Vidjagame Apocalypse

When some new innovation helps turn a game into a big hit, it tends to spread across the industry like wildfire. Sometimes, these trends stick around to form part of the familiar patchwork of modern vidjagames. We're not talking about THOSE trends, however; this week, Trav "TurboBison" Foster joins Matt and Mikel for a chat about design ideas that were once widely mimicked, but now functionally dead.

This week's show is short by our standards, but don't worry - every entry in our Top 5 is a treasure. Specifically, each one is a boss themed around treasure, and Trav "TurboBison" Foster joins Mikel, Matt, and Chris to talk about these bizarre demons that flaunt their wealth like we're not about to just take it from them. And don't worry - we'll talk about the side characters you'd want to star in their own games before the hour's up.

In the past weeks, we've seen a few once-minor characters getting their own star turns, from Captain Toad to Far Cry 5's Nick Rye. Of course, side characters getting their own games is nothing new, and with help from Heidi Kemps, we'll look at five shining examples of sidekicks, villains, and supporting castmembers who got their own games.

This week, Dan Amrich returns to the show to talk us through something dear to his arcade historian's heart: a deep dive into pinball games based on popular video games (some of which actually play something like their digital counterparts), after which we'll take a look at your favorite Mario games ever.

The recent release of Runner3 reminded us of a strange truth: Charles Martinet, the voice of Mario, has had a long and successful career outside of voicing Nintendo's favorite plumber. And with help from Alaina Yee, we'll touch on some of his more memorable, non-Nintendo roles, and then take a look at your favorite games of the year (so far)!