In this week's only seemingly light Daydreamcast, we talk nightmares. The nightmare of Pyramid Head selling out, for one. The nightmare that is working retail in a consumerist society. And, lastly, the nightmare that is the concerning lack of Covid safety measures in Pokémon cafés around the country. As the main course, we serve a goofy-yet-earnest nightmare in Dead Rising, a creative and ambitious early Xbox 360 game which stands at the crossroads that is mid-00s game design. We focus on the various systems of the game, its design philosophy and unique approach to an open (yet defined) world, and trace back the steps the series would go on to take. Also, we forget to mention how Carlito looks like a scrapped Tekken character, so there!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 The Great Pokémon Café Mix (2020) Soliloquy

07:44 Dead By Daylight (2016)

14:19 itch.io Minute: Beglitched (2016); Night of the Consumers (2012)

Featured Game

25:22 Dead Rising

In this tangent-filled episode of the Daydreamcast, we talk shop on competitive digital board games, the recent Sony PS5 presser, the Paper Mario series, and the wonderful treasure trove that is the recent itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. We barely have time to mourn Animal Crossing Minute (2020–2020) as we dive right into Castlevania: Circle of the Moon, our feature title. A GBA launch game and the template (based on a previous template!) for the numerous portable entries going forward, we honour it with an in-depth discussion of the game's systems, and try to understand its place in the long-running, household favourite Konami series.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics (2020)

06:08 itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality; Death and Taxes (2020); The Real Texas (2012)

15:08 PS5 Reveal & Games

30:15 Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling (2019); Paper Mario series

Featured Game

39:01 Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

In this new tittilating episode of the Daydreamcast, we present our first guest, Calvin Kemph, editor-in-chief of some film site called Twin Geeks and actual former gaming journalist for many years. Things quickly turn raunchy as we reflect on the properties of anthropomorphic goo, the many forms of S&M, and the questionable importance of undergarments in making new friends. Our main game of the week leads us down the rabbit hole of '90s adventure game goodness. Coming from our game of the week, the wacky detective/noir spoof Sam & Max Hit The Road, we talk about our history with adventure games, re-open the age-old argument on Sierra vs. LucasArts, and give credit to the Scummiest of Virtual Machines. Also, SHARK MONTH!

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Pantsu Hunter: Back to the '90s (2019)

4:35 Panel de Pon (1995)

8:29 Calvin's History As Gaming Professional

11:53 Luigi's Mansion 3 (2019)

20:48 Deadly Premonition (2010)

28:09 Pavlos' Animal Crossing Minute

Featured Game

31:08 Sam & Max Hit The Road

In the new episode of the vanguard Daydreamcast, we take up a new quarantine hobby: gardening of a... special kind! Join us as we discuss the seemingly harmless but immensely fun Pikmin, Nintendo's original take on a real-time strategy game. We discuss both the Gamecube and the Wii version in detail, focusing on the game's striking aesthetic, its not-so-daunting time limit, and the value of the almighty Blue Pikmin. Other insights of the episode: Nintendo listens to our podcast, Bloodborne is good (finally someone has figured this out!), and M2 is the supreme caretaker of The Old Games.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Panel de Pon (1995) and others coming to Switch SNES VC

3:16 Bloodborne (2015)

8:33 Pavlos' Animal Crossing Minute

17:33 Retro Compilations (Mega Man, Castlevania) aka M2 vs. the rest of the world

Featured Game

28:50 Pikmin

Ever listen to a podcast in the pale moonlight? Well, you should try – and what better opportunity than with a new sizzling episode of the only video game podcast around! This week, Brogan thought it was 2013 and bought a PS4, Pavlos breaks down laziness in the work place and the difference between music and rhythm games, and both of them discuss games based on comic books. Fittingly, Sunsoft's Batman, a short and tough sidescroller on the NES, gets the game-of-the-week treatment, providing our hosts with ample opportunity to talk about The Bat, The Burton, and, of course, The Old Games.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 PS4 Experience & Bloodborne (2015)

5:18 Thumper (2016): Music vs. Rhythm games

15:19 ToeJam & Earl: Back to the Groove (2019)

22:10 Pavlos' Animal Crossing Minute

28:09 Spider-Man (2018)

Featured Game

31:42 Batman

In the first 'for real this time' episode of the Daydreamcast, our hosts discuss the possible pinnacle of walking simulators, Riot's new hero shooter Valorant, the revolutionary addition of NPCs into Fallout 76, and, of course, the meta of Windjammers. But nothing beats the thrill of non-stop brain-twisters and loveably overbearing British accents provided by this week's featured game, Level-5's debut for their long-running puzzle game series, Professor Layton and the Curious Village. Thankfully, every puzzle has an answer. Except the ones where you have to imagine dice in your head, jesus.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 What Remains of Edith Finch? (2017)

7:00 Valorant (2020) Beta

10:50 Overwatch (2015)

15:33 Hollow Knight (2017)

22:34 Pavlos' Animal Crossing Minute

26:44 Fallout 76 (2018)

30:22 Windjammers (1994)

Featured Game

40:25 Professor Layton and the Curious Village

In this inaugural episode of the Daydreamcast, The Twin Geeks’ new gaming-focused podcast, our hosts talk about the grab bag of games they spent time with this week, including the game of the week, the indie game Minit. A short and simple Zelda-like on the surface, Minit relies strongly on puzzles involving its main mechanic, a time loop that is set off every 60 seconds. Our hosts discuss the characteristics of the game’s structure as well as the company Minit keeps with other games (and films like Groundhog Day, 1993) that are built on a similar chronological premise.

Disclaimer: As this episode served as a technical test, the audio quality is uneven in spots. Naturally, future episodes will not feature these issues.

Timestamps:

Whatcha Playing

0:00 Pokémon spin-offs: Puzzle Challenge & League (2000) & Pinball (1999)

8:05 Doom Eternal (2020) & Doom 64 (1997)

14:30 Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020)

29:18 Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019)

Featured Game

34:37 Minit (2018)