Recently, Patrick journeyed into his own backyard to pay a visit to the Chicago-based Stern Pinball, creators of the upcoming John Wick pinball game. Besides playing John Wick, Patrick had a chance to spend time talking with Stern Pinball lead software engineer Tim Sexton about what it means to make pinball games in the modern age, the ongoing evolution of technology inside today’s pinball games, and how the heck someone becomes a pinball creator in 2024.

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What to make of Square Enix canceling $140.8 million of in-development games? How exactly is (or isn’t) Microsoft going to capitalize on Fallout-mania? Remember when Razer tried to sell people a bogus RGB-filled N95 gamer mask? All this and more on Remap Radio, as Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado break down the news, plus thoughts on Pools (a spooky video game), Another Crab’s Treasure, Stellar Blade, Manor Lords, and the rare IMAX/furniture store combo.

Discussed: Razer Sued for Fake N95 Masks 3:50, Square Reports $140 Million Loss from Canceled Projects 22:35, Take Two Shuts Down Two Game Studios 30:41, Fallout Show Has Record Viewership 1:01:34, Pools 1:11:28, Another Crab's Treasure 1:28:30, Tales of Kenzara 1:41:34, Manor Lords 1:45:13, The Question Bucket 1:57:05, Outro and Announcments 2:21:11

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Hope springs eternal at Remap Sports HQ, with the one-two punch of QB Caleb Williams and WR Rome Odunze providing Rob and Patrick with a sense of optimism about the future. Please do not remind us of this conversation a year from now. Elsewhere, we discuss the shifting winds on the public financing billionaire toys like sports stadiums, the wild NBA first round of the NBA playoffs, and how gambling and obnoxious advertising are impacting the joy of watching sports.

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We start by digging into the shockingly hopeful news that the FTC has declared non-competes illegal, before trying to make sense of Embracer splitting itself into pieces. Elsewhere, Patrick and Janet have been playing—and trying to make sense of—Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a new Metroidvania centered on grief. Rob, meanwhile, just keeps playing Balatro, while Cado has been taking out cultists in the puzzle shooter (??) Children of the Sun. Finally, we talk about the very brave concessions we make for the partners in our lives. Or, in Rob’s case, getting tricked. (edited)

Discussed: FTC Bans Non-Compete Clauses 4:32, Embracer Group Balkanized 31:06, Tales of Kenzara: Zau 55:22, Hidden Folks 1:25:50, Dragon's Dogma 2 1:35:53, Balatro 1:44:03, Children of the Sun 1:47:06, The Question Bucket 1:58:37, Outro and Announcements 2:43:40

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It’s time to pour one out for our friend and colleague Austin Walker, whose own game studio recently joined the ongoing wave of layoffs in the video game industry. Patrick, Janet, Cado, and Rob unpack the strangeness of this particular layoff and why people responded so sharply to it, before taking a deep breath and talking about the recent Nintendo Indie World event. We also talk about loving the Fallout TV series, Pepper Grinder, stitch., and some early time with Hades II, before answering a reader question about our relationship with “easy mode” in games.

Discussed: The Bulls 1:59, Possibility Space Closes 13:44, Nintendo Indie World Showcase 1:05:20, Info on the PS5 Pro 1:19:22, Stitch 1:32:51, Pepper Grinder 1:49:14, Hades 2 1:56:23, The Fallout Show 2:09:03, Blue Eyed Samurai 2:16:51, The Question Bucket 2:24:00, Outro and Announcements 2:38:28

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Recently, Remap has been watching a lot of Godzilla. To better understand him, Rob and Patrick are joined by Sean Konrad, visual effects supervisor on the recent Apple TV+ show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, to talk about the state of the visual effects industry, what it means to scale a creature like Godzilla, and much more. Konrad was an artist on the spectacular Godzilla (2014), and has worked on movies like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Furious 7, and TV shows like Loki and For All Mankind.

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Dead Space was cool, right? Who wouldn’t want Dead Space 2? Rob, Patrick, Janet, and Cado react to the game of telephone about if/when Dead Space 2 was ever in development, before reacting to Destiny’s big announcements and some cool indie news, like Prince of Persia: The Rogue. Elsewhere, Janet and Patrick have been playing Botany Manor, and, of course, more Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth. They also dig into your questions regarding office kitchen snafus.

Discussed: Rob's Top 10 List 6:37, Dead Space 2 Remake Cancelled 7:03, Immortals of Aveum Staff Furloughed 32:43, Destiny 2: The Final Shape Announcement Stream 39:43, Slay the Spire 2 Announcement 57:47, Triple-i Initiative Showcase 1:03:43, Botany Manor 1:20:04, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 1:38:39, The Question Bucket 1:50:46, Outro and Annoucnements 2:23:28

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Jacob Geller joins Rob, Patrick, and Janet to discuss Microsoft's new "new AI assistant" and how we expect AI to be deployed to make everyday experiences easier and definitely less frustrating. Plus, Jacob's publishing a book with Lost in Cult, and we talk about the two Stellar Blades: the one that's being treated as a reactionary victory, and the character action game that actually exists.

0:33 - How a Game Lives

11:22 - XBox AI

45:19 - Total War but also Fort Condor

59:40 - Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

1:19:52 - Princess Peach: Showtime!

1:36:12 - Stellar Blade

1:56:08 - Rise of the Ronin

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It’s time to celebrate a great achievement: Dragon’s Dogma 2 has become discourse. Patrick, Janet, Rob, and Cado return from afar—GDC, PAX East, and even Disneyland—to discuss the latest details on Ken Levine’s Not BioShock Game, Judas, and what’s happening over at Sega with Relic, union contracts, and more. We also chat about the games we played at both PAX East and GDC, and Rob reveals he’s surprisingly into both Rise of the Ronin and Unicorn Overlord.

Discussed: The Microtransactions of Dragon's Dogma 2 1:25, Larian isn’t making a new D&D Game 23:07, Judas revealed at IGN 27:14, Sega Workers Ratified First Union Contract in AAA Studio 54:32, Gearbox sold to Take-Two 1:03:39, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth 1:07:40, Dragon's Dogma 2 1:14:20, Princess Peach: Showtime! 1:19:10, Unicorn Overlord 1:27:13, PAX East and Janet's GDC Roundup 1:46:32, Animal Well 1:57:47, Inkonbini 2:09:21, Sopa 2:10:58, Harold Halibut 2:12:07, Rise of the Ronin 2:21:07, Cado's PAX shoutouts 2:33:53, Outro and Announcements 2:44:03

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Duncan Fyfe has written a review of Jordan Mechner's family memoir, Replay. It's a terrific piece, but also one that adds a lot of background detail on Mechner's career as a game designer. In this wide-ranging discussion, Rob and Duncan discuss Duncan's article, and their own understanding and regard for Mechner's work.

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Rob and Cado sit down for a quick episode before PAX and end up shooting the breeze for over two hours about Musk's embrace of the absurd Sweetbaby witch hunt, layoffs at IGN and the challenges of unionizing in the face of a declining media ecosystem, Ron Howard's classic journalism adventure The Paper and what it means to have institutional capacity. Then Austin and Patrick talk Dragon's Dogma before Rob and Cado return to talk about their successes in Balatro and Motorsports Manager, plus the upcoming race team management game from Funselektor and what a management game set in the most dangerous years of racing will have to get into. Finally, Rob thinks there should probably be a Total War Shogun 3 by now, and finally the duo dive into questions.

Discussed: Coffee Talk 2:40, Gamergate "2.0" 6:38, IGN Lays off Union Members 1:05:27, Austin and Patrick talk Dragon's Dogma 2 1:19:59, Balatro 2:10:44, Motorsport Manager 2:28:28, Total War: Shogun 2 2:42:14, The Question Bucket 2:53:06

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