Are ‘Marathon’ and ‘Pokémon Pokopia’ What Sony and Nintendo Needed?

Gotta ’cast ’em all! First, Ben, Matt James, and Steve Ahlman form a fireteam to discuss Bungie’s long-awaited extraction shooter Marathon. They forecast whether it’ll fare more like hit ARC Raiders or flop Highguard, examine the stakes for Sony’s big bets on Bungie and live-service games, and react to a possible revival of the PlayStation-Xbox console wars, followed by a “Rage Quit” rant about the backlash to promotional photos for video game adaptations such as God of War. Then Ben brings on Charles Pulliam-Moore from The Verge to discuss the delights of Pokémon life-sim spinoff Pokopia, its significance for Switch 2, and the Pokémon franchise’s 30th anniversary, evolution, and future, plus a second “Rage Quit” about the Trump administration coopting video games like Pokopia to make memes.

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Host: Ben Lindbergh
Guests: Matt James, Steve Ahlman, and Charles Pulliam-Moore
Producer: Devon Renaldo
Additional Production Support: Arjuna Ramgopowell