Summer Game Feast Or Famine

Aftermath Hours

On this week’s episode, Nathan and Luke are joined by some guy they know named Ethan Gach to discuss the aftermath (lol) of Summer Game Fest. Ethan was on the ground at the show in LA, so he fields questions about the Geoff Keighley-powered husk that E3 left behind. We ultimately arrive at the same question people do after every single one of these things: Is an event like Summer Game Fest needed in a digital age where video game companies can spin up showcases whenever they want? Then we move on to our favorite games of the show, which consist of Killer Bean, Doom, and probably even a third thing. We also discuss a general feeling of malaise that hung over this year’s show. On one hand, Geoff and associated companies debuted some cool games, but it all felt so… expected. Where once the original Fable pioneered wild new ideas about what a game could be, the trailer for the latest installment in the now long-running series is just a bunch of callbacks. In pursuit of surefire profit, are triple-A games stuck in a rut? Finally, we end on a conversation about sending cats back in time, so you’ll definitely want to stick around for that.

Credits

- Hosts: Nathan Grayson, Luke Plunkett, & special guest Ethan Gach

- Podcast Production & Ads: Multitude

- Subscribe to Aftermath!

About The Show

Aftermath Hours is the flagship podcast of Aftermath, a worker-owned, subscription-based website covering video games, the internet, and everything that comes after from journalists who previously worked at Kotaku, Vice, and The Washington Post. Each week, games journalism veterans Luke Plunkett, Nathan Grayson, Chris Person, Riley MacLeod, and Gita Jackson – though not always all at once, because that’s too many people for a podcast – break down video game news, Remember Some Games, and learn about Chris’ frankly incredible number of special interests. Sometimes we even bring on guests from both inside and outside the video game industry! I don’t know what else to tell you; it’s a great time. Simply by reading this description, you’re already wasting time that you could be spending listening to the show. Head to aftermath.site for more info.