive um car based i mean i don't like there's driver like there's open world you know i don't know like i don't know i don't know how much i would consider that like racing and i also don't know was that that might be ps1 that's ps2 i think that's ps2

1:09:12so need for speed burnout gran turismo yeah maybe so maybe i i think the gran turismo slogan or whatever is like it's not a racing game it's a driving game so maybe that's where like it's the racing game of a sort comes from but i can't i can't recall any gran turismo is ever going to any other platforms even the newest once not on any also also we know it wasn't made in japan oh yep

1:09:45is this game based off of is it helpful to know if it's based off of like a movie or television show if it's based off a license then would that help you um if it if the answer is no then it doesn't help me if the answer is yes then it does okay we'll save it we'll save it I don't want to ask that

1:10:12um I'm trying to think I don't think it can be well it also can't be crazy taxi because that was made in Japan what about uh what about like uh Midnight Club yeah that's just Rockstar right they're still around yeah Well, yes, but that's like Rockstar San Diego or something. They're technically not around. I thought they – oh, didn't they make Red Dead? Wasn't that Rockstar San Diego? Red Dead 1, not Red Dead 2. Okay, okay. Hmm. I think we've listed a lot of games. I think we should use the – have we named this game series or game yet? No. Okay, that does kind of help because now we've eliminated everything.

1:11:03It kind of puts us back on square one. A car game? What the heck? So now we know it's no GTA, no Burnout, no Need for Speed, no Project Gotham. We named a lot of serieses. No Midnight, whatever. I almost said Midnight Run. That's a different thing. Yeah.

1:11:21Justin Davis:Yeah, think about the games in that area that are all about cars, but not necessarily about racing. I mean, I appreciate that you're giving us a good hint, but that doesn't, you say that in my mind. They're all about cars, but it's possibly not about racing. Not always. Not always. What does that mean? Yeah. Was there, maybe there was a Cars game. Did that game come out, did that movie come out in that era? I'm sure there's a Cars game The licensed, maybe it's like Simpsons, Simpsons Hit and Run Oh yeah, okay, is this game based off a license? No Gosh, darn it That's 15 I really thought I was on to something there Simpsons Hit and Run was a good guess Yeah What was the other one?

1:12:14There was the Simpsons Hit and Run and yeah there was another one Wasn't there like old, like mafia games and they were like open world driving games? Not mafia, Godfather? There was a Godfather open world, but that was just like a, it wasn't a driving game. It was just an open world action adventure game. I mean, is, okay, so I'll ask, like, is this game, does this game like feature open world gameplay? No. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, he's got it. What about like, what about like a Twisted Metal? Like a car fighting game. There it is. But Twisted Metal was PS1. So Twisted Metal Black? Twisted Metal Black.

1:13:00There's a very good chance that Twisted Metal Black is on like Steam now. Is this game first party? No. Oh. I was ready, dude. Two questions and a guess. I was ready. But there was another. Vigilante 8 that's PS1 yeah that's and then but then because then I was thinking of I never had the game but I had the demo for Destruction Derby which I feel like was also PS1 but I don't know if there were more I have no idea is this a car fighting game yes but it's not first party so it's not Swiss to Metal but All the Twisted Metals were definitely first party, right? Could it be Vigilante 8?

1:13:56I feel like Vigilante 8 was PS1. Because Twisted Metal 1 and 2 and 3 were all PS1. I never played Vigilante. Yeah, I never played that one. Does that one... I guess my only thing is maybe you're right, and maybe Twisted Metal Black wasn't technical. I thought it was Sony Santa Monica that made those. So did I. So did I. So that's where I'm like, those have got to be first party. I think they got to be. Okay. In Vigilante 8, does your car shoot guns or missiles like in Twisted Metal? No, I don't remember. What's it like? You don't remember? I thought it was like Twisted Metal. I think it's like Twisted Metal, but I can't remember.

1:14:42I'm trying to carve out a distinction between a Destruction Derby-like and a Twisted Metal-like. Yeah. But I can't picture Vigilante 8 in my head to know what's going on in that game. Yeah. Do you... Well, Twisted Metal got a television show. If we really wanted to put that one to bed. How many questions do we have? One. And a guess. One and a guess? Yeah.

1:15:13it can't be i man i don't think it's twisted metal it can't be twisted metal i also feel like destruction derby would be weird what do you think mark i don't know i think we do the hack again but what if the answer is yes then we're not we haven't narrowed anything that do you do you does your car have weapons and shoot missiles or guns of some kind out of your car? Hell yeah, it does. Maybe it is Twisted Metal Black, and maybe we're just wrong and it wasn't first party at the time. I mean, I feel like it was, but I don't know. I don't know what else it would be. What else would you shoot? I really don't know.

1:15:59Car combat? Well, so that eliminates any kind of destruction derby. Okay. Is it Twisted Metal Black? No, it's not Twisted Metal. All right, what is it?

1:16:11Justin Davis:2001, published by Midway. This was a modern reimagining for the time of a classic 80s. Spy Hunter? It's Spy Hunter. God damn it. I even thought about that too. It's Spy Hunter. Yeah. Rip. Yep. Originally announced to have The Rock, I think, attached, and he was in some promotional materials, but then he's not in the final game. because they were going to make a movie. But I think he actually does the voice in the sequel in Spy Hunter 2, which came out a year or two later. They made a sequel? Yeah. They were just making all kinds of video games back then. You used to be able to make video games, Damon.

1:16:46Justin Davis:This is exactly my point that we've been making over the recent weeks. They used to just churn games like this out every year. And they were fine. We were fine with these games. We gave this an 8.9. That's practically a 9. Yeah. Yeah, it is. So I'm looking into this Twisted Metal Black, and it is first party, but it's incognito entertainment, which looks like it was a Jaffe spinoff. Yeah. That's what I knew. Studio that then got dissolved. I knew there was some, I don't know how sensitive, like, you know, he was not at Sony Santa Monica and then, you know, came back to make Twisted Metal, but at like a new studio.

1:17:24And then there was some, you know, it just wasn't smooth sailing. I don't really quite. Interesting.

1:17:32Justin Davis:This was developed by Paradigm, which is no longer in business, but also helped Nintendo with Pilotwings 64. You know what? It was earlier than this. This is the era we were getting. Remember, like, Mercenaries, Playground of Destruction, like games like that? Yeah. You used to just be able to make video games. I know. Somewhere along the way, Western developers forgot how to make video games. Thank goodness for Japanese developers, because they are still churning it out. What a role, Russell, right? We're trying to get developers right now. We were having the exact opposite conversation a decade ago.

1:18:03It's like, what's going on in Japan? They can't.

1:18:05Justin Davis:This only applies to AAA games, by the way. Plenty of Western indie developers bring us great stuff. Well, nicely attempt. Thank you for the suggestion. Who is this? Colin in an undisclosed location. Viewers and listeners, if you have your own suggestions for 20 questions, you got to drive into the van. You ever play this game? The arcade original? Yeah, it's great. It's great. It's one of the classics. It's an all-time arcade classic. Spy Hunter, here's at the end of the show, I'll drop some Justin lore. There you go. I don't think this was the first video game I owned or had, but my earliest video game memory ever.

1:18:38Like the first thing I can remember is Spy Hunter on the NES. Playing it with my cousins at my cousin's house.

1:18:44Justin Davis:Did you ever play the arcade that had the steering wheel and yet they had a gas pedal? Only on the NES. That's good. I think I rented the NES version at some point. Anyway, give your own suggestions for 20 questions. Email them to me at the email address gamescoop at IGN.com. Before I let you go, why don't you know that now is a great time to score some incredible games through Humble, live now through September 2nd, grab Persona 5 Royal, Banisher's Ghost of New Eden, my time at Sandrock and more. Whether you're building your backlog or discovering something new, it's the perfect time to pick up these fan favorites.

1:19:11Justin Davis:Plus, every purchase supports a good cause. Get a curated mix of PC games every month, all for just$14.99 a month. That is all the scoops we have for you this week. Thank you, Justin. Thank you, Mark. Thank you to Jobert, working behind the scenes to make this episode possible. We've got a busy couple of weeks coming up with some travel and then Gamescom and Justin's going to be in London, but we're still going to try and piece together shows for you over the next couple of weeks without interruption. So fingers crossed we'll make that happen for you. Scoop Nation. My name is Damon. This is IGN GameScoop and we're out.

1:19:45Justin Davis:This episode of GameScoop was produced by yours truly, Damon Hadfield and Jobert Atienza. Technical direction is handled by Jobert Atienza. Technical production is by Mariah Franzen and Amir Rakib. Audio engineering is by Amir Rakib. And post-production editing is by me. Graphic design is by Nicole Kaganpin. GameScoop is an IGN production and part of the Geek Media Network.

1:20:17Mark Robin, egg salad sandwiches for dinner tonight. Hell yeah. I love egg salad sandwiches. I don't know if you've heard me talk about this before. Maybe two years ago when we were eating so many eggs at IGN Live. But I think there's never been a bigger mismatch between a food that tastes yummier that sounds more disgusting if you describe what it is and what's in it. It's like it's a boiled egg and then you mash it all up and you put in mayonnaise and relish and some mustard. And you're like, that sounds disgusting. like it sounds abhorrent but it's so good we love it wait what are we talking about egg salad sandwiches okay yeah hello look what tj max dragged in the devil wears prada 2 is now streaming on disney plus and hulu we are digital we are downloadable we are streamable the fashion

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