Game Scoop! 852: Mario Is Missing

Summary

Game Scoop! 852: Mario Is Missing

Date: April 11, 2026
Host: Sam (filling in for Daemon Hatfield)
Panel: Per Schneider, Justin Davis, Miranda Sanchez, Jobert
Theme: Nintendo’s 2026 plans, retro gaming nostalgia, speculation on new remakes (Star Fox & Ocarina of Time), industry trends, and fun panel games.

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Episode Overview

This episode takes a deep dive into Nintendo’s rumored slate for 2026, most notably the surprising absence of a major 3D Mario release. The panel unpacks the credibility and excitement around leaked reports of a new Star Fox and a Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake for Switch 2, reflects on Nintendo’s shifting strategy, debates remake philosophies, and shares their personal hopes for the future. In classic Game Scoop fashion, it’s full of industry insight, humor, nostalgia, and interactive trivia and panel games.

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Main Topics & Discussion Highlights

1. No New 3D Mario in 2026?

[03:05-09:58]

• Rumor Review: A credible leak suggests that, while Nintendo is focusing on Star Fox and Ocarina of Time, there will not be a new flagship 3D Mario this year.
• Panel Reactions:
  • Per Schneider: "When it comes to the big flagship 3D Mario, I say let them cook. Let them cook as long as they need to. Mario Odyssey is an all-timer." (05:00)
  • Justin Davis: “They did this sort of obligatory drop of content that people ... can jump into. I don't think we're getting a 3D Mario this year.” (05:31)
  • Discussion: The group laments the lack, but agrees Nintendo’s “take your time” approach is why Mario games are consistently excellent.
  • Speculation around merchandising, movie tie-ins, and the overall Mario franchise strategy.

2. Star Fox Rumors & Nintendo’s B-Tier Franchises

[11:37-18:43]

• Star Fox Leak: A classic-leaning, visually impressive Star Fox with online multiplayer is reportedly coming in Summer 2026.
• Panel Perspectives:
  • Per Schneider: “I don’t care about a new Star Fox game. ... These on-rails 3D shooters are just not my thing.” (12:19)
  • Justin Davis: “...it did make me ... want to play another Star Fox. ... Nintendo tried a lot of different things because these on-rails shooters have fallen out of favor.” (12:44)
  • Discussion: Star Fox’s shifting identity, filling gaps in Nintendo’s lineup (“is Star Fox stealing F-Zero’s slot?”), and Nintendo’s tendency to tie technology/gimmicks to franchise revivals.

3. Rhythm Heaven Returns

[22:13-23:46]

• Announcement: Rhythm Heaven is back for $40, launching July 2nd.
• Miranda Sanchez: “Rhythm Heaven is very important.” (22:12)
• Panel Praise:
  • Love for the “one button” rhythm gameplay and whimsical presentation.
  • Justin Davis: “The rhythm is created by household item noises ... it’s just really fun to listen to and just complete nonsense. Goofiness like WarioWare.” (23:26)

4. The Big One: Ocarina of Time Remake—What Should it Be?

[23:46-33:15]

• Remake Discussion: Is it a visual remaster or a ground-up reimagining in the style of modern open-world Zeldas?
• Justin Davis: “...what’s maybe more likely is someone's just remaking Ocarina more straight up, like a Bluepoint remake.” (25:39)
• Miranda Sanchez: “There is a way to ... make this a game where there is a set order ... and still have it be fun for people who enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom.” (28:27)
• Per Schneider’s Anecdote: “I never knew that in Hyrule Field, the border ... is a texture of trees ... I just never thought about what it was.” (32:40)
• Key points:
  • Would new players accept an older linear Zelda formula?
  • Importance of maintaining classic features like item gating and world progression.
  • Panel throws out wild ideas (e.g., a “demake” in Link’s Awakening style – quickly rejected).

5. ERA-Specific News Recap

[21:10-22:10]

• Additional rumored Switch 2 releases: Switch Sports, re-releases of Xenoblade 2 and Pikmin 4 (“Opportunity for Pikmin 4 at 60 FPS,” Per).
• Speculation about Nintendo’s strategy of up-res’ing and bundling older games.

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Game Scoop’s Famous Games & Trivia Segments

“Real Mature IGN” – ESRB Description Quiz

[36:09-45:26]

• Panel hears humorous and lurid ESRB rating descriptions and must guess the game.
• Notable Quotes:
  • Sam on Control: “Players use psychic abilities ... Large splashes of blood ... The words, the F word and sh-word are heard in this game.” (37:19)
  • Justin Davis on LEGO City Undercover: “It’s wholly original ... a LEGO GTA, right?” (40:07)
  • Marathon, Wolverine (based on ESRB language), and X-Men Origins: Wolverine also covered.

“Continue or Quit” – Industry Trends Panel

[46:47-59:37]

• Each panelist picks a trend/mechanic to continue and one to quit:
  • Per Schneider:
    • Continue: Pause menus displaying control maps. “It honestly is insane that any sort of game that you return to doesn’t immediately ... remind you of what your controls are.” (47:16)
    • Quit: Unskippable or only-skippable dialogue.
  • Justin Davis:
    • Continue: Open-world “tower/outpost” gameplay loops—once overdone, now missed.
    • Quit: “I’m over battle passes. ... It was so friendly and fresh ... now it’s habit forming.” (52:16)
  • Miranda Sanchez:
    • Continue: “Magic chest storage”/unified crafting inventories.
    • Quit: Deck building mechanics used to gate story progression.
  • Sam:
    • Continue: Default/best character creator options.
    • Quit: Moving the jump button. “This is the jump button. That’s just how it works.” (59:12)

“What is Pear Eating?” – Birthday Game

[61:55-70:14]

• Jobert pulls up pixelated food photos from Per’s socials for a guessing game.
• Highlights include Japanese kakigori (shaved ice), birthday bagels, Shinkansen bento boxes, classic BBQ, and a giant Munich pretzel.
• Miranda Sanchez on a bagel pic: “Coffee looks so nice too.” (65:24)

20 Questions – The Infamous “Black” Episode

[71:33-87:44]

• The panel fails to guess Criterion’s military FPS “Black” (PS2/Xbox, 2006), a long-running inside joke pick for the show.
• Sam (revealing the answer): “Greg Kelly says: I think it’s finally time to suggest the game Black for video game 20.” (85:42)
• Justin Davis (in shock): “Oh my god. It’s Black.” (85:58)
• The segment underscores the show’s running gags and deep gaming knowledge.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Mario’s Movie-Tie-In:
  Sam: “Nintendo now is able to do a bunch of reissues and celebrations of Mario instead, I guess.” (06:09)
• On generational taste in Zelda:
  Per Schneider: “My daughter’s 12 and Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are her favorite video games of all time ... but ... it wouldn’t meet her expectations for, like, what this franchise means to her.” (27:43)
• On the nature of nostalgia and remakes:
  Sam (re: Ocarina): “I want a couple of surprises where things are different ... maybe an extra dungeon ... really mix up the game a little bit more.” (26:21)
• On design quality of life:
  Miranda Sanchez: “I don’t want to have to stress about how I’m organizing my in-game skull collection or whatever it is that I’ve picked up today.” (55:43)

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Timestamps – Key Segments

• [03:05] Nintendo 2026 leaks, Mario absence, Switch 2
• [11:37] Star Fox rumors, nostalgia debate, B-tier Nintendo
• [14:59] Classic Nintendo franchises: Excite Truck, F-Zero
• [22:13] Rhythm Heaven announcement & reactions
• [23:46] Ocarina of Time remake debate
• [36:09] “Real Mature IGN” (ESRB trivia game)
• [46:47] “Continue or Quit” (panel mechanic/trend picks)
• [61:55] “What is Pear Eating?” (birthday fun)
• [71:33] 20 Questions: “Black” finally picked

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Final Thoughts

Even with Daemon on vacation (“raging in Tokyo!”), the show delivered on all things Game Scoop: lively debate, inside jokes, insightful speculation, and plenty of nostalgia (and snacks). The crew’s chemistry and love for both new and retro games shines, providing listeners with expert commentary and playful banter on the state of Nintendo, the art of remakes, and what makes game design great (or annoying).

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For longtime fans, this episode is full of the series’ signature humor and deep-game-industry insight. New listeners will find the panel’s conversation both accessible and enlightening, covering Nintendo’s plans, gaming history, and design trends with expert ease.

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Visit Geek.com for more info and IGN for all upcoming gaming news.

Transcript

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[Sam]

What is up everybody and welcome to Game Scoop. Damon is on vacation this week raging in Tokyo. So hi, my name is Sam and I'll be filling in on hosting duties. Joining me this week from IGN headquarters in beautiful Sawtel Los Angeles I think is Per Schneider.

[Justin Davis]

I'm so lonely. So lonely here.

[Sam]

Is that where you are? Sawtelle?

[Justin Davis]

I don't know Culver City. We're in Culver, but I'm in a Culver. I'm in an empty studio with empty seats. Shame on.

[Sam]

That is pretty cool, though. It's like being the king. It's also Pear's birthday today. We'll get into that later. But happy birthday, Pear. Thank you. It's also spring break, so also joining us this week is Justin Davis Scoop. And fresh back from Game Scoop in Pax east from the Gummy Worm hall of Pax east is Miranda Sanchez. Did you ever have those gummy worms, Miranda?

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yes, I did take some of Seth Macy's gummy worms because I didn't want my own bag. And then when I ate some, I got a tummy ache because it was really early for me in the time zone. I was like, it's too sour, but it's so tasty. And then I took a bag home and they are still unopened because I want to eat them while I watch a movie.

[Sam]

They're both sour and sweet. So we've got a great show for you to this week we're going to have a show filled with fun and games. We'll be returning to our ESCRB ratings quiz called Real Mature ign. We'll be playing a new game called Continue or Quit. We have another new game from Joburt to celebrate Paris birthday. And so Jobber will be working in front of the scenes this week a little bit. But first, last week there was a bunch of Nintendo news. There was a bunch of games coming out, but not Mario. But today we had a little bit more news about what those games are and we haven't had a chance to kind of speculate wildly about this yet. So let me tell everybody what the news was. In case you didn't hear it, it was based on a rumor. It's that Star Fox and a Zelda Ocarina of Time remake are rumored for this year. Mario Big 3D Mario game is kind of out of this year. Sports something, something. We'll talk about that today. We got a Rhythm Heaven game confirmed. And the reason that that's important is according to our story that that the Nintendo's revealing of that release date that's going to be on. We can talk about this more. But it'll be on Switch and Switch to the summer that that launch date in July backs up this leak because it was part of this leak also. So that's a little confirming thing. But anyway, from our piece, it says a new Star Fox game and a Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time remake are among the numerous unannounced Nintendo games reportedly headed to Switch two this year. That's according to noted Internet tipster Natha Haight, who accurately leaked the Switch 2's reveal date last year alongside other details of the console. And then vgc, I think, backed this up. So we're going to go down the list of things and we're going to end up at a vigorous discussion of whether we should be redoing Ocarina of Time and stuff like that. But first I thought we'd talk about the no. 3d Mario this year. Do we think there's going to be a Mario at all? What are the thoughts here?

[Per Schneider]

I don't know. I'm Sad about the no. 3D Mario, but Donkey Kong was so good and some of that was the Mario team. Right. And it sounds like they kind of split into two groups and some of them went on to work Donkey Kong and then some of them were working on Mario. I mean, when it comes to the big flagship 3D Mario, I say let them cook. Let them cook as long as they need to. Mario Odyssey is an all timer. They've all been all timers. So, you know, like, it's sad, but it's always kind of like mixed feelings. Like these games are good because Nintendo takes their time, right?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

And I mean, if you go back in history, not every console had a smattering of different Mario games, but we obviously just got an update to Mario Wonder too. So they, they, they did this sort of obligatory drop of content that people who are excited about the new Mario Galaxy movie can jump into. You know, there's a bundle out where you get Galaxy 1 and 2 with it, you know, when you buy a new Switch. So they're doing, they're doing a lot of Mario things and re releases. I, I think that's a sign that we're not gonna, I don't think we're getting a Mario 3D Mario this year.

[Per Schneider]

No.

[Sam]

But to put, put a finer point on what you just said too, we all expect this because of the Mario movie, right? Like, we used to always get a tie in game with any movie. Even if it was like some ridiculous movie, like a Karate Kid movie or something, there would be a game for it, you know, and Nintendo, of course you would think they'd want online, but Nintendo now is able to do a bunch of reissues and you know, celebrations of Mario instead, I guess.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I think, you know, like this, this whole like movies thing is fairly new for Nintendo obviously, you know, they had a Detective Pikachu game and you know, we had sort of a tie in with the movie there. But usually if you go back in history, like goldeneye the game was years after the goldeneye movie.

[Per Schneider]

Right.

[Sam]

Like, I think they did another Detective Pikachu game after the movie.

[Justin Davis]

Right.

[Sam]

Like they actually.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Well, after they did.

[Justin Davis]

And yeah, and maybe they just said, you know what, we don't want to rush our teams. We don't want to have this sort of tie in Deadline, who knows?

[Per Schneider]

They should do Mario the Movie the Game and have Chris Pratt voice Mario in that game.

[Sam]

I think we made that joke years ago too.

[Justin Davis]

It was an April Fool.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I mean, first of all, give him ideas.

[Sam]

Well, but Miranda, you saw the movie. Like, it looks great.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, it's pretty. But that's what I expect from illumination. Like, that's, that's the bare minimum is like great animation because that's what that studio does.

[Sam]

Yeah, it's very pretty and a weird, weird Mario face. My nephews were saying that they think that Mario looks weird in the Mario movie, which I is think a little bit.

[Per Schneider]

It's a little bit. It's vaguely. Yeah, it's vaguely off model. Like if you're, if you're, if you're like us and you're used to staring at the games for thousands of hours.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, yeah, there's a lot of that. You're just like, this is, this is different. But it's meant to be, right? It's. It's the movie version. It's a different story.

[Per Schneider]

I mean, Nintendo is a weird, like, just. I mean, Perry, you kind of already touched on this. But just like, hey, we have a movie coming out. It's going to make a billion dollars. It's a gigantic deal for our company. Should we release a video game too? And they went, nah, they.

[Justin Davis]

Well, they put out. You can get Galaxy, right? You can get Mario Galaxy.

[Jobert]

You can play.

[Justin Davis]

No, but, but that's maybe how they're thinking about it. They're like, hey, if people rebuy this game, you know, that was no work to put it back out. And they're, they're going to make a lot of money again.

[Miranda Sanchez]

And, and in a way, I kind of respect that. It's separate, right? Like, so if this next, like 3D adventure, Mario, is meant to be something so different from this movie and they just want to celebrate that as its own thing because it, because it really is such a, like, monumental release. Right? Like the new big Mario adventure. Like, at least even for me, like, I don't really care about Mario games, except for those. I love Doc. And I'm like, when we got the new Donkey Kong, I was like, dang it, I want the new Mario. But it's, it's.

[Sam]

You know, I said that in so many words on this here podcast. Brandon, I got eaten.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Listen.

[Justin Davis]

Well, you said more.

[Per Schneider]

More than that. Yeah, there's a little more than that.

[Sam]

I said it really nice. Like, Miranda just said it.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I just say, well, dang, like, I'm happy for the Donkey Kong fans, but that's not.

[Sam]

Don't go any further.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Okay, okay, okay. I. I'll throw my hands. But it's like I'm a very particular kind of Mario fan. And I think what they're doing here is since this is. This does feel so much more aimed at kids, which again, makes sense with illumination around this. Instead I see a bigger push on their toys.

[Sam]

Yeah, boys, is a good point. There's some big. I think the Switch Amiibo install base is not looking like they want it to look for a game that probably should only be on the switch too.

[Per Schneider]

Probably that could be as well. I also, I mean, you might be onto something, Miranda, where like, maybe they're deliberately like, no, look, we want to have a big Mario beat every year and maybe they don't want the games in the movie stepping on each other.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, I think that there's like a clear delineation there and like they just want to let them have fun with what Mario and how that exists in the movies and let the games be its own thing and have like a celebration of. Okay, now you've seen the Mario. Look at all these Mario games we have for you.

[Sam]

And to back that up, we have data. You know, when we are publishing data at ign, we can see that a bunch of people are playing Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Wonder right now. So there is, you know, an increased excitement. Does that translate to views? I mean, sales. It would be nice if it did, but I wouldn't trust that I would want to put out a flash GDU Mario game.

[Justin Davis]

Remember the DS age when every month for 5 years, the top selling DS game was new Super Mario Brothers. Right. Like, they've shown that they can sustain interest in a game for a very long time as long as new people buy the console and, you know, like, they're the. I think the difference with Switch 2 is that Switch 1 was such a huge success that selling the same games again might not create that same effect. And it's been obviously very recent that Mario Wonder came out like Relatively, no. But the funny thing about this is when they announced the movie's title being Mario Galaxy. And by the. By the way, the movie is equally Mario Odyssey as Mario Galaxy when it comes to like references. Like, you saw the trailer playing, it was like some of the locations are from Odyssey, not from. From Galaxy. But when they announced that, everybody's like, oh, that means there'll be Super Mario Galaxy 3 for sure they're going to have this tie in game. And I think we're just learning that that's not how it works. And so when I heard this rumor about the Star Fox game coming, I was like, oh, this is the same thing. They like, they know Star Fox is in the movie and so somebody's either making up the movie or like wishing into existence a new Star Fox game. And then Nintendo maybe does star fox99 or something.

[Sam]

So speaking via his podcast. This is from our piece Nate the Hate said that Nintendo's new Star Fox game would be announced in April and has it's April right now. And had been intended as a surprise reveal following the character's just confirmed appearance in the Super Mario Galaxy movie where we mentioned here that he's voiced by Glenn Powell. I don't even remember his voice being significant in that the movie. And then the original quote from where this all originates from, actually a podcast is that Star Fox is coming back in summer 2026. We're getting a new Star Fox game in the very near future. I've been told it's a classic style Star Fox game and that the visuals are supposed to be very good. And I've heard it does have online multiplayer. So that's a lot of detail about a potential Star Fox game.

[Per Schneider]

I don't care about a new Star Fox game. I just, I don't.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, whatever.

[Per Schneider]

Like, I'll play it like I play. Like I work at ign, right? Like I'm happy to play anything, but it's like I've never been like star Fox 64. I guess I played a lot of. But like these on rails 3D shooters are just not. Not my thing.

[Sam]

Did you see the movie yet, Justin?

[Per Schneider]

No, not yet.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, okay. Well, you will.

[Per Schneider]

I saw Project Hail Mary instead.

[Justin Davis]

You'll probably.

[Sam]

That's a good choice.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it is the better movie. But the, the Star Fox stuff is. Is awesome in the movie. Really like it. And it did make me. I really, I really liked it. I really liked it. But it really made me want to play another Star Fox. It's funny we're seeing we're seeing a lot of footage from different games here, like star Fox 2, which was a canceled game, as well as, you know, what was once Dinosaur Planet, Star Fox Adventures. That Nintendo tried a lot of different, different things because these on rail shooters have fallen out of favor with, you know, the likes of Justin Davis. And so they don't sell that well anymore. And redoing star fox64 is obviously not something they wanted to do. They, they added strategy elements for the handheld one. They did a remake of 64 on the 3DS. Then they tried, you know, an action adventure like Zelda and putting the Star Fox license in that one. And then the most recent game was they handed it over to the Namco guys, like who know how to make a good ace combat game, but then told Namco you gotta have this crazy control scheme where people have to look at two screens. And like a lot of people didn't like it. It was a pretty decent game.

[Sam]

But.

[Per Schneider]

But I also just know, I know, I know it doesn't work this way, so don't commenters. I know this isn't reality, but like, I can't help shape, you know, shake the feeling that if, if like, like there's these slots for B tier Nintendo games and that like now Star Fox is filling a slot that like could have been F0. It's like bring back F0, bring back

[Sam]

advanced, which is the Mario Odyssey argument, right? It's like Mario Odyssey 2 is take donkey Kong's taking up that slot.

[Justin Davis]

They brought back F0. It's F099. Yeah, they did it. They did a new F0 and they, they decided graphics aren't everything. By the way, I'm a huge F0 fan. Some of my favorite games, I love

[Sam]

GX and obviously maybe a better example is Excite Truck. Then it's taking up.

[Justin Davis]

That's a good one. Or Battalion wars or something like this.

[Sam]

I didn't make it up.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, no, that's true.

[Sam]

Excite Truck was an Excite bike series game that was a Wii launch title which you controlled trucks by tilting the Wii controller in. So you know, that was like Waggle was all the rage at the time. And then they followed it with a game called ExciteBots, which is little trucks transforming into robot excite excitebots.

[Justin Davis]

They're all actually good. They're good games. It's just like people don't want these and just what's in the name?

[Miranda Sanchez]

If I see a jeep on top of a mountain, I want that. Yeah, that's what I do. With my. In my games I just go on top of the mountains. That's my entire goal. I just want to go all the way up.

[Justin Davis]

But like Skyrim, vertically, f0 way phrase, star fox. These have never been the top sellers. And you're right, like they're not B tier games from a quality perspective, but like they're sort of niche genres. I'm curious, don't you think they like,

[Sam]

look at this and they say, we need a graphical showcase for our new system. We need a multiplayer game for a new system. And then this checks the boxes because Splatoon doesn't quite. And so then they're trying to use Star Fox to just get those things onto the platform.

[Justin Davis]

Maybe it's also possible that.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Did they ever say.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, but it's.

[Miranda Sanchez]

They need a graphical showcase. Did they ever say that?

[Sam]

I think so. I think for Donkey Kong, after going to that talk at gdc, it did seem like they wanted to show off this tech in the game. Maybe it wasn't a graphical showcase, but it was tech. But I think Metroid prime was the general.

[Justin Davis]

I think that was it. Right, like showing it off at 120 frames per second. That was, I think, making the point on the graphical side. No, but the thing with Star Fox is where would they take it? And I do think it's basically, hey, the Ace Combat team is done with their game, right? They've got a new game.

[Sam]

Take it to the Lilac system.

[Justin Davis]

You know, let's carve out a portion of that team to work on. Use maybe that same engine on a Star Fox game. Again, it's always in the lilat.

[Miranda Sanchez]

The only question is how are they going to use the mouse controls? Because that's Nintendo's thing right now is like. So whenever I think of Nintendo and new games, I don't think they're are going for graphics. I always think they want to say, like what. How do we use this system's gimmick in our game in a fun or interesting way? And that doesn't always come across well, but it can sometimes. And that's sort of one of the things.

[Sam]

What if the gimmick for this is chat though, you know, and they just really play up chat, like, don't do stuff like that.

[Per Schneider]

And I say this with love as a big Nintendo fan, but there's such a. There's such a strange, funny company, like going all the way back. I mean going all the way back to the Wii. They were talking about like a feature was like the, the power draw of the console, like it's only going to, it's only going to cost your household $40 to have this console. Small dollars of the Xbox. And every kid's like what?

[Sam]

I don't care.

[Justin Davis]

I want to, I want to.

[Sam]

Totally true.

[Justin Davis]

I want to play this again. I have like in my mind I keep thinking this game, this game. We're looking at the, the Wii U one. The Wii U Game zero.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. Star Fox Assault, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. And, and it, it, it just like we're watching a very slow Dr. Look at, the tablet. It's actually. That's a, that's a. Let's play with me and my kids and they, they're fighting over the game like because one, one guy is playing like an idiot and it's like the, the Wii U tablet is used for sort of like a second screen, like a camera built into the drone. It's a really cool idea, but it's just annoying to play. But in my mind I'm now, I'm now wondering maybe it's better than I give it credit for and maybe I have to dig up my Wii.

[Sam]

Well, we, and we should move on from Star Fox. But there. It's just been a long time since I've been played a rogue squadron type game where it has almost like arena size levels with a lot of movement that you're not really on rails in and you get to kind of make decisions and go.

[Justin Davis]

Warhawk. Yeah, Warhawk.

[Miranda Sanchez]

What about Starfield? You're quite stuck in space.

[Sam]

Yeah, I love. And then there was a Star wars shooter from just a couple years ago.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Yeah.

[Sam]

That wasn't terrible. It was like that.

[Miranda Sanchez]

So I think small space battles.

[Sam]

Yeah. They could take this off the rails and I think it'd be a little bit.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

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[Sam]

The longest part of the process, I'm

[Per Schneider]

thinking, is going to be staying on

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[Sam]

Here's a quick list of the other things. Then I want to talk about the rhythm game for a second, but so a Switch sports game was also mentioned, although that release sounds less certain, our article says. And then there's also re releases Xenoblade 2 and Pikmin 4. I mean, both incredible games that totally find up res those they might be kind of expensive to get those.

[Per Schneider]

Pikmin 4 especially. I don't. Oh, man. I'm not 100%. I think we've never gotten a Pikmin game at 60 FPS, so there's an opportunity for that would be quite nice if, if I'm right about that, that

[Sam]

game looks incredible already. So like Uprising, that game or doing whatever, adding little levels or whatever, like is. Bring it on. Like, I love, I love that game.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Pikmin.

[Per Schneider]

And then obviously, like, I don't know if we're going to talk about it, but like the Zelda, the Ocarina of Time remake, man, it's crazy. Like, do we. Is it going to be like, what does that mean? Does that mean like, you know, an Ocarina of Time remake? Or does it mean like a Breath of the wild style?

[Sam]

100%. I wanted to give Pear his birthday shout out to. To talk about Rhythm Heaven. Heaven.

[Per Schneider]

But we can move on.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Rhythm Heaven is very important.

[Per Schneider]

It is. You're right. You're right. I jumped the gun. I'm also very excited about Rhythm Heaven.

[Sam]

Well, I don't. Tell me about the series because I, I. Is it related to Elite Beat Agents and stuff? I played one of them, but it

[Per Schneider]

was like on Wii, it's, it's hard to explain. I mean, pair. Do you want to take it? You, you press it's. It's like it, it. You, you tap in the rhythm and it's a one button game. But it's just so cute and charming and all.

[Sam]

The Suario Warehouse.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, that's. That's the best way to describe it. It's like, it's like complete, complete nonsense with just sort of part of the experience is just how silly and whimsical the animations are and the music and the, the sort of like the. How the characters react to it. You guys never played them?

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, I played.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Oh yeah, I play. Play the heck out of Miranda.

[Sam]

There you go. Well, here we go. I got the panel. The perfect panel. Yeah, well, so this one is 40 bucks, which sounds like a good deal. Perfect out pretty soon. And what was the release date? It was July. July 2nd. Yes.

[Justin Davis]

So look how perfect that is. No, like, honestly, like once you, you have, you have to hear this with, with, with audio.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Obviously there's this sort of silly, like everybody opens their mouth and adds the harmony. Sort of like, it's just fun. The rhythm is created by household item noises and things in some of the stages. It's just really fun to listen to and just Complete nonsense. Goofiness. Like warioware.

[Per Schneider]

Yep. Great games.

[Sam]

Okay, so back to Justin. So let's talk Zelda. How should an Ocarina of Time remake even go down? You know, these are the kind of questions that I think everybody's asking. Who's making it is another big one. And then, because I'm sure it's farmed out. And then. And just real quick as an intro, we did an Is it still fun episode on this, including members of this panel. Miranda and Perry, you both revisited this game.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

Did you say yes?

[Justin Davis]

Yes.

[Sam]

Yeah, we all said yes.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yes. But the camera sucks.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

But once you get used to it, you're okay.

[Justin Davis]

It doesn't have. It doesn't have a camera because they use, you know, they basically don't have a second stick for it, so.

[Sam]

Well, I think it's Lakitu with a fishing pole in this too. Right?

[Per Schneider]

Z targeting.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah. You have to lock onto things, which is then. Then they reuse that. That same concept for Metroid Prime.

[Sam]

Yeah. Justin, do you have a pitch for what the best version of a. Of a Ocarina of Time remake could be? I don't know.

[Per Schneider]

I've been thinking. I, like, you know, I'm thinking about the next Zelda game, as we all are. Just. I wake up in the morning, I wonder what the next Zelda game is going to be. Um, and like, I. I don't think that, like, I think that we're this new, you know, open world Zelda, open field Zelda, that's here to stay, in my opinion. Like, is it here to stay forever? I don't know. But, like, that's what Zelda is now. But I don't think that they could reuse that Hyrule for a third time. I think whatever they do next needs to be something new. Unless it's flooded. Then it got me wondering. I'm like, maybe, maybe someone, some trusted developer, like a Bandai Namco or someone has that, you know, Tears of the Kingdom engine and is going to remake Ocarina in that. Like, that's the pie in the sky, like, grandiose, like, insane version of what they're doing. And what's maybe more likely is someone's just remaking Ocarina more kind of like straight up, like, just like a Blue Point remake. Like.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Davis]

The 3DS remake is actually pretty substantial when you. When you look at the. They didn't just retexture the game, they actually updated a lot of things. It's funny, like, when you go behind the scenes and you look at how the farm is constructed. You know, the farm at the center of the open world where you get Epona. Right. Like, the way Lon Lon Ranch is constructed in the. In the N64 game is completely different from the 3DS game. In the 3DS game, you can actually see outside of the farm. Whereas, like in the N64 game, it's almost like a room you enter and it has to load it at least like, you know, into memory from the outside.

[Sam]

It's like geographically smaller. Exactly like an object on the field.

[Justin Davis]

And so 3Ds 3Ds really was a remake, but they stuck so close to the quest design and the geometry that it did feel more like a remaster, where it was just a prettier version. They did. They smoothed out some things where people got stuck as well. And so I would love a real remake, like the way Capcom has been doing them, because I know this game by heart. I know everything, every key, every door, what I have to do. And so I want a couple of surprises that where things are different and maybe there's an extra dungeon in the mix that we hadn't gotten before, or maybe all of the hard containers are in different places, you know. Well, Master Quest did that too. But like, for real, like, actually mix up the game a little bit more. Make it a true remake.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. 100 more skulltulas to find Skulltala.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, those were really cool. Yeah, it was a little annoying. In the original game, you can go into the first dungeon and you hear them, but you can't collect them because you don't have the bombs yet. Right. Like, those are the sort of things that I think a modern Nintendo would not do. So if they. If they smooth these things out and then give us some extra new discoveries to surprise us, I. I think that'd be awesome.

[Sam]

Do you have a sense that Zelda now means something different to a younger generation and that this might not match those expectations? And I don't think Echo's a wisdom match.

[Per Schneider]

Oh, for sure. I mean, we. My daughter's 12 and breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are her favorite video games of all time. And like, you know, like, she would be. She'd be very, very excited to play a not Green of Time remake. And then I guess I wouldn't say, like, oh, she's definitely not going to like it or whatever. Like, but. But it's going to be very different. Right? Like, it wouldn't meet her expectations for, like, what this franchise means. To her.

[Justin Davis]

Think of going up Death Mountain. You can't climb the rock wall. You have to go up. You can't. You can't jump over the fence. You have to throw a bomb over the fence to open Dodongo's cavern.

[Sam]

Right?

[Per Schneider]

Like unless. Unless you can.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Right?

[Per Schneider]

Unless it's. It's going to be one or the other. It's going to be like the Resident Evil remakes. Like you said, that follows the spirit of the original games. Or it's going to be in the engine of the new games and they're just like. It's a. It's a retelling.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, yeah. I have a hard time thinking of what I would want because I think there are like as you guys said, the 3Ds version did a good job of smoothing out some points that were kind of an issue before. But there is a way to still, I think make this a game where there is a set order of operations with some variability and still have it be fun for the people who enjoyed Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild. I think there's a middle ground there that they could find and if they do that, I think that would please a lot of people. But would that make the best game? That's like the question. Right.

[Sam]

So let me, let me pitch some ideas that are crazy. What if it's a demake and it is in the link to the link's Awakening style thing, like a little 2D top down version.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Oh, I'd hate that.

[Per Schneider]

I would like it.

[Justin Davis]

I don't want that either.

[Sam]

Okay.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I would be really angry about that.

[Sam]

Two to one we lose that one.

[Justin Davis]

We did that twice and they did. They did that for games that were tie like leaks. Awakening was tile based. Right. And so there was a reason for sticking with that sort of geometry. Whereas like Ocarina of Time is like the. The. This is one of the early games of an overworld being just feeling more organic and I wouldn't want them to put that back on a grid.

[Sam]

I think people have tried like mod demakes of this game and like total sprites before too. Yeah. Just cute to see. So then another one would be that the Breath of the Wild map has all the elements or most maybe all of the elements geographically at this game they're in similar places. Lon Lon Ranch is actually ruins in the middle of Hyrule Field. So to Justin's point about like can they reuse this map again? Could they tell the Ocarina story in Breath of the Wild's engine Completely just like, let you do all the other crap. But then there's a story mode, basically that you're playing. That's awkward.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, that's kind of what I was like. It's. That. That's. I'm not saying I think it's going to be that, but like, there's, there's. If we're speculating options, like, yeah, I would say that's one of them.

[Justin Davis]

It would be so awesome if they used the, the approach of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom to recreate this world just larger with, you know, like, Hylia where it belongs and Death Mountain where it belongs.

[Sam]

And that would give you the surprises because what's between them is new do. Yeah, right.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, but. But the thing I think.

[Justin Davis]

Go ahead, Miranda.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Oh, go ahead. I was gonna say that the big thing, though, is like, they have to get the music right because that, that's such a core and critical part of this game. And I think adding to that is gonna be a big challenge. Not that they can't do it, because I think they've obviously proved they have.

[Advertiser]

Great.

[Justin Davis]

And the, the other thing I, I'm very fond of is the item gating, Right. Like the, the classic Zelda former formula was more like a. Was like a Metroidvania, right? In that you had to. You saw the hook shot targets all over the place, and once you got the hook shot, you went, oh, I understand now what they mean, what that means. And then you, you get this excitement over wanting to go back into places you couldn't access before. And like, that obviously doesn't exist the same way in Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom because you can climb anything. The limiting factor is it's raining here all the time, so you gotta get some rubber boots or something. But, like, it doesn't have that sort of true item gating gameplay. And I don't, I don't want to lose that.

[Per Schneider]

No, it's. It's so such a great feature of the older games. And even after Ocarina, they improved on it by like, you know by now the items unlock shortcuts and let you. You don't have to do this big, arduous climb in the future. You can skip right past it.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Like, oh man, there's a lot of. Or not a lot of that, but there is some element of, like, change in the world that they had with Tears of the Kingdom as you like, cleared areas or improved areas, like the central town kind of hub where everyone was meeting up. Like, that changed Pretty well. And certain people change based on how you cleared stuff. And so I think that exists in Ocarina of Time already. But I think they could do more of that to make it interesting or like opening new paths if it's not necessarily item gated. Might be people gated by like specific access to stuff. So like there's some ways they can still play with that without having it to be so stringent on items if they do want to keep exploration really open.

[Per Schneider]

And then I'll play this, remake whatever it is.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, exactly.

[Sam]

I know that's the thing. They don't have to do anything. They don't have to lift a finger for me to play it.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

I want to share one more funny anecdote real quick. I was watching a YouTube video about Ocarina of Time. You know, I've played the game many times in my life. I know it very well. I never knew and I never clocked that in Hyrule Field. The border of Hyrule Field, it's this blurry. It's the N64, right. It's this texture that's like, you know, no pixels at all. I didn't know that was supposed to be like trees.

[Sam]

Oh my God. So funny.

[Per Schneider]

It's a. It's like. It's like a forest. It's like a forest of trees that like link can't pass through. And like some YouTuber pointed that out and like for some reason it just never crossed my mind. I never thought about what it was like. I just. Oh my gosh.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Just.

[Per Schneider]

You just can't go there. So anyway, they had to.

[Justin Davis]

I mean they. There's so the wonderful thing about Ocarina of Time is like how many tricks they had to employ to actually pull this game off. Right? Like the sort of. But where it loads when you go around a corner and. And the geometry actually changes. Right. Like you see Death Mountain in the distance. It's not the geography of Death Mountain that you get when you approach it. Whereas like in Breath of the Wild, the mountain in the distance is the mountain that you can climb. And. And it's just. It's there. And so like remaking this game means almost like making a completely new game. Except for the dungeons, I guess you could just take them.

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[Justin Davis]

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[Sam]

and then my final point would be it'd be neat if it was a twofer that had the whole saga with Majora's mask in it. And then that would make for even if it was a simplistic remake, as long as it had them both, you could play through them with some kind of continuity. Almost like Banjo Kazooie's promise of the Ice Key and stuff like that. You know, because there are elements like the masks are are in the first game, like, I don't know, just time together.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That'd be sick.

[Sam]

Okay, let's play a game, shall we? The first game we're going to play is called Real Mature ign. It's where we look at ESRB ratings. I actually retitled this game. You chose Fantasy Violence, but we'll go with Real Mature ign. We're going to look at some ESRB rating descriptions that all have a connection to a game coming out this year. I'm going to read them a little bit out of order to hide some of the stuff about them. You're going to try to guess what they are. I'm going to do the. You know, these are direct quotes from the ESRB rating site for people that don't live in ESRB territory. The same as Peggy, where we rate games from teen to mature to everything. And there's these descriptions for parents so you can see what's in the game. And they're pretty lurid, they're kind of funny, they're not very mature. So I'll slowly reveal what these games are, try to guess them, and then we'll discuss the connection to this year's games. So here's the first one. All right. To quote the esrb, players use psychic abilities, eg, telekinesis, to levitate and fling furniture at enemies. Large splashes of blood are frequently depicted as enemies are shot, killed, control resonate sequences.

[Per Schneider]

Are we shouting out? What are we? Are we waiting?

[Miranda Sanchez]

You may.

[Sam]

You may.

[Per Schneider]

Sorry, I didn't know. I didn't know what the rules were.

[Sam]

Yep. Depict large pools of blood underneath corpses and bodies hanging from ropes. The words, the F word and the sh word are heard in this game. I won't read those words. First of all, these are not games that are coming out because the SRB doesn't have ratings for those quite yet. When we play that game, it has to be games from like this month.

[Per Schneider]

So it's not Control.

[Sam]

It is control. Yeah, I was going to say that sounds. The next one goes into it. It starts revealing because this is an action adventure game in which players help a woman with psychic abilities battle supernatural forces that have taken over the government. And then the giveaway is from a third person perspective. Players traverse building corridors and use a handgun to shoot and kill enemy creatures. And possessed guards slash agents. That's control. Control is rated m for mature, 17 plus for the ESRB with blood, strong language and violence. I don't remember that much blood in it, but here it says there was some waves of blood.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam]

All right. They're going to potentially get harder from here. Okay, next.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, bring it on.

[Sam]

Players use an assortment of cartoony firearms, oversized lasers, blasters and pistols to enemies or douse them in color. Players can also grab or throw enemies to the ground in hand to hand combat. A handful of sequences depict slapstick style and bathroom humor. Characters emitting flatulence, bird droppings falling on a character's head, a character getting kicked in the crotch, which I don't think would happen in Splatoon.

[Per Schneider]

Cuphead.

[Sam]

That's a good guess.

[Justin Davis]

What about High on Life?

[Sam]

Nope, nope, that's a good guess. That'd be even dirtier, though.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That would be worse. Yeah.

[Sam]

All right, I'm going to keep going.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Color.

[Sam]

Here's the hintiest one before we get to the giveaway. In some driving sequences, players can slam into fleeing vehicles, causing them to break apart into redacted

[Per Schneider]

Lego. LEGO City Undercover.

[Sam]

Nailed it.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I was about to say.

[Sam]

That's it. You got this too, Miranda. Okay, so this is in this. There's the giveaway. In this open world adventure game, players assume the role of LEGO Police officer Chase McCain as he goes undercover to capture a criminal. Players explore LEGO City's open world environment, investigate crime scenes and apparition criminals. Complete mission objectives. LEGO City Undercover is rated E for everyone by the SRB. With cartoon violence and crude humor.

[Per Schneider]

This is a great game. Like, it's just legitimately like, I like. We have an op ed on the site today or yesterday or this week, week on, like how good LEGO City Undercover was. And it's just a great game. And like, I don't like that it gets lumped in with the LEGO games. Not that they're not also great, but just like, if you're a fan of just like general open world, just run around and, and, you know, kill time kinds of games, it's just excellent.

[Justin Davis]

It's wholly original. Right.

[Miranda Sanchez]

It's all fun. Yeah, it's funny too.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, yeah, it was. It was original. Switch exclusive. I mean, it's definitely not anymore.

[Justin Davis]

Was it you or something? I forgot what?

[Sam]

It came out first.

[Per Schneider]

It may have started on as an exclusive exclusive, but I think you can play it everywhere now.

[Sam]

Yeah. And the reason why this is relevant is that, you know, LEGO Batman seems to be an open world game like this. Right. And also Grand Theft Auto's out this year, which is what this is based on.

[Justin Davis]

What's so cool about this is that it wasn't beholden to like any story sequences you had seen in a movie before or, you know, and so like, yeah, it was just fun. It was a little bit like Simpsons Hit and Run where it's like, okay, yes. What would a LEGO GTA look like? Right?

[Sam]

And boy, Batman seems like it's in a really good spot. If they could pull this off.

[Justin Davis]

I'm excited.

[Per Schneider]

I think I want to play this again.

[Sam]

It looks great watching this footage. The graphics are good. Yeah, the footage looks really good. Okay, next one. Three of four we have. Players use pistols, machine guns and explosive to defeat opposing mercenaries and military robots. Combat is often fast paced, accompanied by realistic gunfire, gunfire, large explosions and cries of pain. Players can trail blue colored blood on the ground while down by enemy fire. Some areas depict corpses lying in pools of the blue liquid. The word a hole is also heard

[Per Schneider]

in the game our craters blue.

[Sam]

What are craters?

[Per Schneider]

The blue blood.

[Justin Davis]

The blue blood is so strange. What's the blue blood from?

[Per Schneider]

Well, Halo.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Halo has like but purpley blue. But there's not.

[Sam]

Does it really?

[Justin Davis]

I thought Halo's just blue blood is avid. Maybe Avatar.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, maybe it's. Yeah, Avatar.

[Sam]

That's a good guess. Good guess.

[Per Schneider]

Okay, the aliens are blue.

[Sam]

We're going to move on. This is a first person shooter in which players assume the roles of bio cybernetic mercenaries that perform missions on a distant planet.

[Justin Davis]

Spock versus Spock.

[Per Schneider]

Nothing. Nothing.

[Sam]

All right, this is the final one. Remember, these are getting harder. Players engage in salvaging extraction missions across the planet's surface at a derelict warship, completing contracts and obtaining loot.

[Per Schneider]

Is this all the same game?

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

Oh boy.

[Sam]

This is hella as the E word extraction.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, but what other. Wait, cuz.

[Sam]

Drum roll please.

[Per Schneider]

I don't know.

[Sam]

I say it's marathon. I was about to say it's marathon. I didn't know it had blue blood.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Actually I did know it had blue blood. I was like. But isn't that. But I guess it came out already so it qualifies.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Marathon is rated T for Teen by the SRB with animated blood, language and violence, which I think is actually pretty sedate for a first person or you know, just got any type of online shooter.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, you're not actually killing people, you're killing robots.

[Per Schneider]

And the blue blood is probably exactly why that game's rated T. Yeah, that's interesting.

[Sam]

Okay, final round. Close up camera angles and slow motion effects. Effects accentuate the violence of some finishing moves. Enemies arms are cut off, courses are split in half. Heads are pulled out in a dramatic fashion. Some profanity, for example. Sh word and the ass word.

[Justin Davis]

Oh no, not that word.

[Sam]

Which one is that? Can be heard in the dialogue.

[Per Schneider]

Mortal Kombat. I don't know. Whatever.

[Sam]

Guess. Yeah, it's a good guess, but it's not Mortal Kombat.

[Per Schneider]

What? But people's heads are pulled out, Sam.

[Sam]

I know torsos.

[Justin Davis]

Diablo.

[Sam]

This one's a hard one. So you all know it though. So then during one sequence, Redacted grabs an enemy and thrusts his body headfirst into a rotating helicopter blade. Redacted also performs berserker moves that enable players to attack, slash, kill several enemies at once, slashing bladed claws at a frenetic pace.

[Per Schneider]

Oh, Wolverine.

[Justin Davis]

Oh Wolverine.

[Sam]

It is Wolverine. What it's called. Okay, here we go. Here's the giveaway Wolverine game.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Wolverine the game.

[Sam]

You all know this one. This is the giveaway. Players use claws to slash, stab, impale, and dismember enemy characters, resulting in splashes and stains of red blood. This is an action game based on the characters and events of the X Men Origins Wolverine movie. X Men origins Wolverine. Rated mature 17. Blood, violence and language and Justin, related to what you just said. Are they going to get away with a teen rating for making the blood from robots?

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, you are slashing up a lot of robots in the new Wolverine, but I think. I think that trailer, if I remember right, was pretty intense.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

I'm assuming that the new Wolverine is going to be rated M. How does

[Sam]

this game look now? I can't tell if this.

[Per Schneider]

I think it looks good.

[Sam]

Ninja Gaiden.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Like, maybe.

[Justin Davis]

I think Marvel is ratings proof. Like, if. Even if you get mature, look. Yeah, look at Logan.

[Sam]

I. I don't even really remember this X Men origins movie. Was this the one with Sabertooth where they fight a lot?

[Justin Davis]

It was the bat. It was the bad one. X Men.

[Per Schneider]

They're both pretty. They were bad. Both.

[Sam]

There was two, and then there was Logan. Is that what happened? There's a trilogy.

[Justin Davis]

Yep. Logan.

[Sam]

Logan's not really.

[Justin Davis]

No. Logan's different.

[Sam]

Yeah. And then Deadpool's in one of them somehow.

[Justin Davis]

Well, that's Origin.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

They goofed. They screwed up. The merc with a mouth literally does get to speak.

[Sam]

It's still Ryan Reynolds.

[Per Schneider]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Yes.

[Per Schneider]

It's completely insane.

[Sam]

That is so crazy.

[Justin Davis]

It was all the bad decisions. It's like the Mario movie.

[Miranda Sanchez]

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[Miranda Sanchez]

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[Sam]

Cool. All right, on to our next game Fun and games edition of Game Scoop here. Keep on rolling. This one is called New Game. It's called Continue or Quit.

[Per Schneider]

Oh.

[Sam]

So for Continue or Quit, we all are going to pick out a feature or trend in games that you'd like to continue. See more of games going forward and then one that just needs to stop now, please. So for this game, we're just going to go around the panel. I'll go. We all brought homework to this one pair. You're up first.

[Justin Davis]

How is that a game? How is that a game? Do I get points? Do I get points?

[Sam]

I will judge you at the end. No, it's just a game because we all had to bring something to show and tell.

[Per Schneider]

It's a game because it's a structured discussion.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Sam]

Yes, There you go.

[Justin Davis]

A trend that actually is not a very big trend, but should be, but some companies have done. I think we've seen it in Doa 6, we've seen it in some Ubisoft games, is that when you pause your game, your controls are displayed on the pause screen. It is insane.

[Sam]

Straight up. You don't need to go to an options menu or whatever.

[Justin Davis]

It honestly is insane that any sort of game that you return to doesn't immediately kind of have this reminder of what your controls are.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Like.

[Justin Davis]

Some companies have done some cool stuff. Like if it detects you haven't played a game in a while, like when you're going to the open world, suddenly it shows, like, hit X to, you know, hit enemies, which is way, way more work than just put the freaking controls on. On the pause screen. There are some games that don't display the controls anywhere. Some you have to go into, like, options and go into controls and like, just pause it, hear the controls. Thank you very much. If I haven't played the game for two months, I'm going back to it. Thank you very much.

[Sam]

Okay, so that's your. Continue.

[Justin Davis]

Continue that.

[Sam]

Okay. What's your quit?

[Justin Davis]

My quit is. Is unskippable or.

[Jobert]

Or.

[Justin Davis]

Or only skippable dialogue. Some, like Bethesda has this wonderful system that when a character says something, you

[Sam]

hit a. I love it so much.

[Justin Davis]

It just shows you the subtitle, the text of what you said, what the character said. And a lot of games now have gone back to. If you hit a, it'll skip the entire line of the character and you don't know what they said. Or you cannot skip what the character is saying. And I'm Sorry. Like, video game writing is not always so great that I need to listen to somebody talk about their chickens for five minutes. Like, just let me go. I get it, I get it. You're a slow talker. Just give me the text. But I still want to be able to hear some of the dialogue.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. Crimson Desert is a thing where there's something about the game's engine where you can't skip any of the cutscenes, but they knew that their cutscenes were like, you know, maybe not that great or that gamers would want to skip them. So you can only fast forward them. But it fast forwards like the way that a VHS tape would fast forward and, like, everything gets sped up and like, the sound gets high and like, the music gets all warbly. It's, it's, it's unbelievable.

[Justin Davis]

That's funny. Whoa.

[Sam]

That's crazy.

[Justin Davis]

Bethesda and Obsidian, they've done this already where, like, you just hit the button and it just shows the text and it's perfect.

[Per Schneider]

There's definitely that system has been perfected.

[Justin Davis]

And then, of course, you have such fun. Like, my wife always gets annoyed when I play games like that. And it's like. And then, and next you should.

[Sam]

I love it. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I, I, I get the same commentary, but I think it's, I'm so used to it now, and I love it. And when they don't use that system, it's really, really horrible. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Quit it.

[Sam]

Justin, what's your continue and quit my continue.

[Per Schneider]

What's funny about mine is that five or maybe 10 years ago, it would have been a quit and I've changed my mind. And a thing that I didn't like, I' you know what? I like it after all, and I want it to stick around. And that's the ability to the, the video games where you just clear out an outpost, you get up on the Far Cries and the, and the Metal Gear Solids, and I want that gameplay loop of being able to go up in a radio tower and then you do the thing in the radio tower and then it reveals everything on the map. And I feel like on Game Scoop we would goof on that. It's like that's every video game now, and we're over it, but now it's kind of not in that many games anymore, and I miss it.

[Sam]

I like, Assassin's Creed is keeping it real, but that's basically it.

[Per Schneider]

I like that gameplay loop of, you know, the map is all obscured and then it reveals a whole little like, you know, A little sandbox of, like, new areas. Like, there's a race and there's a little brawl I can get into, and there's an outpost I can clear out. And then you go to the outpost and then you mark all the guys with your binoculars and you see them all, right? And the game makes you think. You're like, ah, it's open. You can go clear this area however you want. But actually, there's a cave. There's a. There's a cage right there with two tigers in it. And I'm like, well, I know how I'm gonna clear this one.

[Sam]

And like, in Assassin's Creed, I kept getting to the middle of the thing and getting the treasure and everybody's dead. And then I look down and there's, like a secret passage that led in from an obvious waterfall on the outside. I'm like, damn it. This whole time I could have just snuck right here. I love it.

[Per Schneider]

I love. I love. And they make you think, like, they don't tell you, like, what to do, but, like, you think you're being all clever and coming up with it on your own, but of course, you're doing it, like, the way they intended you to do it.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yep. They left the breadcrumbs.

[Sam]

I like.

[Justin Davis]

I've. I've. I've always liked the tower concept. Whether it's in a UB game or in a Nintendo game. It's just because it sort of becomes this thing sometimes where I'm like, I don't want to do this whole freaking quest. I'm just going to do a couple of, you know, falcon spots or whatever. What are they, hawks?

[Per Schneider]

And it just got so overdone there for a second.

[Sam]

Right.

[Justin Davis]

But, like, yeah, it chopped up the worlds that were supposed to be organic in very formulaic ways again. But it is such an easy to understand fast travel system compared to, you know, whatever Red Dead Redemption did, you know?

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Sam]

What's your quit?

[Per Schneider]

My quit's not as strong. Just to warn you. Like, I. I'm just. I'm over battle passes. I don't need them anymore.

[Sam]

You bought a battle pass recently?

[Per Schneider]

No. Well, no, because I think that they. I just think it's a treadmill. Right. Like, I don't. I don't. I don't like games. Is consumption and just play this game forever. I mean, games is a service, you know, it's like, I just, you know, it's not my thing. I think that the battle pass concept, it was so. When it was new, it was so friendly and fresh and like, you know, you can pay your way to play your way to get all these rewards, or, you know, give us 10 bucks. And that felt way friendlier than like, loot boxes, right? But like, yeah, you know, but now it's become kind of, you know, habit forming in a different way and has kind of been taken in an unhealthy direction.

[Miranda Sanchez]

It also makes things really stressful sometimes. I know, like playing with Destiny, it's like, I really just want to finish all this. I have one piece left. It's like 10 levels away. So tonight I can grind for like hours to try to make it, or they allow me to pay for levels so I could pay for it. But it's. It's just that shitty thing. I was like, I've already paid for this. So that kind of. It's just not what I want to do.

[Per Schneider]

Weaponized and monetized fomo and then it. And then it just never ends. Right? And actually Halo Infinite is so good at, like, battle passes don't expire, and you can, you can buy and play through an old battle pass anytime you want. It's like so friendly. So anyway, I'm, I'm just. That's great. It's not even. I don't even like, I know that this is a segment like keep or die. Like I'm even saying it needs to die, but it's just. I'm over it. I'm not interested.

[Sam]

It's just continue or quit. It's nicer sometimes. You just had enough of something.

[Per Schneider]

Yep.

[Sam]

Doesn't need to go away. Unless it's mine. Then it needs to go away from mine. All right, so, Miranda, what do you got for continue your quiz?

[Miranda Sanchez]

This is really hard because I juggled like three things I really wanted, but I will go with the thing that I want.

[Sam]

A note stock in my phone with a thousand things in it.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, I was like, the thing I want most is probably magic chest storage. So basically a lot of games like crafting, they want you to collect stuff and put it away, but then I can't freaking find it. Or if it's a multiplayer game, why did you put your, your, your rocks in the food chest? So that's really obnoxious to have to organize it that way. If you have to do a lot of chests or a lot of pockets or places for storage. So what I like is with when it's crafting, it just accesses all your. Accesses all of your storage. Or at least like with what Procopia does is at least if you have a Chest right now next to your crafting table. It has everything. So next to that table. So. Or like at least give me an option to upgrade my chests to be magic chest level or something. If you want to make me be responsible for my actions of where I'm storing things like that's something I want to see continue. Because some games do that really well. While some games will count early access and be like good luck. And I'm like, why would you do this to me? Like that's just cruel. You want me to pick up everything

[Sam]

but you don't leaves all over this region. I need them.

[Per Schneider]

Craft directly from chest is like the world's most perfect quality of life upgrade in any game.

[Sam]

Plus just the ability to smart sort stuff before you do that. Just so you see. I mean all that is like basics and like I'm playing a freaking video game here. Like I don't need the realism of not being able to carry a bunch of stuff. I am playing a video game for a reason. I don't go out in my neighborhood and get every cactus I can put in my pockets. I understand implicitly why when I sit down I should be able to get all those damn cactuses.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, it's like I'm already stressed about how I'm going to organize my yarn collection. I don't want to have to stress about how I'm organizing my in game skull collection or whatever it is that I've picked up today. Like, please just let it stack in the right spot and if I need it, pull it out when I'm crafting.

[Sam]

We kind of edged into a quit here. What's your quit?

[Miranda Sanchez]

My quit, it is combat through deck building and games where stories are really cool, which is very specific. So there are. So I feel bad, but I don't like deck builders. I really, I like playing card games.

[Sam]

But this is why I had Miranda on this show.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I know Sam and I complain about this all the time and I'm sorry. I know people love card games. I love, I love Yukio so much. I love other games. But gosh dang it. Like the artifact. Artifact was great from Valve. Like there's like these standalone. This is a card game. I am battling you. But when they use that as a mechanic to get through a big story game, I'm like, well, now I have to worry about collecting these cards and doing this strike when I really just pay attention to the story in a different way and it stops me from playing really cool games. Have cool stories. I'm like, now I have to learn however you structured the mechanics, mechanics for your game and hope I get that one card randomly or I'm gonna be really disappointed. I love you, Artifact. Thank you, Joker, for the video. Oh, it was.

[Sam]

Did artifact go away? Is it gone?

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, you can still play it, but they're not updating or anything. It died pretty soon after they didn't. I don't think they had a really good plan of, like, how to continue with it. There's just like, great characters, but I like it when, like, the story and things are told through, like, these cards. Like this. Is this the battle or like whatever lore you want to put around the cards. But when you start. Start separating the cards and the store, it just gets. It's just annoying for me personally, so I don't want to see it. Okay.

[Sam]

Storytelling through cards.

[Justin Davis]

Very good.

[Sam]

All right, so quickly. Mine are. I chose from a lot, but so for this week, I'm going to do continue a default character creator option. I just want you to roll me a looker. You know, just. Just if you have somebody that you think is. Looks like a character that might play this game, maybe an orc. Orc. A lion, a lady, an elf, like, whatever it is, mix those up and give me some of your best designs, and I'll just play as one of those. I will never use your character creator to create a character. I might use your character creator to use one of your old characters that looks really derpy and then change it because it looks so bad. But that pisses me off.

[Justin Davis]

I'm the same way. I hate it when it's like, I just want. I. I don't want to sit there and have to create a character except

[Sam]

for something like gaming link pisses me off.

[Justin Davis]

Tomodachi. Like, tomodachi life is different because the whole concept is that you create these stupid characters, make them interact, and you create your friends and all that. But generally I really, really annoyed when there's not a good preset and there is a required character creator. And then you roll and you get these hideous characters all the time. Like, it's.

[Per Schneider]

It.

[Justin Davis]

It's a. It's a big turnoff. And I. I think Avowed was one of those games where I'm like, oh, I don't want this.

[Sam]

Yeah. Like, no matter what I rolled, I got provided defaults.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

If you. If you're doing random, if you're hitting the random button, you're going to end up with mushrooms on your face for sure in that game.

[Justin Davis]

In a vow. Yeah, it's. It was like all the rejects from Pirates of the Caribbean. Like, it was so bad.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's something I like about, like, Cyberpunk. Right? Like, their. Their V. Like, their iconic V looks really cool, and they're stylized and they're thoughtful.

[Sam]

Same with Shepard. Shepard is a character, you know, I like that. So. And then my quit is quit moving the jump button. I'm sick. This is the jump button right here. It's this one. Okay. And on a Xbox controller, it's the bottom one. It's just the. That's the jump button. That's just how it works. And we don't need to be doing this anymore. And, you know, my favorite games of all time have done this. Zelda. Like, put it on the top.

[Miranda Sanchez]

What? Why do we quit?

[Sam]

Quit, Quit that. That. Quit moving the jump button. I think it's crazy. I think Donkey Kong Bonanza.

[Justin Davis]

Did you remap it?

[Sam]

Got a little crazy with that, too. And I remapped it in that. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

See, I remapped it and. Because it annoyed me, too. And then I mapped it back because they clearly wanted the up, down, sort of like setup reflected in the buttons.

[Sam]

But you can do that outside the constraints of the jump button. There's so many buttons on these controllers.

[Justin Davis]

It's really funny when some of the emulated Nintendo Classics were poorly mapped to Switch where. Where, you know, Mario had a button you hold down for running fast, and then you were supposed to jump while holding it down. And they mapped it all crazy. Originally, they did it backwards.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Famously. They switched. The GameCube Mega man anniversary Collection. They just switched it. Just shoot. And you have to do that in that game, too. You have to jump rapidly and fire at the same time. You need to be able to mash the A and B buttons while you're playing that game.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Sam]

Yeah, I just. I know you can remap in some games, but like. Like, unbelievably, in some games, you can't. But then, no matter what, like, you just didn't need to do this. There's no. It's just unnecessarily aggressive.

[Justin Davis]

This episode is brought to you by Fandango. People say fans are too distracted these days, but the truth is, when a great movie hits the screen, you show up, you stay glued, invested, part of the story. And without fans like you, there'd be no cinema magic magic. No shared moments. So head to fandango.com to get tickets, stream or rent or buy top movies and series. Fandango loves fans.

[Sam]

K Pop Demon Hunters, Haja Boy's Breakfast Meal and Hunt Tricks Meal have just dropped at McDonald's. They're calling this a battle for the fans. What do you say to that, Rumi?

[Justin Davis]

It's not a battle.

[Miranda Sanchez]

So glad the Saja boys could take breakfast and give our meal the rest of the day.

[Justin Davis]

It is an honor to share.

[Miranda Sanchez]

No, it's our honor.

[Justin Davis]

It is our larger honor.

[Sam]

No, really, stop. You can really feel the respect in this battle. Pick a meal to pick a side

[Justin Davis]

and participate in McDonald's while supplies last.

[Sam]

All right, so we're on to. Let's play a game number three. Remember, this is the Fun in Games episode. So the last one was a fun. Let's just call it that. It wasn't a game. It was a fun.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, good.

[Sam]

Is this next one a game? I don't know, because my man Jobert's leading it. It's called what is Pear Eating?

[Miranda Sanchez]

What is Pear Eating?

[Per Schneider]

Great.

[Sam]

What do we got, Gilbert?

[Per Schneider]

Can't wait.

[Jobert]

That's correct. We're gonna be guessing what pear is eating. So. Pear. You and I are friends on Facebook, which means I have access to all your Facebook photos.

[Per Schneider]

Happy birthday, Pear.

[Justin Davis]

Happy birthday. I don't think I've posted food in a while, but I will tonight. My wife booked a really, really nice restaurant for dinner for my birthday.

[Sam]

Is it in a genre? Is it sushi or something like that?

[Justin Davis]

No, it's called Providence. It's a fancy LA seafood restaurant.

[Sam]

Yeah, seafood. Great. All right, what do we got, Jobber?

[Jobert]

Okay, so we're gonna show. I'm gonna show some photos of pear and food, and the food is blurred out, so you're gonna try to guess what that food is.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Tomodachi life, basically.

[Jobert]

And pear. I mean, these are your photos, so you'll be. You probably know what these are.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Okay.

[Jobert]

Yeah, so, but, you know, if you know.

[Justin Davis]

Am I guessing, too?

[Jobert]

Yeah, if you know what it is, don't give it away right away.

[Sam]

How about. This pair will describe in each photo for the listeners what's going on in the photo briefly, before you guess.

[Jobert]

And I, I. I totally get that. This is not.

[Justin Davis]

This is gonna be good listening.

[Jobert]

Yeah, yeah. For our audio. But you know what? Damon's not here, so there are no rules.

[Justin Davis]

I'll just make eating sounds the entire time. Folks.

[Per Schneider]

That's exactly what people want.

[Jobert]

Yes, I do have clues.

[Sam]

What's the first one?

[Jobert]

I do have clues to give if you guys need help.

[Sam]

Oh, you do? Okay, so here we go.

[Jobert]

This is the first one.

[Justin Davis]

I totally know what I'm eating there.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I think I know What?

[Sam]

So we're looking at. It looks like a giant vertical piece of pizza.

[Miranda Sanchez]

It's shaved ice.

[Per Schneider]

It's very tall.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it is very good. It is.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's shaved ice.

[Justin Davis]

I think that's. Yeah, that's like. That's in Japan for sure.

[Sam]

That's a lot of shaved ice.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

In the summer, like this. This particular restaurant. I forget which one it is. They actually had shaved ice with blue cheese, which sounds made up. I. I didn't go for it. No, they. It's a big thing in. It's called kakigori. It's a big thing in Japan. There was a giant line out the door for this restaurant. It was blazingly hot in. In the Tokyo summer heat. And we stood in line for this, and it was really, really good. And it's not.

[Sam]

I wouldn't have that much shaved ice before a cartridge.

[Justin Davis]

It's more than shaved ice. They have, like, fruit in it and, like, ice cream and stuff. So it's not. It's not all right. Yeah, it's so good.

[Per Schneider]

Amazing.

[Jobert]

Okay, next up.

[Per Schneider]

Well done, Miranda.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, good job.

[Sam]

Round two, Japanese shaved ice.

[Justin Davis]

You get.

[Miranda Sanchez]

You get it. That's easy.

[Justin Davis]

You're getting, like, pair weekend pictures here. That's okay. I did.

[Jobert]

I did, like, crop some of these so as not to accidentally dox you or something, so.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, that's all right. Yeah. If they're on Facebook, you can show anything.

[Sam]

It's really cute because you can see the ingredients that lead to, like, the world's most stacked bagel.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, bagel unlocks bagel.

[Sam]

But it's got the red onions and the capers.

[Justin Davis]

You know what this is? I think this is a pear birthday picture where my daughter made bagels from scratch.

[Sam]

And they surprised when they do add all this in. It's the best bagel ever. It's so good.

[Justin Davis]

They surprised me for my birthday and said, wake up. Romy made bagels.

[Sam]

Wow. Yeah, that's pretty good.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Coffee looks so nice too.

[Sam]

Yeah, the coffee looks good, too.

[Per Schneider]

I want this right here. You must eat three of these bagels now for breakfast.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I know.

[Sam]

Triggering in the best way.

[Justin Davis]

Really good.

[Sam]

Okay. That's fair eating. It looks like a train.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I feel like. I can't say. I feel like I know too much.

[Sam]

Oh, I know. There are some bentos that you get before your train ride in Japan.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Is that what it's called?

[Justin Davis]

You guys, I love these.

[Sam]

They're so good.

[Per Schneider]

What is.

[Justin Davis]

What is weird is all of these are not normal things.

[Sam]

And.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, that's. That's the Shinkansen train probably from Tokyo to Kyoto or the other way. And like before you get on the bullet train, you go there. It. You go in. In either Tokyo station or whatever the station is there. And they have hundreds of different options of amazing bento boxes.

[Sam]

So.

[Per Schneider]

Great.

[Sam]

What a.

[Justin Davis]

That's probably like. That's probably like salty salmon with rice and stuff.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yummy.

[Sam]

And I like the little soft drink tea thing there too.

[Jobert]

Okay, I think two more here.

[Sam]

Two more. Okay.

[Justin Davis]

This is really old.

[Sam]

Yeah. Okay.

[Per Schneider]

Wow.

[Justin Davis]

This is really old.

[Sam]

Okay, so this is a picture of pear eating a blurred thing. But to be fair, there's a giant pile of sausages next to him and he's drinking the traditional German beer, a Corona extract.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

You know what this is? This is probably.

[Sam]

Is it currywurst?

[Per Schneider]

I was gonna guess that. I was gonna guess currywurst, but that feels like I'm being misled. I think maybe it's like potato salad or something.

[Justin Davis]

No, I mean if it's sausage with

[Miranda Sanchez]

your hand, because that looks like.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, you're holding something.

[Miranda Sanchez]

This is burger.

[Justin Davis]

It's some IGN barbecue at somebody's house. It may have been at like cute. Okay, Cass's house. And that's Chris Carl right there, our entertainment lead. And yeah, it is possible that the

[Jobert]

sausages are throwing you off.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

Okay. I don't know. I don't have it because it's.

[Sam]

I bet it's a hit hamburger.

[Miranda Sanchez]

It was a hamburger. It is, I think.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, this is definitely something.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Just a regular hamburger.

[Sam]

This is a bunch of sausages were decoration.

[Justin Davis]

It's a bunch of editors probably getting together for a barbecue. If it's. I don't know if it's at the office.

[Sam]

Yeah, there's like a postage. Postage stamp size ocarina in the background.

[Miranda Sanchez]

It kind of looks like it.

[Per Schneider]

It is ocarina.

[Sam]

It is.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, my God. That's so strange. I think this is at the office. I don't even know where we would have grilled.

[Sam]

Yeah, I bet it is.

[Justin Davis]

Grilled barbecue. Maybe we made a fire on the roof or something. Cool.

[Sam]

All right, the final one we have pear with somebody cut out of the picture. And he's holding what looks to be a human organ sized picture with the picture pixelated.

[Per Schneider]

It looks incredibly sinister.

[Justin Davis]

The. The. The knitted jacket gives it away that this is in Germany, folks.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I was gonna say, I like the cardigan.

[Jobert]

That's like a cardigan.

[Justin Davis]

That has to be Munich. That's got to be Munich.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's gotta be like a biggest Like a big pretzel.

[Justin Davis]

I recognize. I recognize the arches. That's a Hofbrauhaus in Munich. So I think Miranda is very smart.

[Sam]

All right, there we go.

[Justin Davis]

I think we're talking about pretzel.

[Sam]

We're guessing big pretz. World's biggest. Look how big that pretzel is.

[Miranda Sanchez]

A big pretzel.

[Sam]

I want one of those now.

[Justin Davis]

I think you cut out one of my kids. That's what the dark, murderous shadow is in the background.

[Sam]

That's what the. That's what the other hand is.

[Justin Davis]

So at the. At the Hof house, there's like. There's people walking around, usually a lady, you know, like traditional Bavarian outfit, carrying just a giant amount of pretzels.

[Sam]

I love.

[Per Schneider]

And you just go.

[Justin Davis]

And they come over and all your money.

[Sam]

I've been going to a fantastic brewery on federal land over at Fort Mason, and. Well, sorry, not brewery. It's a beer hall. It's all German. It's all great. It's fan. It's really good beer. You get boots and everything. Good food. But the pretzels are so tiny, and they're like 11 bucks because it's San Francisco.

[Justin Davis]

No, they got to be bigger than your head.

[Sam]

Yep. Yeah. Yeah, but they don't serve them with mustard as proper.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, the southern Germans are the masters at. At doing this stuff. So I'm. I'm.

[Miranda Sanchez]

What are more north pretzels traditionally served with butter?

[Justin Davis]

I mean, beer.

[Sam]

More butter beer.

[Justin Davis]

Actually, in.

[Sam]

In Munich you get cheese.

[Justin Davis]

No, in Munich, you get obata. Obata is basically cheese and green onions and a mixed up gram, and they mix it up into this paste. So it's like. I think you guys call it, like it's. Here is beer cheese.

[Per Schneider]

But.

[Justin Davis]

But beer cheese is.

[Sam]

Yeah, beer cheese or pork cheese is. Is.

[Justin Davis]

It's not as. It's not as good.

[Per Schneider]

That's. That's pretty common here actually, in Iowa, too. But of course, there's a huge German.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah, but Obat style is different. It doesn't have, like, the pimento stuff in it.

[Advertiser]

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[Miranda Sanchez]

It's.

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[Justin Davis]

and there never will be. From the producer, Bohemian Rhapsody,

[Sam]

Many legends.

[Justin Davis]

But There is only one Michael. Rated PG 13. In theaters April 24th. Yeah.

[Sam]

Okay, so we have.

[Justin Davis]

I'm hungry.

[Sam]

Thanks.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Happy birthday. I hope you get all of those things at your Michelin restaurant tonight. Right. Bring me a pretzel. I. We have short time so pair. If you do need to go, you can. But I think we can get through this video game 20 questions in this time.

[Per Schneider]

We can speedrun it.

[Justin Davis]

I can stay.

[Per Schneider]

Okay.

[Sam]

I know you guys are going to get this one.

[Per Schneider]

We need a win. It's been a while.

[Sam]

That's the pressure. No, we wonder.

[Per Schneider]

I wonder if the game Scoop historian. I wonder if this counts as a win for you as well, Sam, if we win.

[Sam]

Oh, no, I don't think so. And I think the person that sent this in is going to know that because the person that sent this in is Greg Kelly who does some of our tracking of game scoop 20 question stats. So this game does have an anecdote and it's a good one. But I don't think I can read a single part of it before we play.

[Justin Davis]

Really?

[Sam]

Because it will give it away.

[Per Schneider]

Not even hello, scoop crew.

[Sam]

Can't even say that. So just know it's from Greg Kelly.

[Per Schneider]

Got it.

[Justin Davis]

That means he probably picked a game from a series that has never been in 20 questions.

[Per Schneider]

Oh, that's so good.

[Sam]

See that? See this is enough to go on. Right? So.

[Per Schneider]

Okay.

[Sam]

Okay.

[Per Schneider]

Okay. Speedrun. Right.

[Sam]

Let the questioning begin.

[Per Schneider]

Did this game come out in the 70s, 80s or 90s?

[Sam]

No, it did not.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I heard you guys On a modern console. Was it on a modern console?

[Sam]

A modern console as in like current. Current gen. Current gen. No.

[Justin Davis]

I. I heard Gemini came up with a surefire way of winning this game.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, it was.

[Sam]

It was pretty verdict.

[Per Schneider]

It was. It was 80 okay and 20 non. Sucks, which. Yeah, that checks out.

[Justin Davis]

Sorry. What was the.

[Sam]

What was the.

[Justin Davis]

Miranda's question was what was the answer?

[Sam]

Is it on a modern console? So now we have bookends, right? It's not from the last century and it's not on the current gen.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Sam]

Okay.

[Per Schneider]

Was this game made in Japan?

[Sam]

No, it was not.

[Justin Davis]

Is this game on a Nintendo platform?

[Per Schneider]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Oh.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Is this game live service?

[Sam]

No.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Okay. No.

[Justin Davis]

That was a dark answer. Do you play as a.

[Sam]

That's how Damon says it. It.

[Justin Davis]

Do you play as a human in this game?

[Sam]

Yes. You do. Okay.

[Per Schneider]

Do you shoot guns in this game.

[Sam]

Oh, yeah.

[Per Schneider]

A lot of guns. Is this a first person.

[Justin Davis]

A lot of killing is.

[Sam]

Yes, that's it.

[Per Schneider]

So could be Master Chief, first person shooter.

[Justin Davis]

Not on a modern console, but after the 70s, 80s and 90s.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Is this the first game in a series?

[Sam]

Yes. Oh, well, let me take that back. It's the first game. Game.

[Miranda Sanchez]

The first game. So not necessarily in a series.

[Per Schneider]

Maybe it's not a series.

[Justin Davis]

Should we ask that?

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's not Halo.

[Per Schneider]

Not Halo. Well, it could be, but just. It's the first. It's the first. Is this a science fiction game?

[Sam]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, but you shoot. Okay. You shoot guns.

[Sam]

That's 10.

[Per Schneider]

Not Halo. Could still be some of the Call of Duties, but also not other.

[Sam]

Yeah, I love that about Call of Duty. You just don't.

[Justin Davis]

Well, it could also be a Medal of Honor.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. Is this a. Is this a military themed FPS?

[Sam]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, so we could be in Call of Duty territory.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Is this based on real world events?

[Sam]

You know, I kind of looked that up and. No.

[Miranda Sanchez]

No.

[Sam]

Okay, that's great because, like, I get what you're saying. Like if a game is set, like

[Justin Davis]

if it's Call of Duty 2, island

[Sam]

of Okinawa in World War II.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Call of Duty 2 would be real locations.

[Per Schneider]

Is this either a Call of Duty, Medal of Honor or battlefield game?

[Sam]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Wow, a hack.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, that's fine. There's no rules. There's no cops. You can do what we want.

[Justin Davis]

So it's none of those, but it's a military shooter.

[Per Schneider]

Military FPS. I think we know, right?

[Justin Davis]

Military FPS.

[Miranda Sanchez]

First person, first person guns.

[Per Schneider]

And then Sam gave us a hint that it's probably not a series, but I don't know that we know that definitively.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Is this game defined by having a major reveal at the end?

[Sam]

No.

[Miranda Sanchez]

No. Okay.

[Sam]

I'm trying to think of what you're thinking of, but this is not probably

[Per Schneider]

Spec Ops the line.

[Justin Davis]

What were you thinking?

[Sam]

What happens at the end? Well, I guess we shouldn't spoil things.

[Per Schneider]

That Spec Ops the line is a whole thing.

[Sam]

Apparently I spoiled the Mario Galaxy.

[Per Schneider]

Could be. Could be. So calm.

[Justin Davis]

You did. I listened to that episode.

[Sam]

Terrible.

[Per Schneider]

Come on.

[Sam]

That's not true.

[Per Schneider]

Not science fiction, though. So calm. Military Killed Zone is.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, that's also sci fi.

[Per Schneider]

There is. There was that game Mag. That's around that era.

[Justin Davis]

Well, what was that other Ubisoft game with a yellow masks thing?

[Sam]

Thing?

[Per Schneider]

There was a Ghost Recon.

[Justin Davis]

Not.

[Per Schneider]

There's Ghost Recon. Is this. Is this a Ghost Recon, SOCOM or MAG?

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Sam]

Wow. That's 15 and no.

[Justin Davis]

Whoa. So Rainbow Six.

[Per Schneider]

Oh, you were thinking of Rainbow Six.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, no, no, I was. I was thinking of Haze, which would never be in this game because Nobody remembers that 15.

[Miranda Sanchez]

But trying to think of like other defining factors from first person shooters. That would be good to ask.

[Per Schneider]

I mean, whether it's multiplayer or single player focused might be helpful, or it might not. I don't even know. I'm like, I feel like I've named every military FPS I can think of, so.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Oh, yeah. Because it is military.

[Justin Davis]

The series thing stumps me because obviously, you know, Rainbow six is also a series and. And as are the ones that you mentioned.

[Sam]

You've never asked the question about the series, so. Oh, we asked if it was the

[Miranda Sanchez]

first in a series.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, we asked if it's.

[Per Schneider]

The answer was. The answer was yes. Well, Sam said it's the first.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. So.

[Per Schneider]

And I also think. I think, by the way, this is yes, Rainbow 6 is an FPS, but I don't think the original ones were. I think they were third person, if I recall correctly. And they switched. Oh, boy.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I don't know the military part. I'm just kind of like, what? Same other military shooter that is maybe loosely based on the real world, but not exact real world events.

[Sam]

Yeah. You have five questions.

[Justin Davis]

And again, the era is. We're Talking about between 2,020 something, basically

[Sam]

whenever that Xbox series came out.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. So that's a. That's a pretty big range window. I mean, there's. Goldeneye is a military shooter.

[Per Schneider]

What about like. Well, we asked about service. What about like pubg?

[Miranda Sanchez]

No, it's. It's not service. Pubg is a service game.

[Per Schneider]

I guess I'm trying to be in that headspace though. Like. Yeah, you're right. But like, you know, like. Like, Like a Tarkov. I know that. That's a live service.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's live service. Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

Well, that's like something like that.

[Justin Davis]

That's like that.

[Per Schneider]

I'm picturing like older console games and I'm trying to get out of that headspace.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Was this game popular on the Xbox360 specifically?

[Sam]

No.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Okay. Okay. That is weirdly kind of helpful because it rules out some other things I was thinking of.

[Justin Davis]

So then we. And it wasn't on a Nintendo console. We already established that.

[Miranda Sanchez]

No, no, we have four. Four more, which.

[Justin Davis]

Which, by the way, Rainbow Six was as well, like a 2000 N64 game too. So maybe we're in place. Maybe we're in PlayStation territory. Should we.

[Per Schneider]

I asked about SOCOM though, and NAG. Those are the two I could think of.

[Sam]

Of.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam]

You. You've been riffing on several questions that have not been asked that are really good questions.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know what we.

[Per Schneider]

What do we.

[Justin Davis]

Was this a. Was this a. A PlayStation game? Like a PlayStation console series game?

[Sam]

Also, you need to refine that question.

[Justin Davis]

Was this game on a PlayStation console?

[Sam]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Okay.

[Per Schneider]

I don't know.

[Sam]

There's.

[Per Schneider]

There's. There's like there's Arma.

[Justin Davis]

There's what two?

[Sam]

And I guess there's Arma.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Well, it doesn't necessarily mean it is a PlayStation exclusive because I'm what we asked.

[Per Schneider]

He's right.

[Justin Davis]

He said this would be one we get, so it can't be Arma.

[Sam]

Yeah, I know it's one. I know it's one we can get.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam]

And when I reveal it or you get it, you will know why I. It's one that I know you can get.

[Per Schneider]

Has. Maybe it's a game that we already talked about on the show.

[Sam]

Just gonna have to believe.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I feel like I'm failing myself in some way. I'm just like, I should know this, but I don't. This is because it sounds a stupid

[Justin Davis]

no brainer thing somewhere. First person. Not the latest console generation military first person shooter. First in a series.

[Sam]

First.

[Justin Davis]

So it's first. Okay.

[Per Schneider]

It.

[Justin Davis]

It started.

[Per Schneider]

Why is it. Why does it keep saying first like that? What does that mean?

[Miranda Sanchez]

It's not live service.

[Sam]

It just means that I'm separating. You can't ask. There's two questions there that Randa trickled out. The second one was a series, but I didn't answer that question. I answered. Was this the first?

[Per Schneider]

We.

[Justin Davis]

We didn't. We didn't ask that.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. What about. But not what about army of Two?

[Jobert]

What about.

[Per Schneider]

I don't know. I can't think of any other military FPSs that was. That also might have been a third person cover shooter.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, I'm figuring I'm missing something.

[Justin Davis]

Justin.

[Per Schneider]

Any other Kane.

[Justin Davis]

Any other Tom Clancy's.

[Per Schneider]

I mean we had. We had Ghost Recon. I mean there's Far Cry like which have. You know, was not really military.

[Justin Davis]

No, that's.

[Per Schneider]

You know, there's Splinter Cell, which is not a first person military FPS.

[Justin Davis]

It's got some first person in it. In the second one.

[Per Schneider]

It's not sci fi. Maybe it's a. Maybe it's a Star wars game. Because that's not sci fi. That's science.

[Justin Davis]

That would. No, you would say sci fi.

[Sam]

I'm not Damon.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's cruel. That's really cruel. Yeah, that would be. That's out of line.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Sam]

I think you have two options here. You can go with what generation of console is this really? You can also go with like some qualifications about the type of game it is. Both those would be helpful directions.

[Justin Davis]

It doesn't help us if we ask the series question, does it?

[Miranda Sanchez]

No, I don't. I. I think that's because we already

[Justin Davis]

know it's first console generation.

[Miranda Sanchez]

But I don't know if that helps.

[Justin Davis]

I mean it would. It would help if you knew if it's like PlayStation 3 or Places.

[Sam]

The difference is first and only versus first of a series. Right?

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Right.

[Per Schneider]

Is this game. Is this game part of a series?

[Sam]

No.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. Okay, great. It's the only one. So question. It's a. It's a one and done military FPS that's.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Has a non.

[Per Schneider]

And that appeared on a PlayStation was not popular on the Xbox 360.

[Miranda Sanchez]

No.

[Per Schneider]

So probably. Probably PS4. Four, maybe PS3. But oh gosh.

[Justin Davis]

And not like not life service end. So it's not life service where it's. It. It continues. And that's why there isn't a. A sequel.

[Per Schneider]

There's those. There's the. There's the ones that have the. Like the fatal. The sniper games where like the bullets like fly through people's brains and stuff like that.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I. Yeah, I know what you're talking about.

[Per Schneider]

Sniper Elite.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah, Sniper Elite. That's not. But it's not.

[Per Schneider]

But I think. I also think. I think they were probably on Sniper Elite, like three or four.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Anyway, that's a series.

[Per Schneider]

Oh gosh. I don't know. I don't know.

[Sam]

You're all sniffing around the right tree here.

[Per Schneider]

It's just not quite getting it say that.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

We have one question left.

[Justin Davis]

Should we ask whether it's a. Whether it's Sony published? No, it was on Xbox, so like then it wouldn't have been.

[Per Schneider]

Do we know it was on Xbox?

[Miranda Sanchez]

No, we don't know.

[Justin Davis]

I thought you said something. It wasn't popular on Xbox. Didn't you.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I asked if it was specifically.

[Sam]

I answered the question.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I specifically asked if it's popular on Xbox360.

[Per Schneider]

Was this game exclusive to a PlayStation platform?

[Sam]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, so.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Okay, so it's.

[Per Schneider]

So just host. We don't. I don't know.

[Miranda Sanchez]

It could be original Xbox or Xbox One and those generations that.

[Justin Davis]

So let's. Or.

[Per Schneider]

Or it was on the 360 and just wasn't that popular.

[Justin Davis]

Let's Think about the publishers. Did we ask where it was made? It was not made in Japan. So we're talking about.

[Sam]

You can't ask anything more.

[Justin Davis]

No, no. But.

[Sam]

But we.

[Justin Davis]

We had that. We had that question.

[Per Schneider]

Question.

[Justin Davis]

We asked if it was made in Japan. It was. No.

[Sam]

Correct.

[Justin Davis]

So we know it's either EA Ubisoft, you know, and if it's. By then like Midway, Atari were already. Oh, this. Atari still was alive. EA Ubisoft after the 90s.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Rockstar take two. 2K.

[Per Schneider]

We need a. We. We just need. We're. I mean, we're out of questions.

[Justin Davis]

We need 10 more questions.

[Sam]

Pairs out of time.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, I think. I don't think it's.

[Sam]

Do you want to keep asking questions?

[Per Schneider]

No, I. I'm gonna go. Is it Sniper Elite?

[Sam]

No, it is not Sniper Elite.

[Per Schneider]

Sorry.

[Sam]

So Greg Kelly says I think it's finally time to suggest the game Black for video game 20.

[Justin Davis]

Oh my God.

[Sam]

I know it's been a running joke from Justin over the years that he regularly thinks it's going to be this game, but it still never has been.

[Per Schneider]

It never is.

[Sam]

He has mentioned it much in the past year or two, so I think it's the perfect time to pick it. Let's get him.

[Narrator/Advertiser]

Oh my God.

[Justin Davis]

It's Black.

[Sam]

Signed one of the two 20q stats dudes from Massachusetts.

[Per Schneider]

I got got from the maker.

[Sam]

I don't think so.

[Justin Davis]

Burnout.

[Sam]

You would have gotten this maybe with the.

[Per Schneider]

The we also. I think I never. I never actually played this game, but I think. I think it was. Was single player only.

[Sam]

It is. Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

So it's like that may have actually

[Sam]

helped 2002 PS2 Xbox. So pretty early.

[Justin Davis]

Yes.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Yeah.

[Sam]

Sorry. Sorry. 2006. I mean PS2 Xbox. 2006. You can now play it on Xbox Backwards compatibility in the digital store. That's basically the only way to play it. We gave it an 8.6 on Xbox and 8.7 on PS2.

[Per Schneider]

Great. Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I should know that this game existed Criterion.

[Sam]

Criterion Dev.

[Miranda Sanchez]

That's crazy.

[Justin Davis]

You've seen the. You've. It is.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

You. You've seen the COVID It has all the bullet casings on it. It's a very. Everything about this game was like marketed differently. Unfortunately. It never. It just never became a big hit.

[Sam]

But it's kind of an elevated tech demo. It looked really good.

[Per Schneider]

It was very beautiful at the time. And. And it didn't. It didn't have multiplayer. Right. So it's like just a really elevated, like good.

[Sam]

Also famous for destruction.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam]

It had it had evolution.

[Justin Davis]

It had a lot of destruction. Bullet like bullet. Just a lot of effects around the. The guns, crumbling walls. Yeah.

[Sam]

Was a big deal. And I think Resident Evil 4 ended up doing that in Engine for a lot of stuff too. But it was.

[Per Schneider]

Game's known for its sound design as well.

[Justin Davis]

It was basically like the Matrix lobby scene as a video game. You know, like they, they just, they were, they were doing a lot of. There you go, there you go, there you go.

[Sam]

There's some evolution.

[Justin Davis]

All the, the, the destruction stuff. Oh, man, what a bummer. Like, I, I know. I know this game pretty well and I'm, I'm a little bummed, but. Yeah, I would not have thought of Black.

[Sam]

When Damon comes back, we'll have him just play against us with the same game and see if he gets it.

[Per Schneider]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Miranda Sanchez]

I wanted this to be gun because it's just such a funny name for a shooter.

[Sam]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

But that's not one of the few cowboy games before Red Dead. Yeah, Yeah.

[Sam]

I have like a leather flask. Okay.

[Miranda Sanchez]

What? That's so cool.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah. Just from the swag, you know, trash can back in the day. Okay. Thank you for your suggestion, Greg. Viewers, if you have your own, it was a good one and been part of VG2 Cube DNA, which I like. If you have your own suggestions for reading of 20 questions, you can send them to gamescoopgn.com don't send them to nbcgn.com like I asked for last week. That made all the NBC organizers very disturbed. But I really appreciate everybody's suggestions that they sent in. There are some really good ones in there and some even better anecdotes. So I really appreciate that. That's all scoops we have for this week. Dan will be back next week. Thank you to per Justin and Miranda and to Jobert, working kind of between the scenes today. That was really fun. Jobert, this is IGN Game Scoop and we're.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Sa.

[Sam]

Sarah, what are you doing for your birthday day?

[Justin Davis]

My wife booked us into a super fancy restaurant tonight.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Ooh.

[Justin Davis]

And then, well, next week we're going on vacation.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Oh.

[Justin Davis]

And then special birthday treat is on Saturday. We're going to look at the. The five saluki puppies and pick ours.

[Sam]

Oh, my God. What type of dog is that?

[Justin Davis]

We're not bringing him home yet.

[Sam]

What type of a saluki?

[Justin Davis]

A saluki is like. It's like a hippie grain hound. It has really. It has like long, fuzzy ears.

[Miranda Sanchez]

What's a borzo?

[Justin Davis]

A borzo. My parents had them when I was a kid. They. They're Russian wolfhound. So basically greyhound, one size bigger with long hair and weird, funny, long noses. If you ever watched what's the. The hound movie, the Disney one. The. What is it called in English?

[Per Schneider]

It's called the Fox and the Hound.

[Justin Davis]

No, the other one. The one with. This is the night. What a beautiful, beautiful night.

[Sam]

Lady and the Tramp.

[Justin Davis]

Lady and the Tramp. In Germany it's called Zuzi on Str. It's the names of the. The. The. The animals. Yeah.

[Sam]

That says the names of the animals in English.

[Justin Davis]

No, one animal lady is Zuzi Unstroch. Well, it's the Tramp. Is that his name? Is. Is his name Tramp?

[Sam]

No, I think his name is. I think his name is Jacques. Is that right?

[Justin Davis]

See, it's different. Anyway, there is a borzo.

[Sam]

The lady is named lady, though.

[Justin Davis]

One of the. One of the entourage dogs is a Russian wolfhound and his name is Boris. And he speaks like this.

[Per Schneider]

Okay.

[Sam]

Yep.

[Jobert]

I will count you in.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Sorry, was that tag?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Per Schneider]

Oh, yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, yeah.

[Jobert]

Miranda. So we usually have, like. We usually have like a. I usually put like, a random Internet video on for everyone to watch while I set up. This is tame. I've had some. Some wild ones.

[Justin Davis]

I saw this. I said, what. I said, what in the Gilbert is this? And he said, it's the Tag World Championships.

[Sam]

I'm like, man, cockroaches into each other's mouths. Oh, I froze.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, the balloon. Keepy uppy.

[Jobert]

Yeah, it's like. It's that game where, like, you hit a balloon around. But the crazy thing is their. Their arena is basically a living room room.

[Justin Davis]

There's the Balloon World Cup. Look at it. Because this is in human tradition, was always played in living rooms.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Of course, the set would be a L. Funny.

[Per Schneider]

Set's really good.

[Justin Davis]

I feel like the next level set should have cacti, though.

[Per Schneider]

Ah.

[Justin Davis]

And like, if you're the last person to touch it, like, you. You lose the point.

[Miranda Sanchez]

Do they have to. You can only do it once.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah. And then I think there's rules. Like, you have to bop it up as an.

[Miranda Sanchez]

You can't spike it.

[Per Schneider]

Yeah, you can't spike it.

[Sam]

So many questions about that Doritos arcade machine.

[Per Schneider]

I also think you can't. You can't block the other player.

[Justin Davis]

Go, Justin.

[Per Schneider]

Oh, no, just. I like that they follow the Olympics like it's Peru versus Bulgaria. Like. Like they went through. They went through regionals to get.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah. 500 teams in Bulgaria.

[Sam]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Per Schneider]

They have a promotion and relegation system.

[Sam]

Yeah, those semis were tense.

[Jobert]

Okay, I think we are good to go. Everyone sounds good. Everyone looks good. And Sam, I will count you in. In five, four, three, two, and on you.