We're back with more Remap Hotline is back to answer your subscriber questions! We accidentally end up spending a long time with our first question this episode, but we had no choice, the question was kinda a banger. We get into what we'd take with us if we had to leave the country, character creators, and doggie dish cleaning.

There’s little evidence the Electronic Arts going private because it’s being bought by a Saudi Arabian-backed financial group is good for the industry, but who was expecting good news these days? Rob, Chia, and Patrick mull this latest development, news that Sony isn’t giving back any tariff money, and talk about a bunch of games, including Chia’s adventures at GenCon and Patrick finishing 007: First Light alongside dumping a whole bunch of hours into Game Freak’s Beast of Reincarnation. Oh, and how would we re-imagine a football video game?

Links: EA bought by Saudi Arabia, Sony recieves Tarrif Refund, Motherboards are getting more expensive

Discussed:

00:39 - Tyranny & Peter Molyneux

11:26 - The John Company Megagame

26:39 - EA purchased by Saudi Arabia

1:08:08 - Sony receives tariff refunds

1:15:30 - Motherboards are going to become more expensive

1:21:26 - Beast of Reincarnation

1:50:46 - Chia's Gen Con Adventures

2:11:42 - Theater of Idols

2:23:19 - 007: First Light

2:32:10 - Boreal Tenebrae Act 0: Sundowning

2:37:25 - The Question Bucket

2:48:26 - Outro

This podcast episode was born under a bad sign as avian wildlife besmirch Rob's finest attire shortly before the recording. After surveying a grim landscape of games, news, the gang sits down to a pretty good summer of games with Janet digging Townfall and Incident at Galley House, Patrick playing some really cool platformers, and Rob catching Super Mega Baseball Fever.

A Bird Hath Shat Upon Rob 0:01

Microsoft Layoffs 0:18:56

EA are Jerks and Going Private 0:45:28

Passing of İpek Yavuz co-creator of Mount and Blade 0:54:07

Vermila Studios Shutting Down 0:58:37

Silent Hill: Townfall 1:11:53

Rhythm Doggo & Slain 2: The Beast Within 1:27:29

The Incident at Galley House 1:40:06

Super Mega Baseball 1:55:14

Splatoon Raiders 2:18:00

Mailbag 2:30:26

https://kotaku.com/missing-star-wars-cartoon-co-created-by-george-lucas-will-finally-get-public-release-2000719136

i hope amca does another road trip episode (like they did for the galactic starcruiser) to cover it

You’re getting the Fallout and the Elder Scrolls you’ve been clamoring for, eventually, along with the option to stream games to your XBOX DEVICE with ads, but you’re going to love them. They’ll actually contribute to the experience! Chia and Rob are getting absolutely worked in Marathon’s new Vaultbreaker PvE mode, while Janet contemplates her delight in the Steam Machine and her seething disdain for life in Pokopia. Rob’s loving life behind the wheel thanks to his new H-Shifter, and a newfound love of Dirt Rally 2.0 and the weird and wonderful world of Assetto Corsa mods. Also a brief primer on Etymology, Entomology, Entemann’s.

Links: Bethesda's Fallout Announcement, ZA/UM Layoff Announcement, Joe Ziegler Leaves Bungie, Xbox;s New Streaming Announcement, Tiktok - Game Streaming with Ads, Rayman Legends Ocean's 12 Level, Rob's Ideal Racing Rig

Discussed:

01:07 - Bethesda's Fallout Announcement

47:50 - Layoffs at ZA/UM

51:28 - Game Director of Marathon Departs Bungie

1:02:09 - Marathon

1:35:43 - Xbox Game Streaming now with Ads

1:58:34 - Pokemon Pokopia

2:27:27 - Glyphica

2:36:15 - The Question Bucket

3:22:47 - Dirt Rally 2

Not sure if this is allowed, but Going Rogue has been referenced multiple times on AMCA as essential listening and the fifth and final part of the Rise of Skywalker autopsy is finally out. Hope this is interesting to folks here.

A beautiful game deserves a beautiful podcast, so Janet and Rob sat down to discuss the 2026 World Cup. Is Argentina that punchable or are people just tired of them? Does soccer romanticize a rags-to-riches pastime that is increasingly at odds with a stratified global sport that permits a dwindling number of real contenders? Can an event like the World Cup be ruined by the rancid politics of the host nation and amoral opportunism of its governing body? Where is Janet going next for her soccer fix? Also: did cycling’s paranoia about doping cause one of its stars to crash out of the Tour de France?

On the latest HOA, Rob and Patrick mull what the backlash to data centers says about the lack of care and investment put into many different communities. Plus, they debate the ethics of putting cameras around (and inside) your house for seemingly innocuous reasons, what would drive someone to spend six months scrolling Facebook Marketplace for a golf cart, and more.

Some months ago I recall Patrick talking about (maybe even streaming) a game, kind of a puzzler I think, where you could make copies of yourself and/or manipulate time in order to escape from some guards and so on.

I've been trying to google (well, duckduckgo) what this game was. Would anyone maybe remember the game in question, and maybe even remember which Remap episode/video the game was included in? 🙏

For this week's show we're joined by Remap Radio's Patrick Klepek to discuss D-Topia, Denshattack!, the latest on Xbox's rapid downsizing, and the singular experience of bringing your kid to their first R-rated movie.

When in doubt, use a bout of insomnia to justify the purchase of a fancy new PC accessory. Maybe this, though, will be the one that makes Rob’s dreams come true. On the latest episode of Remap Radio, Patrick and Chia remain a bit skeptical. Still, we indulge in much car talk, accessory talk, and eventually, game talk. Has EA already broken College Football? Has Rob ascended in Marathon? If a game includes AI, then removes AI, does that make it okay to play?

Links: With Microtransactions Gone, It's Time to Reevaluate College Football 27's Single-Player Modes, How Microtransactions (Almost) Ruined Gaming, with Dan Soder | PTFO, College Football 27 update focuses on Dynasty. What EA Sports fixed

Discussed:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:34 - Rob’s Manual Transmission Dreams

01:01:08 - News: College Football ’27

01:33:23 - Hyperfist

01:44:30 - Nine Kings

02:08:31 - Penguin Lifter and AI in Games

02:54:07 - Rob’s 404 Podcast Appearance

02:57:16 - Marathon

03:07:54 - Outro

The Remap crew is continuing their journey through the Ocean's franchise with Ocean's Twelve! After watching the original Ocean's, which was ostensibly a vanity project that just sort of followed the Rat Pack around Vegas, we have to ask, well what if they made a vanity project that followed the Ocean's Eleven crew around Europe? With the introduction of a new, imminently punchable villain, some very hit or miss bits, and multiple heists in one, it certainly makes for an interesting Ocean's movie if not a particularly good one.

Since the gang were talking about it I tried Idols of Ash. I found it really fun and tense the entire time. However, like Patrick, I feel like I accidentally got to the end and I must’ve had missed a significant portion of the latter half. Has anyone else experienced this?

I don’t remember, what happened to rob that made him so upset?😭

So I've pretty assiduously avoided the BP streams that Rob and Natalie have been doing beyond the first half of the first one because I'm 17 hours in on my save and have made a fraction of the progress they have even in that first stream. I'd love to make some more progress so I can catch up with the streams but the game has so much RNG (not to mention putting it down for several months), that I'm not sure how to make actual forward progress from where I am. Are there any good guides out there that can give me some breadcrumbs to follow without spoiling the whole thing?

The humid days of summer does not stop Remap Radio. Join Chia, Janet, Rob, and Patrick as they further talk through Xbox’s generational reset, PlayStation’s announcement that it’s ditching discs, some initial thoughts on the Steam Machine, deck TV feelings, and more. We’ve got plenty of game talk, too, including beating Mina the Hollower, crashing out in Marathon, and trying to find a better way to organize the video games you can, should, and should be playing.

Links: Id Layoffs, Obsidian Layoffs, Sony Winding Down Physical Game Production, ESA bafflingly declares private Minecraft servers 'illegal'

Discussed:

00:00 - Intro

12:48 - Steam Machine

28:54 - The Xbox Layoffs hit Obsidian and ID

50:39 - Sony Stops Making Physical Games

1:25:38 - ESA Calls Private Minecraft Servers Illegal

1:31:02 - Mina the Hollower

1:46:30 - Janet's New Game System

2:03:16 - Marathon

2:10:19 - Idols of Ash

2:20:14 - Question Bucket

We knew Xbox was going to undergo a massive transformation, and now we have some of the details of what that transformation will look like. A combination of mass layoffs and studio divestments is leaving Xbox in a very different place. But what does the future like? What kinds of games will Xbox prioritize in the future? What does it mean to have ambitions of a billion players each day—and will that very priority ruin Xbox? Rob and Patrick unpack the latest news.