Episode #98: The Phantom Burp: The 2023 Year-End GamesCast

AVoCADo GamesCast

Featuring:
Merve
Science is Bad
Wolfman Jew
The Kappa
LittleMac
Bloomed Wings
3rdstringhero

Editor:
The Kappa

Timestamps:
0:15 – Introduction
3:05 – The Game Awards 2023: Discourse
32:25 – The Game Awards 2023: Announcements
1:02:20 – Layoffs and the State of the Games Industry
1:30:25 – LittleMac’s Top 3
1:38:05 – Bloomed Wings’s Top 3
1:40:35 – 3rdstringhero’s Top 3
1:45:05 – Our Favourites: Honourable Mentions
1:52:25 – Our Favourites: #5
2:05:05 – Our Favourites: #4
2:23:35 – Our Favourites: #3
2:56:25 – Our Favourites: #2
3:14:20 – Our Favourites: #1
3:52:15 – Our Disappointments and Least Favourite Games
4:49:00 – Our Surprises
5:07:20 – Conclusion

Download Link: https://archive.org/details/avocadogamescast_ep98

Podcast header image from Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Major spoiler warning for Viewfinder. Minor spoiler warning for Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. Linkdump, including specific segments with spoiler warnings, after the jump.

Introduction (0:15)

• itch.io page for Butterfly Soup.
• Steam store page for Wilmot’s Warehouse.

The Game Awards 2023: Discourse (3:05)

• Official website for The Game Awards.
• Grant Theft Auto VI Trailer 1. (Source: Rockstar Games on YouTube)
• Official webpage for the D.I.C.E. Awards. (Source: Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences)

The Game Awards 2023: Announcements (32:25)

• Announcement trailer for Marvel’s Blade. (Source: Marvel Entertainment on YouTube)
• Teaser trailer for Kemuri. Clarification: The description on the YouTube video does provide some information concerning what the game is about, but this information was not delivered at The Game Awards. (Source: UNSEEN on YouTube)
• Official trailer for the Dave the Diver/Dredge crossover DLC. (Source: MINTROCKET on YouTube)
• Official reveal trailer for No Rest for the Wicked. (Source: Private Division on YouTube)
• Power Surge: Sega reveal trailer – TGA 2023. (Source: SEGA on YouTube)
• Pony Island 2: Panda Circus announcement trailer. (Source: GameSpot Trailers on YouTube)
• The character whom SungWon Cho played in Lost Judgment is Tesso. (Source: Wikipedia)
• Reveal trailer for The Casting of Frank Stone. (Source: Behaviour Interactive on YouTube)
• Reveal trailer for Jurassic Park Survival. (Source: IGN on YouTube)
• Community Wiki article on the episode “Investigative Journalism.” (Source: Fandom)
• Wikipedia article on The X-Files episode “The Lost Art of Forehead Sweat.”
• Official release date trailer for Black Myth: Wukong. (Source: IGN on YouTube)
• Rebekah Valentine and Khee Hoon Chan’s report on sexism at Game Science, the developers of Black Myth: Wukong. (Source: IGN)
• Announcement trailer for The Rise of the Golden Idol. (Source: PlayStation on YouTube)
• Light No Fire announcement trailer. (Source: HelloGamesTube on YouTube)
• Cinematic trailer for Exodus. (Source: Archetype Entertainment on YouTube)
• Reveal teaser for Lost Records: Bloom & Rage. (Source: PlayStation on YouTube)
• Announce trailer for Visions of Mana. (Source: Square Enix on YouTube)
• Trailer for Usual June. (Source: Finji on YouTube)

Layoffs and the State of the Games Industry (1:02:20)

• A list of video game layoffs in 2023. (Source: Game Industry Layoffs)
• Wikipedia article on PM Entertainment.
• Report on layoffs and their circumstances at Bungie. (Source: IGN)

LittleMac’s Top 3 (1:30:25)

• Nintendo Store page for Disney Illusion Island.
• Nintendo Store page for F-Zero 99.
• Steam store page for Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise Of The Dragons.
• #3: Chants of Sennaar. (Source: Steam)
• #2: Super Mario Bros. Wonder. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• #1: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. (Source: Nintendo Store)

Bloomed Wings’s Top 3 (1:38:05)

• First pick: Let’s! Revolution! (Source: Steam)
• Second pick: Birth. (Source: Steam)
• Game of the year: Against the Storm. (Source: Steam)

3rdstringhero’s Top 3 (1:40:35)

• #1: Baldur’s Gate 3. (Source: Steam)
• #2: Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. (Source: Steam)
• #3: Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader. (Source: Steam)
• A list of video game layoffs in 2023. (Source: Game Industry Layoffs)

Our Favourites: Honourable Mentions (1:45:05)

• Merve’s #10: Dordogne. (Source: Steam)
• Merve’s #9: Super Mario Bros. Wonder. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• Merve’s #8: Backfirewall_. (Source: Steam)
• Merve’s #7: Hi-Fi Rush. (Source: Steam)
• Merve’s #6: A Space for the Unbound. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #10: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #9: Pizza Tower. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #8: Quake II remaster. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #7: System Shock remake. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #6: Resident Evil 4 remake. (Source: Steam)
• Wolfman Jew’s #8: Sea of Stars. (Source: Steam)
• Wolfman Jew’s #7: Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• Wolfman Jew’s #6: Metroid Prime Remastered. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• The Kappa’s honourable mention: Age of Wonders 4. (Source: Steam)
• The Kappa’s honourable mention: GoldenEye 007 remaster. (Source: Xbox)
• The Kappa’s honourable mention: Hi-Fi Rush. (Source: Steam)

Our Favourites: #5 (1:52:25)

• Merve’s #5: Misericorde: Volume One. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #5: Sludge Life 2. (Source: Steam)
• Wolfman Jew’s #5: Dredge. (Source: Steam)
• The Kappa’s #5: Marvel’s Midnight Suns. (Source: Steam)
• Wikipedia articles on Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Fire Emblem Engage.

Our Favourites: #4 (2:05:05)

• Merve’s #4: Pikmin 4. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• Science is Bad’s #4: Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew. (Source: Steam)
• Report on Mimimi Games’s upcoming shutdown. (Source: Game Developer)
• Wolfman Jew’s #4: Super Mario Bros. Wonder. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• The Kappa’s #4: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. (Source: Ubisoft)

Our Favourites: #3 (2:23:35)

• Merve’s #3: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. (Source: Steam)
• The essay Merve wrote about The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood. (Source: Refrigerator Rants)
• Science is Bad’s #3: Alan Wake 2. (Source: Epic Games Store)
• Steam store page for Control.
• Wolfman Jew’s #3: Pikmin 4. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• Pikmin 4 sold 2.61 million copies worldwide (both physical and digital) by the end of September, 2023. (Source: Nintendo Financial Results Explanatory Material, 2^nd Quarter of Fiscal Year Ending March 2024)
• Pikipedia article on Louie.
• The Kappa’s #3: Starfield. (Source: Steam)
• Fallout Wiki article on the Dunwich Building. (Source: Fandom)

Our Favourites: #2 (2:56:25)

• Merve’s #2: Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s #2: Chants of Sennaar. (Source: Steam)
• Wolfman Jew’s #2: Resident Evil 4 remake. (Source: Steam)
• Resident Evil Wiki article on the Garrador. (Source: Fandom)
• The Kappa’s #2: Baldur’s Gate 3. (Source: Steam)

Our Favourites: #1 (3:14:20)

• Merve’s #1: Chants of Sennaar. (Source: Steam)
• Wikipedia article on logograms.
• Science is Bad’s #1: Baldur’s Gate 3. (Source: Steam)
• IMDb page for Jennifer English.
• Wolfman Jew’s #1: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. (Source: Nintendo Store)
• The Kappa’s #1: Fortnite. (Source: Epic Games Store)

Our Disappointments and Least Favourite Games (3:52:15)

MAJOR SPOILERS: Viewfinder

• Wolfman Jew’s pick: Sea of Stars. (Source: Steam)
• Steam store page for The Day Before. The game is no longer available for sale.
• Steam store page for Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta – Episode 1 – Gold Edition.
• Merve’s let’s play of Unearthed: Trail of Ibn Battuta. (Source: Merve Mervington on YouTube)
• The Kappa’s pick: The Settlers: New Allies. (Source: Ubisoft)
• The Kappa’s pick: Company of Heroes 3. (Source: Steam)
• The Kappa’s pick: Cities: Skylines II. (Source: Steam)
• The Kappa’s pick: Gloomhaven. (Source: Steam)
• Wolfman Jew’s pick: the continued success of Hogwarts Legacy. (Source: Steam)
• Science is Bad’s pick: Season: A Letter to the Future. (Source: Steam)
• Steam store page for Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between.
• The Kappa and Merve’s pick: Atomic Heart. (Source: Steam)
• Merve’s pick: American Arcadia. (Source: Steam)
• Steam store page for Viewfinder.

Our Surprises (4:49:00)

MILD SPOILERS: Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo

• Merve’s pick: Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo. Confirmation: It is indeed set in Sumida Ward. (Source: Steam)
• Wolfman Jew’s pick: Unity’s runtime fee. (Source: The Verge)
• Report on Unity’s revised pricing model. (Source: The Verge)
• Overview trailer for Another Code: Recollection. (Source: Nintendo of America on YouTube)
• The developer of Another Code: Recollection has not been revealed. (Source: Cing Wiki on Fandom)
• The Kappa’s pick: The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. (Source: Epic Games Store)
• Science is Bad’s pick: Alan Wake 2. (Source: Epic Games Store)
• Merve’s pick: Wyna Liu’s Connections for the New York Times.
• GuessThe.Game.
• Official website for Puzzmo.

Conclusion (5:07:20)

No links here.