The VGBees Podcast

This week, John and Niki discuss the biggest news of the gaming week, including Grand Theft Auto VI edition details, Steam Machine details, and more price hikes for Xbox consoles.
00:00:00 Intro & when it became Turkiye
00:12:30 Steam Machine is in the wild and available for waitlisting
00:28:13 Xbox consoles increase in price again
00:33:08 Grand Theft Auto VI isn't on disc and somehow people were shocked
00:46:38 Bungie lays off Destiny 2 team; Hermen Hulst writes bad blog post
01:04:00 Tim Sweeney thinks you owe it to yourself to play his games
01:07:07 LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight looks great, feels great, and deftly balances multiple tones
01:10:50 Niki bought NBA 2K26 for cheap and still regretted it
01:20:05 Beatdown City Survivors successfully riffs on a familiar formula, but is it enough?
01:23:42 Niki talks about Carly Rae Jepsen's new album while agonizing over whether to buy a new television
01:27:55 Outlier is a great new online word game you're going to get sucked into
01:33:45 Niki updates us on their NAS system (and hating Linux)
01:39:07 HIVE QUESTIONS
02:00:45 Outro
Thanks for listening!
Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.
VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join
VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

This week, John, Niki, and Lotus go very long on this week's seismic Xbox news, including the numerous studio closures on the table, key departures, and Microsoft CEO's Satya Nadella's curious take on why their gaming arm is struggling.
00:00:00 Intro & Lotus' Big Saturday
00:11:10 South of Midnight developer Compulsion Games is the unsurprising yet disappointing first studio to confirm possible closure or spinoff
00:17:00 A long, great conversation about the games media's role in reporting on these layoffs and closures
00:28:00 How Xbox got here (mostly)
00:48:52 Satya Nadella seems to be confused about how Xbox got into this jam
00:54:00 That Senua sequel was only announced to help fuel a possible sale of Ninja Theory
01:02:14 The weight of working in corporate-owned game development right now
01:06:34 Key personnel leaving Xbox
01:07:56 What's the plan moving forward for Xbox?
01:16:10 EA introducing new in-game advertising platform
01:25:57 UK government is banning teens from social media; plan will not work
01:33:10 Fuck's Quest 2 lacks consistent humor and mechanical clarity
01:37:07 Niki played the first two Sonic games on Genesis (skip this part, Sonic fans!!!)
01:45:10 John decided to give Ocarina of Time another try
01:49:10 Our latest (possibly final) thoughts on 007 First Light
02:02:47 Hive Questions
02:18:12 Outro
Thanks for listening!
Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.
VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join
VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Lotus, Niki, and John recovered from Summer Game Fest 2026 and reconvened (in home studios, not John's car) to discuss an extremely busy news week, including Xbox preparing major layoffs, Nintendo Direct revealing the Ocarina of Time remake, and more information dropping about Pokemon Go and its role in data gathering for defense purposes.
00:00:00 Intro & how waffle fries are made
Go to nogamesforgenocide.com to learn more about the BDS movement and Microsoft's continued role in the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
00:08:20 Asha Sharma writes memo to Xbox staff; heavy layoffs reported
00:25:00 Xbox console exclusives are returning
00:37:30 Lotus' 50 most anticipated indies from the week's showcases
00:40:10 Nintendo Direct reveals Ocarina of Time remake; is Nintendo bored?
00:47:10 Kingdom Hearts IV is here and looks like it looks
00:49:00 Final Fantasy Resonance strips the gacha out of mobile game inspiration
00:52:00 God of War Laufey creates an interesting branch for the series
00:55:37 How do waffle fries work? (part 2)
00:56:38 RGG wants to explore what Tupac's life could've been in Stranger Than Heaven
01:01:17 PlayerUnknown facing layoffs
01:03:56 RPG Maker forums shuttering and migrating
01:11:20 Team17 eliminating marketing department
01:13:24 Crazy Taxi reboot working with generative AI art flow
01:16:45 GOG sends out email with Nazi symbols in subject line
01:25:06 Ubisoft shutting down two studios
01:28:05 Pokemon Go likely being used to collect data for defense contracts
01:31:15 Blood Dungeon is Vampire Survivors in platformer mode
01:35:10 Onimusha: Way of the Sword is perfectly competent action combat from Capcom
01:40:18 John (almost) corrects the record on last week's Code Veronica misadventure
01:43:55 NBA The Run is a shallow facsimile of better arcade basketball games
01:46:20 Niki opens a Magic: The Gathering Marvel Super Heroes pack
01:50:45 Lotus went to Distant Worlds (the Final Fantasy concert) and did not have a great time
02:19:25 We answer your burning Hive Questions
02:44:06 Outro
Thanks for listening!
Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.
VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join
VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Join Niki and John from Los Angeles as they debrief from a lively Summer Game Fest 2026.
At this point, most embargoes were still in effect, but we hope you enjoy discussion regarding:
Blood Dungeon, Messhof's latest game
Sonic Pico Park
The Games Business interview with Matthew Ball
bad hotel fish tacos

Thanks for listening!
Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.
VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join
VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.

Folks, our schedules were so packed that John & Niki had to join Lotus from the car again. Sorry! This week, it's all about Summer Game Fest 2026 Showcase, which featured reveals of Resident Evil Veronica, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, and Tupac appearing in Stranger Than Heaven.
Time stamps and more SGF bonus episodes coming soon!
Thanks for listening!
Please leave us a review! We'll read it on the show and it helps us out a lot.
VGBees is ad-free, AI-free, and completely supported by you! https://vgbees.com/join
VGBees is a weekly games media podcast hosted by Niki, John, and Lotus.