Game Scoop! 856: What the Fox?!

Summary

Game Scoop! 856: What the Fox?!

Date: May 8, 2026
Host: Daemon Hatfield
Guests: Nick Limone, Sam Claiborne, Mark Medina
Podcast: Game Scoop! (IGN/Geek Media)

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into Nintendo’s newly-announced Star Fox remake, discusses speculation about major remakes like Ocarina of Time and Mario 64, covers Capcom’s indie breakout Pragmata, celebrates the perfect-scoring Mixtape, and sifts through retro gaming history via a May/June 1989 issue of Nintendo Power. The crew also weighs in on BioShock 4’s delays and wraps with the traditional (and always wild) 20 Questions segment. Expect hearty debates, nostalgia, and the same sharp wit Game Scoop! is known for.

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Key Segments & Topics

1. IGN Live & Upcoming Events

Timestamps: 03:18–04:35

• IGN Live is coming up on June 6th & 7th in LA: exclusive game demos, remakes (Assassin's Creed Black Flag, Gothic), hands-on with new indies, and the Game Scoop 20th Anniversary taping.

Quote:

"You will walk away with tons of free stuff, I guarantee it." (Damon, 04:20)

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2. Star Fox Remake – "What the Fox?!"

Timestamps: 04:35–15:16

The Announcement

• Nintendo is remaking Star Fox 64 as simply "Star Fox" for Switch 2 (exclusive).
• Discussion on naming—jokes about "Switch D4" and "Star Fox 256".

Series Nostalgia & Critique

• Damon admits he’s only played the original SNES Star Fox.
• Debate over the "last good Star Fox" (Nick: Assault is okay; Sam: the DS/3DS entries; Mark: feels 64 is the most beloved).
• Recent movie cameo (the Mario movie) raised expectations for character expressiveness—which the remake’s graphics don’t meet.
  • Comparisons to Lion King’s lack of animal expression; complaints about Slippy's "soaking wet" texture.

"I screamed when they showed Slippy, derogatory." (Mark, 06:54)

"The wet look is not a good look." (Sam, 06:42)

Gameplay & Upgrades

• Classic on-rails shooter, multiple branching routes, and arena segments for replay value.
• New features: mission objective lists, more cutscenes and lore (mixed feelings), compatibility for N64 controller and mouse controls on Switch 2.

"Once you play through all the paths in the game, you’re like, alright, I think I’ve done everything. But the one thing that’s a little bit weird... is the addition of all the cutscenes." (Nick, 12:12)

• Split opinions on technical aspects:
  • Visuals: space levels look "slick", but water/lava "Dreamcast-like".
  • 60 FPS for the first time.
  • Price criticism: $50 digital / $60 physical is steep.

"Nintendo be glad that it’s 50 and not 70." (Mark, 13:56)

Franchise and Nintendo's Remake Trend

• Prediction that an Ocarina of Time remake (maybe part-by-part) is coming.
• Fans hope for a Mario 64 remake—debate over ideal remake features (mark wants original controls; Sam and Damon want camera improvements).

"I would love a remake of Mario 64 that looks like Odyssey and actually lets you hecking control the camera." (Damon, 14:49)

Design Philosophy

• Panel wishes Nintendo would commit to a unique style—anime or puppet-inspired—rather than "gritty realism".
• Admiration for AR and chat features but skepticism about their real-world appeal.

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3. Ocarina of Time Remake Speculation

Timestamps: 17:46–20:40

• Panel debates whether a straight graphical remake suffices versus a more radical FFVII-style reimagining.
• Desire for expanded side quests, jump button, open-world updates, and a strong, defined visual style.
• Concerns about splitting the game into "Part One" and "Part Two".

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4. Capcom’s Pragmata: A New Hit

Timestamps: 26:18–30:12

• Pragmata sold 2 million in 16 days, lauded for its challenge and post-game content.
• Capcom credits demos and narrative gameplay for success.
• Mark & Nick praise Capcom’s replayability and generous post-credits content.
• Sam critiques Capcom’s initial marketing, says word-of-mouth/demos made the difference.

"You beat the game and you’re like, now I really want to play it again." (Mark, 28:34)

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5. Mixtape: A Rare 10/10

Timestamps: 30:12–37:56

Description & Experience

• “Non-game game” — part walking sim, part playable 3D music video.
• Nostalgic, slice-of-life narrative with vignettes (skating, parties, exploring).
• Heavy on atmosphere, unique visual style, uses deep cuts for soundtrack.
• Described as an “experience” more than a traditional game, with strong polish and magical realism.

"It's a series of playable cutscenes with music videos, and the music videos are playable too..." (Sam, 30:54)

Who’s It For?

• Hits hard for people with 90s/California nostalgia; for others, offers “American Fantasy.”
• Not much player agency (no dialogue choices or puzzle-solving).
• Best played in a group with friends who share the nostalgia.

"The sound of the beer opening is perfect. They're not a beer." (Sam, 35:17)

Related Titles

• Panel compares it to Edith Finch, Life is Strange, and Gone Home.

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6. BioShock 4 and Big Budget Blockers

Timestamps: 40:45–45:01

• Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is “deeply disappointed” at BioShock 4’s prolonged development.
• Panel jokes about endless resets and the need for BioShock to remain imaginative and transformative.
• Where can BioShock “go next” after underwater (Rapture) and sky (Columbia)? Center of the earth or space? Mentions Judas.
• Infinite’s legacy: panel (mostly Mark) defend Infinite as “still fun today”.
• Panel agrees they don’t want “just another Rapture rehash”.

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7. Nintendo Power Flashback: May/June 1989

Timestamps: 45:51–65:54

Cover & Features

• TMNT featured (with “wild” airbrushed cover); discussion about place in gaming history.
• Crew reminisces about the NES TMNT's notorious underwater level, tough NES days, and the game's status as best-selling third-party NES title.

Letters & Mailbox Highlights

• Wholesome Kool-Aid "Mike Tyson's Punch" recipe.
• Fan-penned Zelda rap.
• Nintendo teasing Super Mario Bros. 3 only being available on PlayChoice 10, not NES—a mind-blower for ‘80s kids:

"There are no plans to bring Super Mario Bros. 3 to the NES." (Nintendo Power, 53:06)

Discovery Zone Tangent

• Crew shares memories of arcades, ball pits, and laser tag centers.

Art, Awards, and Counselor’s Corners

• Panel reviews best NES games/prizes, fan art (potentially from future Shantae dev Matt Bozon!).
• "Power Player" letters: kids bragging about game completions ("I solved Super Mario Brothers 2.").
• 1988 Nestor Awards: Best graphics/sound to Castlevania II, best challenge to Zelda, best overall to Zelda II.

Game Boy Reveal

• Original reveal was a tiny blurb:

"Have you ever secretly dreamed you could put your NES in your pocket?" (Nintendo Power, 73:05)

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8. Quick Recaps: Batman, Gumshoe, and Game Culture

Timestamps: 68:13–75:10

• Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman phenom recalled—biggest movie of the era.
• Holly Robinson’s favorite NES game? Gumshoe (“Whoa, is that a brand new sentence?”).
• More Power Player letters: "We set up our NES Defeating Force Club."
• Discussion of how skill-based fan culture thrived pre-internet.
• The excitement and mystery of Game Boy’s reveal—before Tetris took over.

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9. Extracurriculars & Mini-Reviews

Timestamps: 74:53–76:43

• Damon finishes Mall Shadowlord, praises its mature tone and exciting finale (Star Wars, Disney+).
• Nick recommends for Darth Maul fans, citing the anime influence and new droids.

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10. Video Game 20 Questions (Stellar Blade)

Timestamps: 76:49–84:32

• The answer was Stellar Blade (PS5); the crew skillfully narrows it down to a Korean-developed, Sony-published game based on the developer’s wife as the lead character model.
• Panel praises the game and soundtrack—fitting that Mark got thrown “a bone.”

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11. Closing Banter & Community

Timestamps: 84:32–END

• Viewers invited to the new IGN Discord for Game Scoop discussions, suggestions, polls, and more.
• Plenty of after-show banter about past 20 Questions, home flooding mishaps, cat worries, old-school podcast setups, and ren faires.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

Humor & Zingers

• "It's 60 FPS. That's all that we need for a Star Fox game. I don't think a Star Fox game has ever been 60 FPS." (Nick, 09:44)
• "I screamed when they showed Slippy, derogatory." (Mark, 06:54)
• "Justice for Flood." (Multiple, 22:05–22:08)
• "There are no plans to bring Super Mario Bros. 3 to the NES." (Nintendo Power, 53:06)
• "I've solved Zelda 2 in a week and a day. This is just one of my many accomplishments..." (Jeremy, Nintendo Power letter, 70:59)

Analysis & Insights

• Panel divides cleanly on Nintendo’s modern remake philosophy—enthusiasm for new tech, but a longing for bolder visual direction and fairer pricing.
• Recognition of Capcom and indie storytelling’s current dominance: “Capcom has this crazy ability to make their games more fun after you’ve beaten them...” (Mark, 28:34)
• Critical but fond retrospection on 80s and 90s gaming culture and media.

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Recommended Listening Segments

• Star Fox Remake Deep Dive: 04:35–15:16
• Ocarina of Time Remake Speculation: 17:46–20:40
• Pragmata Postmortem: 26:18–30:12
• Mixtape Review: 30:12–37:56
• Nintendo Power & Retro Segment: 45:51–65:54
• 20 Questions (Stellar Blade): 76:49–84:32

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Episode Tone & Style

The crew keeps it light, irreverent, and highly nostalgic, moving smoothly between roasting new game reveals, reliving childhood game magazine hype, and celebrating both retro and modern achievements. The dynamic is conversational and playful, but with a backbone of veteran game analysis—a perfect “scoop” of news, laughs, and memories for fans old and new.

Transcript

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[Damon Hatfield]

What's up everybody? Welcome to IGN gamescoop. I'm your host, Damon Hatfield. Joining me here at the table is Nick Limone.

[Nick Limone]

I'm back, baby.

[Damon Hatfield]

We're also joined by Sam Claiborne.

[Sam Claiborne]

Hey, it's great to be back.

[Damon Hatfield]

And Mark Medina.

[Mark Medina]

I'm here, Damon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Well, we've got a great show for this week. There's a new Star Fox game to talk about. Well, new of course.

[Mark Medina]

For the fifth time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, a remade Star Fox game with a very fresh coat of paint. We've got some good news on Pragmata Sales. I know our review of mixtape came out. It's the first 10 out of 10 that we've given this year. And I also have The May and June 1989 issue of Nintendo Power. There are some fun things to look through in there.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wait, May and June 9th? That's like the third or fourth issue ever.

[Damon Hatfield]

It was like the sixth issue. But yeah, you're right.

[Sam Claiborne]

Sixth issue.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, but first, viewers Scoop Nation. Hopefully you're aware that IGN Live is less than a month away now. It is going down June 6th and 7th here in downtown LA. So hopefully you've already got your tickets. Hopefully you're going to join us for exclusive looks at upcoming games. We're going to have Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake there or resynced the game Gothic Remake. You can go hands on with playable demos including new indie games from IDbox. You will walk away with tons of free stuff, I guarantee it. And of course you can be there for the 20th anniversary taping of Game Scoop, which will all be here. All of us will be here. We'll be there for it. So you can get tickets at IGN, what is it? Live.ign.com and if you use the code, the promo code Scoop5, you can get $5 off your ticket. Go to live.ign.com and use the promo code Scoop5 to get $5 off your ticket to IGN Live. And we'll see you there.

[Mark Medina]

So IGN Live is so damn fun. Just go.

[Damon Hatfield]

It is heckin. It's a heckin good time. Star Fox is the name of the new Star Fox which is a remake of Star Fox 64.

[Nick Limone]

Lose the 64. It's cleaner.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. How is it. How is it not? Switch D4. Like, come on. It was right there.

[Damon Hatfield]

Switch D4.

[Nick Limone]

All right.

[Damon Hatfield]

Rolling off the tongue.

[Nick Limone]

Nintendo. I'm sorry, Mark, I don't want to lose you from ign, but Nintendo hired this man.

[Sam Claiborne]

It would actually be Nintendo Switch D4 Edition is how they just put on

[Mark Medina]

sunglasses, leave the room. They're like, he did it again.

[Sam Claiborne]

Let me just do the quick calculations here. 64 times 4. So technically, this is Star Fox 256.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, got it. I've never played this game. I've actually only ever played the original Star Fox game on Super Nintendo, which I played because it looked so cool because of the super effects chip in there. And I don't know, I've just never played any other Star Fox game. Pair tells me this is a good one. He says this is actually a very good game.

[Nick Limone]

Confirmed.

[Mark Medina]

It's probably the last good Star Fox game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Mark Medina]

And now the comments are rolling.

[Nick Limone]

I kind of like Assault. Assault's not great, but it's all right.

[Sam Claiborne]

There's a pretty good DS1. Oh, the.

[Mark Medina]

The 3Ds.

[Nick Limone]

The 3DS1.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, not the dinosaur one.

[Nick Limone]

Star Fox Adventures is the GameCube one. But Star Fox. Well, the Star Fox on 3DS is the remake of Star Fox 64.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, not that one. There's one on DS which has a little bit more flying around and stuff.

[Nick Limone]

Ooh.

[Sam Claiborne]

X is pretty cool for Game Boy. Also, the kind of precursors of Star Fox.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, my gosh. I was not aware of A Game Boy 1.

[Damon Hatfield]

Star Fox Command is the one that Sam is thinking of.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, Command is pretty cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

They all have Star Fox in them, though.

[Damon Hatfield]

So here's my. Here's my takeaway. As someone who has not played this game, I don't think Nintendo did themselves any favors by showing us that clip from the Mario Galaxy movie first.

[Nick Limone]

I know.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Because

[Damon Hatfield]

so good and so cool in the movie. And he's so expressive and has so much personality. And then we get this, which I wouldn't say has any of those things. I would actually liken this to the live action remakes of the Lion King.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Where the animals just don't have any expression or personality or anything.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. You know, I know he's a frog, but the wet look is not a good look.

[Nick Limone]

He just looks as shiny as I do right now on camera.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. I mean, he's lucky he's in his own starship because he smell bad.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. I screamed when they showed Slippy derogatory.

[Nick Limone]

That said, I do think all of the bad guys look pretty darn good. I think Falco looks pretty good too.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. The others I don't think look that bad.

[Nick Limone]

Fox looks okay. He just has a couple bad angles is all. We all have our bad angles.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know, man. Look at that chin. He looks like you need some scratches, that's for sure. I. I think that the gritty old Fox crew is like the funniest thing ever.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, it's so good. Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. James McCloud. He looks cool.

[Nick Limone]

It is weird how just like high fidelity. This looks in a way where I was like, well, you certainly made a choice Nintendo. But I mean, I'm excited for it. I do like star Fox 64. It's been ages since I've played it. I think I still remember how to access the alternate route. So looking forward to doing all that. And I think it's a great arcade style shooter. Like it's a solid video game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

I can't get over how Soaking wet slip. I don't like it at all.

[Nick Limone]

More like sloppy. Am I right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Paris Singh. You know, it's an on rails shooter, but there are different routes. If you like shoot a specific thing, it'll take you down different paths. So you have to play if you want to see everything you have to play the game through multiple times.

[Sam Claiborne]

And there's arena areas that have like, kind of like challenges where it's like you're flying around and trying to like take out this like structure and you either do or you don't. So it has stuff like that.

[Damon Hatfield]

I.

[Sam Claiborne]

This looks awesome. The old 64.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, the, the, you can beat the game in like an hour and a half. Right. But like the whole point is that you're supposed to like. I remember playing it as a kid and I'd just be like, oh, we're, you know, just beat the game casually. But the, the whole point is that you're constantly replaying it to find the secret routes.

[Sam Claiborne]

And that's how the first Super Nintendo one was. It's just the first Super Nintendo one was really hard and I think 64 is a little bit easier.

[Nick Limone]

It is pretty easier. And then that alternate path kind of kicks your ass a little bit. The alternate path can be harder paths because there's an underwater level that I still remember being the bane of my existence where you play as a submarine and it's called the Blue Neptune and it's sick.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't think this game was designed from the ground up for Switch 2. It is a Switch 2 exclusive. You cannot play this on Switch 1 now. But that's because of the kind of upgrades to the chat and the multiplayer and stuff like that that they had that they showed. I'm. I don't. I mean, Nintendo has made five better looking games and Yoshi looks better than this coming at the same month. Like for some reason, like, it just. It just looks a little bit last gen to me. Or pre last gen. I was making a lot of GameCube jokes watching it, but, you know, I'm sure it'll be fun.

[Mark Medina]

Well, I think the gameplay looks cool. Yeah, the cutscenes look a little weird, but the moment they actually start flying, I think it looks cool like that. That looks great.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't think that fire lava stuff looks that great.

[Nick Limone]

But it's 60.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think it looks.

[Nick Limone]

It's 60 FPS. That's all that we need for a Star Fox game. I don't think a Star Fox game has ever been 60 FPS.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I think I've never heard anyone say 60.

[Nick Limone]

I'm just trying it out right now. I'm trying to make it catch on.

[Sam Claiborne]

65ths has a ring to it, you gotta admit.

[Mark Medina]

I don't like it. I don't like that at all.

[Damon Hatfield]

It doesn't.

[Mark Medina]

I think it looks cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

It doesn't immediately impress me as much as Metroid Prime 4 did. When I saw that, I was like, wow, this looks really good.

[Nick Limone]

I think that this game really does shine visually in those like darker levels. Like when you're out in the space and you see like the light system and there's a lot of shadows. Like this stuff looks great. Like the stylized shadows are awesome.

[Sam Claiborne]

That looks good. Cool robot, but it doesn't universally good. Like that water part looked like a Sega Dreamcast level a lot. Like it just doesn't have the same crazy. I don't think the art direction looks very good in this.

[Damon Hatfield]

There they were just showing like a boss battle against like a, like a flying saucer. And this, the original game would have come out right around the same time as. What's Independence Day?

[Mark Medina]

Independence Day.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think it's got to be a reference to that.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, totally. I think this. I wish they leaned into the anime thing.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, that'd be way cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

But barring that lean into the puppets. Like if the whole world was like a little diorama of puppets. I just think Star Fox needs a style. It needs some kind of style change. Because the, the honestly, the gritty realism is Goofy to me, but I think this game will be good. And I think that Star Fox fans deserve this as a leaping point to kind of reset Star Fox. And I think that's what they're going for with the name, which is just wild just to call this. This is the reboot when they chose a completely different game to reboot.

[Damon Hatfield]

But whatever.

[Mark Medina]

One thing I think Ocarina of Time remake just be Zelda, dude.

[Nick Limone]

Well, I think this kind of sells that they 1 Nintendo is not above remaking their classics, and I think that's going to be next.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, yeah, they already did that with Mario RPG and Mario versus Donkey Kong, so there's precedent.

[Mark Medina]

This is on the. The same scale that this. I. If Zelda comes out later this year, I think that's exactly how the 3DS release was. Right. Star Fox was, I think, a launch title. And then. And then Zelda came out.

[Nick Limone]

Like, Star Fox took a little bit.

[Sam Claiborne]

You're. You're talking about the 3Ds order of releases.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which for games that nobody cared about, we're not gonna be able to drop. Nobody cared about this.

[Nick Limone]

I really like a lot of the stuff that they're adding in the game. I think the ability to replay missions with, like, the objective list, I think is inherently cool and interesting because once you play through all the paths in the game, you're like, all right, I think I've done everything. But the one thing that's a little bit weird I'm mixed about is the addition of, like, all the cutscenes that you can learn about all the Star Fox lore. Like, I think that's a fun and exciting. And it's something to fill the time. But then they do weird stuff. Like, here's the entire prologue of when James McCloud goes missing. It's like, part of the appeal of star Fox 64 is in the late game when there's a really cool thing that happens with James McCloud where you're like, whoa, who is this guy? What the heck? Like this. It removes a lot of the mystery, which is a bit of a bummer to me, I think, but maybe I'm just being nitpicky, but there is some. Some sort of, like, enigmatic stuff. The mystery of it all. Like, don't spell it out. Don't. Just. Just show me. Don't tell me.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's some other fun details. You can use the new N64 controller to play the game.

[Nick Limone]

That's nice. That's cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Or you can use mouse controls.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that was Weird first person.

[Mark Medina]

No thanks.

[Damon Hatfield]

I've actually never used a mouse control on Switch two. Anyone here?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I've done a master.

[Mark Medina]

I tried it with Cyberpunk and it was the worst thing I've ever done in my life.

[Sam Claiborne]

You pay to play the Switch 2 demos game.

[Damon Hatfield]

The. The welcome Tour.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, welcome Tour.

[Nick Limone]

Hey, I like welcome Tour and it was fun in there.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm not throwing any shade of welcome Tour except for selling it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark Medina]

I mean it was only five bucks. This is. Or ten bucks. This is 50, which is. No, I don't know.

[Nick Limone]

It's 50 digital and it's 60 physical, which I think is still a bit too expensive for what the game is granted.

[Mark Medina]

Pretty steep.

[Nick Limone]

The game is good, but Nintendo's gonna.

[Mark Medina]

Nintendo be glad that it's 50 and not 7.

[Nick Limone]

This just tells me the Ocarina of Time. Or Ocarina of Time. Sorry. Someone yelled at me for calling it Ocarina of Time.

[Damon Hatfield]

I thought. I've heard. I've never heard anyone say Ocarina.

[Nick Limone]

Well, I might have said Ocarina, but regardless, I've only heard OC. I think that that game is going to be 69.99. When that comes out.

[Damon Hatfield]

100% they could charge.

[Mark Medina]

Where is Mario 64? I'm getting sick of this.

[Damon Hatfield]

What do you want the remake?

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, I want this.

[Nick Limone]

But for Mario Mario 128 we got. We can finally do 128.

[Mark Medina]

Mario 64 has never gotten a remake.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes. And like one on the DS.

[Nick Limone]

Dude, the DS one is great. Oh man.

[Mark Medina]

I will. I will. I will cancel. I will.

[Nick Limone]

Good game.

[Mark Medina]

Show's over, guys.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, it's just a fact, Mark. I'm not saying it's good, but saying that it never got a remake when it got a remake is wild.

[Mark Medina]

That's not a remake.

[Damon Hatfield]

I would love a remake of Mario 64 that looks like Odyssey and actually lets you hecking control the camera.

[Mark Medina]

64, the camera needs to stay exactly the same and the controls need to stay exactly the same.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think that's the problem, Mark, is that like there's too much. There's too much to get wrong by tweaking it. And if they.

[Mark Medina]

If they appease Damon, they're going to make me sad.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's ok. Make me sad.

[Nick Limone]

They're going to destroy the Mario speedrunning community. That's okay.

[Mark Medina]

Exactly.

[Sam Claiborne]

They added stars to the DS1, which is like the coolest thing ever. And it would just be amazing to get Mario 64x anniversary edition with twice as many Stars. That'd be awesome.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, multiple characters too. In the ds. You start the game as Yoshi. It rocks.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Does not rock.

[Nick Limone]

It does, but.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

So bad.

[Sam Claiborne]

That one's. That one's tough. I mean, like just an upscale to look nice and everything would be great. But how great would it be if the next Mario game is, you know, a game more like Odyssey? It's huge. Has a lot of different places, but one of those places is the Mushroom Kingdom. And then when you go inside the castle, it is the full remake of Mario.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, my gosh.

[Sam Claiborne]

In that engine, in that castle. But it's just like a side. A side part of the game.

[Nick Limone]

Kind of like the end of Odyssey. Spoilers. Sorry.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah. That last level is gorgeous. And imagine just hop. You go inside over the drawbridge and all of a sudden, paintings galore.

[Damon Hatfield]

That.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is weird because this.

[Damon Hatfield]

I wanted to talk about this AR filter thing.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. But also, like, these are very important internal Nintendo people to be putting Koizumi and Miyamoto. Miyamoto makes a little more sense. It's like I made Star Fox and I love Star Fox, but Kozumi, did they make this at R&D1? Like, what's happening? Like, it doesn't look like it.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. This is kind of interesting. I don't know. This is like this tech has been in our iPhones for years now. But now Nintendo put it in Star Fox.

[Nick Limone]

But now instead of an Apple Fox, you have Fox McCloud. And I would argue that's even better.

[Mark Medina]

It does look very silly and I'm

[Sam Claiborne]

kind of into it seeing the. I mean, it's almost like they designed the chat to look like Star Fox, though, because when you see the chat with the four Star Fox characters. Characters, and that's so cool. Except they put like a three level little mini multiplayer game in there.

[Mark Medina]

I love this idea that Nintendo actually thinks that it's like people are going to be on there using their AR filters, talking all innocently.

[Sam Claiborne]

I call Snoopy.

[Damon Hatfield]

Koizumi is getting more emotion out of Star Fox or Fox McCloud's face than I've seen in the cutscenes of the game.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's true.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. I mean, okay. I've never played this game. It's supposed to be good. So I look forward to playing it in June.

[Nick Limone]

Is it still fun, Damon?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, that's actually.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's a good idea.

[Mark Medina]

There's only one way to find out.

[Damon Hatfield]

There is only one way to find out. But what do we think about so if this Ocarina of Time remake is true now would you want. Can they get away with just doing this same game? Everything's the same. Just make it pretty graphics. Or should they do more of like a Final Fantasy vii?

[Nick Limone]

I want them to add more. I want there to be more side quests. Like take a note from Majora's Mask in terms of like all of the different side activities that are in Castle Town or the Hyrule Castle Town, whatever it's called, and give me more stuff to do there. Because in Ocarina of Time it feels very, you know, it's exciting the first time you play the game, but once you know the game, it's like, oh, there's not that much to do here.

[Sam Claiborne]

You got to find the puppy.

[Nick Limone]

You got to find the puppy. But yeah, I think keep the same structure, but I think it just give me some more stuff to do in the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

You know what they definitely have to do? Mark, let me control the camera.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's very unlikely in Hyrule Castle Town.

[Mark Medina]

That's why you can do it in that game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Hyrule Castle Town. I don't care. They can keep, keep that pre rendered. That's fine.

[Nick Limone]

You know what I'm already calling it now. They're going to add a jump button to the game and it's going to be the most controversial thing in the world.

[Mark Medina]

I. I mean the rumors is, is that it's like Breath of the Wild stuff style remakes.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, that'd be a fundamental remake.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that doesn't mean much except for like, I mean, unless it's like Open World. If it means like that's the design they're drawing from. Then they solved a problem that Star Fox was unable to solve, which is like, what does Star Fox look like in High Fidelity? And like looks good in the Mario movie? Even the 3D character looks good in the Mario movie. But like not in the game.

[Nick Limone]

Like, look, look at Hyrule.

[Sam Claiborne]

Doesn't look right. Look at Hyrule looks like the, the first iteration of Song.

[Mark Medina]

It looks great.

[Nick Limone]

Like, don't get me wrong, I love Ocarina of Time. But like this is like I see the opportunities here. And just in Hyrule Field alone, I was like, okay, you can add a cave over here, you can add a little mountain over there. Like why not?

[Sam Claiborne]

What about a hole under a tree? Would you settle for that?

[Nick Limone]

Oh, I'll take a handful.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

So yeah, I mean this needs more and definitely they need to give it a style and pick a style that's interesting and everything, but, like, if I. We don't. We don't know what the goal is. Like, is the goal to introduce a new generation to puzzle solving? Zelda is the goal to reuse the Breath of the Wild engine. Is the goal to, you know, like, make a 10 out of 10 game that's just kind of inspired by Breath of Ocarina of Time?

[Nick Limone]

Like, I don't know, movie synergy, potentially.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, movie synergy.

[Mark Medina]

The thing that I'm afraid of is the rumors that they are taking a remake approach and that we're getting Ocarina of Time Part one and it's child.

[Nick Limone]

That'd be nuts. That's a fundamental. Well, I don't know. I guess people said that about Final Fantasy VII remake, but that's just unusual to me.

[Sam Claiborne]

That is just unusual.

[Mark Medina]

And then it would be part two, and then that would be all the.

[Sam Claiborne]

That I would call that big movie synergy.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Link's shadow is so weird. Like, Justin.

[Sam Claiborne]

But they tried.

[Damon Hatfield]

They did something. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I remember looking at him being like, oh, my God, the sun is casting a shadow.

[Nick Limone]

The cutscene, you get where Princess Zelda is kidnapped. Spoilers for Ocarina of Time. It just blew my mind as a child. Like, this looks like real. Like, this is incredible. Like, graphics will never look better than this.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know, if you don't go get the ocarina or the ocarina, then, like, you don't really continue the story. It's just like sitting there at the bottom of the river.

[Mark Medina]

Mine was Final Fantasy 10. When finally 10 came out, I was like, that's it. They look like humans. They figured out graphics games will never look better than this.

[Sam Claiborne]

I felt that for Resident Evil 4 on GameCube. Not that they couldn't look better, but I was like, I don't think things need to look better because this game is so fun and looks so good.

[Damon Hatfield]

I didn't think water would ever look better than Mario Sunshine at the time.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it's never been as refreshing as that game. That game definitely has a summer vacation is too hot vibe to it, which will never, never be replaced.

[Nick Limone]

It's a chill game. I just want to hang out in Delfino Plaza.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nintendo should do.

[Sam Claiborne]

And I love when it gets lighter. It stresses me out when you start the game now and it's dim. Like, it's cool. It's a cool effect.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nintendo should do a Sunshine 2. They should make a sequel to Mario Sunshine.

[Nick Limone]

A Sunshine two would be so sick.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this making Mark angry too?

[Nick Limone]

Hashtag, bring back problem.

[Damon Hatfield]

Justice for Flood.

[Nick Limone]

Justice for flood.

[Sam Claiborne]

Justice for Flood.

[Mark Medina]

If they give Sunshine any attention over 64.

[Nick Limone]

I think 64 has had plenty of attention over the years.

[Mark Medina]

I'm sorry.

[Sam Claiborne]

It was a launch title for two systems. One of them is the best selling one of all time.

[Nick Limone]

And it's in a limited edition triple release pack on Nintendo Switch that you can no longer buy physically.

[Mark Medina]

So is Sunshine.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did they bring that back? Wasn't there like a resurgence of that triple pack for some reason?

[Nick Limone]

I think it's just unsold copies is my idea.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look how good this looks. I know.

[Nick Limone]

And then the challenge levels where you don't have Flood are so fun. Oh, they're so hard.

[Sam Claiborne]

We. We have the technology to make a Mario game like this every year. I swear. I swear it's impossible.

[Mark Medina]

I just wish it played better. Sorry, guys.

[Nick Limone]

I. I can also agree with that.

[Mark Medina]

I just don't think this is the

[Damon Hatfield]

only thing where Bowser and Bowser Jr. Are fully voiced. And there's a reason why this is the only game. All right, well, Nintendo remakes Star Fox. Sounds good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Conclusion. We're all excited for this, though. I don't want people saying that we're rating on their parade. There's just a bunch of jokes you can make about it. That's all.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep, that's all. I am excited to play Star Fox. So you want to learn a new language, but you're struggling to get beyond the basics. Stuck on free apps aimed at cheap dopamine highs. Well, then it's time to try Babbel, the language app that makes grammar fun and is really worth your time. Learning a language with Babbel is all about small steps, big wins and progress. You can actually track and feel. Their bite sized lessons fit easily into your daily routine and are also easy to remember. Just 10 minutes a day is enough to start seeing real results. Their courses are designed by over 200 language experts, real human beings to teach you relevant words and phrases you'll actually use so you can start speaking with confidence in as little as three weeks. Babbel lets you practice real life conversation step by step, without the stress. You'll build the confidence to speak up when it matters, from ordering a coffee to chatting with new friends abroad. And Babbel is more than just lessons. They even offer a large collection of podcasts where Babbel experts reveal language secrets and offer an inside look at local cultures. I've used Babbel to brush up on my Spanish before traveling to Mexico and to learn a little Dutch on a visit to Amsterdam last year. Here's a special limited time deal for our listeners right now. Get up to 60% off your Babel subscription at babel.com Gamescoop get up to 60% off at babbel.com Gamescoop spelled b a B-B-E-L.com Gamescoop rules and restrictions apply. Look, we've all been there. You've got the angle, you've got the timing. But you still lose the trade. In competitive gaming, milliseconds aren't just a stat. They're the difference between a trophy and a gg. Next. That's why the team at Logitech G just changed the game again with the new Pro X2 Super Strike. This isn't just an upgrade. It's a total reimagining of the mouse click. It features the revolutionary HITS technology. That's the Haptic Inductive trigger system. They've ditched traditional switches for magnetic sensors that give you an up to 30 millisecond advantage. Think about that. You are literally clicking faster than the speed of human reaction. And the customization is insane. You can tune your actuation points across 10 levels and even adjust the haptic intensity. Whether you want a crisp sharp snap or a hair trigger rapid fire, the Super Strike adapts to you. Under the hood, you're looking at the Hero2 sensor pushing a massive 44,000 DPI and a blazing 8K polling rate. At just 61 grams with 90 hours of battery life, it's built to outlast your longest grind. If you're serious about climbing the ranks in Valorant CS2 or Apex, this is the weapon of choice for the world's best pros for a reason. Stop playing fair and start playing faster. Go to logitechg.com and enter code gamescoop25 at checkout to save 25% off Logitech G products. Just a quick note. Some exclusions apply and the promo is non stackable with other offers. Grab the Super Strike today. The winning click is finally here. Pragmata tops 2 million sales in 16 days. I'm still working my way through this one, but I'm on the. I think I'm at the foundation. I have to stop. I'll bleep that little bit of a spoiler.

[Nick Limone]

I loved it.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's where I am.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, yeah, I loved it. Despite all the issues I have with my current home state, I think that I could not.

[Damon Hatfield]

He means the state of his home.

[Nick Limone]

Yes, the state of my home. My home flooded. For those who are Unaware, but it's all fine. Nothing's damaged. It's mostly just waiting to get the floors done. But all my gaming setups is what I'm getting at is gone. But this was the one game where I was at the very tail end. I was like, I gotta figure out how I can play Pragmata. So I like set up a makeshift little PC setup in the corner of a room that was safe to do it. And then I just powered through the game and then there's extra stuff to do once you beat the game. I did that and did all that. That's where the game gets really fun is the extra content. That's like the challenge content. Oh, that is so good. But yeah, this is exactly what I want from Capcom's new ip, quote unquote. It feels weird calling something that, but that's what it is.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's what Capcom's calling it. So Capcom attributes the success to marketing initiatives such as the playable demo, plus an aggressive campaign to boost visibility of the all new ip. But the developer also believes the emotional, narrative driven story, on top of its unique gameplay has solidified its position in Capcom's storied portfolio alongside Resident Evil and Devil May Cry. And then Capcom USA's chief operating officer Rob Dyer says, we're to a point now where we've got another IP that Capcom and God bless them, has an arsenal that we can continue to go down. A weird way to put it, they're going to go down the ip, but

[Mark Medina]

okay, yeah, this isn't the only Pragmatic.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, look forward to three years maybe.

[Sam Claiborne]

There was a sales figure. There's a million.

[Damon Hatfield]

Two million. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool. Yeah. I mean, I completely disagree about the marketing. Like they're fine now. And now future marketing is going to be great because everyone wants to see what's what Pragmatic2 is going to be like. But like, boy, I still had no idea what this game was until Mark. They're right about the demo. Like Mark played the demo is like, heck, this game is really fun. Like it's actually like a really great school Capcom game. And then that made me want to play the game. And then also they're right too about like just from the start of the game, you're like, I want to play more of this. Like it just has a good intro and it's simple and has a mystery and you can, you can feel powerful right away. Like all, all, all of that works. But I think their strategy of like getting their IP out like was terrible.

[Mark Medina]

Also something Nick touched on. Capcom has this crazy ability to make their games more fun after you've beaten them. And so I think that that replayability, that's how, that's how Resident Evil 9 was as well. It's like you beat the game and you're like, now I really want to play it again. And that's how this game is. So much stuff opens up and you have tons of incentive to do it all.

[Nick Limone]

And it's a skill check. Like, it's the kind of content that I want in an end game where it's like, hey, did you learn all the systems in this game? Do you know how all the weapons work? Does your playstyle suit the challenge? Like, I love it when games force you to like try in a way that feels fair. And when you fail, you know exactly what you did wrong. And I think that's what Pragmata does so well, especially in the late game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Capcom is very transparent with its sales figures. You can go to his website, look for just. If you search Capcom Platinum, it'll give you a list of its best selling games of all time. So at 2 million sales, Pragmat is already tied with the Super Nintendo version of Street Fighter 2.

[Nick Limone]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

And the Wii edition of Resident Evil

[Sam Claiborne]

4, which if you'll remember, every person you knew owned multiple copies of Street Fighter 2 at that time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, but that's cool. You haven't finished it yet, have you, Sam? Pragmata?

[Nick Limone]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's such a good game though, and I recommend it to anybody. I will keep playing it, but I. I'm at now on deadline for multiple games and I have to pause my playing. But I did do that once and went back to it and a rare game in which I was totally able to pick up where I left off.

[Nick Limone]

Nice.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Well, Sam, tell us.

[Mark Medina]

It's definitely worth seeing it through. I was just gonna say it's worth seeing it through. The ending is very, very good. Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam, tell us about Mixtape. 10 out of 10 from IGN.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, Mixtape is a. It's a. It's an interesting non game game. You know, it's part walking simulator, which for people that don't know what that means, that's a pejorative term for games where you're kind of like, you know, not doing a lot of combat, maybe not doing puzzle solving as much as kind of adventure game, walking around in 3D. It is really like that's what this is. Not that though. It is more of a series of playable cutscenes with music videos. And the music videos are playable too. The one you keep seeing. Let me give you three examples. One, you're skating down a hill to DeVos. That's good. Just plays the whole song. You just ollie and jump.

[Nick Limone]

That's cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

If you hit something and you just back up. They've just introduced the characters. Another one is you're walking around holding a camcorder and looking through the camcorder at a party. And while that party's happening, a song is playing. And each person you go up to might guzzle a beer or do a keg stand. And you can give them the finger or give them a thumbs up or like, I don't know, chakra or something. And then you encourage somebody to jump off a roof into a pool. That I am a Golden God scenario. That's another one. Another one is like a. You saw a TPing one there. Well, another one is like you and your friends are trying to find the house in the woods that you're going to party in using, like a little map from your sister. You walk for a little while. Walking simulator. People talk. Nothing to solve. But then you're like, they come to an open field. They're like, well, what song do you pick for this? And then the girl that's picking all the songs, who's a little bossy, picks the song. And then they start running the field. And you have that traditional dreamscape thing where you can kind of jump. You can jump higher and higher, and then you start kind of like flying over the field. So they're kind of like dreamlike experiences and stuff linked with cutscenes like that. I mean, that clearly is not a game, quote unquote, game for everybody. Right. Like, it's just not.

[Nick Limone]

It seems like an experience.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. And then you have to really imprint on these characters. And luckily they make that easy because it's like full on nostalgia. Plus life is strange drama. Right. Like, it's got all that. And then the nostalgia is a little bit confusing, though. I mean, it's set in, I think Northern California. It looks like Portland or Oregon more than California. But, like, it's not in San Francisco. That's not where it is. It's like somewhere north of there. And then the soundtrack has a joke about Alice Coltrane, which is funny as like an older track. But mainly it's. Who's a jazz musician? Harpist. But it mainly is like kind of 70s 80s retro music for them. And then their current music, like Silver Chair and stuff like that. So they have like that. That's the mixtape and idea. The premise is that the girl is leaving town after school to go be a music consultant for a film where you, like, pick out soundtrack music. So that's why the whole time they're always deferring to her and saying, like, what would you pick for this scene? And she's. She's kind of doing that. And that's like, kind of a problem with Guardians of the Galaxy too. It's like when you're actually with like six people on a spaceship and this guy is always picking the soundtrack to everything. Like, doesn't always feel great to me. It always feels like, maybe let somebody else have a turn at the radio. But she's like, but this is my destiny. So I don't know. That always strikes me as a little bit weird. And so that, that's. That's the thing that you just have to eat up with this. Just accept that somebody's selecting the music and it's just this girl and she's. She has good taste. Knocking. No complaints there. So there's that. The characters are pretty good. Her friends are really interesting and they dive into those friendships in a good way. The game has this incredible sheen of polish. There's scenes where the characters are stoned and you're walking around in a blockbuster. And it's one of the best looking things I've ever seen. It's really funny because you stumble in the way that it's stumbling and giggling. It's great. It's really funny. The camcorder stuff looks incredible. They all have stop motion animation. It's just so polished. Like, it's just incredible looking. So. And it's so short. It's like two hours. So, like, everybody should play it. The final thing I'll say, and I'm sure you all have questions, is that there's. First of all, I mean, I think Damon and I are like, exactly this age, which is, I think, is kind of funny. So, like, when you play this, you're going to be like, oh, the things that they're doing are like, exactly when you were a sophomore in high school or junior in high school. Like, it's just exactly that. House parties and doing bad things, doing good things, just having fun. The sound of the beer opening is perfect. There not a beer. So here's the kind of flying thing. However, I think this has a little bit of an earthbound effect where if you weren't there, Earthbound for People that don't know, is a Japanese RPG set in America. And all the things are really boring American things that were really cool to Japanese kids. But it's really. It looks really bland if you play it as an American. And it's charming. I'm not saying it's not charming, but it's not like it's set on the moon, it's set in Tucson. You know, like, it's not. It's not interesting in some ways where it could be if it was a fantasy, but it's interesting to people that are want to live out an American fantasy. This is a very nuanced argument I'm making here, so try to stay with me. This is more entertaining for people that didn't experience this stuff than people that did, because it's really like, wow, how cool is it to live out this life? And I just think that's interesting. Like, the kind of California childhood is in so many movies and E.T. you know, it's in all these things. And it's just a thing that's revisited a whole lot. And I think it's a little tired for me, having grown up in Phoenix and it looked exactly like this and my life was exactly like this. That makes it nostalgic for me. That's cool. I like that part about it. But it also makes the setting just. I just. I think it's revisited a lot. And I think Gone Home revisited that setting exquisitely. Exquisitely. And I think it did a really good job. Mixtape does a really good job in a lot of other ways, too. All right, just talked about mixtape for a long time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, cool.

[Nick Limone]

I will check.

[Mark Medina]

One of my favorite games of all time is what Remains of Edith Finch. And your description of it almost comes off like that, where it's, like, a normal kind of serious story, but, like, with goofy, weird elements. Like, an Edith Finch has all these, like, dream scenarios where you're, like, cutting fish's heads or you turn into a cat.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, the fantastic.

[Mark Medina]

It kind of comes off like that.

[Sam Claiborne]

And did that one have puzzle solving?

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, like, Gone Home has a lot of solving. And so it's like, looking at this game didn't interest me, but your description of it did, so I might give it a go.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, it's like bouts of magical realism for all you literary folks out there.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, and 100%, if you wanted to play this with a friend or a loved one or, like, in a room of people that, like, it may have been, like, nostalgic for the 90s. Like, it's totally good for that because all you're doing is playing through these, like, scenes. There's a little bit of stuff where you're, like, walking around a kid's bedroom. And like you can get stuck there for a long time if you don't know exactly what you're doing. It's not the game's fault. Like there's the. There's the blockbuster scene. It's very funny.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

So, you know, it is fun for that stuff too. And like, I think this is a genre basically, as I said, like, life is strange is more like this than anything. And these are just going to be around. And so, you know, is there any nice.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is there any dispatch in this or completely different?

[Sam Claiborne]

Like, is there any DNA of dispatch? Yeah, yeah, there's no, there's no central kind of strategy game or anything like that. And then there's no character choice at all.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

You don't, you don't ever choose dialogue. So that's not one of those, like play through it three times to see what happens. You're just experiencing the world through these kids and this music. And as you can see, like, the music is just. It also like, does a lot for the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, they're listening a lot of my favorite bands, so yeah, yeah, I will have to.

[Sam Claiborne]

And they don't. They don't choose the singles either. They choose deeper cuts, which is kind of fun. Cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

All right, mixtape. I will check it out. I don't know about you, but I like keeping my money. Unfortunately, traditional big wireless carriers also seem to like keeping our money. After years of overpaying for wireless ign Seth Macy finally got fed up with crazy high wireless bills with bogus fees and free perks that actually cost more in the long run and switched to Mint Mobile. Isn't that right, Seth? That is right, Damon.

[Sam Claiborne]

The longest part of the process, I'm

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[Damon Hatfield]

now BioShock and the next BioShock BioShock 4 the fourth one, Take Two CEO is deeply disappointed by BioShock 4 delays, but I think his quote is is actually pretty funny. Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take Two. You know, I've never met Strauss, but as executives go, he seems all right.

[Sam Claiborne]

He seems he's been doing it for a while, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

He has been doing it for a while. Seems okay. Stephen Totilo of Game File asked him if he was surprised by BioShock's delays. And I like Zelnick's quote. He says surprised. Never think about what surprise implies. That's like one day everything's awesome and then the next day I'm like, holy,

[Nick Limone]

that is a pretty good pool.

[Mark Medina]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

But it but I think if you're

[Sam Claiborne]

saying tell me when you think BioShock is coming out, let me take a big drink of water first.

[Mark Medina]

Holy shit, that was good.

[Damon Hatfield]

But I think if you're saying disappointed, yes, deeply disappointed and that's actually pretty. So it's funny. His comment is funny. And then it's actually pretty forthcoming that he's admitting he's deeply disappointed in this game that his company's been making for a long time.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, well, I mean, that's kind of wild. It's like somebody. Well, I hope their boss doesn't find out they're taking a long time to make a BioShock game. Well, from what you might really crack

[Nick Limone]

down from, I recall there being like several or just one very, like, hard reset on the game development semi recently, maybe maybe a year or two ago. Just like, we're starting over, folks. So very, very curious.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's weird for Metroid prime to beat it to market.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, they brought in Rod Ferguson to

[Nick Limone]

sort of get the cleaner. Yeah, Rob Ferguson. I always call him the Cleaner man.

[Sam Claiborne]

He.

[Nick Limone]

He's always like, all right, what am I working with? Let's make this happen.

[Damon Hatfield]

He's like.

[Mark Medina]

He's still there, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

The wolf.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, he's the wolf from. From Pulp Fiction. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Give me a cigarette and a big drill hand.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, they've been working on this BioShock for a long time.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know, a lot. I see a lot in the comments on ign. I say people, they're like, well, just. It's been long enough. Just remake the first one. Or maybe just revisit Rapture at this point. Right. You know, you don't need to, like, reinvent the wheel, but that feels a

[Nick Limone]

little bit just, like, inherently wrong based on, like, the entire ethos of what BioShock is, is like. I don't know. When I think of Bioshock, I think of things I've never seen before put on the screen, I guess, BioShock2. You do revisit Rapture, but it's just. I don't know, I. I just expect something dazzling when I think of Bioshock.

[Sam Claiborne]

You want it to be an anthology series because it was angling that way.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. I mean, the whole thing is like these, like, failed capitalistic, like, political things where it's like we're just going to go into water and it's now we're going to go up into the sky, but what's left?

[Nick Limone]

That's it. Just take a note out of all one of Joel Verne's novels. We've already gone under the sea. We've got in the sky. You go into the center of the earth or space. Space. I mean, that's Judas, though, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Also is Judas.

[Sam Claiborne]

Space.

[Nick Limone]

Judas is in space.

[Damon Hatfield]

Also where's that game?

[Mark Medina]

I also.

[Nick Limone]

But which one comes.

[Mark Medina]

Judas is also. Don't believe Judas is a real game either.

[Sam Claiborne]

So it would have been great if they asked Strauss Elnik, who has nothing to do with Jud about Judas.

[Mark Medina]

You think about Judas.

[Sam Claiborne]

Judas before then.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, both these games. BioShock 4 and then Judas, which is a spiritual successor for both of them. It's been 13 years since Infinite, so come on. Yeah, we talk about this all the time. Why can't western developers make video games anymore?

[Sam Claiborne]

Bullshot. It's just the funniest thing ever.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. BioShock Infinite looks nothing like this.

[Mark Medina]

Somebody at IGM was.

[Damon Hatfield]

Could have been me.

[Sam Claiborne]

Could have been Damon.

[Mark Medina]

I. I'm a pretty big Infinite defender. I. I think this game's cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

I liked it. I only ever played it once.

[Mark Medina]

I think Infinite School. I've the DLC for Infinite Revisited Rapture. So I kind of already did that.

[Nick Limone]

I think I'd rather replay the original BioShock and BioShock 2. Minerva's Den. Infinite I replayed recently. It's still a good time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is it still fun today?

[Nick Limone]

It's all right. It's an all right out of 10.

[Damon Hatfield]

But no, I don't got time for all rights. Out 10.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, yeah. If you've never experienced BioShock, you got to believe it's worth playing.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh no. My dad's going to bite.

[Nick Limone]

My dad's going to bite me.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, man.

[Sam Claiborne]

As soon as Star Fox's dad came out, he was just a dog with glasses. I was like, oh no. My dad's going to fight me. Play more Parappa.

[Nick Limone]

Watch the. Is it still fun for Parappa the rapper? You'll get all the references.

[Sam Claiborne]

Y yeah, it's a really good episode. But I played more this weekend. I had some friends over. We busted out Parappa and I was like, just. Just so you know, it's on. It's an unplayable disaster by this point, but the first couple levels are still fun. And I had like, some like, musicians, you know, and they're like, I just don't know what's going on here. Like, it's like, it looks like I'm like, do you gotta believe? I really do. You just gotta believe.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, Joburt, let's pull up our Nintendo Power episode or issue that we have this week.

[Nick Limone]

This is what I come for.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is again May and June 1989. Who. Who's on the COVID of this one? Sam?

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, let me see. I don't. Don't show yet. Is it Track and Field?

[Damon Hatfield]

Is not.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it Zelda or Castlevania?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, it is neither of those.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay. Oh, okay. Is it DuckTales?

[Damon Hatfield]

Nope.

[Nick Limone]

Is it Metroid?

[Sam Claiborne]

Not Tetris Dobra?

[Damon Hatfield]

Let's show. Let's show. That's 10. Who is on the COVID of Ninja Turtles?

[Nick Limone]

The Ninja Turtles themselves. Leonardo's looking wild.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

[Mark Medina]

All of them are looking.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Some original art. Some various, like, soft airbrush style. Original art of the dude.

[Nick Limone]

This on the spray painted on the side of a van would go crazy.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Mark Medina]

They look like emojis. Like, look at the purple.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like, people.

[Mark Medina]

Sorry, I don't know. I don't know their names, so I just have to call them by their color.

[Sam Claiborne]

You see, TMNT is in quotes because this is the first time they ever use that. And people are like, what are they?

[Mark Medina]

What's

[Nick Limone]

fips?

[Mark Medina]

It's the same thing. Is fs.

[Sam Claiborne]

How many FS I love below that it says plus.

[Damon Hatfield]

Plus Bayou Billion, Cobra, Triangle. I don't know why Ninja Gaiden, but

[Sam Claiborne]

at this point, I was fully reading Nintendo Power and buying games based on how cool games looked in it or printing them or whatever. And this is probably how I ended up with Bayou Billy to own. Yeah, I can't think of any other way it would have happened.

[Nick Limone]

But did this cover story convince you to get tmnt?

[Damon Hatfield]

I was probably the cartoon that did that.

[Sam Claiborne]

I was a snob. I didn't like TMNT as a kid. I thought it was for kids.

[Mark Medina]

This is where AI gets tricky. Because if a magazine came out today with that, I'd start looking for the slop. I'd be like, how many fingers do they have?

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, they only have three fingers.

[Mark Medina]

AI. Sloth detected. Look at him. He's only got three fingers.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do you see his belts? Is that the right belt for Leonardo? Right colors? Is that who that is?

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, his will be blue. Leonardo's blue.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, he is blue.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know.

[Mark Medina]

I thought that was a Z.

[Damon Hatfield]

They've got the right colors.

[Mark Medina]

The right looks like a Z. And then you zoom in, you realize the Z is the shadow or the light from the L.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know, he man was really, really lame. And for some reason, it, like, bled over into like. Like the neighborhood kids that were a little bit younger than me, like T man a lot. And they like Ninja Turtles.

[Damon Hatfield]

That.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's why I was, for some reason, not into it. But I liked all kinds of little kids stuff like Legos and stuff like that for this for some reason the neighborhood kids are too annoying about it.

[Damon Hatfield]

So this is the, obviously the NES game which was released under Ultra, which is an imprint of Konami. And then this is the game that was famously very difficult and obtuse.

[Nick Limone]

And this one at the underwater level.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, and seem to include stuff that, that just wasn't from the, the cartoon show that everyone knew. That's because Commie started making this before the cartoon show was even out. They got the license first and they started making it. And then like a few months after this came out, that's when the arcade game hit. And that's the one that was. Seemed fully in the world of the, of the, of the cartoon show.

[Sam Claiborne]

This one has some tough jumps in the sewer, I'll tell you that. And then that, that, that everybody hates the level where you underwater disarm bombs because it's so stressful and timed and crazy. But it has some really cool stuff. Like the top down dam scene, which is like just awesome looking. It's like this like. Well, yeah, it just looks comic book.

[Mark Medina]

Also the music was cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh yeah, it was great. Visually and sonically it was great.

[Sam Claiborne]

It was just, I mean everybody I know played this game for dozens of hours. You know, like it's just like we all played this so much.

[Damon Hatfield]

I have the stat. I have the stat. It's something crazy. I think it's the best selling third party game on the NES.

[Nick Limone]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it's like the, the 11th best selling game overall on the platform. So like. Yeah, pretty much everyone owned TMNT if you had an NES.

[Mark Medina]

Anyway, 12th bestselling game of all time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Let's go to the mailbox. There's some really good mailbox here. I like how they show the Nintendo headquarters in Redmond, Washington.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool, cool.

[Nick Limone]

Representing podcast listeners. He's wearing an official Nintendo Redmond shirt.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yeah. The wife was actually at Nintendo yesterday and bought this from their shop in their actual Nintendo office. NES Gourmets. This is from Vince, Jeff, Adam and Jim from Freeport, Illinois. They say four of us got together and made a magazine called Nintendo News for a school project. We thought NES fans would enjoy the following recipe that we included for Mike Tyson's punch. You just take 2 cups strawberry kool aid, 2 cups raspberry kool aid, 2 cups ginger ale and one box of frozen strawberries. Mix both flavors of Kool Aid and ginger ale. Add the strawberries. Chill for at least 30 minutes before serving.

[Nick Limone]

That's a cool kid. Dude, what the heck?

[Sam Claiborne]

I try it so that's really great,

[Damon Hatfield]

but I'm having so two types of Kool Aid and with bubbles added from the ginger ale. But then the frozen strawberries.

[Nick Limone]

It's supposed to look like fresh punching wounds. I don't know, like, you're red and purple.

[Damon Hatfield]

Think of drinking something with, like, frozen strawberries in it. Yeah, it's kind of like ice cube.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's a little ice cream.

[Nick Limone]

It's like a moscato.

[Damon Hatfield]

Delicious. Guys, remember to have an adult supervised in the kitchen. If you've never tried in a recipe together. Yeah, don't mix two types of Kool Aid, kids. Don't cross the streams is so good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Kool Aid was definitely popular in my household. I miss it now just. Just thinking about it. Maybe I should get some powdered Kool Aid.

[Damon Hatfield]

This summer, Andrew from Greensboro, North Carolina made a wrap for Zelda. Would you like me to wrap it for you? Okay. Okay, I will. He says, I made a rap for you, Mark. I hope you and all the NES fans will like it. It's the Legend of Zelda, and it's really bad. Okay, that's just the cart. That's the commercial. You're just stealing that from the commercial. Come on, Andrew.

[Nick Limone]

That's bad isn't good, though.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not bad meaning bad, but bad meaning good. Okay, here's the rap in its entirely. It's the Legend of Zelda, and it's really bad. The creatures in the game are really rad. Darknuts move very fast, but if you are quick, they will not last. Pole's voice jump super high, but if you watch your speed, you will not die. Wizzrobes move f. I agree, but if you get touched, you lose a lot of a heart of energy. I'd like to thank Nintendo for all the fun, but I'm sorry to say my rap is done. And all Nintendo Power had to say about this was totally def rap. Andrew.

[Nick Limone]

Andrew might be cooler than Nintendo Power.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look at his cool Marty McFly vest.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, yeah. He's 100% cooler than Nintendo Power.

[Damon Hatfield]

That is a totally different rap. Okay, an Alaric. That's a cool name. Alaric from New York. The graphics in Super Mario Bros. 2 are some of the best ever by Nintendo. Sometimes the enemies in the game even help you get through tough spots like World4.6. But the ending is the best thing about this game. Will you ever release Super Mario Bros. 3? And Nintendo Power says, we're glad you enjoyed Super Mario Bros. 2. We are, in fact, producing Super Mario Bros. 3 for Nintendo's PlayChoice 10 system. Late this summer. At this time, there are no immediate plans to release it for use with the nes. But keep your eye on Nintendo Power for updates.

[Sam Claiborne]

Can you imagine reading that?

[Nick Limone]

That would blow your mind.

[Damon Hatfield]

There are no plans to bring Super

[Mark Medina]

Mario Bros. 3 to the NES Mario 3.

[Sam Claiborne]

And it did come out for play chess 10. I have it right here. And it's super cool and it has a little bit of differences, which is really neat.

[Nick Limone]

Just like the Japanese version was that Play Choice 10 version, the one that was featured in the Wizard.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, would it have to have been? I think they probably just used. They could have just used the Japanese version because it's well known they could have. No, I don't know who does prototypes and stuff at that point.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam might be the only one who remembered Discovery Zone.

[Nick Limone]

I know. I went to Discovery Zone. Yeah, yeah. When I was little.

[Sam Claiborne]

Phoenix Ball pit.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, they're like giant, like indoor.

[Nick Limone]

My brother's girlfriend worked there. So I got the hookup.

[Damon Hatfield]

Indoor play places. In 1990, I think my Discovery Zone had a place play choice 10. And one day Super Mario Bros. 3 was just in it. That's the first time I played Super Mario 3.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know what's crazy is that the only one I've been to was visiting my relatives in Kansas City.

[Damon Hatfield]

There you go.

[Sam Claiborne]

Because they called them something else in Phoenix. So that was the same one, Damon, that you went.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, there you go.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which is crazy because I. In Phoenix, they had them and it was maybe the same owner, but they might have been called something different. And they converted that. Mine had an arcade and then they converted it all to a laser tag arcade. That's where I played Mortal Kombat 2 the most. But they also had the Nintendo punch out machine, but not the playcheck.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, nice.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, regarding this not having plans to bring it to the nes, the only thing I can think of is that Super Mario Bros. 3 today is maybe considered the best game on the platform of all time, but yeah, one of the greatest of all time. But back then, it wasn't that known quantity. What they knew about the Mario series is that Super Mario Brothers one had been a huge hit. And then the Super Mario Brothers two that Japan sent over was kind of a disaster. So they had to send it back and have them make a different Super Mario Brothers two out of a completely different game. So maybe that's why after that experience they were like, let's wait and see how.

[Nick Limone]

I don't know about this Mario guy.

[Damon Hatfield]

How does this.

[Mark Medina]

We're not sure about Mario. I don't know if he has the staying power.

[Sam Claiborne]

The play choice was used for that. It was used for testing stuff in a market. But it's just wild to see them just full on say that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, if we go on to the next page. Jobber. Someone else.

[Nick Limone]

Cath.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is a Catherine calling it from Naperville, Illinois. I'm a regular caller to your game counselors and I'm incredibly impressed with the way they treat callers. In over a year of seeking their assistance, I've always found them to be friendly, knowledgeable, professional, kind, and very patient. No matter how simple a question may seem. Considering the stress involved in such a job, I cannot commend you enough for assembling such a sterling staff of people to deal with your public on the front lines. It goes on for some time. Like just compliment. Really, really complimentary of the helpline people.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do you think this is somebody's mom who's just getting fed up with.

[Nick Limone]

That's expensive if she's calling a lot.

[Damon Hatfield]

Here's a Matt Boson, which. This is interesting. Matt Bozon from Minnesota. Matt Boson there is Matt Bozon. Who. What's the. Who's the Shantae developer?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Who makes Shantae Wayforward. Yeah. Way forward. There is a Matt Boson.

[Nick Limone]

Is it spelled the same? I thought it was. Oh, wow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And brother of Mark Bozan who used to work here on the Nintendo team at ign. And Matt Boson does wave forward. I don't know if they're from Minnesota, but I think that. I think the age lines up that it's possible this could be a map.

[Nick Limone]

Matt, if this is you, please write in.

[Damon Hatfield]

Matt says I'm a beginning cartoonist and commercial artist who loves Nintendo games. And then he drew this little. This little sketch of some enemies. He says they're enemies from Legend of Zelda, but that's a. That Goomba is.

[Mark Medina]

That's a Goomba?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's a Goomba.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, Nintendo might have ripped him off though, because they did put them in Link's Awakening.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. There's a Darknut. There's a Moblin. There's the. Not a Zora, but the sea creature, then the snakes. Goomba is a little bit weird, though.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Based on what he's typing there, that sounds like a person who's about to go on to make to found a way forward. I'm kind of thinking that this might be him.

[Nick Limone]

I love this little art style. That's awesome.

[Sam Claiborne]

Me too. It looks like Nintendo Power, which is the funny thing you know, Cliffy B appeared at Nintendo Power, like, submitting a score.

[Nick Limone]

That's funny.

[Damon Hatfield]

Someone says, who's. Andrew from Waldeck, Michigan, says, I have just purchased the most thrilling game ever, Zelda 2, the Adventures of Link. The game is filled with very impressive graphics, music, and strategy. I would recommend Zelda 2 to everyone who owns an NES.

[Nick Limone]

Dude. And then everyone got mad at you. Everyone's like, what? This is nothing like Zelda.

[Mark Medina]

Like, the first one I like.

[Nick Limone]

I like Zelda too.

[Damon Hatfield]

Really good music in Zelda too. All right. They have the Nintendo.

[Sam Claiborne]

Everybody would have argued whether it was an RPG or not.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, you know what? This is what I say. This is June from 89. But the previous holiday season, 88, that we got Mario 2, Zelda 2 and Castlevania 2. All that holiday season.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's a hell of a season.

[Nick Limone]

What a zag for all of those franchises.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's actually a good point. But would have been very happy with those at the time. Okay. The Nintendo Power Awards 88. These are the Nestor Awards. Best graphics and sound was given to Castlevania 2. Simon's Quest. Best challenge was the original Legend of Zelda.

[Nick Limone]

I'd probably give it to Castlevania 2 again.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, yeah. But also, like, that's an 87 game, so why not?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Best theme or fun? Super Mario Brothers 2. Best play control. Super Mario Brothers 2. Best character. Who they pick? Link. They picked a link from.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, they're giving awards to themselves. And these are pretty bad.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And you see, they're pretty bad or good.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, they're pretty accurate.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, they are pretty accurate. Best ending. Super Mario Brothers, too. I gotta agree.

[Mark Medina]

It was a twist no one saw coming.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Best player versus player was Blades of Steel.

[Sam Claiborne]

I love that we didn't have the word multiplayer back then. However, Blades of Steel also has a really good ending where everything's a dream.

[Nick Limone]

Spoilers, Sam.

[Mark Medina]

Spoilers for Mario Brothers 2.

[Damon Hatfield]

And best overall game was Zelda 2, which is surprising. They wouldn't give it to Super Mario Brothers 2.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. It seems like Super Mario Bros. 2 got more awards. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I would rather play definitely. Like, again, I like was the big

[Sam Claiborne]

game in my house.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like Zelda 2, but I would rather play Super Mario Bros. 2 today.

[Nick Limone]

100%.

[Damon Hatfield]

Also, what is this off brand Link and Zelda here?

[Mark Medina]

What?

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, they're cute.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, just more than I sloth.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look at that. Four fingers.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, there's a preview for Life Force, which just looks so badass. It's from the box.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

So badass. And I just want to say, if you zoom out a little bit, Gilbert, these are. This is every boss in the game, including the final boss. So I always. I always. Whenever we go through an old magazine and they do this, I will reiterate. This is why I will never think bosses are spoilers.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Bosses are not the Dark Souls.

[Nick Limone]

They're marketed.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. I don't want to know that there's bosses.

[Sam Claiborne]

A big. A big, you know, lion boss, like. Okay, well, this game showed you that the last boss is just a big embryo.

[Nick Limone]

Isn't Life Force a game that was also named Salamander?

[Damon Hatfield]

Salamander.

[Nick Limone]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Japanese arcades.

[Nick Limone]

Gotcha. Gotcha.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. Okay. And then go two pages forward, and we have a preview for Mega Man 2 that just has the most delightful.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, man, it looks so good, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, I just pored over this. I could probably recreate this spread from memory. I remember the level layouts and how cool it looks. Look at the screenshots there of the big dragon. Looks just like the art.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, I know. Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

The little Chibi art style is delightful.

[Damon Hatfield]

We were just talking about this last week, Nick. I. I would love for CAPCOM to make a Mega man game that looks more like this.

[Nick Limone]

They made that one on the psp. Mega Man Power Up. That was the closest. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Why he has an nes.

[Damon Hatfield]

Why is he standing on a box of carrot bombs?

[Mark Medina]

Is it?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it's the. The rabbits throw carrots.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, that's cute. That's a. What a cut.

[Mark Medina]

He knows. He knows. He's the final boss. He put himself right in the middle.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. On the next page, more great art. And there's a. There's actually an exchange between Wily and Mega Man. What? No, not you. Hi, Doc. I heard about what you're up to, and I've decided to pay you and your goons a little visit. See you soon.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's clearly still not the Japanese art, by the way. This is some jackass with colored pencils.

[Damon Hatfield]

Over at Nintendo Power, they also show you all the. The robot masters here, too. This is just great magazine layout. Oh, I love. At the bottom job, it says, stay tuned for. That's never resolved. It just goes to. It just goes to another game on the next page. Stay tuned for. Stay tuned.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think the Stay Tuned for was Mega Man 3 stuff, but. What do you mean, what's. I'm just looking at these bosses.

[Damon Hatfield]

These are all the two bosses, Woodman.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Quick man. Bubble Man. Is it. Flame man, they call them there.

[Nick Limone]

Is it possible to spoil a Mega man game? Since it shows you all the bosses right up front.

[Mark Medina]

Exactly. Fan man.

[Sam Claiborne]

Crash, crash, man.

[Damon Hatfield]

And you see up in the left corner, they've given their own ratings, but then they have a blank one for the player to write in their ratings for, like, sound control challenge.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, that's cute.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I like it.

[Mark Medina]

They think the game's great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Now, the Sester's Quest preview is just. It's just baffling. What's happening here? There's a picture of the title of the screen from the old TV show at top. Then a big arrow that points down, that's over the sheet music for the theme song, back down to the opening screen from Fester's Quest. What is the layout here?

[Nick Limone]

It's avant garde, dude.

[Sam Claiborne]

This was the style at the time,

[Damon Hatfield]

which was the style.

[Sam Claiborne]

Looks like a Trapper Keeper.

[Damon Hatfield]

They're just saying that the TV show has been turned into a game.

[Nick Limone]

It's been adapted.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah. They're like, look, this is what it was.

[Nick Limone]

It takes some leaps to get there.

[Damon Hatfield]

You know, I had this game. This is a Sunsoft game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sunsoft also did Blaster Master. So if you look on the next page, the bosses in Fester's Quest go hard. Look at these guys.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, hell yeah. Damn, they look like Castlevania bosses.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know. They're awesome.

[Nick Limone]

Fester's Quest is pretty difficult though, right? Like, that's a tough game.

[Damon Hatfield]

To be honest, I don't know if I ever made it to any of these bosses.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, I don't think I ever saw a boss in the game. But it's a good walking simulator.

[Mark Medina]

Those look like Resident Evil bosses.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is some Dark Souls stuff.

[Nick Limone]

New looks like new friends, new masters Quest remake when.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, okay. The next one is interesting is Clash of Demon Head, which had. Has an anime art style in the game and I think in the Japanese box art. But of course, they didn't, like, they didn't want to do that at the time, so they created different sort of western style fantasy art for the box art. But now this is a wholly a third different art style that they're using here in this preview. It doesn't look like the game or the box art.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Anyway, exactly. That's Clash of D. It's just they

[Sam Claiborne]

just had these internal teams at Nintendo Power that got to do this art, and they must have been really thinking into it.

[Nick Limone]

Think how much more successful Dragon Warrior quote unquote, would have been if they just used the Japanese art, you know?

[Damon Hatfield]

Funny you mentioned Dragon Warrior, Nick. On the next page, it's a two page spread for Dragon Warrior that includes not a single screenshot. Yeah, it's all art.

[Nick Limone]

It's.

[Damon Hatfield]

Why were they so scared of showing too Japanese?

[Nick Limone]

Damon? The kids will never understand it.

[Mark Medina]

This is like 80s romance novel art.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, it's DND and it's just. It's very funny.

[Nick Limone]

To be fair, this, like western art is pretty badass.

[Mark Medina]

It is.

[Nick Limone]

This is the coolest, like fantasy western art I've seen in a minute.

[Mark Medina]

Signed it. It says Terra.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is what we all imagined while playing Dragon Quest. Right. But like I get.

[Damon Hatfield]

Maybe they wouldn't want to show like the Overworld, but when you're in a battle, it looks good. This is like close ups of cool monsters.

[Nick Limone]

Like just show that the slime's too cute. Kids don't want to kill that.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. All the monsters are smiling.

[Damon Hatfield]

Experience the birth of a new era and role playing adventure. The introduction of Dragon Warrior represents more than just the release of a new game. It marks the beginning of a new and different direction for NES games. They're really.

[Nick Limone]

They're really. I mean, they're not wrong, but they just. They're a little too early. But they didn't they basically give away Final Fantasy.

[Mark Medina]

Ate their lunch, didn't they?

[Nick Limone]

Bit well in America, but did they. Didn't they give away Dragon Warrior basically to Nintendo Power subscribers?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, you could. Subscribers got a free Nintendo Power. What a dream.

[Nick Limone]

If I was. If I had grown up like, you know, five years earlier, I would have been. I would lose my mind if I got a free NES game.

[Mark Medina]

All we got were demo discs with the same Tony Hav.

[Sam Claiborne]

Exactly. And Parappa.

[Damon Hatfield]

Changing the name to Dragon Warrior for the US was a strange move because everyone just called it Drawa. Next you got.

[Sam Claiborne]

I always called it gone. Rar.

[Damon Hatfield]

Next we got the counselor's corner. And I love when they show the pictures of the counselors in the corner here. Tom. Tom McConville. I mean, I'm just. This guy looks like he's like 45. But of course it's been established recently that people used to look older. Right.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's 100% true. A 70s 13 looks like a 40.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. That's amazing.

[Mark Medina]

A rough 45.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. So. But look, look at his hobbies are. It'll make sense. He's keeping young with his mathematics.

[Damon Hatfield]

Mathematics and cartooning. I love how they put their highest game score. Yeah. And his favorite NES game is Gradius. Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

He's got good taste.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

You think he rounded up?

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, yeah. The next is the winner of a. A writing contest. Someone. He people wrote stories. And then Nintendo Power picked the winner. And this one wrote a story about. He would go into his Zelda or Zelda 2 game and he was friends with Link and the story is called Friends. He actually goes into his television.

[Nick Limone]

That's pretty cute.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And it starts with lunch. And that's why there's a sandwich on the pitch.

[Damon Hatfield]

He tries not to eat all of his lunch because he takes the food to Link. I don't know why Link can't get his own food, but Link will starve to death. This kid does not deliver him a peanut butter and jelly taste.

[Nick Limone]

This is like the first isekai in America. He gets transported to another world. I love it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, look, this is from San Jose, California.

[Damon Hatfield]

There you go.

[Sam Claiborne]

Bay Area.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Top 30. I'll count down the top 10.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is one of the most.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is. You know, they apply. They would give these games scores and I think it's based on their surveys and retailers and their own picks.

[Sam Claiborne]

Anyway, the top they wanted to push in front of people too.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The top 10 of this month would be number 10, Rampage, then Metroid, then buying a Commando, Metal Gear, Blaster Master, Track and Field, 2 Contra, and then the top three are Zelda, Mario 2 and Zelda 2 and Metal Gear. Like some of the absolute best games of the whole system.

[Nick Limone]

Metal Gear on nes, though, not a good game. Msx. The MSX version is so much better.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's just hard to figure out.

[Mark Medina]

I just remember it's not the Kojima one.

[Damon Hatfield]

You can smoke cigarettes in it.

[Nick Limone]

I feel asleep.

[Sam Claiborne]

I feel asleep.

[Mark Medina]

I fell asleep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Someone set us up the bomb. In the classified information, they have the great trick for Blaster Master with the extended grenade. Does everyone know this trick?

[Nick Limone]

No, no, please.

[Damon Hatfield]

You have grenades?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes. We hit the pause.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. If you pause the game while your grenade is exploding, it'll just keep exploding and doing damage.

[Nick Limone]

It's like the Mega man boss thing where you kill the yellow eye guy by pausing and unpausing very quickly. That's very cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's good. And then they have their own extracurricular activities and, you know. What was the big movie of 89? Sam should know. Oh, well, now, you know.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm seeing it now.

[Nick Limone]

But yeah, you have a dance with the devil in the pale moonlight, Sam.

[Damon Hatfield]

Batman. I was. I would have been 11 years old at this time. And like, it's hard. It's. It's hard to explain what a big deal Batman was at the time. Like the movies don't become phenomenons anymore. The way this was a phenomenon back then. Everyone had Batman.

[Sam Claiborne]

It was crazy and it was like completely made by like, you know, like a crazy out of the blue like artiste. And it had no right to be such a great action movie. And it was weird. And it was also.

[Nick Limone]

It's a gorgeous looking movie still to this day. Like it is a little.

[Damon Hatfield]

It is a little bit weird watching it today. You're like, this movie's odd. Not bad. It's odd, but it's odd.

[Nick Limone]

It's hyper stylized in a way that I think, you know, as a child I took for granted because this was like on repeat on my VHS back then.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

And now I look and I was like, oh my gosh, this is like a neo noir masterpiece to science.

[Sam Claiborne]

And then returns doubles down on the weirdness. Right. So like it kind of freaked out the studios, I think. But it did great. And then, and then it. But none of these are as weird as the Mask, so.

[Nick Limone]

Oh man. The Mask also on repeat at my. On my family vhs.

[Sam Claiborne]

There's a bad video game based on that for Super Nintendo.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm trying to think, had he only been Batman.

[Mark Medina]

NES game's great though.

[Nick Limone]

It is good.

[Damon Hatfield]

So he had already done Beetlejuice at this point. He'd done Peewee's Big Adventure and Beetlejuice. And then Batman was his third.

[Nick Limone]

What a back to back though.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean. Yeah, I mean he kept it going with. Yeah, I guess he did. Edward Sisterhands in between Batman and Batman Returns.

[Nick Limone]

Ed Wood, man, all time favorite.

[Mark Medina]

That was his insight.

[Nick Limone]

One of my all timers.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

That's awesome.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. And the next they interview a star of 21 Jump Street, Holly Robinson. And I just love this. She says, oh cool. She says, Gumshoe is my all time favorite game. Whoa, is that a brand new sentence? Yeah. Gumshoe is a light gun original. A light gun game for NES where platformer, but it's an auto scroller and you have to shoot the gumshoe detective to get him to jump. That's her favorite game of all time.

[Nick Limone]

Maybe she's just chill as hell. That's awesome.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. I think maybe that's the only.

[Nick Limone]

I mean there is a novelty to that I can understand. Like, oh, I get to shoot at the screen.

[Mark Medina]

Like I can see that being that game was behind the interviewer. She's like, oh, sure.

[Damon Hatfield]

The next segment is another male segment called Video Spotlight where people write in and they just brag about how great they are at games. It's like Jeremy says, I consider myself a power player. I just solved Zelda 2 in a week and a day. This is just one of my many accomplishments. I've solved Super Mario Bros, Jackal, Legend of Zelda, Jaws, Renegade, Legend of Kage, Akari, warriors, and Goonies 2. I've also beaten Mike Tyson in Mike Tyson's Punch out and finished Metroid and Kid Icarus six times. I've also reached the end of Russian Attack in Castlevania.

[Nick Limone]

It goes on for like, I've solved the games. I've never heard that phrase before.

[Damon Hatfield]

I've always said beat. Yeah, but maybe before that was really established, people would say I solved. I heard people say I finished or I completed or.

[Nick Limone]

What's this guy's name?

[Damon Hatfield]

This is Jeremy.

[Nick Limone]

Jeremy.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's a British thing.

[Nick Limone]

Sam. Mark, you got to hit up Jeremy. Let's.

[Mark Medina]

Let's get him on the IG needs to touch grass. This reads exactly like our YouTube comments section. Post gameplay. Oh, I've. I've. I've solved Crimson Desert.

[Damon Hatfield]

Anyway, that's that whole segment there. Oh, there's more on the next page. Which one did I want to read here? Oh, yeah. Myra, I think when you asked for power players, my uncle and I got together with the rest of the family and friends to set up our NES defeating Force Club. We now have a total of 14 members. We have many cartridges and are getting more all the time. For almost two months, we competed for our first annual power player. We chose my uncle, an all around good guy, Ronald E. Moonar. He has to be the best player in Pasadena. I have not seen anyone beat him yet. I guess that's why we unanimously nominated him for president of our club. It goes on for some time like that too. What is it? The NES Defeating Force Club.

[Nick Limone]

That's pretty good.

[Mark Medina]

What does that mean?

[Nick Limone]

They defeat the NES game.

[Damon Hatfield]

That sounds better than solve. I defeated Super Mario Brothers 2. Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

This is a gold mine. This is where we are. This is where we should be harvesting talent.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

I love. I love this world where it's like a very defined. Like I asked one of my friends the other day, like, do you think I'm the best Marvel Rivals player on my block? So it's like, I love this. I love this. I want to. I want to say yes.

[Nick Limone]

I think. I think that ended with Super Smash Brothers Melee because everyone was the best at Super Smash Brothers Melee within their friend group. And then once they got exposed to the real world, they were like, no, I'm not.

[Mark Medina]

You get humbled real quick.

[Damon Hatfield]

89. This would be the year the Game Boy was released. Probably. Probably a pretty big deal. If we turn the page. This is the back of the magazine. Here's how the Game Boy was unveiled.

[Nick Limone]

They unveiled it this way.

[Damon Hatfield]

Have you ever secretly dreamed.

[Mark Medina]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Really? It's at the bottom of the page. Have you ever secretly dreamed you could put your NES in your pocket so that you could play it wherever you go? Well, our dreams are about to come true as Nintendo will soon be introducing Game Boy. It is a portable game system that is about the size of Walkman and uses interchangeable game packs. Titles already announced are Super Mario Land, Alleyway and Baseball. There is an incredible network feature that allows you to hook two game boys together. You'll get an all new type of two player competition as you each view the action on your own system. Game Boy will also feature built in gameplay controls and personal earphones that transmit in all caps stereo sound scheduled for late summer. Hot. Very hot.

[Nick Limone]

Hot, very hot.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's how they revealed the game. That's the game head.

[Mark Medina]

No idea.

[Damon Hatfield]

They had.

[Mark Medina]

No idea what they had.

[Nick Limone]

Dude, I still, I'm still getting like chills. The reading, like imagine reading this for the first time as a kid. You're like what they got. They made it portable.

[Sam Claiborne]

Look how they like use like a piece of paper inside that photo of the Game Boy to get it to look like.

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly. They've got baseball in there. Yeah. And they made it look like an el. Look like an lcd.

[Nick Limone]

Dude, I love Super Mario.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it looks more like lcd.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like Super Mario Land is so good. I like Super Mario Land a lot.

[Nick Limone]

So hard.

[Mark Medina]

Is this book before they got the rights to Tetris. Because you would think that they would. They would talk about.

[Damon Hatfield]

Except Tetris was not a known quantity. Right. And they can't say we've got this cool game from Russia that's not going to go over very well in 1989.

[Sam Claiborne]

Maybe people knew the Atari game by then.

[Damon Hatfield]

Those are the highlights. No, I don't think so.

[Nick Limone]

McCarthyism is going to shut down Nintendo if they reveal the games from Russia.

[Damon Hatfield]

Those are highlights from the May and June 1989 issue of Nintendo. Pass hour. Real quick before 20 questions. Extracurricular activities. I finished Mall Shadowlord. Has anyone else watched this? Cool.

[Nick Limone]

You've gotten me interested. But is it worth watching?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep, it's good. It starts out awesome. Starts out you're like okay, this is good. The relatively low bar that has been set for Star wars on Disney plus it surpassed this this is good. But by the end of it you're like, okay, all right, everybody, that's. Let's do. This is good. Let's do this.

[Nick Limone]

I've seen a lot of stuff of like Sam Witwer, who's the voice actor of Darth Maul, who also is the character model and voice actor for Starkiller from 4th Unleashed, Force Unleashed. There's a lot of comparisons of like imagery of Darth Maul doing a lot of Starkiller poses, which I would assume is 100% intentional, which also got me kind of hyped to check this out. So I think you got me. Me. I'm gonna watch this.

[Damon Hatfield]

They do an interesting artistic choice, but the lightsabers appear to bend when they're being swung fast.

[Nick Limone]

That's kind of cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

And you just, you don't ever see that in the movies, so I don't,

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't like you're seeing it there.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I don't hate or, or, or like it.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's like the trailing light.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. It's just interesting. This is a badass scene.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's episode four and it does have a little bit of a slow start, but the slow start is good because it's more like. It's like adult situations. It's like they're talking about the slow cop and his family and like, you know, the escape from jail and like all these things are like just a little bit surprising. It's. It ain't the Clone Wars.

[Damon Hatfield]

No. But the back half of the series is not slow. It's like non stop lightsaber battles.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. It also introduces not one, but two great new droids.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. The first droid that I know is super cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's good. It's really good. It's, it's good. Very, very good. Star wars on Disney plus. Alright, that brings us to video game 20 questions. Our suggestion this week comes from Marcus in Chicago who says if you ever want to throw redacted a bone when they make a game scoop appearance, I'd recommend picking redacted. And with that, let the questioning begin.

[Mark Medina]

Well, so it's either me or Nick because we're the only ones that make appearances. And so it's probably me. It's probably in Mario 64. Is it Mario 64 first ever scoop in one question.

[Nick Limone]

Is this game from the 70s, 80s or 90s?

[Mark Medina]

No, not Mario 64. Let's see here. Hey, I want to guess the redacted. Is that legal? Like, can I, can I? Yes. Are you gonna allow it?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, Actually, no. No, because then what's the point of redacting? Let's not, let's not allow that.

[Nick Limone]

We can't, we can't metagame it.

[Mark Medina]

So it's. So it's illegal.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this based on a license?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Nick Limone]

Unlicensed 2000s onward.

[Mark Medina]

I don't, I don't play that many license games.

[Nick Limone]

Is this game from Japan?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, just talked about how much you played Marvel Rivals.

[Nick Limone]

So then now this, this is, this is a Mark game. Then if it's not from Japan, what's it?

[Mark Medina]

Oh, it's not. Oh, it's not from Japan. I mean, that used to be the only thing I played back in the, back in the 90s.

[Sam Claiborne]

Not from Japan.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not from Japan.

[Mark Medina]

And so in 2000 onward, we have 26 years to comb through, unlike this

[Sam Claiborne]

game, have a sequel that's coming out or out already on the PlayStation 5 generation?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Nick Limone]

Is this game still relevant to this day?

[Damon Hatfield]

What do you mean?

[Nick Limone]

I mean, is this it? Is this part of a franchise? Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, that's fine.

[Nick Limone]

Not part of a franchise.

[Mark Medina]

Well, okay, was this game exclusive to the platform it came out on at.

[Damon Hatfield]

For, For a time.

[Mark Medina]

Got it. Okay.

[Nick Limone]

Is this game with the prior question in mind, was this a Xbox in the Xbox family of consoles?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Nick Limone]

Okay,

[Mark Medina]

Same question. Nintendo?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, PlayStation, it wouldn't go exclusive off of Nintendo usually unless it was Resident Evil 4.

[Mark Medina]

Unless it was Zombie you.

[Nick Limone]

So it's a Sony.

[Mark Medina]

Okay, so was. Was PlayStation? We, we need to figure out where we're at in these 26 years of.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this, was this out on an even numbered PlayStation system?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, either PS1, PS3 or 5.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this a PS3 game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, that's 10.

[Nick Limone]

Is this a PlayStation 1 game?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Mark Medina]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh my gosh.

[Nick Limone]

Okay, so it's a PS5 game.

[Sam Claiborne]

There's no sequel on the PS5 because it's.

[Nick Limone]

And it's the first of. It's. It's not part of a franchise. So it's the first one and it's not from Japan.

[Sam Claiborne]

It went to PC shortly after something. Yeah, maybe it's a. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Returnal maybe.

[Mark Medina]

Could be. Yeah. Okay. What is the studio? Is it first party? Is that. Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

[Sam Claiborne]

You can ask if.

[Mark Medina]

Are they. Are they.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's the question you want to ask?

[Mark Medina]

Oh, because I was going to ask what if they're first party now?

[Sam Claiborne]

Why don't you just ask if it was developed by Gorilla or who's the eternal developer?

[Nick Limone]

House Mark.

[Sam Claiborne]

House Mark, Gorilla. Gorilla or House Mark?

[Nick Limone]

Is developed by Gorilla. Is it developed by Gorilla House, Mark or Naughty Dog?

[Mark Medina]

Or Bend? Or Bend?

[Nick Limone]

Bend or Bend?

[Damon Hatfield]

No. The answer is no.

[Nick Limone]

What? What? Okay, so it. It's got Santa Monica Studios.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, but. But I can't. I mean, they haven't released any games that, like. I wouldn't consider God of War, Ragnarok. Oh, well, that's part of the franchises and stuff.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, it could be one of its dreams. It could be medium five.

[Sam Claiborne]

Right?

[Mark Medina]

Oh, that's not PS5. That's PS4.

[Sam Claiborne]

What did Media Molecule do for PS5?

[Damon Hatfield]

It.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nothing.

[Mark Medina]

I don't know if they've done anything.

[Nick Limone]

I can't recall.

[Mark Medina]

Wait, no. Did they make the. The Sackboy adventure game? Was that Media Molecule?

[Nick Limone]

Sack Boy's Adventure? That was. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I.

[Nick Limone]

Well, I can't. I think it's.

[Mark Medina]

Media Molecule could also be insomniac, but legit, though.

[Sam Claiborne]

What if Sony didn't publish this game because we just don't.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Did Sony. Did Sony. Oh, do we not want to ask that then?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, I think you should ask it because it doesn't sound like they did. It sounds like

[Mark Medina]

Sony published game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes, Sony published this game.

[Mark Medina]

Okay. It could be no Man's Sky.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's just. I wouldn't consider that a PS5 game.

[Mark Medina]

True.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. And it's on everything.

[Mark Medina]

But not at launch, it wasn't. How many questions you asked?

[Damon Hatfield]

13 questions.

[Nick Limone]

13 questions.

[Mark Medina]

All right.

[Nick Limone]

PS5 not part of a franchise. Not from.

[Mark Medina]

Sorry, what was the question about? Oh, Japan. Okay, so then it could be like, Shift up.

[Nick Limone]

True. Stellar Blade.

[Mark Medina]

Stellar Blade. Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, and it was ported to PC, Right?

[Mark Medina]

And the redacted is Mark.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. I mean, there you go. This all aligns. Is this game from Korea?

[Mark Medina]

Yes, that's stellar blade. It's 100%.

[Nick Limone]

Is the game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Let's ask this. Is this game Star an actual model for the model?

[Nick Limone]

Is it the developer? Is the star of the game modeled after the developer's wife?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

Is the game Stellar Blade?

[Mark Medina]

It is stellar.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. We did it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Don't know if she's technically a model. I think she is professional model, but. Yeah. Yep. Stellar Blade.

[Nick Limone]

Good game. What a game.

[Damon Hatfield]

The redacted was marked.

[Mark Medina]

What a great game.

[Damon Hatfield]

I figured they wanted to throw you a bone with Stellar Blade.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, and they did. They did.

[Damon Hatfield]

Which we.

[Mark Medina]

Great game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Never had before. But we have had three other games with Blade in the title. That would be Muramasa, the Demon Blade last year, infinity blade in 2023, and blades of steel in 2022.

[Nick Limone]

Nice.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nice.

[Mark Medina]

Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Wait I remember not getting Stellar, Stellar Blade.

[Mark Medina]

I mean, there, there is a sequel in development, but obviously they haven't really like announced it. They just are working on the next Stellar Blade game.

[Nick Limone]

So, yeah, I'm looking for. Honestly, I, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this game. Great soundtrack.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is.

[Mark Medina]

It's kind of like incredible soundtrack.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's kind of like pragmata. Like, it's like, like when we say just video game ass video game, like that's what this is. Just. Yeah, it's just fun. There's no, no fluff to it. It's not overstuffed. It's just, just a fun adventure you can do in like 15 hours.

[Mark Medina]

You could beat it in. Yeah, 15 hours. Every zone has like the next best song. Your next favorite song is in the next zone.

[Nick Limone]

It's very Near.

[Mark Medina]

Automaton story is a little, you know. You know. Well, yeah, I mean, they've, they've had crossovers with near and everything.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Also, none of her outfits seem particularly strategic.

[Mark Medina]

No, no. I think the guy who did the music for near is the guy who

[Nick Limone]

did the music for Keiichi Okabe. I don't know about that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, anyway, nicely Job. Thank you for the suggestion.

[Mark Medina]

Yay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Marcus in Chicago. Viewers, listeners, if you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address gamescoopgn.com and I wanted to let you know we've got a new spot for us all to hang out and talk about all things Game Scoop. Please join the brand new IGN Discord to connect with us. Your favorite Scoop hosts as well as Scoop fans will all be hanging out there from around the world. It'd be a great place to share your conversations around around 20 questions. Suggest music for me to use on the show. We'll be there chatting, you know, putting up polls and more and more as time goes by. So link. I'll put the link in the episode description, but join the IGN Discord and we will see you there.

[Sam Claiborne]

I guess we'll solve games with you all.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

We'll send us some fan art.

[Nick Limone]

We're all going to be Nintendo counselors for you. You're all personal Nintendo counselors.

[Damon Hatfield]

It'll be good. Well, that's all the scoops we have for you this week. Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Mark. Thank you to Jobert working behind the scenes to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IGN GamesCube. And we're out.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did you hear about our devastating loss on Fiji 20 questions last week?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Nick Limone]

Devastating. What happened?

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, boy. All right. So first of all, we had swung in Miranda at the last minute, and she did a good job. This is my fault. We got to the game. So what happened was that we found out it was a game about crime that was based on a license from the PS2 era.

[Nick Limone]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

They ruled out Godfather.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

They ruled out Scarface.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, yeah. I mean, those are kind of like we, you know, I guess it's PS2. Like, we were ruling out those by the eras of them. We actually ended up finding out that it wasn't a 70s or 80s crime movie, which was really helpful. So right at the end, I was like, fuck, this sounds like it's a Reservoir Dogs game. But, like, that's a ridiculous idea.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then he knows what it is.

[Sam Claiborne]

And then we said, we give up. And that was the last thing I said. It sounds like it's Reservoir Dogs, but I don't know if that existed. Well, what is it, Damon? And then we left.

[Nick Limone]

It was Reservoir Dog.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, it was Reservoir.

[Mark Medina]

What do you do in the Reservoir?

[Nick Limone]

Never Reservoir Dogs game?

[Mark Medina]

I think you just do the Gas Man.

[Nick Limone]

Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it Reservoir Dogs? And then it's, you know. But yeah. Why would they ever make that?

[Nick Limone]

It's a rhythm game to cut off an ear.

[Damon Hatfield]

They have a lot. They have the likeness of some of the actors, but not all. And none of the voice talents. It's a really weird, weird Michael Madsen scene.

[Sam Claiborne]

And they.

[Damon Hatfield]

They keep on.

[Sam Claiborne]

They keep on taking me off.

[Damon Hatfield]

Twitch.

[Nick Limone]

Very strange. Hopefully this week can be better.

[Damon Hatfield]

Good.

[Nick Limone]

In. In fortunate news, I have floors again, which is pretty sick.

[Damon Hatfield]

Good, good, good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Florissa, Horizon, Florida.

[Nick Limone]

Horizon, indeed.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. You have like a. Did you say you were upstairs where the leak was?

[Nick Limone]

I'm in the middle floor of my apartment and all through the apartment above me and the apartment below me, and my apartment all flooded. I got back from vacation.

[Mark Medina]

I went.

[Nick Limone]

Went.

[Mark Medina]

Ah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Where did it start from?

[Nick Limone]

Our kitchen sink. But it's because it's a shared pipe, so somebody was putting stuff in their sink that they should.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ew.

[Nick Limone]

They were put in, like a cooking oil and coffee grounds or something like.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah. But how did it flood the. Up above you?

[Nick Limone]

That's a great question. I don't really know the logistics of it. I just know I got looped into an email chain with the HOA and then, like, all of the owners of the different apartments saying, hey, my tenant just got back from a vacation. There was another dude on vacation at the same time as me. But just. Yeah, it was all Three apartments. So they're fix.

[Sam Claiborne]

You don't have like a pet or anything though, do you?

[Nick Limone]

I do, but he was being babysat by my parents in a flood free home.

[Sam Claiborne]

I just can't imagine like a cat home alone.

[Nick Limone]

Oh my gosh. That's my closing in nightmare.

[Mark Medina]

We did try. There is a new Mexican place in my town. I can't decide if it's really, really good or just salty. I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, you know how it is.

[Mark Medina]

You're right. Like you eat like some refried beans and you're like, damn, these are good. And you're like, wait. They're also just like maybe like super salty. Which salt is good? So like maybe that's.

[Nick Limone]

Salt is good. Salt is good.

[Mark Medina]

It is good. It's I yo I with salt. The is on my screen right now.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, they're like larping, right? But they aren't doing anything. They're all just standing around.

[Nick Limone]

They're playing, they're waiting. It's a siege, dude. This I would love.

[Damon Hatfield]

What are they waiting for? For nightfall, dude.

[Nick Limone]

They gotta wait for the soldiers. They've already cut off supply lines. They're waiting for people to starve so that they could attack when they're the weakest.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's dirty.

[Sam Claiborne]

They just get really hangry when they run out of pizza.

[Mark Medina]

Playing the long. The long game. They're playing sieve right now.

[Nick Limone]

That should be an IGN outing right there. I'll suggest this to the.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

I just went to a ren fair with joburt and it was the worst experience. Jobert had nothing to do with why it was bad. It was the sun.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, was it hot?

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, dude, it was so hot. It was the worst.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Chain mail for a lot of stinky nerds.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, but I told you guys, I said it on the chat the other the other day. It was great. Some guy walks up and he goes, oh, Mark, I love you in game scoop.

[Nick Limone]

That's great.

[Mark Medina]

Just out of nowhere, just. I was in line and then we were like, we're like, this is joburt. And he's like, oh, joker. He was so excited.

[Nick Limone]

That's cute. I think we were in line to shoot bows and arrows.

[Mark Medina]

Bow and arrows? Yeah. Luckily he left before he saw that because I don't think I'd be his favorite game scooper after that.

[Nick Limone]

Mark sucks at shooting bow and arrow, dude.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, I learned that in real time.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like this new table setup.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, this is nice. This is cozy. Okay, I think we're ready to go.

[Sam Claiborne]

Do we have a wide shot yet.

[Nick Limone]

Hold on. Do we hold on the reveal? I think there is a light directly in front of the wide.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nope, that's not alive.

[Sam Claiborne]

You guys look great.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, it's not live, but

[Sam Claiborne]

that's what you guys are sitting at right now.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm shocked. It looks exactly like 65 Second Street's, like, first podcast studio.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yeah, it does. Sam Kim brought me a Nintendo Redmond shirt home.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's awesome.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Sam Claiborne]

And it's really cool that it's, like, from the actual internal Redmond shop. Yeah, it's fucking cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Chelsea brought home, like, 10 dittos. They've got Dittos, like, changed into other Pokemon.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, those are so cute. I love those. I have a Snorlax Ditto.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Gengar one's my favorite.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's basically Gengar with those derpy eyes, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Nick Limone]

Okay, we're ready to go. Okay, Damon, I'll count you in. In five, four, three, two, and on you.