In this episode, Jared and Patrick talk about their favorite indie games from the last decade. 

Intro: "Uncharted Territory" from Gradius III / Outro: "Stickerbrush Symphony" from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

In this episode, Patrick and Jared discuss the politics of game development and the industry's open secret, mandatory (sometimes unpaid) overtime. This normalization of overworking employees, known as "crunch culture," has become a hot topic in the industry as of late, and oftentimes leads to severe mental and physical health problems for employees later. All this and more on today's episode.

In this episode, Patrick and Jared take a look at some games which have come under public and legal scrutiny. From moral panic to justified outrage, these are the biggest video game controversies in recent memory. 

Intro: "Uncharted Territory" from Gradius III / Outro: "Bugsnax (Instrumental)" by Kero Kero Bonito

(3:08) Chiller and the Torture Game 

(7:47) Splatterhouse

(12:07) Wolfenstein 

(18:21) DOOM 

(24:00) Duke Nukem 3D / Forever

(31:50) Mortal Kombat and Night Trap 

(36:45) Postal 1 and 2 

(41:26) The entirety of Rockstar's development history minus Rockstar Table Tennis 

(47:49) Shadow Man Two-cond Coming 

(51:21) JFK: Reloaded

(53:05) The Guy Game

(56:03) Sonic 06 

(60:22) Mass Effect 1 and 3 

(69:37) Too Human

(71:57) Modern Warfare 

(76:56) Dead Island 

(84:45) Hatred

(88:54) No Man's Sky 

(93:07) Star Wars Battlefront 2 

(100:57) Fallout 76

(108:25) Marvel's the Avengers

(115:09) Cooking Mama: Cookstar 

(117:07) Cyberpunk 2077

Patrick and Jared discuss the games they've been playing, games they haven't played but are excited to play eventually, and games they're anticipating in 2021. 

Intro: "Uncharted Territory" from Gradius III / Outro: "Stickerbrush Symphony" from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

In this episode, Jared and Patrick discuss their favorite games in 2020 alongside their frequent guest, Garrett, and their editor making a surprise guest appearance, Eric. (Note: we will not be inviting Eric back onto the podcast. Thank you for understanding). 

Intro: "Level 1" from Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare '98 / Outro: "Snowman" from Earthbound 

In this episode, Patrick and Jared talk about their takeaways from the 2020 Game Awards as well as their day one experience and first impressions of the GOTY hype train, Cyberpunk 2077. Intro: "Level 1" from Jazz Jackrabbit Holiday Hare '98 / Outro: "Snowman" from Earthbound. RECORDING DATE: 12/10/2020

(2:42) The Game Awards 2020

(3:27) Sephiroth in SSBU 

(6:08) Perfect Dark 

(9:13) Back 4 Blood 

(12:30) The Callisto Protocol, Dragon Age, and Endless Dungeon 

(14:25) Crimson Desert 

(16:36) Season 

(17:10) Ark 2 and the Animated Series 

(20:40) Evil Dead the Game 

(22:52) Ghosts 'n Goblins Resurrection 

(23:56) Returnal 

(25:21) Super Meat Boy Forever 

(27:18) Road 96 

(29:13) It takes two 

(30:27) Star Wars VR

(32:15) Monster Hunter Rise 

(34:27) Evil West 

(35:54) Scarlet Nexus 

(37:31) Halo in Fortnite, and also the Walking Dead 

(40:35) Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond 

(43:10) Mass Effect... will continue 

(46:25) Cyberpunk 2077 First Impressions 

(59:37) Discussing RPG Elements and player options 

(63:13) "It feels like a looter-shooter" 

(65:07) A Big, Barren World 

(70:01) Yes, the p*nis 

(71:15) CDPR Controversies 

(79:59) Cyberpunk on base PS4 and XBO 

This week, Patrick and Jared discuss the gaming industry's shift towards digital content delivery, storage, and more. This episode features our good friend Garrett, who also discusses his experience with the Google Stadia. 

Intro: "Moon Theme" from Ducktales Remastered / Outro: "Bugsnax (Instrumental)" by Kero Kero Bonito

(1:30) Introducing Garrett 

(3:25) Gaming sans disks 

(8:50) The real estate of storage space 

(11:05) Having options 

(17:35) The Google Stadia and streaming video games 

(24:49) In-game advertising 

(27:52) Delisted and defunct games 

(32:46) Longevity, backwards compatibility, and emulation... and Nintendo 

(37:38) Always-on DRM

(40:20) Xbox One Launch and the Villainy of Don Mattrick 

(47:09) Physical vs digital media consumption 

(54:13) Discussing Call of Duty 

(62:21) The potential of a digital future 

This week, viral tweet sensation (as seen on Spawn Wave) Jared and cohost Patrick discuss the latest video game news and talk about their favorite first levels from recent memory. 

Intro: "Moon Theme" from Ducktales Remastered / Outro: "Bugsnax (Instrumental)" by Kero Kero Bonito

(1:18) Viral Tweet Sensation as seen on Spawn Wave, Possible MGS Remake? 

(4:34) Cyberpunk 2077 Leaks

(9:45) Nintendo shuts down Smash Tournament over some absurd bullshit 

(15:12) The Opened Door in Demon's Souls 

(21:30) First Levels in Video Games 

(24:38) Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 

(28:02) Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 

(31:17) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain 

(36:11) Timesplitters 2 

(39:50) Doom 2016 

(46:32) Bioshock 

(52:31) Half Life: Alyx

(56:42) God of War 2018 

(60:41) Crash Bandicoot 4

(64:48) Doom Eternal 

Patrick and Jared talk about their experience with the PlayStation 5 so far, and their hopes and expectations for the console to improve in the future.

Intro: "Moon Theme" from Ducktales Remastered / Outro: "Bugsnax (Instrumental)" by Kero Kero Bonito

0:00 (Introductions)

1:00 (Ninth Console Generation) 

2:04 (Aesthetic Design of the PlayStation 5) 

6:12 (DualSense Controller and Astro's Playroom) 

14:10 (Spider-Man: Miles Morales) 

19:23 (Bugsnax)

22:30 (Demon's Souls Remake) 

31:47 (The Unopened Door and Other Anomalies in Demon's Souls) 

38:38 (Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War) 

1:02:27 (PlayStation 4 Launch / Hopes and Expectations for the Next Generation)