Free Play Podcast

On the season 5 premiere of the Free Play Podcast, Matt and Bubba hold down the fort and catch up on what they have been up to over the summer break. Also, Scarlett Johansson is suing Disney over Black Widow. All that and more this week on the Free Play Podcast.

It’s our Season 4 finale! Matt is out of town and we have a special guest! Luke aka FrostByte IV joins us today as we share a wild story that includes Mass Effect Legendary Edition, an epic battle for a PS5 that ends with friendships put to the test. We also have questions about EA’s latest patent for a new battle pass system and what that could mean for games like Apex or Battlefield. That's what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play podcast.

Games journalism often seems to be hyper focused on instances of crunch and negativity in game development. But what happens when a story comes out that is completely taken out of context that forwards something that’s not true? And what happens when a developer comes forward to try to correct what’s been written? We tackle some hard hitting journalism this week on the Free Play podcast.

What does it take to give awards out to tabletop games? Do you have to be some kind of legit thing or….. Can anyone just do it? We take a look at the American Tabletop Awards from the categories to the winners and nominees of this year and years past. Which led us to coming up with our own ideas for the Love Thy Nerd tabletop awards and that’s what we’re talking about this week on the Free Play podcast.

We know some people who have some pretty hefty game collections. But what about 25,000 games? All on Steam? Patch notes in a recent Steam update mentioned a fix for libraries of 25,000+ games. If you didn’t do anything else it would take approximately 3 years to even test out that many games. What are some theories behind who owns these libraries? That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play podcast.

Rumor has it that the Last of Us is getting a remake.  Not a remaster, they already did that. But a remake. For a game that came out in 2013. We have questions. Questions like… WHY, WHAT FOR, do we need this? Bubba and I try to get to the bottom of this remake idea that makes absolutely no sense.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been about a year since COVID really began to take over our lives. How has the pandemic affected the video and board game industries? Some games have released well during this unprecedented time and some games just.. Didn’t spark joy.That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast. VamHJG51zHIAeR3RaGdN

Microsoft has had several failed acquisition attempts of other companies like Tiktok and Pinterest as well as the flop of their streaming service, Mixer. But Microsoft isn’t giving up and is trying to expand its reach by acquiring Discord for the small sum of at least $10 BILLION dollars. Yes. BILLION.  Do we think Discord would be a Microsoft exclusive service? Would Discord be better off partnering with Amazon? That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play Podcast.

What’s the best way to get nerds up and moving? Giving them free games in exchange for steps. The new app Hero Trainer rewards your steps by giving you gift cards to the Playstation Store, Steam, Nintendo eShop, Google Play, and tons of other nerdy places. I also share a story of an… experience I had at the doctor’s office. That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play podcast.

It is obvious how much communication between a campaign and its backers can impact the overall success of the Kickstarter itself and we dig into it this week on the Free Play podcast.

We’re used to seeing some seriously big game announcements in press conferences held at E3 and other conventions. With COVID and the lack of large conferences, the focus now more than ever has been delegated to shorter online broadcasts like Nintendo’s Treehouse, Playstation’s State of Play, and Xbox Showcase. We had high hopes for week’s Playstation State of Play, and…. It just wasn’t what we expected.

We’ve seen nerd dom make its way to the big screen through the Lord of the Rings, the MCU, and much more. But recently we’ve seen a shift in nerdy adaptations of things that we love arriving on the small screen on platforms like Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, and Amazon Prime. What are some of the best examples that we’ve seen? Are there any negatives to this shift? We discuss this and more this week on the Free Play podcast.

The latest in video game news this week once again concerns CD Projekt Red who had source codes for Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3, an unreleased version of The Witcher 3, and Gwent the card game stolen and held at ransom. In a… somewhat poorly written ransom note, the thieves demanded payment to which CD Projekt Red refused. And a few days later these source codes ended up at an auction on the dark web. What does this mean for the games industry? That’s what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play podcast?

The news media was quick to declare the end of Google Stadia only two years after the launch. With the studio head stepping down and developers looking for new jobs, things just don’t look good. But is that all there is to this story? Just another end to another platform? What about Google’s claims that Stadia will still go on using third party releases? We talk about the future of Stadia and more this week on the Free Play podcast.

Tesla is known for being an innovative brand, with Elon Musk constantly coming up with new ideas for infinity and beyond. Literally. This week a story on Tesla boasted that the Model S and Model X vehicles come equipped with gaming hardware powerful enough to power The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Can this be? Is it even safe? And what other in-car tech ideas can we come up with? That’s what we want to talk about this week.

2020 has been a trip of a year, and the annual Video Game Award nominees are a testament to that. Did we agree with the list or could it have been altered just a little? Well, that's what we want to talk about this week on the Free Play podcast.

With Matt and Bubba finally getting their hands on a PS5 and an Xbox Series X, we delve into the pros and cons of each console that they’ve noticed this week. Kate has not made the leap to the PS5 yet, but she has Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, so you won’t see Kate complaining. After 8-13 hour days of streaming with their new consoles to share their experiences with the Love Thy Nerd community, Matt and Bubba are ready to discuss the new current-gen consoles.

The age of the current-gen consoles is coming to a close with the release of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X. We saw some truly amazing games come out on these platforms: Red Dead Redemption 2, Overwatch, God of War, Fallout 4, Spider-man, Destiny 2, and so much more. What made our list for the very best games on the Playstation 4 and Xbox One? That’s what we want to talk about today on the FreePlay podcast.

Control on the Switch is now available, but on launch day there was a queue to even play the game that boasted instant streaming. While the queue is no longer, it raises questions about the streaming potential of the Nintendo Switch for graphically demanding games that otherwise couldn't run on the diminutive console. Also, Cyberpunk 2077 was delayed......again and this time even the rank and file developers were caught off guard by the announcement. Oh, and Matt shaved his head!

The arrival of the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S alongside the stalwart Nintendo Switch gives fresh fuel to the ever-burning fire of the console wars. Brand loyalty and identity crisis fuel the cycle with every console generation with new twists. Technological advances with streaming, 4K, subscriptions, and more make this new cycle even more interesting. Bubba, Matt, and Kate talk about their views on the nerd rage along with their most overrated games which will surprise no one. All this and more on the Free Play Podcast Episode 106.