A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986, Hyperscape, Mixer - GoGCast 263

We’re back from our short break and we’ve cherry picked news stories from that past two weeks for this episode of the GoGCast. We chat about Mixer’s demise, Horizon Zero Dawn finally coming to PC, Pokémon is the next big MOBA and we remember Reckful. Plus, we have game reviews and first impressions! Catherine played the vapourwave infused romance novella A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986, Simon played a bit of Hyperscape and Leah tried Marvel’s Iron Man VR.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:18:39)

• A Summer’s End: Hong Kong 1986 Review (00:20:12)
• Hyperscape 1st impressions (00:28:12)
• Marvel’s Iron Man VR 1st impressions (00:34:05)

This Week’s News (00:37:14)

• Mixer shuts down (00:37:14)
• Horizon Zero Dawn launching on Steam august 7th (00:44:28)
• Playstation and Microsoft pulling ads from Facebook amidst hate speech not being removed (00:50:11)
• Remembering Reckful (00:55:25)
• Pokémon Unite: MOBA done in partnership with Tencent  (00:58:44)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:07:51)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

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The Industry is Broken: A Message from the Girls on Games Team

Transcript: Hi everyone, Leah here. I hope you have been having an excellent week. We apologize but we won’t be recording a Girls on Games podcast this week. We need to take a mental health break, but I still wanted to come and say something in light of what has been happening in the video game industry and other parts of the gaming world. 

For those that don’t know, this week, many strong individuals have come forward and exposed the rampant sexual harassment, abuse of power and sexism in the video game industry, which has in turn inspired others to come forward with their stories as well. As you know, members of this podcast work at video game companies. These victims and their abusers are friends, colleagues, acquaintances, and in cases, people who we have even had on the podcast before and given a platform. We are all shaken to the core. We are heartbroken, furious and dealing with so many other emotions that it makes it really hard to be excited about video games at the moment.

Like a few weeks ago with the Black Lives Matter movement, we want to keep the airways clear so that more important messages can make their way through. But with that, I want to thank all the incredibly strong people who have come forward and told us their stories. We hear you, we support you and we will stand beside you in calling for change. We need to do better. We need to be better. Be better to each other. Like I said in a tweet earlier in this week, this shit has got to stop. We need to call out the injustices, be them racism, sexism, discrimination of any sorts, and have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind. 

We are all in this together. To the victims, we hear you, we see you, we love you. Thank you. If anyone needs to talk, my personal DMs are open on Twitter, and I am here for you.

Thank you so much for listening to this and we will be back next week hopefully with the same  passion and excitement for video games as you have come to know from the Girls on Games team. Be well and be good to each other.

Love, Leah, Cat, Ali & Simon

EA Play Live, Pokémon Presents, PC Gaming Show and more - GoGCast 262

Holy online events, Batman! We watched the PC Gaming Show, Pokémon Presents and EA Play Live and on top of that, PAX announced an upcoming nine day online event coming this fall... Some of our favourite highlights from the press events we watched last week were Star Wars Squadrons gameplay reveal, New Pokémon Snap announced and we even spotted Dragon Age screenshots. Plus Ali shares her first impressions of Summer in Mara and Leah finished playing The Last of Us Part II.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:21:27)

• Summer in Mara 1st impressions (00:26:39)
• The Last of Us Part II final thoughts (00:30:55)

This Week’s News (00:37:20)

• PC Gaming Show (00:37:20)
• Pokémon Presents: New Pokémon Snap (00:40:40)
• EA Play Live: Star Wars Squadrons gameplay and Dragon Age screenshots (00:44:35)
• Cyberpunk delayed again (00:53:57)
• Alf is the ‘official tech correspondent’ for Summer Game Fest (01:01:18)
• PAX is Going Digital with a Nine-day Online Event (01:08:20)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:17:50)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames

The Last of Us Part II and PlayStation 5 Reveal Event - GoGCast 261

It’s a PlayStation type of episode! Leah gives her spoiler-free first impressions of The Last of Us part II and let’s just say, there’s a reason why this game is receiving such high praise. We then discuss the PlayStation 5 reveal event: what we thought of the conference, which games we’re most excited to play, what we think of the look of the console, and more.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:12:44)

• Destiny 2 event (00:24:50)
• The Last of Us Part II first impressions (00:28:30)

This Week’s News (00:42:40)

• Take-Two CEO said Stadia over-promised (00:42:40)
• Ubisoft’s Gods and Monsters was briefly playable on Stadia (00:45:31)
• Playstation 5 reveal event highlights, fans estimate the console’s size, CGI presenter conspiracy, and we still don’t have a price (00:48:40)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:13:14)

DISCLAIMER: The Last of Us Part II review code provided by PlayStation Canada. The opinions expressed in the article above have not been affected by, dictated or edited in any way by the provider. For more information please see Girls on Games’ Code of Journalistic Ethics.

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames

Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Wholesome Direct - GoGCast 260

New information about the next generation of consoles is trickling in! Xbox Series X will have HDR and 120 fps to some backward compatible games. On the PlayStation 5 front, Sony announced a digital press conference on June 4th and detailed that all PS4 games coming this summer will be compatible with PlayStation 5. We close out the show by wrapping up the first Wholesome Direct, an online conference completely dedicated to wholesome games.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:20:55)

This Week’s News (00:40:23)

• Xbox Series X backwards compatibility adds HDR and 120fps to older games (00:40:23)
• PlayStation 5 News (00:46:40)
• Wholesome Direct Wrap-up (00:52:00)

Outro and Wrap-up (00:57:35)

My Friend Pedro, Minecraft Dungeons, Drake Hollow - GoGCast 259

Hello! Do you like video games? Great, because we played some video games and would love to tell you about them. Cat befriended a floating banana in My Friend Pedro, Ali played the Drake Hollow beta and Leah went dungeon crawling in Minecraft Dungeons. Plus we chat about the latest news about Rainbow Six Siege and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:18:13)

• My Friend Pedro review (00:18:13)
• Drake Hollow first impressions (00:25:23)
• Minecraft Dungeons first impressions (00:41:37)

This Week’s News (00:46:05)

• Area F2 is a carbon copy of Rainbow Six Siege and got taken down by Ubisoft (00:46:05)
• Animal Crossing hacker gives out free Raymonds to fight black market (00:49:56)
• Live reaction of Pokémon Collector unpacking a 1st edition Charizard (01:06:00)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:09:17)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames

Interview with James of Wholesome Games - GoGCast 258

Are you ready for a big dose of wholesome? ✨ I hope so because we’re joined with James from Wholesome Games to chat about the upcoming Wholesome Direct. He tells us about what we can expect from the online showcase, how Wholesome Games came to be and how it grew into a thriving community of gamers who love heartwarming games.

If you also love these kinds of games, catch the Wholesome Direct on May 26th, 2020 at 1pm EST. Head to wholesomegames.com to join the mailing list for notifications and to find links to their social accounts and Discord Server.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:18:05)

This Week’s News (00:33:35)

• UE5 reveal plus Epic games waves royalty fees for first $1M of gross revenue for game devs (00:33:35)
• New Paper Mario coming July 17 (00:37:16)
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 and 2 are getting remade (00:40:55)
• Ghost of Tsushima State of Play (00:43:43)
• The Culling comes back with questionable monetization practices (00:44:30)

This Week’s Topic: interview with Wholesome Games (00:51:30)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:13:33)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames

Inside Xbox, The Last of Us Part II, Cyberpunk 2077 and more

We’re staying home, we’re playing games, we’re a bit very lonely and that made us really chatty so strap in for a long one. In this week’s GoGCast, Leah shares how she built a rock garden in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, EA announces that Fallen Order is now a franchise, Cyberpunk 2077 has us talking about genitals and we discuss the latest Inside Xbox which showcased games coming to the Xbox Series X.

If you need help planning your island in Animal Crossing, Leah recommends this 3D planner: https://animalcrossingworld.com/2020/05/check-out-this-3d-island-planner-app-to-plan-your-animal-crossing-new-horizons-island/. And if you need some feel good content, check out Life with Malamutes on Instagram and Korean Englishmen on Youtube.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:21:45)

• Leah’s guide to creating a rock garden Animal Crossing: New Horizons (00:45:55)

This Week’s News (00:53:14)

• EA details games coming to Switch and next gen and announces that Fallen Order is now a franchise (00:53:14)
• Last of Us Part II Story Trailer (00:58:57)
• Inside Xbox: Games coming to Series X (01:00:10)
• Cyberpunk 2077 features customizable genitals (01:22:56)
• Tune in to the Wholesome Direct for wholesome games (01:26:43)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:29:39)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames

Summer Game Fest, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and more - GoGCast 256

It’s happened. Ali is actually excited about an Assassin's Creed Game! 😲 In this episode of the GoGCast, we get really hyped about Assassin's Creed Valhalla and also discuss how new events like Summer Game Fest might mean the end of E3 as we know it.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:19:05)

This Week’s News (00:48:28)

• Nintendo data breach, set up 2FA on your Nintendo ID (00:48:28)
• Gamespot announced online gaming event in June and Summer Game Fest is a 4 month digital event  (00:52:14)
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla reveal  (01:07:05)
• Xbox event Thursday May 7 detailing games coming for next gen (01:17:18)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:29:50)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames

CS:GO source code leaks, Crysis Remastered, Animal Crossing Stalk Market and more - GoGCast 255

On this week’s episode of the GoGCast, Simon makes bank with the stalk market in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Ali gets roped into playing Phantasy Star Online 2, CS:GO and Team Fortress 2 source code leaks online, Crysis gets remastered and more.

What is Everyone Playing? (00:21:34)

This Week’s News (00:46:10)

• Jason Schreir leaves Kotaku for Bloomberg (00:46:10)
• Crysis is getting remastered (00:56:05)
• CSGO and TF2 source code from 2017 leaked  (00:57:17)
• Animal Crossing is selling gangbusters and announces its next wave of new content (01:04:15)

Outro and Wrap-up (01:13:49)

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Thanks for listening! The GoGCast comes out weekly so make sure to subscribe and you won't miss an episode. For more about us, Girls on Games, check out girlsongames.ca.

Find our Merch at http://www.designbyhumans.com/shop/GirlsOnGames/

Buy us a Ko-Fi at https://ko-fi.com/girlsongames