Game Scoop! 795: Please EnJoy-Con This Episode

Summary

Game Scoop! Episode 795: "Please EnJoy-Con This Episode" Summary

Release Date: January 23, 2025

Hosts: Daemon Hatfield, Sam Claiborne, Justin Davis, and Nick Limone

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Introduction

In Episode 795 of Game Scoop!, IGN's Daemon Hatfield, Sam Claiborne, Justin Davis, and Nick Limone convene for a lively discussion covering the latest in gaming, with a special focus on Nintendo's highly anticipated Switch 2 reveal. The episode promises in-depth analysis, nostalgic reminiscences of arcade classics, and an engaging video game trivia segment designed to test the hosts' gaming prowess.

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1. Nintendo Switch 2 Reveal Analysis (03:21 – 14:00)

The episode kicks off with an enthusiastic discussion about the newly revealed Nintendo Switch 2. Daemon Hatfield initiates the conversation, expressing optimism about the hardware improvements.

[03:41] Daemon Hatfield: "But first, the Nintendo Switch 2 that was revealed last week. Nintendo put out a video and there weren't too many surprises in it because everything that was shared was pretty much leaked ahead of time."

The hosts delve into the incremental upgrades of the Switch 2, noting its sleeker design, larger size, and improvements to the Joy-Cons, including the much-anticipated fix for joystick drift.

[04:17] Justin Davis: "Yeah. It almost looks like they have a tail too."

Nick Limone adds humor to the conversation, highlighting the subtle design changes while critiquing Nintendo's iterative approach.

[05:03] Sam Claiborne: "The Super Nintendo is the most beloved... and that was iterative. That's, like, reaching it, I think."

The team debates whether Nintendo is "playing it safe" with the Switch 2, comparing it to past consoles like the Wii U and questioning if innovation has taken a backseat to reliability.

[05:32] Justin Davis: "I have thoughts about this... So first of all, because that's the Switch 2 doesn't mean that they're not going to do something zany and off the wall... The Super Nintendo was iterative from the NES, so reaching it, I think."

Sam Claiborne contends that Nintendo's strategy mirrors its successful history, emphasizing consistent hardware improvement without drastic overhauls.

[06:55] Sam Claiborne: "Every console generation is a chance to just lose your customers."

The conversation shifts to the technical aspects, including screen types and the potential for OLED displays in future iterations.

[08:19] Nick Limone: "I'm just assuming it's going to be an OLED screen to reduce cost to consumer, because I'm sure that's going to be their primary concern."

As the discussion wraps up, the hosts speculate on the upcoming game releases for the Switch 2, expressing excitement for titles like Pokemon Z Day and Metroid Prime 4.

[15:03] Justin Davis: "I'm excited to get a new gen Animal Crossing... all the Nintendo stuff that we only get like kind of like once every console cycle or so."

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2. Celebrating Arcade Classics (23:00 – 36:00)

Shifting gears, the hosts reflect on arcade games turning 40 in 2025, reminiscing about iconic titles from 1985. They highlight games such as Hang-On, Space Harrier, Commando, and Ghosts 'n Goblins, discussing their impact and legacy.

[24:27] Sam Claiborne: "So, you think, oh no, it was not a rough year."

Daemon Hatfield emphasizes the resurgence of interest in arcade games during that era, attributing it to the emergence of visually stunning titles.

[24:44] Nick Limone: "Brain cannot process."

The hosts critique the monetization strategies of classic arcade games, noting how the emphasis on microtransactions was already present in their early forms.

[26:39] Justin Davis: "Medieval Madness has been popular for 30 years now."

They also delve into rare arcade titles like Russian Attack and Gradius, sharing personal anecdotes and the challenges of accessing these games today.

[29:46] Sam Claiborne: "It has a little minecart part. It has a warrior... It just feels like Temple of Doom to me too when I see it now."

The segment concludes with the hosts discussing the evolution of arcade hardware and the enduring appeal of multiplayer experiences in games like Gauntlet.

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3. Video Game Trivia Challenge (40:34 – 58:01)

Adding an interactive twist, the hosts engage in a spirited video game trivia session using trivia cards and video game-themed socks received as Christmas gifts.

Round Highlights:

• Button Symbols: Justin Davis correctly identifies the shared face button symbol as "X."

[41:13] Justin Davis: "So does that not count? Like start button?"

• Luigi's Mansion Launch: Sam Claiborne nails the question about Luigi's Mansion being a launch title for the GameCube.

[41:52] Sam Claiborne: "Nintendo GameCube."

• Minecraft Sales: Nick Limone confidently answers that Minecraft has sold the most copies worldwide compared to Pong and The Witcher 3.

[44:30] Nick Limone: "Minecraft, yeah."

• Bugsnax as a Launch Title: The trivia intensifies with questions about Bugsnax and other recent games, testing the hosts' up-to-date gaming knowledge.

[47:40] Sam Claiborne: "It's Soul Caliber."

• Joh Cleese's Role in Fable 3: Justin Davis and Nick Limone identify the voice actor for Jasper in Fable 3 as John Cleese.

[43:55] Sam Claiborne: "It had this, like a kind of the strategy section of it, which was strange."

The trivia segment highlights the hosts' deep gaming knowledge and sparks humorous exchanges, especially when faced with challenging or obscure questions.

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4. Game Design Insights: Objective Markers Debate (50:00 – 56:00)

Transitioning from trivia, the hosts tackle a listener question about the use of objective markers (e.g., yellow paint) in modern games versus traditional, less directive gameplay.

Listener Chris from Texas shares his preference for modern modes with clear objective markers, prompting a robust debate among the hosts.

[50:58] Justin Davis: "But they hate the yellow paint in video games. They're like, the game doesn't tell you where to go. I wandered around for 20 minutes."

Sam Claiborne advocates for traditional gameplay, emphasizing exploration without overt guidance.

[51:21] Nick Limone: "You have to make it a toggle. You could be toggled off."

Nick Limone discusses the balance between game design and accessibility, noting that tasteful objective markers can enhance the experience without detracting from exploration.

[54:10] Justin Davis: "I think it depends on the game and the genre and the context. Sometimes I appreciate it and I'm glad it's there."

The debate touches on various game titles, including Arkham Asylum, The Witcher 3, and Tomb Raider Reboots, illustrating the diverse approaches to game navigation.

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5. Personal Recommendations and Media (56:00 – 73:00)

The hosts share personal media recommendations, discussing recent movies like The Substance and Carry On, and TV series such as Penguin. They exchange thoughts on cinematography, storytelling, and character development, adding a personal touch to the episode.

[56:07] Nick Limone: "We have one about five feet away from me here. It's one of my favorite games ever."

The conversation also highlights the influences of popular culture on gaming and vice versa, fostering a community of shared interests and experiences.

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6. Additional Segments and Promotions (73:00 – End)

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts briefly promote other podcasts like Only One in the Room and Comic Sans. They encourage listeners to engage with these shows for diverse storytelling and comic book insights.

[79:52] Sam Claiborne: "You can listen to Comic Sans on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts."

The episode wraps up with final thoughts and acknowledgments, reinforcing the camaraderie among the hosts and their appreciation for the listener community.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• [03:41] Daemon Hatfield: "But first, the Nintendo Switch 2 that was revealed last week..."

• [05:03] Sam Claiborne: "The graphical leap wasn't like now if you show that to kids..."

• [14:11] Sam Claiborne: "We know of two Switch games coming out..."

• [44:30] Nick Limone: "Minecraft, yeah. Oh, I thought they could have made this really hard..."

• [51:21] Nick Limone: "You have to make it a toggle. You could be toggled off."

• [55:07] Nick Limone: "I've experienced that in Elden Ring. Not usually very helpful, in my opinion."

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Conclusion

Episode 795 of Game Scoop! offers a comprehensive exploration of the Nintendo Switch 2, celebrates enduring arcade classics, and engages listeners with challenging trivia. The hosts' passionate discussions on game design and personal media recommendations add depth, making the episode a must-listen for gaming enthusiasts seeking both nostalgia and contemporary insights.

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For further details and discussions, listeners are encouraged to tune into the full episode of IGN's Game Scoop! Episode 795.

Transcript

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Damon Hatfield]

What's up, everybody? Welcome to IGN GamesCube. I am your host, Damon Hatfield, and as you can see, we are 3/4 in person scoop this week. Nick Limone is here.

[Nick Limone]

I'm back, baby.

[Damon Hatfield]

And Justin Davis joins us from Iowa. Scoop, what did you say was the temperature difference between Iowa and LA right now?

[Justin Davis]

80 degrees, Damon.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it is not 80 degrees in LA.

[Nick Limone]

So that tells you it's what, like 60 degrees?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's like 65 degrees in LA.

[Nick Limone]

Uh. Oh, yep. That's getting into negatives. Yes.

[Justin Davis]

It's an affront to God and man that it gets that cold in the Midwest in the winter.

[Damon Hatfield]

So welcome. Also, we're joined by Sam Claiborne.

[Sam Claiborne]

Hey, everybody. As you know, the IGN Secret Service provides a. One person always needs to be in a safe bunker.

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly.

[Sam Claiborne]

If three of us are in person. Exactly. I've been drawn at random to fulfill that role.

[Damon Hatfield]

Otherwise Sam would have absolutely been here. We've got a great show for you this week. We're going to finally talk about the Switch 2, which we missed out on last week. I have this little video game trivia game that I received for Christmas this year that I'm going to quiz everyone on, see if you guys are real gamers.

[Nick Limone]

I'm nervous.

[Damon Hatfield]

But first, the Nintendo Switch 2 that was revealed last week. Nintendo put out a video and there weren't too many surprises in it because everything that was shared was pretty much leaked ahead of time. But looks like a very sleek, cool system, a little bit larger. I like what they're doing with the Joy Cons, how they snap on now. I think they're also going to fix the joystick drift on that. And they also briefly, they didn't mention it and call it out. They showed the Joy Con sort of scooting around as if they were being used as a mouse.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. And they kind of look like little tails with their tails.

[Damon Hatfield]

They almost look like they have a tail too.

[Justin Davis]

So cute.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's interesting. This is. There's been some talk about this, about Nintendo playing it safe. And it's true that it's. It seems very iterative.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And if you look at the. The pantheon of Nintendo consoles, this is the least different to the one that came before it.

[Justin Davis]

I have thoughts about this.

[Damon Hatfield]

Let's hit us with it.

[Justin Davis]

There's been a bunch of whiners and babies saying innovative Nintendo is dead and they're never. So first of all, because that's the Switch 2 doesn't mean that they're not going to do something zany and off the wall, whatever they're going to do down the line. And also the Super Nintendo is the most beloved, well loved, well remembered console of all time. And that was iterative. That's a Super Nintendo. That was iterative from the NES and so like reach it, I think.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, and that graphical leap wasn't like now if you show that to kids, they're like, I can't tell the difference. Why are you telling me these graphics are different? Like at the time? Like, yes, Super Mario World looks amazing, but look at Super Mario World next to Super Mario Brothers 3. Like it's not that big of a leap.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah, I completely agree. So I mean, look, like, I think I, I'm obviously teasing, like I do share some of the, like that Nintendo magic of like they're going to show us some mind blowing thing we've never seen before. Like I hope those days aren't gone forever. But where I disagree from some of those op ed writers is I'm just assuming they're not gone forever. It's like this is, you know, Nintendo's in its Switch era and I'm assuming it won't last forever.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, well, 50% of the time Nintendo takes a wild swing. They, they miss.

[Justin Davis]

Right? They completely botch it.

[Sam Claiborne]

The Virtual Boy and the Wii U are the best examples of that. And then sometimes they take a wild swing and they hit. But y'all aren't going to like it because that's what the Wii was. No, no. Quote, unquote. And we didn't use this term back then, gamers like the Wii, right? We just had to play Nintendo.

[Nick Limone]

It was a baby screen.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah, 100%. So like that's, I would call that another missed swing. Even though it clearly was, you know, economically wise decision for Nintendo. And it was a big success in all these different ways. But like that's what you risk when you have Nintendo being like, well let's listen to Mr. Miyamoto. What does he want to make this year? We'll make a system around that because that's how it used to work. And you can tell like that's not what's happening here. They're like, we need Pokemon to be able to run at a higher frame rate than 3.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, you got to be Miyamoto. It's like, oh, I've been really into cooking and taking lately. It's like, oh, look at this controller.

[Nick Limone]

We got to make it a stone.

[Justin Davis]

Exactly, the stone.

[Sam Claiborne]

He's like, and I still want to hear my pulse beat.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. Hey, who knows what that mystery button is? I. Part of me was like, what if that's the heart rate sensor? You put your little thumb up against it and yeah, who knows?

[Sam Claiborne]

I think they're like, Mr. Miyamoto, here we. We are going to give you the clock project. You just go off over, and then we're gonna.

[Damon Hatfield]

We're gonna switch nicely.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. What was it? The dsi? Was that the slightly iterative ds? We're gonna make a switch.

[Nick Limone]

I. Yeah, I mean, which.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is more than. That's a joke. But, like, this is a lot more than the switch. I. But that was a weird iteration, remember? Like, the DS was working pretty well. And then they're like, let's make it do just like some games you can't play on the duo. That was a strange Nintendo era. And they made 3Ds anyway.

[Nick Limone]

And yeah, 3Ds was not much of a giant leap forward either. By the end of its life cycle, most games abandoned the 3D entirely.

[Damon Hatfield]

This big feature was supposed to be 3D that nobody really liked that much anyway.

[Nick Limone]

And also, the 3DS did not do well at launch for being an iterative thing. But it did grow to successful numbers, but again, to iterate once again. Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance. Like, there's not much in the way of improvement there. There's nothing substantially different. So y'all are just haters.

[Justin Davis]

Also, the Switch, it's harder to defend.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nintendo when they do crazy stuff. Go ahead and go ahead, Justin.

[Justin Davis]

No, I mean, the switch was awesome. I'm happy to get a more powerful switch too. I have absolutely no problem with it. The bigger screen looks gorgeous. It's got big bezels on it, which I don't know about that like, but, you know, it's fine. They're leaving themselves room to kind of have a. Have a pro version of it down the line.

[Nick Limone]

I know it's going to be an OLED when they do the upgrade. I'm just. It doesn't seem like this is going to be an OLED screen. I'm assuming it's going to be an LCD screen to reduce cost to consumer, because I'm sure that's going to be Their primary concern. And that's the only thing that's going to be a bummer because I need to have it at launch. But I know I want an OLED screen which we're going to get a year later or whatever and I'm going to be so bummed about that.

[Justin Davis]

I mean we don't you think like.

[Sam Claiborne]

The LCD tech though is we'll have to just see. But like it might be so good now that like those distinctions might not make much sense when we see what.

[Justin Davis]

I always feel that way using until I see an OLED screen, then I'm like up.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Holding the LCD switch side by side with an OLED switch and there's no going back. I have, I have quite a few OLED screens in my life.

[Sam Claiborne]

But that's my point is that that's an LCD from nine years ago, like two years before they even put out the system. So it's like, you know, what are we actually, what are the, what are we comparisons going to be like?

[Justin Davis]

I mean like Damon, you said when you were introducing the segment of like not a lot of real surprises. I mean I think that this reveal was absolutely a reaction and Nintendo getting ahead of the leaks and trying to take back a little bit of control over the narrative, even the video. To me I think this felt like a cut down and cut out from a bigger Nintendo Switch announcement. Right. Like, so they said that they're going to have a big event in April and that's when we're going to see video games and play the console and yada yada. And I think that this probably would have run as part of that. Like here's our new console and now let's talk about the games and now let's do this and that and like, but they had to pull it forward just because the situation had gotten so ridiculous, so out of hand.

[Damon Hatfield]

Then I wonder like, how could Nintendo let that happen?

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, it surprising me because I mean Genki was an official, like I'm assuming they paid a license to create all these accessories and whatnot. And how is that not a breach of like whatever contract they have? That's the thing that was like they.

[Damon Hatfield]

Said they never signed anything.

[Nick Limone]

I was like, what's going on?

[Damon Hatfield]

What do you mean?

[Nick Limone]

How are you doing this?

[Justin Davis]

I think we, I don't even remember what episode but a few episodes ago we talked about like the Nintendo Switch 2 has supposedly been in mass production. It's been being made in factories for months. And it's like once that starts it's like you've started the clock. Like you gotta reveal your console because more and more and more details about it are going to start coming out when there's thousands of these things rolling off the factory lines every day.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know, I went back and I watched the Genki 3D modeling and it was like yeah, it's exactly right. Which, which is really funny because you know, even a day or two before, like between CES and then Switch to reveal, they had to like do like a whole like performative like.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, we actually.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, we just completely speculated. We don't know anything about. It's like. It's just really funny because like it was exactly what you thought it was going to be. And then. I don't know. I think that this might have been something that they could have. Which is like, I guess a bad way to say it. They probably were planning to show this last year. I think this is the thing that could have led this. But the delay in the system launch has made their delay of the every, every part of it, all the promotional beats. So like if this was meant at for some previous time, that's when things got all jumbled. We talked about this before. Like once there's a delay, the dominoes fall all like just completely chaotically, but they all start falling. Right. And it's not. Nintendo set them all up to do this one thing and then they're just like blah. Yeah, everything just is going to come out and that's what that might happen with, with everything, with the hardware. I don't think it'll happen with games though. Yeah, because like we're not going to like see leaked footage of, you know, new Nintendo games. Because that's the stuff where it doesn't matter, that software doesn't need to get out there for any other reason. But this thing has to be in factories. Right. It's just really complicated.

[Justin Davis]

I think that. So you know, there's never been an official. There was never a release date. So therefore there was no official delay. But the scuttlebutt is that the Nintendo that the original time that the timeline shifted. Right. Like that's the rumor is that the console would have been revealed in the fall and then released, you know, around March timeframe like the original Switch. And then again rumor is that all of that got shifted on out like we either need or we're choosing to delay the console three or four months. And then that messed all this stuff up because they couldn't get the hardware announcement out in front of, you know, when it was in mass production.

[Nick Limone]

So that would align with kind of like the release of all the third party accessory manufacturers. All right, now we know that the Switch 2 is coming. Here's all the stuff that's coming out for it. Maybe part of me makes me think that they just have like a project manner was like oopsie, we forgot to update our embargo information. Oops.

[Sam Claiborne]

Or they thought they didn't need it because it was gonna be such a, like maybe it was a year ago timeline. And they were just like, well the cat's out of the bag. We didn't embargo people because I mean they were aiming for our years away.

[Justin Davis]

I think that the sentiment online seems to be that the announcement was slightly underwhelming, but I think that that's kind of lacking the context of like the only reason that this 2 1/2 minute video exists is because Nintendo can't abide, you know, a million people typing switch 2 into Google every day and seeing some janky 3D model from Genki. Like they have to get a little bit of control back and like here's your key art, here's what the controller looks like now. We'll see you in a few months. Like that's the only reason this video happened.

[Damon Hatfield]

But it does create a situation. Now we have this, this direct dedicated to Switch 2 coming in early April but so they're just going to be quiet for Q1 2025. It's like it's going to be a pretty quiet three months from the please.

[Justin Davis]

Enjoy Donkey Kong Country HD.

[Damon Hatfield]

We' all in three months.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Nick Limone]

I suspect we'll get like a Pokemon direct sometime next month that details things that are going to be cross gen on both Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 and it'll be better on Switch 2. Or at least that's the assumption on my part.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, we did that.

[Sam Claiborne]

We know of two trip. Speaking of games, I know we can segue to this fully at some point, but we know of two full on Switch games coming out. Switch one that will have to be crossover games. And one of those is Pokemon Z Day, whatever. Right. That's unnounced. That's a Switch game. So it's like obviously they'd want that to run well. Right. So they're not going to take it off Switch though. They're going to put it on both. And the other is Metroid Prime 4. Like that game is announced for Switch. Like there's no reason why that wouldn't be a crossover game. And I also think like it'd be insane to put out a Switch game for Nintendo much more than, you know, by the end of this year. So like, does that mean like a Pokemon, a Metroid and now a Mario Kart are like basically all but confirmed for this year. It's crazy.

[Justin Davis]

I'm so excited. I'm so excited to get a neck a new gen animal crossing. Just all the Nintendo stuff that we only get like kind of like once every console cycle or so.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep.

[Nick Limone]

I, I had kind of this, this is going to sound worse than I intended to, but I kind of grown to really resent my Nintendo Switch in the last like two years of its life simply because it was the worst place to play multi platform titles. And even for some first party titles just ran pretty poorly. Like Tears of the Kingdom does not run well on the base Nintendo Switch. Even the Zelda, the new Zelda game does not run particularly great on the Switch. And it's just like I always felt like I was compromising a little bit. So I'm excited for Nintendo Switch 2 to potentially be a much stronger console. I would hope it's a much stronger console so that I can relive that experience of the joy of bringing all the games with me on the go in a powerful hardware that I can rely on performing consistently.

[Justin Davis]

I completely agree. I played through Tears of the Kingdom and then I was loving it. It's one of my favorite games of the last five years. But I eventually stopped playing it because I'm like, I don't want to do my 100% run through this game until it's on the Switch 2 and. But now the rumor is that they're doing Breath of the Wild first. Like that's getting again, rumor only. But like that's the one rumored to be getting kind of the. I don't know if It'll literally be 4K but like the higher res 60fps Switch 2 treatment, it's like, oh man, if they do Breath of the Wild first, I'm going to be waiting a long time.

[Nick Limone]

Dude, I would be. Oh, I'd be so frustrated if they did that. Which makes me think it's more than likely going to happen. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Since I got my Steam Deck last year, my Switch is mostly my sons.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Gaming device and I'm. I'm happy to be on Steam Deck. Two things I would have been shocked if the Switch 2 wasn't was anything but an iteration because the Switch is Nintendo's most successful console of all time. Like what, what sense would it make to be like, okay, now we're just Gonna like totally reinvent the wheel from there. Like, no, like.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, that's the problem is that the Wii U didn't make any sense, but they did it anyway. So you just don't know with them. Right. Like, the Wii was so huge and then they just did that, you know.

[Damon Hatfield]

That'S why they were scared. That's why I think they dragged their feet for a long time and that's. The Switch's lifetime has gone on for so long. I don't think they wanted to make a Switch too because the Switch is so successful. Like, let's just keep it going. Like, let's not, let's not, you know, invite the opportunity of failure. Right, right.

[Justin Davis]

Every console generation is a just, it's a chance to just lose your customers.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's exactly right. That's exactly right. There's three high points to Nintendo. You know, Nintendo, say 1980 is pretty much when their video game, you know, career began. So 45 years starting, the NES was a super high point. Everything, every console after that went down until the Wii and then the Wii U was way, way down. And then the Switch is the high, is the highest ever. So the three high points are the nes, the Wii and the Nintendo Switch. I think by now they just, they've, they've learned, let's. We don't know how to rock the boat too much that everyone loves the Switch. Let's just make it a little bit bigger, a little more powerful and fix some Joy Con issues. And that's it.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I mean, I do. So it's like I was teasing the people that were expressing some anxiety about the switch 2 being so iterative and not innovative. But I do, I think that part of that, there's subtext here of like Miyamoto is getting a lot older. A lot of that original Guard is getting a lot older. Like, is this the last console that like these folks will work on in like any very serious. They're going to retire. You know, they're going to want to, you know, they're just, they're getting on in years and you know, Iwata is not with us anymore and Nintendo seems to be a little bit more business driven than it was. And so, you know, it's not just coming from a place of like, you know, they made an iterative console and therefore it's all over is like there's kind of like there's other intertwining elements of what's going on at that company that like, you know, it's, it is hard to imagine an Environment after the Switch two where they go back to doing something completely crazy and off the wall anymore. Like that has to come from like an individual spirit, spirited effort from someone within the company.

[Damon Hatfield]

We actually receive an email on this subject. So let's check in with the listeners.

[Justin Davis]

Hey listeners.

[Damon Hatfield]

Listeners and viewers. Remember you can always reach us at the email address game scooping.com Just like Will from the Peach State did. And I'd love to know if our. If our international members of Scoop Nation know that the Peach State is Alabama. Anyway, winding down and the Switch 2 finally confirmed to arrive in the near future, I think it's finally time to consider the Switch place in video game history. For me in a pound for pound game library comparison, I think it has to be strongly considered for the title of greatest console of all time. What do you guys think? Thanks for a great show.

[Justin Davis]

Sure.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I think it's. Yeah, absolutely considered, if not the winner.

[Nick Limone]

It is also the highest selling console of all time now, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, it won't. It won't be.

[Nick Limone]

I thought it beat the PS2 already.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, it got close, but then Sony released some updated numbers and it's over. It's like 162 and switches.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's all you have to do is just release updated numbers.

[Nick Limone]

I mean. But yeah, I think that there is an argument to be made. I think it did a good job of bringing in new audience members the way that the Nintendo Wii did, while without compromising the kind of quote unquote core audience the way that we kind of did. So yeah, I think the case is to be made for, for the Switch.

[Damon Hatfield]

Like Justin was saying, the Super Nintendo.

[Nick Limone]

Super Nintendo. My favorite one.

[Damon Hatfield]

Beloved. Yeah, but any, any that you, any console you compare the Switch to, the Switch is all supportable. So it has that going for it.

[Sam Claiborne]

I know, it's so nice. It's really, really true.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it's hard to like, so it. Whatever. I don't want to get too bogged down in the weeds on this, but like if we're talking about greatest console library, like because the Switch can play a lot of those Super Nintendo greats and I'm like, does that count or do we only want to count like the games that were original and released exclusively on that console? I mean, I think that makes a big difference.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think there's console by console, there's eras to compare things to that are interesting. Like, I don't think anybody would argue that like for like three or four years there, the 360 was like one of the greatest consoles. Of all time, if not the greatest. Right. But throughout its life, Like, I don't know how to rank it for that. You know, like, the Super Nintendo had some pretty rough times. Like, it was a really cool launch. And then like, by the time there was three Donkey Kong country games coming out and like a Square Enix game every two years, like, it was. It was a little bit less cool. And then like, you know, like, there's. Each console has its moment, but Switch did have a pretty, like, consistent run. You know, like, it's kind of had this like, interesting life cycle between two Zelda bookends. Right. Like, if it went further from this, I don't. I don't know where we'd place it. But like, boy, between those two Zeldas.

[Justin Davis]

They did a very good job of sort of pacing out first party releases. Like, you stated it perfectly. It's like there wasn't really like a lull. I mean, we're in the lull now. But between the two Zeldas was kind of just like really good. Like two absolute bangers a year minimum, you know, and then it just kind of never let up. I mean, I do.

[Sam Claiborne]

And GameCube was not like that. GameCube. There was not enough games.

[Justin Davis]

No.

[Nick Limone]

That's just plain and simple. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

64. There weren't enough games for it.

[Justin Davis]

If we're talking about, like, you know, goat game library, you know, discussion, I think the PS1 has to be in the mix. You know, Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 and Castlevania, Symphony of the Night and Metal Gear Solid and just like. Yeah, well, and it started, you know, so many, like, yeah, Tomb Raider, so many Western games as well, like, you know, Ridge Racer, Twisted Metal. Like, I don't put twisted metal in the pantheon of great games, but the PS1 did such a great job of just like, absolute. Some of the best monstrous hits from Japan and like, you know, Western game developers also supporting the console in mass. Like, that's great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. I don't think we need to definitively say that the Switch is the best console of all time, but it's absolutely considered. I think it'd be.

[Sam Claiborne]

It is kind of sad that it's easy to say that Xbox360 is the best Xbox, but it's harder to say what the best PlayStation or best Nintendo was.

[Damon Hatfield]

Best PlayStation?

[Justin Davis]

Well, yeah, less PlayStation game library.

[Damon Hatfield]

PS4, maybe.

[Justin Davis]

Not for me.

[Damon Hatfield]

Good.

[Nick Limone]

I would say probably PS2, but that might be just more of the time and place.

[Justin Davis]

You're thinking of DVDs, it's whatever PlayStation came out when you were in your early 20s and late teens. And that's the one.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's the one that's true. Okay. Last week we were talking about a couple games that were turning 20. Last week Resident Evil 4 was one of them. Yeah. And this week a site that I like called Arcade Heroes. I don't know if you know this site, Sam. They cover a lot of news in the arcade industry, like arcade machine operators. Anyway, they gathered a list of arcade games that are having anniversaries this year. So games that are turning 40 this year. So the games are released in 1985. I'm not going to read everything on the list, but some stand up. You think, oh no, it was not a rough year.

[Sam Claiborne]

No cool games. Atari was still making games. Like it was. It was good. I know what they all are. It's just like it's not 1982 because the crash happened.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes, but they're actually. Their argument is that along with Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. Some of these really impressive arcade games like Hang on and Space Harrier also started to rekindle people's interest in video games which are both out the same graphical powerhouses.

[Justin Davis]

They looked.

[Sam Claiborne]

I didn't know this was unique.

[Justin Davis]

Believable, you know, Again, I mean, Sam, you hit it at the nails on the head where kids can't tell the difference between 16 bit games and 8 bit games. But it's like when you're playing these clunky little Nintendo games and then goddamn Space Harrier comes out and you're like whoa. Like it felt unbelievable.

[Nick Limone]

Brain cannot process.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it felt impossible.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's also like it's not 3D. They're using sprite sprites to fake 3D. But like it look, it looks really, really cool.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And we didn't know that back at the time, you know.

[Sam Claiborne]

So iRobot and Star wars had been out by this point. They were 3D, which is AM amazing.

[Justin Davis]

It was a blast processing man.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

What a game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. So hang on. In Space Harrier, these were just really amazing games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Crazy looking games.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

But this all this year was also Commando from Capcom, which that kind of started the whole over the head running gun thing for Ikari warriors and mercs.

[Justin Davis]

40 controllers old.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, 40 years old for these games. Gauntlet was that year. So there's your. There's your Atari.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, but this is a, this is a kind of. I mean Gauntlet, whatever has a legacy and people like it everything. But in some ways it's a decline because it's a way that game Was really cynical, right. It's like, how do we get this many quarters per minute? That's the idea with arcade machines at Atari by that point, like that's how they measured their success. And this game, they're like, well, you have multiple people playing it. More than two.

[Damon Hatfield]

Right, right.

[Sam Claiborne]

Because Joust had two by then and a lot of games did in competitive ways. But so you know, you had these three people playing and then also like every time you died you could put in another quarter. Like that was not a common thing at the time. And then that became Brawlers. That that's where the industry went. And so like for two months at your arcade you could buy a machine and these games would make, you know, whatever, like 10, 20 bucks an hour, like Pac man did originally. But they weren't doing that because people were going for high scores. They're doing it because people were just going to play that and then they were maybe play it a couple more times with their friends if they're little kids because it was the new game and then they would never touch it again. Whereas Pac man was popular for three years. That's crazy.

[Justin Davis]

And Medieval Madness has been popular for 30 years now.

[Sam Claiborne]

Exactly that. Right. You have these games that are competition friendly games that are really well made that people just want to play forever.

[Damon Hatfield]

So I mentioned Capcom had Commando, but that same year they also had Ghosts and Goblins and Gunsmoke.

[Nick Limone]

Oh wow, man.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ghosts and Goblins was another tactic for this. It was also a like this idea of like how far can you get? And stuff like that. But like it wasn't really about scores, but seeing more, more like a Golden Ax or Brawler. But it is so hard.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's brutal. Konami had Gradius that year and they also had Russian Attack, which was an early 20 questions answer that nobody got. And everyone thought that was like the first time. Everyone thought I was being too like obscure and mean. I was like, well that that game was everywhere when I was a kid. Watch out.

[Sam Claiborne]

Those games, like Russian Attack would have been a conversion. You would have seen that. But like you wouldn't see Gradius in the United States. That would have been really.

[Damon Hatfield]

I only knew it from the nes. Yeah, I don't remember ever seeing that in the arcade.

[Justin Davis]

I also think it's funny, you saying Russian Attack was everywhere when you were a kid means that it was at the pizza place. Your town happened to have it.

[Damon Hatfield]

I also remember in. Com like advertisements for this game in particular in the comics I was reading, which would have been Punisher And Spider Man. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, which apparently Sam has been the only Indiana Jones arcade game ever. Although he's in a lot of pinball games. I think a couple.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know that arcade game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it has a little minecart part. It has a warrior. Yeah. As a part where you're like fighting Molaram in front of a big idol and you have cross a bridge and then you save a bunch of kids on these mine tracks. It's a very kind of clued together game on a. On the marble madness engine platform called.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's isometric kind of system 8.

[Justin Davis]

Sounds like. Sounds like Indiana Jones.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. And there's some. There's voice samples.

[Sam Claiborne]

I know. But yeah, there's. There's audio samples which are awesome. Oh, there you go.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's it.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Nick Limone]

Kind of cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it is, it is. But it takes your quarters real fast and it's kind of hard to figure out. But once you figure out and play it, it's really funny and fun and it just feels like Temple of Doom to me too when I see it now. The NES version is atrocious, dude.

[Nick Limone]

Enemies look line impossible to hit though. I know this dude's pulling it up.

[Justin Davis]

What's the Simpsons? Oh, the arcade game is Water World. And then he takes like two steps and it's like game over. Please insert 40 quarters.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And 85 is when the Nintendo versus system was first appeared. Not. Not a game, but a system.

[Sam Claiborne]

So that would have had Super Mario Brothers, Goonies, Castlevania. There's these Versus versions of games. Excitebike, that was the one that was. I bet most people saw Super Mario Bros. Or excitebike Versus. That was like an upright machine that was like kind of around. So people played that one.

[Damon Hatfield]

Atari had Paperboy. So Atari had Gauntlet and Paperboy in the same year.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I've talked about this on Scoop before of like, I know Paper Boy from the nes and like whenever I see footage, like, I don't know that I've ever played arcade Paperboy in my life or Arcade Ghosts and Goblins. Like I only know the NES ports of a lot of these games.

[Sam Claiborne]

They're both beautiful, for one thing. Ghosts and Goblins just looks incredible. But Paperboy has a great set of, you know, BMX handlebars on it. It looks different too. Like it looks nicer and it has more. It's both of the 720 hardware. It's great. It's really, really cool. But I played the Super Nintendo version More than anything. So I like no Paperboy from Super Nintendo. And I played on NES also. Like, but the Super Nintendo one was really good.

[Nick Limone]

Same here.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I remember hearing the. The NES version of Paperboy sold like a million copies.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which at the time is completely insane. And I'm sorry, Atari had another release. They had Star wars the Empire Strikes Back, which is apparently the last vector game. The vector. Last vector arcade game released 85.

[Justin Davis]

That's.

[Sam Claiborne]

I have one about five feet away from me here. It's one of my favorite games ever. I think it's so lovely.

[Damon Hatfield]

Before recording. I think this is before recording. We're talking about a short hike in. In about like that sort of like chunky PlayStation era polygon look. Coming back, I don't like. Why didn't the Vector look. I don't think ever came back.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it'd be good to.

[Damon Hatfield]

Many developer needs to make a cool vector game.

[Justin Davis]

A good feature would be like the last. What, like the last Vector game or the last. It's a little bit harder to do the last game released on a console because people still like, I released a Sega Genesis game in 2024. Like, but like whatever. Discounting all of those, the. The last of something would be good.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Vector is really cool because on a CRT monitor it's doing its own thing. And so the monitor, they've usually put a filter over the monitor to like a gray plastic filter. So when you look at it, it is the darkest, inkiest black you've ever seen with like a blindingly bright line drawn through its XY generator. And it doesn't look like anything. Like it's crazy looking. But now with OLED and better monitors, you could better simulate that. And it would be really fun to see that style come back. I mean battlezone is a really good example of. It has a time and a place and it looks really cool and yeah, it's just neat. I would love to see people play with that. There was a new Vector game out two years ago called Vector Sector and that was made by Digital Eclipse. And they put it in an arcade machine at California Extreme. And it's kind of a play on all those different vector games. And I believe you can play it in the Atari 50 collection.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool. Then for whatever reason, the site Arcade Heroes, they went from 1985 games turning 40 to the year 2000 in arcade games turning 25. So remember, 25 years ago is now the year 2000.

[Justin Davis]

That can't be right.

[Damon Hatfield]

And that includes games like Big Buck Hunter.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Big buck hunter is 25 years old now.

[Nick Limone]

We got like a billion of them here.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. You guys have the 1 ups, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, we have those. There's a lot of games here. But I'm reminded that Capcom released Mars Matrix, which is a shoot em up.

[Justin Davis]

That game rules, right? Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it was released on Dreamcast. That's one you should get for Dreamcast. Sam.

[Justin Davis]

I have it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

I think it's crazy exclusive, expensive, but maybe, you know, maybe I, I, I get mixed up on which Dreamcast games are rare or not. I think that's one of them.

[Sam Claiborne]

But it is confusing.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, but it's, it's just like that game is. So it's not in any sort of conversations today. It's never been really re released in any of these SHMUP collections or any Capcom collection or arcade archives or anything. It just seems to be like stuck in that time. But it's a phenomenal shooter. So I think it's a good candidate to bring M1.

[Nick Limone]

What are you doing?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, one. Bring back Mars matrix.

[Nick Limone]

M2. Sorry.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, M2.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's about 100 bucks complete.

[Justin Davis]

That's not too bad for a Dreamcast game actually.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. What's up man? Dreamcast library is just going completely crazy right now.

[Justin Davis]

It really is very expensive.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wow, this looks so good.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, this looks sick.

[Sam Claiborne]

It almost looks like intentionally retro.

[Justin Davis]

It's a great shmup.

[Damon Hatfield]

Capcom used to make really good shmups because they did. Gigawing 2 came out this year.

[Justin Davis]

Gigawing 2 is the one I was thinking of. That was incredibly expensive to get secondhand on the Dreamcast, you know.

[Sam Claiborne]

The Dreamcast, I believe was also the root of some sort of arcade hardware with like Soul caliber and stuff.

[Justin Davis]

So I what the Naomi engine was like a lot of.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, so this might be what it looked like in the arcade too. I don't know though.

[Damon Hatfield]

Two more to call out.

[Sam Claiborne]

I get that.

[Damon Hatfield]

25 years ago. Typing in the Dead.

[Nick Limone]

Fantastic.

[Sam Claiborne]

Excellent.

[Damon Hatfield]

Was that, I'm sure that was on Dreamcast.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, it was on Dreamcast.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

We have that at Free Gold Watch in San Francisco in. But it's the. Oh gosh, it's an anime. There's two typing games and they're interchangeable on the machine. And the other one's like it's not Ranma. I forget what, what it is. It's some, some game. You all know it's the other typing game. So they have that in it Right now it's just two Dreamcast keyboards on the arcade machine. Like that's how it works.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

This on Steam.

[Nick Limone]

It is on Steam. I'm sorry. No, it's on Abandoned Wear. So basically it's free to download.

[Damon Hatfield]

And finally, if you're gonna guess, and I don't know if this is true, I'm also guessing. What do you think would have been the biggest arcade game of the year in the year 2000? Something that would have mainstream appeal.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, God.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think DDR.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I would guess Zero Thunder. I would guess it'd be Star Wars Racer Arcade.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that would be.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know if. I'm just guessing. I'm just guessing that came out that year. Oh, wow. This is right on the. On the heels of Phantom Menace.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which, you know, it was everywhere that game was around.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then the game, it doesn't have any of the boring political stuff for the movie. Just. Just lets you. Pod race. Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

And before that they had done the Arcade trilogy, which is kind of a similar.

[Nick Limone]

I love the Arcade trilogy so much. That one's so fun.

[Sam Claiborne]

Lightsaber battles at the end of the flying parts.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Amazing graphics for the time too. Like that game was like.

[Nick Limone]

That was my Chucky Super Lucas. Every time I was like, I don't care about any of these games except the Star wars trilogy.

[Justin Davis]

I don't care about my friends.

[Damon Hatfield]

There it is. Birthday.

[Justin Davis]

And I'm gonna park myself in front of this.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nice. Yeah, this game was. This game was awesome at the time.

[Sam Claiborne]

It came in formats like it had a really big cockpit format type thing, just like the Pod Racer did, but it had an upright. Also.

[Damon Hatfield]

Was this ever ported to a home machine?

[Sam Claiborne]

It would have been really welcome at the time. Right. But I think it's like eight minutes of game total.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

There's not a lot to it.

[Justin Davis]

So going through, going through a lot of those arcade games now. Especially if you're not paying money. Right. You're just playing them in their house and it's like, oh yeah, this game is 21 minutes long.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's every. Yeah. Every arcade game.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Would it cost $10 in quarters to get through the whole thing?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Unknown]

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[Damon Hatfield]

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[Nick Limone]

So are we about to get, like, destroyed?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, let's find out. Let's find out. Nick, let's begin with you. Which five colors are used on the fret buttons of Guitar Hero controllers?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, red, blue, yellow, orange, and green.

[Justin Davis]

Green.

[Damon Hatfield]

Green.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, there you go. I was like, what are the primary colors again?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep, that's true. Video game trivia. All it says is video game trivia. There's no other branding, just one per card. There's two per card, but I'm not going to ask. Oh, I will ask you this one, Justin.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which face button symbol is shared by PlayStation, Xbox and most Nintendo controllers that went a different location on each with face button.

[Justin Davis]

So does that not count? Like start button?

[Damon Hatfield]

I read the question.

[Sam Claiborne]

Not the right answer.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I'm thrown off by PlayStation because obviously that's, you know, X, circle, square, triangle, where it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, so that she mentioned this button, Damon.

[Justin Davis]

X.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's X.

[Nick Limone]

Well, that's actually the cross.

[Justin Davis]

That's exactly. That's what? I don't know. That's exactly. The point I was gonna make is the PlayStation X is actually a symbol and it's not the letter X, but.

[Damon Hatfield]

Supposed to be cross, but yeah, it's so funny. Video game trivia says the X.

[Nick Limone]

That's the definitive place for knowledge.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Sam, for which console was Luigi's Mansion a launch title?

[Sam Claiborne]

Ooh, Nintendo GameCube.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's correct.

[Nick Limone]

He got the easy question. What the heck?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, but I also answ both legends.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nick, you play League of Legends?

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, you can have the league.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, no.

[Damon Hatfield]

In League of Legends, what term is used to describe the number of minions a player has defeated? Oh, what do you know?

[Nick Limone]

I have no idea.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, apparently it's creep score.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's your creep score.

[Justin Davis]

Got it.

[Nick Limone]

Well, I'm not very good at league, so this all tracks.

[Damon Hatfield]

Justin, what code name did Nintendo use for the GameCube before a true name, reveal the dolphin. That's the dolphin.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, Yeah, I used to read dolphin.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's not very common knowledge.

[Nick Limone]

That one might actually be, like, a genuine good trivia question.

[Damon Hatfield]

I just feel like it's pretty easy.

[Justin Davis]

That's what I mean. Sam's right.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, you've been in the industry, though.

[Justin Davis]

I. I am curious about the Switch. So the Switch's code name was what, Nitro? Right.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, I was gonna say, can you name one other Nintendo code name? That's the thing. Like the dolphin ones.

[Justin Davis]

Nitro might have been the DS or 3DS.

[Nick Limone]

Wasn't Daedalus one of them for N64?

[Justin Davis]

What I like. See, now this is a bad anecdote. Cause I can't remember the console, but, like, the little number on the back of the card says ntr. Whatever. And then that was. Cause it was the Nintendo Nitro. And now I can't remember if that was the DS or the 3Ds or the switch. But, like, what was the NX? See, the NX. So maybe the switches are NX. I can't quite recall.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. For the longest time, they were referring to the Nintendo Switch as the Wii.

[Sam Claiborne]

U had a code name that we all knew for like, two days and then it was announced. Yeah, but I can't remember what it was.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam, did you play Fable 3?

[Justin Davis]

Fable 3? Trivia question.

[Nick Limone]

Wild trivia to hit me.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, yes, yes, I played it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which actor and comedian voices Jasper in Fable 3?

[Justin Davis]

Oh, I think I know this.

[Nick Limone]

I think I know it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Maybe. Maybe Stephen Merchant.

[Justin Davis]

I think it's John Clee.

[Nick Limone]

John Cleese.

[Damon Hatfield]

John Cleese.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nice. Oh, he was great. That's. I remember that. Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

I just like. It's got to be something.

[Sam Claiborne]

It had this, like a kind of the strategy section of it, which was strange. Kind of switched to that recently. I wrote. I wrote guide parts of that.

[Justin Davis]

Like.

[Sam Claiborne]

So I did play a lot of that game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. It's unclear to me who video game trivia thinks their target audience.

[Nick Limone]

Very wide net. They've cast these questions.

[Justin Davis]

I think they're doing a good job. If like. Like some grandma got these for their grandson. It's like, ah, he's a gamer. Then he's like, what is Fable 3?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Who's John Cleese?

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly. Nick, which of these games has sold the most copies Worldwide? Pong, the Witcher 3 or Minecraft?

[Nick Limone]

Minecraft, yeah. Oh, I thought they could have made this really hard, but. All right, cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is a good one for Justin. Which open world survival game is set on the fictional ocean planet 4546b?

[Justin Davis]

I don't know. Is it Subnautica?

[Damon Hatfield]

Subnautica, nice.

[Nick Limone]

Is that the only game? Water planet, Open World.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam Geralt of Rivia appears as a playable character in which 2018 fighting game.

[Justin Davis]

We thought. We thought it was a softball, but it was not.

[Sam Claiborne]

I know.

[Nick Limone]

See, that's a tricky one.

[Sam Claiborne]

See, I kind of remember this. I'm gonna go with 2018 though. Was there a Soul Caliber that year?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah. If you don't know which one, that's fine. It's Soul Caliber.

[Nick Limone]

Soul Caliber. What the heck?

[Justin Davis]

Soul Caliber six.

[Nick Limone]

Okay. Yeah, I remember this footage. I do remember.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, I knew it was Soul Caliber, but I didn't know they were. Yeah, made it all the way to six back.

[Sam Claiborne]

It looks fun.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, it looks pretty good.

[Damon Hatfield]

Was this the last one? The most recent? Soul Caliber?

[Justin Davis]

Nobody knows.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think so.

[Sam Claiborne]

Evan Money?

[Nick Limone]

I think so. I think so.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wind howling. Okay, Nick, what is the full name of the second cuphead game?

[Nick Limone]

Cuphead. Delicious Last course.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Is that the.

[Justin Davis]

Really? That's just dlc.

[Damon Hatfield]

So the Wrong.

[Justin Davis]

Also, that's very contemporary. Like, I mean, compared to the other questions.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's true. Justin, which popular.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's tough one.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which popular console was originally designed to be a CD Rom add on for the Super Nintendo?

[Justin Davis]

The PlayStation one.

[Nick Limone]

That's a good. I think that's a good question.

[Damon Hatfield]

I agree here, Sam. This one I didn't realize. Which much loved sci fi actress plays a major character in Horizon Forbidden West?

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, a beloved sci Fi actress.

[Damon Hatfield]

I didn't even know this. I did.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica?

[Damon Hatfield]

Katie Sackhoff. No, it's not her. Carrie Anne Moss is in Horizon Forbidden West.

[Justin Davis]

What?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, that's right.

[Damon Hatfield]

I Don't. I didn't even know that I was, like, hearing Carry On, Carry On, Moss.

[Nick Limone]

And didn't even know she's one of the floating people.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I think I played that game. Yeah, I did finish it, but, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I beat that one. Definitely got to the floating people part. I like the end. It's good.

[Damon Hatfield]

We'll do a couple more rounds here. Nick. What. Which. Which home console was the first to contain a Blu ray player?

[Nick Limone]

The PlayStation 3.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's right. Justin. Released in 1993. Which home console was the last to be released by Atari with the Jaguar? The Jaguar.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. And then, Sam, which PlayStation 5 launch game is set on Snack Tooth Island?

[Justin Davis]

I feel like Sam's getting much harder. Questions.

[Nick Limone]

PlayStation 2 launch game on snack tooth.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did you say five launch game?

[Damon Hatfield]

PS5 game. Launch game set on Snack Tooth Island.

[Nick Limone]

Okay, I do know this one.

[Justin Davis]

What?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, phone a friend.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, maybe I. Maybe.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, I'm going to phone Snack Tooth. I'm going to call the guy who read the question. I'm just kidding. What is it, Nick?

[Damon Hatfield]

Snack Tooth Island.

[Nick Limone]

Bugsnax.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, and Bugsnax. Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Latency. He actually said that before me, but because it's remote, it was like a millisecond late. It's fine.

[Sam Claiborne]

I forgot that it was a launch title.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, me too.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Maybe it wasn't. Maybe that's wrong.

[Damon Hatfield]

What is that. What is the name of Mario's dinosaur sidekick? What was the. Oh, yeah. What was the first Nintendo console to have HD support? Kind of funny.

[Justin Davis]

I answer that one. The GameCube. No, see, because the GameCube had progressive scan.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. 480p.

[Justin Davis]

So it's like.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, okay, final round. Nick. Detective Cole Phelps is the protagonist from which video game?

[Nick Limone]

Louisiana. Noire.

[Damon Hatfield]

Louisiana Noire. Justin doesn't play Apex.

[Nick Limone]

Generic ass name. But how did I know that? That's. Dude, what's wrong with me?

[Justin Davis]

That was real quick because it came out on Switch.

[Damon Hatfield]

Justin, which Battle Royale game by Mediatonic was released as a PlayStation plus game in August 2020?

[Nick Limone]

Crazy specific.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Fall guys.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, Mediatonic. Fall guys.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. And I even. I played fall guys with my kids. They loved it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam, which 1996 rail shooter pits the player against the zombified creations of Dr. Kurian?

[Sam Claiborne]

Would that be House of the Dead?

[Damon Hatfield]

That is House of the Dead. There you go. Cool. Punishment from video game trivia.

[Nick Limone]

Dude, I was about. As soon as you said rail shoot, I was like, sitting in punishment.

[Damon Hatfield]

You like that? Check out their socks.

[Sam Claiborne]

Also that would be a really strange name for a, a star Fox villain, I thought. But then I was like, no, it's not. The star Fox villains are ridiculous. Is it like Andros and then like he's like a face and a monkey. What's happening with that character?

[Justin Davis]

I think my family finally knows better now. But there were many, many years of like, you're a gamer. I got you this gamer gift and then yeah, it's the hoodie that's like, you know, don't bother me. I'm gaming and I'm just like, thanks.

[Sam Claiborne]

I would hold onto that stuff because it's like such a cool like you know, 25 years after Resident Evil 4 comes out, everything from Resident Evil 4 is cool now. And there's definitely some funny shirts from them.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah. That's like, I feel like the female, not to overly gender it, but like the, the woman version of that is like wine, mom, things like live love, laugh. Yeah, yeah. Like.

[Damon Hatfield]

I always cook with wine. Sometimes I even add it to the food.

[Justin Davis]

Exactly. Damon's picking up what I'm putting down.

[Damon Hatfield]

A lot of time in Sonoma. Never. Yeah, I'm going there on Thursday to Calistoga.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm so excited for you.

[Damon Hatfield]

Let's check in with the listeners again. And this is Chris from Texas who says, I recently started playing the new Alone in the Dark game. And before you start the game you are asked if you would like to play in modern or old school modes. Modern has more of the objective markers while old school has a clear display. This got me thinking. As a 34 year old gamer, I really like modern modes in video games. I love all the yellow paintings on displays telling me where to go. I've been playing video games since the nes. My first game was River City Ransom. My question is, what is the scoop? What does the scoop crew like to choose from? It seems that there is a general consensus amongst the gaming community that they hate the yellow paint in video games. But I love it.

[Justin Davis]

Well, okay, but they hate the yellow paint in video games. They're like, the game doesn't tell you where to go. I wandered around for 20 minutes.

[Damon Hatfield]

This has to stop.

[Justin Davis]

And I couldn't figure out where I was supposed to go. Yeah, I'm sassy today.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know, I'm not supposed to comment on this. I, I, no games should have yellow paint. You should have, you should have to use a strategy guide to get through any, any video game.

[Nick Limone]

Well, specifically the IGN strategy guide for that handholding.

[Sam Claiborne]

So as no excuse for that handholding.

[Justin Davis]

We are grow up. We are conflating and combining two separate things, which is, like, objective markers or, like, the degradation of, like, you know, Morrowind to oblivion. To Skyrim, where Morrowind is like, you read a journal and then you read hint and clues about, like, going around and finding it. And then in Skyrim, it's just like, go here and it's on your map.

[Nick Limone]

Find my dog. Located in this exact cave.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. And that's. And that's different than the yellow paint, which is. As games have gotten higher and higher and higher fidelity and the environments have gotten more realistic, you need, like, visual clues and markers to understand, like, what's interactable and what's not. Right. Like, if everything is in, like, super.

[Sam Claiborne]

Crazy crispy, you could have made everything climbable.

[Damon Hatfield]

The answer is just to make everything climbable.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, but let's. Like, that's the same I was saying before we recorded, like, my kids and my wife don't understand. They're like, how did you know you could open that door? But that door was just, like, you know, a part, like, was unopenable. I'm like, you could just tell.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. You look at him, you could tell.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, exactly. But it's like, that's. That's why the yellow paint is needed for people that are not, you know, degenerates that have been playing video games since they were, like, four.

[Sam Claiborne]

I thought you were gonna point out, though, that it is funny that it is yellow paint.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Because once that became a meme, like, you know, time to crate stuff. Which is like, you know, the first time you see a crate in a game, it's like a cheap thing. Like, there's still crates in every game. And it's really funny. And then the yellow paint, like, you play a game, like, I think it was maybe popularized by, like, Last of Us, maybe. Something I can't remember. But then, like, it was in Final Fantasy Rebirth, like, it was yellow paint.

[Damon Hatfield]

Resident Evil 4. Also Resident Evil 4.

[Nick Limone]

Right.

[Justin Davis]

It can be done well or it can be done not well. And, like, I remember Indiana Jones.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, I guess it's Uncharted.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Uncharted started. That's my memory. So Indiana Jones got huge praise for, like, ah, look, this game that's navigable with no yellow paint. I'm like, it absolutely has that in it. But it's more subtle. It's these little white. You know, these little ribbons.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, there's 100% white paint in some areas.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it's white paint and, like, white scratch marks when it's an area you can climb like, and it's just more subtle about it.

[Nick Limone]

Do you want to invert controls?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

What color paint would you like to indicate where to go?

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, you joke, but it seems like that could be toggle. You could be toggled off.

[Nick Limone]

It's like an accessibility setting, right? It kind of should be. But then again, I've seen people like fail to navigate like a mall because they don't understand the way it's laid out. Like people, you give people too much credit. They don't know how to do things, they don't know where to go. So like I've seen people play video games without these markers. They're usually not very good at it and then they lose interest and then fall off. It's there for a reason. There's ways to do it correctly. Yes, there's tasteful ways of doing it, but for the most part it doesn't hurt you. It doesn't detract from the experience.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, and getting back to the original question, like, what do we think? What's my. I think it depends on the game and the genre and the context. Sometimes I appreciate it and I'm glad it's there. If I'm just playing a game to chill and lean back and just like, whatever, I'm just running around and, you know, I'm not taking it that seriously, then like I'm going to go directly to the objective marker I want it on. But then it's like in other games or like, like in a Metroid style game where like the exploration and the piecing together the map and the puzzle is the whole point. Then it, like, then it drives me crazy. If it's trying to like, tell me what to do, you know, before I figure it out on my own.

[Nick Limone]

Any games that have it, I've typically found that I have positive feelings towards it. If the game itself feels good to move around in. Perfect example is Horizon Zero dawn, which is a game that does not feel good to move around in. And so I resent the yellow because it represents movement that I don't enjoy doing in game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Improved it in Forbidden West.

[Nick Limone]

Yes, they did.

[Damon Hatfield]

Still not where it needs to be. I think the Tomb Raider reboot trilogy does it pretty well. It's just kind of like gray scratchy areas that lets you know we love.

[Nick Limone]

Little scratch marks on marble floors.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, this doesn't work for everything, but the first time you play a death stranding, it's like, it's cool because somebody left some like jackass little message for you. That's great. That was, like. That was really neat. Like, go up this way, don't go this way. I like that. I like when they get creative with that type of stuff. But, you know, a game is just not the same unless you have, like, a wall of text you read next to it with an ASCII logo at the top of it.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Facts.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, the little. Or, like. What about the. The. Like Dark Souls games or Elden Ring where players leave messages for each other? Yeah, I. Finger butthole.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Jump here.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I've. I've experienced that in eldering. Not usually very helpful, in my opinion.

[Nick Limone]

99 of the time. Not helpful.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Nick Limone]

You don't have the right. Oh, you don't have the right.

[Damon Hatfield]

Extracurricular activities. I finally watched the Substance, and I loved it. That's great.

[Nick Limone]

Excellent.

[Sam Claiborne]

I've had it highly recommended. Many people.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, you have to see it. It's great. And I. I don't. I don't want to get into a discussion because I don't want to spoil anything from the movie, but it's great.

[Nick Limone]

My fave from last year, My number one movie of last year.

[Damon Hatfield]

Justin, have you seen it?

[Justin Davis]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think you should watch it. I don't. I watched it with Kim.

[Justin Davis]

You said you don't want to get in a discussion about it.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm. No, I'm just.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, no, no. We're not. No spoilers. Zero spoilers. I'm just saying, if you were gonna, like, have a movie night with your wife, trying to think. It's not for the faint of heart. Let me just put it that way. It's a body horror movie, so that's fine.

[Sam Claiborne]

So don't watch it for the movie night with the wife.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, I watched it with my wife, and she liked it. So just. Just think about. Think about whether or not the person you watch this with is gonna like a very intense, gross body horror movie.

[Justin Davis]

Got it.

[Damon Hatfield]

But I think it's great.

[Justin Davis]

I don't have a problem being challenged by our media in my house, so there you go.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. That's all good. I just have to lie going into it. This is more of a Disney movie type thing, I think.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then last night, I watched Carry On.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, how was it?

[Damon Hatfield]

The Netflix Die Hard with TSA agent. It was totally fun. It's like. It's kind of. It's silly and. But it's. It's a totally fun, enjoyable Netflix movie.

[Justin Davis]

I'm very thrown off by you saying Carry on instead of Carry On.

[Damon Hatfield]

What did I. You just Said the same thing twice.

[Justin Davis]

Well, like, one is like, I will carry on. And the other was like, this is my carry on.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is a carry on. It's about a car carry on.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Understood.

[Damon Hatfield]

Luggage. And Jason Bateman is the bad guy. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is that Kristen Stewart?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, that's not Kristen Stewart. But you know who else is in this, Sam? Hank Schrader.

[Nick Limone]

Really?

[Damon Hatfield]

Hank Schrader is in this good part. Love it.

[Nick Limone]

Dean Norris.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which. Yeah, hadn't seen him in a while. This Carry on is on Netflix. It's a, it's a decent Die Hard ripoff in LAX on Christmas Eve and it was totally fun.

[Nick Limone]

It was like the action movie of Christmas time. Time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. It is the Christmas.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, I had no idea. I would have watched it over. I know the action movie Christmas period had I known that. Yeah, no, it's probably too late next year.

[Nick Limone]

Next year. Yeah. Or this year.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then finally the other thing I watched and I would recommend is Wise Guy on HBO or Max. It's a two part documentary on the making of the Sopranos where they interview David Chase, the creator. So if you like the Sopranos and have good memories of watching the Sopranos when it was airing, it's a nice little trip down nostalgia lane for that. And I learned some things I didn't know about.

[Nick Limone]

So love me some Sopranos.

[Damon Hatfield]

Any else watch anything?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I'm in the middle of Penguin. I'm about to, to finish it and it's great. I, I really do like it a lot. Colin Farrell's incredible in that. And like all the, all the characters are interesting and it feels very Gotham at parts where they talk about, you know, Gotham, Municipal, water and like all. It's just really funny when they remind you that they're in a Batman setting because it is just a kind of a crime movie with a really strange mob bus. But my wife was so into it that right in the middle of it she's like, we saw that Batman movie, but I don't remember any of it. I was like, I don't really either. And so we went back and now we've, we've paused two, maybe one episode before the end of the series and watched most of the Batman again. And you know, I didn't remember that the Penguin's like all over that movie. I mean, I remember him being in it. That's how I knew he was playing that character and stuff like that. But it was fun to revisit that. I think that movie kind of stinks now, though. Like, I loved it. When it came out. But when I rewatched it, I was like, the Penguin show is so much better than that Batman movie. Like, I think the actor playing Batman is not that great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Robert Pattinson.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like, I think it's. I think it's really corny that Catwoman's just all over it. Like, doesn't make any sense, like, just to reintroduce a Catwoman character. But lots of. It's great. And it's like, you know, it's just not. It's not what I remembered it being. I don't think it's as good as the Christian Bale ones, for example, but I need to watch those again.

[Nick Limone]

Good car chase in that one, though.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, very good.

[Sam Claiborne]

There is a good car chase where he jumps over the cars on fire at the end of it. Like, that. A lot of great action. It's rains the whole movie, which is just like. You know, when you think about, like, how difficult that production work is, like, that's all cool. Like, the movie is like. Seems to be basically well made. I just think, like, it's kind of a weird. It's just out of nowhere, too. It's like, this is a Batman universe I care about now. Like, Robert Pattinson. It's all confused, confusing. It's very strange. But now that the Penguin exists, I like the context it puts it in. Right. I like the universe that it's in. I just don't think. Are we ever going to see anything else in this universe? I don't know.

[Justin Davis]

Well, supposedly Batman 2 at some point.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is there another. The Batman?

[Justin Davis]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's supposed to be at least announced.

[Nick Limone]

It got delayed recently to, like, 2027.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Too much time.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Again, like, that's a problem, right? To have that much time between these things. But then also, it's very unclear if it's. It's part of the gun. Guniverse. Right.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, I think it's not.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think it's not. Yeah, I think they have been clear about that.

[Nick Limone]

Correct. Although they have been kind of trying to blur, like. Oh, well, who knows?

[Sam Claiborne]

Blurring happening.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. That's like a recent thing.

[Sam Claiborne]

And then I took also a moment to just mainline creature commandos and I finished that series. So I watched that whole thing. You can watch it in, like, an evening.

[Damon Hatfield]

Do you recommend that? I don't know anything about it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I recommend it to you because it's like Ultraviolet and it has universal monster energy in it, which is really fun. Like, it's got. It's got all the Frankenstein's Fun Saturday.

[Nick Limone]

Morning cartoon energy to it.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's really. It's really gory. Like, it has.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I'll put it at the top.

[Sam Claiborne]

Of my list right now. Yeah, it has the voice. Yeah, it has the voice actors from what's it called, Peacemaker in it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which one?

[Sam Claiborne]

And characters. It has, like, just, like, his kind of his cast that's that. That, like, kind of tells him what to do in that show is, like, the people that put together the creature command. Like, multiple characters.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like, and so they do have full universe crossover there. And then there's a. There's kind of a funny mystery and stuff. Each episode does, like, a backstory of how the creatures became, you know, basically incarcerated villains. But they're not all villains, and it's all complicated. And it was. I, I. It's pretty corny at parts. Like, it's not. It's not like, wow there. Everything about this was executed perfectly. But it's totally an easy. Like, it's an easy watch, and it'll draw you in. And it's a part of that universe. So it's like, I try. I'm gonna try to keep up because I like James Gunn. The last DC Universe, they lost me, like, one movie in. Right. So I was like, I'm gonna pick and choose carefully here.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool. Anything else to report?

[Justin Davis]

I don't have an extracurricular activity.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, yeah. You wanted to share what you were playing.

[Justin Davis]

Well, yeah, I forgot about that.

[Damon Hatfield]

I wanted to hit that at the top of the show.

[Justin Davis]

I've been going through some original Game Boy hidden gems, and I went through two of them since the last time we recorded.

[Damon Hatfield]

Don't reveal the name. Start describing the game, but don't reveal the name yet.

[Justin Davis]

Well, one of them is. One of them is a pinball game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Where Vengeance of the Gator.

[Justin Davis]

Yep. I'm surprised you didn't do Kirby's pinball. I guess that's not a hidden gem as much.

[Damon Hatfield]

Revenge of the Gator is one that I had.

[Justin Davis]

No. Revenge of the Gator is a really cool OG Pinball game on the Game Boy. OG Game Boy pinball game. But what's interesting about it is that it's made by Hal, so it's a progenitor to, like. Is it called Kirby's Pinball Land?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, that's so cool.

[Justin Davis]

And so I never knew that. Like, I knew of Revenge of the Gator and its reputation, but, like, seeing that it was developed by Hal and seeing that it came out, like, three years before the Kirby pinball game is like, oh, like, that's what I love about going back and revisiting classics is because you can make these connections and see the through lines, through things. The other one is the one that's completely random where again, it showed up online on some, you know, Game Boy hidden gems list. And that was. Oh, you want me to describe the game? Yeah, it's a mix between KIX and Pac man and you play as a penguin.

[Sam Claiborne]

And is it Boomer's Adventures in Asmic World?

[Damon Hatfield]

It is not. It's a dinosaur game. The Boomer's a dinosaur.

[Justin Davis]

It's a game called Amazing Penguin.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, yeah, I don't know that one.

[Justin Davis]

And I think it's published by Natsume and I'd never heard of it before. It only showed up on some hidden gems list. An Amazing Penguin. There's not really too much to it. You sort of go through these maz like levels dodging ghosts. So it's very kind of Pac man esque. But then you can, you know, kick these obstacles and balls that are in front of you in a straight line and they sort of sweep through the stage and clear the enemies away and it's just very interesting and satisfying.

[Damon Hatfield]

So I'll check that one out.

[Sam Claiborne]

This person not trapping the ball is driving me absolutely insane.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, yeah, but you don't hold your flipper up. This game, I loved this game and I played the heck out of it. But I'm only realizing now, I. I never question why it. Why is it an alligator themed finball game?

[Justin Davis]

Well, and why the. The name Revenge of the Gator makes no sense. Because you're defeating the gator, so it's like, what? Why? Like he's the villain. So what does this mean? What does it mean? Revenge of the Gator.

[Nick Limone]

He's getting revenge on you by putting you in a pinball game.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, but you're getting revenge on him. I'm sure the instruction booklet probably had like eight pages of war.

[Damon Hatfield]

What was like the elevator pitch? Like, let's do a video pinball game with an alligator theme.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Why? Where does it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep.

[Nick Limone]

Well, we made a bunch of different.

[Sam Claiborne]

Keep on dropping to different levels. Is that what you're saying?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, there's like three.

[Justin Davis]

Because it was on the game boy. Yeah, you have to. It's this very, you know, sort of jarring shift between screens as you drop down to the lower screens. It's great.

[Sam Claiborne]

There is a famous pinball machine that's based on gators. And by famous, I mean none of you have heard of it, but it's called Granny and the Gators. And it's the only other pinball machine that use the technology that Baby Pac man uses where you play a video game up top and below is a tiny pinball machine, same format. It's made by Bally. This is the exact same kind of model year. And the Granny game up top used the flippers and Granny is on a canoe. And you have to, like, kind of tube in style, control the thing, like to play splashing left and right and you go down a river, and then when you, like, get messed up in some way, the ball drops in. You play a little pinball, a real pinball game below.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool. It's great.

[Nick Limone]

While you're kind of digging through the, like, hidden gems of the Game Boy, I would assume you've kind of already probably discovered this. Have you ever played For Whom the Frog Bell Tolls?

[Justin Davis]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's a game. Yeah, a Game Boy game.

[Nick Limone]

It's. It's the game that would go on to basically be Link's Awakening. So I would highly recommend it. It's very cool and you can get a fan translation pretty easily. But highly, highly recommend for Hidden Gems.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wasn'T released in the United States, so it's really hard to love it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Interesting.

[Justin Davis]

I'll add it to the list.

[Nick Limone]

You like Link's Awakening, you'll probably like For Whom the Frog Bell Tolls.

[Justin Davis]

Well, who doesn't?

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, that brings us to Video Game 20 questions, and our suggestion this week comes from Wyatt. And Wyatt says. My name is Wyatt. I'm a young listener from the small town of Hope. I'm pronouncing it right. Okatox, Alberta, Canada. I got into the podcast by listening with my dad on car rides. And now that I'm driving by myself, I love listening to whatever you guys say. Oh, and with that, there are no other hints. So let the questioning begin.

[Nick Limone]

Why, it's pay attention. Eyes on the road.

[Sam Claiborne]

Pocketox Wyatt from Canada.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And so presuming the driving age in Canada is also 16, did this game come out in the last 16 years?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

So it was.

[Sam Claiborne]

That puts it Squarely in the 2009 Till now timeline.

[Justin Davis]

Someone could have told me any year was 16 years ago.

[Damon Hatfield]

97.

[Justin Davis]

Must be true. Or they could be like, 20. 19 was 16 years ago, believe it or not. And I'd be like, oh, okay, 2009. Okay.

[Nick Limone]

Is this game playable on the Switch?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Okay. Was this a multi platform game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do you play as a human?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Do you play as a lady?

[Damon Hatfield]

You can.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, that's five Character selection.

[Sam Claiborne]

Would you call this. Go ahead.

[Nick Limone]

Is this an indie game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is multiplayer at least a partial main focus of this game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Is this a. Is this a moba?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, is shooter.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is shooter. Shooter.

[Nick Limone]

You can change charact.

[Justin Davis]

So a hero should be. It could be Overwatch. That's not on the switch, is it?

[Nick Limone]

And you can. I think it is on the switch.

[Justin Davis]

Nobody knows.

[Sam Claiborne]

I actually don't know.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I'm not 100 sure. I mean, is shooter. So. Okay. I mean, is this a hero shooter?

[Damon Hatfield]

No. That's 10.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, it's a military shooter. Maybe it's the division.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe it's. Is. Is technically. Well, technically. Is Halo a military shooter? He said he's a marine.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, he's UNSC Marine.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

You can. You can be a.

[Justin Davis]

And a female Spartan in multiplayer and I don't know, maybe in like.

[Nick Limone]

And it's a some point, like part of the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Doesn't seem like.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't. I don't know if it's technically a military shooter or not.

[Nick Limone]

Is this a first person shooter?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Is this a sci fi game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, realistic or realistic, but unclear if you're.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. That's why I thought sci fi might be good because it's like there's a lot of these weird sci fi games where it's like. Well, I don't know if you're technically in the military or not.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's not. It's not the division, because that's third person. Right. We had the division before. I just want to make sure.

[Nick Limone]

Correct.

[Justin Davis]

And is the divil. And then the, the. The. The distinction being is the division militaristic or not?

[Damon Hatfield]

I look forward to discussing whether or not this is a military game after this.

[Nick Limone]

If it has Tom Clancy in the title, I would say it's a military thing.

[Justin Davis]

Is this a Clancy verse game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. What?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, no. Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

We've already had the division, so I don't think also that it doesn't fit the first person. So it has to be the. What's the most recent one that like, was multiplayer kind of.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, there's like Rainbow Six, which you aren't technically in the military.

[Sam Claiborne]

Right.

[Nick Limone]

You're.

[Justin Davis]

There was rain. Yeah. So there's Rainbow. Rainbow Sixes. And there was a new one that's Versus Aliens. Right. Rainbow Six. Oh, Extraction or Extinction or whatever it's called.

[Sam Claiborne]

That is aliens in it.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. Aliens. Yeah. It's Rainbow Six Extraction. That came out in like 2021.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's SCI fi.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Well, I Mean sci fi.

[Sam Claiborne]

What was the previous rainbow six?

[Justin Davis]

I don't know, man.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, it'd be rainbow six Siege. Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Or rainbow six.

[Nick Limone]

Vegas two.

[Justin Davis]

I would call siege hero shooters.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. But. Well, that's the really popular online ongoing game that's been around for. Yes.

[Nick Limone]

I think Vegas 2 came out in 2009. So that would make the cut off.

[Justin Davis]

And then there was a long gap.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this a live service game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, I mean, I mean, okay. It's. It's gotta be. Well, it's either that or the division. Is this a Rainbow Six game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. That's 15.

[Justin Davis]

Is it Rainbow Six Siege?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

You're like. I think you're a private.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Anti terrorist group kind of on.

[Damon Hatfield]

So I don't.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

They have a game mode called terrorist hunt. So maybe I don't know if they're.

[Damon Hatfield]

Like part of the. That's not the u. S. Military. Right.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's why I was on.

[Nick Limone]

Sam Fisher has joined their ranks. So I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

And I don't think looks like a.

[Sam Claiborne]

Police shooter from this view.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, my understanding is that it's not a hero shooter.

[Justin Davis]

I would. 100. Well, I guess you're okay. Fair enough. I'm not gonna like. I'm not gonna go to the mat over this one. I would call it a hero shooter. It's definitely classic character.

[Nick Limone]

No, they're pre configured characters that all have their own unique abilities.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

I would argue it's a hero shooter.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Also this game is. It's very fun. It's very hard to get into because you always get paired up with people who just know. Okay, first thing you want to do is shoot in this corner. Shoot this corner. Shoot this corner here. You just die immediately as soon as you spawn. And it's like, oh, man.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. This is a. This game is also a poster child for like, you know, the season one look is all like grizzled camo and beards. And then like the season. The season 23 look is all like, you know, like, it's just. You're in a clown makeup and just like completely over the top costumes.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know, like an E3.

[Justin Davis]

You're playing as Freddy Krueger.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like at E3. When they had showed this one, they would be like those people, like doing the dialogue that they were reading off of a script that. It was so embarrassed.

[Justin Davis]

I think that was this. This game.

[Nick Limone]

He's on our six.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know they did that for the division also. They might have done it with this too.

[Nick Limone]

Also. This Game had a, like, very infamous, like, initial trailer that was going to be like this big cinematic, first person like, story. And then they completely abandoned that. There was like a really crazy moment I remember in E3 trailer way back when where you have the terrorists like in your grips and you throw them over the side of the bridge and it detonates and it's like, oh, my gosh. This game's gonna be like, crazy, like gritty and an interesting story. And they just completely abandoned that for this game as a service. Yeah, it was very successful for them.

[Damon Hatfield]

This was put together from the pieces of Rainbow Six Patriot.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, that's what. That's what I'm thinking.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's. But then that was canceled and then sort of rearranged into this.

[Justin Davis]

I've never played this, but I've always been intrigued. We saw some of it in the footage we were just watching of being able to blow holes in the floor and ceiling. It's for some reason that trips me up more like blowing holes in a wall. I'm like, okay. But then blowing holes in the floor, I'm like, whoa. It just feels way cooler. I don't know.

[Nick Limone]

Rainbow Six Siege is a lot of fun. And it's exactly that. Like, you blow up walls strategically so that you can get little peephole to shoot somebody in the head with, like, it's pretty. Pretty impressive. And you can reinforce walls and whatnot and floors.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Pretty cool game.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then extraction was the alien spin off, but they had to retool it and delay it because it was. I think it was called, like Epidemic.

[Nick Limone]

It was called.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it was supposed to come out.

[Nick Limone]

In 2020, but it came out during the code.

[Damon Hatfield]

It was like, right during the night stuff. Well, it's delayed and make it aliens. Cowards.

[Justin Davis]

They should have just released it. It.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, it came out.

[Sam Claiborne]

They delayed it from being about a pandemic to being about aliens. That's what the change was.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wow.

[Justin Davis]

What if aliens invaded right before it came out the second time?

[Damon Hatfield]

Come on. Oh, nicely job. Thank you for the suggestion, Wyatt. Yes. Like Nick said, please keep your eyes on the road and drive safely while you listen to us. Whatever we're saying. Viewers, listeners, if you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address, gamescoopgn.com and that's going to do it for this week. That's all the scoops we have for you this week. Thank you, Nick. Justin, we're glad you could be with us here in person, Sam. Hopefully you're here with us. Next time. Thank you to Gilbert and everyone working behind the scenes to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IGN GamesCube and Route.

[Unknown]

Oh, get me another tie get me another shirt get me another woolie every day oh, get me another tie get me another shirt get me another woolly because I have things piling over me I have too many things over me having well, my husband saying oh because have things piling over me have too many things over me having well, my husband saying because have things piling over me have too many things over me having Will my husband say oh oh get me another tie get me another shirt get me another one day oh, get me another tie get me another shirt get another one every day because have things piling achieve me have too many things that may happen well my husband said oh because have things piling achieve have too many things over me having well, my husband said oh because to have things piling over me have too many things over me having well my husband say oh because have things piling over have too many things over me having what'll my husband say? I oh oh get me another tie get me another shirt get me another woolly every day oh, get me another tie get me another shirt get me another w Me another tie get me another shirt get me another one oh, get me another tie get me another shirt get me another w.

[Laura Cathcart Robbins]

Hi, I'm Laura Cathcart Robbins, and I am the host and creator of the podcast Only One in the Room. Every week, my co host, Scott Slaughter, and I invite you to join us and lose yourself in someone's incredible Only One Story. We talk to real people dealing with issues like infertility, the death of a loved one, human trafficking, and women who fake it. Oh, and we want to be fair, so we talk to celebrities, too. Emmy winners like actor Jon Cryer, supermodels like Amber Valletta, and rock stars like Ryan Dusick. Everyone is invited to share their only one story with our listeners. With 21 seasons and counting, we guarantee you that only one in the room has a story that you'll connect with. This podcast is for anyone who has ever felt alone in a room full of people. Which is to say that this podcast is for everyone. Download Only one in the room on Apple or Spotify today.

[Damon Hatfield]

Hey, folks, we're the hosts of Comic Sans, the podcast about comics for those who are Sans knowledge. I'm Yen, a reader, writer, liver and breather of comic books.

[Sam Claiborne]

And I'm Nat.

[Damon Hatfield]

I used to know absolutely nothing about comics, but now. So, actually, I've got a quiz for you.

[Nick Limone]

I still have a lot to learn about comics.

[Damon Hatfield]

Thank you. On Comic Hans, I make Nat read some of my favorite works in the medium, including Saga, Daredevil, and the Flintstones. And Yann talks about what makes that comic special. Sometimes it's a story, sometimes it's paneling, gutters, page turns, colorings, lettering, semiotics, juxtaposition. Okay, professor, save it for the episode. You can listen to Comic Sans on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Nick Limone]

You can binge.

[Damon Hatfield]

Our first two seasons, that's over 20 episodes on 20 different comics, and we just launched season three. New episodes every two weeks.