PS5 Pro post-launch deep dive featuring Digital Foundry + STALKER 2 Interview | FPS Ep #58
PLUS: LEGO Horizon Adventures, Neva, Rise of the Golden Idol and more
Hey Users,
Hope you’re having a lovely start to your week! We come bearing gifts: a new episode of the podcast featuring some lovely chats about all sorts of video games. There’ll be no Game Awards nominee chat in this episode as we just missed the reveals, but we’re excited to shoot our yearly in-person TGAs special in a few weeks!
Back to this week’s podcast episode then, we discuss the PS5 Pro with Digital Foundry’s John Linneman, chat to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl team right before launch, and have a long, hard think about our favourite songs that remind us of certain moments in games.
As always, thank you for reading, watching, listening, leaving ratings and comments, and we’ll see you next time!
Games mentioned: Concord, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
Misc. mentions: The Wicked Movie Barbie mishap, Jake’s incredible pipes, Antiques Roadshow, Floppawatts
PS5 Pro Discussion with John Linneman of Digital Foundry
Some are calling it the most ambitious podcast crossover event in history, but for us, it was a Tuesday (because that’s when we recorded): John Linneman from Digital Foundry joined us for an in-depth discussion on the PlayStation 5 Pro. It’s an expensive piece of kit, so we go over the pros and cons, and ask the question: do you need a PS5 Pro at this point?
Games mentioned: Elden Ring, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Alan Wake 2, Resident Evil Remakes, The Crew Motorfest, Lords of the Fallen, NBA 2K22/23, Borderlands 3, Ghost of Yōtei, Astro Bot, Fairgame$, Hyenas, Bloodborne, Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 6, GTA 5, Fortnite, Indiana Jones and The Great Circle
Misc mentions: Mean Machines, CVG, Eurogamer, The Verge, MKBHD
User question #1 - Jessie Hughes
What’s your favourite weird video game adjacent product?
When it comes to video game merch, you’ve got your classics: t-shirts, hoodies, desk mats, posters, figures.
Boring. We can do better. We can go weirder. Put us in charge, gaming companies, and thank us later.
Games mentioned: Cult of the Lamb, Metal Gear Solid, Assassin’s Creed, Fallout, Armored Core 6, Half-Life, Fortnite, Destiny, HALO, Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Super Mario Bros., Mass Effect, Pikmin, Cyberpunk 2077, Dishonored 2
Misc. mentions: Ranking The Assassin’s Creed Games (Based On Their Wines), Skibidi Toilet
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Chat with Technical Producer Yevhenii Kulyk
It’s tough to think of a game that’s had a rougher road to release than S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, from a cancellation to needing to move the development team due to war, it feels surreal to say that it’s finally coming out this week. We caught up with the game’s technical producer, Yevhenii Kulyk, to talk about this final development stretch, and why S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has such a cult following.
Games mentioned: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Alan Wake 2, Dark Souls
User question #2 - Layne Francella
What is your favorite song from a game that instantly transports you back to a certain moment in the game?
Not going to lie, I really didn’t anticipate us having this many answers for this User question, but I’m glad we did. We should make a big Spotify playlist or something.
Games mentioned: Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Metal Gear Solid, Dead Space 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Final Fantasy X, BioShock, Kingdom Hearts, Red Dead Redemption, Ōkami, World of Warcraft, Skyrim, Outer Wilds, Morrowind, Max Payne 3, Grand Theft Auto, GTA 3, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Battlefield 1
Misc. mentions: The Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, A Perfect Circle, Lofi Lia, HEALTH, Hall and Oates, Snoop Dogg, Goldfinger, The White Stripes
What we’ve been playing
Ralph’s not really digging LEGO Horizon Adventures
Jake’s been plugged into his VR headset and has finished Metro Awakening
Lucy’s been loving Rise of the Golden Idol
Games mentioned: Astro Bot, Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Piglet’s Big Game, Horizon, LEGO Star Wars, Batman: Arkham Shadow, The Last of Us, Alien: Rogue Incursion, Half-Life Alyx, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Mass Effect trilogy, Dragon Age Origins/2/Inquisition, Case of the Golden Idol, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, Gris, Ori and the Blind Forest
Misc. mentions: Avatar, Battlestar Galactica, Firefly, Captain America, Batman, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Apple Vision Pro, The Lawnmower Man, Demolition Man
If you’ve got burning questions you’d like us to answer on the show, email us or drop them in the comments below!
Show and tell
Ralph has been revisiting True Detective
Jake watched the animated Tomb Raider show on Netflix
Lucy’s reading At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
Games mentioned: GoldenEye 007, Tomb Raider 1-3, Angel of Darkness, Dino Crisis, Alan Wake
Movies mentioned: Unfrosted
Misc. mentions: Castlevania on Netflix, Arcane, Fallout show, Cyberpunk Edgerunners, Westworld, Mad Men, Dan Brown
That’s it for this week’s newsletter. It’s Jake’s turn for a BTS pic but it seems like someone else took a picture on his camera and sent that in instead??
Thanks as always, we’ll catch you in a couple of weeks <3 L
Thank you SO much for picking my question!! You guys have made my entire month, I love how you just started looking round your rooms to find the coolest things you owned it’s amazing to hear about all the cool stuff!
User question:
Do any of you have anything you consider a "toxic gaming trait"? Could be either silly or serious, steam sales or embarrassing online GamerTM moments.
For example, if I'm watching a streamer or let's player and I feel they're playing poorly, I get the urge to buy the game only to see if I can play better than them. Doesn't matter if I actually want to play the game or not lol.
Side note: Love the podcast and look forward to it every 2 weeks. Would happily listen to any bonus episodes if there's any ideas for stuff like that, whether about gaming or not :D