Thumbstick Athletes

Just as E3 rises from the ashes like a Phoenix so too does the TSA Podcast!  Though I guess ashes is too strong a word, more mismatched schedules and a general lack of time for us.....E3 has, however, risen from the ashes.  We cover the Ubisoft Forward event, since that's one of the few conferences that took place already, along with discussing some other miscellaneous announcements and some of the things we'd like to hear about from the other conferences. During "What We Played" Fortnite Season 7, the new Ratchet and Clank, Stardew Valley, and a few others are discussed by Dan, Will, and Corey!

It's been a hot minute since we've had an episode so we take the opportunity to get you all caught up on the news, what we've been playing and what we've been up to!

We're back with an irregular episode release, this time covering Outriders.  Dan was unable to play due to the whole PC/XBOX Gamepass confusion issue, but played some Cozy Grove to make up for it.

What are some great games that got left behind on their old systems, and haven't made the leap yet to modern day consoles or PC?  This is the question Will and Dan discuss in this new (likely series) episode.  

We review the excellent addition onto the Super Mario 3D World, Bowser's Fury for this week's episode.  Spoilers...its pretty darn good and we hope they make a full Mario game in the same vein.  

I don't believe we talked too much about it when it first happened, so now that it's official we took the opportunity to talk about what it will mean for both companies and the studios involved.  Later on in the episode Will talks more about Days Gone and Dan played Fortnite Season 6.

While I had a pretty good main segment planned for this week's episode, it was derailed before it even started.  Graphics cards are so hard to buy right now that even pre-built gaming PC's are out of stock.  So most of the main segment this week was talking about the gpu shortage!

For this week we cover a few digital events that most gamers seem to not be too jazzed about.  Though Pokemon stuff is usually a hit, many were disappointed in the nature of the Pokemon Diamond and Pearl remakes.  The event was saved, however, by the announcement of Pokemon Legends: Arceus which appears to be a Breath of the Wild-esque Pokemon game.  Seems like it will be a safe bet.  On the PlayStation front, lots of things coming, but nothing really first party which is what everyone was hoping for, but some neat announcements nonetheless!  Dan and Will were not disappointed.  

During Nintendo's February 2021 Direct, a new game was announced that's very near and dear to the TSA Pod...and that game was Project Traingle Strategy.  Slated for release in 2022, PTS is a Final Fantasy Tactics-esque Strategy RPG with graphics very similar to Octopath Traveler.  Even better than the game announcement itself is the fact that they released a demo later that day!  So we played and share our thoughts.  Later in the episode we cover the rest of the Nintendo Direct, with announcements about Splatoon 3, and Skyward Sword coming to the Switch and some of the Blizzcon announcements.

Since we missed another episode last week we decided to spend an episode on catching up on the games we've played.  Will updates us on his 4 in February progress, talking about The Witcher 3 and Days Gone and Dan sunk a significant amount of time into the 1.5 update for Stardew Valley.  We also set a new recording night at the end of the episode so we can get back to weekly episodes.

GameStop was finally in the news again over the past week or so, and for a good reason for once!  Dan and Will breakdown (at least in layman's terms) what happened with the GameStop stock, and the importance of what it means.  Later on in the episode we cover some crazy Nintendo news, Will played Hitman 3 and Dan is getting a new phone.

Another new year staple in the TSA Pod arsenal...our yearly predictions episode!  We sometimes make this a "bold predictions" episode, but really coming from 2020 into 2021....its hard to read.  We also report that Ubisoft is going to be making an open world Star Wars and we talk during "What We Played" about Final Fantasy 15 and Hollow Knight.

It's a pretty meager selection of new games for the start of 2021....a few Nintendo releases in Super Mario 3D World DX and Bravely Default 2 for February.  Later on in the episode we discuss some more Cyberpunk 2077, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and have a somewhat spoilery discussion about The Last of Us 2.  Not to worry, we do give a warning!

The gang is all here for the TSA Pod's final episode of the year, the 2020 Thumbies Awards!  We have such classic awards as the Steamy Pile award, Best Ambassador game, and the ever favorite 2020's 2019 Game of the Year.....yeah, that one!  It also has a very 2020 finish....

Corey joins the pod this week to share his thoughts on the controversial Cyberpunk 2077 which we talk a little more in depth about this week.  Later on in the episode Will really sells us on a new under-the-radar game he's been playing and we recap our experiences with Winter Storm Gail, whose epicenter was right where we live!

Since Cyberpunk is such a huge game, we figured we would be doing the game an injustice by reviewing it so shortly after release.  Especially since Dan played the most at only about 15 hours, Will at about an hour, and Corey not having played any yet.  So expect a more thorough discussion further in the future and maybe as soon as next week even.   During Nibblebits we cover some of The Game Awards winners, and during "What we Played" some more Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity, and Dan covers Fortnite Season 5!

We finally get to experience the events that lead to the masterpiece that is Breath of the Wild in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.  It was most definitely an unexpected surprise announcement to come out of this year in gaming...with nobody anywhere either predicting a game like it would exist, or having any sort of leaks before the actual announcement.  A rarity in the industry these days! During "What We Played" there is of course a lot more Assassin's Creed Valhalla talk, since that is still the new hotness in the gaming world.

With Assassin's Creed Odyssey being one of our podcast's favorite games, Valhalla had some pretty big shoes to fill.  So we felt the need to compare and contrast pretty heavily between the two.  Later on in the episode Dan and Will give their early impressions of Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

Corey and Will relate their first few days with the new Xbox Series X, and we discuss the form factor, the UI, and the performance along with whether or not it was worth an upgrade.  During "What We Played" we give our first impressions of Assassin's Creed Valhalla....to be covered in a full episode nest week!

Corey joins us for this week's episode as Dan talks about his experience with Watch Dogs: Legion and Ubisoft's new subscription service...which didn't go well at first. During nibblebits we learn that the Mass Effect Legendary Edition is on it's way, (an original trilogy remaster) and a new Mass Effect is currently being developed.   During "What We Played" Corey gets us caught up on what he's been playing, including Spiritfarer, some Civ 6 and a few others!