We just passed the 25th anniversary of the Dreamcast's 9/9/99 US launch, and are marking the occasion with a look at five of the strangest and best controllers and accessories for Sega's ill-fated console. Then we'll dive straight into Astro Bot, PS5 Pro, Warhammer 40k Space Marine II, Yars Rising, the Minecraft movie trailer, and your favorite games that got so-so reviews. 

Question of the Week: What's your favorite Dreamcast game, or favorite memory of the Dreamcast?

Break song is My Sweet Passion (Chris Vrenna & Mark Blasques Remix) by Fumie Kumatani, Chris Vrenna, and Mark Blasques. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

All three hosts of Welcome to the Thing - TL Foster, Emmett Watkins, and Jarrett Green - join us this week for a special crossover episode and take charge of our Top 5 to focus on "value versions" of popular big-deal games. We'll also get into Tactical Breach Wizards, Bakeru, Squirrel with a Gun, Concord's rapid demise, the best Zeldas being declared non-canon, and your favorite Star Wars NPCs.

Star Wars Outlaws is out (and fun as hell) this week, inviting players to meet Canto Bight street thief-turned-interstellar scoundrel Kay Vess - so we're inviting Chris Baker back to talk about Kay and five other Star Wars heroes who were created especially for videogames. We'll also get into Castlevania Domunus Collection, Nintendo Direct news, and your thoughts on politicians and their likely favorite games.

Question of the Week: Who's your favorite Star Wars NPC?

Break song is Nar Shaddaa Party (feat. Kym'zi) by The Kyberpunks. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The Borderlands movie opened last weekend, and we've got things to say about it. It also underwhelmed at the box office, putting it on track to be a major flop - but will it flop as hard as the videogame-based movies in this week's Top 5, all of which lost millions in theaters? While we wait to see, we'll get into The Crush House, SteamWorld Heist II, Beetlejuice in MultiVersus, and the first game magazines you remember reading.

Question of the Week: What’s a piece of pop culture or media that's generally regarded as terrible, but you'll die on a hill to defend anyway?

Break song is Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters, and we're so fixated on Marvel's foul-mouthed, fourth-wall-breaking murder-goof that we're going to talk about five games he stars in, and invite the legend Chris Baker - who worked on many of them and made headlines for refuting the "$100,000,000" rumor - to talk about them with us. Then we'll get into Thank Goodness You're Here, videogame voice actors going on strike, our favorite PlayStation mascot getting their own controller, and your experiences with gaming competitions.

Question of the Week: What was something you were first introduced to (like, say, Deadpool or sports) through video games?

Break song is Theme of Deadpool by Hideyuki Fukasawa. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The recent release of Twisters inspired us to spend this week's Top 5 segment talking about five of the best tornadoes in games, because why not, and we even invited Tony Wilson of Framework to help us talk about 'em. Then we'll get into Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, Veritus, Kunitsu-Gami, EVO 2024 announcements, and the cool stuff you've won in contests.

Question of the Week: Inspired by Nintendo World Championships and EVO, tell us about a gaming competition you participated in (whether win, lose, or draw). 

Break song is Tornado of Souls by Megadeth. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

This week's launch of EA Sports College Football 25 marks the return of the NCAA Football series after an 11-year absence, so TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing joins us to talk about it and five other long-dead or dormant sports franchises that we'd love to see come back. Then we'll get into Anger Foot, Yeah! You Want "Those Games," Right? So Here You Go! Now, Let's See You Beat Them! 2, the cancellation of Crash Bandicoot 5, and the funniest games you've ever played.

Question of the Week: Have you ever won anything in a contest? Tell us about it.

Break song is Sports! by Tim and Eric. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Games that are pure parodies - ones that (mainly) target a single game from a competitor to emulate and lampoon - are relatively rare for a lot of reasons, but we scraped together enough to make them the subject of this week's Top 5. After that, we'll look at The Case of the Golden Idol's Xbox debut, the Xbox Game Pass price hike, 3DS's Puzzle Swap finally getting "beaten," and your favorite games starring playable monsters and/or animals. 

Question of the Week: What's the funniest game you've ever played?

Break song is Never Stop Sneakin' by HyperDuck Soundworks. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We're heading into the 4th of July weekend, when Americans traditionally celebrate Jaws' 1975 attack on Amity Island, so this week we'll (finally!) look at five games where you get to play as a bloody great shark. Then we'll talk about Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, The First Descendant, Nintendo's anti-scalper strategy, and the characters you'd like to sese appear iin Mortal Kombat 1 next.

Question of the Week: What is your favorite game starring a monster or animal you can play as?

Break song is Jaws by Lemon Demon. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We're halfway through another year, so we've grabbed Brendan Hesse to help us take a look back through the past six months and pick out our five favorite games from 2024 so far. Then we'll get deeper into Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree, Beyond Good & Evil - 20th Anniversary Edition, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, rumors around upcoming additions to Mortal Kombat 1's roster, and your favorite games to come out this year.

Question of the Week: Who should be the next Mortal Kombat guest character?

Break song is Bosk on a Segway by MC Chris. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdree is out at last today, and we've got Tony WIlson of Framework on to talk about his experience with it - but first, we're going to talk about five DEEPLY suspicious. wildly creepy NPCs who actually proved trustworthy in spite of setting off alarm bells in our heads. Plus we'll talk about the Nintendo Direct reveals — including Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Zelda: Echoes of Wisdome — as well as Still Wakes the Deep, #BLUD, and much more!

Question of the Week: What's your personal Game of the Year for 2024 so far? (As in, a game that's come out in the past six months.)

Break song is You Can't Judge a Book By the Cover by Bo Diddley. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

This week, we delve into news from Summer Game Fest, Xbox Games Showcase, and Ubisoft Forward — but not before inviting Chris Baker on to talk about five "lesser" ports of A-list games that suddenly became the only versions after the "real" games got canceled. We'll also take a look at Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Selaco, and the pop-culture icons you think still need defining games.

Question of the Week: Have you ever had a chance to experience a piece of "lost" media (canceled games, unreleased movies, etc.)? Tell us about it.

Break song is Good Enough for Now by "Weird Al" Yankovic. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The incredible Godzilla Minus One is now on Netflix, so Anthony Abatte joins us to talk... not about Godzilla games (which range from "pretty good" to "abysmal"), but about Godzilla and other cultural icons who have videogames, but not ones that really capture their essence the way, say, Arkham does for Batman. Then we'll touch on Killer Klowns from Outer Space, the Yakuza live-action series news, announcements from last week's State of Play, and your favorite videogame-trope-inspiring movies.

Question of the Week: What’s a pop-culture icon you think is overdue for a definitive game?

The release of Furiosa over the weekend got us all fixated on Mad Max again, so we're starting off this week's show with a look at five desert-drivin', raider-fightin', wasteland-survivin' games that owe their existence to George Miller's legendary film franchise. Then we'll get into The Rogue Prince of Persia, MultiVersus' official launch, the Just Cause movie announcement, and the digital games you wish you'd bought physically (or vice versa).

Question of the Week: What is your favorite movie that has inspired videogame tropes?

Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is out this week, and new guest Trone L. Dowd reviewed it for Inverse — but first, we'll talk about five other games where you're hounded (and often guided) by voices in your head. We'll also get into XDefiant, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Arctic Eggs, Ghost of Tsushima on PC, Jason Voorhees coming back in multiple ways, and your favorite underutilized and too-often-ignored game features.

Question of the Week: Have you ever bought a game physically that you wished you had bought digitally (or vice versa)?

Break song is Voices in My Head by Denis Leary. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

There's a whole bunch of new releases to talk about this week, including surprise hits Animal Well and Crow Country, but first we've got a Top 5 debate about features that - despite being inarguably awesome - don't seem find their way into very many games. Then we'll get into Little Kitty, Big City, Dread Delusion, Mullet Mad Jack, and the Assassin's Creed Shadows reveal, as well as some of your feelings about playing games early vs. waiting for launch.

Hades II's surprise Early Access launch this week got us thinking about other games that found success with unfinished builds and community enthusiasm, so we invited TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing on to talk about five of them. Then it's on to first impressions of Hades II, as well as Puppet Master: The Game, Microsoft shuttering studios, Helldivers 2 drama, and your favorite beautiful flops.

Question of the Week: Do you like playing games early (whether in Early Access or demos), or do you prefer to wait and play after launch?

Break song is Incomplete by Bad Religion. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Great reviews don't always mean great sales, and this week, we invite Phil Keeling of Pixel Lit for a look at five games that were critical darlings, but commercial flops. Then we'll dig into Stellar Blade, Pools, Indika, Another Crab's Treasure, the return of Net Neutrality, and the games you think perfected their series' gameplay.

Question of the Week: Tell us about your favorite beautiful flop. What's an amazing game that wasn't the success it should have been?

Break song is Danny's Song as performed by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Plenty of sequels improve on a formula or reinvent it entirely, but how many really perfect it? This week, Tony Wilson of Framework joins us for a debate about which five sequels nailed what their predecessors were goinf for, turning classics into masterpieces. Then we'll get into Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, Sand Land, Tales of Kenzera: Zau, a little Stellar Blade, and the in-development(-hell) game movies you most want to see.

The Fallout TV series is out, it's great, and it's making us think of other, less-fortunate game-to-movie/TV adaptations - the ones languishing for decades in development hell, continually changing hands only to fade into obscurity. We'll look at five of the most striking examples this week, after which we'll get into Harold Halibut, Children of the Sun, the Fallout series (no spoilers), Nintendo skipping Gamescom, and your favorite Metroidvanias (that we didn't talk about last week). 

Super Metroid turns 30 in the US on April 18, so we're celebrating the genre it kick-started by inviting Brendan Hesse for a debate-style Top 5 about the best Metroidvanias. Then we'll get into Season 1 of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Star Wars Outlaws, The Rogue Prince of Persia, and your favorite videogame x brand cross-promotions.

Question of the Week: What’s your favorite Metroidvania that we didn’t talk about in the Top 5? Tell us what we missed.

Break song is Regretroid by Starbomb. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Localizing games from Japanese to English (or vice versa) can be a delicate process, and sometimes yields results that are strange enough to become cultural phenomena on their own. This week, Greg Moore joins us to look at five famously weird localization decisions, after which we'll get into Freedom Planet 2's console release, (still more) Dragon's Dogma 2, a report that older games are taking up the bulk of everyone's game time, and the home console repairs or hacks you're proudest of.

Question of the Week: Inspired by Matt’s shameless Sonic IHOP plug, what’s your favorite videogame/other brand cross-promotional tie-in of all time? 

Break song is Invasion of the Gabber Robots by The Laziest Men on Mars. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

"Janky" can mean a lot of things in the context of games, but this week - hot on the heels of Dragon's Dogma 2 - it means weird, faintly shoddy-feeling fun, and Jarrett Green joins us this week to talk about five games that are arguably beloved because of their jank. We'll also talk (a lot) more about Dragon's Dogma 2, plus Alone in the Dark, Marvel Rivals, Gearbox's sale by Embracer, and the overlooked/cult games you think deserve a sequel.

Question of the Week: Tell us about a time you hacked or repaired a console, controller, or other piece of gaming hardware on your own.

Break song is Emil's Shop Theme (English) from Nier Automata. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

The right music can make an already memorable moment unforgettable, and this week Tony Wilson of Framework joins us for a look at five games that expertly surprised us with unexpected musical moments, elevating their stories in the process. Then we'll get into Rise of the Ronin, Alone in the Dark, the newly greenlit Sims movie, State of Unreal 2024 news, and the franchises you'd like to see WayForward reinvent next.

Question of the Week: Now that we have Dragon’s Dogma 2, what criminally overlooked/cult hit game needs a sequel glow-up?

Break song is Unshaken by D'Angelo. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Akira Toriyama passed away at 68 on March 1, leaving behind a rich legacy of iconic manga, anime, and (largely dragon-themed) videogames. To mark his passing, we're joined by TL Foster of Welcome to the Thing for a look at five game franchises to which he lent his talents, after which we'll get into Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story, Contra: Operation Galuga, Nintendo's Mar10 Day announcements, and the dormant EA franchises you'd like to see them refocus on.

Question of the Week: In the vein of Contra: Operation Galuga and other WayForward adaptations of existing IP, what series should be WayForwarded next?

Break song is Eternity by Nobuo Uematsu, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Ian Gillan. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

This week is bookended by Ufouria The Saga 2 and WWE 2k24, both of which let you switch characters on the fly by tagging in partners - so with help from Emmett Watkins Jr., we'll count down five games that had some of the coolest character-swapping mechanics. Then we'll dig into Unicorn Overlord, Balatro, announcements from the Xbox Partner Preview, and your favorite second entries in game series.

Question of the Week: What dormant EA franchise shoulld the company refocus on?

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is out, and being that it's the middle entry in a trilogy, we've invited Brendan "The Crawl" Hesse to talk not only about the game (he finished it), but for a a debate-format Top 5 about other trilogies with fantastic middle entries. We'll also get into Pacific Drive, the Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster, news from the Pokémon Presents, and your favorite franchises that haven't put out a new entry in at least a decade.

Question of the Week: What's your favorite second game in a series?

2014 was a big year for series swan songs, when a number of once-huge videogame franchises launched what would end up being their last installments (as of this writing 10 years later, anyway) - so this week, we pay tribute to five of our favorite series that have now been dead (or at least dormant) for a decade. Then it's on to Mario vs. Donkey Kong, (more) Helldivers II, Penny's Big Breakaway, the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, Elden Ring DLC news, and the biggest asshole moves you've pulled in games.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, NordVPN. Visit nordvpn.com/lasertime to get an exclusive deal and try it risk free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Question of the Week: What's your favorite franchise that has been dormant at least 10 years?

Skull and Bones is out this week, so we're reinventing one of our earliest Top 5 topics and debating the best-ever pirate games! Will your favorites find swashbuckling glory or be keel-hauled into ignominy? Then we'll get into Helldivers 2, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, Tomb Raider I-III Remastered, and the villains you think should get their own games.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, NordVPN. Visit nordvpn.com/lasertime to get an exclusive deal and try it risk free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Question of the Week: What's the biggest asshole move you've ever pulled in a game?

Beloved actor Carl Weathers passed away last week, and TL Foster joins us to help pay tribute with a look at five games Weathers either appeared in, or that included the characters he brought to life. Then we'll get into Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Foamstars, the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth demo, Disney buying a stake in Epic, and the fighting-game characters you think deserve their own spinoffs.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, NordVPN. Visit nordvpn.com/lasertime to get an exclusive deal and try it risk free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Question of the Week: What vidjagame villain deserves their own starring role as the (anti)hero of a game?

Break song is Oh No You Didn't by Wojahn Bros. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Tekken 8's launch has us captivated this week, so Anthony "BruceWayneBrady" Abatte joins us to talk about it — and about five of the fighting-game series' most noteworthy spinoffs. Then we'll get into the PlayStation State of Play news, the simultaneous reveal and cancellation of an unproduced Deus Ex, and your favorite games that rip off other games.

Thanks to this week’s sponsor, NordVPN. Visit nordvpn.com/lasertime to get an exclusive deal and try it risk free with Nord’s 30-day money-back guarantee.

Question of the Week: Which fighting game character from any franchise deserves their own spinoff action game?

Break song is Knocc 'Em Down by Snoop Dogg. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

We're continuing to play with format this week, starting with a non-traditional Top 5 about sequels that went by completely different names. Why's it non-traditional? We don't even start with a set list, and debate to decide it right there on the show! Then we'll delve into a slew of new releases including Palworld and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the reveals from the Xbox Developer Direct, and the franchises you think should be re-rebooted.

Question of the Week: What's your favorite game that could be considered a knockoff of another, more successful game?

Break song is A.M. 180 by Grandaddy. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is out this week, and we're all big fans! Before we dig into it on the show, though, it also inspired this episode's (traditionally formatted) Top 5, about series that have gotten more than one reboot over the years. Then we'll talk about Billy Mitchell settling with Twin Galaxies, GameStop backing off NFTs, and the series-outlier games whose gameplay you wish they'd revisit.

Question of the Week: What once-rebooted franchise do you think could benefit from another big reset? 

Break song is Mond, Mond, Ja, Ja by Die Kåfer. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

With Tekken 8 launching in a matter of weeks, this week's Top 5 pays homage to other series that managed to hit at least eight games (and kept the number somewhere in their titles) - but with a twist, as we continue to experiment with new Top 5 formats. This week, we combine a trivia contest and a debate over which games should be included... to, uh, uneven results. Then we'll get into HBO's The Last of Us casting its Abby, SAG-AFTRA striking a game-voiceover deal with an AI studio, and your most anticipated games of 2024.

Question of the week: What's an outlier or unusual game in a long-running series whose gameplay formula you wish they'd revisit? 

Break song is The Count Sings About 8 from Sesame Street. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.

Let's start off 2024 right: With a look at five games we're especially looking forward to in the next 12 months! Then we'll get into the Polymega retro console (and Mikel's nearly four-year wait to get one), the 14,000 games Steam added in 2023, the first human being to "beat" NES Tetris, and your personal Games of the Year for 2023.

Question of the Week: Which game are you most looking forward to in 2024?

Break song is New Year's Resolution Song by Rhett & Link. Vidjagame Apocalypse theme by Matthew Joseph Payne.