The XboxCast

#NuNews: I Wanna Drive A Train!

Lee is internet famous. 
And he's not even a meme! 
 
Train Sim World 3 is coming to Game Pass! And boy are we excited! 
We have train names. And route names. And all the exciting details you need as you drive a train. After giving it so much stick last week, we're now super excited to drive a train. Are you getting excited with us? Because oh my word, this marketing blurb has all fired up.
 
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is getting a brand new rogue-lite (or is it roguelike?) experience. From new weapons, to new baddies, to new maps. Maybe the new Creed game is not actually coming out as Valhalla becomes Destiny 2... Jump into The Forgotten Saga and earn in-game memories. 
The Ascent is getting some DLC! Finally! Swords! Stories! More top-down cyberpunk action. What more could you want? And it's only $10. So come on guys, jump on it. Lee will love you forever. 
 
Unity is partnering with Microsoft. What does this mean? We don't know, thanks to all the corporate speak. But it doesn't stop us from being tentatively excited... Surely this means something, but what? Don't ask us, because we don't know... 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#GameFace! Undercover Mischief

Top tip of the week: turn it off and on again and then turn it upside down. 
It's all to do with gravity and other science words. 
 
#backToYourBacklog continues! Simone is now getting to grips with a household of crazy Sims. How do the patrons behave when left alone? Has anyone drowned in the pool yet? And who is the flirtiest patron? So many questions, not many answers. But at least The Sims makes for some fantastic stories! 
 
Lee and Simone nerd out about Control. Apparently, there's a fridge that needs looking after. Lee tests how far he can fall before the game says no. And to break up all the Control playing, he even checks out Far Cry 3. How does it hold up after 10 plus years? And has he gotten better at avoiding enemies since last week?
 
Kyle is suffering through Breathedge. But at least it gives him an excuse to rant and rave. So of course, from one space game to another, he's back into No Mans Sky. And shooting poor NPC's who just want to mine some asteroids... 
 
Now it's your turn! Tell us what you're playing using the hashtag #back2YourBacklog. 
And if you need a reminder of the events throughout the year, we have a very handy calendar on our website! 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#NuNews: Purple Matching Mounting Pets

Are you ready to be showered with only the newest news? 
Wash your hair with it? Solve all your problems? At least we can solve your news problems! 
 
Lee is debating on what Pixel phone to buy. Should he go for the 6A, or wait for the 7? And can he slip it into his bag and avoid New Zealand's Customs? Whatever he decides, it's about time he upgrades. Can we get him to upgrade to an iPhone? Or an iPad? We're sure he'll love being in the Apple Ecosystem! 
 
Sony have come out and said how great of a deal Activision Blizzard would be for Xbox. In fact, they showered Call of Duty with so much praise, it's probably going to be in the next advertising campaign. Meanwhile, Xbox has been telling the regulators that "there is nothing special about CoD" and it's "not a system seller". Looks like the war of words is going to heat up as the deal gets closer and closer to closing... 
 
Bungie has gone radio silent, and it's all due to the community turning toxic, sending death threats to the devs. And we can't believe we have to say it (again). If you're sending death threats to the developers, maybe it's time to step away from the game. Just take a break. Go touch come grass. Maybe find another hobby?
 
The Ascent is now a year old and earned over $5 million in its first week alone! Now we're getting an expansion for this game. Lee is stoked. Wildlands is now on GamePass! This is quite exciting - Ubisoft games coming to the service could only mean Microsoft is going to buy them. Right? Right? 
 
Have you ever wanted to use a TV as a monitor? Because we have an indepth review of using the LG C2 for just that purpose. And you can read the review here.
 
We'll be at PAX! Now is your chance to meet us! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
If you'd like to support the podcast, we're looking for your time, talent, or treasure.
However you want to give back, it's open to you. 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that follow us.
 
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#GameFace! Fish Facts!

#back2YourBacklog is here! 
Are you excited? Because we're excited! 
 
August's event is upon us once again. #back2YourBacklog sees us going into our backlog to play (and hopefully finish) a game that's we've been meaning to play for a while, but have not started up. That's right, August is the month for starting that game you never got around to. What will you play? 
 
Simone has landed on The Sims 4. And in typical XboxCast fashion, the Sim's household is already in a state of fantastic chaos. Who made it into the house to live with us? What are their traits? And who doesn't like wearing pants? 
Lee wanted to play Control. So, he started up a completely unrelated game. Because of reasons. Do you think his excuse is justified? Or does he need to pay penance? 
Kyle is trying two games this August. After much convincing, he's finally jumping into Breathedge - a space survival type game. Similar to Subnautica. Hopefully he can finish this game before August is over... And in typical Kyle fashion, he has set his aspirations too high again and hopes to get into Chorus too. Why does he keep doing this to himself? 
 
Now it's your turn! Tell us what you're playing using the hashtag #back2YourBacklog. 
And if you need a reminder of the events throughout the year, we have a very handy calendar on our website! 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#NuNews: EA NotFIFA ’23

Lee has been on a movie buying binge.
Kyle has been eating cake. We all know who's winning. 
 
2K has decided to take a few games away. And was there any announcement? Or did they just delist them from the store? Without any fanfare, WWE 2K20 and older are disappearing from the stores, servers are being shut down, and 2K are trying to pull a jedi mind trick on all of us. What do you mean there was a WWE 2K19? You must be dreaming. Que the hand wave... 
 
No Man's Sky is getting their 20th expansion! Endurance is leaning into the Star Trek vibes by overhauling freights and carriers and so many other things. You can now staff your freight fleet and send them on missions and are you ready to lose another week or more to this game? But with all these updates, where does Starfield find itself? Is there enough to differentiate the two? We maintain they are both different games, and the more people playing space games the better! 
 
We have a bunch of top tips of the week for you. But we need someone to sing this for us. Can you sing? We'd love to have you introduce Top Tip of The Week! Our top tips are not so much top tips as in more of a remember - your Xbox can do X. Isn't that amazing! And in the good news part of the show - your Xbox is about to become faster. At least by 5 seconds faster! And they did it by shortening the startup animation. 
 
Did you get a $16 voucher from Xbox? Lee got one. Gary got one. Cooper got one.
Almost everyone but Kyle got one. It's beginning to look personal. 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
If you'd like to support the podcast, we're looking for your time, talent or treasure.
How ever you want to give back, its open to you. 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that follow us.
 
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#GameFace! The Game Giveaway Episode! (Finally)

We did it guys! 
We reached 100 subscribers on YouTube and now we can give away some games! 
 
If you have been listening for more than 3 minutes, you'll know that we were doing a massive push to get to 100 subs on YouTube so we can get a nice new fancy URL. Well, thanks to your help, we finally did it. And because we did it, we can now give away those games we promised! 
 
The winners are... 
N1ck283 won Quantum Break
ThatKidQuinn won Sunset Overdrive
Toast is just burnt bread won Satisfactory
and Liz Nes won Back 4 Blood
 
The one month of PC Game Pass goes to Isaac for his fantastic comment about how much he loves the website! 
 
Well done everyone! 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#NuNews: Bring on The Robots!

We're supposed to be reading the news to you. 
But instead, we're going to torture you with stories about really good fish and chips... 
 
The charts have not changed in a while, with Fall Guys still being number one... But something is creeping towards taking the number one spot. 
What game would you want to be remastered? Or a dormant IP that you want to come back? Well, we spend far too much time going over what games we want to see get the next-gen treatment or make a comeback. Total Annihilation needs to come back. No arguments! We'd be keen to hear what you think.
Obsidian's Grounded is getting an animated series, but already has some big names attached to it. 
 
A feature on Xbox has still not made it to Windows PC's and we nerd out explaining what it is and why. Kyle calls for Microsoft to break backwards-compat in Windows, and actually make a great OS. Lee is not so sure. But just think of what could happen if they decide to do it... If you like your Xbox podcasts with a lot of nerd and hardware tech talk, then this is for you! 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#GameFace! Sad Game September?

Impromptu event! Get your terrible games out of the way. 
And spend September crying. 
 
We're thinking of a month where you play really bad games. One month of really bad games to get them off the backlog. Sad Game September is born! And we'll promptly forget about it, so only participate if you want. Or remember. Or want to remind us all to suffer. 
 
Lee does not like Fall Guys. In fact, he thinks it's a stupid game. We think it's because he doesn't win. But isn't winning just the friends we made along the way? He's also not a fan of Gears. Or Matchpoint Tennis. What does he like? Nobody knows... 
 
Kyle is still hunting for the perfect pants in CyberPunk. And he's probably going to be stuck there for a while. But the best thing is all the mini-world building stories you find along the way. From rockers whose gigs when off the rails, to corpos trying to escape Night City and things going horribly wrong. But the good news is that they no longer need that hat. So... yoink! 
 
And the whole Cast is still neck deep in Naraka. Has it gotten harder? We seem to think so. Looks like the balancing act between PC and console was favored towards Xbox, and now it has swung the other way. Which brings an end to the amazing winning streak we had going. But that aside, we're still playing and still Ninja Simulator-ing everywhere! 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. 
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter
 

#NuNews: #GolfFace!

Kyle has the best golf words. He knows exactly how to golf. 
 
Lee very patiently explains golf to Kyle as the podcast immediately goes off track. But were you expecting anything different? It's not like you're listening for Xbox news. Who would make such a rookie mistake! Come for the Xbox news, stay for the golf chat. If you become the next Tiger Woods, you can thank us later. 
 
The charts continue to surprise us as Fortnite has yet to reclaim its no.1 space. Unfortunately, GTA V is still hanging about. But we do have some new entries, which we shall watch with interest. Everyone is still slightly obsessed with Naraka, so we may begin covering more Naraka news. And we begin with their Fall Guys cross over event! Yes, you read that right - Fall Guys in Ninja Simulator 2022. Because of course! 
 
Skull & Bones is official, totally real and coming out soon! Set in the Indian Ocean, we have a wealth of news all about this game. You feed your boat, and keep your pirate chums happy. Or they'll mutiny! And we can't have that. It messes with getting brunch. 
Xbox Cloud Gaming looks worse on Linux in a total non-surprise move. Who would have thought Microsoft Cloud Gaming would prefer Microsoft Edge on Microsoft Windows? Lucky for you, we have a way to work around it. But if you're using Linux and listening to us, please let us know. We have some questions for you... 
 
For the new games, we have Power Wash Simulator! Thats it, we can all go home. Pack it up, it will never get better. 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter 

#GameFace! The 300th Episode!

We have reached 300 episodes! 
Let's rejoice! By insulting the other hosts of the podcast... 
 
Kyle and Lee have a hidden talent. They happen to be good at Naraka Bladepoint! Like really good. Like surprisingly good. Almost competition level! Is this the start of talking about Naraka every episode? Let's hope not. But you should still play! It's great fun, and slightly technical. Top tip of the week: dual blades. Dual blades murder all. Use them. 
 
Simone is busy cleaning houses in House Flipper, scrubbing windowsills, selling ladders, and not picking up cars. In between, she's leaving her fate up to TrueAchievements random To-Do list! As in, playing random games that TA says you should play. What crazy is this? 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. 
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter
 

#NuNews: Fedora Vs Beanie

We present the newest news you could news. 
Fresh from the wellspring of news. 
 
Do we need Ski Free to be remastered, ray traced and re-released? Kyle thinks we do. How good would the 4-bit game look in 4K! You can't deny you'd play it. We all would. And it would all the game awards. 
 
Fall Guys has knocked off Fortnite for the second week in a row! There is much rejoicing! How does XCloud Game Streaming work on the new Samsung TVs? And What TV do you even need? We break down all the steps it takes to get it working... And you may want to take notes. Spoiler alert: it's not easy. But in some good news, it means you don't need to wait for Xboxes to come back into stock. 
 
Kyle and Lee get way too much into tennis thanks to Match Point coming out and onto Game Pass on Day 1. We may just become The SportCast at the end of this! And for everyone that doesn't really know much about tennis, be prepared to be educated. You'll love our deep knowledge of the sport.  
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. 
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.
 
The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter
 

#GameFace! And There Was Much Rejoicing

We're celebrating 300 episodes!
And you're invited to the Live Stream celebration! 
 
Oh, and we can now give away those games for our #GreatGameGiveaway! We have reached the 100-subscriber threshold on YouTube, and we'll be doing it on our 300th Live Stream Celebration. Come join us, and help celebrate being a part of this amazing journey. 
 
We're wrapping up #BackToYourBacklog and highlighting the fantastic efforts of the community. It's amazing to see how many people stuck within the spirit of the challenge, and how much Kyle didn't. 
Simone managed to complete Maneater and The Division 2! With Kyle's help of course. And Lee's help. Oh, and Jester was there too... 
 
And now we're looking towards August, and #back2YourBacklog2.
What game will you start? And will you finish it? 
 
We'll be at PAX! Will you be at PAX? Do you want to be at PAX? And do you want to meet us? Now is your chance! We may even have some sneaky stickers to give away... Speaking of stickers - check out our merch!
 
Remember to pay the fee - if you got any value out of this podcast, share it! Word of mouth is how we grow. And if you really like what we do, consider supporting us on Patreon! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. 
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us.The Official XboxCast Website
 
For everything else, including everywhere our podcast is hosted, check out our LinkTree! 
 
--
Your hosts are:
 
Kyle: XarCrius on Xbox and Twitter
Lee: Leehoward on Xbox and Twitter (and check him out on Twitch)
Simone: GymBeanNZ on Xbox and Twitter