Tori and Noah read the book Ocean's Godori and were dying to talk to author Elaine U. Cho about the video games she loves. Thanks for coming on the show Elaine :)
You can learn more about Elaine and find links to buy her books at her website elaineucho.com. She's also on Instagram @elaineucho.
THINGS MENTIONED:
02:05 Questions for Elaine
20:06 Some of Elaine's favorite books
23:28 Elaine's top 5 favorite games
26:36 What we've been playing
49:24 Start of slight Death Stranding 1 spoilers
51:44 End of Death Stranding 1 spoilers
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our show is a proud member of The Worst Garbage network of podcasts. Find all the rest of the great shows on the network at TheWorstGarbage.online.
Join The Worst Garbage Discord channel!
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions, book recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
THINGS MENTIONED:
0:43.859 itch.io/Steam NSFW content ban ... lots of links for this one.
The Gamer on removals from Steam
ArsTechnica on itch game removals
Credit Card Companies Are Hurting the Future of Video Games - 404 Media
12:38.439 What's up with Waypoint?
20:33.254 Mario and Peach just friends - IGN
25:08.060 Final Fantasy XI suspends character creation on its most popular server as people flock to the more than 20-year-old MMO - PCGamer
26:59.694 What we've been playing
Our show is a proud member of The Worst Garbage network of podcasts. Find all the rest of the great shows on the network at TheWorstGarbage.online.
Join The Worst Garbage Discord channel!
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions, train game recs for Nathaniel and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Hiiiii. We've got a great new episode for you (if I do say so myself). I know this is mostly a video game news show but a good bit of this is also just Superman talk. Buckle in.
SUPERMAN SPOILERS 27:45 - 49:48
THINGS MENTIONED
00:13 The 2027 Zelda movie has its Link and Zelda - BBC
05:45 Paste Media launches a new site for gaming news
08:10 Oblivion remaster support studio hit with layoffs - Kotaku
10:15 Mailbag :) Email us at heypressstart@gmail.com
21:05 What we've been playing
49:48 The end of Superman discussion lol
Mike Francesca on Superman (sorry that it's a Twitter link)
Our show is a proud member of The Worst Garbage network of podcasts. Find all the rest of the great shows on the network at TheWorstGarbage.online.
Join The Worst Garbage Discord channel!
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions, gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
It's a big week for us! We joined a podcast network! We're all three here talking about games! Nathaniel and Noah reveal what Final Fantasies they've been playing! All that and more!!!
SPOILERS FOR FINAL FANTASY XV FROM 31:30 to 45:30!!!
THINGS MENTIONED:
Soon you'll be able to buy V-bucks and pay for them later - Gamespot
G/O Media sells Kotaku to Gizmodo owner - Axios
David Corinswet's GQ interview
Nathaniel's tierlist of every game he's played so far this year
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our show is a proud member of The Worst Garbage network of podcasts. Find all the rest of the great shows on the network at TheWorstGarbage.online.
Join The Worst Garbage Discord channel!
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions for Nathaniel about Final Fantasy XV, gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Microsoft is all up in the news recently, whether they're ruining people's lives with layoffs or ruining people's lives with its complicity in an ongoing genocide in Palestine. This week, Tori and Nathaniel are talking with games journalist Autumn Wright about how the BDS movement is targeting Microsoft and what that means for Xbox.
You can keep up with Autumn's work on their bluesky page and at Unwinnable, where they write a regular column.
Also: Apologies from Press START HQ for some minor audio inconsistencies this week. We'll be back and firing on all cylinders next week :)
THINGS MENTIONED
Autumn's article about Microsoft, the BDS movement and games journalism in Aftermath
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions, gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Listen as two people who don't own the console talk about the launch of the Switch 2. Marvel at their lack of excitement for another Hollywood adaptation of a beloved video game franchise! All that and more!!
THINGS MENTIONED:
Third-Party Launch Games On Switch 2 Reportedly Sold "Very Low Numbers" - Nintendo Life
The Switch 2's First New GameCube Game Is A Mario Strikers That's Actually Good - Kotaku
Apparently a ton of people watch Summer Games Fest – Variety
NBA, NBPA and 2K agree to extend multiyear partnership - NBA
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions, gaming recs for Noah's wife and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Hekki grace! Man this game is good as hell. Strap in because we're trying to cover as much ground as possible in two and a half hours talking about Sunset Visitor's incredible 1000xResist.
FURTHER READING
1000xResist isn’t just mind-bending sci-fi — it’s also an allegory for diaspora
Oh and here's the What Color Are You quiz :)
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us thoughts about 1000xResist, what you think we should play next and other stuff to heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Tori's got a Switch 2 and it's Fake E3 Season. All that and a special Star Wars surprise. Buckle in :o)
THINGS MENTIONED:
Aftermath on the Splitgate dev's stupid hat
A good post from Ethan Gach on bsky
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions about 1000xResist, gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
OK, first thing's first: SPOILERS FOR CLAIR OBSCUR: EXPEDITION 33 FROM 1:13:38-1:20:14.
Second thing's second, sorry for some of the audio inconsistencies this week. It's entirely Noah's fault and nobody else is responsible for it.
All of that aside, we're playing some sick games this week. We do our best to tip toe around literally anything that could be considered a spoiler for 1000xResist and wade into the Persona 4 remake rumor mill.
THINGS MENTIONED:
EA shut down an entire subsidiary studio that was working on a Black Panther game (from IGN)
From the Verge: Two former Polygon guides writers are starting their own site
IGN on the Persona 4 remake rumors
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us questions about 1000xResist, gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
The way these games are starting to cost, we're all gonna be ice soup households soon. But Borderlands 4 will be worth it!!
THINGS MENTIONED:
IGN on the new Battlefront 3 hype
Randy Pitchford sucks (from Gamesradar)
Brian Eno rules (from PC Gamer)
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's online
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
That's right: forget a morning podcast taping. This is how wild and crazy things can get After Dark.
THINGS MENTIONED
IGN on Kojima's "forgetting game."
Variety with the latest on the SAG-AFTRA strike.
PCGamer on the Overwatch union.
The Verge on Bungie's oopsie (theft).
Shout out to Cool Uncle Marisa :)
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's on bluesky: nathanbased
Noah's online
Our intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Star Wars is in the air (for better or worse), and this week we're talking about our recent playthroughs of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga. Sit down, tune in and don't have a bad feeling about this one.
FURTHER READING/WATCHING
Polygon's reporting on crunch at Traveler's Tales during the game's development
Scott the Woz's video about the LEGO Star Wars games
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's on bluesky: nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our regular sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST (and we do NOT own any of the Star Wars music used PLEASE be cool Disney) and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Lots of bad news this week!! We do our best to make the best of it.
THINGS MENTIONED:
Kotaku on the Microsoft price hikes
And Polygon sold to Valnet from Kotaku
The Verge going deeper on that
Scott the Woz re: Lego Star Wars
Tori's online
Nathaniel's on Twitter: nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
OK, first thing's first, the MGS2 spoilers are at 52:00 and lasts until 59:30.
Besides that, we're light on news this week because we all played and watched so much dang stuff. Enjoy :)
THINGS MENTIONED
Yes, Sidney Sweeney is supposed to be in the Split Fiction movie
Business Insider on Ryan Coogler's Sinners deal
Collider on RotS' crazy cinema numbers
Tori's online
Nathaniel's on Twitter: nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute. And it's making the Switch 2 accessories cost more money :(
THINGS MENTIONED
Wired with the details on Switch 2's pricing: https://www.wired.com/story/the-nintendo-switch-2-price-wont-get-hit-by-trumps-tariffs/
Forbes' Paul Tassi on the almost certainly legit Oblivion remake: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/04/17/the-elder-scrolls-4-oblivion-remake-is-real-and-new-images-look-spectacular/
For the sickos: Star Wars Zero Company: https://www.polygon.com/star-wars/560074/star-wars-zero-company-xcom-game-reveal
Tori's on Twitter: tori_as_always
Nathaniel's on Twitter: nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky @press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
We love gaming :)
THINGS MENTIONED:
No, Mario Kart won't be $90: https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/no-switch-2-games-arent-90-the-internet-is-just-broken-beyond-belief/
Welcome to Fortnite, Sabrina Carpenter: https://www.thecut.com/article/sabrina-carpenter-fortnite-skins.html
Microsoft joins the BDS list: https://aftermath.site/microsoft-bds-games-journalism
Tori's on Twitter: tori_as_always
Nathaniel's on Twitter:nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky@press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
I may not be the same thickness I was in 2017, but the new Nintendo Switch is!! Yeah OK every gaming podcast is doing it and so are we: we're talking about the hot Switch 2 barrage of announcements from last week. Lock in and get ready to go into debt.
THINGS MENTIONED
Polygon's breakdown of the Switch 2 Direct: https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/550857/switch-2-direct-all-games-news-trailers
Tori's on Twitter: tori_as_always
Nathaniel's on Twitter:nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky@press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Look, if everyone's consenting and happy, what's wrong with it? Oh but other than that there was some interesting game news this week — a legacy publication is seemingly back from the grave and Nintendo sure is going crazy.
THINGS MENTIONED:
Polygon's rundown on the latest Nintendo Direct: https://www.polygon.com/news/547591/nintendo-direct-march-2025-everything-announced-switch
IGN with the latest on this live-action Zelda movie: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-legend-of-zelda-movie-live-action-director-plot-cast-trailer-release-date-nintendo
GameInformer's announcement that they're back: https://www.gameinformer.com/letter-from-the-editor/2025/03/25/game-informer-is-back
The Verge breaking down the GameInformer news: https://www.theverge.com/news/635915/game-informer-return-gunzilla-games
Tori's on Twitter: tori_as_always
Nathaniel's on Twitter:nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky@press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Alright, no matter what we say in this episode you should absolutely NOT Google search "GamerGate." I'm serious.
You should, however, look up this week's guest, Jamal Michel. He's a poet and writer whose writing on games has been published all over the place.
You can read more about Jamal and his work on his website: jamalmichel.com.
THINGS MENTIONED
Jamal's article in the NYT about playing GTA as a kid: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/25/arts/grand-theft-auto-islam.html
Variety reports that a Split Fiction movie is in the works: https://variety.com/2025/film/news/split-fiction-movie-video-game-adaptation-1236344367/
A Forbes explainer on the recent Pokemon Go sale: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/03/12/niantic-just-sold-off-pokmon-go-so-what-changes-now/
Tori's on bluesky: toridp98
Nathaniel's on twitter:nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky@press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
Have you ever played Disco Elysium? Would Family Guy clips or a Subway Surfers video alongside it help? That's not really what's happening to Disco Elysium but it's a funny mental image. And that's just one of the news items we're talking about this week!!
THINGS MENTIONED:
Eurogamer on Disco Elysium's new mobile port: https://www.eurogamer.net/disco-elysium-is-being-reimagined-for-mobile-devices-to-captivate-the-tiktok-user
Oh yeah and ZA/UM announced their next game: https://www.eurogamer.net/disco-elysium-studio-zaums-new-rpg-c4-is-part-espionage-thriller-part-psychedelic-sci-fi
Polygon on the latest Switch 2 rumors: https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/539639/nintendo-switch-2-analysts-launch-price-predictions
Check out this new Silent Hill trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNVffiRAqj8
And here's IGN on the impending Star Wars tactics game announcement: https://www.ign.com/articles/new-star-wars-turn-based-tactics-game-to-be-revealed-at-star-wars-celebration-2025
Tori's on Twitter: tori_as_always
Nathaniel's on Twitter:nathanbased
Noah's on Twitter: noah_hurts
Our cool sounds and intro/outro music are by GEIST and our show art is by@tristemegistus. We curate your gaming news together and Noah, Tori and Nathaniel take turns producing the show. You can follow the show on Twitter @Press_StartPod, on tumblr at press-startpod.tumblr.com and on bluesky@press-startpod. Email us gaming recs and other stuff at heypressstart@gmail.com. We'd also appreciate if you left us reviews on your podcast app of choice! Good text reviews will be read out on the show.
