Game Scoop! 839: This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Games

Podcast by IGN & Geek Media — January 9, 2026
Host: Daemon Hatfield
Guests: Nick Lamonte, Sam Claiborne, Mark Medina

Episode Overview

The IGN Game Scoop crew kicks off 2026 with a wide-ranging, energetic episode, diving deep into the realities of today’s gaming landscape, shifting player habits, industry sales trends, and lively retro gaming chat. Key stories include the dominance of live-service games, an analysis of console sales slowdowns, Metroid Prime 4’s development quirks, notable speedrunning milestones, and listener mail. The gang also shares what they've been playing and looks ahead at anticipated titles and platform releases.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dominance of Live Service Games (01:35–10:30)

• 2025’s Top PS5 Games:
  Identical to last year—Fortnite, Call of Duty, GTA 5, Roblox, and Minecraft dominate.
  • “Second verse, same as the first. They are the exact same games in the exact same order as 2024.” — Daemon (01:35)
• Lack of New Releases’ Impact:
  • The top-played games aren’t even PS5 exclusives; many can run on older platforms or mobile.
  • “So people are buying a PS5 or an Xbox to play old live service games. These games are old.” — Daemon (03:08)
• Persistent Gameplay:
  • Live-service games offer ongoing play, explaining their lasting appeal and lessening the impact of traditional, single-player titles.
  • “Other games end at some point and these games never end. That’s the whole point. They want to keep you there.” — Daemon (05:16)

Notable Exchange

• “Roblox is like 50,000 billion games, dude. That also doesn’t mean anything.” — Mark (05:23)

• Panel debates whether this is “doom and gloom” or just a sign of changing trends.

• Only 12% of gamers buy a game monthly; 4% buy more frequently (10:03).

2. Decline in Console Sales and Nintendo's “Western Game” Problem (11:17–15:50)

• Switch 2 Holiday Sales Drop:
  • Down 35% vs. Switch 1’s first holiday season.
  • Nintendo (anonymously) attributes this to a tough economy and “absence of a major Western game.”
  • “Miyamoto once again dropping shade on Metroid.” — Mark (12:36)
• Third-Party Parity Lacking:
  • The gang argues Nintendo should better sync Western AAA releases (e.g., Assassin’s Creed, GTA) to grow Switch 2 adoption.

Panel Insights

• “When he says a major Western game, you think he means a game by a Western developer? Because when has that ever been a big draw to Nintendo?” — Daemon (13:36)
• “If they had released a 3D Mario, which we were kind of hoping they would... I think it would have been a different story.” — Mark (15:04)

3. Metroid Prime 4: Open World Woes & Technical Achievements (21:08–23:35)

• Sam 100%-ed Metroid Prime 4:
  • “I loved it. I love this game. I think it’s really, really cool.” — Sam (22:21)
• Development Insight:
  • Devs wanted to add open-world elements due to Breath of the Wild’s influence, then roughly backtracked.
  • “It is so crazy. There was this pull to make it an open world game and then, like, no, we’re going to reverse that… ‘we can't start it over again, just leave it in.’” — Sam (22:32)
• Switch 2 Power Praised:
  • “It’s a very pretty game and I think it's a great technical showcase of the Switch 2.” — Nick (23:18)

4. What the Crew Is Playing (24:53–29:46)

• Baldur’s Gate 3:
  • “This is one of the greatest RPGs I've ever played.” — Nick (25:05)
  • Nick details the story depth, House of Hope area, and recommends the companion podcast Real Lich Hours.
• Dispatch:
  • “The voices and the characters are so good. It's Aaron Paul and he's the lead in it and he's great… It's got a lot going for it.” — Sam (26:49)
  • Nick and Sam discuss how its minigames refresh the Telltale formula.
• Hades II & Path of Exile 2:
  • Mark’s hooked on Hades 2 and is navigating POE2’s notoriously complex skill tree.
  • “The passive skill tree, when you zoom out, is the worst thing you'll ever see. It looks like the solar system.” — Mark (31:15)

5. Avowed Announced for PS5 (32:39–33:53)

• PS5 port releasing February 17, 2026, alongside a 2.0 update.
  • “It's finally coming to a real console.” — Mark (32:56, jokingly)
• Panel highlights it as a great time to jump into Avowed.

6. Speedrunning Milestone: Super Meat Boy No-Death Run (34:29–36:38)

• AbsoluteWildShredberg achieves the first-ever "no-death" run after 2,000 attempts/1,000+ hours.
• “At the end of his video on YouTube, he says this: ‘I’m going to be emailing everyone—Kotaku, ign, cnn, Chefs Illustrated—they’re all going to hear about it. I will unironically email ign.’” — Daemon (35:26)
• Crew celebrates this “impressive feat” and discusses the game's challenge and long-awaited sequel.

7. Community Mailbag (38:54–44:13)

Christmas Card from Ross Arbor (39:18)

• Panel thanks an Ontario listener for a festive card.
• “Ross, I love you man, but I hate to tell you GTA 6 ain’t coming out this year.” — Mark (39:44)

Learning Languages through Games (41:05)

• Joe from North Bay considers playing Death Stranding in Spanish.
• “That is such a good idea... try to learn a language to turn on your game in a different language and do the subtitles. I think that sounds great.” — Sam (41:36)

Metroid Dread Discussion (57:46–60:50)

• Heated debate: is Metroid Dread a platformer or strictly a Metroidvania?
• “If you're bad at jumping, you will not get far in these games.” — Nick (59:54)
• “It's like saying a kart racer is not a racing game. Like, it is a racing game. It's a subgenre of racing games called kart racers.” — Sam (60:15)

8. Listener Questions & 20 Questions Stats (49:00–52:21)

• Matt from Massachusetts recaps 2025’s Game Scoop 20 Questions stats.
  • “There are 516 unique games mentioned... The game mentioned most frequently… was Perfect Dark.” — Daemon (50:02)
• Sam requests more detailed win/loss stats for future analysis.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “So people are buying a PS5 or an Xbox to play old live service games. These games are old.”
  — Daemon Hatfield (03:08)
• “Miyamoto once again dropping shade on Metroid.”
  — Mark Medina (12:36)
• “Other games end at some point and these games never end. That’s the whole point. They want to keep you there.”
  — Daemon Hatfield (05:16)
• “I loved it. I love this game. I think it’s really, really cool.”
  — Sam Claiborne on Metroid Prime 4 (22:21)
• “At the end of his video on YouTube, he says this: ‘I’m going to be emailing everyone—Kotaku, ign, cnn, Chefs Illustrated—they’re all going to hear about it. I will unironically email ign.’”
  — Daemon recounting the Super Meat Boy speedrunner (35:26)
• “If you're bad at jumping, you will not get far in these games.”
  — Nick Lamonte on Metroidvanias (59:54)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 01:35 — PS5’s Most Played Games of 2025
• 11:17 — Switch 2 Sales & Nintendo’s “Western Game” Gap
• 21:08 — Sam’s Metroid Prime 4 Experience
• 24:53 — What’s the Crew Playing? (BG3, Dispatch, Hades II, POE2)
• 32:39 — Avowed PS5 Announcement
• 34:29 — Super Meat Boy No-Death Milestone
• 38:54 — Listener Mail (Christmas Card, Learning Languages)
• 49:00 — 20 Questions Stats Recap
• 53:15 — Video Game 20 Questions (Metroid Dread, lively genre debate)

Tone and Style

High-energy, irreverent, knowledgeable banter, peppered with self-deprecating jokes, deep-cut retro gaming references, and honest opinions about industry trends and platform struggles. The cast blends hardcore gaming insight with accessibility for both long-time fans and newcomers—a signature IGN Game Scoop feel.

Summary prepared for listeners who missed the show: This episode delivers a snapshot of the modern gaming industry, critiques and celebrates its idiosyncrasies, and reminds us why, sometimes, "we can't have nice games."