Game Buoy Podcast Episode 189 – Flashbax: Console Archives Wishlist
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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, February 15, 2026, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy discuss the games they would like to see be part of Hamster’s Console Archives line!
HOT TOPIC IS THE WAY THAT WE RHYME
- Hideki Sato-san, a legendary Sega engineer who was responsible for the Genesis, has passed away at age 77.
- The recommended RAM requirements for Lego Batman has been cut in half.
- Bloober Team has announced they are returning to their roots with Layers of Fear 3.
- Dino Crisis and Dino Crisis 2 are now available via Steam.
- A Monster Hunter Wilds update arrives February 18, with a “large scale expansion” announced to be in development.
RELEASE UPDATES
- The “Super Monkey Ball Content Drop” update is now available on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
- Fear Effect 2: Retro Helix for PS5, PS4, Switch, and PC via Steam is launching on February 27.
- The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin launches March 16 for PS5 and PC via Steam, with a March 23 release for iOS and Android.
- Supermassive’s new sci-fi horror game, Directive 8020, launches PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC via Steam on May 12.
- Starry Sky: Spring Memories is getting a Switch release in Japan on May 28, with extra content from the fan disc.
CULTURE CLUB
- Blizzard has responded to feedback about Anran’s character design.
- Hazelight’s next game is in development.
- Nintendo has issued DMCA takedowns on every Switch emulator on Github.
- The buzz on the conference floor at DICE 2026 was about the rising cost of games, Clair Obscur’s success with a modest budget and lower price point, and how flexible pricing structures are on the minds of many developers.
- Shuntaro Furukawa, Nintendo’s president, has stated that memory price increases have not yet impacted the Switch 2, but this might not be the case during the next fiscal year.
- Suda51 has announced that Grasshopper Manufacture plan to release a new game in 2026.
- Yuji Horii’s life story will be published as an educational manga.
- Responding to feedback, Capcom has reduced the price for the Capcom Cup Street Fighter finals to $10.
MY OWN PRIVATE IDAHO
- Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, a 2D platformer, will be released on March 31 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, Switch 2, Switch, and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG.
- Hasbro will be making action figures based on the upcoming Street Fighter movie.
- Sanrio Characters Smash Festa! has been announced for Switch and PC via Steam and will be launching digitally this spring in Japan.David Hayter will be providing the voice of Solid Snake in a Rainbow Six Siege crossover.
SO CONTROVERSIAL
- Discord is rolling out age verification worldwide starting in early March.
- Yakuza fans have started a movement to remove a voice actor who has admitted to sexual assault.
- Edmund McMillen’s new game, Mewgenics, includes meows from “people with clashing ideologies.”
DOOM AND GLOOM
- Riot has laid off around 80 developers less than a month after the release of 2XKO.
- Most of Highguard’s development team has been laid off only two weeks after release; one developer shares how their trailer being shown at the end of The Game Awards harmed them.
- Bleach Soul Puzzle, a match-3 mobile game based on the Bleach anime, is ending service on April 14.
- Den of Wolves is not even out yet, but members of its team have already been laid off.
MINI-DISCUSSION
Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy discuss the Sony State of Play from February 12, 2026, covering each game shown during the presentation, and give their overall thoughts for the State of Play!
DISCUSSION TOPIC
This week, Captain Spike and First Mate Slaggy McWaggy discuss their wishlist for Hamster’s new Console Archives line! They start by discussing Hamster’s past work with their arcade-perfect Arcade Archives line, other releases of retro games, and why games preservation is so important. The Podcast Pirates then share a number of games they would like to see get Console Archives releases, and end by sharing their hopes for the future of the Console Archives line.
WHAT’S UP
Captain Spike has been playing Super Mario Galaxy, Marvel Rivals, and Animal Crossing. First Mate Slaggy McWaggy has been playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Final Fantasy XIV, the Pragmata Sketchbook demo, and Neva.
SOCIAL LINKS QUESTION OF THE WEEK
This week we’re talking about our Console Archives wishlists, as well as why games preservation is so important to us. What are your hopes for this exciting new series?
Bonus Question: This week’s Sony State of Play had many of us abuzz; what did you think about the announcements? Was there anything you were hoping to see that wasn’t featured?
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
- 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
- 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 boyfrienda multi-track voice channel recording bot for Discord