Reporting (almost) LIVE! from the PAX show floor, Jonathan and Tanya recap Tanya's first PAX experience before jumping over to an interview with the #1 fan of Gex, the Gecco from the 90s, Izzy Kestrel. They dig deep into forgotten and abandoned Gex games and we learn a lot about Dana Gould. Talking to Women about Videogames is the Cure for what ails ya!
0:00:00 - The Pressure's On
0:02:03 - The PAX/Gex 2 for 1 Power Episode
0:03:20 - Tanya's First PAX
0:12:56 - The Secret of Gex Posting with Izzy Kestral
0:49:34 - The Yoshitaka Amano Gex-nection
0:51:16 - Jonathan's Dark PAXinachions
0:54:35 - Wrap Up/Plugs/Thanks Patrons!
0:59:48 - You Gotta Feel It Up
Izzy's Website: https://iznaut.com/
Follow Izzy on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/iznaut.com
Check out The Electrifying Incident on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3352300/The_Electrifying_Incident_A_Monster_MiniExpedition/
Check out the next Nintendo Force here: https://www.nintendoforcemagazine.com/
Pre-order the next Lock On Magazine here: https://www.lostincult.co.uk/006
Support the "Crips for Esims for Gaza Bundle" on itch over here: https://itch.io/b/2965/crips-for-esims-for-gaza-bundle
Follow Jonathan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tronknotts.bsky.social
Follow the podcast on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
And support this show on Patreon at http://www.Patreon.com/ttwav

On this very busy day, Jonathan and Ryan record the show while also playing Castle Crashers. Jonathan shares some of his early life experiences growing up with videogames as a retreat from his real life and Ryan says that real life is better than Minecraft. A few different videogame genres are discussed before landing on the small number of genres that all games can be classified as. The SD card also ran out of space early so this episode is unfortunately cut a little bit short.
0:00:00 - Very Busy Guys
0:01:32 - Playing Castle Crashers As We Speak
0:03:37 - The "Normal Kind of Videogame"
0:05:47 - The Fatal Flaw of Castle Crashers
0:07:24 - The Super Meat Boy Crossover Nexus
0:08:06 - The Many Modes of Minecraft
0:09:28 - Minecraft is Almost More Than a Game
0:11:13 - Videogames are a Great Place to Hide Out From the Real World
0:12:54 - Which is Better, Minecraft or Real Life?
0:14:07 - The Art of Castle Crasher vs. The Art of Minecraft
0:16:43 - The Two Videogame Genres
0:19:40 - "Soulsvania"
0:22:42 - But What About Smash Bros?

On this hard rockin', non-stoppin', monster stompin' episode of Yeah! (greatest podcast in the world, 2 months running) we're talking all about Rob Zombie and his song "Superbeast" that was featured on at least 2 videogames! Rob Zombie was on top of the world in 1998 when Twisted Metal 3 released...they even let him sort of be the boss of the soundtrack for the game! He then got tapped again in 2009 to appear on the soundtrack for Brütal Legend alongside Ozzy Osbourne. We get into the weirdness of Mr. Zombie (or is it Mr. Cummings?) and his roots in a sleepy Massachusetts town that coincidentally used to be the home of both Jonathan and Tanya. It's an endless thrill ride of Zombie-infused delights designed to tickle your ears and dazzle your mind.
0:00:00 - Haverhill Locals Only
0:03:48 - Inside the Twisted Mind of Rob Zombie
0:08:02 - What Was Happening with that Twisted Metal 3 Soundtrack?
0:11:06 - Adventures in CD-ROM
0:13:00 - Brütal Legend Starring Jack Black
0:14:47 - Rob Zombie's Living on Schlock
0:17:38 - The Locals' Guide to Haverhill, Massachusetts
0:19:37 - The Haverhill to Hollywood Pipeline to Fame
0:23:50 - Rob Zombie, Mario's Cousin Twice Removed
0:25:15 - Massachampshire
0:27:05 - Why Isn't Jonathan on the Notable Figures of Haverhill List?
0:31:12 - The Latest Update on Kaiju Big Battel
0:33:54 - I'm All Out of Thoughts and Feelings

Currently Playing returns with a first ever live in person recording! Daniel talks to his friend Marcy (musician, teacher, world traveler) about the game Black Myth: Wukong which is based on the Chinese novel Journey to the West. We take a deep dive into the origins of the company behind the game, Game Science, and their connection to the story and Chinese culture before discussing some of the finer details of the gameplay and the challenging Soulslike subgenre. Since Marcy was able to record in person he joined Daniel for playing Streets of Rage 4 which made the classic "couch co-op" game feel more alive, and then Marcy challenged Daniel to play Transistor. We end the show a little unconventionally as well by playing some of Marcy's unreleased music as background and then the also unreleased single Monsters.
0:00:00 - Welcome to the Show, Marcy!
0:07:44 - What Are You Playing? Black Myth: Wukong
0:50:34 - Backlog Recap - Streets of Rage 4
0:58:15 - Backlog Challenge - Transistor
1:14:06 - Wrap Up/Plugs
1:17:03 - Monsters

Jonathan and Tanya are back to talk about what nostalgia for current events might look like in the future. They cover the current tough times including the Switch 2's price (along with the USA's tariff affecting the price) before switching it up to talk about nostalgia for 2009. While they're there, Sarah Carapace stops by to talk about the Bionic Commando reboot that never really launched. Back in the current day, Jonathan notes how cranky game developers can get when they get older and blows up Tanya's spot regarding her enjoyment of the game Royal Match.
0:00:00 - Emo Comes A-Callin'
0:02:45 - Nostalgia For Now Because It's Only Getting Worse
0:06:10 - Switch Too Expensive
0:07:25 - Things Were "Fine" in 2009
0:08:59 - What Happened with Bionic Commando (2009)? w/ Sarah Carapace
0:47:10 - The Butt-cist Insult and Subsequent Apology Tour
0:48:47 - Time Makes Cranky Old Men of Us All
0:50:05 - What From This Time Will You Be Nostalgic For Later?
0:53:49 - Wrap Up/Plugs/Thanks Patrons!
0:59:08 - Butts Be Poppin': https://soundcloud.com/d-booth-sanford/butts-be-poppin
Follow Sarah Carapace on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahcarapace.bsky.social
Check out the Kickstarter for Violet Core: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sarahcarapace/violet-core
Check out Nintendo Force Magazine: https://www.nintendoforcemagazine.com/
Check out the Gamebound Generations Magazine: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wearegamebound/generations-winter-2024-premium-video-game-magazine/
Jonathan and Tanya will be a PAX East if you wanna hang out and read Nintendo Force Magazine! And Jonathan will be at Momocon.
Check out Fix Your Heart or Die, the podcast that says everything is Twin Peaks, on your favorite podcast platform!

On this sticky episode, Jonathan and Ryan extensively cover the latest news in Minecraft before talking more Shovel Knight and Poppy's Playtime and deeper cuts like Retro City Rampage and Shakedown Hawaii. Jonathan explains some of the dangers of gambling in videogames and that practicing a skill in the right ways is the only way to get better. Ryan has a few shocking revelations and Jonathan predicts doom for the next generation.

0:00:00 - Getting Down to Business
0:01:43 - The New Things in Minecraft
0:07:48 - Learning How to Tell a Good Story
0:11:23 - Back on to the Minecraft
0:12:46 - Playing Jacks in the Back Alley
0:16:24 - Dad, I Shouldn't Tell You This...
0:17:06 - The Kids are Doomed
0:17:45 - Starting A-L-L space O-V-E-R in Shovel Knight Dig
0:20:00 - Retro City Rampage featuring Jonathan Off Road Rules
0:21:03 - Drifting into the Switch 2
0:22:09 - What's Going On in Poppy's Playtime Chapter 2?
0:26:32 - How'd He Get So Good?!?
0:30:50 - What Did Ryan Like in Shakedown Hawaii?
0:32:13 - Grand Thest Danno is a Spanish Soap Opera about Twins
0:35:16 - I Don't Think There's Been Too Many New Videogames
0:37:33 - Is the Next Generation Doomed?
0:39:03 - Do You Need a Nappy Poo?

Back the show here for phsyical comics and bonuses- https://www.patreon.com/ttwav

Yeah! is back and bigger than ever, covering the band that was just too big to fail, Metallica! The Sandman has entered the chat as we talk about the Metallica game that never was ("Damage, Inc.") and discover in real time the Metallica game that actually was ("Vid Grid"). Are they the bad boys of metal or just the dreamy dudes of metalli-pop? We'll get to the bottom of this!
0:00:00 - On the Seat of Their Pants
0:03:44 - Jonathan: Metallica Hipster
0:10:31 - The Metalica Game That Never Was
0:17:16 - Doggin' On the Black Album
0:19:46 - Too Big to Fail?
0:21:17 - What Type of Metallica Game Would You Play?
0:23:06 - Enter Vid Grid
0:29:48 - The Aerosmith Bass Player
0:33:53 - It's No Silent Lucidity
See the unreleased Metallica videogame "Damage, Inc." first hand here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVNzRs2mNh8

This month on Currently Playing, Daniel chats with an old friend named Glen who happens to be a well respected evolutionary biologist but also is a lifelong fan of videogames. Glen has been obsessively playing Vampire Survivors lately and though he really loves the game, he also wishes it didn't keep crashing on his phone. Later in the show, Daniel recaps his experience with playing the Stanley Parable, before Glen challenges Daniel to play Streets of Rage 4. At the end of the show, in lieu of a standard plug, Glen makes a reasoned and well-informed plea to the public to educate themselves about the role of politics in science.
0:00:00 - Welcome to the show, Dr. Glen Hood!
0:04:00 - What Are You Playing? Vampire Survivors
0:30:15 - Backlog Recap - The Stanley Parable
0:36:15 - Backlog Challenge - Streets of Rage 4
0:41:04 - Wrap Up/Plugs/A Few Very Important Messages from Your Friendly Scientist
Follow the Talking to Women about Videogames on Bluesky at: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
Follow Daniel on Bluesky at: https://bsky.app/profile/douibyorthst.bsky.social
Check out the Fix Your Heart or Die podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/5stt5kNgqOKhlPs4jh7UoU?si=dbc0ed6d83554ec0
And on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/FixYourHeartPod/posts
And take a listen to some of the new moody atmospheric music from Daniel for the Fix Your Heart or Die Podcast at: https://thesanford.bandcamp.com/album/fix-your-heart-or-die-songs-from-the-podcast

This month on Talking to Women about Videogames, Tanya is gone and has been replaced by a man! Jonathan pontificates on the nature of what it means to be human and how people can connect in a world overrun by AI, and then he gets into the weeds on that topic with an extremely long segment with guest Aysha Farah, games writer and narrative designer behind the upcoming queer sci-fi visual novel The Sky Left Us.
0:00:00 - A Place on the Internet for Guys to Talk about Videogames
0:03:07 - I Know I Know Aysha Farah
0:04:51 - Tanya is Missing!
0:05:25 - AI-loy
0:06:41 - Can We Be Human and Connect? with Aysha Farah
1:16:14 - Secret Future Switch 2 Knowledge?
1:17:40 - Wrap Up/Plugs/Thanks Patrons!
Follow Aysha Farah on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ayshaufarah.bsky.social
Check out Aysha's website: https://www.ayshaufarah.com/
Check out the next issue of Nintendo Force magazine: https://www.patreon.com/nintendoforce
Read Jonathan's thoughts on the miserable state of the videogame industry on Maximum Utmost: https://maxutmost.com/the-video-game-industry-is-miserable-but-some-people-are-trying-to-make-it-fun-again/
Tune in for Jonathan on the Red Tunic podcast: https://www.theredtunicpodcast.com/
Listen to the Twin Peaks/David Lynch Show produced and scored by Daniel, "Fix Your Heart or Die": https://open.spotify.com/show/5stt5kNgqOKhlPs4jh7UoU?si=8302e004b6b8435c
Check out those original tunes inspired by the moody nature of Twin Peaks by Daniel over here: https://thesanford.bandcamp.com/album/fix-your-heart-or-die-songs-from-the-podcast

In the wake of the recent Pokemon Presents video, Jonathan and Ryan run through most of the highlights of the video including the new game Pokemon Legends Z-A, the new cards, and Pokemon Champions for Switch and Phones. Later, Ryan gives his reviews of several games such as Kero Blaster, Box Boy & Box Girl, Terminator 2D, and Poppy's Playtime. There's also tons of cat chat.
0:00:00 - Feeling Miserable Suddenly
0:01:58 - Pokemon Presents Pokemon Day
0:04:43 - Pokemon Champions for Switch and Phones
0:05:07 - Puggymin Cards
0:06:08 - Starting a Cat Podcast?
0:06:59 - Little Kitty, Big City
0:07:19 - Poppy's Playtime
0:10:31 - Jonathan's Urban Legends
0:13:02 - Ryan's Review of Terminator 2 (Film)
0:15:05 - An Important Thought
0:16:15 - The Next Topic
0:16:31 - Big Kitty, Little City, By Way of Balatro, By Way of Poker
0:17:55 - Shovel Knight's Joustus
0:18:59 - The Shovel Knight Concert that Almost Was
0:19:36 - Back to Pokemon Legends Z-A
0:21:30 - Giving the People What They Want
0:23:02 - Back to Pokemon Legends Z-A Again
0:25:35 - Ryan's Review Roundup (Kero Blaster, Box Boy & Box Girl, Terminator 2D, Poppy's Playtime)
0:29:35 - That's Just Like Your Opinion, Man
0:32:28 - See Ya Next Time!