This week we continue our quest to find out what lives in the Venn diagram where a "Colette Game" and a "Matt Game" overlap. The answer might be Sable, an upcoming nomadic desert hoverbike adventure.

Also, why doesn't Nintendo make any live service games? And if they did, what franchises make the most sense? 

Speaking of online games, Animal Crossing: New Horizons vs. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and why we all broke our island economies during the pandemic.

Colette's playing: Sable (Demo)

Matt's re-playing:  Darkest Dungeon: Ancestral Edition

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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E3 2021 has come and gone, and there are TOO MANY GAMES to keep track of. But there are a few that have our full attention.

This week we're joined by WIRED Games editor and esports journalist Saira Mueller, who tells us about the time she wished for a SNES and got a lame-ass Playstation  instead. Saira shares what she's currently playing, and the games she's looking forward to.

Also, why don't they make controllers for different sized hands?

• Saira's playing: Cozy Grove, Spyro, It Takes Two
• Colette's playing: The Last Campfire
• Matt's playing: Super Bomberman R Online

Follow Saira:

• https://twitter.com/SairaMueller
• https://www.instagram.com/sairamueller/

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

E3 and Summer Game Fest 2021 is upon us, and the trailers are flying in faster than we can keep up. We asked you what new titles, sequels, DLCs, and tech you're most hyped about for 2021 and beyond. We share our excitement for the near and far-flung future of games.

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ
 

Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

You're on a deserted island for the rest of your natural life, but you have a magical device and Internet connection that lets you play only 3 video games. You can get all the updates, DLC, mods, and multiplayer you want, and you can communicate with other players outside of the game ... but you can never play anything else. What do you bring?

Also, there's a fish with teeth on the Battle Net installation screen.

Email us with your picks: [email protected]

Take the Meyers-Briggs gamer test in Colette's Discord: https://discord.gg/682mwYgx

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Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

Norman Caruso, aka The Gaming Historian, has been meticulously documenting the history of video games (and their weird peripherals!) on YouTube since 2008. It took him 7 years before this passion project became a full-time job. More than 90 million views later, his channel is among the most rigorous and well-respected in the world of games journalism. Norman has covered topics as ubiquitous a Tetris and Super Mario Bros. 3, all the way down to failed tech like the Sega Mega Modem and an IRL fishing module for the Game Boy.

We chat with Norman about how he got his start, why primary-source historical research takes so long, how he chooses topics, why it's OK to be wrong sometimes, and why you may never see a Pokémon video on his channel.

• Colette's playing: Demeo VR, a D&D-style tabletop campaign in virtual reality
• Norman's playing: Apex Legends, everyone's favorite competitive co-op shooter
• Matt's playing: More Subnautica BZ and Deep Rock Galactic

Subscribe to The Gaming Historian on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnbvPS_rXp4PC21PG2k1UVg

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ
 

Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

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What draws people into MMOs and live service games? And if one game keeps evolving and adding content, maybe we don't need to play as many new games?

We discuss your love of Destiny 2 and Final Fantasy XIV, why Matt played 500 hours of Warframe (and then had to stop), and why Colette doesn't like to play online (except in Diablo 2). Also, is Destiny just Space Diablo in 3D? Also, the classic days of WoW, Everquest, and EVE Online.

Also, Colette is obsessed with (watching) Resident Evil Village, and discusses the difference between "helpless horror" and a "power fantasy." Matt is obsessed with Subnautica: Below Zero, which has a whole lot more Subnautica in it, which means it's the best ever!

Join us in Colette's Discord: https://discord.gg/682mwYgx

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

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Games are such a young medium. Also, a rapidly evolving one.  So it's not surprising when we return to a game we played years ago (especially in our youth) to find the life-changing experience we remember is actually kind of ... meh?

This week, we discuss the subjectivity of games as an art form on a continuum of culture, technology, and personal growth. Sometimes games are still great in their historical context, even if we don't like playing them in 2021. And sometimes, old games are true masterpieces that transcend their technological and cultural contexts.

We also discuss your favorite games from the past that may or may not stand the test of time.

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

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New Pokémon Snap is here, and apparently there's a character in it named Todd Snap? So says Chelsea Stark, the Executive Editor at an up-and-coming video game website we like to call Polygon.com. 

This week in chat, we discuss the sublime pleasures of bad games we still love to play. Also, can math ever be fun? Also,  why won't Pokémon respect the "rule of thirds?" And WTF *is* picross, anyway?

What we're playing:

• New Pokémon Snap, featuring Todd Snap!
• Murder By Numbers, a '90s-themed visual novel + puzzle game
• Legend of Keepers, a reverse dungeon crawler where you control the monsters
• Monster Hunter Rise, because what's better than smashing a dinosaur in the face with a hammer?

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

Follow Chelsea Stark: https://twitter.com/chelseabot

Listen to Galaxy Brains, Polygon's new podcast hosted by Dave Schilling and Jonah Ray: https://www.polygon.com/22384444/galaxy-brains-polygon-podcast-entertainment-movies-tv

Follow and subscribe to Colette:

• https://twitter.com/colettebennett
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Check out Colette's musical Zelda collab on Saturday 5/8 at 1pm ET: https://www.twitch.tv/Orchkeystramusic

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ
 

Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

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When did nerd culture shift from being passé to the dominant force across all media? Where did all your fan fiction go before the Internet? Remember Blockbuster??

Also, we make a decision on which '90s Star Trek to binge. Also, how did anime get so mainstream? Also, the difference between simple games, and complex games that are easy to access.

And, you can play the original NES Zelda and Dragon Warrior in VR now for some reason?!

What we're playing:

• Cozy Grove: Animal Crossing meets Spiritfarer (but not really!)
• 3DSen PC: Play NES classics in VR via some sort of witchcraft!
• Deep Rock Galactic: Co-Op space dwarves that combines the best things of other games!

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

From our discussion: "Why Do Japanese Characters Look White?" https://kotaku.com/why-do-japanese-characters-look-white-5627268

Follow and subscribe to Colette:

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ
 

Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

Follow and subscribe to Colette:

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

This week we're joined by the wonderful Sean Baptiste,  whose long career in the games industry led him to become the senior PR and streaming manager for Bethesda Softworks. Today, he works with influencers large and small on the publisher's biggest franchises like "Doom" and "Fallout."

We talk with Sean about his extremely diverse career path (which includes play writing, standup comedy, and finding bugs in "Guitar Hero,"), what he's been playing lately, and that time he played "Rock Band" for Dave Grohl at the Grammys.

Also, what makes a great "Persona" game, the extraordinary work that goes into Twitch streaming, and how great game design turns complex systems into an effortless groove. Plus, your emails!

Colette's playing:

• Persona 5 Strikers: Classic Persona style and story with very intense action combat

Sean's playing:

• Wrestling Empire, a deep and weird wrestling career sim that throws back to the N64 era

Matt's playing:

• Not Valheim (because it still runs poorly) but a return to No Man's Sky after many huge updates

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

Follow Sean Baptiste: https://twitter.com/seanthebaptiste

Follow and subscribe to Colette:

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/

Join our Discord community: https://discord.gg/5xz84B9RRJ
 

Subscribe to the show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ColetteAndMatt

Email us with what you're playing and we'll read it on the show! [email protected]

Follow and subscribe to Colette:

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Our theme music is by Azure Flux: https://azureflux.bandcamp.com/

Our logo is illustrated by @JustCallMeKatarina: https://www.instagram.com/justcallmekatarina/