AI Angst, ‘Final Fantasy Resonance,’ and ‘GTA III’ Turns 25 | Button Mash

Ben and Matt James break down the good, bad, and ugly of gaming’s recent reckoning with AI-driven development, decompilation, and cloning, and assess whether it will fundamentally reshape the medium’s economic and creative model. Then they provide their impressions of the newly released ‘Final Fantasy Resonance’ and ‘Nintendo Switch Sports Resort’ and react in real time to the dissolution of storied studio Bioware. Finally, Ben sets the scene for 'GTA VI' by bringing on The Atlantic’s Jeremy Gordon to reminisce about the October 2001 release of ‘Grand Theft Auto III’ and discuss how it altered the trajectory of open-world gaming and created the ‘GTA’ juggernaut.

(0:00) Intro
(1:40) AI talk
(34:45) 'Final Fantasy Resonance'
(46:32) 'Nintendo Switch Sports Resort'
(54:08) Follow-ups to last week's pod
(57:41) Bioware news
(1:01:49) Jeremy Gordon joins the show

Host: Ben Lindbergh
Guests: Matt James and Jeremy Gordon
Producer: Isaiah Blakely

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