Download Episode 1084 – We’ve got a long one here with news, a ton of reviews, and a visit from my old high school buddy Nathan Ide! The show kicks off with Bri Galgano, Jacob Garner, Aki, and Horror Acolyte on hand to welcome my good friend from my youth, and long time Security guy at Microsoft, Nathan Ide, to the show to hang out and chat about what he’s been up to since our days pumping gas in Nescopeck. We chat about his long career working with the security team at Microsoft, the projects at Microsoft and Xbox that he’s taken part in, how we absolutely ransacked that gas station of candy and snacks when we worked there, and tons more. Nathan is legitimately one of the best people on the planet to me and it meant a lot getting to catch up! After Nathan heads out, it’s time to tackle the news of the week including the latest additions and departures to the new, improved, and significantly more expensive Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox denying claims that they are exiting the console hardware business, Clair Obscur sales and updates, Nintendo Online SNES additions, Starbreeze layoffs, and tons more. It’s a massive batch of news and it all leads up to a massive pack of reviews as well including SOPA, a game about a stolen potato. My cat’s name is Potato. She’s the one on the YouTube image. Potato rocks. 0:00 - Intro/Nathan Ide Chat 1:16:50 - News 1:38:03 - Dying Light: The Beast - Techland (Aki) 1:50:35 - SOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potato - StudioBando (Bri) 1:57:44 - Arcade Archives 2 GEE BEE - HAMSTER Co. (Jacob) 2:03:07 - Castle of Heart: Retold - 7Levels (Bri) 2:11:00 - MOUTHOLE - Anything Nose Productions, Sometimes You (Jacob & Bri) 2:18:07 - Finding Paradise - Freebird Games, Serenity Forge (Bri) 2:22:41 - Detective Agency: Gray Tie - AVI Games, Ocean Media (Jacob & Bri) 2:28:25 - Animal Kingdom 3 - Seven Sails, Ocean Media (Bri & Jacob) 2:34:19 - Lorn’s Lure - Rubeki Games, Feardemic (Horror) 2:46:40 - Stay Still - Galactic Crows, Dolores Entertainment (Bri) 2:55:03 - Extremely Powerful Capybaras - Studio Bravarda, PM Studios (Jacob) 3:00:11 - Pirate Trails: Tentacles and Treasures - AFIL Games (Aki) 3:01:25 - Cats and Seek: Kyoto - Noobzilla, Silesia Games (Bri) 3:03:46 - PREVIEW: Beneath - Camel 101, Wired Productions (Aki) 3:10:10 - KIDZ KORNER: The Grinch Christmas Adventures: Merry & Mischievous Edition - Casual Brothers, Outright Games (Jacob) The show ends with a track from Metal Hellsinger to honor the studio after their unfortunate closure. It’s heavy, but it’s clean. Rock out, kids. You’re never too young to listen to metal. I mean come on, Disney got Marilyn Manson to do a Nightmare Before Christmas song. Remember that? Anyway, RIP to The Outsiders. 3:18:09 - Two Feathers & Serj Tankian - No Tomorrow (Metal Hellsinger) https://dyinglightgame.com/ https://techland.net/ https://www.sopagame.com/ https://www.studiobando.com/ https://www.hamster.co.jp/ https://www.7lvls.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@AnythingNoseProductions https://www.sometimesyou.com/ https://freebirdgames.com/ https://serenityforge.com/ https://www.avigames.org/ https://www.sevensails.com.br/ https://oceanmedia.hr/ https://bsky.app/profile/rubeki.bsky.social https://www.feardemic-games.com/ https://www.galactic-crows.com/ https://doloresentertainment.com/ https://studiobravarda.com/ https://www.pm-studios.com/ https://www.noobzilla.games/ https://silesiagames.com/ https://camel101.com/ https://wiredproductions.com/ https://casualbrothers.com/ https://outrightgames.com/ https://twofeathersstudio.com/ https://serjtankian.com/ https://ocremix.org/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sml-podcast/id826998112 https://open.spotify.com/show/6KQpzHeLsoyVy6Ln2ebNwK https://terraplayer.com/shows/the-sml-podcast https://bsky.app/profile/thesmlpodcast.com https://www.facebook.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://thesmlpodcast-shop.fourthwall.com/ ALL REVIEWED GAMES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED FOR FREE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ANY COVERAGE ON THE SHOW