Featuring:
Merve
Wolfman Jew
PT
The Kappa
Timestamps:
0:15 – Introduction
3:20 – Project Sonic Watch 2022, Part 1
10:10 – Pokémon Leaks
17:10 – Blizzard Pulls Out of China
28:45 – Gearbox Takes Over Volition
35:25 – What’s Going on with Twitter?
51:55 – What We’ve Been Playing, Part 1
1:12:55 – Project Sonic Watch 2022, Part 2
1:15:55 – What We’ve Been Playing, Part 2
1:42:40 – 2022 Game Awards Nominations, Part 1
2:45:35 – MMOs and Their Soundtracks
2:57:20 – 2022 Game Awards Nominations, Part 2
2:59:40 – Conclusion, a.k.a. Project Sonic Watch 2022, Part 3
Download Link: https://archive.org/details/avocadogamescast_ep87
Podcast header image from QooApp. Linkdump and spoiler warnings after the jump.
Introduction (0:15)
Keen Wiki article on Vorticons. (Source: shikadi.net)“Aardwolf” comes from Dutch, where it literally means “earth wolf.” (Source: Dictionary.com)Steam store page for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.Discussion on “Light Level” becoming “Power Level” in Destiny 2. (Source: r/DestinyTheGame on Reddit)Translation of “eighty-seven” into Estonian. (Source: Google Translate)Project Sonic Watch 2022, Part 1 (3:20)
Steam store page for Sonic Frontiers.Wikipedia article on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.Wikipedia article section on the Digimon: The Movie soundtrack.Nintendo Life’s review of Sonic Frontiers.Pokémon Leaks (10:10)
MINOR SPOILERS: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet
Blizzard Pulls Out of China (17:10)
Correction: A foreign firm operating in China doesn’t necessarily need to partner with a pre-existing domestic firm, but it does need to incorporate in China. (Source: Thomson Reuters Practical Law)The NetEase employee who called out a “jerk” is Simon Zhu. (Source: LinkedIn)Correction: The past seven MCU films did not release in China. (Source: Business Insider)Wikpedia article on Genshin Impact.Clarification: Crossfire is extremely popular in China, but it was developed by Smilegate, a South Korean developer. However, Crossfire HD, released last year, is exclusive to the Chinese market. (Source: Wikipedia)Steam store page for ANNO: Mutationem.Gearbox Takes Over Volition (28:45)
Article on Volition being moved under Gearbox. Clarification: Koch Media has been renamed Plaion. (Source: Video Games Chronicle)Epic Games Store page for Saints Row.Wikipedia article on South Park.Clarification: You go to hell in the standalone expansion for Saints Row IV, Gat Out of Hell. (Source: Wikipedia)What’s Going on with Twitter? (35:25)
The CBC article Merve mentioned about Twitter employees quitting in droves.An explainer on the FTX crash. (Source: NBC News)The Avocado’s politics threads.Correction: The EA Spouse blog post was made on LiveJournal, not Twitter or Tumblr. (Source: Wikipedia)Wikpedia article on the Arab Spring.Wikipedia article on Elon Musk.Wikipedia article on Myspace.Correction: Though it has mostly operated at a loss, Twitter has previously been profitable. (Source: Statista)Official website for commenting plugin Disqus.What We’ve Been Playing, Part 1 (51:55)
Steam store page for The Entropy Centre.Steam store page for Quantum Conundrum. Confirmation: It came out in 2012.The name of the gun in The Entropy Centre is ASTRA. (Source: Official website for The Entropy Centre)Confirmation: Stubby Games is from Brighton, which is in the UK. (Source: @Stubby_Games on Twitter)“Portboard stow” is a quote from Homestar Runner’s Strong Bad Email #132, “modeling.” (Source: Homestar Runner Wiki)“Larboard” is a controversial synonym for “port” in the Alphascape V3.0 raid in Final Fantasy XIV. (Sources: r/ffxiv on Reddit and Final Fantasy XIV Wiki)Wikipedia article on Leeroy Jenkins.Steam store page for Pentiment.Confirmation: Pentiment takes place after the Middle Ages, in the 16th century. (Source: Wikipedia)Wikipedia article on The Lord of the Rings Online.“White Room” by Cream. (Source: Cream – Topic on YouTube)Project Sonic Watch 2022, Part 2 (1:12:55)
Article on Yuji Naka’s arrest for insider trading. (Source: Kotaku)Official website for Dragon Quest Tact.Steam store page for Balan Wonderworld.Wikipedia article on Yuji Horii.What We’ve Been Playing, Part 2 (1:15:55)
Wikipedia article on Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker.Wikipedia article on Dragon Quest XI.Wikipedia article on Grand Theft Auto V.The “Push It to the Limit” scene from Scarface. (Source: Universal Pictures on YouTube)Wikipedia article on God of War Ragnarök.The Elon-Musk-as-Wario sketch from Saturday Night Live. (Source: Saturday Night Live on YouTube)Wikipedia article on Richard Schiff.2022 Game Awards Nominations, Part 1 (1:42:40)
Nominees for The Game Awards 2022. (Source: The Game Awards)Correction: Unpacking did not receive a single nomination at The Game Awards 2021. (Source: Wikipedia)The game that overshadowed Horizon Zero Dawn that Wolfman Jew mentioned was The Legend of Zelda: Breath of Wild. (Source: Wikipedia)The Peelys, the Avocado’s awards show (dis)honouring the worst in pop culture.The 2022 Golden Globes were untelevised due to a controversy over a lack of diversity in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s ranks. (Source: Wikipedia)Confirmation: The Artful Escape was indeed nominated for Best Score and Music at The Game Awards 2021, in addition to Best Art Direction and Best Debut Indie Game. (Source: Wikipedia)Correction: A Memoir Blue is about a family with Taiwanese roots, not mainland Chinese roots. (Source: Paste)Wikipedia article on the God of War franchise.Wikipedia article on the Kirby series.Wikipedia article on Halo Infinite.Clarification: Halo Infinite actually won the Players’ Voice award at the 2021 Game Awards, but it was not eligible to be nominated for regular awards that year, based on its release date. (Source: Wikipedia)Wikipedia article on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II.Wikipedia article on Overwatch 2.Article on the temporary removal of LeBron James from MultiVersus. (Source: VG24/7)Correction: The Most Anticipated Game award has only existed for the past two years. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (not officially titled until 2022) was nominated in both 2020 and 2021 but lost to Elden Ring both years. (Sources: Wikipedia)The infamous picture of Geoff Keighley with Doritos and Mountain Dew. (Source: Eurogamer)Steam store page for Gibbon: Beyond the Trees.Correction: The ‘70s and ‘80s sports competition show Wolfman Jew and The Kappa were referring to was likely Battle of the Network Stars, and it aired mostly on ABC (though there was a one-off special on NBC in 2003). (Source: Wikipedia)Clarification: World Games was developed by Epyx and K-Byte, but one of the platforms it was available for was the Atari ST. (Source: Wikipedia)Wolfman Jew’s “Late to the Party” article on Doom. (Source: The Avocado)Article on Nibel quitting content creation. (Source: Video Games Chronicle)Correction: The Game Awards has not awarded their Industry Icon award (their version of a lifetime achievement award) since 2018. Nolan Bushnell never won it. (Source: Wikipedia)Wikipedia article on Kazumi Totaka.MMOs and Their Soundtracks (2:45:35)
Wikipedia article on Masayoshi Soken.Wikipedia article on Final Fantasy XIV.Wikipedia article on Michael Salvatori.Wikipedia article on Final Fantasy IV.Wikipedia article on Final Fantasy XI.Skill and chain charts for Final Fantasy XI (1 and 2). (Sources: Wikia and Photobucket)Wikipedia article on EverQuest.2022 Game Awards Nominations, Part 2 (2:57:20)
Wikipedia article on No Man’s Sky.Conclusion, a.k.a. Project Sonic Watch 2022, Part 3 (2:59:40)
The joke Merve quoted about Yuji Naka’s arrest. (Source: JigglesBunny on ResetEra)
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