Episode 210: It's time for everyone's favorite tradition as Jason, Maddy, and Kirk go through all the games they've played in 2019, starting with January through June. (July-December coming next week!) Then (1:30:00) it's time for a Watchmen SPOILERCAST!

The games: Slay the Spire, The Hong Kong Massacre, Kingdom Hearts III, Resident Evil 2 Remake, Wargroove, Metro Exodus, Apex Legends, Anthem, Far Cry New Dawn, Tetris 99, Ape Out, Sekiro, The Division 2, Baba Is You, Devil May Cry 5, Days Gone, Phoenix Wright Trilogy (Switch), Mortal Kombat 11, Zanki Zero: Last Beginning, Void Bastards, Rage 2, Outer Wilds, Beat Saber, Gato Roboto, Collection of Mana, Cadence of Hyrule, Timespinner (Switch), My Friend Pedro, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Mario Maker 2

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The 2010s were drawing to a close, and Jason, Kirk and Maddy decided to each pick a single game that defined the decade. It was not an easy decision. Many equally definitive games were left alone on the street, crying "My legacy!!" to any who would listen. A trinity, however, made it across the threshold, ready... for discourse.

A hush fell over the room. Bang! A gavel, like a starter pistol. "I call this discussion to order," said the Judge from Phoenix Wright, who had been brought in especially for the occasion. "Please hold your objections until after the opening statements."

Jason ambled to the podium, dragons on his mind. Maddy waited behind him, idly leafing through her notes on character development and archery. Kirk stood off to the side, squinting at a screenshot of an empty Oregon home.

Each of their picks defined the decade in one way or another. But which one was... the definitiveist? The Judge's gavel fell once more. The discourse began.

.......

Anyway, that segment begins at 26:25. First we talked about the games we're playing, from Shovel Knight: King of Cards to Halo: Reach and Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC. We closed out at 1:11:16 with some off-topic discussion of The Irishman, Elementary, and Good Omens. It was a fun ep.

MUSIC PICK OF THE WEEK:

"Ectogenesis" by Animals as Leaders from their 2016 album The Madness of Many.

MUSIC PICK PLAYLISTS:

Apple music: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/kirks-strong-songs/pl.u-V9D7mXEHJ7o0a

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1zRtCq81Z6kXKmGCK0Xm7u?si=2qwuFExCTfCkRFY9d3hUhA

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Episode 208: Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk a bit about Luigi's Mansion 3, Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, and Baba Is You before jumping into discussion of the new Half-Life VR game and next-gen consoles (19:11). Then they rave about Watchmen for a while (43:19) and close things out with some Jedi Fallen Order spoiler chat.

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Episode 207: Happy turkey day! Kirk, Maddy, and Jason open up the Thanksgiving mailbag to answer some of your questions on their video game origin stories, SNES save states, emulating Death Stranding in Zelda: Breath of the Wild, what other animals should get their own Untitled Goose Game, and much more.

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Episode 206: Finally, a good-ass Star Wars video game! Kirk, Jason, and Maddy take a deep dive into Jedi Fallen Order, the great new Star Wars single-player action-adventure game from Respawn. They talk about its influences, its difficulty, and whether Uncharted and Metroid really harmonize. Then they get into Half-Life VR and the tepid launch of Google Stadia (46:35) followed by some off-topic talk (1:04:49) on The Righteous Gemstones and Musicophilia.

Music pick of the week: “Will O’ The Wisp” from Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis & Gil Evans

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Episode 205: Jason, Kirk, and Maddy talk about a bunch of video games (Disco Elysium, the new Layton, Death Stranding, and so on) before jumping into some analysis of Disney's new Disney Plus streaming service and the Great Streaming Wars (33:32). Is there too much content? Yes. The answer is yes. Plus: His Dark Materials, Big Mouth, and The Mandalorian!

Music pick of the week: “Light of a Clear Blue Morning” by Dolly Parton from New Harvest… First Gathering, 1977

Links: 'Disco Elysium' Is a Landmark RPG About the Politics of Our Broken World [Cameron Kunzelman, Vice]

Podcast: Pop culture unites us as Americans. Will streaming services change that? [Lauren Katz, Vox]

Disney Is Quietly Placing Classic Fox Movies Into Its Vault, and That’s Worrying [Matt Zoller Seitz, Vulture]

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Episode 204: It's Death Stranding time! Kirk, Maddy, and Jason spend some time talking about BlizzCon and Luigi's Mansion 3 before jumping into discussion of Metal Gear Solid director Hideo Kojima's new game (25:40), which all three of them have played. They talk about its slow start, why Jason couldn't play more than two hours, and why Kirk and Maddy are loving its weird clunkiness. The show ends with some off-topic talk (58:09) on Trick Mirror, Us, and the Legend of Gardner Minshew.

Music pick of the week: “The Other Side of Summer” by Elvis Costello from Mighty Like a Rose, 1991

To read: Death Stranding: The Kotaku Review [Kotaku];

What Happened to Deadspin, According to the People Who Were There [Slate];

The Future of the Culture Wars is Here, and it’s Gamergate [Deadspin]

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Papa Jason is back from paternity leave and he’s got a bunch of newfound parenting knowledge to share… or at least, he played a bunch of games and watched a bunch of TV. He and Kirk talk in-depth about Disco Elysium and The Outer Worlds, two of the games they’ve both been playing. Then Maddy shares some spare thoughts on her journey to the end of Fire Emblem. The *first* end, anyway.

After that they talk news, with some expectations and predictions about the upcoming BlizzCon, Ghost Recon Wildlands bombing hard enough to make Ubisoft delay a bunch of games, and the latest beleaguerment in the Fallout 76 saga.

Referenced on this episode: Fraser Brown’s PC Gamer article about Disco Elysium and The Outer Worlds: https://www.pcgamer.com/disco-elysium-has-ruined-the-outer-worlds-for-me/

Music Pick of the Week: “Just Another Day” by Oingo Boingo from Dead Man’s Party, 1985

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Maddy and Kirk talk about games they're playing, with Maddy trying out Sayonara Wild Hearts and Kirk still diving into the interlocking brain systems that Disco Elysium gives its protagonist. After that, we bring on Kotaku staff editor Natalie Degraffinried (24:05) to talk about Ring Fit Adventure, which is Nintendo's latest attempt to make an exercise video game. We also look back on Wii Fit, Dance Dance Revolution, and more. We close with off-topic talk (54:52) about the Charlie's Angels movies, as well as Watchmen—the book, the movie, and the show.

Music pick of the week: “American Music” by the Violent Femmes from “Why Do Birds Sing,” 1991

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Kirk and Maddy talk about games they're playing, which in Maddy's case is still Destiny 2 and Borderlands 3. Kirk beat Sayonara Wild Hearts, a music-focused game that he strongly recommends, and he just started Disco Elysium, a detective game with a ton of dialogue systems. We then break for some discussion of the news (32:23), touching on Kotaku's coverage of Pokemon Go and privacy, Blizzard's approach to China and Hong Kong, and the Fortnite black hole. We close with off-topic talk (56:53) about books each of us has read: Educated by Tara Westover, Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, and Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra.

Music pick of the week: “Begin Again” from the Sayonara Wild Hearts Soundtrack, by Daniel Olsen and Jonathan Eng, feat Linnea Olsson.

“The Creators Of Pokémon Go Mapped The World. Now They're Mapping You” by Cecilia D'Anastasio and Dhruv Mehrotra: https://kotaku.com/the-creators-of-pokemon-go-mapped-the-world-now-theyre-1838974714

“Are China's Tantrums Signs of Strength or Weakness?” by Zeynep Tufekci: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/10/why-does-china-care-about-daryl-moreys-hong-kong-tweet/600001/

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