Game Scoop! 838: Our Most Anticipated Games of 2026

(upbeat music) - What's up everybody? Welcome to IGN GamesCoop, the final IGN GamesCoop of 2025. I'm your host, Steven Hadfield, and joining me this week are Stan Playborn. - It cannot still be 2025. - It is still 2025. - That sounds impossible. - Yeah, I've, what was the Gandalf quote? I've fallen into darkness out of all space and time and I have no idea what it was. - With lots of cookies. - Yeah, yeah, that is-- - But I'm here. - That is also this week in between Christmas and New Year's, like my kids are off school, the days are so long. It's raining, we can't go outside and we're-- - I know, that's been the big punk here in California. It's like, oh, bragging about nice weather and government. Now, we're all stocking up. - Yeah, not at Christmas. But we still do have a good show for you today, a great show for you this week. We're gonna look at some of our most anticipated games of 2026. I've got a really good list of games. So I've got my most anticipated games, also just some curiosities that are coming next year. And then there are a bunch of games that are like, oh yeah, I forgot that I'm still on the way. - Those are the ones I'm most excited for. - I've got a couple good extra-curricular activities to share. But first, let's share what we've been playing over the break I mentioned on the last episode that King was getting Mario Galaxy 1 and 2. And I was excited to play Galaxy 2 'cause I never had before. And I did. And I don't know, I'm not super impressed. - What? - I mean, it doesn't like immediately grab me. Like, it's not bad at all. But it feels very much like Mario Galaxy 1. And it is annoying to me that I don't have control of the camera. It's still the janky camera. - How bad are those Yoshi controls? - That's the other thing. It's got the janky N64 camera. And then the Yoshi can, can I not just press a button? Do I use my tongue? Like what? - You cannot, you gotta pull the star. - It's so stupid. - And then, you know, the game itself, it's very fun. But it being so highly regarded and being high on our top 25 games of the last 25 years list is like, I don't know, I just didn't grab it that way. - And I really do think it's not holding up well because of the things you just mentioned. But it is a 250 level amazing 3D Mario game. - Yeah, it is. - For what it's worth, which is a lot. - It is very clever. I don't know, Justin, do you want to say anything in defense of Mario Galaxy 2? - I mean, what? Like, not without completely derailing us. I mean, I think Mario Galaxy 2 is arguably the greatest 3D Mario game and greatest 3D platformer ever made of every single level is just a delight of imagination with no idea repeated twice. It's so tight and so perfect. And like, I don't know, I don't know. - But they changed themselves to the Wii. And it's, and you've never reversed that. And the Wii problems are much worse now. The same thing with Metroid Prime Trilogy. Like, I like those at the time. I don't like playing on the Wii controller now. - I will say I have not played Mario Galaxy 2 myself since it was on the Wii. So I don't have like a modern 2020, what year is it? 2025 take on this game. I do, I did buy it. So, you know, you can play with the Switch controllers. They're like, that is really cool, you know? Like, yeah, you don't need a sensor bar somehow. - No, yeah. And I'm playing with a pro controller, but that's why the Yoshi stuff was really annoying. - Oh, I do recommend separating the Joy-Cons and like, like you're playing it in the game. - I'll give that a try, but it's just really how I want to play a video game. - I know, I know. But it's required. And Yoshi's a huge part of this game. And eating stuff with Yoshi's a huge part of it. And like, pulling yourself between stars like that type of activity is just, yeah. - Yeah, it's fun, but I was expecting more. And Mario Odyssey is, in my opinion, the best, you know, 3D platformer ever. - It's surprising when you play Mario Odyssey, how like we've talked about it as revolutionary and it's like it's breath of the wild moment, but it's also back to basics 'cause it drops the Wii controller stuff. And the back to basics is really important. - Yeah. But then I've just been bouncing around playing really random stuff. I'm playing something old for another episode of, is it still fun? Just like Sam, I've been thinking about playing Portal or Portal 2 with Kingo. And the collection was five bucks for the Switch. So I got a download of that and I just read it started playing Portal. Playing through that amazing game. God, that game is so brilliant. And then I'm looking forward to getting to Portal 2 with Kingo. They just updated Divinity Original Sin 2 for modern consoles. And it's sort of like a polished up, I don't know if it's a full remaster. But anyway, fired that up again and I was enjoying that. But the presentation level is, it's not at the level that Baldur's Gate 3 is that? So it just kind of got me started thinking, well, maybe I should just play Baldur's Gate 3 instead. So yeah. And I'll do it back to that. That's kind of just how it would have been jumping around and playing Sam, what about you? - Well, I got to plug in all those weird Famicom games that brought home. I did indeed invite Darth Vader as a Scorpion, which was very amusing. I thought that was really funny. Then, and like, you know, just playing through Zelda and that Famicom cartridge is cool. There's a few other ones over fun. But so I've been delving to that, doing the old game that we're playing. And then I just haven't really had a chance to talk about Metroid. And like, I don't want that game to end right now. I'm kind of just just playing in getting 100% of everything trying not to use guides to get that way. I've got to the point where you can like reveal the secrets that you haven't found yet, which I think really shouldn't be in a Metroid game, but like, I'm there now. And so that's kind of interesting. I think it has this interesting, it's so hard to describe what I like about it and what I don't like about it. 'Cause I don't, I really don't, there's nothing I don't like about it. I like everything about it. I think there's some moments where it's like, I think it's weird that Samus doesn't talk, I mentioned that before. That feels outdated now. That desert and the motorcycle. Everything we saw early is exactly what you think it is. It's like kind of dull and it looks stupid. It's not cool, you know? Like, it's just kind of silly. But none of that hurts the game, which is like, you're doing that and it's kind of fun to like slide through a bunch of crystals and go to the next level and then start backtracking. And it's like, all the stuff that's in my brain of like the list of things to do is like, the game play loop for Metroid for me. And I love it. Like I love plugging in and playing that. The game looks incredible. It feels, you know, really good when you run around some of that, you know? What is missing is like, what is a good and bad thing that there's, it feels like 25% of the game is missing, right? There's like, there's not a level of complexity to a bunch of new enemies that you can counter at the end of the game. You just kind of bite harder ones, kind of appear more and more. It's kind of silly and retro. There's also like, like, you know, you understand now what everything you're ever going to do in a Metroid game is. You're going to get, you know, a whip, or what is it called? A grappling hook. But like, in this game, it's a psychic grappling hook, but who cares? It's a grappling hook. It does one other new thing. You know, so there's like stuff like that where it's like, it feels a little bit retready and tired stuff. But like, I'm enjoying like every minute with this game. I think it's really good. And I think it's kind of sad that like, it's probably not, wasn't invested in like it could have been. I don't know. There's just so much. Well, when you say that because it's still, it looks incredible. It does look incredible. Like, I think they spent all this time doing graphics and doing all this. And then they just had to say, like, listen, you already developed half of a game and we had to put it, you know, start over. Like, you need to cut this game somewhere. And I think that usually benefits games when they have like an edit. And like, you know, I feel like this is does a little bit benefit from it being like I curtailed, not extended out Metroid game, but like the padding of the desert level. I'm very conflicted about this game, but I do love it. And I do think it's really good. And I'm impressed with how the Switch 2 handles it. Cool. Yeah. Metroid's been my biggest holiday break game as far as you say. I'm still relatively early on because we were, you know, at a town for a few days in the Adiata. You know, we even ate like my personal score as of now, however many, you know, five hours in would probably be closer to a seven. Like, it's hard. You never sound like you hate a game more than a game. You think it's seven out of 10. And you're talking about it on a podcast. Like, I think it's good. I think it's a low score game scoops ever given out. That's true. We've never gone lower than a seven. So I don't know how much more to have to add. Like, I'm glad the franchise is back. I guess I have one thing to add, which is I think the music is incredible. It's really good. Although it's just in half, do you get annoyed now with all the duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, like every time that happens or every time there's like, you know, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. I'm like, it doesn't work anymore. Like, we can move on from this. I mean, I don't know. That does something to my brain in the same way that kind of like Zelda jingle does. That like, it's not, it's not rational, but it does something to me emotionally that like, no, I still, I still get a kick out of it every single time. And I like, I've actually come to kind of like the, I don't know what you would describe this control scheme, but the kind of like, you know, I make minor adjustments by like tilting the controls as I kind of become very natural feeling to me now. So, you know, I like the game. I don't love the game. You know, maybe my opinion will change when I get into the back half. As of right now, it wouldn't make it on to my game of the year short list, but I'm glad to have played it. It feels like time will spend. Yeah, I really do like, once you start going back and forth between the areas and doing all that, like, two things happen, one is that like, you're like, okay, I'm backtracking because they're, they're telling me to backtrack and showing me I have to backtrack and backtracking is kind of artificial, but also every area is cool. After that jungle area, like the, and it's very basic stuff, there's a fire area, there's an ice area, there's a mine area, but it's, it's done so well. And Nintendo has just gotten, you know, like, ice still looks so good on the switch too, that it's actually shocking to me. I'm amazed. And then Volt Forge, people love that level. Like, it's a, it's a really cool, unusual sci-fi location. It's like a factory that's like run by lightning in the clouds. It's just cool. Like, they did a good job with that. But what's the, what's the point of that? It's making a purple motorcycle for you, you know, like, it's very, it's very goofy. Are there, Are there cool boss fights? Yeah, they're fine, but I think the game is front heavy with them. The game is a very video game ES video game, I mean, you kind of already touched on this, like the boss fights feel exactly like you need nothing about the boss fights, and you know, exactly what they're all going to be with, you know, their weak points and their patterns, and like, it's a theme park video game, which is fine. That's great. But it's not really trying to be anything other than that. Yeah, it feels like if this was like, they're going to be like, the start of a trilogy, and they rebooted the trilogy, and they got everything right in this game, and you're like, I can't wait to see where this is going. But that ain't happening, you know, that's what's so disappointing about this. It feels like a, like, a, you know, a wrap on the series, because it just seems like it's going to be so unsuccessful, and people are so wavering on it that Nintendo is going to be like, never want to green light. I know I keep bringing this up, but like, that's my fear is that like, JJ Abrams got like a new, a start from a new trilogy, and he knew that going in, you know, and he gets to make a movie, and then everybody gets excited about the sequels, and no matter what, we knew they were going to get made. With this, it feels like I almost felt like this maker break thing for this type of Metroid game, and the good news is that somebody's going to make an amazing independent game that's just like Metroid Prime sometime, and it's going to be really, really cool, and you know, do its own thing, because I think it's such a good pattern for a game. But boy, I don't need to trot Samus out anymore in first person and roll around at balls, and discover Metroid's with a source of everything, which I'm not saying that that's happened that game, that there are actually very few metrics in it. That's what they'll have JJ Abrams make the movie, don't we? Yeah. Well, I do want to check out Metroid Prime 4 at some point. But now we turn our gaze into 2026, I've rounded up, I think most of the big games that are coming, games that I'm excited for, and then some games I raised in eyebrow at, and then a bunch of games that I forgot were even, I think, but cool to revisit. We begin on January 15th with not a day-me game, but I wonder if Sam and Justin are excited to revisit their villages and assess, or assess the street's new horizons. Animal Crossing, new horizons for Switch 2. Maybe, I mean, my daughters discovered Animal Crossing, and so, and then that's when I really discovered, I kind of pooped the complaint about, like, you can only have one save and one island per Switch, even if it's a completely different profile. Like, they can't have their own island, they have to move into my island, and now it's actually kind of messed up. That game for us, like, it's my island, and there's limits on what they can do because-- I know other parents have experienced this, it's a big mess. Yeah, and so, you know, on the one hand, like, yeah, it's a nice opportunity to recontextualize, like, I'm excited to go back to Animal Crossing, I want to get back into it, but it's just left a little bit of a sour taste in our household's mountain. Yeah, the poll for Animal Crossing, for me, is getting every bug and fish, and then getting my house to where I want it, and then showing it to a bunch of people. Those things are not really possible anymore. I did all that. So, the draw for me has to be, you know, at least social. So, it's like, if my nephews are playing or something, I'll get draw back into it. No matter what though, I'm covering this for work. So, I'm already, like, steeped in it. I did all of our coverage of the, and I'll get to the thing I'm excited about in a second. I did all of our coverage of the kind of, you know, making sure that we're ready to update our strategy guys for this. So, in doing that, I got pretty excited about the Nintendo stuff. I actually did the pages for that, and I'm going to do that. Like, I'm going to get in there and mine all that cool Nintendo stuff and get it all, and make it Nintendo room. Like, that's a goal. So, I can set that goal and then be like, that's what I want to do with this. And it's cool. Like, remember, they're adding the ability on, you know, it's a little silly, but to play NES games, but they also, just like to play to add the NES games, you're just playing the ones you can already play because you have to subscribe to the service. Yeah. So, that's not the draw. The draw is that, like, they put, you know, the toys back in, and the before Mario-type stuff, and whatever they put in for Zelda seems cool. I'm like, I don't know, I'm into that. I'm looking forward to, well, you know, I just, I never, I don't think I played the game for a full year before. So, I don't think I did much in winter. And so, I think that people think about Animal Crossing and a lot of these games as they have to be forever games. Like, it's just a game that you check in on, but it's like, if my experience with this DLC is like, I'm back in it for two weeks, and I get to make a snowman and get to do some of the snow stuff and some of the winter holidays. And I dip back out, like, that's a completely legitimate way to enjoy this update in this DLC. So it's like, that'll probably be the way, like, I don't think I caught any of the winter Fisher bugs. So, you know, I have some stuff that I can work on. Cool. All right. Well, another returning old game on February 5th is Dragon Quest 7 reimagined, which is interesting. I've never played the original, but it came out at a weird time because I think it was like a very old school GRPG that came out around the same time that Final Fantasy 10 did. Yeah. And then the big leap came with Dragon Quest 8. So that one felt really old school. You know, Square Enix has been doing really cool stuff with sort of reviving their older games, like Final Fantasy Tactics last year and Dragon Quest, what they did. They started with three, and now they've got one and two coming. So I'm interested, but I don't know. We have a preview of this on IGN, and our preview is obviously a huge Dragon Quest fan and knows this original game inside and out. But they're using a different art style. This is kind of like a diorama, kind of puppet art style with these things, and the previous wasn't completely sold on that. But I think they look good. They look like, what's it called, Thunderbirds, Mary and us? Yes. Yes. Or like, what the world police? Team America. Team America. That's not the intention. It's just, and the animations look really good and stuff. It's just they have these big old noggins with the little features, and they look like Mr. Potato Head. It's just weird. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I played, I played Dragon Quest 7, you know, I don't know how long the game is. Dozens of hours. Yeah. And like, but I've completely memory-holded, like I couldn't tell you one thing about it. Like, hey, you know, that was the one where the franchise really, I like that. You know, sort of came, came back into, back into the sort of mainstream popularity. So, you know, why is a new Dragon Quest game coming out? There is. There's 12. 12. Where is it? A long time coming. Yeah. Seriously. I don't think we got an update on it a while. Yeah. It's so hard for me now because like, there's, there's new JRPGs coming out, like Octopath Zero, and then there's these remakes of these Dragon Quest games and Live Alive and, you know, there's the Final Fantasy 1 through 6 stuff that came out. It's like, I want to play all that stuff. Like, that'd be great. Yeah. But like, this is an 80-an-hour investment. I played a lot of them already. So, like, it's a little bit of voice to my time, even though like, they're all desert island. Like, that's the other collection for me. Like, I want this as like a encyclopedia of Britannica book set of every JRPG that came out in the 90s in the best form and the original form, and then I'll play them before I'm dead, you know. But like, when is that going to happen? I've got a backwards plan for my death. I've got to work backwards. Yeah. This is neither here nor there, but we're just talking about my family. This is in the year 2100. Kingo will be 81 years old. I'm just like, what? It's so crazy. It's going to go into the next century. Yeah. That's crazy cool. Okay. We'll be right along. In February 12th is Mario Tennis Fever. I don't know what you got that one. Yeah. I love the Mario golf games. I've never really gotten into other Mario sports games, but, you know, I'm at a time now when if Kingo was interested and wants to play something, that's something like I would play with him if he's into it. Yeah. Yeah. It's been a while since they've been good. I mean, look, like, I'm going to say the same thing that everyone's going to say is, like, if this game has a really cool story mode and like RPG mechanics and like, you know, if it's sort of meaty in that way, then cool. I'm into it. And if it doesn't have that and it feels a little bit more bare bones like the last couple of Mario tennis games are, like, they felt like they kind of ran out of steam and have been a little bit lazy lately. So we'll see which it is. My problem with these tennis games is that when they, is that the enemy A, let's not like golf, where you're like playing against, you know, yourself, basically, I try to get better and it's this kind of relaxing thing. It's like, it relies on enemy AI, enemy opponent AI and they get really cheap. It's not super fun. So it's like, you know, that's a tough, tough, tooting thing. But I get playing it's your friends is pretty fun and stuff like that. And then the other problem is that the perfect tennis game was already made for virtual boy and they never need to make another tennis game. Correct. What's the name of that? Well, they are bringing the virtual boy back, right? It's just called Mario tennis for probably. I forgot, I forgot that's coming sometime next year. Yes, must be pretty soon. I gotta get it. Oh, I have to go to the Nintendo store. They have some special Christmas stuff. And I want to see a book, you know, I'll grow them about the virtual boy. Yeah. I want to go by one there and that's available though. Well, my day after Mario tennis fever reanimal comes. And this one is interesting. I was checking this out at Gamescom this year. This is from the team that did Little Nightmares one and two, but not three. I believe so. Yeah. So this is another cooperative horror adventure game. A lot of buzz out there. I mean, Little Nightmares I knew was a hit, but I didn't realize how huge it was, right? And so then reanimal sort of a spiritual successor, not a successor in name. You know, this is this is one of those franchises that sort of grew and grew and grew and snuck by me, but is is just gigantic and has become a real phenomenon and I am actually super excited about reanimal. it's you know it's another kids in horrific dangerous situations kind of game and I think people are a little bit disappointed with Little Nightmares 3 so there's a lot of excitement for this one. This one being the original team that created these games. It's the vibe of a limbo type game and that type of gameplay, right? Cooperative 3D limbo, yeah. That's great to put it. And that's yes, okay cool. So that's good and then finally on February 27th, first really big hotly anticipated game for me would be Resident Evil Requiem of course so we're all big fans in that series. Don't think there's a lot more to say about that game right now but yeah. Well there's I think the last thing we talked about was the revelation that you there's kind of a split between the whole play played horror character and then the action played you know character. I think it's smart so cool. There's supposed to be a presentation dedicated to Resident Evil Requiem soon so it has to be coming in January I would think since it's the game is out in February. It is funny that the cycle for Resident Evil has been spring for so long now. I think maybe it works for them because I think they do DLC around Halloween but it's just like it is weird not to have this as like your annual speed season game. Yeah yeah I don't know why Capcom has decided spring is the time for a new Resident Evil but that's fine. It's working for me. And then getting into a March another very anticipated game for myself is Replaced on March 12th. I can't believe this game is finally coming out. Speaking of Limbo this one is a you know a cinematic platformer along the lines of Limbo and inside with just an absolutely incredible pixel art. Of course the developers are in the Ukraine so understandably it's been taken some extra time because this game looks good. Yeah gorgeous. I'm so happy it's finally coming out and you know Ryan McCaffrey host of podcast and locked. He's also he's been following this game for a long time. He's played it and he came away very impressed. Okay so he did a hands-on and he reviewed inside for us so someone who likes inside a lot is happy with the way Replaced is coming together. It's good sign. Yep. So I talked about some curiosities. That same day has replaced a couple of curious games. There's R-Type Tactics 1 and 2. So R-Type Tactics was a PSP game. Right I missed that but it looked so good. I really wanted to play it at the time. It was like a perfect combination of R-Type and then going around a tactical RPG. Yeah I mean it's yeah so it's it's the imagine Final Fantasy Tactics but it's art it's in space. It's our type. We gave it a 7. I didn't give it a 7. Some other outlets scored it a little bit higher and then there was a sequel that only came out in Japan but these are you know two PSP games and I just wonder who's the audience for R-Type today. Me? Yeah me. Yeah because it's just for Dave. Who like what if every single person interested in R-Type Tactics bought it like what's the cap on like the commercial appeal of a game like this and I say this is someone that like I'm interested right I like R-Type and I like Tactics games but like in that era on the PSP there is this weird trend of like tacticifying like there is Metal Gear acid where they turn that into like a top-down card game board game and well there was Doom RPG was they turned that into a first person dungeon crawling role playing game not on the PSP but like around that same time frame maybe it did come out on the PSP eventually but you know and they made R-Type Tactics I know there's more but like that was just a weird trend that went around for a while make it turn based. Yeah like I'm not I'm not hating I like R-Type I'm glad it's happening just for you know Preservation's sake but I just from a business standpoint it just seems like a hard sell because this is not the only R-Type release coming this year this is only the first of three R-Type releases coming next year please be excited. Also Gear of R-Type it's the year in this game you do play an action based R-Type game right you don't just do like there's two games I don't think I don't think so. No you just do the tactical stuff yeah see the appeal for me would be if you had like an actorizer type thing going for it where it's like you had your you know kind of tactical game or a sim game or something and built on it you'd go into the level and do a shooter level that would be that's a perfect game right there you know it would be cool I don't think it's that many shoot adventure was a really good game many shoot adventure yeah was that another PSP one? No that was just the one that from I played it on Steam last year this is a PC oh that's right that's it was a Zelda. Yeah I remember it's a Zelda like super genres okay you know also at the same day finally apparently John Carpenter's toxic commando that's finally coming up wow yeah man I didn't realize that I guess I guess I knew it didn't come out but I hadn't really thought about it in a while that was an answer a couple years ago it's a it's a four-player cooperative first person shooter weird running around shooting monsters we'll see I don't know it feels like every quarter there's one of those that gets really popular then goes away like it's well-timed that's true yeah all right sorry to jump away right as you get the B-roll up Joe root on March 19 crimson desert is coming out and I don't know this will be a mic on a game but I know that these all these trailers absolutely do huge numbers for us it's gonna be a big big popular game because this is the follow up to black desert right black desert online but single-player action-y but not an MMO I don't believe no no this is just like a cool big action game that's hard I mean I like those games if it's like a dragon's dogma is it is it playing in that wheelhouse because I like those games yeah that might be a good comparison I'm not sure that same day is mouse PI for hire yeah that's been coming a long time so that's the first person shooter and the kind of with the with the cuphead style but everything's a rat yeah the rubber hose of 30s early Disney animation style so that one's hard to predict like I don't it would be good or bad or whatever I think we preview you can check that out but like every time there's like footage of that it kind of does really well like everybody wants to watch just because it's just eye-catching and and like looks neat on YouTube but I don't know if that game I don't know I don't know much about the game so that's exactly it like those games are and well deserved right but like it's deservedly getting a lot of attention and a lot of praise for how it looks and it's very eye-catching and gorgeous and beautiful and unique that doesn't necessarily translate into like is this going to be a 10 out of 10 video game experience but yeah it definitely translates to like you know when this appears that a PS showcase or whatever it definitely catches everybody's eye right yeah when I first thought I was a little dismissive that was it's just first person cuphead but I actually think it looks pretty fun and clever and like lots of fun weapons I like how it's a little bit gory and there's you know some blood or ink splatter happening I mean I mean it's definitely something I will I will check out I mean I know the cuphead I like cuphead and there's a lot of fans but like I wouldn't wish that game on my enemies like that game is really really annoying to play sometimes right even though you want to keep playing and in my case because I like old school games like that like it's not accessible this one looks like at least first person shooters are generally just kind of just kind of they can be mindless you just go through them and see all the cool stuff which is maybe a better way to experience this type of style but somebody was confused though because PI's private and investigators don't really come in guns blazing no everybody down yeah it's not much of a PI maybe it's chance for something else maybe and then apparently a march according to Justin and steam slave aspire to has to release a what was that date march second 22nd it it just says march okay march 22nd is all that's on that or march 2026 is all it's on the steam page okay but yeah I mean what's amazing like I've seen some yeah I don't even know that I would call it criticism but just a common piece of feedback is boy it sure looks a lot like slave aspire one which which I get but it's like gosh like that was the perfect game right so it's like if they made that game and I hope I'm not saying it is that but if it were that but 20% better and bigger and different it's like well okay like you know you can't there's only so much you can do to improve on perfection yeah I mean at a glance you can tell it has a much better animations yeah yeah you know I love slave aspire my if I have a critique I don't super love the art style of it and then they there's very little animation the carrot is this changed art style or is this the same it's kind of the same art style but it's a little bit more of a cartoon look to it and the characters that have a lot more animation going on if it feels yes it feels a lot higher budget probably because it is right of like the characters are moving more and doing more and a lot more active and and I I believe I let me talk about this on scoop once like I don't I think I saw trailer or an interview or something that slave aspire to is going to be a little bit more story forward and that that excites me actually I'm interested in digging into a little bit more about that world yeah super excited for that finally come out getting into April April 24th is pragmatta long another long time coming game from Capcom yeah I didn't realize you you'd mentioned this before I didn't realize that they had announced pragmatta so long ago because I just think of it as something that was announced like last year and we saw for the first time about no years ago it was at the like announcement of the ps5 that's so crazy I have no memory of this somewhere around 23 it was delayed indefinitely and now I mean so they didn't give up on it this this being a secret bag of man game is the only thing that interests me about it we should clarify that's just uh nicklemones wild fan theory it's so good yep I'm going to shoot. - She have a blue coat if she wasn't Mega Man. (laughing) - She is an Android, right? - Yeah. - You know that much? - Well, and that's always the 20 questions can under him, right? Is Mega Man a man or a boy or a robot? Which is robot dogs? Are they robots or dogs? - Mm, mm, mm. - There's also like some kind of a demo on this for this available now that's kind of like the kitchen demo for Resident Evil. - Yeah, Mark loved it. - Yeah, so I think, I think, this is looking at, you know, we talk a lot in Capcom rarely misses these days, so. - 100% and speaking of missing, there's like a little like puzzle each time you fight an enemy where you have to like shoot the right podger now that's cool. - Cool. - On April 30th, Sarah will arrive for PS5, the first exclusive, PS5 exclusive of the year. And I'm excited for that game. I liked Returnal. I didn't finish Returnal. I'm not, that tough of the gamer able to finish Returnal, but I liked a lot what I played. I'll play Returnal with, you know, a different color palette. - Yeah, I mean, Housemarks never made a bad game. Returnal was not my thing, but it seems like they listen to feedback and this is Returnal and fixing the elements that cause people like me to, I shouldn't say fixing, but, you know, going in a different direction with the elements of the game that people like me bounced off of it, right? And so, you know, a little bit more permanent upgrades, you know, a little bit more ability to power yourself up, but you're still looping through the game. Like, sounds awesome, sounds amazing. - Yep, I'm into that one. - Yep. - And then, 007, first light was supposed to be out in March, but it was recently deleted to May 27th, which is funny 'cause that was the window left open by G.J. Six. - Big old pile of games that month now. - Yeah. So, man, I am interactive. I love all their modern Hitman stuff. Hitman 3 was so good. - Oh my gosh, yeah. - I'm really excited for this one. - I have a lot to say about this one, so I'll keep it short. So, we just, like the idea of taking a license now and making the best possible game with it is I think being realized because Indiana Jones just happened and we had machine games like take this like amazing, you know, like difficult license to get right and just absolutely exquisitely nail it and they turned out to be the perfect company for that, but I wasn't expecting them to be. For this, this is the perfect company to make this game. I already know that, right? Like, this is, this couldn't be better. So, that's one thought I have about it, like, how great is it to pair somebody that's made an incredible series of games with a license to do something that they could rip on? So, that's one thing. The other is that they, that Hitman is the character Hitman, even though they try to make movies about Hitman, it's supposed to be a standard, like a dummy, like something that's like not developed. Like, this is James Bond. So, they're doing the exact opposite. They're taking like a magnetic central character and making a game around that. And I think they might be, you know, that's new for them. I'm like, that's where I'm like, oh, is that gonna work out? But then again, like James Bond just exists already and has already developed. What do you need to do? You need to pick a cool car and a bunch of cast characters and then set up your set of pieces. And every time I see a set piece in this game, well, it's really good. That airplane level, like, I watched that twice. I thought, oh, it's really cool. Like, I was just like, oh, there's a lot going on here. - Yeah, man. - Yeah, I hope it's good. I mean, I interact with, like, Hitman games are not action games, you know? They're kind of puzzle games and the few kind of punctuated actiony moments are sometimes a little bit clunky. Like, that's just the way the games worked. And so I hope that, like, I believe in IO Interactive, they're really, really talented studio and I hope they manage to pull off those set piece moments. But I'm not quite, it hasn't gone over with me yet. Like, I hope that those action moments play as well as sort of like the infiltration stealth explore these big open environment moments. Like, that I'm not worried about at all. But like, everything the rest, all the rest that stitches it together, you know? I'm in a little bit more of weight and C mode. - If this game's amazing, and we just got India Jones in a few good Star Wars games recently, what are we doing with Batman? - Well, that's funny you mentioned that, Sam, 'cause two days later, it's Lego Batman, Legacy of the Dark Knight. - Yep, that's crazy that these are on top of each other now in May. I think that's really bad for everybody involved. - Well, they're pretty very different games. - I mean, I want to play both of them. - Yeah, I do too. It's gonna be complicated. But I don't think a lot of the kids are gonna want to play Diablo 7 first. - Well, Batman will probably be fine. - Yeah. - Yeah, I'm really excited for this game. Lego Star Wars, The Skyward Kressager, is like, is one of like three games that can go in place just all the time. We're gonna play the heck out of this game. - The improvement and evolution to Lego Formula, you know, from game to game. They've been making them, you know, TT games has been making for 20 years now, right? It's just been so amazing to be hold. And they've gone from, you know, these are good and fun and inoffensive enough for kind of like a Lego game to like, no, like Lego Skywalker saga, you know, was like them, we can just actually make a big triple A co-op game. And it doesn't need to have some asterisks next to it of like, oh, it's just good for kids or families or whatever, like they made this kind of all ages, you know, all sexes thing that anyone can enjoy and love. And, you know, the parody is always on point. So I just, I don't know, like I'm really excited about it. - Same. And then I had mentioned, our type tactics one and two is the first of three our type releases this year and may I suppose get our type dimensions three, which is a remake of our type three, which Sam helped me out. Our type three was a super Nintendo game, I believe. - Yeah, it was, yeah. I thought four was, three was maybe. - Three was, okay. One of them went instead of arcades and went straight to Super Nintendo, but. So again, I'm glad this exists, but I just wonder how much of an audience there is. - We talked about this before, I think, probably multiple times, but our type was published by Nintendo at the arcade. So there was an arcade machine that Nintendo made for our type, which I think was interesting. - Yeah, I didn't remember that. - I was always, I mean, whatever. I like our type just fine. I like all schmups, but if I was forced to choose, I was always a grottiest man. - Yeah, I played life force specifically for me. - Hell yeah, did you know that this had a subtitle called The Third Lightning? - The Third Lightning, that's cool. That is a good subtitle. - Well, look at that toy, look at that. - That's the collective edition. - How many of those they make? - I mean, I think maybe our type has a, some kind of persistent fan base in Japan that we are out of where, because all these things, I think are just like, yeah, I just poured them to America too. - Yeah. - Yeah. Okay, here's, here's what's interesting. That's May, that gets us up to May. The next game with the release date is on September 9th. So it's this huge window, June, July and August. No games are coming out this summer, Sam. Sorry, I know you like summer games. - I like summer games, but the May games are pretty good though, right? - That can carry us a little bit. September 9th is Phantom Blade Zero, sort of a, March start, character action game has got a lot of buzz coming out of it. - Before we get too far, you did skip over Pokemon Pocopia. - Which is, yeah, I did, yeah. - A cozy Pokemon game. And which haven, which brook? Is that what it's called? - Wait, does that have a release date? - No, but it got delayed from this year. So I'm presuming there's going to be some cozy games besides Animal Crossing in the spring. I just want to show it to you. - Yeah, I have a whole set of games that are supposed to come, but don't have a release date. - Great, got it. - Anyway, Phantom Blade Zero, looks cool. - I'll at least check it out. - Yeah. - And then, what do we got next? Oh yeah, and then November 19th, a little game called GTA 6. - Interesting, that's the farthest out, you know, big game with a release date. - Yeah. - Yep. - And so? - I think, I'm going to say it now. I think it's going to come out that day. - You think so? - You think so? - Yeah. I never believed the spring date. - Oh, I think so. - I think the spring date was always code for November 22nd. - So you called the bluff, and now you're doubling down on the reality. - And now, I think that they're going to hit November. - Right as the consoles are getting old again, just like when GTA 5-- - Yeah, that's exactly what happened when GTA 5. - Yep, and then everyone will double-dip and buy it again, and-- - Well, at the end of a console generation, you can make a game run amazingly on those consoles. - You know everything that can possibly go wrong, right? - Yeah. - Boy. - We'll see. Except for Cyberpunk. - Yeah. - I will say this, I'm very excited for this game. I'm not the world's biggest fan of GTA 5, but I love Vice City, and I'm happy to return to Vice City, and everything I've seen about this is looking great. - I mean, I absolutely loved GTA 5. I mean, like everybody else, you know, 10 out of 10, one of the best games ever made, and then I went back and replayed, you know, probably the first third of it sometime when it was on Game Pass, and was not nearly as impressed the second time around. - Yeah, that's right. - It's like, ooh, well, you know, it just felt very-- and it wasn't the game's fault at all, just like everything that felt so new and amazing and revolutionary, it's like, well, you know, games have been doing this for the last 12 years now. - You know, I think about GTA 6 all the time, and one thing that I've been thinking about a lot recently, it's like, I'll probably find something in this game that I like doing, because Rockstar just bakes 100 games, right? And they're like, something in there that's probably like, the best possible, you know, version of like hockey or something in the game, that's gonna be out that year. - Yeah. - We could just play that in this game, you know, like it's a platform, basically, and that's like, for me, I really like the stunt jumps from the previous games. I like, you know, just the idea of, you know, heists, like if they do like heists like side quests or something like, there's things that I like about GTA, and then I usually just like watching the storyline, right? But then there's other parts that I just don't care about, like the, you know, like the stock market and stuff in the last game, so we'll see. - It's probably gonna have, it's probably gonna have a whole series of like jet ski races Yes, better than way. Yeah, that's gonna be incredible and there's gonna be, you know, 24 of them in the game. Yeah, and then you're just like, wow That was actually the best race in game this year. Mm-hmm. Yep All right, now we've got a bunch of games that are due at this year that don't have released dates and this is the segment where You there'll be some games in here that I think you might have forgotten about for example Bloodstained the Scarlet's engagement. Yep about that. That's yeah, people to bloodstained. I'm fine with it. Keep on making bloodstained Yeah, I mean sure. I like I like bloodstained a lot. Very good Castlevania like made by the Castlevania guy. I don't know what his involvement is in this one, but It's looking good and remember this time around there are two characters, but it's a single player game And yeah, I think you can swap back and forth in the NPC just controls the other one It has like a total visual upgrade like this looks crazy good Yes, it looks really good. A lot more outdoor environments daylight areas. Mm-hmm. Oh my gosh that boss looks great Maybe this is the Metroidvania of the year. Maybe it is Okay, Deus Ex remastered is on the way and that's cool. I've never played the original Deus Ex Hope they do it. It's out of I'm curious remastered though. Like it doesn't it looks a little Yeah, it's not a remake. It's a remaster. Yeah Look, I say this with love. No look. I like Deus Ex. I love Deus Ex. I Think it's a game that's hard to go back to Some games are easy to go back to and go down smooth and some do not and like you know I think that Deus Ex is is going to be a challenge for gamers with modern tastes and modern sensibilities I mean they had to say they have overhauled controls and stuff so Yeah, I mean, it's the first game I can ever remember playing where like you just had choice, right? Like this thing. It's that's very it's very commonplace now But like doing a sneak in or go guns blazing or talk your way in or like I'd never seen anything like that in a game before like You know, so I have a lot of nostalgia for that reason. I just think we know whether to do that past a show how Remastered is it looks exactly the same It's just not it's not and that I think that's good because people that love this game. It's gonna look It's gonna look how you remember it, which is like always a fun thing to do But I need something I need I think this would need a remake for me to play Next year Xbox should finally deliver a fable Yeah, which one of the Xbox games next year. Yeah, I mean I would be excited for it the only Trepidation I have is that it's just taken so long that's all who knows how it is yeah, I mean I also I'm always acting and stuff they got in there and I know that Peter Molly is become kind of like you know The butt of some jokes over the years, but like I don't think he's making this right So it's like he's also an unbelievably you know joke all you like He's still an incredible talented, you know game director and talent overall so you know And not to take anything away from the team that is making this but it makes me on a personal level a little bit less Interested than I would be but like you know a big fantasy High-budget fantasy role-playing game that doesn't take itself too seriously. It's like I don't know it sounds like a good time Yeah, I just hope I my the lessons that fable needs to learn from are the open-world Witcher and Skyrim games like like that's that's what will like if this is really like the big open-world fantasy game This year instead of the kind of channeled down paths that fable can feel more like yeah, then it's gonna be Incredible because they've had extra time to work on it and that you know like that's a good sign if it's like a huge game If it's a kind of narrow game it means they had to probably reset a whole bunch and then that's not as interesting It's playground, right The yes forza is it forza motor sport or forza horizon Horizon which which I think implies that it's going to be a more of a you know a single open-world-type game Yeah, I hope so right that's what they're good. Maybe it'll have bahá races and maybe this and GTA will both have Cool-wave race clones and them and we'll see which ones better. Yeah, cool Okay, Nindo Nintendo have Fire Emblem fortunes. We've that's cool. Always happy. Oh happy. I have Fire Emblem like my tactics games And then of course. Oh also Xbox will have Halo campaign evolved Another Halo remake just played to the last one. Yeah, you just played it. It was great. I mean, will you play it again? Just like see it looks the graphics. I mean look incredible. Yeah, looks really good I have no problem with playing Halo and Legendary by myself like I'll just do that. Yeah, it's always fun Yeah, I mean, this is them. This was there You know a rumor is that they're not using their own well this game is unreal engine everybody knows that But the rumor is that this is them getting to know unreal engine because they're not using their own engine anymore for mainline Halo game, so let's remake the original game using Unreal and like you know get our arms around that And then they're gonna use that tech going forward for future halo projects This is like I'm sure the answer to this is really obvious, but I don't know if any of us will know it But is is there an unreal? Current shooter right now or did everybody use their own engines for like battlefield and called video and stuff? I mean what runs on unreal like I like a shooter like I'm starting to think of like a multiplayer shooter like like like are is this like do we know if unreal can power a multiplayer shooter? Like I don't even know. I mean, I'm sure it can given you know given fortnight I mean like big. Yeah, that's true and but but like not like not not battle not battlefield for example So you know, I guess I'd have to think about it. Yeah, but hey like at fortnight's the platform that they build a halo around. I'm sure it'd be fine And then we went on to some PlayStation stuff. I know this one was on a PlayStation state of play But I don't know if it's gonna has a it's a timed exclusive. It's Marvel Tocon fighting souls No, man, which is the Marvel fighting game from the guilt of your folks, and it looks just great Yeah, I know I mean, I'm not even a bit it did exactly what it's supposed to do or I'm not a gigantic fighting game guy And I'm like, okay, I'm on board. I just I love it for leaning into its Japanese game all these Marvel characters are speaking Japanese I love it. It's great. Mm-hmm. Yeah I the my team here at IGN has some of the big fighting game folks ought to and like you know This is like just this is just the biggest deal, you know I think it's so cool that people are getting this like perfect game in their in their genre, you know Really really excited for that and then of course Wolverine Finally, dude My that's my single most anticipated game. It might be mine - might be mine - once I saw them rip it apart those cyborgs. I was like oh, yeah I mean insomniac and I know people are a little bit down on spider-man - but like not not in any kind of like Oh, it's not a good game kind of way, but just like they wish to wait a little bit farther It did a little bit more like when was the last time insomniac made a game that wasn't incredible, you know 20 years ago maybe never Like they kind of quietly have one of the best track records in all of video games You know across multiple decades. This is another example of a company that's taking a license that I wouldn't expect them to be good at But I trust them to be really good at it. I think Wolverine is going to feel different and enough from spider-man and be maybe more of that kind of like you know Yeah Maybe not about traveling through a city as much as, you know combat, you know I think they should they should be really good at that. Mm-hmm. I did forget we're watching this be real I forgot how goofy the Wolverine character model is Games when they're not character to know but then by the end of the game you're always used to it Yeah, I guess I don't I don't want to end on a negative note I just I've kind of forgotten I don't I don't like the Wolverine character design in this game But there's it's an easy enough thing for them to have tweaked between now at least I don't I don't think I have a problem with it But try let's try to work work backwards insomniacs work. They did Spider-Man 2 and then Ration click and then Miles Morales and then Spider-Man 1 and then what was before that? They did Well, it's like I know that in three resistance games, but it's been a long time since a resistance so they did sunset over drive Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, another great game And then one of those things that in hindsight obviously led them directly to Spider-Man, right? But yeah, you know, you don't make that connection to laughter the fact Yeah, I mean, so like if we go way back they did like Spyro 1 2 and 3 Yeah, right. Yeah, so and then they did they did a bunch of ratchet and clank games and then they did resistance Yeah, I think that's that's the majority of their out. So they're a little well, okay. Yeah, okay Anyway, they have a great track record yellow suit Wolverine. Look at that. Yeah, I love it. I know classic Have you have you been keeping up on the Marvel not leaks anymore? But just like the trailers that I jeans been covering for like doomsday. Yeah for doomsday Like there's there's an X-Men 1 now. Yeah, yeah, it's completely crazy It's like you know the X-Men universe being destroyed in a trailer like what what is happening with that movie? Yeah, Cyclops is going completely. Yeah, yeah, so wait in the X-Men 1 something actually happens because nothing happens Yeah, that's the difference. Is this something actually happens. Yeah, nothing happens in the Steve Rogers or it's like a fight in the X-Mansion and it has Ian McEllon and Patrick Stewart in it like it's crazy and then yeah, then Cyclops goes Nova With a Sentinel Okay, yeah, all right. Well, that sounds good. They need to start getting people excited When Infinity War came there had been 10 years of excitement building up and like there's nothing there's no excitement It's been building up to this movie. So yes, I feel like I've been ranting about this to just relatives for the past week I really miss work when that happens. I'm like, yeah, why are they building this up this way? But they had to abandon all plans, right? They had to abandon all of Kang and then completely pivot and then the pivot is looking more like the JJ Abrams, dry and Johnson pivot, which is like, oh, you're exactly right. So I just bring the old Avengers back. I know. They're like Steve Rogers will return. He's back everybody. I'm like, he was never gone. I mean, he was, this is the next Avengers movie and he's in it. So he never left. Yeah. Anyway, get back on track to games. Uh, Capcom has only Moosha way of the sword, which looks cool. I've never played an only Moosha game, but this game looks cool. I was another one that was cool that games come. Yeah. I'm surprised. I mean, I guess I'm not surprised you didn't play in Damon, but like they're they're like ancient Japanese horror resident evil action games like you love them. I mean, yeah, but a modernization of one or it's going to be the way to jump that for sure, right? Like this is a good opportunity. Yeah. Yeah, this looks really, really good, really fun. Um, what do you think? Uh, what are the odds? Ubisoft's Prince of Persia's Sands of Time remake makes it out in 2026. I'm bringing this up. Oh, there's just no chance. No, it hasn't been canceled. That makes me sad. Yeah. Do you remember how amazing that like, with that game came out? It's like, oh, like you don't die. If you fall in a pit, you'll just rewind and everyone was like, what? Like, yeah, man, the original game is great. Yeah. And then they made the warrior within and a third one. I mean, the remake looks out of date now, which means that they're never going to catch up and make this an amazing game. I mean, this is also announced like back in 2020. So but the last Prince of Persia game was so good that I hope there's some kind of continuation of that team and that series. Oh, I think that that team has been different. Yeah. So it's like they'd have to do something. Yeah. You're talking about the, the lost crown, right? The retroventure of anyone. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I had a real soft spot for the last 3D reboot. I feel like I'm sometimes the only person that liked it, the cel-shaded one. Oh, yeah, just Prince of Persia. Is that what it was called? I like that game a lot. Yeah, that had a really cool look to it. Also, Xbox 360 PS3 era, Prince of Persia. I think it looks really funny when he's backwards running on a wall and it's always such funny. Yeah. So he's doing all the dance. I heard they did a Jake Gyllenhaal movie. Yeah. Okay. I promise. As promised, the third R-Type release of the year, R-Type DX Music Encore. Okay. You with me here? R-Type DX was a Game Boy color release. This has its own, it has its own steam page. It's its own release, not part of a package. And it just says, have you ever wanted to play R-Type DX with unique music for each stage? Yes. So I guess the DX original just played the same song at each stage and now they're re-releasing it with unique music for each stage. Okay. I'm getting a little bit concerned that these are being targeted only for at Damon. How many hidden resources are we putting in to create a game just for one man? How can we got to get we got to get on games? How can we get on Game Scoop? You've put these out. I guarantee you, Damon will not be able to resist talking about these games for an entire episode. Well, it's like, it's like you, like, you're 10 years ago, you'd have a episode. We're like, I love this R-Type for Game Boy, but it's so annoying. It's just one song playing and then 10 years ago, they like, start working back from Game Scoop 2026. Yeah. Okay. Anticipated 2026 games is starting to get a little bit long in the tooth to wrap up their Scott Pilgrim EX, which, you know, it's a sort of spiritual successor to the original Scott Pilgrim, saves the world, beat him up, which is great from tribute games. He really loves that game. Plus, it is a more interesting version of a beat him up, right? It has, like, elements to it that are not just walk around, but it's not a full cast of Crashers type thing. No, it's more like there's set the different levels are interconnected and you can unlock things in one level that'll open up things in a different level, things like that. A rehearsal. It's red. Yeah. It'll be good. Okay. Here's one of the games I thought I think everyone forgot about. That's supposed to be coming next year. Star Wars Zero Company. This is the Star Wars X-Con game from me. Yeah. You're right. Definitely forgot about this one. They have a whole trailer announcing this game. Oops, forgot. Yep. But that's cool. Yeah, that's a great idea for a Star Wars game. I'm excited to get excited about it all over again. Yep. Yeah, respond a bit, reactor. Star Wars X-Con coming next year. Still says 2026 on its steam page. There's Super Meat Boy 3D, which we previewed at Gamescom and came away very positive on. Super Meat Boy is such a weird, like that. It was like 2008, a big game that I covered in my early years at IGN and I reviewed it. Lots of preview coverage because it was, you know, Xbox Live Arcade was so new and exciting and this game was also coming to We Wear at the time. But it's not a game, the original Meat Boy is not a game I want to really revisit today. Yeah, I like the blood path, so it was always funny in it. And I remember it was like bringing back an old-school mentality. So it should have felt good to you if you played these certain platformers on PC Vector. If this feels good to you because you played a lot of, you know, Mario 64, then I have certain people, again, on my staff will very much like this game. I mean, I think that the positive preview is like, this is a game, I mean, I guess you could describe every game this way. But like, it's going to, it's going to liver die based off of how it reviews. And like, I was very skeptical. I was not very interested. But then the previews have been universally positive. Like, nope, they completely nailed it. It feels great to play. Like, it's a joy to move around in. I'm like, okay, well, then I'm on board. Like, they, they seemed to really have understood what made the 2D game tick and actually managed to translate it to 3D, which was not a guarantee that they could have just as easily botched that. So, you know, I'm, I'm into it. Yeah, it looks great. I'm going to play it. Tomb Raider Legacy of Atlantis, just announced a game awards remake of the original Tomb Raider. Cool. Awesome. Can't wait for that. All in. Yep. And then the final two on, or I final three, Truxton Extreme is apparently still coming. Truxton being a very cool, uh, Sega Genesis, uh, Schmump Extreme was supposed to be out 2024, or supposed to be out 2025. Now apparently coming 2026. We'll solve. Oh, also, also, maybe I'm, I've been pronouncing it wrong. Truxton, because on its, on its web page, one of the taglines is it's on like Truxton, I guess it's Truxton. I've been saying Truxton all these years. I don't know, but now that they heard you say that, they'll work really hard to change the name to be how you pronounce it. It's fun like Truxton, the new tagline. There you go. Another game I'd forgot about vampire crawlers, the turbo wild card from vampire survivors. That's the official name of the game, by the way, vampire crawlers, the turbo wild card from vampire survivors. That's why. Yeah, they're really leaning into the turbo. Like it's a trademarked term on its steam page. It says master the turbo turn TM. This obviously, we love the Empire survivors. This is a first person pixel art, uh, rogue like dungeon crawler with cards. Yeah. I mean, I, it's more than just like a meme or joke game. Like the, there is, and I'm not, I haven't played the game. I don't know if it's good or not, but the concept, the premise of like, you're playing cards in sequential order, like one that's worth costs one, one that costs two, one that costs three. And if you play cards in the right order, your turn could just keep going forever. So you have to kind of like plan your turn out the right way and build your deck the right way. And it's going to evoke, they're trying to evoke with cards that feeling in vampire survivors of just like, uh, I did everything perfectly. And now I'm having a god turn. Like, it seems really clever. I'm really into it. It can be great. And finally, from the Nintendo will be Yoshi and the mysterious book, which looks like a kiddie Yoshi game, but you know, it'll be fun to play with the kids. We need like a year of Nintendo announcements to come. So we know what's coming out next. Because this is just clearly just the tip of the Nintendo ice. Yeah. Sam, you think in this game, you can just, I'm going to swear for emphasis parents. Okay. Do you think in this game, you can just press a fucking to use your tongue? Yeah. I mean, I think just because you're saying that they're going to add a tongue button to our type coming out this year. Just to please you. Yeah. The wrathful god of the R type universe, Damon Hatfield. Um, is Marvel Rise of Hydra coming out still next year? I mean, maybe it's, you know, I think it's floating out there in the ether. I only didn't include it just because I don't know what the odds are of it actually coming out. Okay. It looks, looks rad though, but you know, manned up being 2027, making video games is hard, y'all. So Sam said Wolverine, this is most anticipated. Mine's either that or slay the spire too, Justin, how about you? Yeah, maybe slay the spire too for me as well. Maybe, I mean, out of the stuff that as a, that, you know, it might be vampire crawl. I mean, sure. That's totally, I'm totally valid. There's different most anticipated, like look for a big triple A, like, you know, the equivalent of like summer blockbuster, like James Bond looks incredible. A lot of these games look incredible, but for like the me personally, like the Justin Davis, if there's some, if there's a Justi's award, like the Damie's award, then yeah, it would be vampire crawfish. Yeah. If there is a Samie's award, it would be R type two on Game Boy, but with different music. Now finally, have you ever wanted to play R type DX with different music on every stage? - I think about it all the time, just. - I think about it more than Rome. - What's the madman line? I don't think about you ever. - Yeah, so I don't think about you at all. - I don't think about you at all. (upbeat music) - Okay, extra curricular activities. This Christmas with my family, I watched a movie, I'd never watched before. We watched the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle, Jingle all the way. - Oh man, I was just thinking about that movie and was like, I've never seen it. But I, something I was talking about it, like it was a really, really bad, you know, nighties action movie, I have never seen it. What do you think? - It is bad, but I'm very glad I watched it. I had fun watching it. It's a bad, fun movie. - There he is. That's what I wanted to point out. - Oh, look at that. - No, Jake Lloyd is in this movie. He's Arnold's son. I had no idea. I thought Phantom Minus was the first thing he'd ever done. - Is he a better actor in this than he is? - That's the saddest part, Sam. He's totally good and totally cute. He's exactly what a child actor should be. - Oh no. - But it just makes it, it's entirely George Lucas's fault. - Yeah. - Oh. - I don't know what a bummer. - Yeah, it was your hand. - It was your hand. He's totally good in cute in this movie. He could have gone on to have a great child actor career. - What would you, Bobba? - Oh, it's still in it. Anyway, I liked Jingle all the way. It was fun. The other movie I saw was Marty Supreme. - Yeah. - Anyone see it? - No, I can't wait. - It's very good. I went into it just knowing it's the Timothy Chalamet, Pink Pong movie. - You knew it was this after you. - I knew them, but I haven't seen uncut gyms. - Oh, well, I hate that movie. But I think this looks better. - So I can't say whether you like this or not. It is a very stressful watch. - I think it'll be different. I know it's a stress watch. - A stressful watch. It's a good, sort of like one, two. It'd be a good double feature with one battle after another, because we're both very tense. - Love that. - Stressful movies. So I liked Marty Supreme a lot. My wife liked it, but her sister did not like it. She doesn't like stressful movies. - So it has divisive movies too. - But super well done. - I watched the third Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead, man. - Oh yeah, you both watched it. - So Justice Kite, what did you think Sam? - I loved it. - Okay, that was great. - All right. Then I will watch it even though I did not like glass on you. - Oh really? It's better than glass on you. - It's very different. Like it's got a, I'm going and not knowing about it is worth it. It's like, it's usually something I wouldn't like. It's like set in like a heavily church-based, you know, set up and like, but it's good. It's really good. It has like both elements of, you know, this kind of like the good and badness of like being part of a church community in it. It's awesome. Like it's just, oh man, what a great movie. - All right, I will check it out. And then Sam, well both of you, but Sam in particular, have you watched the new video from the Video Game History Foundation? I think it's called The Untold Story of the NES. It's on the YouTube channel. - No, I'll check it out. - It's great. It's Frank's, Frank's of all he hosts it. It's like a half hour long. And it focuses on like Nintendo of America deciding how to bring the Famicom over to the US. - The VCR era. - It's great. It's really, really good. And it's all like new information. It's not the same old stories you've heard. - Oh, I can't wait to check that out. - I don't know. - I don't know if it's you and to all of scoop nation. - How that information doesn't get to me. - Yeah. - Until Damon tells me that on a podcast. So did you finish Pluribus? - Oh, yes, yes, I finished that, yeah. - Pluribus is great. - I think it's the best show of the year, like easily. Although there's maybe some close, maybe it's how easily. It's close. - Well, don't forget about Andor. Andor also exists. - Yeah, I liked it a lot better than Andor. - Okay, I'm excited. - A lot of good television this year. I also finished Pluribus. I think people goof on the show because it's very, it's like 20 minutes of plot stretched over like nine episodes. Like it's a very slow paced. But it's also just gorgeous and interesting. And I like that it's taking its time to really explore, you know, like all of these conundrums that the world has gotten itself into. - I thought the slowness take was interesting because I feel like I'm so used to that from watching Better Call Saul. - It's exactly the same way. It's very show don't tell. You just watch, you're just doing things instead of talking about doing things. - And I like thinking about what's happening in the show while it's happening and having that time to process. Like why this is interesting that they're showing a supermarket being restocked. I think that's, I don't know, it works for me. So I like that. Stranger Things is not working for me so well. I think it's been fine. And I want to watch the ending of it, but it's really hard to suspend my disbelief about the ages of the kids. It's just a lot of things happening in that show that they kind of like were like, well, there's still 1580s movies we haven't made yet. And within the bookings of Stranger Things, let's get them all into seasons. Like endless references and keeping things and sci-fi things and TV things. - People really hate that second batch of episodes. It's the first batch people like, okay. - Oh really? I didn't realize that. So there's a distinction between the batches. - I bounce off Stranger Things back in season two. Like Avatar, Stranger Things is just not something I'm interested in. - Oh man, I watched the second Avatar movie, but I haven't seen the third one. - Yeah. - I didn't think it was too bad. It was bad, but it wasn't too bad. In any case, Four of Us is great. Hopefully we don't have to wait. - Sure, it'll be two years. We have to wait for season two. - Apple though, you always double it. So if you think it's gonna be two years, it's gonna be four. And then several years will be a year after that. - But I mean, back in the day, they got a new Game of Thrones season out every year. They got a new Breaking Bad season out every year. - I know there used to be a cast of a new game. What's a month? - What's a month? - I watched F1. - Oh, is that good? - Is that a cast movie? - It's good. It's good, but it's a movie where I'll give you one anecdote from the movie that tells you everything you need to know about the movie. It's Brad Pitt. It's like the veteran that's coming back to the sport and he's kind of budding heads. He's rivals even though their teammates with the young hot shot. And the young hot shot is training with all this tech where he's got like an oxygen monitor on and it's sprinting on a treadmill. And he's in this high tech gym doing all this high tech shit. And then Brad Pitt is running in like sweatpants on the track itself. And then they have an argument about like, you're over the hill, old man. He's like, oh, I was racing before you were even bored. And like, that's the whole movie. - Oh, okay. - You know, did he kill his wife in a way with that? - But like, but it's great, right? Like that's just know that that's what you're getting into. - Okay. - Right? Is that like, you know, he's training by like, he's training his hand agility by like bouncing a tennis ball against the wall and catching it real fast. Like just stuff like that. - Is there exciting racing action? - Yeah. - Okay. - I mean, it's the top-down Maverick team, right? So, you know, it was a fun game. - Like they basically remade that movie somehow, but it's F1. - Find and replace Brad Pitt for Tom Cruise. - Totally, totally stupid. Totally. - But that girl's in it. - Totally good watch. - Mike's daughter-in-law from Better Call Saul. - Oh, yeah. - Yeah. - She pops up and random stuff all the time. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Okay. That brings us to the final video game, 20 questions of the year. We look forward in January to hearing from our, ston, what's the word for it? Not stenographers. Someone who keeps track of all our stats. - Oh yeah. - You're, your win-last stats for the year. - Oh. - Right. So our suggestion. - Yeah. - Our suggestion this week comes from Matthew and Brooklyn, New York. It does have an anecdote, it's a little spoiler, so I'll save the anecdote until afterwards. And with that, let the questioning begin. - Did this game come out in the 70s, 80s or 90s? - Yes. - Awesome. - That's good news. - Does the world of this game contain Brooklyn, New York to the best of your knowledge? - Yeah, I'll say yes to that. - This is a new question I'm gonna throw in there, just to waste a question each day. - No, it'll come back and be like, - Molly just won't have that. - Take space. - Take space. - Yeah. - Brooklyn's place on Earth, most likely. - Some version of Earth that we would read. - And it's not before the existence of the New York city, Brooklyn. - Ah, so it can't be too historical. - Yeah, can't be, can't be like the Ming dynasty. - Yeah, it's not romance of the three kingdoms. - I think we know this game. I think we're choosing you annoyed, 'cause that takes place in a very Brooklyn-like way. - I was gonna say, it's also definitely not TNNT, the Hyperstone Highest, which is a very New York-coded game. - Yes, it's New York-coded. - Why would it not be TNNT? - Because you were a little bit-- - You would have known, you'd be like, yes! - Okay, okay. - 'Cause the pizza style. So is this game based on the license? - What? (laughing) - It is in one territory, but not in others. - Oh, I love games like that. It's probably Chubby Charib. - Yeah, 'cause California raises something. Oh boy, what does that mean? - Was this game available on the Nintendo Entertainment system? - Yes. - Yeah, I think you're pitching a softball, right? Right to stand on this one. - Okay, so there are some games like this. Like, "MitKids and Mickey Mouse games "that were re-made over here like Kid Clown." And those are two deep cuts, so it's gonna be something more obvious, but it should be interesting. - "MitKids is a pretty good guess." - There's like, "Is that on earth?" (laughing) - Like, that game's not. "MitKids is in a fantasy land, isn't it?" I don't know. Well, it depends on where the kids come from and Donald's fantasy universe. Do they live in that universe or do they visit it? Just hang out with Grimmis? Somebody knows. We'll know this in a write-in for sure. Okay. So I miss. He's the one you want to avoid. Yeah, I'm regular too. So What do we need to go with this? Was this developing Japan? Yes, that's five. You can just run away with this one, Sam. Is this a count? No. Okay. Is this an ultra or Konami or, yes, those two companies came? No. Okay. Then that's going to be a little bit harder than I thought. Do you play as a human? Yes. Did you play as a human and the other version of this game? In all versions of this game, you play as a human. Interesting. Okay, that should be all we need to know, right? Based on licensed somewhere, but not here. Was it a little Nemo because that's Capcom game? It was really interesting. Probably some anime game that kind of got paved over, you know? Yeah, I don't know, man. Was this game from before? Did this game have an arcade iteration? Yes, that's 10. Was the arcade game from before 1983? No. Did the arcade game use a joystick? Yes. Man, my brain is mush. It's still going to be hard, but these are great clues. And you are human, right? That's another question, though. Yeah, I know. I didn't count it. Yeah, so joystick, human game, New York exists. It's on the NES, not from those big companies. Let's see. What could this be? We got to figure out, well, what's some good combat questions I would help with this? What about, what if it's like a, I don't know, what if it's like a car game, and then it was licensed in one territory and not in another? Yeah, it's under here, but it was just some crappy. Yeah, exactly. Something like that. Is this a side scrolling game? Yes. That's interesting. Okay. So, why can't it be the kids? I mean, it could be. Or tiny tunes or something like that? That does match up. I mean, I don't know what my kids was, though. I don't know if that was actually a game. Is the license this game based on something that's more food or consumer culture than book or TV or movie culture? No. I don't want to, I don't want to fumble this one at the five-yard line. Yeah. Okay. And that also means that I'm back. This seems really obscure. I mean, what about the Bible game? But that wasn't made in Japan. No. No, those are all made here. Okay. So, it's based off of a. I mean, there's like a whole catalogue of these games. It's like, oh, that was a license here, but not here. I mean, even Nintendo ones, there was an Nintendo, who we should go down that route. Let me make it. There was Mario 2. It's probably Mario 2 because Doki Doki Panty was licensed. Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. But that wasn't in our kids first. Yeah. Yeah, they're kids first. That's a pretty good clue. Did Nintendo have anything to do with publishing or developing this? Yes. That's 15. Okay. So, I'm trying to think of what the game is. I mean, they didn't do that much in our kids. Pop I. It's a license here. Pop I. But here was license too. I don't really get why it would be on license. What do we got? But they also did some game. I don't know. It's on the tip of my brain. I can't remember what it is. They did a game in Japan where, like, there, it's like a very obvious, like, stupid, licensed game, but here it wasn't. And I just don't know. There's some like arcade thing that happened. All right. Where should we go with this? I mean, I'm just thinking about Nintendo or a kid games. There's not that many of them, you know, there's like punch out. I think Nintendo might have taken a game like, oh, I think it's balloon fight is what I'm thinking of. Balloon fight had a licensed version over there. Is that true? Yeah. I didn't remember that. Yeah. Well, there's a Hello Kitty balloon fight game over there. Whoa, I didn't know that. That's cool. I will say there are certain eras of the NES where if you narrow down to that era, everything becomes. It's just a black box game. Yes. Yeah. No way. Excite bike. It's excite bike licensed in Japan. Rekking crew excite bike. Rekking crews climbers skis. Yeah, maybe one of our games though. Clucle land devil world. I mean, he and Mario. Have I mentioned this game yet? No. All right. Oh, Mike Tyson's punch out. That's what it is. Oh, it is. It is. It is. That was a stupid, stupid, stupid route to get to. Is this Mike Tyson's punch out or just punch out? So please, please accept both. Yeah. Is this a game about punching? Nope. Okay. Well, I'm sorry. Is this game about punching? Yeah. Yes. So it could be urban champion. It's a side scroller, so it's not punch out. Oh, yeah, you're right. Can flower pots fall on your head? I'm not sure about that. Okay. Is it a brawler? Yes. And that is you have one question. Okay. Is it urban champion? No, no. Come food. So what was the license that it's based on? It so this was made by I rim for our kids. It was based on a it's called Spartan X in our kids based on I think a movie called Spartan X. Sparky Chan movie, I want to say. Oh, wow. Yeah, I'd even know that. Yes, I didn't know that until today. That's really cool. That was a good 20 questions. And then Nintendo actually developed the NES version themselves. Okay. So they poured it from the arcade and they're just called a Kung Fu. Kung Fu. Yeah. In hindsight. If we would have followed any other line of questioning, we would have gotten to Kung Fu on the NES and like 14 questions, but that's fine. Yeah. Is it based in a world where Brooklyn is? Yeah, I think this I think it was contemporary, even though there's like some that's that's the right answer to this question. Things happening there. Yeah. Interesting. Interesting situation, whereas I rim made this arcade game and then Nintendo ported it over, according to Wikipedia, working on this side-scrolling game is what gave me a motto, the inspiration to make a side-scrolling Super Mario. You know, we really have to include the question, do you walk like a little doork in a game? Yeah. It's funny. Look, two-frame walk animation. It's funny. Look at this footage. Matthew from Brooklyn says it's the first game. I really remember ever playing. I don't know why, but I used to be terrified when those little kids came running after you. I never thought of them as little kids myself. He's kicking the shit out of those. Look at this guy. I had this game. It was a very early NES game for me and it was really fun. Yeah. It's a game that loops. You make it all the way to the top. You fight Mr. Big or Mr. Bad or something and then you just start all over again. So if we had done all those questions and then gotten to Urban Champion, was that, could it still have been Urban Champion? Or did we forget something in the process? I guess it wasn't. Well, Urban Champion doesn't scroll. Scroll? Really? Oh. We just asked for the side-scrolling, yeah, so. Yeah, because it's a single-screen game. Kicking the butterflies? Yeah, I don't know if the flowerpot falls on your head at night. Yeah, I don't remember exactly. That just happened in the 80s all the time. Yeah. That in quicksand. Yeah, in quicksand was a real threat. Good thing we solved that quicksand problem. A fun fact. So this is out in 85 in arcades and the NES in 85. It was ported to the Atari 2687. Yeah. I mean, you can see that that probably wasn't too difficult. Yeah, but yeah, you kick that guy's good off. But he's fine. Yeah, he's fine. 5,000 points. Kung Fu, nicely-attempt. Thank you for the suggestion, Matthew, and Brooklyn, New York. Viewers and listeners, if you have your own suggestions for a video game, 20 questions, email them to me at the email address, [email protected]. And that is all the scoops we have for you for 2020-55. Thank you for hanging out with us all year long. We love everyone out there in Scoop Nation. Please be excited for much more scoops in 2026. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Justin. Thank you, Stuart. We're working behind the scenes. Make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is I.J. and GameScoop. And we'll see you next year. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ The other night, I watched the rise of Skywalker with Kingo. And obviously that music is a huge mess. And yet, when the music is going, and I'm just answering questions about Star Wars for Kingo, I'm still having fun. - Which, is that second or third? - That's the third, the last one. - The last one. - I was thinking about watching Force Awakens, but then I was like, nah, probably a little bit boring to rewatch that now. 'Cause I got all these pictures that were like seeing it at the premiere, you know? Like 10 years ago, exactly, which is crazy. - I don't hate the third one. - I hate, I think the premise is stupid. - The premise is stupid. - You mean the slow-how Palpatine is turned as stupid. - The palpatine coming back as stupid and the end is stupid. But what I like about it is the three of them are together. - Yes. - They're not an adventure. - At least they're together, who's that? They do two dumb fake outs with, oh, we're erasing C-3 pills memory, oh no, it's back. Oh, two is dead, oh no, he's back. - Really? Not remember the C-3PO part. And he's like, oh, I just want to get one last look at my friend. - So was that the one, what happened? It was like Ryan Johnson to the middle one. Then JJ Abrams came back into the third one. But the foundation of the Ryan Johnson one kind of screwed up what JJ Abrams would have done which would be just to remake Star Wars Over and Over again. - I mean, I think last Jedi is incredible. But there's no denying that it completely undid and unmade. It's like Kylo Ren is this cool mask. And he's like, no, your mask is stupid, destroy it. - Yeah. - And then like, and then kill-- - They never do the Knights of Renback story ever. - Nope, nope, nope. - Yeah. So Ryan Johnson did screw a little bit like you can already forget his stupid name. Whoever the villain is, like kills him. - No. - You know, yes, no. So they're kind of written into a corner a little bit. I don't know, I don't think it's like a good movie, but I don't have this hate for it. - Yeah, just like I said, I had a perfectly fine time just watching it with Kingo. - I think with a different 20 minutes at the end, that movie would have hit different. - And even though it's dumb that they brought Palpatine back, like Ian McDorman's performance is really good. - Yeah, it's creepy.