It’s The State of Gaming Podcast, Popzara’s in-depth look at what’s shaking up the gaming landscape delivered on a monthly basis. Our hosts Cory Galliher and Nate Evans guide you through the best, worst, and everything else making headlines and headway in the world of interactive entertainment.
The Games of September 2021
There’s no shortage of big releases for the month for every platform. Our hosts discuss the biggest and best, including: Bethesda Softworks’ Groundhog’s Day-meets-Dishonored metashooter Deathloop, Sega’s Sonic Colors Ultimate, Square Enix’s non-episodic Life is Strange: True Colors, Blizzard’s Diablo 2 Resurrected, and Ember Lab’s impressive debut Kena: Bridge of Spirits.
Other notables include Sega’s sequel to their Yakuza-esque Lost Judgment, Nintendo’s wacky WarioWare Get It Together, Bandai Namco’s latest JRPG Tales of Arise, and Konami’s Castlevania: Grimoire of Souls.
NPD: August 2021
Total sales of new gaming hardware and software topped $4.37 billion, a nice 7 percent bump over last year. A huge demand for new hardware, led by Nintendo’s Switch, Sony’s PlayStation 5, and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/S consoles, led the charge as gamers lucky enough to pick up new consoles actually picked them up.
Sales of new software didn’t disappoint, either, as the Top Twenty list was led by EA’s Madden NFL 22 in the top spot, followed by the return of Sony’s Ghost of Tsushima – thanks to a new PS5-powered port – in second. Sega’s Civilization-like Humankind debuted strongly in fourth while Sony’s Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart remained just outside the Top Ten in thirteenth.
Interestingly, the list demonstrated the power of console exclusives as the Top Twenty mimicked the success of their respective hardware counterparts with Nintendo continuing their software dominance with 9 Switch exclusives and Sony managing 4 exclusives for their PlayStation platforms.
Everything Else
But that’s not all! Other bits include: Bluetooth audio comes to the Switch! Apple perma-bans Fortnite (for now) on the App Store! Microsoft is ready to unleash Windows 11 in October for compatible hardware – does yours make the grade and will you be upgrading on day one? And did you hear that Chris Pratt will be voicing Mario (yes, Super Mario) in the upcoming animated movie from Illumination Studios? All this and more when you listen today!
