Mastodawn

We're back. Episode 1 of the Playing Out of Control podcast is live.
This week: Microsoft and the Xbox studio closures, GoldenEye's cancelled remaster reborn as a native PC game, two unreleased Atomiswave games preserved on the Dreamcast, the 18-year Mother remake, and more. Then, because it's Father's Day, the three father figures who made me a gamer.

Who put the controller in your hands?
https://pocg.net/podcast/who-put-the-controller-in-your-hands/
#RetroGaming #Podcast #Sega #Xbox #GamePreservation

Who Put the Controller in Your Hands - POCG.NET

Episode one. We’re back. After years away, Playing Out of Control is on again. This week was a big one. In the news: Microsoft, the Xbox studio closures, and what the word “subsidy” really means for your library and for backward compatibility. The full editorial, The Subsidy, is up on the site. Then the lighter ... <a title="Who Put the Controller in Your Hands" class="read-more" href="https://pocg.net/podcast/who-put-the-controller-in-your-hands/" aria-label="Read more about Who Put the Controller in Your Hands">Read more</a>

POCG - Playing Out of Control Gaming

Playing Out of Control Gaming 2d ago

Take-Two has confirmed that the 'physical' edition of Grand Theft Auto VI, launching November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series for $80, contains no disc, only a download code inside a plastic case. That's right, you're buying a case and a slip of paper. Physical media preservation takes another hit. #PhysicalMedia #GamePreservation #NoDisc https://pocg.net/news/gta-6-physical-edition-no-disc-code-in-box/

Games Briefly 2d ago

Red alert! Star Trek: Resurgence is being delisted and you need to buy it NOW

https://gamesbriefly.news/red-alert-star-trek-resurgence-is-being-delisted-and-you-need-to-buy-it-now

#StarTrekResurgence #LicensedGameDelisting #GamePreservation

Playing Out of Control Gaming 3d ago

Barbie: Vacation Adventure was finished in 1994 for 16-bit systems and promptly shelved. Three decades later, Atari and Digital Eclipse are including it in Barbie Rewind on Switch this November. It's wild that an official Barbie platformer from 1994 is actually coming out. https://pocg.net/news/barbie-vacation-adventure-unreleased-game-released/ #RetroGaming #Barbie #NintendoSwitch #GamePreservation

Playing Out of Control Gaming 3d ago

Sega producer Yosuke Okunari is cataloguing all ~4,500 Sega games, and his goal is to get the entire library playable on modern platforms. This is the kind of preservation work we need more of. https://pocg.net/news/yosuke-okunari-sega-catalogue-modern-formats/ #RetroGaming #Sega #GamePreservation #YosukeOkunari

Playing Out of Control Gaming 3d ago

Sony quietly edited its June 19 SEC strategy report: the explicit commitment to bring first-party games to PC is gone, replaced by a heavy AI push. For a company that's been porting older exclusives like The Last of Us Part I to PC, this reads like a U-turn. If you value preservation or just want to play classics without hunting down aging hardware, this is a worrying signal. Full story: https://pocg.net/news/sony-drops-pc-mention-annual-report-ai/ #RetroGaming #Sony #PCGaming #GamePreservation

JeanFred 4d ago

I am proposing a new @wikidata property for the “visual style” of video games.

https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Visual_style

Quite proud of that one as it pulls together a lot of information from community databases, storefronts, Wikipedia, and academic research.

#Wikidata #VideoGames #DigiPres #GamePreservation #LinkedOpenData #GameStudies

Playing Out of Control Gaming Jun 18

A digital game is a license, not a thing you own. No trade, no resale, and when the store closes it can just be gone.
Xbox built the best preservation promise in the business: buy a game, keep a game, across four console generations. Now Microsoft calls that a "subsidy," and the people who made the promise have left the building.
Buy physical where you can. Back up what matters. Don't mistake a promise for a guarantee.
https://pocg.net/editorial/the-subsidy/
#Xbox #GamePreservation #RetroGaming

Playing Out of Control Gaming Jun 18

Xbox reportedly closing Compulsion Games, and the leak says Ninja Theory and Double Fine are also on the chopping block. This isn't just industry churn, Double Fine has been one of the last big studios making the kind of odd, author-driven games that defined the late '90s / early 2000s PC scene. Losing that feels like another piece of that era getting erased. #RetroGaming #DoubleFine #Xbox #GamePreservation

https://pocg.net/news/xbox-reportedly-closing-compulsion-games-2026/

Playing Out of Control Gaming Jun 18

The unreleased Xbox Live Arcade remaster of GoldenEye 007 is finally playable on PC, and it's a native port, not emulation. SunJaycy’s GoldenEye Recomp v1.0 static recompilation delivers 60fps, widescreen, and online multiplayer. Finally, the cancelled 360 upgrade gets a clean, lasting release. Full story: https://pocg.net/news/goldeneye-007-cancelled-xbox-360-remaster-pc-recomp-2026/ #RetroGaming #GoldenEye007 #GamePreservation #Xbox360