Maximum Utcast

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This month on Talking to Women about Videogames, Tanya is gone and has been replaced by a man!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!

We get a comprehensive crash course on the genre of battle royale games on this month's Currently Playing, covering PUBG, Fortnite, COD: Warzone, and more before learning that Alex's favorite of the bunch is Apex Legends for its interesting settings and memorable characters. Alex enjoys playing these games for their community aspects and he shares his passion for gaming with his young daughter. In the backlog section, Daniel reveals his thoughts of Bastion and he gets challenged to play the Stanley Parable.
0:00:00 - Welcome to the Show, Alex!
0:01:05 - What Even Are Battle Royale Games?
0:04:04 - History of Battle Royales
0:07:27 - Key Features of Every Battle Royale Game
0:10:46 - The Biggest Battle Royale Games of 2025
0:16:41 - Innovations from the Battle Royale Space?
0:17:50 - Criticisms of the Genre
0:26:38 - Gaming with Kids
0:30:04 - What Are You Playing? - A Battle Royale Buffet
0:41:43 - Backlog Recap - Bastion
0:48:51 - Backlog Challenge - The Stanley Parable
0:55:04 - Wrap Up/Plugs?
Follow Alex on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/alejandroapollo.bsky.social
Follow Alex on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alex_apolllo/
Follow the show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
Follow Daniel on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/douibyorthst.bsky.social
Check out our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ttwav

Yeah! - 08 - Vitamin Connection - DJ Dog-Bone with Special Guest James Montagna of WayForward.mp3On this extra special video version of the Yeah! Podcast, Jonathan and a DJ Dog-Bone impersonator welcome game director James Montagna of WayForward to talk about his game Vitamin Connection. From their previous chat 12 years ago, Jonathan and James chat about everything from "Adventure Time - Hey Ice King! Why'd You Steal Our Garbage?!!" to newer projects like "Yars Rising" and "Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp," while still making plenty of time to talk about "Vitamin Connection" on its 5 year anniversary. James gets into his love of old rhythm games like PaRappa the Rapper and Spice World and how that connects into the couch co-op play style of "Vitamin Connection."
Watch the old interview on Sup, Holmes? with James from 12 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FApIhhky1Y
James Montanga on Twitter: https://x.com/jamespopstar
James Montanga Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/jpop.bsky.social
WayForward on Twitter: https://x.com/WayForward
WayForward on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/wayforward.bsky.social
Jonathan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tronknotts.bsky.social
Talking to Women about Videogames on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
0:00:00 - Greetings James Montagna!
0:01:18 - Catching up with James 12 Years Later
0:02:31 - "DJ Dog-Bone (feat. Yung Wan)0" by Tommy Pedrini
0:04:31 - The Unique Flavor of James Montagna
0:06:20 - The Creative Connection Between Jonathan and Vitamin Connection
0:07:28 - Where Did the Idea for Vitamin Connection Come From?
0:11:57 - The Characters of Vitamin Connection
0:13:40 - The Music of Vitamin Connection is Monumental
0:17:04 - Can You Play Vitamin Connection Single Player?
0:18:43 - How the Vitamins Connect to Advance Wars
0:21:59 - What Would a Vitamin Connection 2 Look Like?
0:25:32 - Influences of Vitamin Connection
0:26:09 - James Montagna Meets the Spice Girls?
0:30:36 - James Montagna Can Predict the Future
0:33:25 - James's Most Recent Game
0:35:00 - Find James and WayForward on Social Media

On a very sleepy February episode of Talking to Women about Videogames, Jonathan and Tanya get political! Casey Explosion shows up to guide us through her top 12 games of 2024 (hint: go watch her video at the link below!) Finally, Jonathan introduces us to the newest T shaped world of Keita Takahashi in the game "to a T".
0:00:00 - Knoctober
0:03:08 - "Pepper Grinder," the New Tongue Twiser
0:04:21 - "Spirit Swap - Lofi Beats to Match-3 To" is the Anti-Musk
0:08:12 - Recapping Casey Explosion's Top 12 Games of 2024
0:45:19 - Being a T(een) in "to a T"
0:50:56 - We Tried! Plugs/Thanks Patrons!
0:56:37 - Huge Booty Bouncin'
Follow Casey Explosion on Bluesky:
https://bsky.app/profile/caseyexplosion.bsky.social
Watch Casey's Top 12 Games of 2024: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRnUDEKURRI
Watch the video version of Casey talking to Jonathan: https://youtu.be/z7ISJJmjsds
Follow Jonathan on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/tronknotts.bsky.social
Follow the show on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/ttwav.bsky.social
Check out Pepper Grinder: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/pepper-grinder-switch/
Check out Spirit Swap Lofi Beats to Match-3 To: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1592170/Spirit_Swap_Lofi_Beats_to_Match3_To/
Check out to a T on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1875320/to_a_T/

This week on Yeah! we tag in Declan to chat about the PS1 game Spice World that let you remix the music of the Spice Girls, create dance routines, and set off the big show...all very poorly! It was an early attempt at a PaRappa-like that was critically panned with a clunky art style and not much in the way of gameplay.

0:00:00 - Yo!

0:01:23 - All Spice

0:06:24 - The Scariest Spice

0:09:32 - What was Spice World?

0:16:14 - Enter the Spice World

0:21:24 - Little to No Game in this Game

0:26:12 - The Pepsi Connection

0:29:53 - Could Spice World Be Remade Today?

0:32:34 - Next Time On Yeah?

Support the show here!

https://www.patreon.com/ttwav

On this smelly episode of Talking to My Boy about Videogames, Jonathan and Ryan discuss the merits of the Switch 2 while also getting deep on the impactful storytelling in Death Road to Canada. We get another Smash Bros. report and learn some of the secrets of the world's biggest YouTubers.
0:00:00 - New Guest Approaching!
0:01:42 - Ryan's Thoughts of the Switch 2 Announcement
0:05:19 - The Smash Bros. Report
0:06:37 - Dreams of a YouTube Career
0:08:01 - The Talking Dog's Betrayal in "Death Road to Canada"
0:11:42 - Why Are You Rubbing Your Face with My Face?
0:14:01 - Learning Life Lessons from "Death Road to Canada"
0:18:21 - A Warning
0:19:19 - Circling Back to the Switch 2
0:20:15 - Relatable Content
0:21:34 - The Secrets YouTubers Do NOT Want You To Know!
0:24:08 - Can We Get Back to Videogames?
0:26:34 - A Giant, Big, Green Werewolf in the Sky
0:29:15 - There's No Law That Says You Must Have a Switch 2
0:31:54 - Pokemon Happy Meals
0:32:36 - Final Thoughts on "Death Road to Canada"
0:33:19 - Wrap Up

This month on Currently Playing, Dr. Adam stops by to chat with Daniel about an academic take on the Kingdom Hearts series. The chat veers all over the place, landing on Adam's recently completed run of Yakuza Kiwami before switching up to talk about how both of them are kind of scaredy cats when it comes to horror games such as Signalis. At the Backlog section, we get a recap of last month's challenge, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet, and Adam challenges Daniel to finally pick up Bastion from Supergiant Games.
0:00:00 - Welcome to the show, Dr. Adam!
0:02:51 - Capturing Blurry Moments (Kingdom Hearts series)
0:23:23 - Boy I Wish I Was Into This (Yakuza Kiwami)
0:32:00 - Do You Play Horror Games? (Signalis)
0:38:56 - Who Has the Time to Play Videogames?
0:43:09 - Backlog Recap - Insane Twisted Shadow Planet
0:47:12 - Backlog Challenge - Bastion
0:51:59 - Wrap Up/Plugs
You can email Dr. Adam at aknight [at] ndm [dot] edu for his in-depth write up about Kingdom Hearts.