Popzara Podcast

The State of Gaming June 2023: Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy 16, Diablo 4, Ghost Trick, Asus Rog Ally, Xbox vs FTC, Super Mario Wonder, BlizzCon, and Circana

It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.

The biggest games of the month include: Street Fighter 6, Final Fantasy XVI, Diablo 4, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Master Detective Archives: Rain Code, Aliens: Dark Descent, Sonic Origins Plus, Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life, Pikmin 1 + 2 Remastered (Switch), and even new hardware with the release of Asus’ Rog Ally, the first mainstream Windows 11 gaming handheld.

Article: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023)

I have to be honest and admit that I wasn’t looking forward to another Indiana Jones film, as Harrison Ford isn’t getting any younger, and it feels like we’re in an age where movies are all about remakes, reboots, and digging up old franchises to make money off nostalgia. But after seeing Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, I can say I had a good time watching Mr.

Article: John Mulaney: Baby J (2023)

Today, it often seems like stand-up comedy is only quantified by how quotable it is. You watch a 60-minute set waiting for the funniest bits so you and your friends can repeat them to each other ad nauseam over the next few months - maybe even years.

Article: Maggie Moore(s) (2023)

Unlike most troubled movie detectives, Jon Hamm’s Chief Jordan Sanders isn’t listless, or jaded, or even all that troubled. Aside from his wife passing away a year ago, Sanders is relatively content, if not clear-headed.

Article: Final Fantasy XVI

Long-running franchises form a sort of cultural backdrop that inspires other media over the course of years. What would the entertainment landscape look like without Star Wars, for instance? That said, what happens when a property gets long enough in the tooth it becomes a little intimidating for folks who haven't kept up with it? When you tell someone who isn't a long-time Final Fantasy fan that we're up to Final Fantasy XVI, for example, there's a pretty good chance they'll wonder if they need to play the other fifteen to figure out what's going on.

Article: AEW: Fight Forever

One of my favorite times from my teens was watching wrestling back in the late 90s with my best buds, especially the crazy rivalry between then WWF before becoming WWE, and the infamous WCW which sadly slumped in the early 2000s and was bought by WWE. Nearly twenty years later in 2019, AEW (All Elite Wrestling) came out of nowhere and rose to become a new challenger to WWE that features previous WWE and WCW superstars to give them a nice run for the money.

Article: Retroid Pocket Flip

Welcome to the future! We don't have flying cars, teleportation devices or replicators, but what we do have is a vast variety of tech toys to distract us from the ever-deteriorating state of society. That ought to be good enough for anyone, right? But what if part of that magical future means looking back at the past? And by past I mean retro gaming.

Article: Asteroid City (2023)

It seems fitting that Asteroid City is Wes Anderson's first film that he directed since the beginning of the pandemic (The French Dispatch was filmed prior). In many ways, he’s crafted a movie about grief and trying to find meaning in a world that often feels chaotic and unpredictable.

Article: Yomi 2

I'm a big fan of fighting games, which should come as no surprise if you're familiar with my past work. There's a meditative aspect to learning and improving that's hard to find in too many other forms in gaming; Dark Souls-like adventures can offer something similar, but there's something special about battling other players on the same level.

Article: Lonely Castle in the Mirror (2023)

Have you ever watched a movie you wanted to like so bad, but couldn’t? It happens more than you’d think. Sometimes, a movie has all of the elements necessary to be “good” or “likable” - nice art and direction, cinematography, acting, story, etc.

Article: No Hard Feelings (2023)

Long before superhero blockbusters ruled the cinematic roost there were comedies. All types of comedies.

Article: Elemental (2023)

Elemental isn’t just the 27th feature film from Pixar Animation Studios, but the second (in a post-pandemic world) to enjoy a theatrical release since 2020’s Onward was quickly pulled and dumped onto Disney’s then brand-new Disney+ streaming service. And it was there their next three features (Soul, Luca, Turning Red) would launch, though last year’s Lightyear saw a return to theaters with the  kinda-sorta Toy Story spinoff, only to be met with a collective meh.

Article: Puzzle Bobble Everybubble!

Bubbles are a surprisingly essential part of human life. Just ask all those teens who were eating Tide pods back in the day.

Article: Winter’s Wish: Spirits of Edo

When it comes to visual novels, especially those of the otome variety, I consider myself somewhat of a connoisseur. They’re such a mixed bag, but I actually find that to be part of the fun; sometimes, you get something that’s eighty cliches in a trenchcoat, others, you’re gifted a story that makes you scratch your head because it feels so off the rails, and every once in a while, you get one that manages to have it all.

Article: Monster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook

I’m someone who bakes when they procrastinate. Brownies, cookies, pies - you name it, I’ve probably stress-baked it while avoiding research papers or sending emails.