Every week the Byte Me Podcast dips into the games you should be playing! Featuring news and reviews for PC, console and mobile games, along with fun discussions about games from the classics to new releases. Perfect for casual gamers or for casual gamers that want to be a little more hard core, join Byte Me and find your next favorite game!
Gamers are harassing the creators of Ooblets to the tune "tens of thousands of messages" because they decided to go exclusive on the Epic Game Store. Don't do that, it sucks. Somehow the release of the Commander Lilith convinced two millions people to buy Borderlands 2. Meanwhile, over 100 millions kids are playing Roblox even though there are a lot of better games available. The Now Man's Sky: Beyond update is coming out next week and the Cataclysm patch for Anthem is now available.
Questions
Vinny: What single player game would you like to see turned into a co-op/multiplayer game?
Eddie: Which mascots would make for great daytime talk shows ? Instead of Maury we get Wario.
AngelGrl: Choices must be made.
JoeColeslaw: With the next generation of consoles coming out next year makes think about the major jump from one generation to the next over the years. What other industry besides video games have been making steady upgrades every 8 to 10 years?
Cheap/Free Games
Epic Games Store
Humble Monthly
Twitch Prime:
Small Bites
Journey Gets a Surprise iOS Release
Unless you're a huge Madden football fan or love old school WoW there isn't a ton of new video games coming out in August 2019, but Rad, Life is Strange 2 and Blair Witch look to be solid indie entries.
Nintendo will now fix your drifting Joy Cons for free, no muss, no fuss. They will even give you a refund if you've paid for it in the past! Nintendo is also upping the number of levels you can upload for Mario Maker 2 from 32 to 64. Sea of Thieves is adding pets to the game "soon" and also adding microtransactions so you can buy pets (and emotes and ship cosmetics). Overwatch is making a HUGE change to the way their matchmaking works by introducing the "Role Queue" system where you will pick a role before you enter a queue. Finally, we got confirmation that we will see some changes to the mainline Switch, in the form of better battery life.
What You're Playing
Adam: Slay the Spire, Sky
Cliff: Far Cry New Dawn
Questions
Vinny: What is some of your favorite relationships you have seen in a video game? Can be romantic or not. Kratos and Boy? Master Chief and Cortanta?
JoeColeslaw: Here's something a little more pressing... With EA launching EA access on PS4... What games are what strategy do you see EA using? Looking at a lot of the Xbox titles... They are backwards compatible. With a PS3 generation not doing so well with a physical download for PS4, do you see franchises like dead space or skate being emitted from this service? Do you think Sony and EA are in talks to bring back some of the PS2 Classics? Franchises? Or is this simply going to be the Madden, FIFA, NFL 2019 service?
Eddie: With Mario having a job being a plumber. Who else would you like to see having actual normal jobs. Like mechanic or fed ex delivery person?
Turndwn4wut: In the history of video games what has been your favorite peripheral?
Mansocks: Do you like dinosaurs or ninjas more?
Cheap/Free Games
Building off last week's announcement of the Switch Lite, it looks like the main Switch line might be getting a new look under the hood as well! Do you really need to see what it looks like when somebody's spine gets ripped out? The folks behind the new Mortal Kombat movie thing so, confirming that it's going to be rated R and will have fatalities. In addition to their new Lord of the Rings show, Amazon has also announced that they are going to be producing a F2P MMO set in the LotR universe (which is apparently separate from Lord of the Rings Online). Tetris Effect is launching on the Epic Store and getting VR support on the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive plus a ton of PC specific enhancements. Apex Legends has some great ideas with how to combat cheaters and we are 100% in favor. And finally, if you are into emulation but want something that's a bit easier, Retroarch is coming to Steam towards the end of July!
Vinny: The Xbox 360/PS3 generation's big feature I believe was the shift from standard definition to high definition. I know this gen isn't done yet, but what do you think this gen's "big feature" is, and what do you think the big feature will be for the next generation? Will VR be more prevalent? Streaming Games? Subscription Services? And how long until it becomes the norm?
Josh: Has there ever been a game or genre that has legitimately got your heart racing? When was the last time you remember this happening? The last time this happened was with APEX Legends with @TheElusiveDylan where we won 2 games in a row!
Eddie: What video game mascot had the best power ups ? *Must Answer in the style of ASMR.
Mansocks: How many siblings do you have?
OptimistPrime: Who came up with your intro music?
Game Pass:
Humble Very Positive Bundle 3
After denying rumors about a new console for months, Nintendo announced the Switch Lite, a smaller handheld console that although it looks like a Switch, cannot be docked to a TV. It will play all existing Switch games and comes out in September with a list price of $199.99.
Donkey Kong 3 and Wrecking Crew will be added to Nintendo Online in July, along with a new feature that will allow all games to be rewinded during game play to help you get through the tough bits.
Smash hit Cuphead will be getting a TV show on Netflix called The Cuphead Show. No release date as of yet.
Ready to play some Gears 5 ahead of it's September launch? If you've pre-purchased or are a Game Pass member, then you can play the open multiplayer beta starting on the 19th of this month.
And finally, Game Pass is getting a "Play Later" feature, which lets you add games to a separate list so you can keep track of games that you, well, want to play later!
What We're Playing
Adam: Beat Saber: Kyle's Mom is a Big Fat B*$%#
Cliff: Outer Wilds, Spec Ops: The Line
Dylan: Don't Starve, WoW, Mario Maker, DQB2 Demo, Enter the Gungeon
Questions
Vinny: With the announcement of the Cuphead Animated Netflix show coming, what other video game property would you like to see made into an Animated Show?
Josh: Being summer, what are your top summer release games of all time?
JoeColeslaw: Most controversial moment in video games that made an impact in your lives?
Eddie: We just past the half way mark for 2019. Are you happy with what we got in the last 6 months ? What will be the stand out game that will finish out the year ?
Operator Jack: Gday! Question for you guys this week. I you had to pick four characters from any video games for a dangerous mission who would you pick? My four would be John Mullins from Soldier of fortune, Glaz from rainbow 6 siege, Trevor from GTA v and JC Denton from Deus Ex.
Mansocks: What is your favorite metal band?
Cheap/Free Games
Game Pass:
Small Bites
It looks like we finally escaped the post E3 doldrums! First up this week, Rainbow Six Siege is getting an awesome sounding cowboy mode that runs through July 16th and you can get free gear just by logging in! Because of a new deal with the Epic Store, Shenmue 3 backers won't be getting a Steam key for a year post launch (but you can always switch to the PS4 if you want). If you bought a new video card in the last month or two you are not going to be happy with today's surprise launch from Nvidia. Setup your Twitch Prime and link your Rockstar account to get free Red Dead 2 Online and GTA Online rewards. EA Access if finally coming to Playstation on July 24th. Finally, it appears that gamers are really into Farming Simulator 2019. Like, really, really into Farming Simulator 2019.
Questions
Vinny: What are some of your video game pet peeves? (Check out Vinny's Mario Maker level with code WS4-XY6-5JF!)
OptimistPrime: Which video game character would make the best roommate?
JoeColeslaw: With this being the American Fourth of July episode... Let's talk #merica! Consumers all around the globe have voice their concerns about certain Services, products, situations... be it the ability to swing through New York City in Marvel Spider-Man using the iconic Sam Raimi/ Tobey Maguire webbed suit, voicing disdain towards an animated life like Hedgehog to hit the big screen, to a last-minute switch-a-roo of a game being offered through PlayStation Plus... these are examples of consumers letting their opinions be known and Through Time, getting their way.
How do you feel about companies using customer feedback to improve their products in media / gaming industry? How fine is the line between the squeakiest wheel getting Grease versus people griping and moaning, kicking and screaming until they get what they want? Will this hurt or hinder relations between companies and consumers Through Time?
Cheap/Free Games
Playstation Plus
Xbox Games with Gold
Playstation Now
Epic Games Store
Twitch Prime
Humble Indie Playstation Bundle
Sorry we are a couple of days late! July is a bit of a slow month, but there are some great indie games coming out and a couple of fun looking AAA games too!
We are still feeling the post E3 news drought, but there are still a few things to talk about, including how cool Phil Spencer is, Mario Battle Royale and some new developments that involve both PUBG and Dead Space.
Questions
Vinny: What're your thoughts on "completing" games (ie: rolling credits)? Will you play other games while trying to roll credits? Do you not buy other games until you roll credits? Are you disappointed if you don't roll credits? At what point do you decide the game isn't a game for you to roll credits?
Eddie: Replace your family with Nintendo characters. Who will be serving you breakfast in the morning? Peach? Wario? Captain Falco?
AnglGrl: Which is your favorite video game controller of all time?
JoeColeslaw: What would be the Byte Me podcast status on Comedy in video games? What is the funniest moment in the game that you have played? What was the funniest game you played overall? Where do you see humor in video games going in the future?
Steve Bobrowski (Bob-row-ski): Cliff, I hear you talk about playing 3 xboxes at your home. I have 2 boys in the house and we also now have 3 xboxes. I have one other linked so we can play two xboxes under my one live account. However the 3rd Xbox can't be used to play on live so we can't play 3 player games....at least I can't figure out how we can do that. I can be logged into the 360 playing a game and the other two can play on their xboxes but we can not get all 3 xboxes going at once on live under my one account. Do you have 2 live accounts? Or if not how did you get all 3 going? I miss the family live account when you could pay $70 for your entire family.
Cheap/Free Games
Playstation Plus:
Epic Store
Adam is on the final episode of his podcast hiatus and we knew that with a topic as big as E3 we needed to call in an expert. And who better than a guy that live streamed the entire conference? Hey, oh, it's Vinny!
Stadia:
Xbox:
Bethesda:
Devolver Digital:
Ubisoft:
Nintendo:
I mean, we barely talk about it, but it's totally going to happen either way, just wanted y'all to be aware.
We talked about the new Pokemon Sword & Shield game, the new Magic the Gathering series coming to Netflix, Battalion 1944 is a new competitive online WWII shooter that looks interesting, Game Pass is officially coming to PC, Cuphead is coming to Tesla cars and Minecraft Story might be going away...forever.
Vinny: What was the first game experience you had that made realize games could do stories well, even compared to movies and television?
Mansocks: Coke FreeStyle Machine.. What is your choice? Me? Barqs Orange Creme Soda!!!!
OptimistPrime: With the lack of time we all have these days do you still try to 100% games or do you just finish the game for the storyline?
Geekopia: Which setting would you like to see for a new game made by the Fallout/Elder Scroll team? Personally, I would love a western setting!
JoeColeslaw: How often do you find yourself just "window shopping" for games or consoles or pc parts? No intention to buy, but just browse. How often do you impulse buy because of this?
EduardoDesperado: Which capcom game would you guys like to have in the Resident Evil Engine?
AngelGrl: Do you think there will be any special guests on stage at E3, and if so who?
Nintendo Online:
Games with Gold
Twitch Prime
Lots of rumors are starting to hit as we lead up to E3! Borderlands 2 might be getting new DLC, Ubisoft might be launching a subscription service, Death Stranding has a release date, Playstation exclusive Journey is coming to the PC, Konami announces the games we'll get in the Contra Anniversary Collection and Nintendo is gamifying sleep now.
Vinny: With Next Gen almost upon us, what are each of your top 3 games of this generation and why?
EddieSpaghetti: With E3 just days away, which games you guys think will have a 2019 release?
JoeColeslaw: What is your favorite marketing campaign of a video game? Demo discs w. Pizza? Pop company with a mascot game? Burger chain made games?
AngelGrl: You're trapped in a fighting game, but have no powers, one of the characters is going to protect you, the others will try to kick your butt. Which game and character will you choose?
Turndown4What: What writer/director would you like to be involved in making a video game? And if you want to expand on it.........what type of game would you like them to make?
PS Plus:
