I'll admit my heart skipped a couple beats during Wednesday's Sony State of Play presentation: Once, when a presenter mentioned The Last of Us and I thought we were somehow going to get another remake, and again when I heard the phrase "Deus Ex" and briefly imagined that, against all odds, a new game might be in the works. It's not, but a remaster is. On this week's Aftermath Hours, we talk about whether that's a good or bad thing.
This week, Chris and I are joined by Aftermath contributor Isaiah. We open with Chris being unable to resist talking more about Silksong, and he also tells us how he's finding Silent Hill f. Then, Chris and Isaiah talk some Yakuza while I listen politely, because I have to stop trying to play games Luke likes.
Then we move on to State of Play. Does Insomniac’s Wolverine need all that blood? Isaiah explains how the presentation's focus on the game's blood tech might hit different to Marvel fans. Then we ask whether we need a Deus Ex remaster when it basically just makes a game from 2000 look like a game from 2004. Also, Chris is really into those speakers.
After that, we talk about the continued fallout from Charlie Kirk’s assassination, with some game devs losing their jobs over their comments about it, though not as many as in other fields. We also talk about what’s known about the shooter at a Dallas ICE facility this week, and how it feels like meme culture has taken on the role that video games once played in being blamed for violence. We also discuss Microsoft no longer letting the Israeli military use its tech for surveillance of Palestinians, on the back of protest movements and reporting by The Guardian. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.
Chris then praises his new AirPods before we get to this week’s mailbag, where we give horror anime recommendations and discuss our favorite bridges.
You can find this week's episode below and on Spotify, Apple, or wherever else you prefer to listen to podcasts. If you like what you hear, make sure to leave a review so we can remaster some old blogs by, I don't know, changing the font or something.
