Was 2016 a Bad Year for Games? AOTF Podcast #45

It has been a while since our last podcast, so Will and I sat down this week less to talk about news, and more to just catch up on some trends that we’re seeing in the gaming world. Along with discussions about consoles, games, and the state of gaming, we also delve more deeply into the behind the scenes operation of our site, and how games journalism is shifting in a lot of big ways. To hear about all of this and more, check out the AOTF Podcast #45 below.

Starting off with some discussion of 2016, brought on by the upcoming The Game Awards. I’m feeling pretty down on 2016, though I have skipped a lot of what people are calling the best games of the year. It feels like I skipped them for a reason though, with 2016 not looking like a standout year, at least if you venture away from shooters and sequels.

In other news, Will is stepping into the brave new world of generation-less console gaming, buying up a PS4 Pro and selling off his old, obviously worthless PS4. Actually, he’s having almost as much trouble distinguishing the benefits of the new console as I was. Sure, there are improvements, but are they worth the cost to upgrade? Well, maybe if somebody buys your PS4 for $250 it is.

In our one departure into actual gaming news, I’m pretty upset that Will is the only person working at the site who will be near The Legend of Zelda: Defenders of the Triforce. These things just never come to Florida, though I’m holding out hop on more locations being announced soon. Of course, I might just crash at Will’s place if things look bad.

Finally we talk about game reviews, and the culture surrounding it. Obviously Bethesda has shaken things up by shifting away from the usual early review copies. They’re still putting out good games, but with technical problems on the PC, Dishonored 2 isn’t going over as well as DOOM did before it.

This also brings up a lot of discussion about game reviews, hype, and the culture surrounding it. It feels a lot like gamers view the press in a very adversarial way in a lot of ways, when it should be the opposite. I won’t go too deep into it, but check out AOTF Podcast #45 to hear more on this and a few other topics.

And, of course, we go over what we’ve played lately, including Dishonored 2 and the very disappointing Mario Party: Star Rush.

You can also listen and subscribe via the links below:

Available on iTunes & Google Play or download the MP3