In-Game Chat

In-Game Chat A radio show. About video games & gaming. Broadcasting live every Saturday night from 6pm to 8pm cen So we started doing this.

In-Game Chat is the brain child of a group of friends who, whenever we would get together on whatever occasion, would ultimately turn the discussion to video games. We thought other people would like to hear that discussion and probably join in.

05/10/2025

It’s been a VERY long time since we’ve done an interview on the show but given the game he made, I couldn’t pass up talking to Aaron Gwynaire. He’s a solo developer and his new game “Neyyah” released last month and has been doing quite well.

It’s his first game, took him seven long years to develop and the pull, from me, was the fact he developed it as an homage to Myst and Riven - the old style FMV point and clicks. So we had plenty to discuss and insights into being a solo developer on something. AND being based out of Australia. It was wonderful having him on and a joy to talk with.

Once the interview was finished, we went to the more depressing news of the week, and there was plenty. It’s mostly down to the buyout of EA and the price increase of Gamepass.

I’m not sure I can say anymore that hasn’t already been said about these two events that took place this week. And the sucky thing is - it’ll get worse before it gets better. The outlook for EA’s output will be unoriginal and while that isn’t much different than what we already have there was still hope they could take chances on things but it’s highly unlikely now. And then, of course, there’s the layoffs likely to happen from this.

As for Gamepass, time will tell, but I don’t see myself sticking around with that through the year. At least at the new increased price. I’ll drop to something cheaper or cut it out altogether if need be - I rarely use the service.

Apply that last sentence to a number of other subscription services in my life currently.

Ubisoft, it has been 4,430 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

21/09/2025

Surprise! Tariffs make things more expensive. I actually didn’t have to finish writing that. The whole smart document thing saw “tariffs make things…” and it completed the rest of it.

So yeah, now we’ve got the second price hike in 6 months for Microsoft consoles. We’re at a point where if you bought a Series X back in 2020 when they launched, you could sell it now five years later for a profit. And that’s even if you’ve used it for that long as well. Also amazingly, you could trade that in at a game store and now get FAR more for it than you would have 6 months ago.

It’s ridiculous. It’s also ridiculous with how much a console is going to cost. PS5’s were already up there and now the Xbox family is kinda surpassing it - in price mind you. Also, let me go back and point out that we’re nearing 6 years of these consoles being around. You look at ANY other time previous and tell me when you’ve seen the consoles GO UP in price where it isn’t a collectible but still on the shelves. Sure, they’ve released upgraded versions of these things with the Pro models and what not, but it’s never been like this before that I can remember.

And I won’t even bother to think what will happen when these companies start showing off their next generation of hardware. It feels like that is something on the horizon but I’m honestly hoping it is way down the line when we’re past this whole tariff thing and things have settled a bit. If it doesn’t, we’re probably looking at 800-1000 dollar consoles.

I don’t know if that's the “sky is falling” mentality, but we’re already in the 650-750 range with what’s out there now and going beyond that with better hardware and stuff, the price will be significantly higher. If you want to get in now, you should. Do it before the price hike takes effect on October 3rd.

I saw another trailer for the Splinter Cell animated series for Netflix and I’m very excited for it. It won’t fill that void of having a new game in the series but it’s something to remind people it exists and hopefully resurges Ubisoft to get on the ball with whatever they’re working on. Ubisoft, it has been 4,416 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

07/09/2025

It’s been a few weeks and in that time I seemed to have found some games to actually put some time into. Nothing new, of course, but given I haven’t played them yet, they’re new to me.

Recently I finished Astro’s Playroom. This was a pack-in title with the PS5. A console purchased in November of 2020. And it’s so very weird to go back and finish something that you hadn’t touched since January of 2021. There’s a few trophies from the game that scatter from November of 2020 to January 2021 and then a MASS of them all within the most recent weeks. And that’s the weird part. If it wasn’t pulling me in then, why now?

I don’t know. It’s over with and was a fun little title and pretty cool to get as a free download - we don’t really get a lot of those anymore with our console purchases - or at least we didn’t back then. We still don’t but the Switch 2 did have the option of getting it with Mario Kart World. And if you buy an Xbox I think it comes with a month free of Gamepass which is a massive library to pick from, so I guess it isn’t all bad there.

It was fun to find games again to play, and continue to play - not just a few moments of gaming and then be done with it. I’m hoping the streak will continue because I’ve got a lot more to look into or just to continue to play. With some new stuff on the horizon as well. Oh! Hey! The two Horizon games I haven’t played either.

Still no Splinter Cell game to play, yet. But next month we get an animated series. Sorry, Ubisoft, fine print says that doesn’t count. We want a brand new entry into the series. And it has been 4,402 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 4,400 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

17/08/2025

It’s not unlike us from time to time to sort of stray off topic for a little bit. And by “us”, I mean “me”. And that’s the case early in this episode and throughout as I try and remember the very first comic book I ever read. At some point I’m going to have to go digging. I’m pretty sure I still have the issue and would know it when I see it.

But now I’m doing the same thing here as I did on the show. So let me try to stick to gaming for a moment if only to say that I really haven’t branched out and played very much. Still kind of in limbo for now as to what to sink my teeth into. It’ll come to me eventually. And it’s not something I’m bothered by. Just like the comic book, I’ll know it when I see it…or feel it as it were. God knows my backlog is SCREAMING for attention.

It would have been nice maybe to have that Dragon Age remaster. Given the nostalgia of the previous 3 right now are the only things keeping that franchise in any kind of positive memory considering what Veilguard did to it. I never played it so I don’t know and I hardly played those previous 3 but I kind of would like to revisit them and see if it holds my attention. Our tastes, in all sorts of ways, change over time and I’m curious if now I could actually get into the series. I sort of did with the second one but not near enough to remember anything. And it was all the way back on the 360, I think.

Something will eventually fall into my lap and you’ll hear me gush over it week after week, it just takes some time.

Speaking of time, Ubisoft, it has been 4,381 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,563 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

10/08/2025

Still haven’t found a game to hold my attention in recent weeks and now, seemingly, months it feels like.

I have a lot of quick games I play. Little things that I can spend however much time I want with them and back out whenever. But nothing on a story driven basis or anything like that to really keep me coming back and advancing.

Avowed was on a really good path at doing that for me but it was just so big. Eventually the size of that game and my need to explore everything I could in every map just broke me down to a gaming exhaustion.

So I’m looking for something to hold me but not something to engulf me, you know? The Battlefield 6 beta looked kind of fun while watching streams but I don’t know how well I work with mouse/keyboard controls just yet. Typing this is better than it used to be but I’m still mistyping keys on the regular here while I do this. Although…Avowed would be a good way to test out how that’s working for me since that was the game I was playing when it started to become an issue.

What I don’t want is another live service game to get into and what’s strange is that WB Games, after failing spectacularly with it a year ago, seems to want to give me just that. I mean, there could be a way to make that work, but it was a pretty big fail for them and it’s just strange how they want to try again so soon. Even with the same intellectual property.

At this point, I might actually take a live service Splinter Cell, if that’s the only way I could get one. Ubisoft, it has been 4,374 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 3,563 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

11/07/2025

A quick update as we head into the weekend. We're taking another weekend off as I'm still recovering and doubt I have the vocal strength to do a two hour show. We hope to be back next weekend, however.

Thanks for your patience, your understanding, and the oh so many well wishes I've gotten over the past two weeks. I really appreciate it.

-S

29/06/2025

It’s hard to shake off the pull of something successful. I mean, it can be easy if you’re outright against it or don’t have the means to obtain it or whatever. Basically, there’s exceptions, right?

But I’m speaking in the sense, as almost always I do here, in terms of video games. A successful console may be a pull but the price may be the wall too high to get over. So, there’s that. But when it’s a game itself, you may pause to give it some thought.

Death Stranding 2 is out and the scores for this thing are far higher than I was expecting. Not that I felt it wouldn’t do well, but maybe on par with the first game. Except it has far outshined in scores upon release. And it makes one curious what all the fuss is about. I own the first one but I never played it. I might decide to give it a go here soon.

We’re not doing a show next week and the week after that is a bit up in the air for now, but keep an eye on our socials. Bluesky, Discord, Twitter, and Facebook. We’ll be sure to let you know what's going on.

So that’s it for this show post. No clever connection to talk about Splinter Cell, but the count up continues. Ubisoft, it has been 4,332 days since a new Splinter Cell game (non-animated series or guest spot in another game franchise, remake, BBC radio drama, or VR exclusive) was released.

Also, there’s been 2,422 job losses in the gaming industry since January 1, 2025.

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