Currently Playing is back with an old friend in the form of Kai, a frequent main show guest who's been busy with her school work but is happy to drop by and talk her recent faves in the cozy games space. She's been playing the farming MMORPG Palia, the fantasy farming sim Fields of Mistria, and the bug catching card battler Kabuto Park. Daniel mistakenly calls these "Animal Crossing-likes" but Kai sets him straight. Later they get into a bit of their thoughts about the Switch 2 before recapping Daniel's thoughts about Sword of Vermilion. Finally, Kai challenges Daniel to finally put in an honest effort at playing Majora's Mask, a game he put down for 17 years.
0:00:00 - Welcome to the Show, Kai!
0:11:12 - What Are You Playing? - Palia/Fields of Mistria/Kabuto Park
0:36:43 - Nintendo Switch/Switch 2 Thoughts
0:47:52 - Backlog Recap - Sword of Vermilion
0:54:17 - Backlog Challenge - The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask
1:01:28 - Wrap Up/Plugs
Follow Kai on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ksnightingale.bsky.social
Check out Kai's book editing and formating service: https://ko-fi.com/Nightingale_books
Follow Daniel on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/douibyorthst.bsky.social
Check out Daniel's D&D module on the DM's Guild: https://www.dmsguild.com/product/524409/The-Bears-of-Berk?affiliate_id=4159974
Pre-save the song "Light World" by Daniel on Spotify: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/sanford3/light-world?utm_campaign=website&utm_medium=Email+&utm_source=SendGrid
Follow the show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/ttwav

We're talking about the Switch 2 and the trailer for the latest game from Suda51, "Romeo is a Dead Man" shown off on this week's Sony State of Play on this white hot, electric episode of Talking to Women about Videogames. Or is it a "Talking to My Boy about Videogames" stealth episode? You'll have to listen to find out! Even baby Charles makes a guest appearance so you never know who will show up next!

0:00:00 - It's All Happening

0:01:30 - Worlds Collide

0:02:21 - Mario Kart World, What's Going On?

0:05:26 - All Over the Place

0:07:04 - Jonathan's Switch 2 Thoughts

0:09:03 - What About the Switch 2's Size?

0:11:06 - "Romeo is a Dead Man" Blows Suda51 Fans' Minds w/ Cherry Bombrs and Bbbbbeatle

0:48:17 - Another Mario Kart World Update

0:49:20 - Stop All the Downloadin'!

0:50:59 - Wrap Up/Plugs/Thanks Patrons!

Video of Ryan and Jonathan unboxing the Switch 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuSbHKtY8tA

Video of Beatle, Cherry and Jonathan with footage of Romeo is a Dead Man - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdCaOqxxHMM&t=6s

Did "Yeah!" just become a metal podcast? Did this song even appear in a videogame? What the heck is even going on? Who knows?!?! But on this episode we learn that Fairies Wear Boots, Ozzy wants to go to the doctor, Toni Iommi is missing some body parts, and Jonathan loved listening to this song as a kid with his brother. Later we learned that Black Sabbath was one of Daniel's first concerts and Tanya...doesn't really care for them too much.
0:00:00 - Howlin' Charles
0:01:47 - "Fairies Wear Boots" SHOULD Have Been in a Videogame
0:07:26 - Alright Now! YEAH!
0:11:44 - There's Is No Reason to Just Yell "Yeah!"
0:15:57 - Mostly People Know Ozzy Today for "The Osbournes"
0:20:17 - Pleasing the Masses
0:23:36 - Ozzfest/Sabbath Fans
0:25:54 - Is "Fairies Wear Boots" Any Good?
0:33:18 - Black Sabbath Fun Facts
0:37:17 - Support the Patreon by June to get a Comic from Jonathan and Ryan!

After an exciting visit to PAX, Jonathan and Ryan talk about some of the cool stuff they saw and people they met before switching things up to discuss some of Ryan's game ideas. We learn about Kaiju Big Battel, Pac-Man Museum, "Kirby and the Robot", and Hershey chocolate.
0:00:00 - An Existential Crisis
0:03:56 - Ryan Crashed PAX
0:06:27 - A Better Life for Nico
0:08:02 - Snubbed at the Playground
0:08:41 - Donkey Kong's Dirty Bananas
0:17:03 - Ryan's Review of Lankybox
0:18:41 - Castle Crashers + Huggy Wuggy = A New Game
0:19:14 - Ryan's Budding Career as a Game Creator
0:21:28 - Pac-Man Museum
0:22:17 - Kids Don't Know about Kaiju Big Battel and Indie Games from the 2010s
0:24:20 - "Kirby and the Robot"
0:26:48 - Pac to Smack
0:27:58 - We've Been Talking For a While
0:29:12 - What Did Ryan Learn?
0:30:38 - Wrap Up/My Arm Is Person

We're talking about Metaphor: ReFantazio on this month's Currently Playing with guest Shy Fox of the Fix Your Heart or Die Podcast. Fox has been exploring connections between the work of David Lynch and other media for the last few months on his podcast and while Metaphor doesn't really fit that mold, we're happy to chat about it here. Daniel is completely unfamiliar with the Persona/SMT format of this game so we get into the details of how these games work for complete newbies and discover that perhaps Metaphor: ReFantazio is a great place to start if you've always been curious but daunted by the Atlus formula. Later the pair discuss their thoughts on Transistor and Fox challenges Daniel to play Sword of Vermilion on the Sega Genesis.
0:00:00 - Welcome to the Show, Shy Fox!
0:09:40 - What Are You Playing? - Metaphor: ReFantazio
0:42:38 - Backlog Recap - Transistor
0:48:23 - Backlog Challenge - Sword of Vermilion
0:52:02 - Wrap Up/Plugs
Check out Fix Your Heart or Die Podcast on Spotify, featuring Jonathan Off Road Rules: https://open.spotify.com/show/5stt5kNgqOKhlPs4jh7UoU
Check out Fix Your Heart or Die Podcast Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/c/FixYourHeartPod/posts
Follow Fix Your Heart or Die on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/fixyourheartpod.bsky.social
Listen to the Fix Your Heart or Die Podcast Original Soundtrack by Daniel (we didn't mention it on the show but the soundtrack will add more songs as the podcast evolves, and it will eventually come to Spotify): https://thesanford.bandcamp.com/album/fix-your-heart-or-die-songs-from-the-podcast
Donate to the Crips for Esims for Gaza bundle here: https://itch.io/b/2965/crips-for-esims-for-gaza-bundle
Follow the podcast feed on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
Follow Daniel on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/douibyorthst.bsky.social

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!