Here in 2025, a notion has begun to pick up steam in many communities: video games are dying. For some, video games and gaming itself is dead.In spite of the fact that Gaming is the highest grossing form of media consumption in the United States, it is often argued that the influx of normies into the space, lazy and formulaic development that retreads well-worn ground, ham-fisted politics, and piss-poor optimization has ruined games.In today's episode, we visit Reddit, one of the internet's most respected and intellectual sites, and tackle these questions head on in order to answer the pressing modern quandary: Are Video Games Dying?

Before the Godfather, Gone with the Wind, or Don Quixote, there existed an even more renowned and influential piece of art. Though the film adaptation of Barnyard would not be released until 2006, the ideas and concepts were created in the 30s and helped move America through the Great Depression. Today, we take a look at the Pinnacle of gaming and dive into the 2006 GameCube port of Barnyard, the single best game we've had the honor of covering to date.

The past decade has not been kind to game journalism. The profession has taken a hit due to a plethora of issues ranging from skill issues and dishonest review scores to the unnecessary politicization of games and games media. Today, however, the savior of Games Journalism’s reputation has descended: Ben Sledge, and he is here to set the record straight in a piece he has entitled: It’s time to Start Trusting Video Game Journalism. Join us as we educate ourselves on why it’s the unwashed gaming masses who have had the problem, not the highly honest, prestigious, journalist class.Timestamps0:00 - Preamble9:15 - Introduction12:35 - Review Roast

Episode 5 is a double feature: Superliminal and Viewfinder.Today we bring both games to the judgement table in order to dissect each for their own merits, compare them with one another, and roast theelephants that seem to be always-present in the room.We hope you enjoy our discussion of Superliminal and Viewfinder.You can email us at [email protected] or follow our Twitter(X) page at DFGpodcast.

What do you get when the chicken crosses the road? If you answered that capitalism is bad and CEOs killed it, you'd be partially right. For the second half of the answer to that question, you need to listen to the rest of todays episode.Welcome back to the Deep Fried Gaming Podcast. Today we turn our sights to one of the most insightful and cleverly done critiques of Capitalism and unchecked wealth that we have ever had the privilege of engaging with.Join us as we explore the world of Cloudpunk and the charming cast of characters that inhabit it. Gasp with us as we discover the shocking and impactful secrets of one of the most fleshed out and awe-inspiring post-capitalism hellscapes that exists in media today. Cry with us when you realize I unironically spent the last two paragraphs in egregious sarcasm. That's ok, though, because nobody reads these things anyways.Timestamps

In 2022, we covered Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. While the consensus was ultimately a mixed bag, we generally liked it and thought much of what it had to offer was at least fresh and swung for the fences with ambition and Nintendo CharmThe Thousand-Year Door was released in 2004. 3 Years later, another Paper Mario game hit the shelves and proceeded to spit in the face of TTYD, the player, and gaming as a whole.Folks, meet "Super Paper Mario", the 2007 sequel to the beloved classic that does its best to be as little "paper" as possible while making a mockery of any of the Mario DNA it holds and using the word "super" in its title as nothing more than a bad punchline.Join us as we stagger our way over a game whose shortcomings make Danny Devito look lofty: Super Paper Mario.Email us questions, hate-mail, or slurs: [email protected]: @DFGpodcast

*This episode Contains Spoilers for Death Stranding Throughout. Check Timestamps to see the severity for each section. It is highly advised you do not listen past the Act Man Review roast if you have not, but plan to play Death Stranding*In this Companion episode to our Season 3 Debut, we take one last drive by of the game start started us off: Death Stranding. This time, however, we have something a little different in our sights: The Act Man, as he is known on Youtube.With the gift of time and the convenience of Death Stranding 2 having retconned many critics opinions on the first game, we dive into The Act Man's review and commentary of the first installment as he viewed it at launch. It opens a door for us to reminisce on how far the little strandlike that could has come from its early reception. Of course, Mr Kelly will not escape unscathed with a review this colossally braindead, however.In the Second half of the episode we dig into some of the philosophy and political discourse that further surrounded the game at its launch and even today, plus answer most obvious question of them all: Is Death Stranding Pro-Life?Timestamps:0:00 Why is The Last of Us Season 2 SO BAD?07:22 Episode Intro (Light intro Spoilers)12:49 Review Roast Start (Spoilers for many term definitions and concepts that are explained in the first 5-10 hours of gameplay) 1:03:57 Is DS *Actually* Political (Theme Spoilers and Discussion)1:16:09 Is DS Anti-Capitalist? (Theme Spoilers and Discussion)1:18:53 Is DS Pro-Life? (Heavy Endgame Spoilers)1:33:58 Wrap up and Final Thoughts

We kick off season 3 with a hefty title: Death Stranding. In 2019, the title was the first release from the freshly-formed Kojima Productions. Controversy and confusion plagued the game even from before its release. Was it nothing other than a walking sim? Why was it so bloody weird? Why didn't Sam talk? What's up with the baby in a jar?These questions and more caused the game to be panned by most critics on launch. With the release of Death Stranding 2, however, many of these same critics are either pretending they liked the original all along, or suggesting that the sequel is radically different enough to justify their love of the second installment.Join us as we discuss Death Stranding Directors Cut, its initial reception, and dig into what sets it apart from nearly every other game on the market as we begin our own journey through season 3 of the Deep Fried Gaming podcast.Timestamps:0:00 Ric Flair and Bossman Jack1:45 Death Stranding Intro

Episode 40 marks the end of Deep Fried Gaming's Prolonged second season. In it, we dig deep into the breakout star of 2025: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33Timestamps0:00 Intro14:33 - Prologue Discussion ( Prologue Spoilers)25:20 - Sound Design32:35 Gameplay40:25 - Character builds, Pictos, Luminas, Character mechanics, Combat1:03:00 - Technical Questions and Concerns1:09:00 - The Overworld/The Continent1:17:00 Act 3 and Post-Game Content Concerns1:20:50 - (Spoilers) Story Discussion (Spoilers)2:11:20 - Final Thoughts and Wrap-upEmail questions, comments, hate-mail and bombs to [email protected]

As we (slowly) approach episode 40 of DFG, we slow things down for a much more chilled out and deliberate experience: the 2021 rough like deck building game from solo developer Daniel Mullins (with help from a few others). Scrolling the steam page for this game provides a pretty clear image of what to expect: a cabin, cards, death, puzzles, and intrigue. As it turns out, there's a lot more bubbling under the surface of this experience than the developer makes known in the marketing. The game has become a smash hit by nearly all metrics and has grown into one of the cult "personality" games like Undertale that people will base entire parts of their personality off of. In this episode we discuss the game in its entirety including its gameplay, story, mechanics, twists, and its pitfalls. Primarily, however we discuss the differences between the games marketing, the reality, and the gap in expectations that could ultimately lead to disappointment or frustration for unsuspecting players.