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The Gaming Duo is back after a few months off. Kelvin and Rob explain why they took a break and how the show works now, with new episodes at least once a month. Then they look at where PlayStation and Xbox stand. On the PlayStation side, they cover Sony ending physical disc production in 2028, the PS5 Pro selling out despite its price increase, the mixed reviews for Marvel's Wolverine, Sony's split with Hideo Kojima, and what's coming next with God of War Laufey and Intergalactic. On the Xbox side, they cover the console price increases, the layoffs and studio consolidation, Halo moving to Activision, the reviews for Gears of War: E-Day, and the new disc-to-digital program. They finish by deciding which company is having the better year.

Support The Gaming Duo on Patreon for audio game reviews graded on the Kelvin Scale, plus free blog content:https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheGamingDuo Disney just confirmed a full hour-long "Deep Dive Into Kingdom Hearts" panel at D23 on August 15th and we don't think that's just a nostalgia reel. This week on The Gaming Duo, Kelvin and Rob dig deep into the speculation. Is a full hour too long for just a 25th-anniversary retrospective, or does that runtime all but guarantee new Kingdom Hearts 4 footage? Kingdom Hearts 3 got its Big Hero 6 reveal at a past D23 could history repeat itself, or is Disney saving the real news for Gamescom Opening Night Live just ten days later? We also debate whether D23 finally delivers a release window (even a vague one), how much classic Disney/Pixar world content we'll actually see given Quadratum's original, Tokyo-inspired setting, and which returning faces Luxord, Young Xehanort, or the masked figure who might be Vali from Dark Road are most likely to get fleshed out on stage. We even ask whether Kingdom Hearts 4 launching day-one on Switch 2 changes how big a showing this game needs. Plus, Square Enix's newly announced Kingdom Hearts Collection [I–III] heading to Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles. Will Kingdom Hearts 4 finally get its release window? Let us know what you're hoping to see. 🎙️ The Gaming Duo — Where Friendships Are Built Through Gaming.

https://www.patreon.com/c/TheGamingDuo Sony has confirmed physical disc production ends in January 2028, and this episode digs into why that's happening, who actually benefits from it financially, and what it costs the rest of us as gamers. Where Friendships Are Built Through Gaming.

Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/TheGamingDuo The price of being a gamer just went up again. This week on The Gaming Duo, Rockstar officially confirmed GTA 6 will cost $79.99 for the Standard Edition and $99.99 for the Ultimate Edition and the physical box won't have a disc in it. We break down what you're actually getting at each price tier, why locking five in-game shops and a side mission behind a $20 paywall has players heated, and whether Rockstar gets a pass that no other publisher would. Then we shift to the hardware side: Microsoft just announced its third Xbox price hike in 14 months, pushing the Series X to $799.99 and the Series S to $499.99. Add it all up console plus game and the cost of entry to play the biggest release of the generation is approaching $900. At what point does gaming stop being for everyone? Where Friendships Are Built Through Gaming.

🎮 Support The Gaming Duo on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod Fall 2026 might be the most stacked gaming season we've ever seen, and this week Kelvin and Rob are breaking down the entire lineup. This week on The Gaming Duo, we go month by month through every major release from September through December—from The Blood of Dawnwalker and Marvel's Wolverine to Control Resonant, Gears of War: E-Day, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, and the massive November 19 arrival of Grand Theft Auto 6. September 24 alone is a battlefield with Control Resonant, Silent Hill: Townfall, and Dragon Quest XI S all dropping the same day. October isn't slowing down either—Gears of War: E-Day on October 6, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, Kingdom Hearts Collection, Phantom Blade Zero, and more are all fighting for your time and wallet before GTA 6 shuts the industry down in November. We also dive into the latest GTA 6 news: pre-orders going live June 25, Trailer 3 hype, Rockstar's console-only launch strategy, and analysts projecting 45 million copies at launch. Plus, we rank our Top 5 most anticipated games of the fall and debate which titles are must-buys, which are wait-for-sale, and which are getting buried in the chaos. How do you survive the most stacked fall in gaming history? And is GTA 6 the reason September and October are this packed? 🎙️ The Gaming Duo — Where Friendships Are Built Through Gaming.

🎮 Support The Gaming Duo on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod Summer Showcase Season is officially here, and we're putting the biggest gaming events of the year head-to-head. This week on The Gaming Duo, Kelvin and Rob rank the PlayStation State of Play, Summer Game Fest 2026, and the Xbox Games Showcase to determine which presentation delivered the most hype, surprises, and must-play games. From God of War: Laufey, Marvel's Wolverine, and Tomb Raider on PlayStation, to Resident Evil: Veronica, Final Fantasy VII: Revelation, and Alien: Isolation 2 at Summer Game Fest, and Xbox's massive lineup featuring Gears of War: E-Day, Halo: Campaign Evolved, Fable, Persona 6, and more—we break down the biggest announcements and crown an overall winner. Which showcase exceeded expectations? Which one left us wanting more? And what games are now at the top of our most anticipated lists? Join us as we grade every showcase, debate the biggest reveals, and settle the ultimate question: Who won Summer Showcase Season 2026? 🎙️ The Gaming Duo — Where Friendships Are Built Through Gaming.

This week on The Gaming Duo, we are not doing another predictions list. We are making cases. Tony Joins Kelvin and discusses what we may or may not see at Playstation State of Play. Instead of telling you what we think shows up, we are telling you what it MEANS if it does. From a potential Lies of P 2 world premiere to the end of PlayStation PC ports hiding inside a Wolverine reveal, we break down every pick with the angle nobody else is taking.Plus, Summer Game Fest week is bigger than just Geoff Keighley's stage, and we play the game nobody else is playing this week: not just what games show up, but WHERE they land. Does Final Fantasy VII Part 3 go to State of Play or SGF? Does Witchbrook drop at Wholesome Direct or the Xbox Showcase? Does Star Wars Eclipse finally resurface after five years of silence, and if so, on whose stage? We assign every missing game a home and defend the pick.All that and more, where friendships are built through gaming. 🎮 Support us on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

This week on The Gaming Duo, we ask if Gears of War E-Day will actually launch with both a full single player campaign AND a full multiplayer suite day one, or if even Gears is about to give up on the complete AAA package. With the E-Day Direct just two weeks away, can The Coalition pull off what the rest of the industry has basically stopped trying to do? Plus, Bungie is reportedly planning another round of layoffs, ending Destiny 2 updates, and going all in on Marathon with no Destiny 3 greenlit. Epic announces Unreal Engine 6 with a Rocket League trailer, and we get into what all of this says about where AAA is heading. All that and more, where friendships are built through gaming. This week on The Gaming Duo, we ask why Xbox still can’t win Game of the Year — even with Forza Horizon 6 landing a 92 on Metacritic. Is the industry biased against Xbox, or do racing games simply never get the same respect as cinematic AAA titles? Plus, Xbox officially becomes “XBOX,” two new controllers leak, and we discuss what all of this means for the future of the brand. All that and more, where friendships are built through gaming. This week on The Gaming Duo, we ask why Xbox still can’t win Game of the Year — even with Forza Horizon 6 landing a 92 on Metacritic. Is the industry biased against Xbox, or do racing games simply never get the same respect as cinematic AAA titles? Plus, Xbox officially becomes “XBOX,” two new controllers leak, and we discuss what all of this means for the future of the brand. All that and more, where friendships are built through gaming. 🎮 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

This week on The Gaming Duo, we ask why Xbox still can’t win Game of the Year — even with Forza Horizon 6 landing a 92 on Metacritic. Is the industry biased against Xbox, or do racing games simply never get the same respect as cinematic AAA titles? Plus, Xbox officially becomes “XBOX,” two new controllers leak, and we discuss what all of this means for the future of the brand. All that and more, where friendships are built through gaming. 🎮 Support us on Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

What if GTA VI changes the price of gaming forever? On Episode 284, Kelvin and Rob dive into the biggest debate in the industry right now: will Rockstar actually charge $80 for GTA VI and what happens if they do? With Take-Two, Wall Street analysts, and even Nintendo helping push gaming toward a new pricing era, we break down whether gamers will accept it, who gets hurt most if $80 becomes the standard, and if Xbox Game Pass and PS Plus become even more important because of it. Plus: Nintendo shocks the internet with a surprise Star Fox Direct, bringing the franchise back with a remake of Star Fox 64 that has fans seriously divided. Are the new character designs a bold reinvention… or nightmare fuel? And speaking of Nintendo, the company officially raised the Switch 2 price to $500 but unlike Sony and Microsoft, they actually apologized. Does that goodwill matter, or is gaming just becoming too expensive across the board? This, and SO much more, on Episode 284 of The Gaming Duo where friendships are built through gaming. 🎮 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

What if Game Pass never existed? On Episode 283, Kelvin and Rob go down a rabbit hole into one of the great "what ifs" in modern gaming. Picture an alternate 2017 where Phil Spencer never launches Game Pass, Xbox doubles down on exclusives, and Halo, Starfield, Indiana Jones, and post-acquisition Call of Duty all stay locked to the green box. Does Xbox close the gap on PlayStation? Does Sony have to answer the bell? Or was multiplatform always the only real path forward? We debate both sides — and ask the bigger question: is Xbox's problem strategy, or execution? Plus: what we've been playing and the usual chaos. This, and SO much more, on Episode 283 of The Gaming Duo — where friendships are built through gaming. 🎮 Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

This week on The Gaming Duo, Xbox is making some of its biggest changes in years — and we’re breaking it all down with special guest Samurai Kibiji. New gaming CEO Asha Sharma lays out a bold mission for Xbox, focused on daily active players, affordability, and a more connected ecosystem across console, PC, and cloud. But with that comes some big questions… including whether Xbox is finally reconsidering its stance on exclusives. On top of that, Game Pass gets a major price cut — but not without a catch. Call of Duty is officially leaving day-one availability, marking a huge shift in strategy after years of being the service’s biggest selling point. Is this Xbox course-correcting… or still trying to figure itself out? We dive into all of it — what this means for the future of Xbox, whether Game Pass is still worth it, and if this is the start of a true identity shift for the brand. Check out Samurai Kibiji here: https://www.youtube.com/@SamuraiKibiji Check out our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

Check out Onix from The Gaming Resume: https://www.youtube.com/@Thegamingresume This week on The Gaming Duo, Kelvin is out on vacation, so Rob is joined by special guest Onix from The Gaming Resume for a deep dive into one of gaming’s biggest questions right now — do we actually own our games anymore? From the decline of physical media to the rise of digital libraries and cloud gaming, we break down what “ownership” really means in 2025. Are discs becoming collector’s items? Is convenience killing preservation? And what happens to your games when servers shut down? We also discuss: The shift from physical to digital and what it means for gamers Subscription services like Game Pass and the “rent vs. own” debate The growing problem of game preservation Who’s doing it right when it comes to protecting gaming history All that and more on this week’s episode of The Gaming Duo — where friendships are built through gaming. Please consider supporting The Gaming Duo on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/GamingDuoPod

🎙️ The Side Project Podcasthttps://linktr.ee/sideprojektpodcast This week on The Gaming Duo, we’re joined by a very special guest — Chazzy from The Side Project Podcast — for a full spoiler cast on the Super Mario Bros. Galaxy movie. Did Nintendo deliver something truly special, or did they play it a little too safe? We break down everything: our expectations going in, the full plot, standout characters and cameos, and whether this movie works as just a fun family film or something more. We also spotlight The Cosplay Awards, a brand-new celebration of the cosplay community that Chazzy is helping bring to life. All that, final grades, and more on this episode of The Gaming Duo — where friendships are built through gaming.

This week on The Gaming Duo, Nintendo might be building something big. With Fox McCloud showing up in the Super Mario Galaxy movie, the idea of a Nintendo Cinematic Universe suddenly feels real. On top of that, a trusted insider drops major leaks—Star Fox returning, a full Ocarina of Time remake, and no new 3D Mario until 2027. Meanwhile, Sony shocks everyone (again) by raising PS5 prices, with the PS5 Pro nearing $900… yeah, it’s getting wild. But in a surprising twist, Nintendo lowers digital game prices—so who’s really winning right now? We break it all down, plus what we’ve been playing and more. The Gaming Duo — where friendships are built through gaming. Linktree: https://linktr.ee/GamingDuoPod