Game Buoy Podcast Episode 196 – That’s Edutainment

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Ahoy, mateys, and welcome to the GAMEBUOY.ORG video game podcast – your port of call for gaming news and views that maybe aren’t on your radar, but most definitely should be! On this episode, recorded Wednesday, September 2, 2026, First Mate Slaggy McWaggy and Captain Spike discuss some of their favorite educational games!

HOT TOPIC IS THE WAY THAT WE RHYME

• ​​Xbox Announces Disc-to-Digital Program, Letting Players Use Physical Games To Claim Their Digital Versions
• Dire Forecast Predicts 39 Million Fewer Consoles Sold If PS6 And Xbox Helix Are $1000
• Sony still hasn’t chosen a PlayStation 6 release date, says CEO, as RAM crisis continues 
• Sony says ‘reasonable consumers’ know they don’t own the digital games they buy 
• Former PlayStation Boss Weighs In On Sony Killing Off Physical Game Discs 
• Ex-PlayStation Boss Says Game Development Will Have A “Tough Future” Because Of AI 
• Online streamers sue Twitch, Amazon over generative AI training
• Gamers are getting more comfortable with AI in games, study says
• GTA 6 Has Already Made $400 Million+ From Preorders, Apparently 
• Vibes Around GTA VI Continue To Be Rancid As Gameplay Footage Leaks And Fired Devs Ask Fans Not To Boycott
• GTA 6 Leaks: A Timeline Of The Events So Far
• GTA 6 Leaker Now Asking People To Antagonize Rockstar IRL And One Person Already Did It
• Grand Theft Auto 6 Leaks Are Fueling A Crypto Pump-And-Dump Scheme
• Gamescom Opening Night 2026 LIVE: The Witcher, Final Fantasy 7, Gears of War and every revealed 
• RollerCoaster Tycoon Wonderworks announced, drawing inspiration from the originals
• Worms: Galactic Tactics Trailer Includes A Mysterious Tease For Another Project 
• Mega Man: Dual Override Looks Immense In New Gameplay Trailer  
• Stage Tour launches December 10 
• Witcher 3 Remastered Will Be Free in September With New Expansion Coming in 2027  
• Final Fantasy 7 Revelation Gets New Trailer at Gamescom 2026 Showing off Submarine Combat, Weapons, and More
• Here Are The Opening Night Live Games You Can Ignore Because Of GenAI Slop

RELEASE UPDATES

• Vampire Survivors DLC ‘Legacy of the Bloodmoon’ launches August 28 
• AKIBA LOST demo now available for PS5, coming to Switch 2 and Switch on August 26  
• FANTASY LIFE i: The Girl Who Steals Time now available for iOS, Android 
• MARVEL Cosmic Invasion DLC ‘The Siege of Castle Doom’ announced 
• Kernel Hearts launches September 17  
• Control Resonant has gone gold, but its physical release is delayed
• Star Trek: Outposts Unknown launches October 20 
• Shroom and Gloom launches in Early Access on September 10 
• TCG Card Shop Simulator launches September 15 for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, Xbox One, Switch, and PC 
• Truck-kun is Supporting Me From Another World?! coming to Switch 2 on September 14  
• Cassette Beasts 2002 launches in March 2027 
• Rizz Dungeon: Skeleton Key to My Heart delayed to 2027  
• Trine 6: Together in Time delayed to March 4, 2027 
• Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement delayed to 2027 
• Earth Defense Force 6.2 Invaders From Another World Game Announced for PS5
• The Witcher IV launches in 2028  

RETRO RELEASE UPDATES

• Console Archives 8-20-26: Rhapsody II: Ballad of the Little Princess (PS1, Nippon Ichi Software, 1999)
• Arcade Archives 8-20-26: CYBER CYCLES (Arcade, Namco, 1995)
• Console Archives 8-27-26: BUBBLE BOBBLE (NES, Taito, 1988)
• Arcade Archives 8-27-26: SATAN OF SATURN (Arcade, SNK, 1981)
• NSO Classics 9-2-26: Ninja Gaiden III (NES, Tecmo, 1991) 
• NSO Classics 9-2-26:  R.C. Pro-AM II (NES, Rare, 1992)
• NSO Classics 9-2-26: Ikari Warriors (NES, SNK, 1986)
• Console Archives 9-3-26: The Conveni 2 (PS1, HUMAN, 1997)
• Arcade Archives 9-3-26: Wiz (Arcade, SEIBU KAIHATSU, 1985)
• Arcade Archives 9-3-26:  Arcade Archives ARKANOID REVENGE OF DOH (Arcade, Taito, 1987)

CULTURE CLUB

• Warren Spector Says He’s ‘Retiring From Game Development’
• Unlike The Big Console Makers, Playdate Is Refunding You Those Tariff Fees 
• Army Commander Reportedly Offering GTA 6 Bonus For Re-Enlisting Soldiers
• The US Senate are investigating Roblox for prioritising “revenue and engagement metrics over the safety and well-being of our children” 
• [Very Australian Voice] 🎵 Tale As Old As Tooiimmeee 🎵

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO

• Terranigma announced for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PS4, Switch, and PC 
• Double Fine Returns To Kickstarter Post-Xbox, Announces New Game Jam 
• LEGO Is Getting A New City-Building Game Made By The Cities: Skylines Team
• The Battle of Olympus is making a comeback

SO CONTROVERSIAL

• Fortnite’s New Season Kicks Off With Bot-Infested Lobbies
• Marvel Rivals players discover devious way to quit matches without penalty
• PS5 Game Dev Says Sony Is Removing Its Catalog And Won’t Say Why 
• Neverness To Everness Devs Forget To Remove Watermark For Free Trial Of AI Software
• James Pond Creator Says He Hopes Publishers of Legacy Collection ‘Choke on an AI-Generated Fishbone’
• 20-year-old Gunz the Duel gets Steam re-release, receives harsh criticism over network issues and suspected use of generative AI  
• Danganronpa 2×2 No Longer Getting A Full Cartridge Release On Switch 2  
• Persona 4 Revival boss knows you want to romance Yosuke, but you can’t because then the devs would have to do that for “all the other male characters”  

DOOM AND GLOOM

• “I don’t know if they will keep funding that one” – Former EA manager doesn’t believe the next Mass Effect will survive Saudi takeover  
• SNK sees operating loss of $125 million and widening deficit despite revenue growth  
• Sonic Blitz gets cancelled as servers go offline today
• Game Developers Devastated By Gamescom Laptop Theft Spree
• ‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch

SMASH HIT

• I Wish Rockstar Cared About People As Much As It Does GTA VI NPCs (Aftermath)
• The Death of Physical Games is a Sign of What’s Coming (YouTube)

RUMOR HAS IT

• Romancing SaGa 3: Destinies United rated for PS5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, Switch, and PC in Brazil  
• Rumour: Diablo IV Could Be Heading To Switch 2 As Soon As Next Month  
• The next StarCraft may not be made by Blizzard, according to a new report 
• Nintendo Fans Are Convinced Ubisoft Revealed The Next Direct Date

DISCUSSION TOPIC

This week, First Mate Slaggy McWaggy and Captain Spike discuss some of their favorite educational games! They start with a brief history of the edutainment genre before speaking about their early experiences with educational games, before discussing some of their favorite titles. The Podcast Pirates also talk about educational games on home consoles, the effectiveness of educational games as learning tools, edutainment in the present day, and their hopes for the future of the genre.

Since so many of the classic educational games of the past and their hardware platforms are no longer attainable, you can find many of them playable in your browser at the Internet Archive!

Featured games:

• The Oregon Trail (MS-DOS, MECC, 1990) 
• Number Munchers (MS-DOS, MECC, 1990)
• Midnight Rescue! A Super Solvers Reading Adventure (MS-DOS, The Learning Company, 1989)  
• Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (MS-DOS, Brøderbund, 1985) 
• Encarta MindMaze (Windows, Microsoft, 1995)

WHAT’S UP

First Mate Slaggy McWaggy shares his experiences at PokemonXP and has been playing Pokemon Shield and and Final Fantasy XIV. Captain Spike has been playing Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memories, Star Wars Zero Company, and Final Fantasy XIV.

SOCIAL LINKS QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Hello, folks! This week we’re talking about edutainment! Do you have any experience with educational games? If so, what were some of your favorites (or least favorites, if you have strong feelings in that direction as well!)

Bonus question: With modern franchises like Minecraft and Assassin’s Creed exploring the edutainment genre, which franchises do you think would be best suited to an edutainment spinoff? (Please only respond if you’re comfortable with us reading your responses on air, thanks! 🤍💚)

EXITLUDE

SHOUT OUTS – “FRIENDS OF BUOY”

• The Bobby Blackwolf Show, a weekly internet radio show and podcast discussing the latest news in gaming as well as sometimes reminiscing about gaming’s history
• Nintendo Pow Block, a dive into the week that was in the world of Nintendo
• Super Phillip Central, a video game blog that is your source for video games with a heroic touch
• Standard Issue Computing, retro and modern computer games, hardware, software, and history
• Sasha’s Retrobytes, “bytes” of vintage gaming including magazine scans and photographs
• Defunct Games, your daily source for modern video game reviews, exciting trivia competitions and old school magazine analysis
• Thomas Game Docs, where each video covers “a different aspect of video game history”
• Orange Lounge Radio IIDX, where every geek has a voice
• Aftermath, an independent, worker-owned website about video games, other media and internet culture
• Game Mechanics, where TTRPG designers “kick tires and run diagnostics on tabletop experiences”
• Walloping Websnappers! A Spider-Man Podcast, a dive into every Spider-Man cartoon ever made
• Neo Geo Go!, a show that takes on the Neo Geo library chronologically and quickly.
• Craig, Slaggy McWaggy’s robot boyfriend a multi-track voice channel recording bot for Discord