#240: The Xboxcast's Game Awards For 2018

Its the last official episode for The Xboxcast, and since everyone else is doing it, we will do it too! Presenting The Xboxcast's Game Awards for 2018. How exciting is this? Answer: its very exciting. 
 
Like any typical award show, the categories are made up and the points don't matter. With that in mind we don't have a clear winner or loser, or even nominations. We go purely by personal preference. Because that way, we can't be wrong! Its a complete win-win situation.
 
The categories we have chosen to talk about for our award show this year are... (drum roll please)- Biggest surprise of 2018- Best story
- Best (or biggest) time sink (any guesses for Lee's answer?)- Best looking (because who doesn't like eye candy?)
- Best multiplayer game- Best score
- Best mobile game (because sometimes we do game on the go)
- Your holiday game (we all have that one in our backlog)
- What are you looking forward to in 2019
- Our honorable mention list (we all have those great games that didn't make the cut) 
- Anti Game of the Year
And finally
- Game of the Year 2018 as decided by each of us
 
Reminder: These are the games that we played this year and not the games that came out this year...
 
Thank you guys for listening. Its been a pleasure to have you along for the ride! We hope to see you all in 2019 with even better, funnier and many more stories about our gaming adventures. Or lack thereof. Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We'll see you on Xbox Live! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#239: Some Fish Are Copyrighted

We have a podcast, and we think its awesome. 
 
Spyro is back, in a fantastic remaster, and Simone has gone all hands on with it! Does he fly the same? Is he the same colour? Whats the airspeed of an unlaiden swallow? She knows the answers to all these and more! 
Lee tries his hand at Ducati 90th Anniversary and finds two wheels less impressive than four, while Kyle tries to stream The Solus Project and have it fail misseribly (but its still up if you want to see what went wrong!)
 
Lee was also alone when he tried Thomas is Alone - a game about sentient blocks. Its a lot more entertaining than it sounds, trust us. 
 
For the exciting news, Microsoft have given their new studios what seems like an unlimited budget to realize their wildest dreams and make the game they have always wanted to make. If that doesn't get you excited, nothing will! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#238: All Our Bases In Different Places

With the internet having a meltdown, and everyone else suffering from the fallout, we have arrived to bring some much needed perspective into your lives. Nothing is as bad as it seems, not even Lee's face.
 
Simone is away, so what better time to rope Paul on and have him tell us about Fallout 76. From what he thinks, to how hes found some bugs and even some cool environmental storytelling - Paul does a great job of making Fallout 76 sound like it belongs in the fallout universe. Remember to tell us what you guys think. Is Paul off the mark, or is the internet just its usual, whiny self?
 
Lee plays a lot of games. Like a lot a lot. Like just when you think it shouldn't be possible for a working man to play so many games, Lee plays one more. We're not even angry, we're impressed. The Turning Test shows Lee what we all suspected, Grip doesn't hold Lee's attention, Unravel makes him come apart at the seams and of course there is some Destiny and Forza Horizon 4 to add some variety. 
 
Farming Simulator 19 has us all excited to play this week. Its not a joke. Farming co-op with your friends sounds amazing. And there is a little game called Battlefield V that was released this week. 
 
For some news, we talk about the Xbox diskless rumor and why its a good idea, PixARK is free and the backCompat team show us how far they can go technologically with the release of Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox One!
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter, Xboxand Mixer
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter, Xboxand Mixer
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#237: XO18 eXcitement!

Do you like the new news, like Lee likes the nu-news?
Well you're in luck! This episode is news from start to finish. Everything Xbox announced at XO18 is discussed and dissected by our panel of judges - those being Kyle and Lee of course. 
 
XO18 took place in Mexico City and was chockfull of announcements - from new studios joining the Microsoft family, to updates and expansions for existing games, and even a bucket load of games coming to Game Pass. 
 
We even take a deepish dive into the tech behind Crackdown 3 and what it means for the future of Xbox and gaming.
 
Also, remember to take a photo of you gaming with a buddy and hashtag it #GiveWithXbox! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox and now Mixer
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#236: A Victim Of Winning $1,00,000

And now for something, completely the same. 
 
Exactly the same, except Lee has decided to play *all* the games! From Battlefield 1 to Fallout 4, Gears of War to Fallout 76. And almost everything in-between. We hear Lee's trepidation at Fallout 76, and who can blame him? Kyle wonders how Sea of Thieves remains so vague with their quest giving, but still gets so excited about Gears of War 4. 
 
For new games, we get a Grip on Hitman 2, MechaNika and Scalextrix. So many new games this week! Steel Rats tries to take the title for the most buzz words used in a game description. 
 
Big game news was teased for XO18 and we are beyond hyped! And Red Dead has earned all the money in the world. Thats it. No more money. We can all go home...
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#235: All Those Murders Were Accidents

Better late than never, right? 
 
This is out Shocktober But For Realsies episode. Or at least it would have been, if the game devs decided to come out and play. In stead, its a pretty normal week with only two 'scary' games launching, and most Halloween themed things taking place in games... 
 
Joined by our spare warm corpse, Jeremy (due to Lee being slack), Simone is back at Red Dead Redemption (the first one) and she entertains us with some fantastic stories. And Kyle has a horror story about his Xbox One X... 
 
This is our very normal, Halloween episode, that might not be very Halloween-y. But who cares, because we still have fun! Yay!
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 
Special Warm Corpse:
Jeremy: Pythagean on Twitter and Xbox 

#234: My Gun Is My Passport

Simone's inner cowboy has come out, and his name - John Marston. 
 
Thats right - Read Dead Redemption 2 has come out, so we're celebrating the best way working gamers do - by playing through our backlog. It just happens that Red Dead Redemption is the one Simone is enjoying at the moment! 
 
And since we're so close to Halloween, we have a very normal Shocktober Episode for you here. To keep with the theme (and because as the memo writer, he's the only one to get the memo...) Kyle played Manual Samuel - a fantastic little game that's on Game Pass at the moment. 
 
We go over the few games that have decided to come out on the same week as RDR2, those brave souls. 
 
In the news, Kyle goes on a rant about the new avatars, Game Pass gets some Halloween themed games, The Orange Box gets a 4K makeover on the One X and  Battlefield 5 lets you play as a Nazi? Whaaa? 
 
All this, and more on this weeks episode of The Xboxcast. 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#233: The Xboxcast & Jeremy

Simone is being slack. So lets talk to Jeremy! 
And what should we talk about? I am glad you asked. 
 
Forza Horizon 4! 
 
Its not like any other games exist right about now... 
We dive into some cool Forza stats, and spend way to long going on about the drifitng and the sound of crashing into the walls. Its great!
 
And then as per usual, its new games, some gaming news - like For Honor getting a really pretty graphics update - and giving Jeremy a very hard time. But don't worry. He gives it right back. 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 
Special guest:
Jeremy: Pythagean Twitter and Xbox 

#232: WARFACE!

In case you haven't heard, Warface is coming to Xbox One... After coming to Xbox 360 in 2013. Its ok, we don't understand either. 
 
Simone is still Red Deading it up, Lee has finished the Forsaken story, and all three of us are still only slightly obsessed with Forza Horizon 4. 
 
Call of Duty: Black Ops Quadruple I is here to crush what remains of PUBG, and it brings a heap of ID@Xbox friends along. There really is something for everyone this week. 
 
What has really gotten us excited this week is the news of Project xCloud - the new game streaming project Microsoft announced. We talk the possible tech behind this and what ot means for the game industry while rumors of Obsidian being sold to Microsoft are flying about. And to add a cheery to the tip of this wek - Forza Horizon 4 is the fastest selling game of the series so far! 
 
(You really should be playing it buy now!)
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed.
Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us
 
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#231: The Xboxcar's Forzathon

With the smell of petrol in the air, and the arrival of cars that cost more than your house, we can safely assume its Forza season! 
Thats right, Forza Horizon 4 has arrived, and its even on GamePass on Day 1! You have no excuse for not playing it. 
 
In this very special normal episode, join Kyle and Lee as they talk about their experience in what is the arguably the best racing game ever made. 
Did they enjoy it? What was good? What was great? And what blew the doors off? 
 
This is our Forzathon. A semi deep dive into the Forza Horizon 4 experience. 
 
--
You can follow The Xboxcast all over the internet
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#230: A Lack Of Leather Pants

No more fancy intros. Nothing different about the hosts. This is a 100% normal episode. There is nothing to be afraid of. 
 
Have you heard of Abzu? Well you will now. Its on GamePass so you have no excuse for not playing. On a completely unrelated note, guess what Kyle has been playing? Lee, of course has been playing Destiny 2 Forsaken - shout out to Northstar for adopting us into their clan! 
 
This week we have a ton of games that will, have, or are about to launch. Dakar 18, Fifa 19, Valkyria Chronicles 4 and this little indoe racing game - Forza Horizon 4. Well Forza for the people who pre-ordered. The rest of us have to wait till next week. We are so hyped for this game!
 
In the news, we have exciting new games coming to GamePass with Wolfenstein and Metro 2033! Mouse and keyboard support is headed to the land of Xbox. Not top sure how to feel about this one... And of course, all the Destiny news you can handle... Thanks Lee! 
 
--
If you liked this episode, don't feel ashamed. Rather, join the dozens of others that are following us:
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer
 

#229: Just Ignore My Hands

Are you ready for some news? Because thats all we're doing in this one! 
Oh, and Lee has played a little indie game, not sure you'll ever hear of it - Call of Duty: Black Ops 4! 
 
Final Fantasy's are coming to Xbox, and we couldn't be happier! If you ask us, its about time. We can't wait to dive into 7, 9 and 10 all over again. Sorry 8, but you're a bit late to this party. PUBG was broken, and then fixed, and then fixed some more in what turns out to be a rollercoaster of emotions. Alexa is now friends with Cortana, which is sweet, even if a little wrong. And we know someone who will be over the moon to hear the Lego Harry Potter is coming to Xbox as well!
 
But we all know what you're here for - and thats Lee's Blackout Beta Review! Listen to what he says about the new Call of Duty, and why PUBG should be worried. Very worried. Just ignore our hands as we dive in.
 
--
You can follow The Xboxcast all over the internet
Website
Twitter
Facebook
Mixer
YouTube
 
--
Your hosts are:
Kyle: XarCrius on Twitter and Xbox
Lee: Leehoward on Twitter, Xbox and Mixer
Simone: GymBean44 on Twitter and Xbox
Paul: HippoHQ on Twitter, Xbox, YouTube and Mixer