Kotaku Splitscreen

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Kotaku Splitscreen episodes

October 11, 2018 149: The Big Microtransaction Question
Kirk and Jason briefly gush about the new Wonder Woman emulator Assassin's Creed Odyssey before bringing on Stephen Totilo for a lengthy chat about microtransactions (21:43). The three talk about how Assassin's Creed Odyssey's microtransactions work, whether they affect the game, whether their sheer existence plants a seed of skepticism inside the player's head, the "poisoning the well" argument, how video games have always been after your money, whether games should still cost $60, and much, much more. Finally, Kirk and Jason briefly chat about some off-topic stuff (1:19:55) like Better Call Saul and the new season of American Vandal.
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1 hr 38 min
October 04, 2018 148: AC Odyssey And Spider-Man Spoilercast
Jason's back from his honeymoon and there's lots to discuss, starting with the Splitscreen boys' first impressions of the new open-world game Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Then, Kirk and Jason dive into this week's news (34:36) on a leaked Harry Potter game, Google's Project Stream, and much more. Finally, it's time for a Spider-Man spoilercast (56:27), getting into the strengths and weaknesses of the story, MJ and Peter's relationship, and what Kirk and Jason want to see from Spider-Man 2.

LINKS:
"We've Got A Wild Theory About The New Harry Potter Movie"
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey: The Kotaku Review
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1 hr 30 min
September 27, 2018 147: The Death Of Telltale Games
Kirk and Maddy start off by talking about the biggest news of the last week: the sudden closure of Telltale Games, a move that left more than 200 game developers out of work with no severance. (Well REALLY, they start out by talking about comically huge mouse pads, if we're being totally accurate.) After talking about the Telltale debacle, they discuss Sony finally opening up the PS4 to cross-play with other consoles, how a Shadow of the Tomb Raider fan found an unintended post-credits cutscene by playing the game without the day-one patch, and how Nintendo's tight-lipped approach to explaining their games lets fans create things as wonderful as Bowsette, a.k.a. Peacher. They close out with some talk of how Destiny 2 has become life-devouringly good, how Maddy has been charmed by last year's Battle Chef Brigade, and some off-topic TV, podcast, and music recommendations.

LINKS:
Kirk's podcast breaking down why Toto's "Africa" is a great song
"Telltale Employees Left Stunned By Company Closure, No Severance," by Ethan Gach for Kotaku
Gita Jackson's article about Bowsette/Peacher
Sony finally relents and allows Fortnite cross-platform play
Kirk's review of Destiny 2: Forsaken and breakdown of all the cool new stuff added to the game this week
"My Hideous, Comfortable Gamer Chair Fills Me With Existential Dread," by Maddy Myers for Kotaku Compete
"n1c" By deerful on Bandcamp
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1 hr 20 min
September 21, 2018 BONUS: We Finally Played Red Dead Redemption 2
Kotaku's Stephen Totilo finally had a chance to play Rockstar's upcoming wild west open-worlder Red Dead Redemption 2. For this bonus episode, he sat down with Kirk and Maddy to share his impressions of the game and answer questions about rusted guns, horse balls, and causin' a ruckus on the open prairie.

LINKS:
Stephen's full written preview of Red Dead Redemption 2
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24 min
September 20, 2018 146: In The Shadow Of The Tomb Raider
Jason's out of town, so Kotaku editor Maddy Myers joins Kirk to fill in as co-host. First up they talk about Nintendo's new Switch online service, the just-announced PlayStation Classic, how the maniacs who beat Destiny 2's new raid unlocked new stuff for everyone, and how streamers are reacting after someone shot a BB gun through the window of a popular PUBG personality.

Then Kotaku EIC Stephen Totilo joins (33:33) to talk about Shadow of the Tomb Raider, a good game that's been unfortunately overSHADOWED (cough) by certain other September mega-games. Maddy and Kirk close out (55:23) with some talk of Assassin's Creed Origins, a couple TV recommendations, and a New Zealand-tastic music pick of the week.

LINKS:
"After Shooting At Dr Disrespect's House, Streamers Are Concerned For Their Safety," by Nathan Grayson for Kotaku
Stephen Totilo's review of Shadow of the Tomb Raider
"After Jacksonville Shooting, Gaming Event Organizers Pledge Better Security" by Maddy Myers for Kotaku
Heather Alexandra and Cecilia D'Anastasio on what they liked and didn't like about The Dragon Prince
Kirk's review of Assassin's Creed Origins and follow-up article about how absurdly huge the game is
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1 hr 20 min
September 13, 2018 145: The Amazing, Amazing Spider-Man
First, Kirk and Jason talk some more about Destiny 2's Forsaken expansion, addressing the question "how much should creators listen to fan feedback?" and talking about the brilliant new Dreaming City location. Then Kirk sits down with video producer Lindsay Ellis to talk about Disney, Star Wars, fascism, and YouTube. Jason rejoins the show to cap things off with more Spider-Man love, which Kirk finally acknowledges is as good as Jason said it was.Lindsay Ellis's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG1h-Wqjtwz7uUANw6gazRwSnarky Puppy - Lingus (live recording): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_XJ_s5IsQc
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1 hr 47 min
September 06, 2018 144: Spider-Man Is Great And Destiny Is Back
Kirk and Jason talk about web slinging and swinging in Spider-Man, the excellent new PS4 game, then dive into Destiny 2's new Forsaken expansion, talking about the new systems, the story, and the Destiny treadmill that never ends.
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1 hr 13 min
August 30, 2018 143: Cyberpunk 2077's Big Debut
Kirk's back from vacation and raring to talk about games. What kinds of games? VIDEO games, baby!

He and Jason start off discussing what they've been playing, covering God of War's New Game+, Prey: Mooncrash, Destiny 2, The Messenger, and Dragon Quest XI. Then they talk a bit about the glut of indie games en route to the Switch and share some thoughts on that super-slick Cyberpunk 2077 E3 gameplay demo, which CD Projekt Red finally released to the public this week.

After that, Kirk has a chat with Ari Gibson and William Pellen, the Australian duo behind the wonderful side-scroller Hollow Knight, before he and Jason bring it home with some TV, book, and music recommendations.

Links:
Team Cherry Blog, Team Cherry on Twitter
Tim Rogers's Dragon Quest XI review
Cyberpunk 2077 48-minute E3 gameplay demo
Jason on the victims of the Jacksonville shooting
Kirk on learning different combat moves in God of War's New Game+
Kirk tries to explain Destiny 2's new weapons system
"How Goop’s Haters Made Gwyneth Paltrow’s Company Worth $250 Million" by Taffy Brodesser-Akner

Interview intro music: "Greenpath" by Christopher Larkin from the Hollow Knight OST
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1 hr 41 min
August 23, 2018 142: What It's Like To Write Final Fantasy XIV
Jason brings on Square Enix's Koji Fox, who's been at the company since 2003 and currently heads up translation on Final Fantasy XIV. They talk about what it was like to join Square on the day it became Square Enix, how Final Fantasy XIV's overhaul affected the staff, and what it's been like to write for a story that never ends.
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45 min
August 16, 2018 141: Press Sneak F**ks
Jason and Kirk talk CPU cooling and Diablo 3 on Switch before diving into Dead Cells and the appeal (or lack of appeal) of video game grind in games like Destiny. Then, Jason talks to Arkane co-founder and Prey director Raphael Colantonio (41:03) about why he left the company he helped start, what he dislikes about big-budget gaming, and why Prey's final act was so different than the rest of the game.
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1 hr 33 min