211: Destroy the Mouth!

This week we get extra retro with Gradius Origins, Operation Night Strikers, The Scouring, and (in a way) Mafia: The Old Country. Also: pressure builds inside Xbox against Microsoft's support of Israel's actions in Gaza, Switch 2 dev kits are still pretty scarce, more game cancellations and studio closures continue to be a fact of life, and more. CHAPTERS (00:00:00) NOTE: Some timecodes may be inaccurate for versions other than the ad-free Patreon version due to dynamic ad insertions. Please use caution if skipping around to avoid spoilers. Thanks for listening. (00:00:08) Intro (00:02:29) Revisiting your old school (00:05:56) Fake Plastic Trees (or grass) (00:11:11) Mafia: The Old Country | [PlayStation 5, PC (Microsoft Windows), Xbox Series X|S] | Aug 08, 2025 (00:33:22) First Break (00:33:26) Gradius Origins | [PC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S] | Aug 07, 2025 (00:47:57) Operation Night Strikers | [PC (Microsoft Windows), Nintendo Switch] | Aug 07, 2025 (00:53:19) The Scouring (Early Access) | [PC (Microsoft Windows)] | Aug 12, 2025 (01:06:52) Donkey Kong Bananza | [Nintendo Switch 2] | Jul 17, 2025 (01:11:18) Second Break (01:11:22) Union m…