Game Buoy Podcast Episode Episode 181 – People Are Still Having [MATURE CONTENT]: Game Buoy Remake Project Episode 8
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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, August 31, 2025, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy revisit the topic of adult content in gaming and how it has changed over the past 13 years!
This episode is part of the Game Buoy Remake Project, a series of themed episodes revisiting previously discussed topics. This week, the Podcast Pirates follow up on Game Buoy Podcast Episode 19 – Let’s Talk About [MATURE CONTENT], Baby, originally published on January 21, 2013.
Content warning: although Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy have a serious discussion about the topic of adult content in gaming, the very nature of the topic means that this episode is NSFW. (Lovely and beautiful) listener discretion is advised!
HOT TOPIC IS THE WAY THAT WE RHYME
- An anonymous programmer is claiming that PayPal is refusing to pay them £80,000 earned from sales of an adult game on Steam that they worked on.
- Sony has raised the price of all PS5 consoles in the U.S. by $50.
- Valve is requiring Steam users in the U.K. to verify their age through credit card authorization.
- Hollow Knight: Silksong will finally be released on September 4.
- Skate is returning after 15 years in September with a free early access launch.
- Tales of Xilia Remastered is releasing on October 31.
RELEASE UPDATES
- Kirby Air Riders releases for Switch 2 on November 20.
- Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines releases on October 21 for PC via Steam, GOG and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S.
- Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault launches in Early Access for PC via Steam and Microsoft Store on October 23.
- UNBEATABLE launches November 6 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam.
- Solo Leveling: ARISE OVERDRIVE launches on November 17 for PC and in 2026 for PS5 and Xbox Series.
- Yooka-Replaylee will launch for Switch 2 on October 9.
- Fear Effect is now available for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC via Steam.
- Dragon Ball: Gekishin Squadra launches September 9 for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC via Steam, iOS, and Android.
- Bubble Bobble Sugar Dungeons launches for PlayStation 5, Switch, and PC via Steam on November 27.
- Hello Kitty and Friends: Freeze Tag Party will be releasing for Switch in the west on November 6.
CULTURE CLUB
- Ron Gilbert’s upcoming new game, Death by Scrolling, is an autoscrolling top-down roguelike.
- A demo for Daemon X Machina: Titanic Scion is now available, and your save data will carry over to the full game.
- Sekiro: No Defeat, an anime based on Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, has been announced.
- Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IV has been announced for PC via Steam.
- Bubsy 4D has been announced for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.
- A trailer has been released for R-Type Tactics I • II Cosmos, with the release date to be announced in late September.
- The high-difficulty expedition mode, Deep of Night, has been formally announced for Elden Ring Nightrein and will release on September 11.
- Nintendo subsidiary Warpstar Inc. has been renamed to Nintendo Stars Inc.
- https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2-sales-numbers-mario-kart-world-8/
- A Halo ODST Legendary Warbond released for Helldivers II alongside its Xbox Series release on August 26.
- The Vivi card for Magic: the Gathering is disrupting the balance of the game.
- Capcom has debunked the rumor that Pragmata is secretly a Mega Man game.
- The Diablo team has unionized following layoffs and dissatisfaction with AI and pay.
MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO
- A Monster Hunter Wilds x Final Fantasy XIV collaboration is coming this fall.
- Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight will pull from all iterations of Batman to tell “the definitive Batman story.”
- Halloween: the Game, an asynchronous multiplayer game, will be coming in 2026, with the original film’s producer, John Carpenter, serving as an executive producer.
- Yoshi-P discussed the fact that Final Fantasy XIV is starting to run out of room on PS4, due to constraints with the system’s OS.
- John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, a first-person shooter, will launch for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store in early 2026.
- Trick-based 3D train platformer Denshattack! has been announced for a spring 2026 release for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Games Store.
- The participating franchises for Super Robot Wars Y‘s DLC 1 and 2 have been revealed.
- Dr. Eggman is the first confirmed boss for SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance‘s SEGA Villains Stage DLC.
- Lumines Arise has a limited-time demo for PS5 and Steam ahead of its November 11 release.
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater‘s “Guy Savage” minigame was developed by Platinum Games.
- Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater updated its posters of gravure idols with recent photos of the same models.
SO CONTROVERSIAL
- NetEase has permission to add original heroes to Marvel Rivals, but we will have to “stay tuned” to see whether that will happen.
- Hideo Kojima will be a guest at the Esports World Cup, the event that has been accused of “sportswashing” to minimize attention on Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations.
- The collector’s edition of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater in the west includes a diorama with a poorly painted figure of Snake.
- Mare Synchronos, a popular mod for Final Fantasy XIV allowing players to change their characters’ appearances, has been shut down due to a legal inquiry from Square Enix; Yoshi-P gave a thoughtful response to the situation.
DOOM AND GLOOM
- As a result of the BioShock 4 troubles, Cloud Chamber has laid off “an unspecified number of staff,” which has been confirmed by 2K Games, and Rod Fergusson brought in to try and save the game.
- Dragon Quest producer Ryutaro Ichimura left Square Enix because he felt the company was prioritizing “safe” or copycat games.
- Embracer has laid off an unspecified number of staff at Crystal Dynamics due to “evolving business conditions.”
- Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius will shut down on October 31 in Japan.
- Multiple highly anticipated indie games are being delayed due to Hollow Knight: Silksong‘s upcoming release.
SMASH HIT!
RUMOR HAS IT
- Switch 2 dev kits are apparently hard to get a hold of, and some of the Switch 2 ports seen at Gamescom look rough.
- Leaks suggest that Deadpool is coming to Marvel Rivals.
DISCUSSION TOPIC
This week, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy talk about the changing landscape of bad games! As part of the Game Buoy Remake Project initiative, they take a look back at Game Buoy Podcast Episode 19 – Let’s Talk About [MATURE CONTENT], Baby, originally published on January 21, 2013. Back in 2013, the Podcast Pirates looked at the controversial topic of adult content in gaming, starting by looking at the evolution of adult gaming over the years and its relative absence in the west. They discussed four main talking points: “Sex as a Weapon” (using sexual content as a selling point), “Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too” (using sexual content as a storytelling device), “Violence, Gore, and the AO Rating” (a brief look at the history of the AO rating), and “Silly SINuality” (examples of bizarre erotic content in gaming).
In parallel to their discussion from 2013, the Podcast Pirates break their discussion up into four main talking points:
- “Sex Sells…But Who’s Buying?” – an updated look at how sex is used (or not used) as a marketing tool in the modern era
- “Never Getting Laid” – an updated look at how sex is used (or not used) as a storytelling device
- “Control/Lose” – a look at the censorship concerns emerging around adult content in gaming and its impact on marginalized groups
- “Sex Type Laughing” – a brief look at some modern examples of bizarre fan service and NSFW content in gaming
WHAT’S UP
Captain Spike has been playing Super Robot Wars Y, Fortnite, and Final Fantasy XIV. First Mate Slaggy McWaggy has been playing eroge by Y Press Games, Robin Morningwood Adventure, Fortnite, and Final Fantasy XIV.
SOCIAL LINKS QUESTION OF THE WEEK
Hello, folks! This week we’re talking (respectfully!) about how representations of adult content in games (read: sex) have changed over the last 13 years. Have you observed any trends in how these types of scenes have changed (or haven’t!)?
Bonus question: Among series you play, how do you feel about how sexual content is depicted currently?
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
– 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
– WoW… That’s Crazy, for throwback and modern posts about World of Warcraft (from the creator of Standard Issue Computing and Famicomputing)
– 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, where every gamer 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”
– Craig, Slaggy McWaggy’s robot boyfriend a multi-track voice channel recording bot for Discord
Also, our theme music was done by the late, great Zelda Reorchestrated, which lives on in the form of ZREO: Second Quest!