At Tokyo Game Show 2025, Necrosoft’s Brandon Sheffield (Demonschool, Hyper Gunsport) interviews Lizardcube’s Ben Fiquet (Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Streets of Rage 4) on animation, working with larger studios, and the right amount of exploration in action games. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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Frank, Ash, and Brandon hang out and talk about Steam’s censorship, friendslop, and the Never Gonna Give You Up of video games.

Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: How, if at all, should video game distribution services be screening submissions of video games? (05:15)

2: Where is the line between inspiration and plagarism? (11:40)

3: What are the best video game tiles? (16:43)

4: What is the newest kind of video game? (22:36)

A Statement from Frank Cifaldi (30:01)

5: Esper Quinn asks, who is the best game developer in literature? (32:33)

6: Should every roleplaying game have romance options? (39:56)

7: What is the Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up of video games? (45:44)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Jaffe didn’t come up with a name for this one but he’s asking the panel to name games from a specific year and they’re knocked out if they can’t (54:12)

Recommendations and Outro (01:19:29):

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A game historian, a game journalist, and a game developer discuss Half-Life 3, The Game Awards, and mpreg.

Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: What happens at an independent game development studio immediately after they release the game they’ve been working on for years? (13:18)

2: What are the best possible conditions under which to play a video game for review purposes? (16:22)

3: What can we say about Rebecca Heineman? (22:28)

4: What video game would have the best lipstick and nail polish line? (31:13)

5: Low Guppy asks, if you could take the assets of any videogame and make a completely different game with them, which game would you use and what would you make? (36:59)

6: BreadyToDie asks, how hard should a game push a player to play a certain way? (39:08)

7: What effect does The Game Awards actually have on video games? (43:47)

8: How are they going to one-up the Gravity Gun? (49:22)

LIGHTNING ROUND: One Sentence Review but it kind of also becomes Name Design halfway through (54:52)

Recommendations and Outro (01:00:57):

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Go back to hell! Insert Credit celebrates the release of Demonschool by analyzing trends in indie releases, the best grids in games, and of course, woke. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: What’s the difference between setting a video game in high school and setting a video game in college? (03:33)

2: Do indie developers find success by making what they want to play, or by following the market? (09:18)

3: What are the best grids in video games? (14:49)

4: When making a video game, how woke should it be? (20:39)

5: Tom Arrow asks, how did the rise and fall of Blockbuster video impact videogames? (27:39)

6: How much does the average video game player want to be challenged? (34:13)

7: What movie is Demonschool of video games? (40:02)

8: What’s the Empire Records (1995) of video games? (42:01)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Trashtalkal RPG (43:21)

Recommendations and Outro (48:20):

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Send in YOUR ideas for fun video game blister pack pairings to [email protected] as an audio recording 1 minute or less in length and maybe we’ll play it on air in a future episode.

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Our beloved heroes convene for games that are clearly psyops, the Rocky Horror Picture Show of video games, and the shocking return of the Improv Zone. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: Pro_Kesadia asks, if you could choose any character from any source of media to be your mentor for any profession who would it be (02:04)

2: What are the most interesting win objectives you’ve seen in a game? (08:14)

3: Which two video games not from the same series should be sold as a package? (13:47)

4: IMPROV ZONE - Even More Unused MLB SlugFest 20-03 Voice Lines (19:34)

5: Cracking Jonze asks, other than Call of Duty which video games are psyops? (26:40)

6: What are habits people pick up in game development that carry over to the rest of their lives? (31:48)

7: Design a communal video game experience equivalent to Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (37:04)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Is It Wrong to Retitle Video Games For a Podcast? (41:52)

Recommendations and Outro (48:05):

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Streamer and esports commentator Pro_Kesadia joins the panel to cover Halo on PlayStation, 4th-party game studios, and the Knife Economy. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield, and Pro_Kesadia. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: What are the first things that stick out to you when playing a new game? (04:31)

2: What are some aspects of games some people in games care about a lot, but most players don’t think about at all? (10:51)

3: Which esports have the best commentators, and what makes them the best? (16:12)

4: Which character has the best hair in video games? (21:19)

5: Death Strandicoot asks, what does Microsoft’s shift to third party mean for gaming? (28:03)

6: What do Twitch streaming audiences most frequently misunderstand about Twitch streamers? (33:44)

LIGHTNING ROUND: GameFAQ&As - Persona 5 (45:11)

Recommendations and Outro (53:52):

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Fearsome Frank Cifaldi, Ash And Bones Parrish, and Brandon Deathfield mash through FMV horror games, nepo babies, and a surprising Alucard cameo in the spookiest episode of the year.

Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: Colin Spacetwinks asks, what would be the best horror story to turn into an FMV point-and-clock adventure? (01:43)

2: What are the most unintentionally terrifying video games? (09:01)

3: Where do you stand on large scale open world traversal in video games? (15:00)

4: What role does nepotism play in video games? (21:02)

5: Which musical artists would you recommend for a triple-A horror game? (28:46)

6: What are the most successful instances of rebranding in video games? (35:05)

7: How do games reach an intended audience? (41:32)

FRIGHTENING ROUND: The Monster Match (48:26)

Recommendations and Outro (01:06:51):

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Writer and photographer Colin Spacetwinks joins the panel to talk about discovering new games, games for furries, and the correct pronunciation of FIFA. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Ash Parrish, Esper Quinn, Brandon Sheffield, and Colin Spacetwinks. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: How do you discover more obscure video games? (08:27)

2: What’s the most heated argument you’ve ever had with someone over a video game opinion? (16:05)

3: What is the most efficient way to establish a video game character’s personality? (25:12)

4: Which games are for furries, and which games are for monsterfuckers? (29:57)

5: Psinuxi asks, what do you recommend as a bedtime game? (36:43)

6: What is the Space Ghost Coast 2 Coast of video games? (40:57)

7: What is the Sinners (2025) of video games? (47:07)

LIGHTNING ROUND: The Circle K Corral (53:51)

Recommendations and Outro (01:06:30):

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Writer and developer Mathew Kumar guest hosts the panel, covering the Balatro of coin flips, Bitmap Books bad decisions, and especially crude actions performed by Rabbids. Hosted by Mathew Kumar, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: Why are coin flips so hot right now? (02:47)

2: What was Nintendo thinking with the weird baby animation? (08:29)

3: How does Bitmap Books dig themselves out of the hole they just dug for themselves? (14:47)

4: Who will make the reconstruction-era Assassin’s Creed game now? (21:40)

5: Esper Quinn asks, if you could take the assets from any existing game and make a different game, what would you take from, and what would you make? (29:47)

6: What’s the video game you have the warmest feelings about? (36:47)

7: The Zine Fairy has gifted you with resources and time to make a bizarrely specific zine. What’s it about? (43:06)

LIGHTNING ROUND: Name Design - Matt Farley & Charlie Roxburgh Films (49:41)

Recommendations and Outro (58:04):

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Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield cover Silent Hill f, the sacrifice of EA to the monster of private capital, and thirty PlayStation hot takes. Hosted by Esper Quinn, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, and Brandon Sheffield. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

1: Y’all playin’ that Hilf? (05:29)

2: EA got bought. That’s not good, right? (14:53)

3: What do you think the CEO of Nintendo of America does? (21:03)

4: Which real world non-extinct animal is presented as the most powerful in video games?(24:39)

5: What is a “real gamer?” (26:35)

6: Are there protest video games? (32:02)

LIGHTNING ROUND: 30 Years of PlayStation (42:02)

Recommendations and Outro (52:51):

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by patrons like you. Thank you.

This week’s horrible buzzer was sent in by Matt McNeely. Thanks! To submit your own horrible buzzer, send an original recording no longer than two seconds in mp3 or wav format to [email protected], and maybe we’ll use it on the show!

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