Game Scoop! 829: Our Favorite PS4 & Xbox One Games

Summary

Game Scoop! 829: Our Favorite PS4 & Xbox One Games

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Daemon Hatfield is joined by Nick Limone, Sam Claiborne, and Justin Davis for an epic Game of the Century discussion, zeroing in on their favorite games from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One generation. The crew also scrutinizes Rolling Stone's new Top 20 NES Games list, and delivers plenty of friendly debates, gaming insights, and trivia. This episode is packed with retro nostalgia, deep dives into contemporary classics, and memorable moments that showcase the panel's expertise and love for gaming.

---

Main Discussion: Game of the Century Watch — PS4 & Xbox One Generation

The ongoing "Game of the Century Watch" reaches the PS4 and Xbox One era, with the time span defined as 2013 (launch of these consoles) through the generation's end.

Previous Generations Recap

Daemon recaps the running list of nominees from earlier generations, mentioning landmark games like Metroid Prime, Half-Life 2, Resident Evil 4, Animal Crossing, Skyrim, Fallout 3, The Last of Us, Arkham Asylum, and more.

---

Nomination & Debate: Essential Games from 2013 Onward

Notable Quotes

• “That is quite the list.” — Nick Limone, on the existing nominations (03:50)
• “To not mention Dark Souls this week is blasphemy.” — Listener Christopher Rex Brown Jr. via Facebook (03:57)
• “Dark Souls is just… I didn’t think they could do this in a video game. Like, this is like old school hard as hell video game.” — Nick Limone (04:51)

Key Additions and Commentary

1. Dark Souls (Added to the prior-gen list)

• Dark Souls’s significance and impact on the "Soulslike" genre discussed at length.
• The contrast between Dark Souls and Elden Ring in terms of player freedom and difficulty is highlighted.
  • Nick: “Whereas Dark Souls will be like, what if you only had like, three options? And a lot of them are equally difficult.” (07:17)

2. PS4 / Xbox One Era — New Nominations

Undertale (10:00)

• “To me Undertale is a game for people who love video games… this game will teach you everything you need to know about video games and how it plays with the format.” — Nick Limone (10:00)
• Celebrated for its innovative mechanics, Pacifist runs, and fourth-wall-breaking surprises.
• “It was very mind-blowing when this first came out.” — Justin Davis (11:35)

Pokémon Go (12:29)

• Sam picks this as one of the generation’s true cultural phenomena.
• “It got Hillary Clinton to say ‘Pokemon Go to the polls.’” — Sam Claiborne (12:36)
• Discussion of Pokémon Go’s launch impact, community, and AR novelty.

Factorio (16:14)

• “Probably my most played video game of all time… I have 530 hours in the game.” — Justin Davis (16:27)
• Lauded for its depth, modding support, and genre-defining automation gameplay.

The Witcher 3 (21:32)

• “Witcher 3 is so good… if you were just getting a PS4 or Xbox One… Witcher 3 would absolutely be on there.” — Daemon Hatfield (21:40)
• Panel emphasizes its world-building, narrative excellence, and outstanding characters.

Divinity: Original Sin 2 (23:40)

• Recognized for its dense RPG mechanics, meaningful choices, and successful co-op.

Nier: Automata (28:25)

• “This game is playing with the medium of video games… a love letter to people who love video games.” — Nick Limone (28:25)
• Praised for its innovative narrative structure and striking game design.

Stardew Valley (31:09)

• “It’s the most fun version of the farming sim… and started the whole cozy game revolution that we’re still in the midst of.” — Justin Davis (32:19)

Overwatch (33:37)

• “It’s the last time I personally can recall having like an appointment… just going to get online and play together.” — Justin Davis (34:01)
• Celebrates its accessibility, role specialization, and initial lore developments.

God of War (2018) (37:51)

• “This game is a bonafide masterpiece… the best first-party PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 title that I think Sony has under their belt right now.” — Nick Limone (39:03)
• Panel dives deep into its character development, narrative risks, and exceptional game feel.
• Memorable moment: The surprise return of Kratos’ classic Blades is called out as “one of my favorite moments in video games.” — Nick Limone (39:03)

---

Honorable Mentions (43:26 onward)

• Red Dead Redemption 2 — “Landmark game of our lifetimes.” — Sam Claiborne (43:32)
• Metal Gear Solid V / Death Stranding — “My favorite Metal Gear, but Death Stranding is my favorite Kojima game.” — Sam Claiborne (43:48)
• Resident Evil 2 Remake — Nick: “I think about Phantom Pain probably a little bit more than I do the RE2 remake.”
• Inside — Daemon: “11 out of 10 off the charts for me… this game has such a cool vibe and atmosphere.” (45:12)
• The Walking Dead (Telltale’s) — Noted as important but less replayable compared to others.

---

Segment: Rolling Stone’s Top 20 NES Games List ([46:33])

The crew analyzes and gently debates Rolling Stone’s surprising NES rankings.

Highlights:

• Several deep-cut picks make the list (e.g., StarTropics, Super Dodge Ball, Life Force).
• Surprises: Dragon Quest III is placed high, while NES classics like Castlevania and Mario Bros. 2 are missing.
• Castlevania III, Ninja Gaiden, Metroid, Contra, and the Zelda series all make the top 10.
• Debate over aged well/poorly: Some panelists stand by games like Mega Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. 3 as still accessible; others note how challenging NES games can appear to newer players.

Notable Quotes

• “If the next three aren’t just Super Mario Brothers 1, 2 and 3, what are we even doing?” — Sam (55:54)
• “It’s not that much of a stretch to say without Super Mario Brothers 1, there’s no video game industry today as we know it.” — Daemon (58:35)

---

Spooky Season: What We’re Playing (62:58)

Focused on current horror and indie games the crew is playing.

Silent Hill f (Nick)

• Initial skepticism gave way to being “riveted… this game is startlingly brutal in ways I did not anticipate.”
• Highlights the game’s branching content and unique puzzles.
• Amusing anecdote: Nick’s power went out midway through playing, making his apartment “become Silent Hill for real.” (66:28)

Little Rocket Lab (Justin)

• Indie game blending the automation of Factorio and the community vibe of Stardew Valley.
• “It’s unbelievable how much of a Justin game it is…except that it’s only 20 hours, not 100.” (68:01)

Daemon teases upcoming talk about Yote and Outer Worlds 2.

---

Podcast Classic: Video Game 20 Questions ([70:03 onward])

This week's mystery game: Marvel vs. Capcom 2
The crew works together, asking smart, strategic questions and reminiscing about the Dreamcast era, Capcom fighters, and sprite-based glory days.

Memorable quote:
“If you meet someone who likes Marvel vs. Capcom 2, they’re immediately a cool person.” — Nick Limone (78:55)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening & Cast Introduction: 02:29
• Dark Souls Debate: 03:53–08:23
• Gen 8 Nominations Begin: 09:34
• Undertale: 09:38
• Pokémon Go: 12:29
• Factorio: 16:14
• Witcher 3: 21:32
• Divinity Original Sin 2: 23:40
• Nier: Automata: 28:25
• Stardew Valley: 31:09
• Overwatch: 33:37
• God of War (2018): 37:51
• Honorable Mentions: 43:26
• Rolling Stone NES List & Reactions: 46:33–60:25
• What We're Playing (Spooky Season): 62:58
• Silent Hill f: 63:13
• Little Rocket Lab: 67:30
• 20 Questions: 70:03

---

Closing Thoughts

The episode offers a deep, thoughtful, and at times hilarious look at some of gaming’s most important modern classics while grounding the conversation in nostalgia, personality, and a genuine love for the medium. Listeners come away with a mix of recommendations—from AAA epics to indie gems—and a reminder that both innovative mechanics and emotional storytelling matter when defining “game of the century” caliber titles.

---

Noteworthy Quotes

• "Pokémon Go just felt like the 90s again, just Poke fever taking over the world." — Nick (12:51)
• "Every mouse click, every animation in Factorio is satisfying to behold and to be a part of." — Nick (20:18)
• "The Witcher 3 is by far the best thing the Witcher has ever done. I think that's really cool." — Sam (22:49)
• "This game will teach you everything you need to know about video games and how it plays with the format." — Nick on Undertale (10:00)
• "If you meet someone who likes Marvel vs. Capcom 2, they’re immediately a cool person." — Nick (78:55)

---

Skip to [24:00–47:00] for deep PS4/Xbox One game picks and heartfelt explanations of what made them generation-defining.
Jump to [46:33–60:25] for fun NES nostalgia and spicy ranking debates.

---

For retro gaming fans, spirited debates, and heartfelt gaming love, this is a can’t-miss Game Scoop! episode.

Transcript

[A]

Game of the Century Watch continues with the PS4 and Xbox One generation. Also, there's a new top 20 NES games list that needs our scrutiny, and we'll flip through the October 1994 issue of EGM. All that more on GamesCube after these messages. A new era of power has arrived with the Alienware Area 51 gaming laptops, intentionally engineered to push more power to the CPU and GPU for maximum performance. Combined With Intel Core Ultra 9 processors merging CPU integration, NPU, and integrated GPU into an AI optimized chip, it delivers fast, smart and seamless performance across everything you do. And with the new cryo chamber design, Airflow is focused exactly where it's needed most. Fused with Alienware's enhanced thermal solutions, it creates a higher power output without raising noise levels, allowing you to play with confidence even during the most demanding marathon gaming sessions. So no matter what you are playing, Alienware ensures every game runs precisely as its developers intended. A new era of power is here. All you have to do is take it. Discover Area51 [e-mail] Area-51 laptops One in five Americans have learned a new language on their bucket list. If that's you, make 2025 the year you finally check it off with Babbel, the language app that makes grammar fun and is actually worth your time. Learning a language with Babbel is all about small steps, big wins and progress. You can actually track and feel. Their bite sized lessons fit easily into your daily routine and are also easy to remember. Just 10 minutes a day is enough to start seeing real Their courses are designed by over 200 language experts, real human beings to teach you relevant words and phrases you'll actually use so you can start speaking with confidence in as little as three weeks. Babbel lets you practice real life conversation step by step, without the stress. You'll build the confidence to speak up when it matters, from ordering a coffee to chatting with new friends abroad. And Babbel is more than just lessons. They even offer a large collection of podcasts where Babbel experts reveal language secrets and offer an inside look at local cultures. I've used Babbel to brush up on my Spanish before traveling to Mexico and to learn a little Dutch on a visit to Amsterdam earlier this year. Here's a special limited time deal for our listeners right now. Get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription at babbel.com Gamescoop get up to 55% off at babbel.com GamesCoop spelled B A B B E L.com GamesCoop rules and restrictions may apply. What's up, everybody? Welcome to IGN gamescoop. I'm your host, Damon Hatfield, joining here in the studio by Nick Limone.

[B]

I'm back, baby.

[A]

Joined remotely by Sam Claiborne.

[C]

Hey, everyone.

[A]

And Justin Davis.

[D]

Scoop.

[A]

We had a great show for you this week. Yes, as I hinted at the beginning, there. There's a new list. Rolling Stone has published a list of the top 20 NES games. So we'll see about that.

[C]

As is our duty, we don't need to have the conversation. If you answer one question, is Zombie Nation on the list?

[A]

Well, please be excited to find out, Sam. I also have the October 1994 issue of EGM, which has donkey Kong country on the COVID Heck yeah. I thought that would be fitting considering Donkey Kong's having quite the year this year. But first, Game of the Century Watch continues. We're up to the PS4 and Xbox One generation to sort of catch everyone up to speed, including Nick, who wasn't here last week. Here's the games, all the games we've nominated so far. It's about 22 games, I believe, so everything from the year 2000 up to around 2013 when the PS4 and Xbox One released Perfect Dark, Metroid Prime, Half Life 2. I mean, this is just a list of amazing games. Knights of the Old Republic, Shadow of the Colossus, Resident Evil 4, Castlevania, Aria of Sorrow, World of Warcraft, Animal Crossing, Final Fantasy 10, Halo 2, Grand Theft, San Andreas, Mass Effect 2, Skyrim, Fallout 3, Red Dead Redemption, Portal 2, The Last of Us, Rock Band, Arkham Asylum, Borderlands 2, and Uncharted 2.

[B]

Wow, that is quite, quite the list.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

What does that say?

[C]

What are we missing?

[A]

Oh, well, Christopher Rex Brown Jr. Went so far as to make a post in the Facebook group. To not mention Dark Souls this week is blasphemy.

[B]

I would agree and concur with that. I think Dark Souls is one. One of the best games ever made and also one of the most important. And then.

[A]

I'll throw it on the list.

[B]

I. I'm going to be controversial and say I think the original near should be on there, but I could also understand why that's not the case.

[A]

Interesting.

[B]

The original niers.

[A]

Wait, that wouldn't be. Oh, that would be. That. That generation. Yeah, yeah. If Nick had joined us, I bet. Dark Souls. But also Christopher Rex Brown Jr. I think if you've been listening to the show for any amount of time, I think you should have been surprised if we did nominated me, Sam, Justin or Pear. Not really our kind of game.

[C]

But it is helpful if anybody wants to nominate these and we can get a second on the show, then we'll include it on the list.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Dark Souls is just, I just didn't think when that game came out I was like, I didn't think they could do this in a video game. Like this is like old school hard as hell video game. And it seemed that resonated with the general public.

[A]

As someone who loves Elden Ring, how do you think I would find Dark Souls?

[B]

I think you would not like it very much.

[C]

I, I, this is, this is my impression from working at IGN at the time, but I remember that game not sweeping the office by storm and being a PlayStation exclusive of little note that some people played.

[D]

Well, that was demon bloodborne came out demon souls.

[C]

Oh, I see. Wait, wait, when was Demon's souls?

[B]

Yeah, that was like 2000.

[C]

So people. Okay, that's right. You're right. I think you demon souls.

[B]

But no, I mean dark souls. I think the marketing in the US is what really sealed it for it because it was like prepare to and it had like a heavy metal trailer that was like all centered around how hard and brutal this game is. And yeah, it is, but it's also just a lot more to the game than that. It's just a more like profound message about the human spirit and the willingness to endure, which I really like. And it's a cool universe.

[D]

I mean the souls like that genre has been winning people over for like 15 years now. Right. Like we saw like Sam unite of worked here about that same amount of time of like, you know, people are like ah, like I hate the boss run backs and like it's so clunky and like rolling like why would it was like, you know, Skyrim was out at the same time and it's like, you know, one is so much more accessible and empowering and the other one felt and like look, I understand it's doing something deliberate with the player movement and like how it all works. But like it is, it is bracing to like to jump into this world in this style of gameplay for the first time. And like we've seen over successive games from like demon souls to dark souls to Bloodborne to Elden Ring that more and more and more people are like this is not for me. This is not for me. And then they're like well it's like the kombucha girl meme but in real life and say like well maybe like maybe I Do like this after all. But it's. It's an acquired taste. Right.

[A]

Just in Elden Ring, if a boss is giving me a hard time, I can either try to cheese it, or I could go out and find a certain weapon or item that's going to make it easier for me. Or I can just go Rune farm until I'm strong enough that I can just brute force my way past him. So could I do that in Dark Souls?

[B]

You can do that.

[A]

Okay, then I'm farming Souls Farm.

[B]

You can. There's not. The biggest difference between Dark Souls and Elden Ring is that Elden Ring offers you so many other avenues for you to, hey, let's go check out what's over there. Whereas Dark Souls will be like, what if you only had like, three options? And a lot of them are equally difficult.

[D]

I did play. I played probably half of Dark Souls, you know, back when it was new. And like, it's hard, but it's not like, you know, it's like, it's not really that much harder than like, you know, try boss five or eight times and you'll get past it. Like, you'll be all right.

[B]

The original Dark Souls is a game that, to me is like, why it feels like you couldn't remake a modern Castlevania. Because it feels like all of the lessons and, and design sensibilities of the NES Castlevania and kind of open into a 3D, like, action game to some extent. Because it's, again, very deliberate choices when it comes to your animations.

[C]

I put five hours in this and I would say those animation. Com combat things make it so different from Castlevania. Just. Just that that's what's prohibitive of it being fun for me. Everything else you're saying is totally accurate.

[A]

All right, well, I put. I put Dark Souls.

[B]

Yeah, you did it.

[A]

That brings us to PS4. Xbox One. There's the question of the Switch. But the switch released 2016, right? 17. So it was closer to the release of the PS5. Also. I don't think it's like part of that generation either. So actually, I think we'll just. Let's just dedicate one episode to the Switch and the Switch 2.

[D]

That.

[A]

That seems funny.

[D]

That makes sense what that was. But my games. Damon. Okay, I'm going to have to come up. Come up with an alternative now.

[A]

You had a bunch of Switch games.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I thought we established we weren't doing the Switch this episode.

[D]

I thought we established that we were doing the Switch year one or year two.

[C]

When did well.

[A]

Also Justin, there are no rules like whatever, throw that to some Switch games. We're making this up as we go along.

[D]

I have at least one I can get into.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

It's more fun to stretch to find a single Nintendo game from the Wii U 3DS era to put on this.

[B]

I know, I racked my brain. I was like, yeah, I think I'm good.

[C]

I looked up 3Ds and I was trying and you know, I came up with pushmo, which nobody here respects.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

What? So we're not putting it on this.

[A]

We've been over. We covered pushmo on a recent episode.

[C]

Yeah, some might say too much.

[A]

Yep, exactly.

[C]

Same. Why do they keep bringing up pushmo every week on their typewriters?

[A]

Well, Nick, why don't you throw one out to get us started on PS4. Xbox One generation.

[B]

So I'm going to start with the game that I don't, I don't think is on anyone's list, but I would love to be proven wrong. Undertale.

[A]

Oh, interesting.

[B]

That was I believe 2015 if I'm not mistaken. It just celebrated its 10 year anniversary. And I couldn't think of a game that is one for people who grew up loving, you know, your turn based JRPG specifically. And also just how you can kind of take that and distill it down to an essence that we would then see go on to echo into stuff like cleric obscure, Expedition 33. Like to me Undertale is a game for people who love video games and it is like the perfect example of me of what like video game literacy distilled down to one video game. Like this game will teach you everything you need to know about video games and how it plays with the format. And I think it's only better if you already are familiar with video games but you don't need that prior experience. Incredible music, just mind shatteringly nuts. Alternate endings and paths you can take to the game. And it's like a five, six hour experience. It is just unmatched. And deltarune, I'm happy to report is just as good.

[D]

It's another one of those games that like we've been talking about it all throughout this game of the century watch of like ideas that feel a little bit more sort of well worn and trodden now where sort of, you know, undertale was like the precursor to like it's the first time I can really remember a game, you know, sort of breaking the fourth wall in the sense that like it crashes to desktop or you have to close to desktop and like reopen the game and like, you know, and then that's how you kind of continue on, which is kind of a spoiler. So sorry. But like, but you know, like that, that concept has been sort of a little bit, you know, is a little bit more common now. But I, you know, it was very mind blowing when this first came out and the Pacifist run of like beat the entire game without killing anything. Like that really blew my mind back when undertale was new as well.

[B]

And you finished the game in the Pacifist run at level one with the same health you started with. And it's just like the game is harder but it's way more. It turns into a bullet hell instead of a turn based rpg, which is. It rocks.

[A]

I've never played this game, but I'm, you know, aware. Yeah.

[B]

I mean, and an incredible soundtrack that I'm still listening to to this day.

[D]

The soundtrack is. Is amazing.

[A]

And then is deltarune this like a sequel?

[B]

Deltarune is a sequel of sorts. And it is greatly enriched if you have played undertale, but I wouldn't say it's necessarily required.

[A]

Okay, cool. Undertale, it's on the list and it's.

[C]

Been released episodically, so there's not. Is it complete now or is it close to complete?

[B]

It's probably like three years out from completion. You have chapters one through four right now with five and six coming next year and then I think seven later.

[A]

Cool. All right, Sam, what's your first game?

[C]

I'm going to choose 2016 or 2015's mega hit worldwide. Pokemon Go.

[A]

Oh my gosh.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. Okay.

[C]

I think it's. I mean, I don't know what to say about Pokemon Go. It was so fun. It was so great. And it got Hillary Clinton to say Pokemon Go to the poles.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I mean she probably lost her. The election.

[B]

It felt like. It felt, it felt like the 90s again were just like Poke fever taking over the world again. Everyone was excited about being excited about Pokemon. I love it.

[C]

I like how it was. They're excited about the Pokemon that matter most, the 151. And that made it really fun and it made it really cute. And then it went through a couple of seasons just like this is like rock band for me. It's like this is a game that stood out from gaming and became a cultural thing and a community thing. And boy, was it fun living in the city of San Francisco while this was happening. There's areas of town that were, you know, you know, Niantic is based out of San Francisco. Niantic is actually the name of a shipwreck in the. In the San Francisco Bay. And they had like, you know, charizards and stuff popping up that you probably couldn't get anywhere. And it was a big deal. We all talked about it. Everybody was hacking Pokemon online and trying to do things with it. It was crazy. Yeah.

[D]

I mean, look like it was on the evening news of crowds of people just roving through public parks at night. It was absolutely nuts. And I think the AR component was like, it's still one of the coolest and best AR implementations of. You can have a little Pokemon and he's on your bed just chilling with you.

[C]

And we all use that for one day.

[D]

Yeah. But it was still neat.

[B]

And if I'm not mistaken, at launch, I don't think there were. Were there battles. I don't recall there actually battles.

[C]

They added in. What's it called? Those different types of.

[B]

What are they called?

[D]

Raids.

[C]

Yeah. And then later battles. So, yeah, it was just collecting and.

[B]

Then trading, but, like, it's just.

[C]

And the servers were really unstable for a while. We all had these, like, crazy funny issues getting in and out. And then they released a piece of plastic, the Pokemon Go Plus, I think it was called. It was like a little clicker and it would buzz. You could walk to work and just like, collect. And you get there and like, open up your. This is just like Street Pass. It was like, really fun. You'd open it up and it would be like, this is all the stuff that happened.

[B]

And it was just. They did a good job of capturing, like, the gen differences between, like, blue and red versus, you know, games or Pokemon that were only accessible in certain countries. So it's like, I remember when I first joined Ignore. Everyone was like, back into Pokemon Go out of the LA office, and I had a trip to Japan and they were like, oh, can you catch the.

[C]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Whatever. The Leaf Ape is like, capture as many of them as you can. Oh, no, no.

[C]

Mr. Mime was Europe. Yeah.

[B]

And it's just like I felt like a celebrity coming back. Was like, oh, do you want one? Do you want one? Do you want one? What are you gonna do for me, man?

[C]

Kangaskhan was only in Australia, so we gave it a 7, which, apropos of nothing, I'll just mention, is probably the best seven we've ever given out. No relation to anything else. And then we also had an argument, I would describe it, about including this as a game of the year contender and I lost that argument and it was not included.

[A]

So Pokemon goes turning 10.

[C]

Thanks, Damon.

[A]

I had nothing to do with it. It's turning 10 next year.

[B]

They just had community day like a day ago.

[A]

People are still playing this game two days ago.

[B]

And again, it's a game.

[C]

Are they still doing Pikachu hats?

[B]

It will always actually know the answer to that.

[C]

We cover Pokemon.

[B]

I feel like people will just always like, oh yeah, I'll pick it up and play some Pokemon Go for a little bit. Why not?

[A]

All right, Justin, what's your first game?

[D]

Factorio.

[A]

Damon, wait, when did that come out?

[D]

2019, 2016. Did I miss it last week or is that in the window?

[A]

Yes, that's right.

[B]

That's appropriate.

[C]

Perfect.

[A]

Factorio.

[D]

Well, and it was in early access for a while. So, you know, anyway, so. Yes. So Factorio is probably my most played video game of all time. That's not an MMO. I have 530 hours in the games. So, you know, I think it gets in based off influence alone. Like automation games and conveyor belt games and production line games are kind of everything kind of taken over. And like all of that DNA can be traced back to factorio. But what I like about it and what's kind of ruined all other factory games for me is this. The developers so clearly understand their game and how people play their game and how they engage with it that any kind of like fuzziness or like fiddle in this about placing your conveyor belts or like building your factory, they've just smoothed all of it out. Like everything has a hotkey and everything. Like I'll give you one example because I could give you dozens of examples. But if you're dragging power poles, like if you need to, if you need a line of power poles going from one somewhere to another, you just click your power pole and then drag your mouse over it and it goes tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. And just places your power poles in a line like where you want them. You don't need to click and place every single one. And it has dozens and dozens of little teeny tiny optimizations just to make the game feel so smooth. And then I tried to play satisfactory, I tried to play other games and they are great games. So I don't need to make this a one game versus another thing. But like none of them have that. Like just years and years and years of optimization. And so the zoomed in experience of playing factorio of like, you know, I'm fiddling with belts and fiddling with pipes like, that feels really, really good. But then the super zoomed out experience also feels really good of like, you can build a factorio, you can build a factory in Factorio that makes copies of itself and just gets bigger over time. So it's like if you build a design of like, I'm making green circuits or I'm making rocket parts or whatever, and you can build it in a way that it's tileable and then you can just select it all and copy and paste it and be like, and then just plop down more and more and more versions. Like you can copy your entire factory and then paste it and then if you have the materials, it'll just make a copy of itself. And so it's super fun and satisfying, you know, routing belts and making everything work just right. And then it's also super, super fun and satisfying to build like a megabase and just keep getting bigger and bigger. And I've never played a game that like, as it zoomed out and increased in scope, felt just as satisfying and fun as when it was zoomed in. And one more thing, one more thing, one more thing. The reason that I have like 500 hours in it is the game is super, super moddable and super mod friendly, which is not a new thing in PC games, right? Lots of PC games are moddable. But what's special about Factorio is like the entire game of Factorio is actually just a model. So it's like they built the engine of like, you know, you're plopping down conveyor belts and plopping down, you know, buildings in this world and they all do different things. And that's just a mod, right? So like there's total conversion mods that like, you know, make the game easier or make it steampunk. And it's not just like a new coat of paint, but it's like, I like to describe the modding scene as like FactorIO 2, 3, 4 and 5 are in FactorIO and they're just mods that people have made. So it's like I put 100 hours, actually more like 150 hours into this ultra super hardcore mod called Pyana Dawns. And it's like, it just makes it, it just makes everything completely ridiculous. And like it's sort of the end game of like it's going to take you a thousand hours to beat this thing. And so like the game, this is a candidate for being my desert island game because of that for sure.

[C]

It's also the exact opposite game of Pokemon Go.

[D]

Yeah, that's probably true.

[B]

I mean I don't have, I have zero minutes of experience of Factorio. But one thing that I always appreciate about this game, every time I see video of it, is the fact that you could just tell. Every mouse click, every animation just is satisfying to behold and to be a part of. And I think that's always a good sign of a game is like when you know it feels good to play even though you are just quote unquote, you know, dragging power lines across. Just sound design combined with game feel come together to make something that is better than the sum of its parts.

[D]

It runs on Potato PCs, which is a benefit.

[A]

It runs on really much.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, not very well, but like, you know, and then I really like the pre rendered visuals. It reminds me of like Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 and old, you know, old isometric RPGs and so, you know, satisfying to chop down trees and stuff like that. Great game.

[A]

It's got a very cool look to it. So far we mentioned undertale, Pokemon Go and Factorio. So anyone who's not a game scoop fan that just clicked on this video because it's called our favorite PS4 and Xbox One games, it's probably a little bit.

[B]

Where the heck is Breath of the Wild?

[C]

Well, Techino's not gonna have a shout unless I did Pokemon Go.

[A]

That's true. So I'll drop a traditional hardcore AAA blockbuster game. The Witcher 3.

[B]

Oh thank God. I knew someone was gonna do it.

[A]

Witcher 3 is so good. It's kind of like Skyrim level and it's ubiquity and like it's been released for every other platform and sold whatever, tens and tens and tens of thousands of copies and everyone or millions of copies. I mean it's one of those games like if you were just getting a PS4 and Xbox One and what's a handful of games I should get, Witcher 3 would absolutely be on there.

[B]

I mean it's a game that you consistently see when people are like, I just into like open world games or I'm just, I'm new to video games. What should I play?

[C]

That's like, it's a good follow for Breath of the Wild for that reason.

[B]

Yeah, it's just such a, an elegantly designed world with some of the best writing I've ever seen put to a video game with choices that actually matter and they. It just feels like you have your own personal like dungeon master guiding you on this super epic journey. It's, it's, it's outstanding exploration matters.

[C]

You can take a bunch of risks and you can get rewarded for them. We've, we've talked about this so much that I barely want to go into that, but I did want to mention that it's also the rare occasion in which the video game is by far the best thing about this entire ip and the, you know, I've read all the books, seen the show, all that stuff.

[A]

The game is the best.

[C]

I'm not going to slag on that stuff right now. But just say that this, this game is by far the best thing that the Witcher has ever done. And I think that's really cool. The only other game you can, the only IP you can say that with is Pac Man.

[B]

I mean, I think I, I would argue you could extrapolate that to even something like Cyberpunk 2077. I think that's what makes CD Projekt RED so good as from a like narrative standpoint is you could say what you will about Cyberpunk's like story or the Witcher's overarching story, but I think their understanding of character and like character choice is, bar none in the video game scene. I, I guess the closest that hold a candle to it is like Larian games with Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2 and Baldur's Gate 3, but just some next level character study stuff that you're seeing in the Witcher 3.

[A]

You know, it's funny you mentioned Divinity original sin 2, Nick, because that's another game that I'll throw out on this list.

[C]

Oh wow.

[B]

Dang. That's like, man, what a game. What a banger of a game.

[C]

That was a demi game.

[A]

Oh yeah. I mean I loved Baldur's Gate 3 as well. I love the Original Divinity Original Sin, super nerdy top down CRPG that has so much freedom in the way you approach the world. You approach combat in barrels stories.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

What's up?

[B]

Barrels?

[A]

Yeah, lots of barrels. There's so many cool physics and elemental stuff that interact with each other here. And this I think beat Breath of the Wild up by like a year. I think maybe 2016. I want to say. Yeah, I love divinity original sin 2. Of course. This is what Larian made before Baldur's Gate 3.

[B]

Again, another great example of just incredible characters. I think the origin characters are some of my favorite that I've ever experienced in a RPG or fantasy setting. Like I forget the name, but I played as the skull guy, the skeleton guy. Just like the strange mechanics that you have to deal with by Oh, I can't let the rest of the world know I am a skeleton that walks and talks. I need to hide and disguise myself. Like that's such a clever thing that is now a thing I have to deal with as part of my normal game.

[D]

Also deep, deep role playing in divinity this is which you know, it's a role playing game, but like Larry and better than other people actually let you enhack and truly deal with the positives and negatives of like playing a role other than yourself.

[A]

Yeah. As a kid in the 90s, we didn't have a computer, but I was very aware of these computer RPGs and they seemed so cool and so much more in depth than the console games I was playing. And so it's that kind of. It's like the game that I imagined I was missing out on in the 90s.

[B]

It's like the fallout one and two and like the Torment Legacy all distilled down to just this delightful love letter to fantasy RPGs. It's so good.

[A]

Also, the co op works. It just works so well. Either playing online or locally with split screen, it's just, it's great.

[B]

Also, I love a game that can remove itself from a lot of the Dungeons and Dragons trademark of like fantasy and flavor of role playing and just thrive and have a fully cohesive world that I'm like, oh, I get it. I understand how this world works and sure it has echoes to what you would see in Dungeons and Dragons, but it's wholly unique and just very, very elegant.

[A]

Yeah, maybe Larry and we'll swing back to this for their next game.

[B]

Always a good one.

[A]

I like to eat healthy and I really like the idea of starting my day by getting a bunch of healthy nutrients into my body first thing. That's why I started recently drinking an AG1 health drink first thing in the morning. AG1 is a multivitamin, probiotics and a superfood, all wrapped up in a tasty drink that becomes your morning ritual. It's clinically shown to support gut health and fill in common nutrient gaps. With five probiotic strains and more than 75 vitamins and minerals, it feels much more substantial than the multivitamin I used to take. It's super easy to mix up a glass of AG1 along with my morning coffee, and I can confirm it tastes way better than the other green juices I've tried. The regular flavor is slightly sweet with notes of vanilla and AG1 also comes in citrus, berry and tropical flavors. AG1 has fit well into my morning routine and if you're health conscious, I think it will do the same for you. Head to drinkag1.com gamescoop to get a free welcome kit including a bottle of vitamin D and free AG1 travel packs when you first subscribe. That's drinkag1.com Gamescoop if your cat could talk, they'd tell you they want a litter upgrade. If you're not buying single ply toilet paper for yourself, why are you giving your cat outdated kitty litter? Make their bathroom experience better for both of you. With Pretty Litter, it's soft on their paws, stays fresher longer, and it's easy to maintain. Not just a Pretty Litter Pretty Litter is nice on the eyes, but it's so much more than that. Pretty Litter helps monitor your cat's health, detecting abnormalities in your cat's urine by testing acidity and alkalinity levels and showing the visible presence of blood. Pretty Litter ships free right to my door. It's non toxic and household friendly. Plus it's low dust, controls odors and lasts for up to one month. That odor control is no joke by the way. The previous brand of cat litter I used was also low odor, but Pretty Litter makes odor virtually non existent. Pretty Litter's non clumping formula traps odor and moisture. It's ultra absorbent. Both me and my cat Same like Pretty Litter a lot. At a glance I can see that Same is looking healthy. Oh Same is Gray with a white belly and her name is Japanese for shark. Pretty Litter helps keep your house smelling fresh and clean. Try it for yourself right now. Save 20% on your first order and get a free cat toy at prettylitter.com Gamescoop that's prettylitter.com GamescooP to save 20% on your first order AND get a free cat toy. Prettylitter.com Gamescoop Pretty Litter cannot detect every feline health issue or prevent or diagnose diseases. A diagnosis can only come from a licensed veterinarian. Terms and conditions apply. C site for details. All right, so that's switcher 3 division original sin 2 Nick, what's your next game?

[B]

My next one because I couldn't put the original Nier on this list, I am going to put Nier Automata, which I think is what basically was the the breakthrough moment for this series and has done so much for Square Enix and just weirdo games in general. I love that this game that is a sequel to a, you know, let's face it, a game that is some people would say is like a budget Title that was kind of overlooked at the time of its release and has gone on to just shape the foundation of which the medium is kind of built on. Very much like Undertale, this game is playing with the medium of video games. And it is a love letter to people who love video games. And just, you know, it's 3D action game, the platinum game style action game. And then you've got your side scrolling bullet hell stuff. You have visual novel elements in the game. There's so many games in one. And you know, for those of you who are like, oh, I beat the game, it's like, I encourage you. It sucks to be the guy who's always like, do all the endings. Because I know that that's quite the ask. But you will not be disappointed if you do at least two of the endings of Nier Automata because it is just some stuff that will. It sticks with me to this very day. And I think that Yoko Taro, along with Keiichi Okabe, who is the composer of the game, Yoko Taro, the director of the game, they're doing stuff that is just a love letter to just obscure games that they grew up with. And it's just a cool, just a cool stylish game. And I believe just like the fashion, style, like fashion sensibilities of it too is just something I really admire about the game. It's just, it's just cool through and through.

[A]

Why do their swords fall, float behind them?

[B]

Dude, they're robots. They're like. It's like magnets. I don't know man. But like so much so that this went on to inspire me to go back and play through Drakengard 1, 2 and 3 and the original Nier. I've gone to the Nier Automata concert play that tells a sequel story to this in Thailand. Like just this. This game means a lot to me with just both itself as a game and also how it kind of is a intermedium like style thing where there's short stories, there's novellas, there's stage plays and all this stuff. And it's all pretty good.

[A]

Yeah, this is another one I've never played, but I know that I should.

[B]

It's pretty. Don't play with the kids around.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

One of those kind of games. Okay, Sam, next game.

[C]

Oh, I have so many big ones, but I wanted to make sure we get Stardew on this list. It was from this era and I think it's culturally impactful as well and just the most fun version of the kind of produce based sim out there. And it also is just like it has a, you know, a couple of different games in it as a dating sim in it. It's got a roguelike dungeon. It's got just kind of the, the fishing stuff in it. Like it just has a lot of things that are really fun. And then I, I just, I just want to give a shout out to a game that's like, it's really meant to be a feel good game. Like you do have a little bit of like daily panic about getting things done. Like there's a little bit of that in it. There's a little bit of pressure once you're in the mines. But like it really like everything looks so cute and everything is cute and there's like little magical things that happen in it that are surprising and it's just. Yeah. I mean, I wish there was a. There's a genre that's just copying Stardew.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

And I can't wait to see what the actual follow up is. Like that the haunted chocolate factory called Chocolatier.

[D]

Incredible game. You know, it's one of those rare games. Like my kids really love Stardew Valley, but then I really love Stardew Valley and I, and I don't love it in like, oh, like, oh, my kids like this. So I like it too. But like full throatedly. Right. Like so like what kind of game? Like men, women, young, old, like, you know, the true crossover appeal is just unbelievable. And it was made because, you know, Concerned Ape just like really liked Harvest Moon and was sad that there wasn't like any great farming games games and then came back and just blew out like made the best possible like you know, farming, you know, life sim imaginable and started, you know, the whole cozy game revolution that we're still in the midst of. Yeah.

[C]

Yep.

[D]

Although really, I like. Sam, you touched on this. I don't think Stardew Valley is that cozy at all. Like all the villagers, all the. Well it is. There is time pressure and stealth and. And all the villagers seem like, you know, they're really happy and their life's so great until you get your heart stuck with them and then it turns out they're all super sad.

[C]

It's like cute on the surface and then there's so much to dig into. Right.

[D]

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

[B]

Stardew is the game I always wanted Harvest Moon to be.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah. Yeah.

[A]

All right, Justin, next game.

[D]

I'm getting a little bit stressed out because I am not going to talk about metal gear solid 5 or Red Dead 2, but it's like, are they going to get mentioned? So, like. But my. My next one is. And this is weird. Like, this is not a game. When I reflect on 10 years ago, like, oh, it made a mark on me, but I was looking through, like, best of lists, and then I was like, oh, damn. Anyway, it's Overwatch.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Interesting.

[D]

It's the last time I personally can recall, you know, having, like, kind of like an appointment. Like, me and my friends are just going to get online and play together. Like, that was kind of like closing a chapter. Then I had kids shortly after. So it's like, you know, that's, that's, that's why that happened. It's not because there's not good multiplayer games, but you know, it along with Team Fortress 2, which, granted, Team Fortress 2, you know, precedes it by many, many years. You know, the hero shooter. The idea that people can have different roles on your team, and not just different roles, but, like, profoundly different. Like, they move in different ways, they play in different ways. And it's not superficial differences, but, like, really, truly, truly, like, you know, synergistic differences in, like, how the team compositions work together. And then I also think that the game did, and granted, Blizzard kind of fumbled this a little bit, but when Overwatch was new, when it came out, the lore and storytelling and the way that they were kind of like, doling out, like, oh, these characters are a couple and these characters hate each other was, like, really interesting. And I wish, like, I wish that went in a different direction than it ended up going over the next decade. But for the first year that that game came out, like, it was such an event when there would be a new hero, and it was just unbelievable. So much fun. And like, everyone that played this game, it just. It just completely achieved its mission of, like, you know, if you're not a hardcore FPS player, like, you know, play a different class. Like, everybody can find two or three classes that they vibe with, and everyone gets a chance to have this hero moment and feel powerful and feel cool. And that was great. It was such a great feeling.

[C]

So working in a big, diverse office at the time, representation really mattered in this game. And I don't just mean that in terms of types of people and backgrounds. I mean that in types of nerd culture and the way they based their characters on all these disparate, kind of interesting, influential backgrounds, from sci fi to anime to fantasy. Yeah, brilliant. And I'm shocking to this day that this is not this juggernaut of a franchise and that it's been displaced. I'm just shocked.

[A]

I mean, they fumbled Overwatch too, right?

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I think not by.

[C]

Doing anything wrong with it though, right? Just by making it and not sticking with one.

[B]

Well, they made some pretty serious mistakes in terms of like, saying there'd be like a single player thing. And then like, actually it's gone. And then also now you have to. To pay for this game. And also that entire thing that we spent building millions of dollars, the Overwatch League, and now we're completely breaking it because we're changing the team composition stuff. There's a lot of things that unfortunately happened with Overwatch too. But to your point, Justin, I. I was obsessed with Overwatch 1 and I was a lore fiend and I loved learning about these characters. And yeah, every time there was a new character announcement, they'd get their own blizzard quality trailer that would just fill in more of the, like, holes in the world of Overwatch. And I so desperately wanted some sort of animation, like anime series or something to. To tide me over and, and, and really bring home the fact that these are fully realized characters with the living, breathing world. And. And it did scratch the same itch as like Team Fortress 2 to me in terms of its lore and world building. And they set up the alley. Oop, but they never landed that slam dunk.

[D]

It's like, I'm not. I'm not the most skilled FPS player, but it's like, I really liked maining Symmetra. You know, I really liked Maining Junkrat. Everyone had like three characters. Like, for me, it's like Symmetra, Junkrat, and Torbjorn. Like, those were my three, right? And like, just hundreds of hours of fun. Like, how do you balance that when, like, not only do they have different play styles, but they're just doing completely different stuff. Like, so impressive.

[A]

Cool. Overwatch. That's a good choice. I would be tempted to throw in Ghosts of Tsushima, but I. I don't know if I might. I may end up liking Yote more. I don't know. So I'm gonna table that for a moment and I'll throw in God of War 2018.

[D]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Like, you know, that was the. Well, the fifth game in the series maybe, at least, because there was Ascension also after the trilogy on.

[B]

Right.

[A]

PS2 and 3.

[C]

It's like people have almost forgotten that God of War existed before this.

[A]

Well, yeah, I mean, it was.

[C]

I don't think they're related.

[A]

You know, that trilogy is good, you know, and they sold well and we gave them. I think we gave God a War 2 game of the year back in the day. But it was a little bit like there wasn't a lot of nuance to that version of Kratos, right? It was all just about spectacle and just being really angry and bloodthirsty. And this game like they totally, they painted in all this nuance to this character. It's like it's. They gave him all these different sides. It's. It's a really cool story about a father and a son and like going on this healing adventure together. But then also the combat feels so good and the ax feels so good. They introduce, you know, they give him this new weapon. But then of course, spoilers halfway through they give him back his old weapons. You know, you're like, this is awesome.

[B]

One of my favorite moments in video games is that moment where you're like, what the heck? My ax doesn't and work on these dudes. What do I do? Just earth shatteringly cool stuff. And yeah, I think this game is a bonafide masterpiece. And I think this is the single best first party PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 title that I think Sony has under their belt right now. I think this blows Last of Us out of the water. Last of us part 2 Ghost of Tsushima. To me, this is what I think of when I think of the prestige video game. I think this helped usher in that kind of sensibility for PlayStation both to their benefit and to their detriment. To me, nothing will reach the high bar that God of war 2018 did. And I love that this game works for people who have played the previous God of Wars or if this is your first one. Because if you've played the previous God of Wars, you immediately understand what Kratos is going through and you understand the dilemma he's faced with. And if you've never played a previous God of War, you understand what Atreus is going through and you are seeing life through the eyes of Atreus and being like, what the heck did my dad do before me? Like, it is such a fascinating and interesting way of playing with a legacy of a series. And yeah, I think this game is just, it's it. It scratches all like the Metroidvania parts of my brain in some really satisfying ways. Combat's fun and again, there's nothing more satisfying than throwing the Leviathan axe and calling it back and knocking out three dudes along the way. It's just that whoever Found that design like thing give them all of the raises they deserve.

[C]

I think it was Stan Lee.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

It was so good.

[D]

It's so well paced. I mean that's something we talked about back when we were Discussing Half Life 2. Like you fire up that game and then it just pulls you in and before you know it you're doing the craziest stuff. And like God of War is really like that too of like you just go. Like you just start the game and you go. And like there's not any moment of downtime or there is downtime, but it's designed and controlled and paced really, really well. Just a perfect mix of story, combat, puzzles, exploration. Just a master class.

[C]

The camera never cutting is pretty.

[A]

1.

[B]

One long take and it's. It takes everything that made the original God of War so impressive with like the spectacle of, of the. The. The. The cinematics and like the combat and found a way to make it feel more. I know he's saying one cup but felt very Children of Manish where you're just. It's very intimate a lot of the action. And I, I do love that at the time of this release I think that it was. I was really blown away by the seeing the trailer for the first time. And you see Kratos teaching Atreus how to hunt and he goes to pull the bow and you see him proud of his son, but he can't quite put his hand on his son's shoulder to be like, I'm proud of you. And I'm like, oh, that's what this game is about. Going from I can't, I'm hover handing my son to. By the end of the game that's going to be complete and he can actually show his love and affection. I thought that was pretty bold of a take to have with someone like Kratos.

[A]

Also the World Serpent. One of the coolest characters.

[B]

I mean, incredible hub area. Incredible hub.

[C]

That was like the moments that Nick's talking about. Like in the early games they'd always had like Aries walking around in the background like you know, 60 stories tall. Yeah. And they are able to pull that off with the world stink. Yeah.

[A]

So good. What is is this?

[B]

It's the World Serpent.

[C]

Stay calm, boy. Oh yeah, this is great.

[A]

It's fix.

[C]

Yeah. Mob City's friendly. What is it saying?

[D]

I don't know.

[A]

All right, we're running along on time. Is there anything we just want to shout out real quick before we move on?

[B]

Honorable mention Red Dead 2 100.

[C]

I mean it's not even honorable mention. It's like, that's.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, but if we.

[C]

Landmark game of our lifetimes.

[A]

If we were gonna like try. If we were to actually try and like finalize a top 25 list, would both Red Dead Redemption and two be on the list?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Well, so just two.

[B]

I think I would just put two.

[C]

Yeah. And then I think the Dueling Kojima games, Death Stranding and Metal Gear Solid five. I. I actually have trouble picking between those because metal gear solid 5 is my favorite Metal Gear, but Dust Training is my favorite Kojima game.

[B]

I would. My candidate for my third game would have been Phantom Bane and Phantom. Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

The only honorable version of. Yeah. I mean, to me, I think that game, the. The development story of that game, along with its quote unquote incomplete story is the story for me. And it's something that I'm always thinking about. Basically every day I think about Phantom Pain and what happened with that game and how it's inextricably tied to the story of that game and how meta narrative mind breaking that is. But only other honorable mention I want to throw out is the RE2 remake. I thought in my brain that was something I remember re2 remake or Phantom Pain. And I had to go with my heart. I think about Phantom Pain probably like a little bit more than I do the RE2 remake.

[C]

RE2 remake is incredible. It is incredible and it's so fun. And it was kind of the return of resident evil because Seven had done a good job. But it was an RE2 remake.

[A]

Remake.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I thought I always want to replay RE2 remake.

[A]

Yeah, it's a good, good month of the year to do that. It's also I wanted to throw out Inside, which is 11 out of 10 off the charts for me. Cinematic platformer follow up to. What's that first one? Limbo.

[C]

Limbo.

[A]

I don't know if we're ever going to get another game from that studio. I think there was some fallout between the creators. One of them left and there might be like a lawsuit happening or something. This game, man, this game has such a cool vibe and atmosphere. I like to play it this time every year. And the, the puzzles are really interesting. This game just has, it has sights to show you. Yeah, it's just, it's kind of like amazing, amazing sites that are just a marvel to behold. And then it has one of the greatest like power fantasies in the last. In the last act that's like, wow, okay, this, this game went somewhere and I love it. So good.

[C]

One, one Game that I didn't want to add to the list, but I. I thought it was interesting. Why I didn't want to add it is Walking Dead from Last Generation.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

We didn't bring up last week and I. It's because I thought about that game. Do you put on and like, did they not age well enough for me to care anymore? Did those get moved into Baldur's Gate? Basically, yeah. So there's like, better games with that acting and that level of story.

[A]

I thought about that, too. That was a big deal at the time. I had a great. I enjoyed playing them at the time, but do I want to play them today? Probably not.

[B]

You know, I'd argue, like, every game that we've covered on this list so far, I would desperately want to replay at some point in my life. And I don't know that I feel that way about the Walking Dead, unfortunately. I love them at the time. They're great. But it's a. Once you experience it, I feel like I got what I needed.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, that's our check in game of the century. Watch for now. To be continued. Rolling Stone just published, I think just yesterday published a list the top 20 NES games. Rolling Stone.

[B]

Oh, man.

[A]

Long time music, culture and politics source for nes. Former magazine, now a website.

[C]

So imagine how much they hated the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1986.

[A]

Yeah, probably. So top 20. We'll see. No, there's like 760 games released for the NES, so these should all be bangers. A top 20 list should all be good. We begin number 20 with Tecmo Super Bowl.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

All right.

[D]

Certified banger.

[A]

Yeah, that's. Yeah, I got. I have no qualms with that. That actually feels good at 20, but things go up.

[C]

The sequel, so it doesn't have Bo Jackson in it, just.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. But things get a little off the rails at 19, where they put Bionic Commando, which. That's easily top 10, probably the top five.

[C]

I'm glad it's not on the list. This is a Bionic Commando podcast. That's why gamescoop was started. So it's a little bit hard for us to talk about this outside of that context, but, yeah, at least it's on the list.

[D]

I think 19 is just fine for.

[B]

I'm in agreement with Justin.

[A]

Well, would you agree that at 18, blaster master is one better than bionic Commando?

[D]

I don't. Yeah, I mean.

[A]

Blaster Master's great.

[D]

Maybe this makes me a bad panelist for this show, but, like, I kind of don't like. Like, there's. There's the best of the best NES games, and there's like, yeah, these games are all great. And like, Bionic Commando and Blaster Master is solidly in that, like, second tier for me. I don't.

[B]

Once you get past the top 10, I'm like, yeah. Nothing else actually matters in terms of its placement.

[A]

Well, that's not Blaster Master. Did you know the Blaster Master is the default? I'm asking Nick the default video game. 20 questions. Answer.

[B]

I did not know that because one.

[A]

Time I just answered all questions yes, no matter what they asked, and then they ended up guessing Blaster Master.

[D]

Wow.

[B]

Impressive.

[A]

That's how we determined the default.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Number 17. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3 the Manhattan Project. Sure. Yeah.

[B]

All right.

[C]

I don't know why you choose that over. Over arcade game, but it is unique to NES game. And it's just a brawler. It's fine. It's no buyability.

[D]

Tough. Like, all those Brawlers is like, they were just so much better in the arcade in that era. Like, it's tough to recommend NES brawlers.

[A]

Well, and also, spoiler, there's not a Double Dragon on this list. And I was like, Double Dragon 2 and NES is really, really good.

[C]

I think Battletoads is probably better than any of those.

[A]

I wouldn't argue with that either. Number 16 is Excitebike. And this is the first one. I would not put ExciteBike in the top 20 NES.

[C]

It's cute.

[A]

Side bytes. Fine. I played it a lot back in.

[B]

The day, but, like, this just seems.

[C]

Like it's my first video game memory on the nes.

[A]

I mean, sure. Yeah, it's pretty limited.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

You get it after, like, two minutes.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I like the little sound that it makes when your bike's about to overheat and it goes. I just remember. I have an enduring memory of that just blaring out of my television when.

[C]

Your temperature goes too high.

[A]

Yeah, it's cute. I don't know. It's fine. Number. Number 15 is super dodgeball.

[C]

Yeah. Great game.

[B]

Yeah, that's a fun one.

[A]

It's a lot of. A lot of flicker in that game.

[C]

Yeah, a lot of flicker. You got. You got to use that flicker. But each character had a different move, and that made it really fun.

[A]

Yeah, it's part of the Kunio Kun. It's part of the River City Ransom.

[B]

River City Ransom. Is it a spin off?

[C]

That's what those guys were doing.

[A]

They made dozens of those games in Japan, and it's just one of them. Number 14 is Star Tropics.

[C]

Yeah, that's an okay game. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Yeah, they.

[B]

They really put in that map in the water and seeing all the stuff.

[C]

You really need a strategy guide to play that one now.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

Fair warning.

[A]

Number 13 is RC Pro Am. That's a really good one.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Made by rare.

[D]

Incredible game.

[C]

Very popular. They made a micro machines game that was based on that that came out. It was an unlicensed galoob NES game. Very good too.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

There's also a sequel to RC Pro am.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

It's very, very hard to find. RC Pro.

[D]

I'm at a great sense of speed.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah. It's just cute. Cute and fun to make an RC based car race game at this time too. Do you remember, like going to like, parking lots of, you know, outdoor strip malls and people like setting up racing cars there? Because they did that in Arizona.

[A]

I mean. Yeah, I still see that. Kids today still love remote control cars. Sam. I still see that.

[C]

Oh, I. I was with some kids last weekend and they were all playing with an embiggened remote control car. It was like a large plastic shell around. It was clearly just a remote control car engine. And it was so chaotic because you could absolutely run over a child with it. Okay.

[A]

Number 12 is duck hunt. And I'm fine with that because Duck Hunt is just compared to an early game like ExciteBike. I bet, like you could take Duck Hunt. You could set up an NES in a bar or anywhere. Anywhere there's a group of people and everyone would just want to play.

[B]

Duck it up.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

I operate a Duck Hunt in San Francisco. Check this out.

[A]

Cool. Here he goes. Oh, what? That was his Halloween costume this year.

[C]

That's a good idea.

[A]

Number 11 is Life Force, which I love. I'm not going to argue with that.

[B]

But that's an interesting.

[A]

I'm a little surprised that they would put it that high, but that's fine.

[C]

One of those arcade ports. That doesn't matter because nobody played the arcade version. I think David did, as he's an exception. Playing Salamander.

[A]

I don't think. I don't know. I don't. I've never seen Salamander at an American arcade, so I don't know. Yeah, that wasn't released. So Life Force is great.

[B]

I think they also just put out like a collection of those. Like four. Four of those.

[A]

Yeah. They did the Konami or the Gradius collection.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

It's a nice little relic of like what could have been versus What Actually released. Definitive. It's nice.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so now we get to the top 10. So, like, you guys say these are the games you actually care about. So number 10 is punch out.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

All time. Great.

[B]

I've never been big on punch out.

[C]

But I left out Mike Tyson.

[A]

But you like Shadow of the Colossus, which is just a punch out. Like.

[B]

Yeah, I'm not climbing these people. There's nothing tragic about me being. I mean, if you made a shadow.

[D]

There might be something. Well, there's something a little bit tragic about beating King Hippo, because I don't think he's all the way there.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

I don't think, if I'm being honest. Yeah.

[B]

I want to see a gritty reboot of Punch out, please.

[D]

No, I mean, I, like, I have trouble remembering, like, people's birthdays and key anniversaries in my life, but I will never forget the pattern for, like, defeating, you know, the King Tiger and Soda Popinsky and Punch out. For sure. Yeah.

[B]

I love Punch out their tells.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

So good. One of the first Boss Rush games. Okay. Number nine. This one is surprising to me because not only is this a Bionic Commando podcast, it's also a Final Fantasy 1 podcast. But at number nine, they have Dragon Quest 3.

[B]

Whoa. Okay, so they got a nerd on their team.

[A]

Yeah, they do. Number nine on the. On the top 20 NES games.

[B]

I mean. Yeah, that's a. That is a correct choice. I Love Final Fantasy 1 and 2. Don't get me wrong. But Dragon Quest 3 destroys them.

[C]

This is a Super Nintendo version.

[B]

Yeah, this is the Super. It's a beautiful sprites in that Super Nintendo version.

[A]

Okay. Number eight is Contra. Yeah. Everyone played everyone. Everyone had it. Everyone loved it. Number seven is Metro.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Not a very good game.

[B]

Well, yeah, I mean, I. I love Metro as an ip, as a series, but that first game, Icarus, holds up. The original Metroid is not fun. I've tried so many times.

[D]

So I. I agree.

[C]

Right.

[D]

Like, I don't need to. I don't need to carry water for Metroid. It's fine. But I will say, like, it's very. It's very atmospheric for an NES game.

[A]

Yeah. Just the title screen and the music.

[D]

Yep, that's exactly it. And it does a good job. It's way ahead of its time with regard to environmental storytelling. You know, one of the only games even kind of attempting anything like that. Like, it's just oppressive to play.

[C]

And be honest, think how many Nintendo Power Counselor Corner sections are sold. Just amazing.

[A]

Or how many calls. Yeah.

[B]

Let me see the stats of how much money the Nintendo line made because of this game.

[C]

I mean, it's cool that this and Zelda were like attempts to be like to get at the PC RPG and just like repayability and long form. There's some cheap stuff in this. Like you have to grind to fill your life every time you put in the damn code to come back. Super brutal.

[B]

Great soundtrack though.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

Gotta grind those gamers.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Number six is Castlevania three.

[C]

Great, great game.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

Fantastic.

[C]

All those could be in the top ten.

[A]

Number five is Ninja Gaiden.

[C]

Terrible game. Should be in the top 10.

[B]

I'm not a fan of that.

[C]

It's fine, it's fine. You can jump on the wall. It's kind of cool. Should be 19.

[A]

The cinematics. The cinematics. Don't forget the cinematics.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Number four is the Legend of Zelda. So. Wow. Man, they really put. They put Shadowgate really high on this list.

[C]

Yeah. Well, I was gonna say, no, you don't normally see Adventure of Link higher than Zelda, but here we are.

[B]

I mean it's still a great, great game. Still works today. I enjoy it.

[C]

Yeah. If the next three aren't just Super Mario Brothers 1, 2 and 3, what are we even doing?

[D]

It's. It's hard to like, it's hard to talk like Zelda one. You know, it's an old clunky NES game. Right. So it's. Let's. It's. You put yourself in the headspace of being an 80s gamer. This game felt impossibly big, right? Like just the possibility space of like, I can go up, down, left or right, like the first open world game. And like you didn't know that, like you could play that game as a six year old, not even know there was dungeons. And then you find one and you're like, what is what? Yeah, there is a swastika dungeon. It's like, but what is going on? And like, you know, it was just. It felt endless.

[C]

You know why this aged well is because this is exactly what Breath of the Wild is based on. And I think that's great because I think this is now more accessible because Zelda's kind of walked you in baby mode for many years through this version of this. It's not really an open world, but like a gated open world. But this is an open world, like Breath of the Wild.

[D]

They just throw you in the world and say, figure it out.

[C]

Yep.

[A]

Yeah, I think this is still very playable today.

[C]

Also, this game has been completely, completely saved by save states. And not to cheat, just to like get through the game and not be annoyed. And I think that's really wonderful.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. Number three is Super Mario Brothers.

[B]

Yeah, I agree. Top three games.

[C]

You see the new levels discovered? No, this in the fix the new.

[B]

Minus worlds or whatever.

[C]

Yeah, there's new minus worlds discovered in Mario 2 for NES. And I watched the full like 40 minute video about how they do that. And it's, you know, a lot of walking through walls backwards and going pipes before the scrolls. But it's really good.

[D]

I beat. Over Christmas break this year, I beat Mario 1 for the first time.

[C]

Yeah, that ain't easy. Just getting through 83 is hard. Right. And then that, that final level, I mean, you have to know the way through it. It's. It's not too bad once you know the way, but it's kind of a pain in the ass. And you're usually jumping over Bowser as a little guy. And if you're doing that, you have a chance of dying.

[D]

That's exactly, that's exactly what it was. I mean, look, the game's not that hard. Like I sat down, I'm like, I'm gonna beat Mario one. Took like 25 minutes. Like it was completely fine. But like, when I was a kid, that maze in 84 just felt insurmountable. It felt impossible.

[C]

So 83 is really hard though. That level sucks.

[B]

This is one of those games where I was like, yeah, of course I've beaten the original Super Mario Bros. But then the more I thought about it, I was like, I don't think I've ever done it by playing every level. I always use the skip to get ahead. So I had to go back and play through it all.

[D]

You're right to invoke 832 because the hammer Bros. On that level are just completely unfair.

[C]

I love when they start adding the full wall outside the castle and it's like, man, what a game. Awesome game.

[A]

Also, it's not that much of a stretch to say Without Super Mario Brothers 1. There's no video game industry today as we know it.

[D]

Right.

[A]

Because everyone, this is the game that made the NES a success.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

We wouldn't have Bubsy.

[A]

We wouldn't have Bugsy.

[B]

Okay, well, so number two is going to be Castlevania one. And then number one is going to be number two.

[D]

What is number two? I know number one. I don't know what number two is going to be.

[A]

Mega man two.

[B]

Okay. I was like, okay, we haven't gotten Mega Man 2 yet. So I would assume it's going to be there.

[A]

And you know what? Number one is Mario Brothers 3. Which means there's no Mario 2 on the list. But I would absolutely consider Mario 2 to be one of the top 20 somewhere.

[B]

Yeah, the original Castlevania is absolutely in the top 20.

[A]

I would agree too. I would accept two Castlevanias on there.

[B]

They got two Marios. Why can't they have two Castlevanias? What the heck.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I think Castlevania also just like made.

[C]

On Game Scoop that there wasn't actually any good NES games and none of them are fun. And I just want to point out that there's far more than these 20 games that are actually fun to play. Not Atari. Not going to defend Atari.

[D]

I think it's completely reasonable. Like NES is a hard generation to come back to if you're a younger gamer and didn't grow up with them. Unlike the 16 bit generation that I think those games are just as accessible and playable today.

[C]

I don't agree. I think things like Mega Man 2 and Mario 3 are perfectly accessible.

[D]

Well, that's what I was gonna say. There are some exceptions. Like Mario 3 is still like. It's the jumping. It's how the jumping feels. Right. Do you have momentum that you can control? Like, it was so perfect back then. Still is.

[B]

Man, just look at that screen. Look at that. Look at that map screen.

[A]

Look at the palm trees dancing.

[B]

It's beautiful.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, that's Rolling Stones list of the top 20 NES games.

[C]

Not bad.

[B]

It's a solid list.

[A]

Not bad. Not bad at all.

[C]

Mario Mario. Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario Mario.

[A]

He's back.

[B]

All you had to do was ask.

[A]

Super Mario Bros. 3 from Nintendo.

[D]

Now you're playing with power.

[E]

If you've shopped online, it's extremely likely that you've bought from a business powered by Shopify. You know that purple shop pay button you see at checkout? The one that makes the process from I think I'm ready to buy to I can't wait till it gets here. So incredibly easy. That's Shopify. And there's a reason so many businesses sell with it. Because Shopify makes it easy to start and run your business. Shopify is the commerce platform behind 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names like Mattel and Gymshark to brands just getting started. It gives you a leg up from the very beginning with hundreds of beautiful ready to go templates. To express your brand style so you don't have to spend time coding a website. Shopify allows you to tackle all the important tasks in one place, from inventory to payments to analytics and more. Plus, they have built in marketing and email tools to help find and keep new customers so you can easily spread your brand's word. And did I mention that iconic purple shop pay button that's used used by millions of businesses around the world. It's the reason why Shopify has the best converting checkout on the planet. Your customers already know it, love it, and actually use it. If you want to see less carts being abandoned, it's time for you to head over to Shopify. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com realm. Go to shopify.com realm shopify, shopify.com realm.

[A]

Okay, we're actually running kind of low on time. I don't know if we can do the egm.

[D]

Okay.

[A]

Is that okay if we skip the egm? What was on the COVID Donkey Kong Country.

[C]

Skip it?

[A]

You think we. If we can do it in 10 minutes.

[C]

I love that game. It was a really great game. No, we can. I don't.

[B]

I don't think.

[A]

I don't think we can do any. Because I want to read these letters and stuff.

[B]

You're picking up the magazine at the store and your mom's at the checkout line. You got to just flip through a couple pages. What are you going to do?

[A]

Well, let me ask this. You're playing Silent Hill F. Yes. You could talk about that. Is there Sam, Justin, do you have anything to talk about to share that you're playing? Yeah, okay. Yeah, let's do that instead. We'll table the egm. We can use it at a later episode. So it's spooky season. Nick, you're playing Silent Hill F. Yeah.

[B]

I'm in the middle of Silent Hill F. I think I'm nearing the end of my first playthrough. I. Within the first two hours of the game, I was like, I don't think I like this very much. But, you know, I was like, okay, I'm gonna give it the benefit of the doubt. This is the first genuinely new Silent Hill game we've had in a long time. So let me give it a shot. And literally after that moment, I was like, I don't think this is for me. Cool stuff happens, story wise, and I am riveted. I'm locked in. And I want to see how Hinako's story turns out. The combat kind of sucks, but whatever, it's fine. It's better. It's. It's more playable than most Silent Hills combat. But I'm just. I'm here for the story, I'm here for the scares. And this game is startingly, startlingly brutal in ways I did not anticipate. And it is shocking in some very fascinating ways. And I'm in. I cannot wait to see how this story plays out. And I know that every playthrough. Why are we looking at Heavy Rain?

[D]

I don't know.

[B]

Is when you do new NG plus it tells you what you need to do to unlock a different ending. So it's not like obtuse for the sake of being obtuse and how to get the different endings. And every playthrough apparently adds new areas and enemies to experience as well as new cutscenes and story beats. So I'm very curious if I'm going to play through multiple times. But I think I like this more than the Silent Hill 2 remake. Not as much as the original Silent Hill 2, but I think this is a little bit better because it's a 10 hour experience. Silent Hill 2 remake was like 15 hours too long. They are kind of. They didn't artificially inflate it. They add a lot of meaningful stuff that was cool. But this tells a nice concise story and there's just great moments. This like scarecrow bit was terrifying. It was horrifying. And the puzzles are genuinely fun and interesting. Figuring out like figuring out a middle school girl code that they would send each other like written messages that are just numbers. And it's like, how does this codex work? How does the cipher work? I have to put my mind, put myself in the, in the shoes of like a middle school Japanese girl. How do I figure out this code? Like stuff like that is super, super interesting to me.

[A]

It's good. This game looks gross.

[B]

It's very gross and very.

[D]

I hope it has a secret dog ending that people don't find for months.

[B]

I think it has that level of silliness because I have like the deluxe version of the game or whatever and you have like just a very silly like pink schoolgirl outfit with bunny ears on it. So I'm like, all right, there's still silly stuff in this game if you want to have the silly stuff.

[A]

So The Silent Hill 2 remake was Bloober. Who, who did this one?

[B]

This is a Konami one. I don't know off the top of my head. The name of the studio they get the splash screen up at the front. But this is one that is the, the first Japanese Silent Hill game we've had in quite a long time.

[A]

Yeah, I mean there's so many examples of Konami being back.

[B]

Yeah, I mean I was, I was not ready to believe it, but every time one of the a new A Konami game comes, I'm like, all right, I guess they are back. Yeah, they're, they're John Wick in it.

[D]

Yeah, this says the developer. The developer is Neo Bards Entertainment. Never heard of.

[A]

No, don't know.

[B]

Oh well, Neo Bards, hats off to you. You did a good job.

[A]

And also while you were playing Silent Hill F, your power went out, right?

[B]

Yeah, I was like near the end of the game my power went out and it was just. Normally when the power goes out at my place, like it doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's like you know, 30 seconds and then everything turns back on. No, it was gone from 5pm on Sunday through 5 in the morning the next day.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

So I was just like my apartment became Silent Hill for the room and it was just a liminal space, pitch black. And I'm just like, I'm genuinely afraid to be in my home right now. I had like candles and stuff. I was like, oh, you know, talking to my girlfriend. Do we have candles in the apartment? Like I gotta. So I just play Final Fantasy Tactics on my switch.

[A]

Like cool.

[B]

Like any self respecting person would do.

[A]

I can't, I can't wait to get back to that when I find some time because I'm still playing Yote and I also have Outer Worlds 2, which I can't talk about yet. And maybe next week we'll be able to talk about that. But that's what I'm playing. Sam, how about you?

[C]

Oh, I just wanted to talk about the game Pro. What?

[A]

The egm.

[C]

Egm? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[A]

Okay.

[D]

I have one game then.

[A]

Okay. Justin.

[D]

I'm playing a cool indie game called Little Rocket Lab. And it's interesting because it's like Factorio and Stardew Valley mix. That's like 50, 50 of each game. And so it's from an isometric viewpoint, has pixel art and you know, it's a Stardew Valley like so you move back to a small town and the town's really dilapidated and run down and everybody's really sad. But the gameplay loop is you're placing down conveyor belts and building little factories instead and they.

[A]

Sounds like a.

[D]

Just tie it in. Yeah, it's unbelievable how much of a Justin game it is. So they tie it into the fiction of the game world really well of like we need to rebuild the lighthouse. And so it's like you have to make a bunch of steel and like, you know you can. And it would feel grindy except that it's an automation game. So it's like if you need 800 steel, it's like, well, okay, just make more, right? Like just do more conveyor belts and like, you know, be efficient with how you set things up. And it's really good. It's really charming. It's a little bit hard. Like it's not as good as Stardew or Factorio, but those are two of the literally greatest games of all time ever made. So it's like it. That comparison kind of does the game a little bit of a disservice. And it's also a key thing to understand is that it's also like Stardew Valley is like 100 hour game, right? And this is 20 probably. Like it's a little bit more linear. Like you're going to go through this set of challenges like, you know, do this, do that. And the ultimate goal is to rebuild this rocket. And I love it. Like, really cute.

[A]

And you say little Rocket Lab.

[D]

Little Rocket Lab.

[C]

I have a question and it's about the egm. So is there a good letter in it?

[A]

Yes, there are. Let's just do it next week.

[D]

Yeah, we'll do it next week.

[A]

We have two more weeks in October. We can do it. Okay, let's check in with the listeners.

[D]

Hey, listeners.

[A]

Listeners, remember, you can always reach us at the email address gamescoopgn.com just like Pedro from Portugal did. And Pedro says, I have a fun correction for you all. You guys keep bringing up this awesome, funny moment from the show, but you've been quoting it a little wrong. Most of you say something like no one knows or nobody knows. But the actual Damon line was there's no way to know. Which in my opinion is much funnier. Well, Pedro, thank you for pointing that out. I think it was actually Justin who coined that term. I think it was originally Justin who must have said, there's no way to know.

[C]

But you know, and I say it that way, but I like and I attribute it to Justin. Nope, nope.

[D]

Nobody knows who started it.

[A]

Yeah, ultimately. Ultimately, there's no way to know. And that brings us to video game 20 questions. Our suggestion this week comes from Jake from Ohio. And with that, let the questioning begin.

[D]

What he doesn't have the little thing.

[A]

No, he doesn't have. We just know, you know, from Ohio.

[C]

I don't pick these anymore if they don't have a little thing.

[B]

I want to hear an anecdote. I want to learn about that.

[D]

All right?

[A]

So remember, viewers. Listeners, if you send in an anecdote. Yeah, that'll help.

[D]

Yeah. I can't believe. Redacted. Okay. Did this game come out in the 70s, 80s, or 90s?

[A]

No.

[B]

Was this game featured on today's episode or mentioned in today's episode?

[A]

No.

[B]

So it's not one of the greatest games ever made. Got it.

[A]

Oh, someone also wrote in. I'm sorry, I forgot name. Someone had a. They suggested a different way to ask that question, Justin. About the 70s, 80s, or 90s. They suggested. How did they put it? It was like, was this game from a decade that was funkin, punkin, or crunkin? I thought that was pretty good.

[D]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

Wow.

[D]

Last century. Last century. We're in the 20s. In the roaring 20s again. I don't like living in the coolest.

[C]

Although I'd argue funk is from the 60s.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

So from this century and not mentioned on this episode yet.

[D]

Okay, got it.

[C]

Okay. Is this a console exclusive?

[A]

Not anymore.

[B]

Was and now is not.

[D]

When this game came out, was it exclusive to a Sony console?

[A]

No.

[B]

Was it exclusive to an Microsoft console?

[A]

No. That's five.

[B]

Oh, shoot. I thought that was gonna be it.

[D]

That probably means Nintendo.

[C]

Did this come out on an optical disc?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

It's not a Switch game?

[B]

No.

[D]

What is it? So if it's a Nintendo exclusive, that leaves us. Well, I guess. Never mind.

[C]

It leaves. Was the optical disc real small? No, it was a regular. Okay.

[D]

Was this game, when it came out, exclusive to the Wii?

[C]

No.

[D]

We're down.

[C]

Was this exclusive to a portable system when it came out?

[A]

Nope.

[D]

We're barking up the wrong tree. So hold on, hold on, hold on. We've come too far. There's a sunk cost here. That now. So it was. Well, we actually don't know it was exclusive to another console. If Damon just answered that in a tricksy way because he said not anymore. But he could have said it wasn't back then either.

[A]

I wouldn't do that.

[B]

This entry was. Was a console exclusive that no longer is.

[D]

Came out on an optical disc. But it was not any Nintendo console except we use the only one we've not eliminated. And not Sony and not Xbox.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So unless it was. What? What?

[A]

I don't.

[D]

What did that face. What did that mean?

[B]

Not Sony, I guess it could have.

[D]

So I guess. Wait, it's after.

[C]

Did I ask the question wrong?

[D]

Could have been. It could have been a late Dreamcast game, but it came out on an optical disc, so that means it's not something weird like an arcade game or a PC game or a mobile game.

[C]

Could have been PC game.

[D]

Yeah, but that. Yeah, you're Explore. Was this game exclusive to the Wii U?

[A]

No.

[C]

No.

[A]

That's 10 also, I don't see how you've. Well, okay, never mind.

[B]

Did we not.

[A]

Some people get mad when I help, but you guys are struggling. I don't see how you've ruled out arcade because.

[D]

Because.

[C]

Well, okay, we said it was a console exclusive.

[D]

Yeah, I think it's a Dreamcast game and I think it came out in arcades and on the Dreamcast.

[B]

Maybe it's like a House of the Dead type.

[D]

Yeah. Typing of the Dead.

[C]

Okay. Did this come out in arcades first? Just so we don't.

[A]

I don't know which came first.

[D]

That doesn't count.

[A]

I'm not counting it. I'm not counting. I don't know which. I don't know which came first.

[B]

So it is an arcade game.

[C]

Maybe it's just Crazy Taxi.

[D]

Yeah, except I think that that was because the Dreamcast came out in 99 and I think that that was a launch.

[B]

Dreamcast. Crazy Taxi 2.

[C]

Typing of the Dead.

[B]

House of the Dead 2. Power Stone.

[D]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

[C]

Is this a Dreamcast game? Was it available in Dreamcast?

[A]

You didn't ask that already?

[B]

No.

[A]

Yes, it was.

[B]

It is a Dreamcast game.

[D]

Yep.

[B]

So it's an arcade, so it could be House of the Dead 2.

[D]

Does this game use a non traditional control scheme, like a fishing rod or a light gun or something like that?

[A]

No.

[B]

Okay, so it's a more traditional game. What are we at?

[D]

12 crazy, crazy Texans. Looking good, boys.

[B]

In arcade? Didn't it have a steering wheel?

[C]

Did this game have licensed music in it?

[A]

No.

[D]

Licensed music?

[B]

Is this a fighting game? Yes, it is a fighting game.

[C]

Soul Caliber or virtual or Power Stone?

[D]

I don't think that Caliber was an exclusive.

[B]

Oh, wait, Power Stone wasn't in arcade, was it?

[C]

It Soul Calibur was an exclusive when it first came out. I'm pretty sure it was just I. That I disassociated. Like my friend just had a Dreamcast and that's the only game that they showed off.

[D]

It might be. I don't think so because that's. Isn't that the same generation that like the. Oh, maybe it was next Gen that they all had, you know, each character.

[C]

I mean, I think it was. I did think it did come out to other stuff, but it just like right at the Dreamcast. Well, who made Soul Caliber?

[D]

Who published Namco? Maybe. Maybe Dreamcast first.

[C]

Was this an amco game?

[A]

No, that's 15.

[C]

What are the Power Stone?

[B]

Oh, maybe it's like Marvel vs Capcom 2 MVC.

[C]

Those probably came to the other systems.

[D]

At the same time.

[B]

I think it was a Dreamcast exclusive on console. And it was arcade for sure first.

[C]

How many questions do we have?

[D]

Four questions and a guest. Oh, was it Power Stone? Also Capcom?

[B]

That was Capcom. That was Capcom.

[D]

Is it. Is this a Capcom game?

[A]

Yes.

[D]

It'S probably MVC2. Are we sure Power Stone didn't come to arcades?

[C]

Is this game based on a license?

[B]

Yes, it's. It's got to be. More of us does. I think Marvel vs. Capcom 2 actually has Jill Valentine in it, which the previous game does. What? Really? And Chris Redfield, if I'm not mistaken. There's zombies that you can have in Marvel versus Cap. It rocks.

[C]

Wait, wait. There's no way. NBC1.

[D]

That's what I was thinking too. Like, the timeline is a little jumbled for me. I like that. Marvel versus Capcom. Everyone always talks about Marvel and no one ever really talks about the Capcom.

[B]

My favorite is the Capcom of it all. I like superheroes, but dude, being able to have a team of Chris Redfield and Mega man, that rocks.

[D]

Yeah, it's pretty sick.

[C]

Oh yeah, Mega Man. What's the big robot for Mega man that's in it?

[B]

I actually don't know that name, but it's sick when you get to summon it because I accidentally pushed all the buttons in the correct order. Okay, let's see.

[C]

We have two questions. We can ask if Mega Man's in it, and then we can ask if it's the first if it's.

[D]

Well, Mega Man's in the sequel.

[B]

That's what I'm saying. Yeah.

[C]

Those are the two questions we can ask.

[D]

Okay.

[B]

Is this a sequel?

[C]

Go ahead. Sequel one.

[B]

Is this a sequel?

[A]

Yes, it's a sequel.

[B]

Is this Marvel versus Capcom 2? I believe it's called Clash of Heroes.

[A]

Yes, it is. Marvel vs. Capcom 2. It may have hit the arcades first, but I think it'd be a matter of weeks before it was released on Dreamcast.

[C]

Really? I think it was right then, and.

[A]

That was right in 2000.

[B]

So to me, so cool. This is the pinnacle of sprite work. Like, I wish they just made an anime that looked like this because this was.

[C]

Dreamcast had this as an exclusive and the system couldn't hang in there.

[D]

I mean, come on, I'm gonna take you for a ride.

[A]

Yeah. So 2000, and then it would go to PS2 in 2002, Xbox in 2003, and then it would hit Xbox Live Arcade in 2009.

[C]

I bet that Xbox port's really nice.

[D]

Yeah.

[B]

I think it is on the switch now as well.

[A]

I don't think it is.

[B]

It's on the switch as part of a collection.

[A]

Yeah. Private collection.

[D]

On that B roll we were just watching, the person's score was 242 million.

[A]

Cool.

[D]

That's some pinball style scores.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

In what other game can you have Tron Bond on your team?

[D]

Like, that's.

[B]

That's insane.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Great.

[D]

Great game, man.

[B]

Look at.

[D]

Look at Ryu's sprite.

[A]

Everything looks so good.

[B]

And then the coolest fighting game in the world.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

If.

[B]

If you meet someone who likes Marvel versus Capcom 2, they're immediately a cool person.

[D]

That's 100 true. Like, and if they don't like it, it doesn't mean they're not cool. But it's like an opt in.

[B]

Further. Further testing is required.

[A]

And then they totally.

[D]

It's a screening question for sure.

[A]

They bundle bungled everything with Infinite Marvel versus Cap.

[B]

It's just like, how did you go from the characters looking like this to that?

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Anyway, yeah, I mean, I get it. I understand that like sprite work is like a dying art and it's so expensive and time consuming. Like, you just can't do it.

[C]

It's.

[D]

It costs too much money. Like, I understand, but it just.

[B]

It makes me sad, but basically you're telling me that you own. You have the license to a Marvel property and it. Is it worth spending a lot of money to make them beautiful?

[A]

Your Capcom, they're doing it now. The token Marvel Token or whatever that game is. Right. Like that looks great.

[B]

Like, that looks like a spiritual successor to this.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Also, if they want to just use these sprites, like no one. No one would be mad.

[A]

Just use these sprites.

[C]

That'd be great.

[D]

That's what Castlevania's been doing for decades.

[C]

Marvel versus Capcom 2. 2.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

I mean, they did it with Final Fantasy 13.

[B]

What a game.

[A]

Nicely job. Thank you for the suggestion. Jake from Ohio. Viewers, listeners, if you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address. Game scoop with a little story. With a little story. We always like to hear a little story. I will redact any classified information. Okay, Scoop Nation, if you're looking for something to play right now that helps support a great cause, head over to Humble live now through November 4th. Grab eight incredible games for just $14.99, including Atomic Heart V Rising System Shock, Story of Seasons, Pioneers of Olive Town, Crypt Master, A New Era, Hotel Renovator and Caravan Sandwich. Every purchase supports the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, the leading global charity dedicated to protecting whales and dolphins through research, rescue and advocacy. By joining in, you're not just building your library. You're helping create a world where every whale and dolphin is safe and free. And that's all the scoops that we have for you this week. Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Justin. Thank you to Jobert. Working behind the scenes to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. We'll be back next week with hopefully a look through that. October 1994 Electronic Gaming Monthly. We'll see you then. This episode of Game Soup was produced by myself, Damon Hatfield and Gilbert Adienza. Technical direction is handled by Jobert Atienza. Technical production is by Marian Franzen and Amir Aqib. Audio engineering is by Amira Keeb and post production editing is by yours truly, Damon Hatfield. Graphic design is by Nicole Kagempen. Game Scoop is an IGN production and part of the Geek Media Network.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

Sam.