[Giant Bomb Podcast Episode 921: Travel Woes, Game Awards Reflections, and Future Projects]-[921: Lieutenant Gungan]

Giant Bombcast · C1 · 2025-12-16

📋 Summary

A Chaotic Gathering at Main Gear HQ

Episode 921 of the Giant Bombcast, recorded at Main Gear HQ, captures the team reuniting for their annual Game of the Year deliberations. The session began with the typical camaraderie and physical comedy the group is known for, highlighted by an incident where Jan accidentally knocked a microphone over, resulting in Dan Reichert taking a direct hit to the "nards." The hosts joked about Dan’s recent string of "injuries" during this trip, including a broken finger and a near-miss incident involving the microphone.

The Travel Nightmare

Much of the opening discussion focused on the group's harrowing travel experiences getting to the recording site. Sean McDowell and the others detailed a series of cancellations, mechanical issues, and weather delays, with some spending an entire day stuck at airports. One host even spent two hours on a freezing tarmac in Wisconsin while waiting for a road team to fix a plane's radar. Despite the exhaustion, the team settled into their Airbnb, laughing about the "ominous" box of McDonald's McNuggets left in the kitchen, which became a running joke about the vulnerability of arriving late to a new city.

Game Awards Observations

Transitioning to the recent Game Awards, the team shared their mixed feelings about the event's pacing and presentation. Jan recounted a surreal encounter with a fan who mistook him for YongYea, the English voice actor for Kiryu in Yakuza, leading to a funny moment of mistaken identity. They also discussed the "bright laptop screen" etiquette of attendees, criticizing those who choose to work on articles during the show rather than enjoying the atmosphere. The team expressed excitement about the Mega Man announcement, with Mike Minotti jokingly declaring his candidacy for the "Robot Master design contest," hoping to finally see a "Piano Man" or "Stone Man" character come to life.

Industry Rumors and Skepticism

There was significant skepticism regarding the future of several high-profile titles. The team discussed the Knights of the Old Republic remake, with many doubting it will arrive within this decade, citing the studio's track record and the long silence since the project's inception. They also scrutinized the reveal of the game High Guard, noting its poor reception and high "dislike-to-like" ratio, suggesting that placing it as the final reveal of the show was a strategic misstep. The team felt that the game’s aesthetic, which they described as having a "Gen Z YouTuber" look, contributed to the negative online sentiment.

The Decline of Arcade1Up

In a somber segment, the hosts addressed reports that Arcade1Up, the company behind home arcade cabinets, may be closing. The team expressed genuine sadness, noting that these machines provided an accessible way to enjoy classic games like The Simpsons and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 at home. While they remained hopeful about the future of home arcade hardware, they acknowledged the difficulty of the business model and the loss of a niche that brought joy to many fans and their families.

Closing Remarks and Holiday Wishes

Before concluding, the hosts engaged in a lighthearted email segment about facial hair—debating whether a "pencil mustache" or a "soul patch" would suit the various members. The podcast wrapped up with a reminder that the team is heading into their holiday break, with the upcoming Game of the Year podcasts scheduled to drop over the next two weeks. As they signed off, they encouraged listeners to engage with the newly active forums on giantbomb.com, signaling a return to community-driven discussion as they prepare to crown their top games of 2025.

🎯Key Sentences

I'm not much of a runner.

It was really funny, but everyone was afraid to laugh.

You're falling apart, brother.

Look, the microphone had nothing to do with me.

I just keep talking about how I was cold.

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📝Key Phrases

fuel up

workman's comp

running away with it

bounced back

booked and busy

Expand All

📖 Transcript

Hey everybody, it's Tuesday, December 16th, 2025.

Welcome to the Giant Podcast.

It's my half birthday.

Episode 921.

We're coming to you from Main Gear HQ.

That's right.

Yeah, exactly. so complicated that you're gonna lose a hacking thing i think that's the great thing about the gameplay of dispatch is that they do escalate it and there's fun twists that you don't necessarily expect from it and the way that interweaves into the story and everything it makes it feel like more of a video game than some of those games have in the past and i i swear i'm not gonna do like every single did you do this or that but did anyone here kick sonar out uh yeah for sure yeah sonar sucks dude no no he's like he's a goofy little He's a crypto dude in a way.

The real game everyone's talking about coming out of the Game Awards. obviously is high guard uh that is it's getting shit on oh really remind me why was that last she's like oh wait they paid the most that's the thing i asked around a little bit and it's like maybe they paid but it is a team that's self-publishing and it's there's not like there's some 10 cent behind them that's like here's here's two million dollars who is making this like so it's former uh respawn respawn That's right.

Oh yeah uh, they're saying that they have uh, the i think they call it the poor man's matchmaking that a lot of indie games use, where it's like the game is able to keep track of the last 100 people that connected to the game, their ip addresses and they, like it just looks to see if one of those people is online, And so it's like it should continue to function even once it's offline.

Or study on the web version →