Bargain Bin Gaymers

Mitch thought Fox McCloud was just a Smash Bros character. Time to fix that. Gen Z Plays is back: Davey sits Mitch on the couch (with Pike the dog supervising) and hands him an N64 controller to play Star Fox 64, the 1997 classic Australians knew as Lylat Wars. Then, for the ultimate glow-up comparison, they fire up the brand new Star Fox remake on Nintendo Switch 2. Same game. 29 years apart. In this episode:The Lylat Wars story: why Australia got a different name, how Star Fox 64 launched the Rumble Pak, and the sequel that was finished but never released
Mitch's honest verdict on the 1997 original: genuinely inventive branching-path design, "hideous" graphics, and villains who all sounded suspiciously fabulous
RIP Falco, lost in the very first level (famously)
Everything you need to know about the 2026 remake: Velan Studios' shot-for-shot glow-up with a new voice cast, real-time cinematics, orchestral score and 60fps
The big debate: is $99.95 AUD fair for a shot-for-shot remake of a 29-year-old game? ($84.95 on the eShop, $89 at JB Hi-Fi)
Slippy Toad voice discourse, hot Falco takes, and why remakes might be the smartest way to introduce a new generation to classic franchises
Davey's plea to Nintendo: give us a proper sequel, and remake Star Fox Adventures while you're at it
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Do you enjoy owning the things you pay for? Sony has other plans. This week Davey and Mitch dig into the biggest shake up gaming has seen in years: Sony announcing that physical disc production for all new PlayStation games ends from January 2028, GTA 6 launching in November with no disc at all (that pre order box you paid up to $159.95 AUD for contains a download code and a dream), and the PS3 and Vita digital storefronts closing in some markets from August 2026.

The boys go full investigative journalism on the economics of it all: why pressing a disc costs cents, who actually pockets more when you buy digital, and why Sony has always hated the pre-owned market. Plus the environmental angle nobody agrees on, with one study saying discs are 100 times more carbon intensive and another saying the exact opposite, and the genuinely nuanced (drink!) conclusion that the greenest game you can buy is a second-hand disc from the very bargain bins this move is about to kill.

Then it's a proper pros-and-cons showdown. True ownership, preservation and price competition versus instant access, convenience and the fact that digital distribution is the reason most queer indie games exist at all. The conversation gets real about deplatforming, payment processor pressure on Itch and Steam, and shadow banning of queer content, because when digital is the only copy, delisting can mean erasure.

Also in this episode: Davey falls for The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales (the cozy JRPG that screams $45 but costs $90), Mitch grabs NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition on Switch 2 for just $22 AUD, the Release Radar covers Moonlight Peaks, Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Digimon Story Time Strangers, Echoes of Aincrad, Palworld 1.0, Ascend to Zero and Dtopia, and the Bargain Watchlist rounds up the Steam Summer Sale, PlayStation's July Savings and the eShop's shockingly cheap Final Fantasy VII deals. All prices in beautiful Australian dollarydoos.

It's Dry July! Davey is raising money for cancer research. Donate here: https://www.dryjuly.com/users/david-willett

Support the show and the BQN Network at patreon.com/bqn or shout us a coffee at ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers.
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To round off Pride Month, Davey and Mitch get personal with an episode close to both their hearts: their favourite queer characters in gaming. From the ones that helped them figure themselves out to the queer-coded icons hiding in plain sight, this is a warm, funny, and genuinely reflective celebration of LGBTQIA+ representation in games. Characters we celebrate:
Dorian, Sera and Krem from Dragon Age: Inquisition
Ellie from The Last of Us
Tyler Ronan from Tell Me Why, gaming's first trans protagonist from a major studio
Vivian from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Zagreus and Melinoë from Hades
Judy Alvarez (Cyberpunk 2077), Steve Cortez and Kaidan Alenko (Mass Effect)
Queer-coded legends: Sander Cohen, Birdo, Sheik, Bayonetta and a very flamboyant corner of Pokémon
Plus a deep cut: Caper in the Castro, possibly the first ever LGBTQ video game (1989)
It's Pride Month, queerness is under attack in parts of the world, and talking about queer people out and proud will always be a revolution. We're queer, and we're not going anywhere. Who are your favourites?

Get in touch on Discord, socials, or email bargainbingaymer@gmail.com.
💬 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr
❤️ Support the BQN Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn
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Happy Pride Month, gaymers! Davey and Mitch are reunited (and both a little under the weather) for a proper Pride Month catch-up, complete with a Northside-Mitch makeover, a heartfelt chat about what Pride means in 2026, and a mountain of gaming goodness. In this episode:
What we're playing: the Batman Arkham trilogy, Lego Batman, Pokémon Black 2, Assassin's Creed Shadows and a nostalgic Star Fox demo
Why Pride feels more important than ever this year, and why corporates pulling out might not be all bad
Gaming's back, baby: the Nintendo Direct highlights, Xenoblade Genesis, Kingdom Hearts coming to Switch 2, the Pokopia underwater DLC and one very big Zelda announcement
The Release Radar for the next fortnight
The return of the Bargain Watchlist with the best End of Financial Year gaming deals in Australia
Next episode, we're rounding off Pride Month with our favourite queer gaming characters, so stick around.

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Mitch is back from the moving boxes (now officially a Fitzroy/Collingwood gay) and reunited with Davey for a proper catch-up, a Summer Game Fest debrief, and a full reaction to the 2026 Gayming Awards. Fresh off last week's solo interview with Gayming founder Robin Gray, the boys react to the winners of queer gaming's biggest night, brought to you by World of Wonder, hosted by Erica Ishii and Drag Race favourite Dawn. In this episode:
What we're playing: 007 First Light (Davey finished it in one weekend), Breath of the Wild on Switch 2, Lego Batman, and a surprisingly good Bleach gacha game
Summer Game Fest debrief: Final Fantasy VII, a Resident Evil: Code Veronica remake, Alien: Isolation 2, two new Cuphead games, Palworld 1.0 and a TMNT: The Last Ronin reveal from the Bayonetta team
Gayming Awards 2026 reaction: Date Everything, South of Midnight, Trixie Mattel, Jennifer English, Dungeons & Drag Queens and more
Why this year's awards are absolutely worth watching back, even now, you know who won
A Pride Month message: don't just repost, show up
The Release Radar (and a heated discussion about why Star Fox has a double chin)
Now the ceremony has aired, head over to Gayming's socials for the full winners list and watch the show back at gaymingmag.com.
💬 Join our Discord: https://discord.gg/fqC2FeHSUr
❤️ Support the BQN Network on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/bqn
☕ Support BBG directly on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/bargainbingaymers