The panel mourns the loss of two titans of video game journalism, considers the future of games reporting, and imagines a horse covered in human skin. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.
Thanks for opening this episode with a frank discussion of the state of games journalism right now. Itās worth noting (although I suspect itās what Ash wanted to mention off-air) that everyone who was fired from Polygon was in the Vox Union and that this happened in the middle of negotiation. Honestly, it just makes me angrier about the whole situation that it stems from corporate pettiness.
Anyway Iāve been leaning closer to Brandonās pessimism and Ashās fear of the future for the lastā¦few years watching this happen, so I appreciated Frankās optimism.
As someone who has been actively trying to review and report on games for the last five years (Iām getting halfway decent), the fact that only established names seem to be able to pivot to a personality-centric project like Aftermath and Game File is immensely disheartening. Both of those do good work, but the audience has come from knowing who they all are already, myself included.
I hope sincerly that Ash and the Verge at large can withstand Vox management for the foreseeable future, especially with the subscriptions. I have no money to support more than I currently do but if I ever find stable employment, Iāll happily throw more in to fund the work I want to see.
Now letās listen to the rest of the episode and see if it cheers me up.
First, this show is a highlight of my Monday morning, so thank you for posting it when you do.
Second, is there some sort of aggregate site or place that lists current video game websites, journalism or not? And I mean like, good ones, not ones that game SEO or AI or other nonsense. With Jaffeās constant comments on a lack of video game sites, I feel like this would be a good thing to have. (Bring back web rings!)
In terms of the Polygon and Giant Bomb news, I wonder how much of a wrench that throws into PAX East this coming weekend. A lot of Giant Bomb folks were going to be there, and I wonder if they still are.
Unrelated to the episode, but related to disappearing video game things, Iām glad that PAX is still an ongoing gaming convention, as I can turn any corner and find an indie game just waiting to be discovered and seen. AAA studios can take a hike; give me some indie booths. Found some really cool games this way.
(Lastly, Iām sorry to tag you @esper but the show notes under question 1ā¦ Jeremy Parish links to Shane Bettenhausenās Bluesky instead of the intended link to Jeremy. Itās like that here and on Patreon.)
This is definitely one of the saddest parts of 2025 for me and Iām thankful one of the podcasts keeping things floating on has talked about Polygon & Giant Bomb.
Iāve been telling myself for the entire time since the buzzer sound request line has been open that I was going to submit āhorn introā from the Modest Mouse album āGood News For People Who Love Bad Newsā, and I missed the boat, because getting fired exactly on the same day is some tragic timing that really makes you hope good news is on the way.
Hearing Ashās voice breaking down while speaking about this whole situation made me cry. I donāt have much to say other than I hope The Verge and the few other remaining good websites can withstand.
So in no way is Nintendo trying to use the new Donkey Kong game to separate the character from the country series. Cranky Kong is literally in the game. True kongheads have already been able to tell from hands on, Treehouse, and promotional materials the game is packed full of references to the entirety of Donkey Kong lore, Country and otherwise, in music cues, art, collectibles, etc. In a way that is very similar to Mario Odyssey.
The other kongs and country aesthetic are also heavily featured in the new theme park and merchandise. They redesigned DK but they are not getting rid of the Country lore and influence, they are integrating it into the rest of the series.
I was a big Giant Bomb fan and I always appreciated what Polygon was trying to when it came to games coverage. This aggressive consolidation of games media is really upsetting. This industry is going through some weird changes and I have no idea how it all looks in five years.
My desire to support (in-)dependent media is unfortunately in strong contrast with my aversion to subscriptions of any kind. I kinda wish it was possible to just pay like a dollar for a well written article or something.
What I do sometimes is to sign up for a patreon for just a month and immediately cancel.
Aside from Spotify, Edge magazine is the only actual subscription I haveā¦and thatās because otherwise I would just buy the magazine anyway and I enjoy having a physical thing in my hand that I own (which isnāt really a thing for digital subscriptions).
Iām curious where your aversion to subscriptions comes from since Spotify is one of the worst subscriptions around for artists - since itās not a moral thing, what could it be?
A lot of sites like Aftermath have a link where you can just donate however much you want. Although youād still need a subscription to read the articles unless you use some kind of browser workaround.
