The Experience Points Podcast

We're head to Vice City, where the sun is shining, drugs are plentiful, and you might get eaten by an alligator. Also, we retroactively predict the Game Awards winners.

Show Notes:

• Intro from the Grand Theft Auto VI trailer
• Outro by Brad Sucks

This week we emerge from our holiday haze and talk about the ways in which some large publishers are trying to foster a fuzzy feeling by appealing to a sense "the good old days" of established games and franchises. This kind of packaged nostalgia is clearly popular; just ask the people paying actual currency to play the original version of World of Warcraft. But what does it mean that we're drawn to these time capsules and does it mean we're headed toward a looping cycle where we reset franchises once every seven to ten years? If so, then I can't wait for my Cow Clicker remake.

Do you feel that tingle of excitement? No, not that weird green dude. It's Nintendo's latest announcement that Legend of Zelda is getting a big screen adaptation and it's... live action!?

Show Notes:

2023's absolute deluge of games continues this week and we hanging on for dear life! This week we web sling our way around Spider-Man 2, piece together the mystery of Alan Wake 2, welcome a special end-credit guest in Lies of P, and conclude our trip in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

We also knew all the mushrooms would catch up to Mario. This week on the podcast, we take a wonder seed trip into Super Mario Bros. Wonder!

Show Notes:

• Intro from the Super Mario Bros. Wonder launch trailer
• Music by Brad Sucks

This week we talk about a game all about language and a game completely devoid of the written word! Chants of Sennaar and Cocoon are in the rotation this week and both games have impressed us. While they're quite different, both of them drop you right into a world without much explicit hand holding, so we have a good time unpacking the various mysteries contained within. Plus: a little extra Lies of P and Sea of Stars analysis as we continue to dig in to those games!

This week on the podcast, we leap into Sony's cloud gaming news and marvel at the lengths Baldur's Gate 3 players will go for the perfect run.

Show Notes:

- Music by By Brad Sucks

Rumors abound this week as we all collectively start to piece together clues about the Switch's successor. I'm going to out on a limb and say that there will be a Mario game and a convoluted friend request system - maybe together?! On top of that, Jorge and I do some strategizing about how to introduce turn-based RPGs to the next generation. Suffice to say it's a high pressure situation.

It's a debacle at Unity, some surprising DLC news, the high cost of games, and a step into the closet with Hideo Kojima!

Show Notes:

- Music by Brad Sucks

Even after a busy spring and summer, video games refuse to take a break and just chill. There's just so much to play and it can get distracting. Maybe that's what happened over there at Microsoft - someone was so distracted trying to master their mech in Armored Core that they forgot to properly secure all the links in their public court filings. This week it's a gaming grab bag and a rare look at what goes on in the Xbox team's internal pitch meetings.