This week marks the beginning of the Lotus era at The VGBees Podcast. She joins John and Niki as the third permanent cohost of the show and immediately brings insight to the program like...what if Nintendo likes making money?But also!the dense delight of Digimon Story: Time Strangerthe apparent end of Hyper Light Breaker's developmentthe rumor that AMD needed a 10,000,000 unit commitment for Xbox's dedicated handheldNintendo's slide into DisneyficationUbisoft's canceled Reconstruction Era, anti-Klan Assassin's Creedwhy is former Halo art director vagueposting on LinkedIn?Megabonk's relationship with cringe and Risk of Rain 2Shadow Labyrinth being itself, for better or worseHades II's self-inflicted narrative challengesa thorough review of a new Windows PCAbsolum's rapid ascent to many Best of 2025 listsWe also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.
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2:54:15
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2:54:15
Flashing Neom Lights of Late Stage Capitalism
This week, Niki and John have a lot to chat about in and around a busy few days in video games, including:Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's huge price hikeinterpreting the latest in Microsoft's non-planObsidian bearing the brunt of Microsoft's decision-makingJared Kushner and Saudi Arabia are taking EA privateSeumas McNally Award Winner Consume Me's greatnessWheel of Fortune on the PlayStation 5Hades II is simply wonderful to playFinal Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles gets an apology from JohnSuper Mario Galaxy 2 continues the odd but welcome tradition of cutting room floor direct sequelsAll of this and your BURNING HIVE QUESTIONS from our Discord.
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2:27:46
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2:27:46
It's Time For Wolf Girls w/ Michael Higham
This week, Niki and John are joined by none other than Michael Higham on this, the very special 69th episode of The VGBees Podcast. In this jam-packed episode, we cover:Wolverine's profoundly bloody introductionthe Returnal of it all of Sarosa brief look at new Virtua Fighter Project detailsthe impossible bigness of Anantaa conversation about remakes prompted by the perplexing Deus Ex remasterForza Horizon 6 and how the game can recapture past magicEasy Delivery Co. and John unironically calling a game cozy in 2025Niki's evolving relationship with skate.Higham going long on Trails in the Sky and its new remakeBaby Steps As always, we also answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.
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2:22:22
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2:22:22
Borderlands: The Borderlands of Borderlands: Now With More Borderlands
This week, John regrets to inform you and Niki that Borderlands 4 is just more Borderlands, for better or worse. John thinks maybe worse. Niki's right, it's just 2K's Madden. Also:the very interesting misfire that is Skate.Dying Light: The Beast is apparently great but we can't get past the Hinterlands of Dying Light 2the poor PC performance of Borderlands 4 and Randy Pitchford's admittedly very, very, very funny (if wildly unprofessional) responses to that criticismthe flatness of NBA 2K26Tears of the Kingdom two and a half years laterPeloton's Lanebreakthe inextricable link between Queen Elizabeth dying and our layoff at Fanbytehow free to play trains us to invest lessWe, of course, answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.
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1:53:23
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1:53:23
Pokémon Dinkum
This week, Niki and John dive way way way into the mega-sized Nintendo Direct this week. Did you know that Super Mario is 40 years old??? Just like John! Wow! Also:paying for Super Mario Galaxy againNintendo remembers Super Mario Galaxy 2 existsthe new Mario movie is just Super Mario GalaxySuper Mario Wonder for Switch 2Mario Tennis FeverYoshi and the Mysterious BookVirtual Boy on Nintendo Switch OnlineSamus has a cool bike in Metroid Prime 4 Beyond nowHades II is out SO soonPokemon PokopiaDinkumFire Emblem Fortune's WeaveDonkey Kong Bananza DLCDragon Quest VII Reimaginedand more!Also, we answer your burning HIVE QUESTIONS from our lovely Discord.
Host and founder of VGBees, John Warren, is joined every week by cohost Niki Grayson and illustrious guests adjacent to video games and culture for candid, funny, and enlightening conversations about an art form that is both uniting and dividing us.
Every week, The VGBees Podcast will explore trends and touchpoints you need to know in order to have the most well-rounded idea of what's going on in games.
Explore vgbees.com after each episode for notes on each episode as well as written pieces by our collaborators and guests.
We all have to work together to build a brighter future for games, so Join The Honey Hive today!
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