Game Buoy Podcast Episode 197 – Summer News Fest

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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 Sunday, September 13, 2026, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy catch up on summer news with some extended discussions on the latest topics in gaming!

HOT TOPIC IS THE WAY THAT WE RHYME

• Frontier Developments announces collaboration with Disney for new game – Gematsu
• New FPS Wardogs makes Steam explode with 340,000 peak players, then explodes on Steam after the servers break and negative reviews roll in 
• A Racist Arcade Is The Latest White House Initiative Nobody Asked For
• Tetris Clone Removed From White House Site Following Copyright Reminder
• Physint to be published by Xbox Game Studios as Sony Interactive Entertainment steps away [Update] – Gematsu 
• Bloomberg: Sony Interactive Entertainment stepped away from Physint over missed deadlines, budget concerns – Gematsu  
• Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct – Every Announcement And Trailer | Nintendo Life 
• Scalpers are already reselling the sold-out Zelda 40th Anniversary Switch 2 for £700+ | Eurogamer.net  
• Nintendo Confirms Zelda 40th Anniversary Collection Restocks 
• Exclusive: Two of gaming’s biggest names are making a big investment in gaming’s future 
• Former Game Awards Future Class Members Skeptical Of Geoff Keighley’s Involvement With Grant Program For Game Devs 
• Blizzard video game workers ratify union contracts – Los Angeles Times 
• ‘Survivors-like’ action game River City Survivors: Downtown of the Dead announced for Apple Arcade – Gematsu  
• Nintendo Will Give Buyers A 30% Off Sale, But No Tariff Relief Money
• The Neo Geo AES+ now isn’t arriving until September 2027 and, shock horror, it’s thanks to “component supply constraints”   
• Gley Lancer: Overdrive announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Switch, and PC – Gematsu
• Digimon Story Time Stranger Game Reveals ‘A Hero’s Eternal Legacy’ DLC Expansion 

RELEASE UPDATES

• Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds ‘Samba de Amigo Content Drop’ update now available – Gematsu 
• News Street Fighter 6 Game’s Videos Reveal Arjun’s Release on October 13 
• Absolum coming to iOS, Android on November 5 – Gematsu 
• Prinny Party: Going Overboard! launches November 11 in the west – Gematsu

RETRO RELEASE UPDATES

• NSO Switch 2 – 9-9-26-  StarFox Adventures (GCN, Rare, 2002) 
• Console Archives 9-10-26 – Nobunaga’s Ambition 2 (NES, Koei, 1990)
• Arcade Archives 9-10-26 – KARNOV (Arcade, Data East, 1987)

CULTURE CLUB

• After Sony tells fans they don’t own digital games, one Consumer Rights group is tracking all the times PlayStation said the opposite | Eurogamer.net     
• Nintendo adds VRR support to docked Nintendo Switch 2 in latest console update | Eurogamer.net  
• Ubisoft Steam games to no longer require the Connect launcher, in “initial step toward a smoother and more streamlined launch experience”  
• “We had this problem before in the games we created with CD Projekt”: Blood of Dawnwalker CEO defends use of AI voice placeholders to save time 
• Blood Of Dawnwalker’s Most Popular Mod Changes The Story Timer As Players Try To Remove Friction From The RPG 
• More than 40% of people cancelling Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions blame rising costs | Eurogamer.net 
• Person Fed Up With Xbox Named ‘FVCKAsha&Phil’ Just Leaked An Alleged Prototype Of The Canceled SNES RPG That Became Banjo-Kazooie  
• The Exit 8 sales top three million – Gematsu 
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword has already sold over 1 million copies | Eurogamer.net 
• The Blood of Dawnwalker has sold 1 million copies in just 3 days | Eurogamer.net  
• Dave the Diver has now sold more than 10 million copies, Mintrocket ‘can’t wait to share our future plans’ | PC Gamer

MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO

• Ikea Just Released An Official Skyrim Mod Starring Matt Berry As A Shelf
• Uta Macross Rhythm Game Launches Project for Offline Version  
• Sega Prez Wants More Fans Who Don’t Play Their Games
• Civilization 7’s Biggest Free Update Yet Will Finally Take It To The Atomic Age Over Two Years Later – Kotaku 
• Halloween: The Game Devs Quickly Patch Out Sex Mini-Game
• Fortnite Kingdom Hearts Collaboration, Including Sora Skin, Lands This Week

SO CONTROVERSIAL

• Rockstar was allegedly spying on worker union Discord for over two years, court documents show – Destructoid  
• “I don’t think it’s worth any amount of money” – Controversial real-life GTA 6 advertising campaign passed by City of Miami, but brand can only appear “discreetly” | Eurogamer.net  
• Acclaimed Visual Novel Studio Announces AI-Generated Quake Clone

DOOM AND GLOOM

• Moss studio Polyarc shuts down, becoming the latest casualty of a brutal year for VR | Eurogamer.net  
• Life is Strange creator Don’t Nod approves restructuring that “may result in the reduction of up to 90 positions”, while refocusing on “priority projects” | Eurogamer.net

RUMOR HAS IT

• Persona 6, Kingdom Hearts IV, and other Steam Achievements surface in large-scale leak – Gematsu 
• Twin Peaks Return Rumors Heat Up After Game Leak, Producer Response 
• New Super Smash Bros and Nintendogs games are on the way, according to prominent Nintendo leaker | Eurogamer.net  
• Saudi Arabia Reportedly Considers EA And Savvy Merger

SMASH HIT

•  ‘Gen-AI Controversy Aside’ Is A Wild Thing To Write In A Video Game Preview

DISCUSSION TOPIC

This week, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy discuss the latest Sony State of Play and Nintendo Direct presentations! They discussed their highlights, honorable mentions, disappointment, and their overall impressions.

Sources referenced:

• PlayStation State of Play September 2026 roundup | Eurogamer.net 
• Everything announced during Nintendo Direct – Engadget 
• Round Up: Everything Announced In The Level-5 Vision 2026 II Showcase | Nintendo Life 
• Professor Layton Fans Are Concerned After ‘AI Slop’ Presentation 
• Level 5 CEO Akihiro Hino Addresses Use of AI in Latest Presentation – Interest – Anime News Network 
• Everything We Saw At BlizzCon 2026’s Jam-Packed Opening Ceremony – Kotaku

WHAT’S UP

Captain Spike has been playing Final Fantasy XIV, The Blood of Dawnwalker, the Final Fantasy Resonance demo, and Star Wars Zero Company. First Mate Slaggy McWaggy has been playing Final Fantasy XIV and The Game of Life for Nintendo Switch, and shares his finds at the retro game shop.

SOCIAL LINKS QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Hello, folks! This week we’re catching up on recent news, including the Sony State of Play presentations as well as the Zelda Direct and Nintendo Direct! Are you excited about any of the recent announcements?

EXITLUDE

SHOUT OUTS – “FRIENDS OF BUOY”

• 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.
• 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
• Video Game Realness, a dose of gaming chit chat among friends
• 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”
• Craig, Slaggy McWaggy’s robot boyfriend a multi-track voice channel recording bot for Discord