Thanks For Playing

Join Lucas, Matt, Chambers and Hot Mickey and they pick from one of the greatest and deepest catalogues ever – Mario games! Who will have the best lineup and who will pick the secret sleepers? And what really is the best Mario game of all time? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Thanks For Playing, we’re diving into a little bit of everything. We kick things off with our Oscars 2026 reactions, including thoughts on Sinners, Best Actor, cinematography, and why some of this year’s biggest nominees left us a little split. If you love movie talk with strong opinions, this one’s for you. From there, we jump into gaming and esports, including the new USA Esports Alliance and whether esports can ever really capture the same magic as traditional sports. We also get into Jeff Kaplan’s revealing comments about Overwatch 2, Blizzard’s messy decision-making, the rise of AI-powered graphics tools, the weird reality of Pokemon Go data helping train delivery robots, and the frustration around RuneScape’s latest membership price increase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Matt, Timurhan, and Lucas as they talk through the failure of Highguard and the future of hero shooters + Rumor has it Sony has been testing out dynamic pricing on their shop, how dare they! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Matt and Lucas as they dive into The Seance of Blake Manor. A surprise critical success visual novel mystery game developed by Spooky Doorway. Are visual novel mystery games back?? Let's find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on Thanks For Playing, Matt and Hot Mickey run an abridged history of the console wars—from Atari’s boom-and-bust (yes, E.T.), to Nintendo’s NES “seal of quality,” Sega’s edgy Genesis era, Sony’s PlayStation pivot that changed everything, and Microsoft entering the chat with Xbox Live, LAN parties, and Halo nights. They also debate what console wars even look like now: fewer exclusives, crossplay everywhere, Steam remote play, and a future that might be more “subscription/cloud wars” than plastic boxes under your TV. Plus: first consoles, legendary gamertags, and one extremely dangerous Wii Tennis household memory. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Lucas, Matt, Chambers, and Hot Mickey as they try to create the BEST video game character they can by drafting traits! Who will win and who will die? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Lucas and Chambers as they dive into the latest and greatest about 2XKO, this whole Discord thing, and Overwatch 2 dropping that 2. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

War... War Never Changes... Join Matt, Lucas, and Chambers as they dive into the Mojave Wasteland! What will they find out there in the wild wild west?? And how will they rate this game? Has it aged well? Is it clunky and ugly? Let's find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Matt, Mickey, and Timurhan as they talk NFL playoffs, Red Dead Redemption 2, and why is it Nintendo is still so successful, despite being the least tech forward of all the major developers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join Chambers, Hyalet, Lucas, and Matt as they dive into the latest multiplayer extraction shooter ARC RAIDERS! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices