Triple Click

We have no objections to Ace Attorney, Capcom's brilliant series about lawyers attacking each other with dangerous weapons. To celebrate this week's release of the Apollo Justice collection (aka: Ace Attorney 4-6), the gang explains why this adventure game series is so appealing, from the zany courtroom antics to the truly absurd animations.

One More Thing:

Kirk: Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

Maddy: Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie (2018)

Jason: Palworld

LINKS:

Bloomberg article about Palworld: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-22/what-is-palworld-pokemon-like-game-with-guns-goes-viral-irks-nintendo-fans?srnd=undefined

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Less than three weeks into 2024, we've already discovered what will likely be one of the year's best games: Ubisoft's Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which the gang is loving. Maddy, Jason, and Kirk talk about the new game's satisfying platforming, the time-twisting story, and how it feels a whole lot like Hollow Knight.

One More Thing:

Kirk: Guitar Zero: The Science of Becoming Musical at Any Age by Gary Marcus

Maddy: Liftoff by Casey Johnston

Jason: Battle of Ink and Ice by Darrell Hartman

LINKS:

Maddy’s Prince of Persia review: https://www.polygon.com/24033589/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crown-review-ubisoft-switch

Featuring excerpts from the Lost Crown soundtrack by Gareth Coker and Mentrix

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Jason, Maddy, and Kirk open up the mailbag to answer listener questions on all sorts of things. Why do games like Skull & Bones languish in development hell forever? What makes Chants of Sennaar such a bad name? And, uh, what's the best investment advice?

One More Thing:

Kirk: Fargo Seasons 4 and 5 (FX/Hulu)

Maddy: A Little To The Left

Jason: I hate advertisements

LINKS:

Reddit Personal Finance https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

“Fargo Season 5 Theme” by Jeff Russo

A Little to the Left Screenshots: https://bsky.app/profile/midimyers.com/post/3kib5xfds3g23

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What will this next year bring? And what does it mean for gaming? Kirk, Maddy, and Jason go over last year's predictions to see who won the big bet, then throw down some hot new declarations for what's to come in 2024.

One More Thing:

Kirk: Learning to Play Piano When There Is No Recital, by Kelsey McKinney

Maddy: Dark Souls

Jason: Ace Attorney 4: Apollo Justice

LINKS:

Chris Dahlen’s excellent 2012 essay about Dark Souls: https://kotaku.com/what-dark-souls-is-really-all-about-5874599

Kelsey McKinney’s essay “Learning To Play Piano Where There Is No Recital”: https://defector.com/learning-to-play-piano-when-there-is-no-recital

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PREDICTIONS

KIRK

1. The new Nintendo console will have "Switch" in the name
2. Ubisoft will be acquired
3. REDACTED will still die in FFXVII Rebirth
4. An indie game (small team) will win GOTY at the game awards
5. Nintendo will announce a remake of A Link to The Past
6. At least one video game will use generative AI in the game itself
7. Bethesda/Microsoft will announce an Elder Scrolls TV show
8. Hollow Knight: Sillksong will come out in May
9. Valve will announce a non-VR Half-Life game
10. Nvidia will announce a Steam Deck Competitor

Bonus: Apple buys Nintendo

Game: Far Cry 2

MADDY

1. The Switch 2 will be called the Super Nintendo Switch
2. Metroid Prime 4 will be a launch game on the Switch 2 in 2024
3. Summer Game Fest 2024 will get material participation from either Sony or Nintendo (showing games on campus)
4. Warner Bros. will announce a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy
5. Tears of the Kingdom will announce DLC after all
6. FF7 Rebirth will NOT kill off that one character who we all know died in the original game and instead a different character will be killed in that same way
7. Three major games will use AI voices in a method similar to The Finals, meaning human actors’ performances are bolstered by AI trained on their voices
8. Geoff Keighley will become embroiled in a career-threatening scandal (people will refer to him as “canceled”)
9. We will see a major biopic film announced about a video game streamer
10. Dragon Age Dreadwolf will be canceled

Bonus: Kristen Stewart will get cast as Link in the Zelda movie

Game: Ocarina of Time

JASON

1. Metroid Prime 4 will launch on Switch and Switch 2 - day one of Switch 2
2. Konami will release the Suikoden remastered collection within 4 weeks of Eiyuden Chronicle
3. A different character will die instead of REDACTED in FFVII Rebirth
4. Elden Ring DLC is so substantial it turns into a standalone budget-priced game (like Lost Legacy)
5. Nintendo will do something substantial with the Mother series (Earthbound remake, rerelease, etc)
6. Apple will announce a big-budget exclusive game for Apple Vision Pro 
7. Civilization 7 will be announced and released this year
8. Microsoft's Activision will bring back Guitar Hero
9. The new Switch will make you pay for backwards compatibility
10. Saudi Arabia will buy a major video game company

Bonus: The Zelda movie will feature a COMPLETELY SILENT Link

Game: Crosscode

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It is time once again for that wonderful annual tradition: the best video games of 2023. 

One More Thing:

Kirk: Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation (Kevin Roose, 2021)

Maddy: Pit Bulls and Parolees

Jason: Dredge

LINKS:

Jason’s piece on the Insomniac hack: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-12-22/playstation-employees-at-insomniac-studio-fear-identity-theft-after-massive-hack

Featuring soundtrack excerpts from Jusant, Hi-Fi Rush, Alan Wake 2, and Super Mario Bros. Wonder

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GAMES OF THE YEAR

Jason

1. Octopath Traveler 2
2. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
3. Baldur’s Gate 3
4. Chants of Sennaar
5. Super Mario Bros. Wonder
6. Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
7. Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo
8. Spider-Man 2
9. Diablo IV
10. Case of the Golden Idol DLC

Kirk

1. Jusant
2. Dredge
3. Lies of P
4. Hi-Fi Rush
5. Alan Wake 2
6. Baldur's Gate 3
7. Chants of Sennar
8. Cyberpunk 2077 2.0
9. Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
10. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Maddy

1. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
2. Alan Wake 2
3. Baldur's Gate 3
4. Metroid Prime Remastered
5. Venba
6. Dredge
7. Chants of Sennaar
8. Cocoon
9. Dead Space
10. Super Mario Wonder

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Jason, Maddy and Kirk take on the clickers once more in this spoiler-filled discussion of HBO's hit adaptation of The Last of Us.
LINKS

Kirk's 2013 article about the game's ending

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Kirk, Jason, and Maddy determine who won last week's award predictions before jumping into a jam-packed episode full of hot news and video games. They talk about The Game Awards, the GTA VI reveal, and the cancellation of E3, then talk about games like Avatar, Fortnite, and God of War Ragnarok's new Valhalla DLC, plus much more.

One More Thing:

Kirk: GPT4

Maddy: Amsterdam (2022)

Jason: Eiyuden Chronicles

LINKS:

Featuring excerpts from “Love is a Long Road” by Tom Petty from Full Moon Fever, 1989, and the A Highland Song soundtrack, composed by Laurence Chapman

Games Discussed: Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, A Highland Song, Lil’ Gator Game, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, Fortnite (Lego Fortnite, Rocket Racing, Fortnite Festival/Main Stage), God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla

Jason’s GTA VI article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-27/gta-6-release-date-rockstar-cleans-up-image-after-employee-backlash

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The Triple Click Trio takes on The Game Awards: Who will win? Who'll get snubbed? What's an Action/Adventure game, again? Also, the hosts make some predictions!

One More Thing:

Kirk: Jusant
Maddy: Chants of Sennar
Jason: Going Infinite (Michael Lewis)

LINKS:

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Maddy, Kirk, and Jason pull out their red-stringed corkboards for a dive into the world of connected universes. What's the deal with games that seem connected in both subtle and blatant ways? Why does Jason hate multiverses so much? And what's a "brand-iverse"?

The Types of Connected Universe:

Shared Universe - A collection of stories and characters that all occupy the same time and place, e.g. MCU, most Marvel Comics, Star Trek, Star Wars, Assassin's Creed, Persona, etc.

Transmediaverse - A collection of stories and characters that exist in parallel across media and occasionally intersect, often abstractly but sometimes concretely. A great source of easter eggs. E.g. any transmedia adaptation, MCU, novel adaptation, TLOU show, Alien: Isolation, so many more

Multiverse - An explicit fictional construct in which multiple timelines exist in parallel, allowing for infinite variations of various characters, storylines, and events. E.g. Everything Everywhere All at Once, Spider Man: No Way Home, Into/Across the Spider-Verse, Flash and the Arrowverse, Post-Thanos MCU, Dungeons & Dragons, etc.

Brand-iverse - A collection of characters united primarily by their shared brand ownership and/or licensing deals between IP owners. E.g. Space Jam, Smash Bros, MultiVersus, the Sonyverse, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, Fortnite, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Indie game cameos

Fan-iverse - A shared universe as imagined and defined by fans of an existing set of characters or stories. E.g. The Zelda Timeline, The Pixar Theory

Abstractiverse - A shared universe defined according to abstract, shifting rules. Often but not always the product of a single creative vision. E.g. Zelda, The Kingiverse, Final Fantasy, The Remedy Connected Universe, Mario, Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop settings

One More Thing:

Kirk: Steam Deck OLED

Maddy: Venba

Jason: Billions

LINKS:

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Maddy, Kirk, and Jason take a trip to the Mushroom Kingdom and almost get skewered by a giant sword as they play through Super Mario RPG, the new remake of the iconic Super Nintendo game. The gang talks about how it's aged in 2023, the turn-based combat, and just how damn funny the whole thing is.

One More Thing:

Kirk: Scott Pilgrim Takes Off 

Maddy: Grand Theft Auto 5

Jason: Interest rates

LINKS:

J Kenji López-Alt’s YouTube Channel and his book, The Food Lab

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