Wardcast

There’s two more DLC characters yet to be announced for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but who could they possibly be? Goku? James Bond? Maybe ♥♪!? — the artist formerly known as Geno? Using a combination of tea leaves, industry insight, and good ol’ blind faith, we’ll try our best to guess who the last two fighters will be. Follow along as we draw the odds on who will fill those remaining slots, from a possible fourth Capcom representative to… Travis Touchdown? Games include Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Street Fighter V. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

Hidden Gems returns with Dylan Ilvento, Dante Douglas, Kevin Snow, and Mike Williams in the Emerald City to talk about what goodies PAX has to offer, from some crankin’ games to some typing games to a plethora of other delectable digital daydreams! Follow along with the panel slides here. From the panel description: You’ve entered the hallowed halls of PAX, and you’re on the hunt for any secrets and surprises that lie in wait. Are you in need of some helpful guides to highlight what you need to see before the show is done? If so, there are none better than your friends at Hidden Gems! Join us as we combine our knowledge of the games industry to bring to you a handpicked assortment of games and experiences that you’ll want to see while you’re here. Games include Crankin’s Time Travel Adventure, Star Renegades, Foregone, If Found…, Witchstone, Bravery Network Online, Carrion, Phantom Brigade, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, Touch Type Tale, Plunge, Mutazione, Wooden Nickel, and Kine. Got a question for the show? Join

We’re relieved to hear that new footage of Death Stranding streamed last week at Gamescom. News has flowed forth from Germany, trickling in new details about the game’s various mechanics. We’re glad this didn’t leak ahead of time, or it might have whizzed by us while we were otherwise preoccupied. Games include Grand Theft Auto Online, Grand Theft Auto III, and Warhammer: Vermintide 2. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

We have to escape to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by television: space! If we’re flying out to the void above, we might as well embrace everything in this wild and wacky future: biopunk mods, subscription services, megacorps, and possibly — maybe — a better Steam client? Games include Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Divinity: Original Sin II, Sunset Overdrive, Metro Exodus, Void Bastards, Forza Horizon 4, Cadence of Hyrule, Brawl Stars, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Oxenfree, Magic: The Gathering Arena, Teppen, Dicey Dungeons, and Grand Theft Auto III. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

This week, we’re joined by Joseph Knoop, host of The 1099 and weekend web producer at IGN. We check in on the Good Ship 1099 since the last time we had a member of her crew on while also discussing the changing landscape of games media, the continuous fallout from the E3 doxxing, and the return of politicians blaming video games for making people violent in the wake of two mass shootings. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

In a world where new genres are popping up every day — battle royales, card battlers, auto chess — what’s a person to do? Well, certainly the thing not to do is harass an indie developer for announcing Epic Store exclusivity. With that, we also cover the ESA’s E3 leak snafu, some games best described as roguelikesque, and how to never meet your Marvel heroes when they’re on Switch. Games include Dota Underlords, Brawl Stars, Risk of Rain 2, Metro Exodus, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Sunset Overdrive, and Amid Evil. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

This week, we go deep into our guest bench for a pair of Wardcast locals: Sam Loeschen, developer on Silent Earth, back in RVA after living on the west coast and abroad; and Justin Mitchell, developer on War of Velana, here with another fresh food minute. On the docket today: the landscape for mobile devs looking for a publisher, Blender’s recent epic mega grants, hiring practices we’d prefer not to see, and some straight scrummin’. Games include Cadence of Hyrule, Outer Wilds, and Dragon Quest Builders 2. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

Here in Twenty Nineteen we’re keeping things Twenty Ninekeen with live updates on the latest cryptocurrency trends and emoji-focused Twitter bots. We try to find out where Peter Molyneux’s twenty other cans went; reckon with the hunky, new, made-for-TV Geralt of Rivia; and consider the joy-pros and the joy-cons of the new Switch Lite. Games include Divinity: Original Sin II, Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition, Duck Season, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order, Outer Wilds, Return of the Obra Dinn, Super Mario Maker 2, and Grand Theft Auto III. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

On this, our 200th Wardcast, we take the time to appreciate the little things. Namely: we eulogize a Mario clone that was too good for this world, find ourselves in the throng of JRPGs and CRPGs alike, and put a cap on last week’s conversation about the Steam Summer Sale’s effect on indies. Games include Mario Royale, Flappy Royale, HexSweep, Outer Wilds, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, The Arcana: A Mystic Romance, Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator, Divinity: Original Sin II, Deltarune Chapter 1, Splatoon 2, and Super Mario Maker 2. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

Ben Wander, designer at indie studio The Wandering Band, joins us to talk about what indies get up to at E3. We also chat about his time at Visceral Games before going indie to make A Case of Distrust, the post-release slump devs can find themselves in, and building a team to collaborate on their studio’s new game, Airborne Kingdom. We share thoughts on if there’s a benefit to having a demo for your game on Steam and the eShop, reflect on the Steam Summer Sale Grand Prix debacle, and more! Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

We return home from E3, carrying with us tales of new games and new friends. Come join us for the coda of this year’s Electronic Third. We’re excited about: Kal Kestus’ white lightning Some delicious Gnoggin Thoth Leaving John-117 to float endlessly through space Project Scarlett: Red Ring edition Ikumi Nakamura being just the best Eating Gooigi The Legend of Zelda: Thirst of the Thief King Games include GRIS. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

For E3 2019, we’re joining forces with Spawn on Me for the E3 Collab Couch! If you want to check out all of our coverage from the show, be sure to follow Wardcast as well as our friends at Spawn on Me. On this episode of the Collab Couch, we’re joined by Finji co-founders Adam and Bekah Saltsman! We catch up with them about what they’re doing at the show, from showing games to maintaining industry and platform relationships. We also discuss the current indie landscape, the Informational Show for Trainers, and more! Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

For E3 2019, we’re joining forces with Spawn on Me for the E3 Collab Couch! If you want to check out all of our coverage from the show, be sure to follow Wardcast as well as our friends at Spawn on Me. On this episode of the Collab Couch, we’re joined by writer and designer Dante Douglas and Finji’s Harris Foster to talk about second tries on post-apocalypses, what they’re doing at the show, and more! Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

For E3 2019, we’re joining forces with Spawn on Me for the E3 Collab Couch! If you want to check out all of our coverage from the show, be sure to follow Wardcast as well as our friends at Spawn on Me. On this episode of the Collab Couch, we’re joined by Indie Megabooth’s Kelly Wallick, Funomena’s Robin Hunicke, and Kitfox’s Victoria Tran to talk about indie games, their presence at E3, and more! Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

For E3 2019, we’re joining forces with Spawn on Me for the E3 Collab Couch! If you want to check out all of our coverage from the show, be sure to follow Wardcast as well as our friends at Spawn on Me. On this episode of the Collab Couch, we’re joined by USGamer’s Mike Williams, here to talk with us about all our impressions of the first slate of press conferences so far — EA, Microsoft, Bethesda, Ubisoft — and what we’re looking forward to next. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

We stand on the precipice of E to the Three. The portcullis has opened; the City of Angels beckons. Who will join our scouting party to see what the land of electronic entertainment holds? One eager adventurer stands up: Dylan Ilvento; another: Nelson Johnson; a third: Joe Wetmore. Lastly, a wanderer, long traveled, ready to leave this heady life of Virginian video games and head to the City That Never Sleeps — we welcome Ruthie Edwards into the fold for one final quest. Games include Old School Runescape and Mario Kart Tour. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

We record an emergency Wardcast over at Attract Mode HQ with the Brothers IRL, here to talk about Nick getting caught in an infinite Monopoly loop, the horrors of Gransysian prisons, and the official pumpkins of Guild Wars. The Sonic movie just announced that it’s gotta go slower, and we pump ourselves up for the ramp into E3, with a recent Mario Maker direct, speculation on Death Stranding, and more! Games include Mordhau, Monopoly for Nintendo Switch, Food Chain Magnate, Dragon’s Dogma, City of Heroes, and Ape Out. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

In a week of fact checks, we find out what we know and what we don’t know about ourselves, each other, and — most importantly — Sergeant Slaughter’s acting credits. We go on a quest for the latest Oculus hardware, run through some void bastards, get spoilery on Undertale, and repeat the words “Shinobi Prosthetic.” Games include Overwatch, Undertale, Deltarune Chapter 1, Brawl Stars, Void Bastards, Sunset Overdrive, Hades, AFK Heroes, Marvel Strike Force, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Layers of Fear, Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series – Episode 1, Blade and Sorcery, Baldur’s Gate, Mordhau, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

We reconvene to discuss fighting games of all shapes and sizes as well as the looming spectre of loot boxes’ nefarious ends. Epic Games marches across the gaming landscape, swallowing as many exclusives and studios as they can. Is this good for devs? Is this bad for consumers? All we can say for certain is it’s a weird time for games, with the console wars seemingly subsiding only to reemerge on PC. Games include Pop’n Music 14 FEVER!, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, Mortal Kombat 11, Injustice 2, Hypnospace Outlaw, Undertale, Artifact, Brawl Stars, Sunset Overdrive, and Alice: Madness Returns. Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!

We keep the Oregonian guest streak going this week with Will Lewis — president of Portland Indie Game Squad and director of Rose City Games, developer on The World Next Door. Will discusses what goes into running PIGSquad, from working with local partners to putting on events to PIGSquad’s organizational structure. We also chat about balancing community organizing with dev work, some of Will’s favorite games, and more! Got a question for the show? Join us on Discord at ward-games.com/discord or email us at contact@ward-games.com!