FunFactor Podcast

If IGN has layoffs, nobody in games press is safe. If Microsoft has layoffs, nobody in platforms is safe. If Ubisoft and Bungie and NetEase have layoffs, nobody in game development is safe. If the Romeros get their funding pulled, no studio is safe.

It's rough out there, right now.

We’re running out of ways to say “This is awful news.”

There is so much amazing FGC art under the #EVO tag. Check that tag out and see all the incredible work people are doing.

But remember, if you see art you like, hit repost, hit Follow. Let's help these artists reach some new audiences and grow this weekend!

Remember when console prices used to go down?

Yessssss

Buying phoenix down from the Wawa

We’re shocked, I tell you, shocked

The direct narrator having to switch between ominous and cozy is so funny

YouTube video by FunFactor Podcast This review of NBA Live '97 is why we do FunFactor

Why are we reviewing ANOTHER basketball game on @funfactorpod.com? You want the good stuff, right? Final Fantasy VII. DOOM. Super Mario 64.

Trust me, it's worth it. NBA Live '97 might be a mid-as-fuck basketball game, but this is the first perfect review score we've handed out on FunFactor.

oh hell yes

YouTube video by FunFactor Podcast Ultra Game Players 92 - NBA Live '97

GOOOOOOOD FUNFACTOR MORNING, VIDEO EDITION!!

We cover the "Ultra" makeover of Game Players magazine, their 1996 GOTY awards, and sports reviewer Mike Salmon talking real, real talk on NBA Live '97--long before before he walked the #gamedev walk with 2K: youtu.be/78F1cciV7DA

GOOOOOOOOD FUNFACTOR MORNING [in Hawaii, maybe]!!

Mike Salmon's no-holds-barred pan of NBA Live '97 stuck with @tyschalter.com for almost three decades—and he and @aidanis.fun found it hits no less hard today.

What score did they give this 6.5? Find out right here, right now: funfactorpod.com

GOOOOOOOOD FUNFACTOR MORNING [in Hawaii, maybe]!!

Mike Salmon's no-holds-barred pan of NBA Live '97 stuck with @tyschalter.com for almost three decades—and he and @aidanis.fun found it hits no less hard today.

What score did they give this 6.5? Find out right here, right now: funfactorpod.com

Game Players 92 - NBA Live '97 [S1E10] Podcast Episode · FunFactor · 2025-07-29 · 1h 14m

It’s FunFactor Fuuuuuuesday, folks!

On this episode of @funfactorpod.com, a generic, slow-as-molasses basketball game on the PSX leads @tyschalter.com and I on a fascinating discussion about the purpose of criticism and its role in consumer-driven markets.

From the game Pretty Derby Uma Musume, a shot of the character Mejiro McQueen saying “To think that without the last home run, Earth would have fallen into the hands of the spaceball zombies.” It in a movie theatre, and the event is called “Attack of the Space Baseball Zombies!”

i’m afraid to report the horse girl game has the juice

i swear i'm trying not to become one of those cranky parents that never lets their kid do anything normal but every day i read a new article that makes me think if i have a kid i'm literally just gonna toss them outside like calvin's mom instead of letting them engage with whatever this is

Man alive what the hell

itch.io banning nsfw/adult terms from its searches with absolutely no warning is a good reminder that the people who make the porn games are ALWAYS more on your side than payment processors and corporations. always. you don’t have to like the games they make, but you do have to stand on their side.

A screenshot from Final Fantasy X. A religious bigot with weird spiky red hair that looks like a cockatoo says, “They forget pain, suffering… only the game matters!”

Why did Yuna bring a Blitzball player on her pilgrimage?

Because she knew she’d have to Wakka long way.

feels like one of the main divides in how people view ai is the reaction to its ingratiating servile tone. when ai is like "ouhhhh i'm so sorry i got that wrong sir, let my try again, you were right my liege" tech guys are like "i like this" instead of "what the fuck is wrong with you"

I'm exceptionally excited for this package both for the fascinating history of these games and for the (hopeful) precedent it sets for bringing in notable games that were licensed or from other devs. Space Invaders was such a monumental 2600 game that it deserves this Pac-Man treatment too!

Some context: back at prelapsarian Waypoint I was paid $300/piece (1.5-2k-ish words). Those were typically reviews, but you'd traditionally expect that with pieces requiring original reporting (which seems to be the case here) the payout would be at least that much.

Once again, and seemingly for a final time, Ana tries to do actual fucking journalism on Waypoint and gets shafted for it. Deeply unfair how VICE has treated her, not to mention the prior unionized staff that it laid off to resurrect Waypoint as a zombie.

We were gobsmacked when @gavinverhey.bsky.social told us about the original design of the A Realm Reborn card:

#mtg #finalfantasy

I lost my mind when he told us.

YouTube video by FunFactor Podcast Magic: The Gathering Final Fantasy, with set designer Gavin Verhey [S1E9]

You can watch the whole episode, with 131 slides of all the cards and art we're talking about, right here on YouTube: youtu.be/RiogP3PlXQU

Or listen on...

Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7wlrTVu...
Pocketcasts: pca.st/rnyihfwg

We were gobsmacked when @gavinverhey.bsky.social told us about the original design of the A Realm Reborn card:

#mtg #finalfantasy

the YT version has been updated with

ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY ONE SLIDES!!!!

all the card art, set graphics, & everything else Aidan, Ty, and @gavinverhey.bsky.social discussed can now be seen in full glory as they geek out about FF and Gavin and the MTG teams' work: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Riog...

And, the best part? @tyschalter.com and I loved this episode SO MUCH we decided to make this ULTRA bonus episode free for all listeners. Get a taste of the ULTRA review crew life and learn about @gavinverhey.bsky.social's bonkers original design for "A Realm Reborn."

This was such a lovely and interesting chat with @superpac.bsky.social and @sewart.bsky.social. I’ve been reading their work for literally decades, and getting their first hand perspective on legacy games media was fascinating. An absolute must listen for any @funfactorpod.com fans!