125 Nintendo Direct Reactions and Ask Your Doctor If "Fae Farm" Is Right For You

The Switch emulator Yuzu has been in development since 2018, allowing hobbyists to play Nintendo software on PCs and Steam Decks, often at higher resolutions and frame rates. But the trappings around Yuzu — including a Patreon that raked in $30,000 per month, and specific updates encouraging users to emulate "Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom" —  have finally triggered the wrath of Nintendo's lawyers. This week's settlement of the lawsuit compels Yuzu's creator to terminate the project (along with 3DS emulator Citra), post a public apology, and pay Nintendo damages of $2.4 million. We discuss the ramifications of the settlement and the future of responsible community-driven emulation projects.

Plus, a mental health check in, some very special gems lingering from Steam Next Fest, seeing ConcernedApe (Eric Barone) in NYC, and why "Unicorn Overlord" might be the best tactics RPG ever made.

• Colette's playing: "Minami Lane," "Spirit City: Lofi Sessions," and "Indika"
• Matt's playing: "Unicorn Overlord"

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Colette is on assignment this week, so Matt flies solo to rundown Nintendo's February Partner Direct, which looks like a banger — depending on what kind of games you like.

New games, new footage reveals, Xbox exclusives crossing the divide, the return of some Rare classics, and a surprising amount of demos, including "Pepper Grinder" and "Unicorn Overlord." Also, Underwater games galore (!) and a big sad for "Earthbound/Mother" fans in the West.

Plus, what our Discord community is hyped for after watching.

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Colette shares her early impressions of "Persona 3 Reloaded," the remake of the 2006 Atlus classic that updates and streamlines in all the best ways. Also, is Colette a min/maxer now???!

Plus, Matt launches a demo for the highly anticipated "Homeworld 3," but it's missing a key element. Also, a $2 game with bad reviews is actually...great?

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! HaveEnteredTheChat@gmail.com

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Reuters is reporting that Tencent and FromSoft have a mobile spinoff of "Elden Ring" well underway. So, how would a Genshin-style Souls-like actually work? We discuss the continued convergence of platforms and IP, and the future dominance of mobile for game devs.

Plus, Xbox influencers are crying about exclusives becoming cross-platform, and our "Silent Hill" correspondent Colette shares her impressions of "Short Message," the free game in the franchise that dropped at last week's State of Play.

Also, Steam Next Fest's demos are a'poppin. Colette shouts out three games she tried, including one very special experience.

Next Fest Demos:

• Minami Lane: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2678990/Minami_Lane/
• Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1978150/Kamaeru_A_Frog_Refuge/
• Kind Words 2: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2118120/Kind_Words_2_lofi_city_pop/

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Sony revealed a variety of 1st and 3rd party games, sequels, and DLC on its January 2024 State of Play livestream. We discuss the items that piqued our interest using our patent-pending scale of "How Many Fucks Given?"

Plus, the ever-expanding Kojima-verse, and why the "Silent Hill" franchise is returning in a big way, including a brand new free game you can play right now.

Also, Colette's first book, "Enter the Meta," is now available as an audiobook! We chat about the surprise voice actor reading it, and her latest endeavor to submit a second manuscript to a new agent.

Get the "Enter the Meta" audiobook here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Enter-the-Meta-Audiobook/B0CMYS1N69

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! HaveEnteredTheChat@gmail.com

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The only story in video games this week is the explosive debut of "Palworld," an open world survival craft-em-up where you also use magic balls to capture (and enslave) adorable creatures that look ... a LOT ... like other Pocket Monsters you may be familiar with.

Colette and Matt share their hands-on review of the oft-dubbed "Pokemon with Guns," and the experience of playing it online with our community! We discuss what makes the game SO addictive, the many reasons players feel drawn to the Early Access hit, and the controversy surrounding its first week in the wild.

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Colette is back to discuss the mind-blowing way a 13-year-old reached the "end" of NES "Tetris." On December 21, BlueScuti (aka Willis Gibson) became the first person to reach the breakneck mathematical end of "Tetris" for the NES, which causes the game to crash. While this made headlines around the gaming world, other "Tetris" pros quickly learned from Gibson's strategy, and one actually reached the "end" 21 seconds faster on January 3.

Plus, the GBA gem "Golden Sun" comes to Switch Online, the 10-year-old MOBA "Smite" sets itself up for a sequel (and why this is so interesting and complicated for a live service game), and the owners of Rockstar Games slap a trademark lawsuit on Remedy over their new logo design — even while they are working on games together! Only a court can decide who gets to own the letter "R"!

Also: Colette's "Genshin" Groove continues, while Matt searches for a co-op live service game to fill the holes in his shriveled heart.

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Miniature artist and video game connoisseur Sky Burkson returns to the show to fill in for Colette. And while we set out to talk about some video game news, we veer into a wide-ranging and deeply philosophical discussion about the artistic process, and the ethics of AI art, which has reared its head in nearly every industry — including video games.

We discuss the very purpose of (capital "A") Art, and the scenarios in which AI tools could ethically be used (if at all), including a model of regulatory transparency that might satisfy concerned artists...if the tech is even possible, given AI's current "black box" approach. Media literacy, the future of the Internet, and humanity's very purpose hang in the balance.

But spoiler alert: We do solve everything and save the world by the end of this discussion.

Keep tab's on Sky's monumental video game art here:

https://www.instagram.com/skyburkson/

https://twitter.com/skyburkson

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We're back after a long and virus-infused holiday break to dive into the latest Switch 2 rumors which predict that...The Switch 2 will definitely happen! Also, what are Square Enix's "aggressive" plans to use AI in game design? And, the difference between using tech to eliminate drudgery vs. eliminating workers.

Plus: The first iteration of Mickey Mouse (as Steamboat Willie) has entered the public domain, and he's already popped up in a horror video game (thank you, Internet!). We discuss copyright, trademark, and the fascinating future of our favorite characters as they break free from their creators.

Also, "Dave the Diver," "Elden Ring," mobile convergence, and a great new idle game that runs right in your World Wide Web Browser.

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! HaveEnteredTheChat@gmail.com

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Farming MMO "Palia" came out for Nintendo Switch after some time in the PC oven, and it has everything we want from this kind of game. So...why is it so bad?

Also, to the surprise of no one, "Dave the Diver" is GREAT! Plus: A huge data breach at Insomniac/Sony reveals interesting conversations about the future of the games business. We say BUH-BYE to  one of the industry's most disliked CEOs, and we pay respects to "Max Payne" voice actor James McCaffrey, who sadly passed away this week.

Read Colette's coverage of the Insomniac hack here: https://www.thestreet.com/technology/sony-hack-discloses-confidential-data-plans-for-exclusive-projects

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! HaveEnteredTheChat@gmail.com

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