It's been awhile since we've taken a break from talking about the latest in film and television news and turned our collective eye towards the gaming industry, but with E3 now upon us we would we remiss if we didn't dive into all the major announcements coming out of gaming's biggest showcase. From Sony and their stellar first party lineup featuring "The Last of Us Pt 2", "Spider-Man" and more to Nintendo and their concentration on all things "Super Smash Bros" and everything in between, the guys discuss the biggest reveals, trailers and demos from this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo.

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Show Notes

Nintendo Direct

"Super Smash Bros Ultimate" is coming to Switch December 7, 2018.
- Features the return of every fighter to ever appear in a "Smash" title, along with new additions: Ridley, Inklings and Daisy, for a total of 65 playable characters.
- It will feature a variety of new and returning stages, numbering 66 in total so far.
- Tweaks to gameplay to speed up the pace of play.
- Gamecube controller support.
"Super Mario Party" is also coming to Switch on October 5, 2018.
Fortnite was (unsurprisingly) announced for Switch and is available now.
Nintendo also showed off some third party and indie games coming to the Switch.

Bethesda

"Elder Scrolls 6" was announced with no further details.
Todd Howard went into detail about "Fallout 76".

Microsoft

A new "Halo" is in development called “Halo: Infinite”. Not much is known about the project at this point but it will apparently be “Master Chief’s biggest adventure yet” according to Phil Spencer.
"Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice", a game by From Software, was announced as well.
A WHOLE PILE of "Kingdom Hearts 3" was shown. Seemingly making up for lost time, KH3 was at basically every conference, showing off different parts of the game.
3 new "Gears of War" games were revealed:
- "Gears Pop!" is a mobile game where all the characters from the Gears of War series are replaced by Funko Pop-style figurines.
- "Gears Tactics" is a turn-based strategy game.
- "Gears of War 5" is also announced as a core entry in the main series.
CD Project Red, makers of "The Witcher" series, showed off a new trailer for "Cyber Punk 2077".
Microsoft announced the acquisition of five new internal game studios. A brand new studio called The Initiative as well as 4 established studios: Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory, and Compulsion Games..
A new "Battletoads" game is coming in 2019.
"Shadow of the Tomb Raider", will launch on September 14. 2018.
"Metro Exodus" is coming out on February 22, 2019.
"Devil May Cry 5" is coming in 2019.

EA

Bioware’s "Anthem" will be released on February 22, 2019.
"Battlefield V" will get a battle royal mode, they also showed off some of their single player content called “War Stories”.
“Sea of Solitude” looks really strange but also beautiful and melancholy. It comes out in early 2019.
"Titanfall" developer Respawn is working on "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order". We don’t know much, but we know it’s a single-player story game and it's slated for release during the holiday season in 2019.
- This is the game that went into development following last year’s cancellation of the Amy Hennig Star Wars game from the now defunct Visceral Games.
"Battlefront II" is getting content from the Clone Wars, including playable versions of Anakin Skywalker, Count Dooku, General Grievous, and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Ubisoft

"Assassin's Creed: Odyssey" takes players to ancient Greece and will drop on October 5, 2018.
"Beyond Good and Evil 2" got a new trailer and looks spectacular.
"Starlink: Battle for Atlas", a toys to life / space combat game will feature Star Fox and his Arwing in exclusive Switch content.
"The Division 2" was announced and is set in Washington DC.

Sony

"The last of Us Pt 2" trailer and gameplay demo was amazing.
Sucker Punch’s "Ghost’s of Tsushima" trailer and gameplay demo also impressed.
The "Resident Evil 2" trailer was a big hit. The game appears to have been built from the ground up and features Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, and will be out January 29, 2019.
"Death Stranding" also received a trailer with gameplay. Unfortunately we have no idea what was actually happening.
Insomniac’s "Spider-Man" also showed off some gameplay.

May 15, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 Finale

After only 4 weeks - the blink of an eye - it's all over. The best Star Wars story since the Original Trilogy has graced our screens and left us in awe. These final three episodes weren't able to reach the emotional highs of last week's arc, but that wasn't the goal. Instead, it provides time to look back at what brought us here, and sets the stage for the climax of the story to take place not in this moment, but within the now recontextualized film that birthed all of this in the first place, 'Rogue One'. And while the show may carry Cassian's name on the title screen, it's been the cast of characters we've met along the way that truly elevated this experience. Not to pick favourites, but in particular, Luthen and Kleya, who get an episode all to themselves this week are the standouts. And what an episode it was, as their story which shepherded much of the series came to an end, as we all expected it would have to. Embracing those feelings of closure, in the final moments of the series, as Cassian flies off into 'Rogue One', we are treated to our last glimpses of our heroes and villains. From Dedra to Vel and even Perrin, we are left to consider their fates as the story marches with inevitability into what begat all of this way back in 1977. Will we ever see Kleya, Vel, Wilmon, or Bix again? One can only hope - and rebellions? Well, they're built on hope.

May 9, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E7 - 9

When dealing in the world of prequels, it’s impossible to escape the inevitable - Anakin will fall, Han will win the Falcon, Cassian will die on Scarif. Somehow, in the midst of some of the most thrilling episodes of television ever put to screen, Tony Gilroy and his team found a way to address that impending doom and weaponize it against the audience to induce some of the most gut wrenching and heart breaking moments we’ve yet to see on ‘Andor’ - “There’s some place he needs to be”. At a larger scale, the show continues to outdo itself on a weekly basis, proving that the Star Wars galaxy provides a colour pallet of some of the richest hues from which to paint bold and personal stories. Proving you can go beyond the larger than life stories of heroics and grandeur to human stories of loss and pain and everything in between. That’s without mentioning the deft touch in pulling in themes that resonates with the contemporary while remaining timeless - a feeling that is a staple of Star Wars. Every detail is considered, every character is deep and interesting. There isn’t much more that can be said about such a powerful piece of art, except that not even the audience can escape the inevitable - only one week remains of this masterpiece.

May 2, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 E4 - 6

I'm sorry to tell you all, but we're already halfway through this final season of 'Andor'. Fortunately, the quality hasn't dipped one bit as we accelerate into the finish. Join Julian and Rachel as they savour every minute of this 3-episode arch that takes us to Ghorman for the first time on screen. Tony Gilroy and the team at Lucasfilm outdid themselves yet again in crafting every detail. The size of the set alone is impressive, but they take it a step further by developing a unique culture and even language different from anything we've seen in Star Wars before. It all fits seamlessly into this next chapter of the story that has a heavy emphasis on spycraft as the pressure ramps up for both the Rebellion and the Empire.

Apr 24, 2025

SSSW - Andor S2 Premiere

It's been a long time since Cassian Andor and his band of Rebel compatriots has graced our TV screens. A long hiatus, no doubt, but when you look into WHY this second season took so long the reason becomes clear - they were dotting every "i" and crossing every "t" (along with dealing with the writers and actors strikes, growing and harvesting ancient grains, hand stitching wedding dresses, the list goes on...) to make sure that this isn't just good Star Wars, but indeed the maybe the BEST Star Wars (I'm partially convinced that it may be the best we may ever get actually). Season 2 roars to life in it's first of four, 3-episode drops (essentially a movie a week for a month), not wasting any time picking up with our characters a year after the events of season 1. The sheer scale, scope, and commitment to its heavy themes is laudable, but when combined with the masterful set design, costuming, writing, and acting, you can't help but to stare, mouth agape, at this singular piece bold storytelling, that will likely go down as Tony Gilroy's largest contribution to popular culture, and deservedly so. Join Julian and Rachel as they unpack it all. It's going to be one hell of a ride!

ToB Games - E3 2018

Show Notes

Nintendo Direct

Bethesda

Microsoft

EA

Ubisoft

Sony

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