Advertise on podcast: The Bobby Blackwolf Show

I was on Jury Duty on an 8 day case. Nothing about video games and nothing really juicy, but it was a drain on me. Amazon is shutting down parts of Luna, taking away people's access to games they paid for, and not offering any refunds. The indie developer behind Papers, Please has come out and stated that they will no longer talk about new projects because they are afraid that AI will take them and release something worse before he can be finished. Nintendo is deleting Super Mario Maker 2 levels because they contain hashtags for Mario Maker communities - claiming it is advertising and against the Terms of Service. A chatter says that they miss Video Games Live - but Video Games Live has several shows this year, including one this month. Then we talk to Jamie from OLR IIDX about cats and game streaming services.

Stormgate, an indie online multiplayer game, is shutting down its online servers because their provider, Hathora, has been purchased by Fireworks AI who are turning the online game servers into AI servers. Rec Room is shutting down in June, despite having over 150 million players. Snapchat's parent company has purchased some of Rec Room's assets and hired some of the talent to help them foster an online community. Then we talk to Jamie from OLR about April Fools jokes that didn't fool us this year.

EverQuest Legends has been announced - a version of EverQuest that goes back to 1999 but adds features to allow the entire game to be soloable. Sony is increasing the PS5 price by $100 to $150 due to the AI infrastructure roll out taking all of the RAM and storage away from consumer products. Epic Games lays off 1000 Fortnite developers, including leads who were influential in Fortnite's continued success, because their legal fights with Apple and Google took more money than they thought. Then we talk to Jamie from OLR about our desired nostalgia bait.

My first job was at Blockbuster Video, so I had to try Retro Rewind: Video Store Simulator. The Metaverse is no longer in VR - according to Meta - they are moving Horizon Worlds off of VR and onto mobile. Nvidia announced DLSS 5 and a vocal part of the internet rallied against it...but what about the majority that aren't terminally online? Bethesda reacted to the reactions and said they would be looking at the tech more before implementing it. Then we talk to DarkSakura about generative AI and where it might be able to be used ethically.

We do start talking about retro computing with the Commodore 64 Ultimate - especially navigating BBS's in 2026 and how they differ from the standard internet we are used to today. "Major Nelson" Larry Hryb, formerly of Xbox and Unity, has joined Commodore as a Community Development Advisor. Zen Studios announced that their line of Zen Pinball software is being renamed, and that World Cup Soccer is being delisted at the end of March. EA has laid off a number of developers that worked on Battlefield 6 despite it breaking records - reportedly because it didn't break the records by enough. Then we talk to Jamie from OLR about why you should play World Cup Soccer Pinball.

I finally got my Commodore 64 Ultimate Starlight Edition! It's probably the best thing I'll buy all year, but it might not be for you. Valve say that the Steam Machine is still coming this year, just a little bit later than they had hoped. Nintendo is suing the US Government over the 2025 tariffs that affected the Switch 2 launch. Then we talk to Jamie about FPGA based recreations of retro hardware.

The Muppet*Vision 3D experience from the Disney parks is coming to the Apple Vision Pro - and other VR devices. A game archival site is going to go offline because it cannot afford to stay online due to various factors including the increasing cost of RAM and storage due to the global AI infrastructure roll-out. The State of New York is suing Valve over their use of loot boxes, possibly hoping to set a legal precedent to go after larger corporations with deeper pockets and better lawyers. Then we talk to Jamie from OLR about loot boxes and the "gaming" industry.

I was at Dice & Diversions and played a bunch of board games, and I talk about two of them - Magical Athlete, and Draft & Write Records. The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack's Virtual Boy collection has released, and I did buy the $100 piece of plastic to get the headaches I remember. There was a shakeup at Xbox - CEO Phil Spencer retired, President Sarah Bond resigned, and Asha Sharma, a former AI executive, is now CEO. Then we talk to Jamie about the Xbox shakeup and how we can be cautiously optimistic - IF they learn from their mistakes.

At the Sony State of Play, there was a new Digital Eclipse collection released for Rayman's 30th Anniversary - and I didn't get it on launch, going back on my word that their collections were now day one purchases. Steam Decks are now out of stock and Valve doesn't know when they'll be able to manufacture more. This is most likely because of the RAM shortage because AI companies have already ordered more RAM than factories can produce right now. Because of this, the Steam Machine and Steam Frame are also delayed and will not launch in the first quarter of 2026 like originally announced. Riot Games has laid off the majority of the team that built 2KXO two weeks after the game left early access. What is the actual plan for live service games to keep their teams after releasing the core product? Then we talk to Jamie at OLR about the new Stern Pinball release - Pokemon.

I spend the first part of the show excited about my Commodore 64 Ultimate shipping this month and talk about my favorite C64 game as a kid that most people had never heard of - Agent USA. (It wasn't that great.) There is a class action lawsuit in the UK against Valve over their 30% fee on every transaction, and I explain why Valve is the target right now and not any of the other storefronts that also have a 30% fee. Sony has patented a controller that has movable buttons on a touchscreen, and I talk about why it will be great as an option, but not a replacement for tactile buttons. Then we talk to OLR about accessible controllers.

Dice and Diversions, a tabletop/board gaming convention in Atlanta, has been postponed to February due to the ice storm. Forza Horizon 6 was shown off on the Xbox Developer Direct, but no, you will not be flying a Gundam. I got the PlayStation VR2 PC Adapter, and getting the controllers to work over Bluetooth was a multi-day struggle. A VR mod for Cyberpunk 2077 was removed due to CD Projekt Red not allowing the modder to charge money for it. Ubisoft cancels six games and delays seven others in order to concentrate on what they think players want. Then we talk to OLR about the Cyberpunk 2077 mod and about launching the second season of the long running podcast.

I was going to be at a tabletop/board game convention next weekend in Atlanta called Dice & Diversions, however mid-week it was postponed to Feburary. An Alternate Reality Game released on Steam in 2018 recently got a lot of negative reviews for being "too hard" because apparently younger people can't send an email correctly. Meta has exited the VR Gaming business, shutting down three of its VR gaming studio acquisitions. Meta is also refocusing its remaining VR studios to be more AI and wearable devices focused, rather than with VR. Then we talk to Jamie about the upcoming debut of Orange Lounge Radio IIDX and where Meta went wrong.

I am back from Awesome Games Done Quick 2026, where we raised over $2.4 million for the Prevent Cancer Foundation! I talk about the runs that I hosted, and even quasi-commentated, as was the case with the maimai DX PRiSM Plus arcade showcase. I also talk about AGDQ's move to Atlanta for 2027, and why the city is more welcoming than many people not from around here are led to believe. LEGO has announced a "smart brick" at CES, which has no generative AI but will allow for more technology to be put into certain builds.

I'm hosting at Awesome Games Done Quick 2026 next week! We remember Vince Zampella, who we tragically lost this week. He was a force in the gaming industry, even if you weren't someone who regularly played the games he brought to us. Nvidia has announced that a 100 hour per month limit is coming to ALL GeForce Now customers starting January 1st, where previously it was only for new subscribers. I took a look at Daytona USA VR in VRChat and discussed why VRChat is the metaverse billionaires wanted.

I'm hosting at Awesome Games Done Quick 2026 the first week of January - tune in! I'm also hosting the English Restream of RTA In Japan Winter 2025 THIS WEEK! Reviews are out for the Commodore 64 Ultimate, and I wish I had bought one earlier so I would have it now. The Video Game History Foundation has released a bunch of ROMs of the 90's era Sega Channel, so you can relive the 90's goodness on your own emulator. Some of Arcade1up's assets have been sold to competitor Basic Fun! who entered the home arcade business earlier this year. The Indie Game Awards have revoked Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's awards due to the use of generative AI in development. Then we take a call about generative AI usage in the world.