Game Scoop! 796: Gaming's Most Pivotal Years

Summary

Game Scoop! Episode 796: Gaming's Most Pivotal Years - Summary

Release Date: January 31, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 796 of Game Scoop!, hosted by Damon Hatfield alongside Justin Davis and Sam Claiborne, the IGN team delves into the transformative years of the gaming industry. This episode explores pivotal moments, influential games, and significant shifts that have defined the landscape of video gaming.

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Retro Gaming and Old Magazines

The discussion kicks off with the hosts flipping through an old issue of Electric Gamer (Electric Game of Gaming Monthly), providing a nostalgic look back at gaming history.

Damon Hatfield ([37:19]):
"So you got the January 1991 issue of EGM. Interesting time."

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Spyro the Dragon Analysis

Sam Claiborne shares his experience revisiting the original Spyro the Dragon.

Sam Claiborne ([02:14] - [05:56]):
"If you didn't play this game when you were a kid, this is... it's just a chill out game. Collecting treasure, running around. None of it is at all hard at all."
"Spyro's simplicity cuts both ways—it’s great for relaxing but doesn’t hold up against classics like Mario 64 or Banjo Kazooie."

The hosts critique the game’s lack of puzzles and challenging elements, contrasting it with other platformers of its era.

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New Game Recommendations

Short Hike and Little Gator Game

Justin Davis introduces two contemporary games that echo the exploratory and conversational qualities of classic titles.

Justin Davis ([07:18] - [13:58]):
"Short Hike is an exploration-based game with a charming story and engaging dialogue. It’s like one level in Banjo Kazooie—easy to pick up and play."
"Little Gator Game offers sandbox-like movement with fun gadgets and a manipulative gator antagonist. It’s cute and adds depth with a siblinghood meta-story."

Sam Claiborne ([10:17] - [12:46]):
"Little Gator Game has insane toys for the gator to equip and ride on, making movement fun and interesting."
"Both games are enjoyable and reminiscent of well-crafted Nintendo titles, appealing to fans of Mario and Zelda."

Unpacking

The trio also briefly touches on Unpacking, recommending it for its unique gameplay mechanics.

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Platform Praise: Game Pass and Kunitsugami

Damon Hatfield ([14:27] - [15:20]):
"Kunitsugami on Game Pass is a Steep defense crossed with Dynasty Warriors—lots of Japanese mythology-inspired monsters and villains. Totally rad so far."
Sam Claiborne ([14:24] - [15:20]):
"It feels like a return to the Sega Dreamcast era with unique and quirky game choices."

The hosts commend Xbox’s Game Pass, highlighting its value despite the challenges in subscriber growth.

Sam Claiborne ([33:33] - [34:33]):
"Game Pass remains the best value in gaming. It’s like the Netflix of games, though Xbox needs to find its next wave of growth."
Justin Davis ([32:25] - [35:08]):
"Acquisitions are a huge deal for Xbox. Their slate is crazy, and I can’t wait to play the new titles coming out."

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New Releases: Ninja Gaiden and Avowed

The conversation shifts to the latest releases and upcoming titles.

Justin Davis ([19:56] - [20:33]):
"The new Ninja Gaiden requires precise button timing, reminiscent of old-school action games. It’s a masterpiece of action but requires mastering specific moves."
Damon Hatfield ([19:03] - [20:41]):
"Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the new Ninja Gaiden soon."

Avowed is also mentioned as an exciting upcoming release, with anticipation building among the hosts.

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Listener Questions: Pivotal Years for Gaming Giants

The episode features a segment responding to listener questions about the most pivotal years for Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft.

Sean from an undisclosed location ([26:22] - [29:40]):
"Nintendo’s success with the Switch in2017 reversed their fortunes after the Wii U failed. It introduced the brand to the current generation with titles like Breath of the Wild and Mario Odyssey."
"For Sony, 2000 was pivotal with the PS2 integrating DVD players, setting it apart from competitors."
"Xbox's introduction of Game Pass in 2017 transformed their model, though they continue to seek subscriber growth."

Damon Hatfield ([27:15] - [29:40]):
"1977 was Nielsen pivotal for Nintendo with Miyamoto's hiring and the release of Donkey Kong in 1981 cemented their presence."
"Sony’s strategic move in 2000 with the PS2 put them ahead, especially with the DVD feature."
"Xbox’s Game Pass launch in 2017 marked a significant shift towards subscription-based gaming."

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Sega's Evolution and Challenges

The hosts explore Sega’s journey through its console releases and market challenges.

Sam Claiborne ([35:31] - [36:21]):
"Sega’s aggressive release of multiple consoles like the 32X, Saturn, and CD quickly led to consumer confusion and market failure."
Damon Hatfield ([35:31] - [36:21]):
"Despite doing everything right with the Dreamcast in 2000, Sega couldn’t overcome the prior missteps and eventually exited the console market."

The discussion highlights Sega's ambitious strategies that ultimately led to its decline in the console market.

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January 1991 Issue of EGM Review

The trio reviews the January 1991 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, analyzing advertisements and game reviews from that era.

Damon Hatfield ([37:19] - [50:35]):
"The issue features ads like DJ Boy on Sega Genesis and previews for games like Gradius III and Contra III."
"Notably, there's a mockup of a Sega Genesis CD-ROM system and a Sharp TV with a Super Famicom built-in."

Justin Davis ([37:21] - [44:58]):
"The EA advertisements are interesting, highlighting the technological advancements and quirky game designs like Revenge of the Gator."
"The reviews showcase the varied reception of games, with titles like Gradius III receiving high praise and others like Adventure Island 2 getting moderate scores."

The hosts provide humorous takes on the era's marketing tactics and game quality assessments.

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Video Game 20 Questions Segment

The episode concludes with the interactive "Video Game 20 Questions" segment, where listeners suggest games for the hosts to guess.

Reese from Scotland ([64:59] - [66:57]):
Provides hints inspired by David Lynch’s influence on various games, seeking the hosts' identification of a specific title.

Despite the hosts’ efforts, they encounter challenges in pinpointing the exact game, leading to humorous exchanges and acknowledging the difficulty of the task.

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Conclusion

Game Scoop! wraps up with the hosts encouraging listener participation for future episodes and sharing their ongoing projects and excitement for upcoming game releases. They reflect on the rich history of gaming, celebrating both classic titles and innovative new games shaping the industry's future.

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Notable Quotes

• Sam Claiborne ([02:14]):
  "If you didn't play this game when you were a kid, this is... it's just a chill out game."

• Justin Davis ([07:18]):
  "Short Hike is an exploration-based game with a charming story and engaging dialogue."

• Sam Claiborne ([33:33]):
  "Game Pass remains the best value in gaming."

• Damon Hatfield ([27:15]):
  "1977 was Nielsen pivotal for Nintendo with Miyamoto's hiring and the release of Donkey Kong in 1981 cemented their presence."

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Key Takeaways

• Retro Appreciation: Revisiting classic games like Spyro the Dragon offers insights into their enduring charm and limitations compared to contemporaries like Mario 64.

• Modern Gems: Indie titles such as Short Hike and Little Gator Game are celebrated for their innovative gameplay and storytelling.

• Industry Milestones: Significant years for gaming giants—Nintendo's resurgence in 2017 with the Switch, Sony's 2000 PS2 launch, and Xbox's Game Pass introduction—are highlighted as transformative.

• Sega's Struggles: Sega’s aggressive console strategy in the 90s serves as a cautionary tale of market missteps despite technological advancements.

• Historical Insights: Reviewing past EGM issues provides a humorous and educational glimpse into the evolving gaming landscape and marketing strategies of the early 90s.

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For more insights and discussions on the gaming industry's pivotal moments, tune into Game Scoop! on your preferred podcast platform.

Transcript

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Justin Davis]

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[Damon Hatfield]

What's up everybody? Welcome to IGN Game Scoop. I'm your host Damon Hatfield and joining me this week are Justin Davis, Scoop and Sam Claiborne. Hey everybody, we got a great show for you this week. We have a very interesting topic that was suggested by a member of Scoop Nation out there that we'll dive into. And I also have a very old issue of Electric of Gaming Monthly for us to flip through and that's a fun one too. But first, what we're playing Justin was just saying he's playing a new old Game. He must have he 100% the revenge of the Gator.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep, that's true. I did. I beat the Gator and I don't know if he's getting revenge or if I'm getting revenge on him. It's unclear.

[Justin Davis]

Was there a gator in the end?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, there is a gator boss at the end.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

And it's implied. It's revenge of him. So anyway, no. The game I'm playing now is the original Spyro the Dragon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, cool.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, wow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which. A couple things. One, and maybe this is like I just had completely blanked that. That's insomniac.

[Damon Hatfield]

Insomniac.

[Sam Claiborne]

I was like, oh. Like it's their second ever game and their first big hit and I've never played it before, so it's been interesting, you know. Look, everyone has a lot of fondness and affinity for these 8 bit, 16 bit early, 32 bit games. But I'm going to tell you all, if you didn't play this game when you were a kid, this is. It's a little bit tough to go back and like appreciate it to its fullest. Now.

[Justin Davis]

There's no Banjo Kazooie.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. It's no Mario 64.

[Sam Claiborne]

No. And it came out like two or three years after Mario 64. So here's what I'll say about PS1.

[Justin Davis]

PS1 couldn't really handle the type of game I don't think it might be.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's really chill. And this cuts both ways. It's a good thing and bad thing of like the main, like this version of stars, like Mario 64 stars as you're rescuing these dragons in each stage in statues and then you bump into them and they turn back into their dragon form. But none of them have any kind of puzzle or anything that you do. You just walk up to them. You just walk up to them and I'm at the very end of the game and they're not like at the end of platforming challenges. They're just there.

[Justin Davis]

So this is pure 3D platforming. Yeah. Get to the thing.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. The whole game is just vibes and you just walk around and collect treasure and like none of the treasure. Well, some of the treasure can get a little bit tricky and so I.

[Justin Davis]

Think it was always intended to be for K. Yeah. Like not in a. This works for kids, but adults will like it way. This is dumbed down. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

There's one of the dragons. You just walk up to them. So like, you know, and so you're exactly right, Sam. And then it does make me wonder, you know, it's like this game is not for me. And then I'm not loving it. And then it's like, well like that's like, that's like, yes, I am reaffirming that this is a game for children. But I am. Like I said, the simplicity of it cuts both ways because I'm playing it as like a chill out game and so it's really good for that. Like just kind of vibing, collecting treasure, you know, running around. None of it is at all hard at all. I don't think I've ever died, you know. And so it's good to just kind of vibe out. But you know, it is a challenging game to go back to having not played it when it was new.

[Justin Davis]

Are there at least like, like, like a slide level or like, you know, like a pachinko level?

[Sam Claiborne]

No. It's unbelievable how much better Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie are than this game. So I mean, look, I'm being more negative on Spyro than I mean to be. I'm having a really good, really chill time playing it. I think it's an easy peasy, kind of casual pick up and play game. I'm enjoying it. It controls really good. The levels are really fast and short. So I regret sort of being a little bit mean. Yeah. But it's nowhere like it. Like it's not like a top tier classic. Great. It's not anywhere near the standard of like, you know, Banjo or Mario. But it is interesting to just go back and play and chill out in it.

[Justin Davis]

How did this go from an insomniac game to being an Activision biggest thing on Earth situation?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it's crazy. It's been rebooted multiple times and then the most recent reboot it was Skylanders was Skylanders, the very original.

[Justin Davis]

That was the biggest thing on Earth for a year.

[Sam Claiborne]

And the original Skylanders was very Spyro forward. Like it was in the name and on the box and all that. And then after that they're like, yeah, we don't need to make this Spyro thing anymore. And like he's like barely present in them after that.

[Justin Davis]

So did Insomniac basically get contracted to develop an Activision property originally?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, it wasn't Activision. So that's what's really weird is it was, it was, it was Insomniac developed and it was published by I think like, you know, Universal. You know, it was published by somebody else. Right. And I don't know how it came to be Activision's and then they made really explicit there was like crash on the Game Boy advance. There's a Crash Bandicoot. There's two games. There's a Crash Bandicoot game that has Spyro's villain and there's a Spyro game that has Crash Bandicoot's villain.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, so there's a shared universe.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, but only on the gba. So I'll report back. I regret being a little. I regret being a little mean to it. The game's super chill, super fun, but you know, I don't consider it a classic.

[Justin Davis]

Are you playing a remake? Is there a remake of it that you can play?

[Sam Claiborne]

Is a really, really gorgeous remake that came out on PS4 and is now on PS5 and current systems. Oh, okay. That's not what I'm playing. I'm playing.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, you're just playing the janky.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

64, the jaggy version. Cool. Sam, what have you been playing?

[Justin Davis]

Okay, so I took two suggestions from last week and gave him a whirl. One I couldn't put down. That was Short Hike, which we talked about last week. It has a little bit of like, it's exploration based game. You're in a set environment, one contiguous map, and you're just trying to get to the top of this mountain with a little bit of a backstory about kind of like a campy like summer camp vibe. And what I end up liking, that we didn't talk about too much last week was that the game is kind of about expanding your ability to glide and fly further. And it's set up to have you're supposed to get higher and higher on this mountain and explore more and more and you kind of expand your ability to do that. And the flying is a really good mechanic. It's like you start with a double jump and you're like, oh, I got a double jump. That's so helpful. But at some point you have 14 jumps. You're a little bird so you can like flap up in the air and then do these sweeping dives and as you explore you find like there's side islands and stuff like that. But really what you're doing is you're finding ways to expand that ability to climb higher in the air and do stuff. So that's all really fun. But boy is this game well written. Like it is a teenager bird that goes around, starts talking to the creatures and you know in so much that there's like a little bit of a story as much as there is for like unpacking or something like that. There is kind of a meta story, but there's also just like conversations. And the conversations are so funny. They're like when Nintendo is at the top of its game in a little conversation in like, you know, maybe a Mario and Luigi game where they're just like. Or Paper Mario where they're like really well written. And there's like an example. There's these two kids in one place playing volleyball at a volleyball net and they're like, hey, will you play this game with us? You're like, sure, but this sounds like it's going to be annoying. Listen, what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to. We made up a game and you're going to hit the ball to the other side of the net and we're going to hit it back. But it's a co op game. It doesn't matter if you drop the ball. We're going to try to get as many points as possible by keeping the ball in the air. And if it hits the ground a little bit, that's fine. It's fine if it does that. And then, and so you're like, you're like, okay. It's programmed to work that way. Like you're like, oh, that's skidded too much. But then you hit it back and it's fine. But then, then one of the kids will like whistle if it's like way too egregious of a loss. And then at one point after playing it for a few times, the kid will. The kid that's hitting the ball with you will be like, that was nine hits. And the kid that's rapping is like, no, that was only eight. And then they ask you, was that eight or nine? And you can choose. And they're like, fine. One of them gets mad, the other, you get to choose your score. Like that stuff's so funny and it's so real feeling. And yeah, gets my highest. If you're a fan of Mario and Zelda, like, this is my highest recommendation. Like, play it on a Steam deck, play on your computer, play it on Switch. Very easy to pick up and play. And it's like, that's where it draws from. It draws from those type of games. But it's a different, different thing. It's like one level in Banjo Kazooie. Basically.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it's a two hour game. That's the whole game. But it's, you know, it's meant to be, right? It doesn't feel like chintzy. It's just, you Know, it's a hundred percent.

[Justin Davis]

It could be really fun. I mean, I tried to do as much as I could. Like, there's secrets, there's cool secrets.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's actually just dawning on me just now. Cause I like a short hike a lot. It's dawning on me that it's pretty similar to Spyro the Dragon. It's very open. Just kind of like run around and have a good time. Don't think about it too much.

[Justin Davis]

But they turned up all the edges of like, this is a smart thing in a corner. Instead of smoothing all the edges and making it all like, this is really easy. You can see what you're doing from a mile away. You cannot tell what's going to happen in this game. So then the other game that we talked about last week is Little Gator Game. Similar. It's kind of like you're a creature exploring an island. There's a similar plot where it's a little younger kids. It's almost like a South park type, sick of truth type plot where you're setting up like an RPG adventure with your friends on island. This gator gets all these kids to make like incredible things that the gator just gets to knock down. It's very manipulative. It's like the gator gets to knock down cardboard all over the island that his friends set up. But there's a nice little meta story about sister brother growing up together or something. I don't know, siblinghood. And that's nice. It drew me in at like maybe a 75% level compared to the other game. I love it. It's really fun to play. It's really funny. Also, it has the same AM of stuff. I just got to say, like, yeah, you got to play short hike. And if you like that, try this after that.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Little Gator Game has a really insane. If you get through it, you'll discover this one. It's got a bunch of little toys and like things that your gator can equip and do and ride on. And they. And they serve no purpose except to just like make movement fun and interesting. Like, so it's really good. Yeah, just like. Or like. Like you can you get a skateboard and you get this and you get that and like, it's all just there just to goof around in this.

[Justin Davis]

And it's more sandboxy, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, the movement's really good.

[Damon Hatfield]

Lil Gator's walking animation is great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it's very, very funny. They just announced DLC for this too.

[Justin Davis]

What kind of dlc.

[Sam Claiborne]

It takes place in these caves under the island.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, vampire related probably.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm sure that's right. I forgot about that part.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, there's a very funny vampire character. Like all the kids have a different angle and a lot of them want to play a different game. And so you do a lot of convincing of kids to play. It is. It is like in that sense, it is like stick of truth.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. You're trying to get everybody to play make believe with you, but everybody wants to play a different game. And so it's like, I want to run a restaurant. It's like, okay, let's bring. Let's add your game to my game. And so it's really cute like that. A little. A little kid perspective.

[Justin Davis]

But they make these games not like they are cozy. Ish. And they are, you know, maybe they're not hard per se, but they're not easy in the sense that like, this is stupid. I'm gonna get bored of this. They're like intriguing and you want to see more all the time. So it's like there's. There's different types of games out there. Not all of them are gonna challenge like you're gonna die a whole lot, but a lot of them are like this one. These two games vie for your attention in like a really great way where you're just like, I got. I gotta get back in this game and I think we need more of that. And. And yeah, I'm on a roll. Like I went for a straight from Indiana Jones, which is honestly a similar type of game to this. It's like really focused on exploration. It's really focused on like fun dialogue interactions and, you know, where people know how to craft games really well. So anyway, Scoop Nation, please recommend more games like this. I'm sure there's more out there and I do recommend unpacking also for a different type of game with a cool sense of play.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'll definitely check out Short Hike. Now is a good time to do that because I've just been bouncing around playing completely random games because there's like nothing coming out and a lot coming out.

[Justin Davis]

Right. So it's like do some palate cleansers before next month and then there's just going to be a glut of things to play.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, you know what you should play, Damon. I don't know. I don't know how I missed it. This game intruded into my. Where I've downloaded it and I just started it and I can already tell it's a Damon game. So it came out last summer from Capcom. It's called Kunitsugami.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And it's on game pass now, which is how, I mean, maybe it's been. Yeah, like I don't like it completely passed me by.

[Justin Davis]

Tower defense. Ish, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes. So it's tower defense crossed with like dynasty warriors, like a Musou game. And, and then the, the monsters and villains are all like from Japanese mythology. So like very heavily inspired Japanese fantasy. And like I played, you know, I've just started it and it's awesome. It's totally rad so far. Like it, what it reminds me of is, you know, in the PS2 era, we used to just get like really weird out there games. And like, games have just gotten too expensive for like that to exist very much like that unless they're very tiny in indie. And so it feels like a return to that kind of era of like, you know, Odama or like, you know, just something weird and like allowed this at Capcom. Yeah, exactly. And like Damon I think certainly didn't.

[Justin Davis]

Try to title it to sell a bunch of copies either.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I, I want to play more. I've played, I've played, you know what? Not like I've played 45 minutes.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

I also tried the Alien Crush game that you recommended, Damon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Xenotilt, I think.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Xenotilt. Did you play that one, Justin? I can't remember if you played that also.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, it's on my steam wish list.

[Justin Davis]

But I, I suspect that Revenge of the Gator is probably a better virtual pinball. It was cool, but like it didn't, it didn't draw me in. I actually, I mean, you have talked about this here before, but I, I, I do have a problem with simulated pinball in general. It doesn't not, not. I like the simulations of real pinball machines. Even if they're janky, not perfect, I like those. I don't really like fantasy pinball, like Zen and stuff like that. In the same way I can get into it. Like, it's like, I like Metroid prime pinball a lot. Like, you know, that's deep cut, but there, there's, you know, there's games I like. So this is what this, this, these ones didn't draw me in, but they look really good. The sound is really annoying in them. Like it's like really super loud like that. Not that it matters. You just turn it down.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, it sounds like one of the reasons I like it so much.

[Justin Davis]

The music's good, but there's a lot of call outs in it. Right. There's like a lot of like putty. Like, like, you know, the woman talks to you a lot. Yeah, Yeah. I don't know. It was. It does a good job at what it sets out to do.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I. I think of like video pinball that's doing stuff you couldn't achieve in a real physical table. I think of that as almost just a different thing. Almost a different.

[Justin Davis]

Is a different thing.

[Damon Hatfield]

Genre thing.

[Justin Davis]

So really been my thing. I don't. I don't know why. I don't know why.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean you're. You're like, you're a real pinball aficionado. So I get it.

[Justin Davis]

It's like sometimes they're just creative enough where I'm like, this is. Look, I just got to say. Yoku's Island Express. Speaking of like an exploration game that's like set on an island. One of my favorite games ever. I love that game. The more I think about that game, the more I'm like, wow. I just want so many games like that. Like what a great spin on the Metroidvania.

[Sam Claiborne]

You could cross pinball. Pinball is one of those digital genres of like, you know, pinball crossed with animal crossing and like, I don't even know what that means, but like something where you're playing pinball and building a town. I'd be like, yes. Like I'm on board. Or like, you know, pinball cross with dead cells. Like combine it. Combine that with any genre and I'm like, I'm there for it.

[Justin Davis]

Pinball cross with Dynasty Warriors. Did you get Odama?

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, and Adama sucked.

[Justin Davis]

It wasn't great. I bought it new.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know why I was convinced. Me too. Me too.

[Justin Davis]

Remember I had the microphone clip?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep, yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. I will play a short hike and Kumitsu Gami. Is that what it's called? I'll check those out. I've just been playing random stuff. I was playing more Cult of the Lamb because I only played a bit of that when that was first released. And I tried Darkest Dungeon 2, but it really. It just didn't. It didn't grab me. The original Darkest Dungeon is like one of my most played modern games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, did you hear? This is sad news.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know. Yeah, I just. Yeah, yeah, the voice actor. Yeah, yeah. The Red Hook. The developer just shared that he passed away. So that is very, very sad. But I also finally checked out a game that is a little bit ridiculous that hadn't played until now, which is blasphemous 2. Because I love, you know, I love pixel art and Metroidvanias and Blood and Guts, and this is just bloody pixel art. Metroidvania, the game. It's so far. I played about an hour last night. So far, so good. That's satisfying at what. What. What Damien needs.

[Justin Davis]

I hope this is what. I mean, it won't look like this exactly. It won't be a little bit. But I hope this is what that Ninja Guy they announced is going to be like.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know if it's gonna be Metroidvania.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe it's not returning to spaces, though. You just go forward.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I think so.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, but we don't know a lot. We'll. Hopefully we'll learn more about that one soon.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. There was a new Ninja Guy announced last week and a new game that came out remake.

[Damon Hatfield]

So, yeah, Ninja Got in two Black. Is that the one that was. That's the one that's out now.

[Justin Davis]

I was just about to start it, and then I watched our video that Mitchell on my team made, which is fantastic. Check it out. It's about combat in that game. And I said, this looks too annoying. I played all of one Ninja Gaiden, the Xbox game, and got through it. And I think this one is the one that I played where I didn't realize I needed to upgrade equipment and bounced off it originally. But, yeah, you know, it's what looks great.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't think I ever played this one. I think I played Ninja Gaiden Black, and I think I played Ninja Gaiden 3, but not this one.

[Justin Davis]

Well, this game is kind of funny, and you'll hear Mitchell talk about this in the video, but you do this move a lot where you have to jump and then hit a button right when you hit the ground. And it's kind of like Smash Brothers Smash, where it's like, you got to learn this one move, and then it's like this thing, and you kind of have to, like, kind of like cheese enemies for a little while and then do that. And, like, I don't know, it's a little bit strange.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's.

[Justin Davis]

It's. It's always in tight spaces. The game is a. Is a masterpiece of action. But, like, it's also like, you really learn, like, five different spam techniques and use them, and they're hard to pull off to, granted that, but they're not like. It's not like God of War, where it's like, well, now you get this new weapon. You're gonna change your stance and do everything you can different, you know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Mm.

[Justin Davis]

Just, it's just, it's interesting but I really can't complain. Like these games like are beloved and they're great. They're just. I just don't need to play them again.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean it definitely occupies a category of its own. Like so it's not a souls like right. There's no stamina meter and it's not plotting and controlled, but nor is it sort of like the climax action genre like Devil May Cry. Like it's kind of its own thing. Like yeah, yeah. Super, super hard, you know, but it carves out a unique. I shouldn't say carves out because it's the progenitor. It's the one that started it all. But sort of like is a reminder that like, oh yeah, there's a third way to make like super hard third person action adventure games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool.

[Justin Davis]

They really amped the blood up in this in a fun way though. I do.

[Damon Hatfield]

I am enjoying that.

[Justin Davis]

The limb, the limbs and the blood is really funny in it.

[Damon Hatfield]

2025 is here and Mint Mobile has a resolution for you. Make a resolution to save some serious cash by making the switch to Mint Mobile right now. You can get half off their three month unlimited plan. Isn't that right, Seth? That is right, Damon. The longest part of the process I'm thinking is going to be staying on hold with my current provider, trying to break up with them. I mostly use it to just scroll on social media and click things that I like anyway. So why am I paying like several hundred dollars a month to do that? And so yeah, easy to use Mint Mobile website, easy purchase, easy activation. I am pretty stoked on it. Switch to Mint and new customers can get half off on unlimited plan until February 2nd. To get your new wireless plan for just 15 bucks a month and get the plan shipped to your door for free, go to mint mobile.com gamescoop that's mintmobile.com gamescoop $45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 a month. New customers on first three month plan only speed slower above 40 gigs on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details.

[Seth]

A new year means new opportunities. And if you've been thinking about starting your own business, let this be your sign to take the leap. Of course, this decision comes with a lot of questions like how do I get started? How do I come up with a brand? How do I sell stuff to people? What am I even going to sell? Well, if you have all those questions, you can take a deep breath because Shopify's got you. Shopify makes it simple to create your brand, open for business and get your first sale. With Shopify, you can get your store up and running easily with thousands of customizable templates. No coding or design skills required. All you need to do is drag and drop. Their powerful social media tools let you connect all your channels and create shoppable posts to help you sell everywhere people scroll. And Shopify makes it easy to manage all the details, like shipping taxes and payments from one single dashboard, allowing you to focus on the important stuff, like growing your business. The best time to start your business is right now. And with Shopify, your first sale is closer than you think. Established in 2025. Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at shopify.com realm all lowercase. Go to shopify.com realm to start selling with Shopify today. Shopify.com realm.

[Justin Davis]

Nothing is as it seems in liminal London. Hidden amongst everyday people are werewolves.

[Sam Claiborne]

You'll be the werewolf then.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And mags.

[Justin Davis]

Wizards. Montgomery Archibald Barker at your bloody service. And those cursed by the fey monarch.

[Sam Claiborne]

Of the city, Declan Buchanan, PI he has quite a large pair of antlers.

[Justin Davis]

Growing out of his forehead. Join the unlikely misfits of liminal London as they work to take down the powers that claim to rule the city.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think the Queen doesn't like you very much.

[Justin Davis]

With incredible guest players like Johnny Chiadini.

[Sam Claiborne]

You say there's sludge?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Sludge. Yeah. I'm the sludge boy.

[Justin Davis]

Love sludge boy.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, again, I'm not that sludge boy.

[Justin Davis]

Grant Howitt.

[Sam Claiborne]

Isaac Newton didn't study in f ing Putney, did he? Who's Isaac?

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, my God.

[Justin Davis]

And Sharmini Bundell. There's a magic community. There is. Yay.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm in a magic community.

[Justin Davis]

Go to realmspod.com or search realms of peril and glory wherever you listen to podcasts to find this mysteriously magical actual play series.

[Damon Hatfield]

Hello, I am Kristen Russo. And I am Jenny Owen Youngs. We are the hosts of Buffering the Vampire Slayer. Once more with spoilers. A rewatch podcast covering all 144 episodes of. You guessed it, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[Justin Davis]

We are here to humbly invite you to join us for our fifth Buffy prom, which, if you can believe it, we are hosting at the actual Sunnydale High School. That's right. On April 4th and 5th, we will be descending upon the campus of Torrance High School, which was the filming location for Buffy's Sunnydale High. To dance the night away to 90s music in the iconic courtyard, to sip on punch right next to the Sunnydale High fountain, and to nerd out together in our prom best inside of the set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

[Damon Hatfield]

All information and tickets can be [e-mail] promotion come join us. Okay, let's check in with the listeners. Hey, listen already, listeners. Remember, you can always reach us at the email address game scoop.com and viewers, just like Sean did from an undisclosed location. And Sean says Nintendo's recent and well deserved success with Tears of the Kingdom has me thinking back to the launch of Breath of the wild in 2017. And now I'm wondering, was there any year more consequential for Nintendo than 2017? That year Nintendo managed to reverse their dismal fortunes after the abject failure of the Wii U, thanks of course to the Switch and its amazing launcher titles like Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Mario Odyssey. What do you think was the most pivotal year for not only Nintendo, but for Sony and Microsoft as well?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean, you know, Nintendo's been around 100 years, 125 years. So the success of the NES has got to be up there.

[Justin Davis]

One year in the mid-60s, they made a pack of playing cards that had naked ladies on them.

[Damon Hatfield]

That was definitely.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, that's true. That's a true fact.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm going to submit. I'm going to submit 1977 as the most pivotal year for Nintendo. The year that they hired Shigeru Miyamoto.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, cute.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. So, you know, like whatever year. I don't know, Sam, maybe like whatever year Donkey Kong came out in arcades.

[Justin Davis]

1981.

[Sam Claiborne]

81. So you know, like that's got to be up there too. Cemented their place as a manufacturer of interactive video game entertainment.

[Justin Davis]

But I like it as the comebacks because they've had some down and outs and comebacks. I mean, really, the 64 and Gamecube era were kind of down periods for them. I know we think of the 64 as more popular than the GameCube, but like it had, you know, two games a year from them and it was really tough to keep up with the schedule that superintendent had. So that was happening and then like the turnaround of like saying like, we're gonna put this thing, this Wii Remote out. And then it's just all of a sudden on all the morning shows people are playing Wii Sports. Like that was a big deal for Them and introduced Nintendo to the current generation of people that played Mario Kart and have never stopped playing Mario Kart since then. So that was another big turning point. I really like thinking of the PlayStation, Xbox ones, Xboxes. It feels like such a short lifespan, but it's like. So it's PlayStation technically, but like I think there was a there in the year 2000, like PlayStation put a DVD player in everybody's home and like that's what the PS2 special move was. Like that, that, that did it for them, you know, like it was, it was a competent, great system and everything, but it was not as good as the GameCube or the Xbox at what it did. But it was first and it had a DVD player and it wasn't the Dreamcast.

[Damon Hatfield]

Whoops.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's hard to imagine a Nintendo like look, even if the Switch 2 were a flop, it's like this is a company that like the Super Mario Brothers movie made $1.3 billion, right? Like it's the second or third biggest animated movie of all time ever, you know, and they have theme parks now. So it's like they, they feel a little bit more, you know, inured against like they can have a flop console and then it's not like an existential threat to the whole business.

[Justin Davis]

But I got dicey there, huh? Yeah. Gamecube generation. Do you remember when the people talking about like, well, Nintendo has a billion dollars in the bank, so they're gonna be fine. Ultimately that was the conversation we always.

[Damon Hatfield]

Used to say war chest. We say use the term war test.

[Justin Davis]

All the time because they were suffering that badly. And then everybody's like, oh no. They're putting out a system that's not powerful. Like that was the story leading into the Wii.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, yes. Good for them.

[Damon Hatfield]

Two, Two duct tape. Two gamecubes put together with duct tape. As one developer famously said at GDC, I'm going to submit 1991 for Sony and PlayStation. Does anyone know why the, the year.

[Justin Davis]

That they decided that or that they took, took their toys and went home from Nintendo?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, it was the year that they were betrayed them. They were betrayed by Nintendo. They'd been working with Nintendo for 3 years to make a hybrid CD ROM add on for the Super Nintendo. And Nintendo didn't like the licensing deal they were getting with software, so they secretly made a different deal with Philip Whoops. And then they like surprised everyone on stage at CES that summer. Sony had no idea that they'd gone and made a deal with someone else. So yeah, that, that led to Sony saying, well, okay, we'll just make our own console. And that was the PlayStation. And they.

[Justin Davis]

And if that hadn't have happened, then we wouldn't have had the Philips cdi. Which is what you're getting.

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly. That's what I'm getting at. Yep, yep. No, no, no, no, no.

[Sam Claiborne]

The PS, the PlayStation kind of from day one has gone from strength to strength, Right? Like some. Some generations have been bigger and stronger than others. PS3 famously, kind of like Sony gave up a lot of ground, but the PS3 was still like a pretty darn big, pretty successful console. So it's like PS1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Like, it's kind of. With the exception of the PS3, has kind of been an unbroken string of, you know, just unbelievable successes.

[Damon Hatfield]

And even the PS3, even though it stumbled out the gate, it went on to do just fine and slightly outsold the 360, so.

[Sam Claiborne]

Exactly. I think that console is also just ugly as hell. So that contributes to my overall.

[Justin Davis]

It doesn't help that that guy didn't do his dishes before taping the consequential historical video that we just saw here.

[Sam Claiborne]

And.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, this is the. Yeah, there's the Nintendo PlayStation.

[Justin Davis]

Just gonna do this on the kitchen counter. Didn't he make like a hundred thousand dollars off selling this or something like that?

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Something like that. Okay. I have an idea for Xbox, if you like to hear it or if. If you have your own ideas. What would be the most pivotal year for Xbox?

[Justin Davis]

I mean, I think it was last year or whenever they bought Activision and everything.

[Damon Hatfield]

That occurred to me. Although maybe a recency bias, where it's.

[Justin Davis]

Going to shake out. Right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly. I would say 2017.

[Sam Claiborne]

Why?

[Justin Davis]

For a bad reason.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's the year they introduced Game Pass.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which is pretty much what Xbox is today. Right. Like, they just announced their hardware sales last year, fell another 29%, but their game Pass revenue up and up.

[Justin Davis]

But you could draw that back one step, two, and say it's 2005 with Xbox Live Arcade or something like that. Right.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's actually a really good point too. That's a really good suggestion too.

[Justin Davis]

And they've led that. I mean, there was a time in which I was much more used to buying games from Xbox than Sony, let alone buying games from a Nintendo store. Remember how weird that was on the PS3 and the Wii to, like, buy a game? Yeah, just funny. They're both weird situations, whereas the Xbox Store just felt very, very natural from the start.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean that Xbox 360 generation, every game had to have a demo. Like you know, they had downloadable games you could just buy and download. Like that was an unbelievable thing back then.

[Damon Hatfield]

I used to use, I used to use Xbox Live to buy or rent individual episodes of TV shows like Lost. Like that's how I would watch Lost. Through Xbox Live.

[Justin Davis]

That's right.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cuz I didn't have cable.

[Justin Davis]

What the, the points conversion was, was it like 1600 points for $20 or something?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I think it was, yeah. 80 points to a dollar. And then games, and then games would cost an amount that forced you to buy like the next denomination up. I forgot about that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, of course games, you know, any game with points in game currency still do, still does that, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's the worst.

[Justin Davis]

They mask the dollars by, by making some arbitrary number.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean the Game Pass stuff. So like look like Xbox is trying very, very hard to make Game Pass. The Netflix of games and they're just, they're not succeeding at it yet. Like you know, as a consumer, Game Pass remains the best value in gaming. It's incredible. I love it, take advantage of it almost every day. But as kind of an armchair analyst, it's like they need to find another 10, 20, 30, 50 million more game Pass subscribers. And it's like where are these people going to come from? Like where's the sort of next wave of growth? You know, I think that they're probably right that like it's not going to come from like making Xbox consoles. It's you know, it's their marketing slogan. Like you know, your phone is an Xbox, everything's an Xbox. Just play our games, play them on cloud, play them wherever you want. Like so you know, what's the most inconsequent, what's the most consequential year for them? Like ask again in another five years. Right. Like they're going through a period of pretty rapid change right now. I would.

[Justin Davis]

Acquisitions are a huge deal. They're just, they haven't happened in one year. But I mean like the Xbox slipey, like seriously, like last week they had a small dev direct and it had four games in it. And, and well, I guess, I guess. Was there a bonus game with the Ninja Gaiden that was out that day? But like just the fact that there's a new Ninja Gaiden something every time they have these, these, these shows, there's like another game coming from somebody that they partnered with. It's just amazing. They have such a crazy slate coming out. Is Good. By the way, I can't wait to play that game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which one?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Avowed.

[Damon Hatfield]

Avowed.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

It's out next month now. Now I feel like there's space to play it because. Because Assassin's Creed was delayed, so hopefully we'll have time to play.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, it is the 2020s and there is time for a vow. As a bonus for Sega. I have an idea what my. What should be the most pivotal year for Sega?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, 1990. Right.

[Damon Hatfield]

1991 or what was that when Sonic was. That was Sonic the head.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah, it was just Sonic. Sonic itself was the only thing. Like, it's so crazy. And then like, there's the consequential demise years, which you could probably choose to be something like. Because they stacked up the 32X, the SAT, the Saturn and the CD so quick in succession. People were like, this sucks. Everything cost 300 and there's like five games. Like, it was a really, really big mistake. And then they, you know, by the time they put out the Saturn, I think was the Saturn the one that they stealth dropped?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Surprise launched for no reason.

[Justin Davis]

That was the. That was the most consequential year for their demise. It was just. It was such a weird series of choices that just like completely flopped at that point. And, you know, from what I can tell, the Dreamcast had all. Everything possible going for it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, yeah, yeah. It's actually, I've just. I've been looking at the year 2000 a lot for a project that I'm working on, and it's crazy. SEGA did, or at least SEGA of America did absolutely everything right in the year 2000 with the Dreamcast, and it still wasn't enough.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

You know, when you look at the people making games for Dreamcast, like, how did SEGA make that many games? They made so many games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, it was all these arcade games coming home. Right. So, you know, so like all their.

[Justin Davis]

Divisions had kind of had a game that was ready for the Dreamcast. Like, Nintendo's never been like that. There's never been like, well, this year we're gonna put out, you know, 60 games. It's crazy.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. That was a very good idea for Topic Jobert. Let's do it. Let's pull up our EGM. This is the January 1991 issue of EGM. So it's funny, it's fitting. We've been talking about 1991.

[Justin Davis]

Definitely use cheat codes from this one.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Justin Davis]

I'll have to see the COVID though.

[Damon Hatfield]

Let's see.

[Sam Claiborne]

I want to join. Where is the room.

[Justin Davis]

But we're gonna put it on screen.

[Damon Hatfield]

There it is. Okay, so you got.

[Justin Davis]

Actually, you know what? This would have been a year before, I think. I don't remember a G.I. joe cover.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, this is G.I. joe. There were two G.I. joe games on NES. This is the first one. What is it? Fate of Atlantis. Is that the second one? Something Atlantis.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know what the. I died. There's definitely two. You're right.

[Damon Hatfield]

And this is a weird time for the industry. So the Genesis was out, but in January, Sonic the Hedgehog was not yet. So the Genesis didn't have its whole identity yet. And it was just. It just had ports of Sega Arcade games for the most part.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Such a. Such a good bit of trivia that the NES and the Genesis did not launch with Mario and Sonic.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, when the Super Nintendo would launch.

[Sam Claiborne]

With Mario, but it would not the nes.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Sorry. I was spanning generations there.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Super Nintendo was not out. The Famicom was out in Japan, but the Super Nintendo was not out yet. So it was still the NES, but in 1991, like, you know, its best days were behind it. Its best games were behind it. So it's just a weird time when this issue would have come out. It says, first look at new Sega Terra System. And that was. That was a deal with IBM to create an IBM PC that also played Sega Genesis games, only released in Japan. It's interesting.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I was gonna say that's something that would happen in Europe or Japan, never here.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. So diving in. We have an ad for DJ Boy on Sega Genesis, which is a decent little game, but it's got some very funny copy here. It says, exciting fight action. This is the ultimate battle. What you get when your copy is probably not written by someone who's. For whom English is their first language.

[Justin Davis]

I never played this game, but those graphics look surprisingly good.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, it's funny you mentioned the graphics, Sam, because there's some very small print here that I actually need my reading glasses to read. It says the character's picture here will be slightly different on the screen.

[Justin Davis]

That's not how the game looked. Oh, no, no. I guess that's just from the cartoon.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I just thought that was pretty good. The characters pictured here will be slightly different on the screen. Thank you.

[Justin Davis]

That should have been required text.

[Sam Claiborne]

Slightly different.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. But it has the official Genesis seal of quality. And then they jump right into reviews. And Sam, they didn't care for Gauntlet 2 on the NES, but one of the reviewers, Steve, has a He has a joke. Just. It's written just for you. So his Blurb says, Gauntlet 2 does an excellent job of gathering up all the elements from the coin op and putting tons of enemies on the screen at once. In the process, however, the game goes from what was a 78 record in the arcades to being a 33 at home.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, wait, that's great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Gilbert's on the wrong page, but this is Techno Cop. There you go. Okay, that's fine. This, this is the ad. This is one of the most famous video game ads of all time. It's just the Genesis does what Nintendo. We've seen that one before. There you go. Sam, you want to explain the difference between a 78 record and a 33?

[Justin Davis]

Well, so I don't think this person really understands. I don't know why they wouldn't use 45 RPM, which is the more common thing. So I think what he's saying is that in the arcade it's much faster. Right? Because a 78 RPM record spins faster. But 78 RPM records are one sided records from like the 50s and before that are usually made out of shellac which is made from beetles, beetle shells. So think about that. It's like a wax cylinder. It's not cool. It's not. Just because it's fast doesn't mean it's cool. All you can listen to that is like old timey, like you know, jazz standards and like you're never gonna find blues records because they're too expensive on. But like they're always scratchy and crappy. More apt would be like a 45 RPM record, which is, you know, a single that would have been played on the radio up until 1990. Sounded better. Really fast. My favorite format still seems faster. Yeah, revolutions per minute. That's what it means. Very strange comparison.

[Damon Hatfield]

The next place they review a Tengen game for NES I had never heard of. For Skull and Crossbones, which is apparently an Atari Arcade game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Well, they gave it straight fours.

[Justin Davis]

Terrible port.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, they didn't care for that one. Adventure Island 2 got straight sevens.

[Justin Davis]

That game's amazing.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wow. Well, so it sounds like it should have gotten higher then.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah, you could ride a dinosaur on it. You couldn't do that in Super Mario Brothers 3.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, not till the next one.

[Justin Davis]

That's right.

[Damon Hatfield]

And they review Goals and Ghosts for the SEGA Master System, which I didn't ever. I didn't realize it came to the Master System and actually looked up some gameplay and it looks pretty good for an eight bit game.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm not sure. I'm not sure I've ever actually seen a SEGA Master System in person. I definitely can't picture the controller. I don't think I've ever touched a Master System. I played a lot of those. Sorry. I just like. Because the games would appear on the game gear. Right. So I played a lot of them that way.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

This is a very small thing, but I think it's funny that they call the Nintendo the nes. The Nintendo.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Because you have the SEGA Master System for SEGA and then you have the Nintendo. Nintendo for Nintendo.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. And on the next page they review Vermillion for the Sega Genesis, which is an RPG that they liked. But what I think is interesting is that this game is called Sword of Vermilion.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

So. But I don't. They review. They all. In all the reviews, they just call it Vermilion. I don't think space saving.

[Justin Davis]

I don't cost money. Look at that format.

[Damon Hatfield]

So it's weird. Maybe they received a review copy that was only just labeled Vermilion. I don't know. It's just. It's just a little bit unusual.

[Justin Davis]

But I just got to go back for a second.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Neither of you played Adventure Island 2 as a kid?

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. I've played some. There's like a lot of Adventure Islands. Right. I don't know which ones I've played.

[Justin Davis]

Well, there's one which is like a garbage arcade game where you just go from right to left. Then two is like a Super Mario Brothers like three or two kind of hybrid. You can like, you explore, you go from island to island. You ride all these different types of dinosaur to get around. It is a fantastic game with some of the best music ever. I would put in the top echelon of NES games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wow. Okay.

[Justin Davis]

And three went. Went harder on that. And then there's a four four, which was a little bit of a Metroidvania. But Metatu is great. Like my friends are obsessed with that game. Growing up in Iowa City, everybody knew Adventure Island 2.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is Adventure island related to Wonder Boy at all or is that a completely separate thing? It is.

[Justin Davis]

There are split series that ended up being published in two places. Sharing a few things, including the protagonist, Master Higgins.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, because I played some of the. I played some of the Wonder Boy games, but.

[Damon Hatfield]

But I. I also get confused. Is Alex Kidd related to Wonder Boy at all?

[Justin Davis]

I don't think so. Alex Kidd kind of sucks.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I agree.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think with Vermilion. Like these magazines. Magazines always. And to this day still have like long lead times. Right. But I think they were probably even longer back then. Like it's pre Internet, pre a lot of stuff. So it's like vermillion. Like I think wires got crossed. Right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like, oh, fine, put it out. Don't worry about it.

[Damon Hatfield]

And on the next page, it's an ad for Revenge of the Gator.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. And something called Rollerball.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, the Rollerball is for the nes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wow. I love that stitched together. Because the way that these digital pinball games worked is the screen would jump really jarringly. And so stitching all the different screens of the pinball table together to make one big long table is really cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

I like how the tops have kind of a froggy face.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah, that's.

[Justin Davis]

That looks really neat. That's a great ad. Everything about this ad is great.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's where the Gator is.

[Damon Hatfield]

And in the bottom left, bottom left corner it says, gator selected number six all time best Game Boy title by Nintendo Power magazine.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wow.

[Justin Davis]

I bet. But they're advertising it. What?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Well, so the Game Boy was only.

[Justin Davis]

There is a. Is there a game called Gator and this is a sequel?

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, I think that's what this is saying.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't think. I took it to mean. I took it to mean Revenge of the Gator.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, one of you do a search, but I don't. I've never heard of a game just called Gator on Game Boy.

[Justin Davis]

It looks like. I mean, all signs point to a sequel here.

[Sam Claiborne]

Natsume made a game called Tailgater, which is very clever.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

By the way, that is pretty good.

[Justin Davis]

That is pretty good.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm not seeing any HAL game called Gatorade, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything further. Further research required.

[Damon Hatfield]

Also a couple of things here. Gator selected number six all time best Game Boy title by Nintendo Power magazine. The Game Boy was only two years old at this point, so calling it like the all time best is a little much. Also, why is that in quotes? That's not a quote of anything. They're not quoting anyone.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's just quotes for emphasis.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, gotcha. Hal. America. The fun. The Fun Addict Specialists. Yep, the Fun Addict Specialists. Okay, got it.

[Justin Davis]

Fanatic. Get it?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. On the next page they review AeroBlaster, which is a top five TurboGrafx 16 game. It's a shmup. It's fantastic. Only one person is crazy. Steve is crazy on this one. Otherwise he got nines.

[Justin Davis]

Wow. High praise.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I. I don't know. I've played the original. I've played several of the sequels.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, it's not Arrow Fighters if that's what you're thinking of.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, that's 100 what I was thinking of. Never mind.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think maybe that was a one off in the gaming gossip section. There's some good stuff in here. It says moi. Quarterman MO has dug up even more dirt on the Nintendo 16. Bitter. While a consumer version of the device won't be ready until fall, rumors have it Nintendo will be unleashing a Coin Op counterpart which uses the SFX in much the same way their play choice 10 uses the regular NES. I don't think that ever happened. Sam did it. There wasn't like a Play Choice version for the superness for Super Nintendo.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it's called the Nintendo Super System and there's not as many games. It's like F0 and Super Mario World. Maybe Pilot Wings. It's really funny because it has a giant puffy version of the Super Nintendo controller for the controls. Like the Play Choice has a joystick and button buttons. A great joystick and buttons. It's awesome. It feels really good. But you have to play like Mega Man 3 with the joystick and buttons. So it's kind of interesting, right? You kind of have to learn Punch out works really well that way. Other games, you have to get used to it. But yeah, the big. The big controller doesn't make any sense because it's like everything's in the same place where it's supposed to be and it's really hard to hold. It's very funny. Check it out after the show. Nintendo Super System.

[Damon Hatfield]

Quarterman is on something here. He says, sure, you'll have to dump a few quarters to get a taste of Super Mario 4, F0 and the other great new games on the way, but it beats going to Japan. No, it doesn't. What are you talking about?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, who would want to do that? Okay, I think he's making a price comparison. It's too expensive to go. Very expensive just to play F0 and Super Mario 4, which is still the coolest thing ever when people say it that way.

[Damon Hatfield]

Super Mario 4. Here is a hot rumor that finally appears to be reality. Several production companies are working on a live action version of the perennial video game. Bash them up. Double Dragon. Not much info was available at this time, but sources tell me that the white shirts in charge of the film have pointed their fingers at Steven Seagal and Jean Claude Van Damme for the leads. Of course they would make a double dragon movie. I think six years later. It did not star Steven Sagol and.

[Justin Davis]

No, no it did not.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is our Alyssa Milano.

[Justin Davis]

That's cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

With NEC riding high with several new CD releases and Sega planning the launch of their own machine, did anyone think Nintendo would really turn their back forever? In addition to rumors that have super in fashioning a CD ROM add on for their Super Famicom, other persistent talk has Nintendo working closely with Sony to produce a device that will interface directly with the regular 8bit Nintendo Entertainment System.

[Justin Davis]

So real quick, Jean Claude Van Damme was in a video game movie shortly.

[Damon Hatfield]

After this Street Fighter movie was Street Fighter.

[Justin Davis]

Street Fighter.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then he would appear in Street Fighter the movie. The game.

[Justin Davis]

The movie. The game on Sega cd.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, man. Seeing the, the Nintendo Sony, you know, locking arms rumors all the way back this early is really wild to see. It's a little bit, I don't know, I don't know if sad's the right word. It's. It's interesting that it's real life and not just one of those like. I don't know, it's like schoolyard rumors. Like no, that like actually happened.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Justin Davis]

If that had happened though, then we would have never gotten the PlayStation exclusive launch title layer.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean that's true.

[Justin Davis]

Think about it that way.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, we would have. Yeah, we would have never gotten Ridge Racer.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is true because I was just reading about this today. Nintendo started their talks with Sony to collaborate on this hardware in 1988. Wow. That's how long they were working with Sony. Okay, the next page is this is this Sega Genesis IBM PC thing. That is really weird.

[Justin Davis]

Love it. Like the write up plastic so 90s.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know the write up on Wikipedia says that it could, you could hand. You could perform computing applications while you're playing a Sega Genesis game. And I don't know why, why, why you'd want.

[Sam Claiborne]

I got a spreadsheet and Sonic at the same time.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it's like you set up these statistics to run and it takes like 50 minutes and so you can go play I guess so this is a really weird quotes because I was thinking about this yesterday. I was like, oh, I want to place in these old Commodore 64 games and I have this Commodore 64 system like the remake. But I have like they're on floppy disks. There's a complicated factor here. But I was like, I don't think I have very good gen. What are they called? I used to call them that. But they're joysticks for the, for the Commodore 64. They're basically Atari joysticks. This, the Genesis controller plugs into that same port. It's the same port as an Atari joystick which the Commodore uses and stuff like that. There is basically a standardized layout of like nine pins or something like that that you could plug those into. It's crazy. I don't know if you could plug in the Genesis controller to a, to a Commodore and then just use the D pad and the. And one button. I don't know if that would work.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's cool. In the bottom left corner they have a picture of the, the Genesis CD rom. I think it's cool that it's not an add on. It's like a Genesis that has a slot for a cd.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Did somebody just draw CD unit on there with a white out pan or something?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, maybe, but. Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Oh no, this is a dry.

[Damon Hatfield]

It is a dry.

[Justin Davis]

All things are dry.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's a mockup. Yeah. But it just looks cool. Also, the Sega Genesis is one of the coolest looking consoles.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

We need T shirts with that. With that drawn 16 bit CD. Just a mine.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Genesis had a volume slider on it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Let me, let me take a look here. There's no Sega logo on this. Right. So let's just do it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, we'll do that. We'll do that. And the pizza logo. The IGN pizza.

[Justin Davis]

Also that. That CD looks like suspiciously predictive of burned CDs by the end of the 90s. It's really cool. I love the little digital layout too.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep.

[Justin Davis]

Everything about this is great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. And then on the next, next page is a Sharp TV with a Super Famicom built in.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Hell yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Apparently they hard. They had previously done one with a Famicom built in. I love that. Look at that slot on top.

[Justin Davis]

Wireless controllers. Just make sure you're pointing them right at the top of that television.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Line of sight.

[Sam Claiborne]

I love it says, sorry, what is she.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is this January 91?

[Sam Claiborne]

So we're getting really close to the SNES launch.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Well, so the Famcom was out. I think superintendent was out in September or something.

[Sam Claiborne]

Right. I'm just saying like I just. Like this is January. So the. It's 10 months away and it's like here's the controller, here's Super Mario World. Like there's a lot. There's a lot sort of about it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. And I don't think I single them out here, but they have previews for gradius3 and contra3 in here as well.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Justin Davis]

Look at that highlight there where it says the combo TV Super Fami comes with two controllers and remote control which has a button to reset the game on it.

[Damon Hatfield]

They're really excited about the reset button on the remote.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's like the parent. That's the parent button. Like I told you to come that. Turn that off and come wash your hands.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I love this. I would love to have this one of these. It's great. The next page is the Neo Geo commercial or ad that I think we've seen before. It's the one where it says if you're still playing Sega, NEC or Nintendo, you're nothing but a weenie and it's just a plain hot dog. And then if you're playing the incredibly high powered Neo Geo system, you're a real hot dog. And it's a real. It's just a loaded hot dog.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Chicago Dog.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

I think Weenie is a really fun early 90s put down. That needs to come back. I remember Homer calls Milhouse a weenie in one episode.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's very funny.

[Justin Davis]

Milhouse. He's just a weenie.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like the copy says, does Neo Geo cost more than other video game systems? You bet. Does a Ferrari cost more than a Yugo? Does prime rib cost more than squirrel burgers?

[Justin Davis]

I mean, that was what Sony's argument was with the PS3.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. You'll want to get a second job.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Okay. And then I was talking to Sam about Kung Fu Master for Game Boy earlier today. And this is why on the next page they have a preview for Kung Fu Master coming to Game Boy. And the. The setup for this game, it just seems wild. So it says, talk about Mideast crisis. In Kung Fu Master, it's you against the whole army of ninja mercenaries. I don't know why. Mercenaries is hyphenated sat in the deserts of the Middle east with pyramids as backdrops. Your orders from the commander of control center direct you to penetrate the main factory of a ruler known only as Daddy Long Legs. Spy reports have indicated that he is injecting a concoction of scorpion juice into the petroleum he is selling to other countries. So what? The conflict in this game is that the a ruler in the Middle east is putting scorpion juice into petroleum and that's what you're trying to stop.

[Justin Davis]

Daddy Long Legs is who you're talking about.

[Damon Hatfield]

Daddy Long Legs, the leader of the.

[Justin Davis]

Army of ninja mercenaries. This is game writing? Yes. This is back when story mattered.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's True. I don't know. So I looked online to find, like, an instruction manual for Kung Fu Master for Game Boy, but I couldn't find it. I was trying to verify if this is actually the setup for this game.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah, maybe we'll see Steven Seagal as Daddy Long Legs in the movie.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, it's like 50, 50 on whether any of that is true or not. Because we've, as we've said before, especially in these old issues of magazines, they were just doing whatever they wanted.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. And that's. So did you see that the. The Video Game foundation has opened up their, their library now. That's online, which is awesome. It's so cool. So they have a library of game magazines and other, you know, scanned documents and instruction manuals. So I went there and I. I searched for Kung Fu Master. No results are found. So on the next page, we got your tips and tricks and.

[Justin Davis]

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.

[Justin Davis]

I. I'm wondering. And you never played this game, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

No Kung Fu Master.

[Justin Davis]

No Kung Fu Master. So I'm wondering if there's a scene in which the Kung Fu Master. Let's see. Picture this. In the shadow of the great Pyramid, Kung Fu Master finds a barrel of crude, fights the ninjas around it. It's a moth. Cracks open the top of the barrel, sticks his finger and says, ah, I knew it. Scorpion juice.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, you. Listen, I'm not like a big car guy, but I know that you don't want scorpion juice in your petroleum.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nope. Everybody knows that.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, next page. Tips and Tricks. They've got some good tips for Mega Man 3 that are actually useful to our audience. Because Mega Man 3 is such a good game, people still play it today.

[Justin Davis]

I was just gonna mention this trick. This is so weird because on the. On the. Yeah, because on the play choice, doing this is really easy. Doing this on an NES is really difficult.

[Damon Hatfield]

Interesting. So do you want to explain the Super Jump technique?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. So it says here, super Jump, if you get into a position where you need to jump very high. This is Mega Man 3. It does not work in Mega Man 2, like the top of the screen. Or if you don't want to use Rush, try this trick. You hold down right on controller 2 and press A on controller 1. So if you're playing this in Arcade Machine, your controller too is just right next to you on the control panel. It's a single player game. So if you just hold right while you're playing this on the play choices, like your Elbow and just play it. You just jump super high all the time. It's great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool.

[Justin Davis]

I think you can jump out of pits or something like that too. This trick is awesome. And it blew my mind when I.

[Damon Hatfield]

First used it as a kid. Well, the trick below it is for invincibility. And you. This involves jumping into a pit. And then right as your health goes to zero, you do that super jump. And now you're out in your health is zero, but you don't die.

[Sam Claiborne]

So is it as. I mean, is this just like a bug of some kind? Like, is like.

[Justin Davis]

I think it's just a cool cheat code that they put in there. Cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

All right. And then below that is a very handy chart showing you how much damage each robot master's weapon does to the other masters. Or it shows you how many hits you're going to take. I know, right? So if you. Look, if you use Spark Man's weapon on Magnum man, you can be him in four hits. But if you try it on Snake man, it'll take 28 hits. I love it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Pretty rad. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Does it have Mega Buster? Why wouldn't include the Mega Buster? Because you need to know where to start.

[Damon Hatfield]

Now it doesn't include the Mega Buster.

[Justin Davis]

All right, well, you start and maybe, maybe start on, I think. Which one of these is it? I think Snake Man's a potential, but I think people generally start on, I think, Magnet Man.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, we should put this graph on a shirt too. On the next page, do you know the 10 extra lives trick for Castlevania 3?

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

You just enter your name as Help me.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, Help me.

[Damon Hatfield]

I didn't know all time favorite cheats.

[Justin Davis]

I've called my name Help me in some games before as a joke. It's a good one.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Look at the sparks they put around The P. Equals 10.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is proof he has 10 lives. It's proof that it works. On the next page, it's a report from an arcade convention. And the. The thing that stood out to me is they've got Magic Sword, which is a sort of a hack and slash from Capcom, which they call a terrific follow up to Golden Axe.

[Justin Davis]

Not a follow up to.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not a follow up to Golden Axe.

[Justin Davis]

No, I remember I have, I have that game board right next to me. Magic sword that I have for a Jamma Machine.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, I definitely remember the earliest game magazines I bought that with Amoa is the game show Amoa. And like before E3, like CES and MOA, there were these smaller trade Shows where like, you would get new video game news coming out of them. It was great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I think Magic Sword is a followup to Black Tiger, which is a Capcom game. A. A fantastic Capcom arcade game that I think is trapped on arcades. I don't think it's ever. Was ever ported to home systems and.

[Justin Davis]

Does have a sequel. I can't remember if it's this one though.

[Damon Hatfield]

What's the next page? J. Is it the. Oh, yeah. So it's this one. So you've got screenplay Electronic gaming and beyond. And they have a feature on Terminator 2, Judgment Day. And I love this because this is six months before the movie out is out. And this. This is what they say. Movie insiders have speculated. Oh, so the producers are keeping most of the specific details of Terminator 2 subtitled Judgment Day. It is known that the Arnold. The Arnold will return to reprise his role as a merciless machine out for the blood of Hamilton's Sarah Connor. Movie insiders have speculated on many different possibilities for a Terminator 2 storyline. Both the most consistent rumors have Judgment Day leading up to the robot rebellion and a climax between a CyberDyne 101 system and John Connor, the offspring of Sarah. With the backdrop of a nuked out city skyline, which we saw briefly in flashbacks, the pace of the movie will surely live up to expectations. I love it. It's six months before the movie's out. They have no idea. They have no idea what the movie is. It's great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Even though usually by this point there would have been a trailer that just shows you the whole movie, including the ending.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep. I also like that, you know, we do extracurricular activities on GamesCube sometimes. And then they were just doing that in magazines.

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't make. I don't make this stuff up. Joe, do we have one more page? Is there a page for the 0, the Atari links ad? I don't remember if it's in there.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I have it here too. Pinball and arcade scene was really, really great at the time too. Not to mention consoles. I mean, there was a bunch of games that weren't great, but there's a lot of them.

[Damon Hatfield]

I want to. I have a one more page. I mean, this is an Atari Links advertisement and the copy is fine. It says the following scenes may be too graphic for adults. And it just has screenshots for a bunch of Atari Lynx games. You know, games like Blue Lightning, Slime World, Paperboy, blah, blah, blah, Rampage. Then it finally says, so if you don't already own a Lynx. You better hurry because they're going fast. And so are all these game cartridges. They really weren't. No, no, they were really not going fast. That was the whole problem.

[Justin Davis]

Sorry. What's Slime World?

[Damon Hatfield]

It's Todd's Adventures in Slime World I think is the full name. It's a, it's a platformer. You have some kind of a gun, like a. I think it's like a Ghostbuster style gun where you're trapping.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, wow.

[Justin Davis]

We hardly knew you.

[Damon Hatfield]

Something like that. Yeah. Anyway, that's the January 1991 issue of EGM. Interesting time.

[Justin Davis]

I'm really happy that nobody's submitted or you haven't chosen Todd in slime world. 20 questions to answer. That would have been a tough one.

[Damon Hatfield]

There it is. That's the Slime World. Look how slimy it is already.

[Justin Davis]

Looks perfect. It's so slimy.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, I love it. I don't like that he jumped into a hole in the slime and there's just more slime down there.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's too slimy for me.

[Damon Hatfield]

It kind of has the animation of Atari arcade games like Xenophobe at the time. It kind of looks like that.

[Justin Davis]

He's, he's. I don't. I feel like his water gun is, is ineffective at dealing with the slime. It's kind of just making the slime more watery.

[Damon Hatfield]

Did he just wash the slime off of himself in the water?

[Justin Davis]

Maybe he recharged his water pack. Maybe this, this reminds. This, this looks like a low rent Boogerman. But Boogerman was not out yet.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, this predates Boogerman, which is Slime World two, I think, anyway.

[Justin Davis]

You think this is all blood to begin with. I need to do this.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's called Blood World in Japan. Well, this isn't going to Blood World.

[Sam Claiborne]

He should just, he should just leave like. On second thought, we don't need to visit Slime World.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe they kidnapped his frog.

[Damon Hatfield]

He just found a secret slime room there.

[Justin Davis]

Let's see. He's filling his pack.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like the toilets. Anyway. Anyway, that brings us to video game 20 questions. And first we have a suggestion that was a nicely attempt suggestion from Joshua in Portland, Oregon, who writes in to say first time writer, longest time listener. Since 2016, you guys have been a constant companion while I deliver mail in Portland. David Lynch's work was a partial inspiration for a handful of video games like Disco Elysium, Life is strange, Silent Hill 2, Alan Wake and Zelda. Link's awakening to Name a few. So I thought it would be a fitting tribute to have a game with Lynchian influences as the 20 questions answer. Thank you for all the amazing work you guys do and for being the only video game podcast. And that's all. That's all he wrote.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, there was no game.

[Justin Davis]

You get to choose one.

[Damon Hatfield]

Thank you for writing in and thank you for listening Joshua in Portland. But we have missed a crucial step when you. When you suggest a video game for 20 questions.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe those were his suggestions, those four games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, maybe. Yeah. Maybe that's what he intended. And I was just supposed to pick one, but he didn't. He didn't spell it out for me.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Instructions unclear.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. This is Reese from Scotland, and Reese says, I just watched episode 488, and you guys sounded so excited for Anthem. It was like watching people talk about how much they're looking forward to their cruise on the Titanic. I would like to submit three games and let the.

[Justin Davis]

First of all, I bet it. I don't know. I'd have to review the episode, but y'all might include some people that are not. Maybe it's like Destin or something like. I don't know. I don't know how excited CJ would.

[Damon Hatfield]

Have been excited for.

[Justin Davis]

CJ would have been excited, right? There's definitely people that were into Anthem as a destiny thing.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Anyway, he says, I would like to submit three games. I'll let the contestants pick the difficulty. So we have an easy mode, a normal mode, and a hard mode. Three games. You may choose.

[Justin Davis]

What do you. What do you think of the hard mode?

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't think it's that hard.

[Justin Davis]

Let's do it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Or do we not want to break our streak and then do. Do an easy. But then. But then we do the hardwood just for fun afterwards. And don't count it.

[Sam Claiborne]

We could. I mean, we could also just stop it. Normal. I don't know. We do. Got it. We do have a streak going.

[Damon Hatfield]

True.

[Justin Davis]

Justin. Nobody.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Normal.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

We'll do.

[Justin Davis]

No, we're. Justin, we'll pick normal.

[Sam Claiborne]

I just. You talked me into doing hard.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, we're doing normal. I need to know normal.

[Justin Davis]

That's fine.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, we'll do.

[Justin Davis]

No, do you think, Damon, do you think that normal is harder than hard, though?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, I don't think it's harder than hard.

[Justin Davis]

So you agree with these standards?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I. I think. I think he's accurately chosen an easy one, a normal one, and a hard one.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Easy is out. It's it will either do normal or hard.

[Justin Davis]

We're down a person, but then again, that person could be bad at VG20.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, we'll do hard. We'll do hard. We'll do hard.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. I think you guys can. Can get this good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay. Did this game come out on or before January 1991?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, I'm looking this up. Oh, honor. Before January 1991?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

It came out before then.

[Sam Claiborne]

On or before then.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. Was this ever an arcade game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay. Was this game released on the nes?

[Justin Davis]

Let's start the count now.

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

What? Is this based on a license?

[Damon Hatfield]

Not really. Not really.

[Justin Davis]

Would you say that a game based on Chester Cheetah would be like a game based on a license?

[Damon Hatfield]

I. I would. Is that a question you're asking as a. As a counting question?

[Justin Davis]

I'm asking you as a referee to define the rules a little bit. I'm not asking about the game question.

[Damon Hatfield]

A game based on Chester Cheetah, I would say is based on the license. Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

So not NES, not Arcade. 91 or earlier. January 91 or earlier?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean. Okay. I mean, I know that leaves us with a lot of consoles, but it's unusual to not be in arcades.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Was this a. Well, let's just eliminate. Well, I don't think it's a 16 bit game, but it could be an early Genesis game. But it could be a Game Boy or a PC game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Sure. Is this a Game Boy or PC game?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes, it's five.

[Justin Davis]

Is it a Game Boy game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No. Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Early ish PC game.

[Justin Davis]

Zorka. PC games got that ported.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this. Is this a role playing game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

So that'll be from before 1986.

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

So kind of a late 80s, early 90s PC.

[Sam Claiborne]

Could be LucasArts. I don't know. They might be. I don't know what year they started. Were they.

[Justin Davis]

What genre did you just eliminate?

[Sam Claiborne]

Rpg.

[Justin Davis]

So it could still be adventure.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep. Is this an adventure game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe it's like a. Like a cool sim or something like that. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know. It's like, you know, the original SimCity, the original Civ. I can't quite recall if those were like early 90s or late 80s.

[Justin Davis]

Is this a sim or strategy game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, that's 10.

[Justin Davis]

This isn't bad. We've eliminated most things and it's on PC. So, you know. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

We don't know.

[Justin Davis]

Damon doesn't think we've eliminated most things.

[Sam Claiborne]

And what. What year did it come out after. After 86.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Between.

[Sam Claiborne]

We have it narrowed down to a five year span.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, there wasn't really shooters yet, so.

[Sam Claiborne]

We don't know if it was exclusively a PC game.

[Justin Davis]

I definitely wasn't on arcade or an nes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's true.

[Justin Davis]

Boy.

[Sam Claiborne]

And not.

[Justin Davis]

Who would have developed a game like this, man. Should we just eliminate the Japanese developers? I mean, they've even made a game that came out here on PC. Yeah, Metal Gear the first, Metal Gear, something like that.

[Sam Claiborne]

We might be in trouble here.

[Justin Davis]

Is this a Japanese developer?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, so it's not complicated like that. Pirate, pirates? No, no, that's a. That's a simmer strategy. Right.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this a. Is this a shooter?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I get mixed up, like, I don't know what year Wolfenstein 3D came out, you know, like. But I definitely. I assumed for sure this was a computer rpg like Might and Magic or something like that. But it's not.

[Justin Davis]

Let's. I'm gonna do one more Hail Mary. Like a driving puzzle or.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Or platformer. It wouldn't be a platformer.

[Sam Claiborne]

It could totally be a platformer.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe it's like Carmen San Diego or like an educational game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Oh, it could be Oregon Trail. Although we said PC and so I might take a little bit of offense to Oregon Trail because that was an Apple II game, so that's fine. Yeah, I think that's pretty good.

[Justin Davis]

Should we do like education puzzle or Remember the other genre I had now?

[Sam Claiborne]

Driving?

[Justin Davis]

Driving?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

This is an education puzzle or driving game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, no.

[Justin Davis]

So it could be sport. It could be the first Madden that was a PC game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really? Are you sure? Is that really true?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I'm like 89 EA's first.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, man. I didn't remember that at all. I mean, I'm assuming it's some kind of DOS game that I probably like. I had a lot of those games that I played liked. And I'm just blanking on what it is. So it could still be a platformer. Do we have three more genres we want to try to toss in there?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, platformers, Sports.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Is it a. What's a third genre? Should we just do.

[Justin Davis]

Well, let me think. What. Cause we did adventure.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did we do. And we did sim.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. What were we playing back then? We did education, so those are kind of the things I was playing.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I know. We eliminated all of them. We eliminated adventure games, RPGs, Sims, fighting brawler Hess. Yeah. I mean on PC though, back then. Is this a platformer or a sports game or.

[Justin Davis]

Or.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, so what are. Is. Do we need to now narrow down the genre. Do we need to burn a question on that? We totally do. Is it a platformer?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. That's 15.

[Sam Claiborne]

So what? Commander Keane, you know, like. Yeah, yeah, I don't see it sounds like.

[Justin Davis]

And we never eliminated the 16 bit system, so it is possible that this is a game that was on the 16 bit systems. Right.

[Sam Claiborne]

And also came to arcade.

[Justin Davis]

No, no, it was not an arcade game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Or. Excuse me, Also came to PC. I meant, though.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I don't think we eliminated those. Right.

[Sam Claiborne]

So there's like, you know, there's like James Pond, There's Commander Keen, There's. What's The Little Tomb 1, the 2D tomb game where he's running around. Oh, my God.

[Justin Davis]

Load Runner.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, that's not what I was thinking of. But like. Yeah, like, maybe. Although didn't that come to arcades?

[Justin Davis]

It was on nes. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

I actually don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

It might be Commander Keen or like.

[Justin Davis]

Or like, we're not gonna get this one. So should we ask if this ever might.

[Sam Claiborne]

We might.

[Justin Davis]

If this ever came to a console.

[Sam Claiborne]

Sure.

[Justin Davis]

In the 90s. I mean, did this ever come to a console in the 90s?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, that's. We've really screwed up then, because that means it's just a Super Nintendo or Genesis game. A platformer.

[Sam Claiborne]

And did we say. Did we. And was it licensed or. Damon was a little bit strange if it was licensed. So it's not like, you know, maybe it became Bart versus the Space Mutants or something like that. Although that's way too early.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe it's Bubsy because, like, that became kind of a attempt at a license. Did this. Was this game a mascot platformer?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

What about California Raisins?

[Justin Davis]

Hell yeah. That was an NES game though.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do we.

[Justin Davis]

The eliminated NES. So it has to be a PC 16 bit crossover game.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm trying to think.

[Justin Davis]

I'm thinking BBZ or Arrow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. I don't mind this being Commander Keen. Although I don't think that actually ever did get ported. I think that was.

[Justin Davis]

Mention all the mascots and then we'll do the cheat.

[Sam Claiborne]

So, you know, there was. Cool spot. Yeah. James Pond, Commander Keen, Bubsy Arrow, the Acrobat. You know, I. I don't know what else there was. This is very early 91 and earlier is early.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it's.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's Alex. Alex. Alex Kidd. Maybe was on PC.

[Justin Davis]

Totally. A sonic knockoff, right? Like.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Type of thing.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Anyway, have we mentioned this game series yet?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes, you have One more question and a guess and A guess. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't think it's Commander Keen because I don't think that ever came to consoles in the 90s, so I want to toss that one out. I think you're probably right. I think it's probably either Bubsy or. What are you and Bubsy are you.

[Justin Davis]

You're a bobcat.

[Sam Claiborne]

You're a bobcat. And Bubsy and Arrow is a rabbit. He's got tall ears. Right.

[Justin Davis]

He's a bat. He's an acrobat.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, an acrobat. That's right.

[Justin Davis]

I'm pretty sure it's Bubsy. I think we might have to do like, are you a cat in this? And then just completely wing it after that.

[Sam Claiborne]

But he's a bobcat. Bubsy is a bobcat.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Some kind of cat. Does he have fur? Is it helpful to know if you have fur?

[Justin Davis]

He does have fur, but that doesn't eliminate Arrow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, bats don't have fur.

[Justin Davis]

Sure they do.

[Sam Claiborne]

But bats are cold blooded, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. You'd have to do. Is this. Can you fly?

[Sam Claiborne]

Do you play? Do you. I'm not astrally accurate.

[Justin Davis]

Bats are not cold blooded. They're just mammals.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, that's true. That can't be right.

[Justin Davis]

They milk their babies just like anything in a mince.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, I'm. I'm floating this question by Sam. I'm not actually asking Damon the question. It's. Do you play as a non human animal that flies in.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, we could do that. Or we could say, did this have a cartoon? Because Bubsy had a cartoon.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, I don't care.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. Did this have a lame attempt at a cartoon tie in?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

All right.

[Justin Davis]

Is this Arrow the acrobat?

[Damon Hatfield]

No. You are. You were very, very close though. Cool. I think the giveaway should have been when I laughed at the. Is it licensed?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Why?

[Damon Hatfield]

Because it is James Pond.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, we're so close.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, you mentioned a couple times. Yep. Is fish.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. We could have gotten this.

[Damon Hatfield]

This came to Amiga, Atari st. Look.

[Justin Davis]

How terrible this looks.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is probably the computer version.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is definitely. This is definitely hard mode. Like, this was gettable. You're right. This is hard but winnable.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, you mentioned James Pod multiple times.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Justin. Justin brings up this game.

[Sam Claiborne]

So I do. I do bring up Jen.

[Justin Davis]

Is he carrying around butter?

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think it's a piece of gold. It's treasure.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, so you go and dive in the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

And then bring stuff up to your boat.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look at how he's a Fish wearing a bow tie and a vest that.

[Justin Davis]

Is similar to the game Bagman.

[Damon Hatfield]

The villain is named doctor maybe.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, like Doctor.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's cute.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I hate everything.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, nicely attempt. You guys are very close. If you want to know, the easy mode game was Doom 2016 and normal mode was 1080 snowboarding.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, yeah, we would have gotten those for sure.

[Justin Davis]

We really got tripped up in the PC existence of James.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's asking if this is a Game Boy or a PC game. Like, yes, it was, but then you really hyper focus on PC.

[Sam Claiborne]

Although I do, I think about this as a PC franchise, so I don't think it, like, hurt. Really? Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, I've only. I only played it on Genesis.

[Sam Claiborne]

I. I think I had it on dos.

[Justin Davis]

I just saw it on the shelf and I was like, I'm never playing this piece of.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I've played on Genesis, but it wasn't this fast. More. It was more plot.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I think we can all agree if CJ was here, we would have gotten it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, for sure. Well, I think we can all agree if Jared Petty were here.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, I don't know. It's hard to say. Hard to say.

[Damon Hatfield]

Thank you for the suggestion, Reese from Scotland. Viewers, listeners, if you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address game [e-mail]. and that is all the scoops that we have for you this week. Thank you, Justin. Thank you, Sam. Thank you to Jober and everyone else working behind the scenes here in our LA office to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IG and Game scp. And we're out.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ever Galen. No, you're not. Like, he's got. He's this whole other person and he's married and has that life. Yeah, he's like, I'm married. He's married and he has a wife. And he's like, you're not my wife. And like. And then eventually, over a period of years and years, he ends up just accepting, like, this is my life now. And he has kids and he has grandkids and he's an old man. He lives like 50 years. And then when he dies, he comes back and it's back on the Enterprise and it's like, what? No, my kids.

[Justin Davis]

And he knows how to play the flute.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, and he knows how to play the flute. And then it's like the most heartbreaking. Like, he. Like his kids and his grandkids aren't real and they're gone. And they were only in his mind. And Then like, it's like it would be the most. Like it would ruin it.

[Justin Davis]

Wouldn't be a captain anymore.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

And like he wakes up and talks to a neutron star.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah. And then, and then it's just like, oh, welcome back, sir.

[Justin Davis]

But then they show him playing the flute in quiet solitude. So they reference that in lower decks quite a bit.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Legends. Long have legends inspired people the world over. For in legends, we see the worlds of the impossible unfold before us. Heroic quests, horrific monsters, gods, magic, tales of the valiant and the villainous. But more than that, in legend, we see ourselves reflected in the stories we tell. I'm William Stark. And I'm Omar Timsa. And we are D and D Legends and Lore. Join us as we explore the fantastic lore of the world's most popular tabletop rpg. Suddenly, a beam of radiant light pierces the haze. Then a powerful angel streaks down from above. She is pure beauty, fury and zeal. Arashni, your sentence has been spoken by the Sildarin. For what you have done, you are declared demon. Be what you are and go where you must. You can find D and D Legends and lore on YouTube, iTunes, Spotify, or anywhere podcasts can be found. Hi, this is Rob Benedict and I am Richard Speight. We were both on a little show you might know, called Supernatural. It had a pretty good run, 15 seasons, 327 episodes. And though we have seen, of course, every episode many times, we figured, hey, now that we're wrapped, let's watch it all again. And we can't do that alone.

[Sam Claiborne]

So we're inviting the cast and crew that made the show along for the ride.

[Damon Hatfield]

We've got writers, producers, composers, directors, and we'll of course have some actors on as well, including some certain guys that played some certain pretty iconic brothers.

[Justin Davis]

It was kind of a little bit.

[Damon Hatfield]

Of a left field choice in the best way possible.

[Sam Claiborne]

The note from Kripke was, he's great, we love him, but we're looking for like a really intelligent Duchovny type with.

[Damon Hatfield]

15 seasons to explore. It's going to be the road trip of several lifetimes. So please join us and subscribe to.

[Sam Claiborne]

Supernatural then and now.