Speaker 1: Hello everybody, Welcome back to the fire Escape Cast. It
is episode one hundred and twenty nine. I'm your host
as always, Mike Maharty, I'm back no more, Mike Manatti.
Impostor bullshit. No, I sounded like it was a great episode. Dan,
your your prank is the funniest thing I've ever heard,
speaking of impostors, Yeah, so.
Speaker 2: He's the biggest impostor of all time.
Speaker 3: Walter Crunk is banned from the giant bomb subreddit.
Speaker 1: Folks. Oh really yeah, do you you being a racist again? Yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's my whole gimmick. Yeah, it's the crowdchraser.
Speaker 2: People love it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: No, no, I just I just pulled a great five
month joke, and I and Walter Crunk was punished for it.
That's where typical reddit I say.
Speaker 1: Uh, that reminds me of Yeah, I wasn't here last episode.
I also have not talked to you guys about New
Orleans yet, and I'm sure you talked about a last episode,
so I won't like, uh not beat a dead horse.
Speaker 3: Really, we didn't go like super deep into it. I
mean also in terms of talking about it, like Mary,
we kind of just walked around and drank and ate
stuff for like a weekend.
Speaker 4: So yeah, I'd love to tell you a really fascinating
or amazing story. I would say the most interesting stories
are Dan was very convinced that we should all ride
the bull, and that did happen. Everybody got grenades and uh,
Dan got us in line, and most people rode the bull. Dan,
you have a really funny photo of you getting chucked
around on that bull.
Speaker 1: It's very funny.
Speaker 3: I'm fucking terrible with that. I rode that bowl like
every time I've been on Bourbon Street and fallen off
in like three seconds every time. Also, hang grenads for
the record, Oh, I can't believe got hand grenades in
New Orleans. I'm sure you know. People say it's they're
fucking terrible. We know, but it's like there are people there.
It was the first time in New Orleans, and it's like, okay,
this is the stupid thing. Yeah, we did one and
they were terrible. They were terrible.
Speaker 1: I don't hang out in Times Square anymore. But the
first time I ever went to New York, it's like, okay, sure,
let's do it.
Speaker 3: Of course. Yeah, we had one walk down Bourbon Street
and then it was like, all right, that's pretty We're
good for the rest of the trip on that.
Speaker 2: It's a rite of passage.
Speaker 4: And I also think like they're funny for the pictures
and stuff like that. And again, it's a walk around
drinking town, so it's not a big deal to get one,
have a couple SIPs of it, and if you don't
love it, then you just get another drink and walk
around with it. Like we had many drinks. A grenade
was one of them. There was another drink that, oh,
a hurricane. We got a hurricane as well. You have
to get both of those.
Speaker 3: We got the hurricane at Lafite's blacksmith shop, the old
Pirate bar on Bourbon Street.
Speaker 1: Ye, really like that.
Speaker 3: I like that place. Slot well, that hurricane was fucking
way too strong and not great. But then we went
to Pat O'Brien's. Remember we found that dueling piano bar
thing I.
Speaker 2: Do like a dealing piano.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and we got really.
Speaker 1: Good hurricanes there is there can you have open containers
in the streets just walk around?
Speaker 4: I figure, Yeah, all of your drinks out and it's
it's really refreshing. The only thing you had to think
about because I was like Wow, this is so amazing.
A lot of times a bar won't let you in
with an empty drink because they are sorry with a
full drink, because they want you to buy a drink
in their bar, right, Like, that's how they make a living.
So you can buy a drink at a bar and
leave with the drink and walk around with the drink.
But if you try and enter another bar, they'll make
you down your drink before you can enter another bar.
That's something I forgot and didn't anticipate.
Speaker 3: But we we didn't protest having the down drinks there.
Speaker 2: We're drinking a lot. It was like three days of
drinking fairly excessively. I was wondering.
Speaker 4: I suspected that your favorite bar was the Pirate Bar,
just because it's old and interesting. But I was curious
if you could think, like what your favorite experience was
from those three days.
Speaker 3: I mean, I like the I've always liked Lafeeds blacksmith
Shop just because the history there and the way they
keep it all I handle it and all that stuff.
But it is on Bourbon Street. It gets a little overcrowded.
Don't love the drinks necessarily, so I like to show
everyone that place. But I never hang out more than
like a drink there. As far as the favorite bar,
I really love Molly's on the Market, the place we
went to when we first got those mafflettas and we
ate their placed with the frozen Irish coffee.
Speaker 2: Yeah, frozen Irish coffee.
Speaker 3: There's the dog bar. What was the guy's The guy
just got a dog and he had had a funny name.
Speaker 1: What was it?
Speaker 3: Do you remember this? Uh?
Speaker 2: No, I'm gonna be honest with you. My memory is
hazy during that. I was probably browned out that entire time.
Speaker 1: We went to. I was in Key West for my
mother in law's we were celebrating her birthday. But we
went down with like Amanda's family. They also have no
rules against open containers, so I would like continually be
leaving the house with like modello, and everybody's like, whoa,
what are you doing? It's like eight no, eight no laws,
dear baby, and I just slammed it on the way
to the next bar. This is probably stupid story for
you guys. Oh yeah, this is this is funny. Wait
what is stupid? Oh?
Speaker 3: Just because I always assume nothing bad is ever gonna happen,
and so like I just do stuff that is probably
objectively stupid. Remember one time I was leaving Giant Bomb
East and I was with Austin Walker, and we're like
walking out onto twenty eighth Street in New York City
and I just had like, I can't remember it's a beer,
a forty or something. I'm just like carrying, not in
a bag or anything. Just obviously in Austin was like, dude,
you can't fucking do that. Yeah, all right, fine, I guess.
Speaker 2: Oh just start a law abiding citizen over here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess you could get in trouble for that.
Speaker 1: I think it's it depends on where you are, because
a obviously it's not illegal everywhere, but even the places
where it is illegal, it also just depends on how
much the cops care about it. Yeah.
Speaker 3: It's like my thing is like, if you're not being
on an asshole, I just maybe I'm dumb and I
just think everything's gonna be fine. But if I'm running
around yelling at people, sure, but.
Speaker 1: It's like jaywalking. No one's ever gonna get in trouble
for jaywalking in New York. But I it's also like
I feel like college towns are very strict on the
alcohol thing, because alcohol is a huge problem in college towns,
where if you're in like a city of eight million people,
I would like to think the cops have better things.
Speaker 2: You're fish to fry.
Speaker 4: I should be, But there's there's like an element of
privilege in this as well, which is like I think
sometimes we're like, it'll be fine because the likelihood that
you're gonna get tased is low, right for sure?
Speaker 3: I don't uh, I don't make a habit of that anymore.
Speaker 1: Getting tased or having a forty on the street.
Speaker 4: Both those days are over my tais and days are
behind me.
Speaker 2: What was your story, Mike, Yeah, so we were.
Speaker 1: We were One of my favorite bars in Key West
is called Schooner Wharf. It's unreal. It's right on the
beach in the in the harbor, and then it's just
like I don't even understand. It's held together by like
seashells and old wood. It's kind of indoor outdoors, like
people were smoking Cuban cigars at the bar and cigarettes
and weed. But we got there and it's a low
brow place, like I was not looking to get a
fancy drink, but I had had beer like the night before,
so I was like, okay, we're in like dakery capital
of the world. So I asked for the bartender for
a dakery. She's like, oh, like strawberry. I was like no,
just like regular. She's like, okay, do you want it
on the rocks? Like nop is fine, just you know,
like white rum, lime juice, simple, Like I met simple
as an.
Speaker 2: Ingredient, easy drinking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's a dacora. It's a classic drink. So
what she gave to me was two shots of like
Bacardi in a plastic cup with a splash of lime
juice in it, like pulp and all. So that became
like my joke, de facto drink for the fucking gross
I don't know. I was like she like my assister
in law jokingly was like, this isn't New York, Mike.
I was like, I don't think it's Key West. The
dakeries are everywhere. I don't know why she didn't know
how to make one.
Speaker 2: So I want to make a dakri.
Speaker 4: Is like not even in Key West, Like bartenders should
know how to make a dacrie, Like you know how
to make a margarita, Like you know how to.
Speaker 1: Make Amanda got a margarita.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Like again, I wasn't trying to do it as like
a high brow thing. I don't consider dakerries like if
I wasn't ordering Sassarak, Like, what is the dakri?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 3: I have never really ordered? Are they always frozen?
Speaker 1: No? The base DAKERI original was rum, simple syrup and
lime juice.
Speaker 3: Assumed it was tequila for some reason. Huh mean that's
why I'm not Ga and Martini mixed up.
Speaker 1: Oh those are very different.
Speaker 2: But yes, I don't want to mix those bad boys up.
Speaker 3: Those are I just don't order any of them because
it confuses me, and it's just go with something.
Speaker 1: I know. They're very very different vibes. But I went
to Miller Light the rest of that night, like I
didn't want to. I thought the bartender might have been
fucking with me. But I was like, all right, whenever
I learned my last I stick to some beer here.
Speaker 4: When I went to Florida to visit my mom, she
was staying at the Villages. I told you guys that
she stayed in like that old people's disney. I asked
for an aperol sprits.
Speaker 2: No one knew what it was.
Speaker 4: They asked the waiters all asked the bartenders, and the
bartenders were like, we don't know what that is. And
then all the old people that I was with, my
mom's friends and family, they all were like, what's in
aperol sprits?
Speaker 2: And I was like, oh my god, you guys are
all old.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I just think it's generational and Aperall sprits is
like such a such a common drink for millennials people
our age. But yeah, no one had any idea. I
don't even think they carried aparol. And I was like,
I was so unprepared to look foolish ordering an apparol sprits.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, we went. There's a place in Brooklyn,
the name will come to me. It's across from Ratagas,
which is a beer garden. So we went into Ratagas.
It's crazy, and then we went across the levee bar
I think it's called Divey Place, right across the street,
and we were sitting outside this was years ago, with
like twelve people, including Amanda's cousin and his boyfriend at time,
and one person ordered a spritz, so like everybody else
got a sprits. Because it was the afternoon, it was
super nice out and each time, we being eight or
ten of us, forget how many there were, each progressive
one we got we wanted. The person who had to
order them was dreading it more and more because we
had to walk into this dive bar to ask for
ten aperol spritzes. So I was like, all right, I'll
fucking do it. I'll go and I get in. I say,
can we do ten more aperol sprits? So the bartender
throws a rag at the wall, goes, what the fuck
is it? An aperol sprits convention? Out there? The funniest
thing ever quits their job. Yeah, Like I felt that.
I was like, I could, I don't want to anymore.
I was like, I can have I'll have a beer.
I'm fine with that. But I think he was already
batching like eight of them, what's another two? But yeah,
it was. That was a line that has stuck with me.
It was very funny. It was a very like Williamsburg
thing to say.
Speaker 3: Speaking of a line I heard yesterday, Me and Bonk
went to a diner yesterday for brunch and we walk in.
You know, we're waiting to get seated in the table
in front of us, is like leaving and it's just
two guys, like two middle aged Minnesota and dudes and
all we both heard the exact same snippet of the conversation.
The guy in front goes like, yeah, so he's got
like a problem with his chromosomes and it can't produce sperm.
And then the guy behind him goes, oh no, no,
we both just died immediately, no saying that to each
other for a while.
Speaker 1: Like a Minnesota nice response, like oh no, you can't
make no more Francis McDorman at the diner, But what
the fuck? Yeah, No, it was qs was fun, Dan,
I sent you the video. I didn't get my phone
out in time to show the whole progression. But there
was a guy driving around dressed as Rocky blaring the
Rocky four soundtrack. And I know he was just playing
the soundtrack because I saw him several times the night
on different songs. And oh, sorry, crucial detail. This was
on a giant motorcycle I should have mentioned, and he's
just cruised around town playing it.
Speaker 3: I feel like this is like a Nirvana the Band
of the Show thing where that's me from like twenty
years from now, the travel back in time looking for myself.
Speaker 1: Well, the rumbar we went to right after, I looked
up at the on top of the bar and they
had the character from Gremlins that I saw you, Gizmo.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I sent you that.
Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, the Spirit of Dan is alive and well
in Key West.
Speaker 3: I got to go to Key West.
Speaker 2: I I got to go to kes.
Speaker 3: I don't know if I would. I've been to Florida
a couple of times as a kid, to Disney World,
and I hated it. And then I went several times
with dotor E because wrestling was just in Orlando. Especially
that time. I never got the best vibes from Florida,
didn't really like so.
Speaker 1: Key West is definitely different.
Speaker 3: Uh, it's like it's like a party town, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Spring break. We didn't know until we got there for
a minim. We just wanted to go somewhere warm, like
a small place walkable where we could just kind of
hang out and enjoy the weather, relax after the wedding.
This was what we did like France fully a year later,
but this was our actual getaway when we were done
planning the wedding, and uh, we didn't realize ahead of
reputation for uh swingers. That's how we learned also that
the an upside down pineapple in someone's house is a
secret code that you're a swinger. I don't know, lift there, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I think there's like a.
Speaker 4: There's that code is in if you go on cruises
as well. So if you I think it's called pineapple hunt,
you go to different doors and if you see an
upside down pineapple on the door, because people like decorate
their doors for like you know, Jim and Pam's fortieth
and like.
Speaker 1: You know, Jim blanking from the office.
Speaker 2: I don't know, I just say, yeah names, but yeah,
those are.
Speaker 1: Like cruise names I would expect to see Jackie.
Speaker 2: And Gleason celebrating their favorite moments.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and uh, but if you see a sticker or
a magnet of a pineapple and it's upside down, that
means you can come and knock him.
Speaker 1: What if? But what if you knock and they open
it and they're really really unattractive gross down? Yeah, I
don't know.
Speaker 4: I mean that's like the risk that swingers take open
the door and they're covered in like pineapples their whole body.
Speaker 2: Then Dan's like slop it up.
Speaker 1: You think you think that upside down pineapple is code
for make me into a human. Nacho finally got a
bib on Dan's the nacho in Happy Meal. They didn't
have Happy Meal as Taco Bell. Yeah, us is fun.
I what else did I do? It's been like three
weeks since I talked to you guys.
Speaker 2: It's too long.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Manadi and Mary's show launch on Giant Bomb Portal Pals.
People are loving that, so check that out. Giant Bump
Premium show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, are you playing Portal two co op?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Well, we played it. It's done.
Speaker 4: It's all in the can, which is kind of like
the fun part of it is because we played it
during like a busy three weeks and now we just
get to enjoy people watch it over time, So that's
been kind of nice to know. But it's all, it's
all done. Who knows if we finished it.
Speaker 1: What days is it end on?
Speaker 3: It's every other week we're doing Monday's like the first
one's free on YouTube and then it's a Giant Bomb
premium show. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I should mention Vinnie and my Warhammer camps are both done.
Speaker 4: Yep, because we saw Vinnie at pas and We talked
to him about it and he said he had such
a great time, yeah, doing it with you, And it's
kind of like it's maybe a bummer for it to
have ended, right because it took so long. Yeah, playing
that show for a really long time, you must know everything.
Speaker 2: About each other.
Speaker 3: We did well.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, it was weird not having coffee with
Vinnie last week because we were playing it over, like
coffee in the morning before work started, because he's just
a dad and up early, and I've been getting up
earlier these days. Like it's actually probably better if we
do mornings. Yeah. We it worked out where the good
campaign on fire Escape had a pretty natural ending, like
you always end up having beef with one other legendary
lord that you're like, all right, that's my arch enemy.
I don't care what the game is saying I should
be doing to fuck them up the bad one and
Vinnie and I also turned on each other and had
a one v one battle at the end of both campaigns.
But it's done on Nextlander. If you want to go
watch the whole thing Mike and Vinnie destroy the world
is all wrapped on Nextlander. If you're a patron, if
you're not you should be same thing with fire Escape.
Mike and Vinnie saved the world there. He beat me
in that in that battle, oh he did. Yeah, and
then his his high alf dragon army fucked me up.
Speaker 3: He's the best. It was doing that panel with that
and he's just yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: We did like a live blake the game that he
played a wild such a strange game.
Speaker 2: Uh, Mike, the mouse was a dragon.
Speaker 3: There's a sword and then it was a dragon in
the old like DOS game or something like that.
Speaker 2: It was click adventure.
Speaker 3: It was Will. It might have been Will Crosby or
Video out of there, but yeah, it was super fun. Also,
it's been interesting seeing the uh you know, part of
the fun of the co op thing with Mike and
marys just like, Okay, these are two very unique personalities
to shove together and see how this report develops, and
like seeing that also extend to packs East and uh, Mike,
they they really terrified a very well dressed, fancy couple
of ladies in a elevator. At one point we were
leaving a restaurant and Mike and Mary were very very
loudly singing the Chippendale's Rescue Raindeers song. Together nice and
like dancing and like getting like super into it like this,
like two beers or something.
Speaker 2: I've not sometimes yeah, some cram.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, just and the elevator door opened and they're
just like burgeoning in yelling the song. And two very
fancily dressed women were in there. I did not see them.
Mike described them and said that they seemed very terrified
and not into what was happening.
Speaker 4: I think what's funny about our reactions is we're very
different Manatti and I and I have a very brash personality,
so if I'm embarrassed, my response was a very standard hi,
and I just with full force, full happiness, full smile,
said hello, and Manatti behind you went hello, so awkward
and embarrassed and shy. It was just so funny to
watch like the duo of people like figure out how
to handle their anxiety and their shame.
Speaker 2: Uh in the same way. But yeah, I was just
a full way way different reaction to embarrassment.
Speaker 1: I knew they shouldn't have come to Boston, the city
of drunkards. That's my fancy woman.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, got violent again, Mary in my asshole? Oh
really hard?
Speaker 1: Oh that's how I my tailbone got partly messed up
when I was young? Why did you do that?
Speaker 2: From me kicking Mike as children?
Speaker 4: And I went back in time, uh, you know, to
kick you in the butt and make sure your tailbone
was messed up, just like Nirvana the show.
Speaker 1: Yes, why did you kick him in the buttle? Dan?
Speaker 2: Why did I kick you in the buttle?
Speaker 4: Dan surprised me by saying the name of someone I
don't like and saying they were behind me. And when
I spun around and they weren't there, he went and
like tried to run away, and I instinctively kicked him
in the buttthole.
Speaker 2: Responsively like she shoved me.
Speaker 3: She immediately shoved me, would spun me around and left
my asshole vulnerable, and then field goal kicked directly into
the Yeah.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna say names because I don't want Jake
to have to bleep anything. Could I ostensibly guess who
it was? Do you guys think I'd okay? I have
like two people come to mind that it could have been.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it was an interesting one because like Dan plays
these little games. I don't know how you actually surprised me,
but I think it's because we were talking about them maybe,
And so like when Dan said they're behind you, they
like heard you, I immediately panicked and for them to
not be there. Then my fear turned to rage, red hot,
boiling rage towards Dan.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I was saying this like.
Speaker 4: The other day on my stream, which is like, I
have this strange reaction with Dan because you do enrage me,
and so sometimes that turns into a physical like I'm
just so mad. I like I react and I and
I kick you or I hit you or something. And
then I immediately am like, you can't fucking hit people,
and and so I feel guilty afterwards. Sure, but I
did explain this story to several people, and I was
absolved of guilt. Everyone told me that you deserved it,
So that makes me feel a little better.
Speaker 3: I mean, how much it is just you knowing that
I will never fight back, obviously, so you're just getting
free shots in here, you know, Yeah, I personality.
Speaker 2: It's true. I don't think you you would fight back.
Speaker 1: I think.
Speaker 2: I think even if you could, I can't because.
Speaker 1: We know even if you did, I still think Mary
would liquefy you.
Speaker 4: I just I think the instinct that I have is
even if you were aggressive. I have a tendency to
think that I can beat very powerful people if I'm
angry enough so.
Speaker 2: Get the best of me.
Speaker 1: I thought that in my past and have been correct.
I've also thought it and been very incorrect. So I've
gotten humbled a few times. Like, oh wait, I'm five
ten and I'm not the biggest person. I remember when
you got carried out. You got carried out of that
baseball bar in New York after starting that fight. I
remember seeing that. Yeah, I didn't get carried out of
a baseball.
Speaker 3: Bar like a little baby while you have middle fingers
in the air.
Speaker 1: You're the one who started a ship. I know, but
I was walking on of my whole Okay, this is.
Speaker 2: You're not even touching the ground bicycle all.
Speaker 3: Right, carrying him like a baby.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no. Uh. Speaking of which, really quick go
back to the mechanical bull. It's funny you guys mentioned
that and we're talking about this because mechanical bull is
always one of those things I'm watching and I'm seeing
people do. I'm like, how the fuck are you that
bad at it? It's not it's not hard, just like
squeeze legs and rid like make sure you gotta lean
for and then of course I get on and I
get thrown in like eight seconds.
Speaker 3: There's also the thing where it's like the operator is
frequently they will do the thing like if a girl
gets on in those by we're gonna keep this going
for like two and a half minutes, and then some
jackass forty year old gets on there and are prep
just crank it all the way up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just to see rob handleery and like this guy's
going through the roof.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, that's so funny. I I mean it was fun.
Somebody was good? Who was good?
Speaker 1: Dan?
Speaker 3: What have been? Jake?
Speaker 2: I think Jake stayed on for a decent amount of time.
Speaker 4: And it was interesting because we'd all had a couple
in us at that point, so you'd think that we
would have fallen right off. It was like, I was like,
I'm not getting on that. I was not dressed properly.
If I had known that we were riding a bull,
I would have worn shorts, but.
Speaker 2: I did not.
Speaker 3: I love the charade that like they make you sign
this shit at bars and the mechanical bulls go make
sure you're not under the influence, like you're on Bourbon Street.
It is one in the morning and it's a mechanical
bowl bucked.
Speaker 2: Up out of their gorge. They're not making any proper decisions.
Speaker 4: Even if they are signing it, they're signing it absolutely
blasted drunk. And it says on the wall and if
you saw it, like it has a rules sign and
it says do not, under any circumstances ride the bull
trunk and it's just like everyone is riding the bull drunk.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's their plausible deniability that they the same.
Speaker 2: Don't get into this hot tub, don't use the sauna
if you've been drinking, and it's like, that's the only
time I used the sun.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's also one of my appointments for my sleeve back
in San Francisco. They say like, don't ever drink before
a tattoo. I'm like, it's generally good advice because it
can make you bleed more, among other things. But the
tattoo artist is like, Okay, I'm gonna not gonna lie
today is gonna suck. It was basically he was doing
the edge of my peck, which is like where a
nerve there's just a bundle of nerves there. He's like,
it's gonna suck if you want to take a shot
of whiskey or whatever. I'm not I won't judge you.
So I did, and he was right. I I like
that was one of the only times i've I was
getting angry at him because he was stabbing the like
a very sensitive place with a with a needle or
a collection of needles.
Speaker 3: Just punch him on the face.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just like shit my pants while right next to
his head.
Speaker 4: I have no tattoos, and I feel though as though
I have a good pain tolerance, but I'm afraid of
the needling.
Speaker 2: I just don't know about that one. That scares me
constant for like, yeah, an hour.
Speaker 1: It depends on the it depends. Oh this is this
was It took a while, It took like over a year,
but this was like a five hour, six hour appointment.
But and he had to keep going back over. It's
like pitch black in the part where he was doing it.
It depends on the day though. Some days I'll go
in like I legitimately fell asleep while he was shading
in this part of my forearm, like the outside what
is that like where my olna is. But other days
it's it's just like a battle to get like make
sure I'm breathing correctly and get through. Just like ten minutes,
it's made the dentist.
Speaker 3: I just had a crown done, and it's the first
time IVE ever seen Like normally they do a crown
and then they put a temporary on there and then
like a week or two later they get the full
one and they pop it on there. But this one
they like print it basically in the place, and it's
like a two hour wait. So it's like they did
the thing. I'm all nitressed up to I'm all numb
as shit and everything, and they finished and they make
you wait for like an hour or two, and I'm
just like playing Switch and it's just so hard to
not like it's an exposed like core of the tooth,
you know, it's not an exposed nerve. I mean, I'm
numbs kind of still. It's wearing off over a couple hours,
but it's so hard to not just kind of like
tongue it a little bit, you know. And so I'm
just sitting there playing Switch and I just got this
tooths sitting there and it's like, oh man, it's a
very uncomfortable experience, which it's like shit, still so I'm
waiting for that to be done.
Speaker 1: I don't know.
Speaker 2: I hope you can get relief with that soon.
Speaker 4: I think I told you guys this already, but I
got I've always felt like I couldn't breathe very well
out of one of my nose holes.
Speaker 2: The right one was always giving me trouble, and so
I find only.
Speaker 4: Just went to a doctor and I was like, I
think I have a deviated septum, Like we just correct it,
and they were like, yep, no problem, but that is
a fucked up process of like you ar sedated, it
is technically a surgery. They get in there, they corrected
my septum, they stuff you full of gauze.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can't fucking do anything, and they tell
you splints. The whole nine yards.
Speaker 4: They're shoving sticks up there everything they can and they're like,
don't fucking touch it. But it's like, I can't breathe
and I can't touch this nose. And when he finally
pulled it out, I mean, the amount of crap that
came out of my head was so relieving. But obviously
he was like, please don't touch it, it's still a wound.
Speaker 2: And I was like, I got to touch it.
Speaker 1: I swear to god, I almost came. It was the
most relief I've ever felt for.
Speaker 2: Me, really, like they put a vacuum in mind as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the apologies to any listeners who might be about
to get the surgery. They absolutely did not prepare me
for how painful the recovery would be. I mean, it's
the center of your face that they basically broke something
to reset it, and it's trying to go back to
the previous position, but the stints are keeping it from
doing that, so it's healing. And I was like, oh,
I guess I should have known this would hurt like
a fuck ton after like laying on the couch for
two I forget how many days I was just laid
on the couch, but uh oh yeah it was rough.
Speaker 3: That was probably the hardest week of my life was
after I got my sign of surgery and that's when
they did the DVAT to steptum. Two is because it's
like my whole fucking face is just filled with blood
and you can't breathe out of your nose, but you're
not allowed to blow your nose, so you just feel
all that blood like coagulating or whatever in your nose
and all you want to do, like your brain is
telling you, like, hey, when you feel like this, this
is when you blow your nose. Then you feel better
and you fucking can't anything. You lay down and it's
all gargling. Oh man, I'd wake up and spit up
this black mucus every fucking night for a week, and
oh god, it's such so fucking bad.
Speaker 4: I don't have any footage, and I'm glad I don't
because it would have been absolutely diabolical.
Speaker 2: It had been disgusting.
Speaker 4: But I vividly remember you can't breathe when even when
they take out your splints, like for a little bit,
right like, it's still it's all there, but all this
crap started gushing out, and he didn't have the vacuum ready.
It was just coming out of my over my mouth
right like this, all this mucus. I got to breathe
at some point, so I had to open my mouth
to breathe. But all this blood and snot is rushing
down my face, vile, And as soon as he saw me,
he went, oh, oh sorry, and like got his little
vacuum and I was like, yeah, Bud, did you not
think that I was gonna have ten pounds of snot
ready to go.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 2: It was all loaded.
Speaker 1: I was.
Speaker 4: I had more snot in me that I thought could
be humanly possible for a person to hold in their head.
Speaker 2: And it just kept coming out.
Speaker 1: He pulls the stint out and then like other shit
comes out too, like the car keys you lost when
you were eighteen, your past kittles. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was a really wild experience. I am grateful.
Speaker 4: I was gonna ask you guys, like, there are these
things you don't have to do them, right, These are electives.
They are obviously very important to quality of life, but
you don't have to do them. Me getting my deviated
septum fixed was one of the highest quality of life
changes I have ever had going to a doctor, and
I'm so grateful. Is there like one that comes to
mind for you where you're like, thank God, I asked
for this because it was worth every It was worth it.
Speaker 1: Like eight months ago, I want to say, uh, for
like since I met Amanda, maybe she had been telling me,
She's like, you should go to a gaesstro and torologist,
Like I eat pretty healthy, Like all things considered, I'm
consider myself pretty in decent shape, but a lot of
random stuff I was eating. Like I thought it was
just like food allergies or whatnot, just constant stomach issues
after most meals. Not like it was just annoying enough
to be a thing where I'd like, we'd be watching
TV after dinner, I'd be like, well I got to
go to the bathroom for a bit, but it wouldn't
be bad enough where I was like, this is urgent.
I need to fix it. So Mada's like, just go
to a gastro and they looked. They said I had
basically like my stomach never fully recovered from a bug
I had like a year and a half ago. So
it was just like the same bacteria that caused the
stomach bug not fully left me. So like, what was it?
I want to say, two weeks of antibiotics later, I
was like, oh my god, I'm oh my stomach's normal again.
It was I was like, oh, yeah, I should have
done this a while ago.
Speaker 2: I can't believe that.
Speaker 4: I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've
always been like I wonder if I'm just sensitive to something,
but I ignore it because I don't want to be
diagnosed with like having a serious issue.
Speaker 2: So I'm like, ah, I'll just get awver.
Speaker 1: Well, that's why I was thankful I went for this
because it was like a temporary thing that they could eradicate.
But like, I think it's normalized that, like adults just
have stomach issues all the time, and or maybe I
thought it was normal.
Speaker 2: What did they give you?
Speaker 1: Antibiotics? So I did a breath test. I went in
one day to check for forgure what it's called. It's
an acronym. Basically just a bacterial imbalance. So the antibiotics,
over two weeks kill all the back I mean, there's
doctors listening there. Probably it's not how it works, but
generally speaking, antibiotics killed the bad stuff. They also killed
all the probiotics. Yes, so they're just like drink a
lot of kombucha, eat a lot of Greek yogurt for
the next few weeks. Like, well, I already do that.
So again I was like, there's no logical reason my
stomach should be this bad. Like I occasionally will have
a few drinks, but I food wise, I'm almost always
at most there's like one day a week where I'm
eating stuff that I would expect to mess my stomach up. Sure,
so I was glad I did that. Deviated septum was
also worth it, especially because I was playing like sports
at the time so I could breathe through through nostrils. Finally,
it was crazy, absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2: What about you, Dan.
Speaker 3: Weird timing on this question because I was just thinking
about something today that I did not know was a option,
and I'm not thinking of doing it now, but I
want to just float this by you too.
Speaker 2: You haven't done it yet, OK No, I'm definitely.
Speaker 3: Not, definitely not. It's going to sound crazy, all right,
and something I'm gone if things get worse with my
teeth that I think I would consider. So keep in mind,
I have a cavalcade of dental issues, like oh wait,
I got a bunch of feelings done that it turned
out another dentist look at the x rays and they're like,
oh that guy, didn't you get all the decayed right,
And so we patch up like like all the decay
like rotted from the inside and that's why like teeth
were breaking and stuff like that. And I'm still having
all these crown issues and pain. It's it's a nightmare.
So it's just NonStop pain and problems and surgeries and money.
I mean I've spent god, I don't know, twenty thirty
plus thousand dollars out of pocket trying to get this
shit fixed up, you know, and Visiline for year and
a half. All this shit that I've done, and like
nothing really works. So I've learned about something today. And
you know how people go to Turkey for a medical tourism.
They do it for no this is more extreme than Veneers.
You know, like Turkey, your teeth hang on, so you know, Turkey,
they'll do the medical tourism where you go and get
the hair plugs and stuff. Apparently Tijuana is a hub
for dental tourism where and I did look up some
of these places and they are very highly reviewed and
they apparently it's like state of the art and stuff.
It's just right across the border, and it's just like
to get outside of like the American healthcare system and
all that bullshit and insurance and everything, and it's like,
you know, eighty percent cheaper, you know, out of pocket.
You can you know, get this whole thing done for
like fifteen k, twenty k. And yes, they pull all
your teeth out and they give you it's called all
on four arches, so it's like it's basically like four
implant holes on each upper and bottom. And they put
like a whole set of teeth and they're like zirconia whatever.
It's like whatever material it is.
Speaker 2: So I love the idea that they're all made of
fake diamonds. Cubic that one.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but yeah, they pull all your teeth.
Speaker 2: One diamond.
Speaker 1: It's place. There's also with a fucking pickle.
Speaker 3: It's cheap revieway, and you're like and.
Speaker 2: You're like, ten out of ten, this was such a
great experience.
Speaker 1: They haven't gone to your head while you write the
review that explains all the five stars they got.
Speaker 2: I love my one diamond tooth.
Speaker 1: They're like, what we didn't tell you before the operation
is we put a remote detonated bomb in one of
your teeth. If you give us a bad review, we're
gonna press a button. Your head's gonna exp the snake
eater tooth. Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah. But they also have a place in Vegas called
a Bionic Smile. I'm looking at it right now and
it's four point nine average stars out of three hundred
and eighty four. And like, I've read all these reviews
and like it's like unbelievably unanimous, like this is incredible,
and it's like twenty thousand in Vegas and they just
like take something, Oh your fucking teeth. Yeah, and then
it's like you just don't have roots, you don't have nerves,
you don't have pain, you don't have like these things
don't get cavities. They look good, Like there's a lot
of pictures of these and everything. It's not like like weird,
fake looking veneers or anything. So it's like I'm not
considering it now, but it's like if I had another
thing where it's like, oh, you need to get these
four fucking crowns fixed up, and it's gonna cost you
twenty thousand out of pocket anyway, Ah, I can know
my teeth pulled down?
Speaker 2: We have you thought about pulling out like all the
ones that are pains in your butts and then just
getting like a couple but keeping some of the real ones.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, like all my friend teeth haven't been
in it's my molar. So like, I'm genuinely curious if
anyone out there listening has had just done or yeah,
or knows someone that has had this done. I'm genuinely
curious because like just looking at all the reviews seems like,
what's what's the problem here? Like said, I just do it.
Speaker 4: I mean, I wonder one of the problems for me,
I'm thinking out loud, like as your friend my Devil's
Advocate is, is like if this is a custom job, right,
like the Tijuana one where they drill in there and
then they're like, we're going out of business.
Speaker 2: Who fixes your fake teeth holes?
Speaker 3: That is something I read is that like it it
can be hard to find places back in the States
that will like do work on stuff that they didn't do,
you know, yeah, because they're.
Speaker 4: Like, we didn't make those holes. Also, like these are
made out of you know, some kind of driftwood. Sir,
How do you what happens if you have problems with
them in twenty years?
Speaker 3: I mean, the all on four thing is a common thing,
Like the all on four procedure is something that happens
regularly in America, Like like my dentist does that. But
it's like to be so maybe like sixty seventy thousand.
Speaker 4: Dollars so that I can't believe how ridiculous it is
to get like good dental coverage, not just in America
but globally. Dental coverage is something that is like difficult
to have, and when you do have it, it's very
expensive because teeth are expensive and.
Speaker 2: Getting in there is expensive. God, they always say the
best thing to do is just take really good goddamn
carry your teeth, because once you start having issues like that,
you're right, like, there's not a lot you can do
besides start pulling them.
Speaker 3: Yep, yep.
Speaker 1: So I don't know.
Speaker 3: I got one implant, you know, recently, and that's great.
I don't have any problems there. It's it's not real,
you know, So I don't know. It's something a bionic smile.
If you're listening and want to give me a free
set of teeth and pull on my teeth out, I
will plug you to the phone.
Speaker 2: It's got like bionic written on us.
Speaker 3: You're just like a permanent ad for nugget Casino.
Speaker 2: You would do it. That's the craziest thing. You would
get fucking diamond teeth.
Speaker 1: No.
Speaker 3: No, I would absolutely accept free teeth and then you
plug the shit out of them on So if I
got serious about it, I would reach out to them
and and have a sales pitch. But I'll give it
a few years and see this.
Speaker 4: There's like some black mirror shit about that, where it's
like there's like a little speaker in there that goes
directly into your brain.
Speaker 2: That's like, hey, it's been two days since you've you've
marketed us.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're going to need to post an astagram story
right now.
Speaker 2: Or we're going to put a high pitched tone in
your brain every ten seconds.
Speaker 1: Yeah you should.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like just a horrible, horrible such I don't like
mouth stuff. This is obviously you know, this is it. Yeah,
Mike loves it. He can't wait to go to the dentists.
Speaker 4: He's like, get in there, and the dentist is like,
stop opening your mouth. We're not even ready.
Speaker 2: Yeh's your tongue away, you pervert? Are you getting X rays?
Speaker 1: My dentists in uh In in Manhattan is funny because
the exam rooms, like the rooms all are have Florida
ceiling windows that open right onto the sidewalk and they're
slightly tinted but not completely. So while I'm getting my
teeth cleaned, I just make weird eye contact of people
just walking by the dentist. It's super odd. And if
it's nice, if it's like summer, they'll open the windows
so you can just people have like you can hear
clearly everything they're saying on the sidewalk.
Speaker 3: It's very odd, nice office open air. They're just like
throwing a marshmallow into your mouth.
Speaker 1: Yeah at best.
Speaker 3: Hey, I'm going to be in Vegas like next weekend
to be able to skip what I was playing and
just come back the big bloody mouth.
Speaker 1: BBM. All right, do you want to talk about video games?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 1: Sure, all right? The official embargo is up Dan for
Pragmata game you've been talking up to us in Discord.
I purposely did not look anything up about it because
I wanted to have questions for you. What is this game? Uh? Yeah.
Speaker 3: I didn't watch any of the pre release stuff either,
so I was not super aware. All I knew was
that it was a new capcom IP and I was like, well,
that's enough to get me in the door. I don't
need to, you know, spoil anything for myself. So I
went in fairly blind to it, and I guess I
thought it was going to be more of this like
lumbering sci fi, almost like a you know, Dead Space
type of sci fi game because like the guy, the
main dude you play as, is wearing this huge chunky suit.
I don't know if you want to look up an
image of it, but I assumed that it was not
going to be a fast paced game. And then as
soon as I take the controls, I'm like, oh shit,
it's like you've got the jump with a hover, You've
got these air dashes and stuff like that. It felt
incredible and very fast right away. So instantly I was like, Okay,
this this seems really good. So the gimmick is you
go to the moon in the not so far future
and it's it's really a cool setup where it's like
it seems like they have set up a bunch of
like like crazy three D printing on the moon that's
run by AI, and they found this material called Luna
Filament and they're just like printing stuff like crazy, Like
these AI robots and stuff are are up.
Speaker 2: Say you're not gonna spoil.
Speaker 3: Too, this is not this is literally the setup of
the game.
Speaker 4: I just I don't want anyone to skip if they
are worried about spoilers, So you're not going to spoil.
Speaker 2: Any major just the setup.
Speaker 1: The setup of the game, so go ahead.
Speaker 3: So it's like it's on the moon. It's a bunch
of like yeah, go ahead, oh oh, thank you man.
Once it go ahead, Okay, So yeah, you're on the moon,
and uh it's AI robots are up up there, just
kind of like three D printing stuff and like essensibly
to kind of make these like moon stations and things
like that. But at some point it seems like they've
started like trying to recreate Earth, so it's like fucked up.
So it's like there's there's an area early on where
it's like it's kind of times square and it just
it's kind of fucked up though. Whe it's like there's
just taxis on walls, and some taxis are like melting
into the ground, and there's like three D printing material
kind of like going up into the sky. Like everything
just looks very surreal and weird, and it's awesome because
like I was going around looking at all the billboards
and like the advertisements and stuff in this fake time square,
and it's like a lot of it looked like AI
generated art, and I was thinking, like, I feel like
capcom or at least like with the rest of the
evil they were very anti AI, especially with the DLSS
five stuff and everything, so it surprised me if Capcom
did AI art, And then I found out I read
like an interview, a pre release interview where they were
saying like, no, it's it's human made intending to look
like AI art. So it's human made AI slop. So
that's a very interesting take on it. And so it's
just like, yeah, imagine if AI just got kind of
fucked up and it's trying to kind of like recreate
Earth on the moon, but it's all fucked up looking
and everything. So like, very interesting visual stuff going on
in this game, very interesting scenarios. Like I just thought
from the early screenshots it was all gonna be on
these like sterile you know, like space stations and stuff.
It's not there. There's some really cool variety in the
areas here.
Speaker 2: Tell me what you are doing? So it is what
do you do there?
Speaker 3: It is an action game. It is an action game.
So you are there, you're a human, you got your
big space suit, and you meet a little AI girl.
She's like an android. Her name's Diana.
Speaker 1: I've seen her in marketing have Yeah, the Game.
Speaker 2: Awards released this like as a surprise, right, and my nuts,
Like was this game Awards like World.
Speaker 3: Premiere I think a while ago.
Speaker 2: But maybe hadn't seen this much gameplay they.
Speaker 3: Might have done like a yeah, I don't really remember
where they showcased a lot of this, but yeah, she's
a little girl android that's like on your shoulder.
Speaker 1: Basically and huge jacket.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, And I thought she was going to be
like really fucking annoying because like early on again not
a spoiler, your guys just kind of like talking to
his friends and like, who you have kids? That fucking
sucks and like then, so it was like, all right,
I can see where the story is gonna go. I assumed, like, Okay,
it's gonna be another one of these fucking games that's
some goddamn game writer like had a kid and thinks
he's the first person that's ever had a kid and
thinks he's telling the first person to tell the story
of like Wow, I became a dad and then it's
like my life change and I cared for it, and
it's like wow, God of War, Ragdrock and fucking every
other fucking one of those games, Last of Us and
all that shit. So I was like, this is gonna
be lame, but it's actually it pulls it off pretty well.
I haven't beaten it yet, I'm like nine hours in.
But like Diana is actually she's a fun character because like,
as an Android, she's trying to like she's curious about Earth.
It seems like all these Ai on the Moon are
like curious about herth. So, like the collectibles and stuff
you get in the game for your hub area, you're
kind of like recreating three D printing like Earth play
places and stuff for kids, like here's a CRT and
a slide and stuff like that. Uh, Mary raise her hand.
Speaker 4: If she's AI android, why is she a kid? Because
she doesn't need to grow up.
Speaker 3: Now that's that goes into spoiler.
Speaker 2: Story of stuff. Yes, I retract my question. I find
that weird. I was confused by that, but oh sure.
Speaker 3: Sure, Now there is a story reason that I won't
go into for that. But so here's the thing. She's
critical for the story but also the gameplay, and like
this is the main kind of gimmick of the gameplay
that I fucking love. So it's over the shoulder you
are shooting. You get a bunch of different weapons that
you can upgrade and stuff like imagine like that that's
kind of like that space. You're getting a bunch of
cool like sci fi weapons and stuff. You know, you're
getting holding missiles, you're getting like these photon beams and stuff.
But she's on your shoulder at all times. So let's
say everything you're fighting is like AI you know, robots
and stuff. So if you're aiming, so you're holding LT,
you can shoot with RT, you know, if you just
want to shoot them. But they're all pretty strong and
they're shielded and stuff like that. So every one of
these robots has an open status where you can like
open up all their panels and they're exposed, and you
do that by hacking them with the girls. So it
doesn't go into like a separate hacking mini game that
like it's not like pause the game go into the
hacking thing like BioShock when you're unlocking a door or something.
What it does is like you can do it live.
So there's like a grid and there's certain nodes and
stuff that will like weaken them, and then if you
get to the end, it opens up all their stuff.
There's no do you want to go through, Like there's
all sorts of upgrades and stuff can do this, but
you were doing this minigame, this puzzle, this grid live
while Yeah, so I can be charging my sniper shot
type thing while I'm doing the minim because the minigame
is done with the face buttons, so it's like updown,
left right, so it's actually all very natural divers it's similar. Yeah, yeah,
it's similar to that, so like you can be aiming
and shooting and stuff while you are also hacking, and
it's just super fun. And like the gimmick does not
get old, and they do a lot to add to it.
I was kind of worried early on, like, Okay, this
is really awesome to start with, is this going to
get old? The enemy variety keeps up the whole time.
The level of upgrades you get throughout the game is awesome,
and even like the minigame, the hacking thing evolves as
you go fun.
Speaker 4: I will say, like awesome compared to like, just because
I was saying that the updown, left right when you're
running from an enemy and hell divers and like I
need to call down health so bad and you're like
up right right, right, left, down right, it's very fun
to when you get it wrong. It's irritating, but it's
not the worst. It's like a challenge that you can
mentally handle. Is it memorization of No.
Speaker 3: You see you're looking You're looking at the grid, so
it's like you will see the grid.
Speaker 4: You're seeing like a visual puzzle, and you know you
have to like hit us a variety of updown, left
rights to get there.
Speaker 3: Yeah, exactly. It's almost like a maze, but like, and
the more powerful enemies have bigger grids, so it can
take longer to get to the thing. You need to
open them up. But then there's weapons and stuff you
get where. It's like if you shoot them with these
sticky bombs, it shrinks the puzzle, so it makes it
easier to get there, or you can get things that
will eliminate the like the obstacle panels and stuff on
the thing. So it's man, it's it's a critical part
of the action. Like you probably could technically go in
and shoot everything force it. Yeah, probably could.
Speaker 2: I don't want a puzzle. I just want to shoot stuff.
Speaker 3: Like you think you could get through it, You probably could.
I can't to imagine many people.
Speaker 2: Do watching this minigame.
Speaker 3: I just yeah, they are they're all very strong, so
it would you'd be very stupid to go through without hacking.
Speaker 1: Basically, yeah, yeah, it sounds awesome.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and then like just going back to the hub
world and so there's this thing called the Shelter and
that's where it keeps kind of expanding and stuff as
you unlock stuff really fun kind of training missions like
VR simulator challenges and stuff like it. They're so fun
that I'm going through and getting perfect on every single
one of them. Like, this game it's fucking awesome. Like
when it started, I was thinking, like, this is like
a solid eight out of ten action game, and as
the hours went on, I was like, oh, wait, no,
this is actually like this is a really fucking good game.
And it just made me think how on fire Capcom
is right now?
Speaker 2: Like how many hours are you in?
Speaker 3: Nine hours? And it feels like it's kind of starting
to wrap up or get to the end of some
story stuff, So I'm guessing this is about the length
of requim.
Speaker 4: Wow, they've nailed the perfect game length. There's like something
about ten twelve hours that.
Speaker 2: Feels really good for a video game to feel like
you can genuinely see growth in the characters and in
the game design, but it's not yeah, taxing on the player.
That's lovely.
Speaker 3: It's been my whole weekend is playing this game, and
it's just like I've I've liked it more and more
of the more I played it, Like it's it's really fantastic.
Speaker 1: Who is Hugh?
Speaker 3: You is your dork? You're just You're just a guy.
Speaker 2: And it's oh yeah, who hates children?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like you go up there with a crew to
start the game, and like you're to kind of see
how things are going on the moon and you've got.
Speaker 2: A dead spased situation.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's like, yeah, you're going up like, yeah, how
is the three D printing situation on the moon going?
And you go up the bros?
Speaker 2: We all hate kids? Am I right? Hope nothing bad
is up there? Anyway, Let's go clean up the moon.
Speaker 3: No, you get the other guy. It's like, No, kids
are the best thing that ever happened to me. It's like, okay, great, great, great,
any check your button. Yeah. I was fully expecting to
hate Diana and and that, Like I was. I was
fully expecting to come on hear and me like I
love the action, but this kid's so fucking annoying, but
she is a critical part of the game, Like you
know that she is the gimmick gameplay wise, and she's
critical of the story and everything. I like the setting.
I'm liking the story. It's nothing like super deep or anything,
like don't expect this like Metal Year Solid two level
deep dive into AI philosophy or anything. It's just it's
a fun AI gone awry.
Speaker 2: It's a visual it's like nice visually.
Speaker 4: When I was looking at the trailer of this, like
little kid clinging to your back that's constantly doing things.
Speaker 2: I didn't think that optically that would work. It would
feel like messy.
Speaker 4: Or there's just too much going on on the screen.
But I think it like looks cool to me. This
is a risk to say, Like what if there was
like this dude in space but there's a little girl
on their back, I feel like, bro, Like I don't know,
But if it's working, not just thematically optically gameplay.
Speaker 2: Wise, that's quite a success to take such a risk
like that and have it pay off. So good on
that for for even trying that and getting away with it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like I mean, I wouldn't expect the deepest dialogue
or anything it's a lot of like what is love
on Earth? You know, it's like that old Will's when
who you like of someone who's like it's just a
lot of back and forth like oh, yeah, we got
beaches on Earth and they're beautiful, and like, oh, tell
me about the beach and I want to you know, yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I assume that's what she sounds like, Papa, Yeah,
sounds sick noise, No, not in that game.
Speaker 1: How does one fill someone up?
Speaker 3: I am gonna I'm gonna try to get you guys codes,
and you guys got to try this. I think you
guys like this. I think this is one that will
come up during Game of the Year discussions. This is
a really fun surprise for me. Like I can't tell
you how many times I've just like finished a sequence
in the game. Like, man, this is just a fun
ass video game. It's fantastic.
Speaker 1: Yeah, looking forward to that. Speaking of fun video games,
this was a while ago. Mary, you recommend Creature Kitchen.
I played that and it was real.
Speaker 2: What did you think?
Speaker 1: It was great? H I love the pacing, the structure
of it, Like, it's very nice. Like at Thirst, I
thought it would just be a lot of busy work cooking,
but they've actually like it's it's kind of funny, like
to like how the oven works. It's just like another
dimension that food comes out when you put like full
boxes of ingredients in.
Speaker 3: It makes cooking makes sense to me. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2: Yeah, macaroni and cheese is like chop up, chop up one.
Speaker 3: Cheese cheese spots.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, that's right. It's also such a weird. They
straddle the line between horror and like cozy game really well,
Like I don't want to spoil anythings if people haven't
played this. I think it took me two hours on
a Sunday. I beat this game. It had like an
outer wild vibe to some of the puzzle solving, but
then some of the characters, I mean, the whole paris
is like your pants fucking crazy guy just sit at
the table and like put a plate in front of him.
It's like, I don't fucking know what you want at first,
but it's yeah, just based on the prevace, obviously, people
know you're taking your like moving into this cabin to
take care of all the creatures that go there, some
of them when they pop up like for the first time. Scar. Yeah, Yeah,
but it's really good. Yeah. Like I said, the puzzle solving,
I love the like the walking simulator aspects, like just
exploring that space is super nice. And then it could
be pretty funny too, between pants and some of the puzzles, Uh, Jake,
I think is the one in the box in the bedroom.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that I screamed the first time I realized, Jake.
And so you do want to be careful with spoilers
because I think that's what.
Speaker 5: Some of the joy is.
Speaker 4: But you're right, it straddles the line between am I
scared or am I comfortable a couple of times.
Speaker 2: In a good way.
Speaker 1: The increase in the difficulty of the puzzles was good,
like well paced as well. It was never super tough,
but towards the end and there were some I definitely
had to rack my brain and figure things out. It's
it's all like environmental puzzles kind of. And then yeah,
you're basically trying to figure out, as Mary said a
few episodes ago, you're trying to figure out what each
of these creatures, what their preferred meal is. You're also
there's like photography aspects when you first Yeah, captions like
Pokemon snap gives you info of them once you get
the photo.
Speaker 3: I fucking got a Polaroid camera and that's like the
main thing you're taking pictures with. And like the first
time I try to take a picture, I'm like, Hi, know,
there's a fucking raccoon underneath this porch. And I go
down to the side. There's a hole and then there's
a porch, and I go to take a picture and
I hit the wrong button and I hit the throw
button and I threw my camera underneath the porch and
you can't get out of there.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Fuck. The Lost and Found box is a really
nice touch to give you back that. I don't think
I lost anything else. I don't know.
Speaker 3: It's a very funny game. It's a yeah, yeah, it's
very unique one. Mary. I'm glad you brought that to
our attention.
Speaker 1: I liked that a lot.
Speaker 2: What a fun surprise.
Speaker 1: You.
Speaker 4: Sometimes searching on Steam's uh page, I just go like, hey,
what's a new game, And usually if it's under a
certain price point, I'm like, ill, I'll give that a
whirl without too much thought.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Nice. When it pays off fac how much this was,
it's gonna tell me.
Speaker 2: I'm going to guess twenty bucks.
Speaker 1: That was eight dollars right now, it's go buy it.
That is nothing that is well worth worth two to
three hours every penny. So like just cutting bread is
really satisfying in that game too.
Speaker 2: Were you okay with flipping an egg? I struggled eggs?
Speaker 1: I had. It took me a while to get down.
After a while, I was like a pro, but I burnt.
Like eighty of them say like super off.
Speaker 4: Yeah, you like dejectedly have to take it to the
trash can and throw it away. So did you ever
take out you could take stuff out of the fridge. Yeah,
Sometimes when you're opening the fridge, the thing you want
isn't in there, so you just shut the fridge and
open it again until you finally get the steak.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, sometimes you'll open it into like four steaks and
an egg in the new closing the opened up and
it's like, oh, here's just a bunch of milk.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I like the design of the pantry is great too.
It's an endless hallway and then you turn around on
the door is actually not that far away from you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's a really really cool game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, I'm glad.
Speaker 2: You liked it. I'm glad you played it.
Speaker 4: I I'm yes, I still recommend that game, and I
think it's also really nice for all ages.
Speaker 2: But I think I would play that with my niece.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna probably very likely to go see my niece
for the fourth of July this year, and I'm planning
on bringing my Steam deck and giving her this game.
Speaker 2: Like this is the type of game that we all
play it and enjoy it. But I think twelve.
Speaker 4: Thirteen year old kid would get a kick out of
this too, Like it's yeah, it's Scales.
Speaker 1: Creatr Kitchen, phenomenal game.
Speaker 2: I'm glad. That makes me so happy.
Speaker 1: What's darwin Paradox?
Speaker 4: Okay, so it's fun that you were talking about, like
games that are a bit of like a risk seeing
if you want to test them out. That's what Darwin's
Paradox was for me. It was Friday night, Friday night,
and I was like, what am I doing? I like
to go to a bar and play a game on
my Steam deck on a Friday night. I looked this
up on Steam's.
Speaker 2: New page for you.
Speaker 4: Darwin's Paradox is a game about an octopus that is
going through an adventure. They were in the sea with
their girlfriend, but then they both kind of got sucked
into this factory that makes food, and you are going
through the factory to try and find her. It is
a platform or adventure. I don't know the dev z
DT studio, but it's published by Konami, which I thought
surprised me. I didn't know what to expect of this game,
but I have really enjoyed some quite smart puzzle design.
Because you are you have all these fun octopus skills.
You're sticky obviously as an octopus, so a lot of
the skills are being able to like crawl on the
falls and on the ceiling to avoid capture. There is
some like metal gear esque like hey, don't get caught.
You know there if if you get in their laser beams,
they're gonna zap you and kill you, so you have
to hide.
Speaker 3: You can your DLC for this as well. No way, Yeah,
because I remember they did a trailer during the game
wards or something like that, and it was like they
were doing metal gear like sound effects. What is this?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it kind of felt metal gear a couple of
times where you're avoiding being in the light. You this
is not something you can brute force, you have to
be sneaky in some of these areas to get through them.
Speaker 2: But as an octopus, one of your skills is camouflage,
so it's really it's really kind of cute to be
like you're scuttling around on like all your little tentacles
and then if you see them coming, you just become
the color of the dirt and they don't see you
and then you scuttle. I found it. I find this
entire experience very cute. Is it's actually quite adorable.
Speaker 4: You can ink, so you shoot ink to maybe knock
down cans or to cover a camera that's gonna see you,
and you need to be able to get through that space.
These puzzles are not hard, but they are the kind
of puzzles where they'll surprise you and shock you, and
you will die a couple times in order to figure
out what it's encouraging you to do. I die a
lot in this game, but you'll figure it out if
you just dink around enough in there. My few criticisms
is I found the saves sometimes not forgiving, and so
you would get ninety percent through an area and you'll
die at the very.
Speaker 2: End, and they need to do the whole damn area again.
Speaker 4: With all the fans jumping and dodging and weaving just
to get to the same area again and probably die
again and do it again. It's a small criticism. Some
of the puzzles I found maybe a little simple in
the sense that you're just going through the motions to
get through them.
Speaker 2: To some people, especially if.
Speaker 4: It's a platformer, that's cathartic and like calming, because you're like,
I just need to get through it. I know exactly
what this game wants me to do. I just need
to go through the motions and get it done.
Speaker 2: I'm really liking it. I think it's absolutely adorable. It's short.
I will tell you that it's a short game, so
you can burn through it.
Speaker 3: It's a twenty five dollars from looking at the Steam
page now. And I think it's the demo. It's called
Darwin's Paradox Tactical Octopus Action, which that is just very direct.
The metal Gear. Yeah, he's got the snake head band,
so yeah, maybe that's just the demo that's like metal
Gear branded. But that's kind of a wild thing.
Speaker 1: A tribute from an octopus to a snake.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's funny.
Speaker 4: I've never played Metal Gear, so I don't even think
outside of the gameplay that I understand about Metal Gear.
I didn't pick up how much of this is probably
inspired by Metal Gear, but I understand the old like
don't get caught by this laser or by this light
or by these people that are doing the rounds. I
understand that enough to like have gotten through it. It's
very charming. I think it's very sweet. Some people might
take issue with the fact that this is probably a
five and a half hour game for twenty five bucks.
Speaker 2: My response to that is, you know.
Speaker 4: People will pay sixty dollars for a game that's twelve
hours that's really good.
Speaker 1: This is, you know, half right.
Speaker 4: It's twenty five bucks for five and a half hours.
So I don't think it's bad. I don't think that's
a bad cost hour exchange. But to some people that
might not feel like enough for twenty five bucks.
Speaker 3: God, Mary, I don't know if I've ever thought of this,
but you mentioned not having played Metal Gear. I have
to wonder what would she think of Metal Gear.
Speaker 1: I don't think you'd like it. No, the story. I
think the story, I think you could take her leave,
But I think.
Speaker 3: You mean the greatest story I've ever told. You think
she could take or leave?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: I love this response.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think you would get annoyed with the like
controls Mary honestly, Like depends of what version of the
games you're playing. But like I love the series, not
as much as I said that I love Malar Salid.
I think you would get frustrated with the obstacles between
what you want to do and how you have to
do it.
Speaker 3: The CQC stuff. People struggle with that sometimes. Yeah, but
it is I'm not kidding at all. It is the
greatest story ever told.
Speaker 4: I Okay, what do you think about Darwin's Paradox? Like,
does that sound something appealing to you because it's kind
of metal Gear.
Speaker 3: Esque or no, Well, I'm curious about the game on
its own. Merits the sneaky type stuff. Like the thing is,
I hate stealth games. I hate being sneaking in games,
but go ahead. Well yeah, it's just I'm terrible at
fucking stealth. So it's like I love metal Gear despite
the stealth, you know, like you can do cool stuff
that I suck at it and I'm not patient, So
it's like I just wind up killing everyone. So but
this just sounds like an interesting game. Even if there's
no Metal Gear Association at all, I'd be curious to
try this.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's worth a test.
Speaker 1: I was. There's a demo. Yeah, we talked about you
could play the demo.
Speaker 4: There is a demo, And I think for as high
quality of this game, I will also caveat that for
the Steam deck, it chugged a little bit, which I
didn't love. The graphics are really nice. It's a good
looking game. This looks like for a platform er. I
think it looks very high quality. But it didn't play
perfectly on a on a Steam deck for me, but
it was forgivable. It's playable, is what I will say.
So I didn't I was able to like get through
it without without too much issue. I was kind of
surprised with how not I haven't really heard anyone talking
about it, but it feels like it's a really well
made game and it's just so cute and fun. I
was kind of like, I hope more people discover this
because it's cute and it's doing a great job at
just being a delightful little platformer that'll make you laugh.
I think it's more platformer than puzzle, and I think
it's more puzzle than stealth.
Speaker 2: With that all, I think predominantly what I was doing
was platformer stuff.
Speaker 3: I do like the Konami is just doing weird stuff,
like they're doing right by Silent Hill and Meddle Year lately,
but they're also doing like Delivered all Costs last year
Darwin's Paradox now, like they're trying like weird little experiments again,
which is like, all right, let's Konami's kind of coming
back in a way.
Speaker 1: That I really like. Yeah. Another big win is they're
also like paying a lot of attention to sweak it
In and the remakes and the new one, So like
that's I think also a good move on their part
because people have been asking for those for fucking decades.
Speaker 3: I was about to say that the sweek adin' I'm
happy to.
Speaker 1: Sweak it in Tuesday's favorite game of all time.
Speaker 3: I think I would, wouldn't I like sweaking, isn't it
like a tactics type thing?
Speaker 5: Uh?
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's say it's turn based tactics, but you're also
like building up your castle and like there's I forget
how many characters you can recruit, A hundred or something.
Speaker 3: I have been intrigued by it when I've heard about it,
but yeah, I wonder when I'd never have time to
go to it. I know they remastered it for US
Switch not too long ago anyway. Yeah, Canami's back. It's great.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I'm very impressed, and I hope more people, especially
if they like platformers, puzzly platformers and they have some patients.
Speaker 2: It's not perfect.
Speaker 4: Some of the puzzles are like a little silly or
like not that interesting. But it was like generally, I
was like, I like it, so I think it's I
think it's worth picking up.
Speaker 1: Nice Dan, what's Glifica?
Speaker 3: I was this is the type of game that I
was sold on just by the two word description, which
was it was like maybe three words. Was like typing
Rogue Light Survival or something, and like anytime a game's
core gameplay mechanic is typing, I'm interested hyper Dead.
Speaker 1: I just saw a friend of mine pop up on
my Steam of saying they're playing this. I didn't put
it together.
Speaker 3: That oh weird. Interesting. Yeah, it's because I love typing
the Dead anything where it's like you're competing by typing.
Because I type, I'm pretty good at typing, and so
like this is a thing where it's like you were
just kind of like the dot at the center of
the screen.
Speaker 1: Maybe you look at it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, honestly I loved those type of like typing games
back in school. And look up how it looks. It's
very minimalist. It's like you're kind of like a dot
and the center. Yes, I thought that too, Yes, very
sound shapes, So like different shapes and stuff are coming
in and like let's say it's a circle with two
circles around it. That's like shields basically, And if it's
just a dot, it's probably will die immediately when you
type the word. So there's different difficulty. Like you know,
some things will shoot projectiles, and each projectile will have
a word over it and you have to type it
to destroy it. So it's like, fuck, I better kill
the ship otherwise I have to keep typing words every
time there's a projectile. But there's also the roguelide elements,
like as you are leveling up, you are picking which
like okay, here's your three options here. Do you want
to like give a plus fifteen percent to your heat
and electric weapons, or do you want to get this
new buzzsaw item, or do you want to get this turret?
Or it's like these tesla mines things like that. So
it is really cool, like putting a build together for
a game where you are just typing to keep words
from getting to the center of the screen.
Speaker 1: Oh I see, so like completing words starting with glyphs
jk L or M deploys a spinning sawblet. Okay, yeah,
it's like there's certain activations.
Speaker 3: Yeah, or like if you get a turret, it's just
like it's indicated by a circle around your dot and
anything that gets in there. It's almost like tower defense
that starts shooting at it. But then you can also
level that up by getting kills with it. So it's
like now I can expand the range at this, I
expand the fire rate of my turret. Really really cool,
so really clever bosses and stuff like that, where it's like, okay,
here's two bosses floating around and like at any point
they can heal each other to the maximum of the
most healthy one, So you have to like kind of
ping pong back and forth to keep them both, you know,
because otherwise the healthiest one will heal the other to
that level. Really clever stuff like that. You know, here's
a boss that like has a radius that will scramble
all of the words in that radius and make it
hard to spell.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 3: So it's it's really really enjoyable. It's got like a
trials based mode that has like levels with boss fights
and stuff.
Speaker 2: And this didn't come out this year.
Speaker 3: It didn't.
Speaker 1: It's early access.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I think I just saw it on like
an early access thing.
Speaker 1: It has released date in twenty twenty four October, but
maybe it's just been a long early.
Speaker 2: That's why I'm confused.
Speaker 4: Okay, it says release date twenty twenty four, so I
was just curious, like what made you play there?
Speaker 1: Or I wonder if that's when they put the demo
up that might have been.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's a thing like it just went up in
like actual early access. I don't know. I really don't
remember how it came across. Yeah, I don't know, but
I'm really really enjoying it.
Speaker 2: That's cool.
Speaker 1: I want to play it. A bunch of good games
I want to play yeah episode speaking of Mary if
I don't want to play Ben Blocks by Henry Done
talk and we fucking pissed.
Speaker 3: Oh cheez um, I'm kidding.
Speaker 2: This one's a harder cell. This is a puzzle game.
Speaker 4: This came out in January and I just didn't I
just finally got around to it.
Speaker 2: Very simple concept. You have some rice and some sushi
and you need to be able to put it in
a bento box.
Speaker 4: But the way the bento works is it requires you
to place the perfect amount in the box, and you
it only gives you so many slices. It gives you
like a little knife to say, how many cuts did
you do? You get stars if you do it exactly
in the amount of cuts, the lowest amount of cuts
that it wants. You can also get past it if
you do it in more cuts.
Speaker 2: But ultimately the goal is do it in the limited
amount of cuts that it's asking for, so it will
give you a unique shape. Imagine like a sushi that
is like.
Speaker 4: A I don't know, a square, but then it has
like a weird line coming out at the end, and
the bento box is also a weird shape. You have
to figure out, Okay, how do I cut it exactly
right so that it'll fit in this Bento box without
doing more cuts than it's giving me. And then it
adds complexity pretty quickly. At first, I was like, this
puzzle's too easy for Mary, I'm bored. There's a lot,
and it's teaching you a lot. Eventually, it allows you
to start rotating the sushi. That adds some complexity. It
also says, hey, in this bento, I'm requiring the piece
of fish to go in the lower left, and I'm
requiring the piece the egg to go in the upper right.
And so now you have to like make sure you're
organizing your sushi in the right shape and the right
angle to get into the right space. Sometimes your cuts
have to be angled perfectly. Where you'll have two different
pieces of sushi, maybe you have to overlap them so
that when one cut you get them both in the
perfect shape. It gets complicated pretty quickly. I would say,
I'm I'm gonna say I'm an area seven.
Speaker 2: I don't know how many areas they are, but.
Speaker 4: It is getting so difficult now that I can spend
ten minutes on one puzzle just turning everything around, cutting
it one hundred different times, seeing if I can make
it fit, and then trying again. This is for sheer
puzzle freaks. This is not for someone who likes just
a casual, easy puzzler. To me, I was like, all right,
you're really starting to like not irritate me, but it
was scratching my brain in a way where I needed
a break and I needed to play something else because
it was so complicated and it was getting so hard.
I needed a minute to come back to it. I
have not been able to finish this game at this point.
I think I will come back to it, but I
will also say.
Speaker 2: Like, this game just isn't for everyone.
Speaker 4: But what a fun, simple puzzler that builds quite heavily
to get you to make the perfect bento. I could
see you wanting to play it on like a casual
night where you just want to like have a nice
drink and casually play.
Speaker 2: A puzzle game. But damn, it gets tough as it
gets on. Is it gets going on?
Speaker 1: Is it like it looks like kind of Resumeal four
inventory management, Yeah, but mixed with like a little to
the left kind of I think that's more challenging.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I was surprised with how challenging it got, especially considering
areas one through three I almost thought were like a
joke they were so easy, and then areas like four
through five I was like, oh, okay, now you're really
starting to push me.
Speaker 2: And then six and seven I was like, fuck you, Like,
no one can do this, this is too hard.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's simple, and it's exactly I can't. I can't
make it more simple sounding. You put bento, you put
sushi in the bento box. But they these ways in
which they make you put everything in a very specific rotation,
in a specific order, in a specific space, with only
giving you sometimes one cut. You have to do a
lot of trial and error to get through it. I
think there's a specific brain, there's a type of person
out there that is like I live for this shit,
and I love.
Speaker 2: Puzzles like this. This is not my favorite puzzler, but
I understand it and I respect the hell out of it,
if that makes sense. I have enjoyed this. I don't
know if I am going to finish it. I don't
think it will bring me joy to finish this, but
I have liked the time that I had with it.
Speaker 1: Did you guys ever play Door Romantic? Yeah?
Speaker 3: I was always curious about it. I love that I
remember you speaking highly of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Yeah, I love the game. Amanda loves it, and
today A ton of games, but it's showing up as
similar to games you played. When I'm on Vento Blocks
door page.
Speaker 4: It feels cozy, right, It's got that like cozy visual style.
I think people, especially not that you would like RPG
this and be like I'm a sushi shift. It just
kind of gives you the vibe of like, oh yeah,
I gotta cut this sushi up and put it in
the bento box to get ready for lunch. It's got
a really simple, elegant style that I think will be
easy on the eyes. My concern and I think amand
as smart as a whip, so I think she'll be fine.
But it got to a point for me where I
was like, this puzzle is too puzzly for my brain.
I stopped enjoying it because it was so complicated and
I was doing so many different turns and cuts and
trial and errors to get through it.
Speaker 2: Towards the end, I had had enough. But up until
that point, I really liked it.
Speaker 1: Okay, cool, a bunch of good games. Do you guys
want to talk about emails?
Speaker 3: Sure?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, okay? As usual. You can ride into fire
Escape Cast at gmail dot com to get some questions
in for the third section of every episode where we
do reader mailbags. That's fire Escape Cast at gmail dot com. Mary,
do you want to do this? First one from prolific
emailer Wes.
Speaker 2: Yes sub nerds, what's your favorite bottle episode of TV?
Thanks West from Baltimore.
Speaker 1: I also this reminded me. I wanted to ask quickly
where you are in Sopranos, Dan.
Speaker 3: I was actually gonna bring that up as my bottle episode.
I just watched a couple episodes ago, the one where
they go to Italy. Oh nice, Yeah, done to go
into specifics or anything, but like that's the one where
they go to get ferio and stuff, and I'm just
kind of getting the no furio back.
Speaker 1: In the States now, Oh my god, furios fucking guys
a lot. Yeah, yep, it's fucking amazing. Yeah, has he gotten?
Has he gotten hilarious yet?
Speaker 4: Like?
Speaker 1: Are you laughing at what he says.
Speaker 2: A little of that?
Speaker 3: And also horrified and terrified? Yeah?
Speaker 1: So fucking game?
Speaker 2: Am I the only person who doesn't know what a
bottle episode is?
Speaker 1: I just have to look it up.
Speaker 4: I feel like I've never heard that term before. Can
you explain it for Can you explain it for everyone?
Else who doesn't know. I know, but I'd like our
listeners to know.
Speaker 1: I assumed you guys talked about in the last episode.
That's why West asked.
Speaker 2: But it is generally we talked about him without knowing
what it is.
Speaker 1: It's an episode of TV where like the main plot
and momentum is kind of halted and it becomes almost
its own self contained story. Sometimes it's a flashback episode.
Sometimes it's like, oh, they leave Jersey and go to
Italy for a bit, or like.
Speaker 3: The one I the one I always think of is
married to the watch breaking bad.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're gonna talk about the fly, aren't you.
Speaker 3: That's that's the one.
Speaker 2: I knew it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, because everyone talks about I've never actually heard the
term bottle, but everyone talks about that episode because the
entire episode, he just tries to kill a fly, and
a lot of people don't like that episode.
Speaker 3: And because it was right in the middle. I remember
like watching a Week to Week at the time, and
it was in the middle of like some serious shit
going on in the main story, and it's like, oh,
I can't wait to see what happens, and then it's
just the fly thing. So like I didn't love it
back then and then like looking back at it now,
I think that's kind of a funny.
Speaker 1: Thing, is it? Yeah?
Speaker 4: Is it the mean to do what it did in
Breaking Bad where it's like, I don't know, it's just
going to restrict you intentionally.
Speaker 2: What's the point of it? Why?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Sometimes, like I don't know where the phrase came from.
I'd have to look that up. But like sometimes I know,
back in the day, like for sitcoms, they used to
use them like to fill an episode slot when they
didn't have the plot, like the script plan for it.
But like the Pine Barrens and Sopranos is also I
would consider a bottle episode often, I know, like again
being loosely defined, I know, often they do take place
in like one specific place that's apart from where the
main show usually happens. But the famous one is like recently,
what was There's that book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow,
which is about two game developers who it's like is
fraught romance. A lot of people say that the author
watched that episode of Mythic Quest where there's a flashback
episode where the two founders of this MMO company meet
and then leave each other like it's like a romance,
and people like that episode a lot, so yeah, sometimes
it's a it's a flashback. But like in mad Men,
I guess you can consider the Suitcase a bottle episode
because it's just kind of Don and Peggy's squaring off
in his office for most of the episode.
Speaker 3: I see some people saying the Chinese restaurant from Seinfeld.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, Yeah, that's a classic example too. So
I think one location is helps like more of like
a screen stage play. Almost.
Speaker 3: There is another Breaking Bad one where they're just like
stuck in the r V in the desert, like that
whole episode.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the one in Breaking Bad, I remember, Yeah, mad
Man has the Suitcase. Mad Men also has no Mad's
No mad Land, the one where they can go to
He goes to California and then just leave the convention
and goes on the road in Palm Springs with these people. Yeah,
I don't know. I'd probably say my favorite one is
I like the Pine Barrens quite a bit in the
Sopranos I can't Wait.
Speaker 3: I sent me an Instagram clip of Sopranos in Mario's
sixty four and I was watching it with Bank and
Bunks like, well, this is spoilers. You gotta close this.
What's going on?
Speaker 1: Wait?
Speaker 3: Really there's they start talking about a horse or something.
She's like close this.
Speaker 1: Yeah, oh the painting, yes, yeah, yeah, I didn't think
about that.
Speaker 3: I really know what was going on.
Speaker 1: But I don't think the joke even works if you
haven't seen that episode anyway, So I don't know. Okay, yeah,
now Pine barn is probably my favorite one. Damn what
you you said? Which one is?
Speaker 3: What the fuck did I say? I forget what I said?
Fly one?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 3: That I like the Italy one, the Sopranos. Yeah, it's
not like a hard you know, because they're going back
and seeing what Carmela and people are doing. But like
it's like the Italy episode.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm sure Chrissy uh fell even more in
your estimation. He's like, I'm going to see that fucking volcano.
The moment we get out of the hotel.
Speaker 3: Room, who just does Heroin and tries to get laid. Yeah,
I was an acting class, this fucking dope.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: The gentleman caller, He's like, I don't why is he
trying to have sex with this girl?
Speaker 1: She's just figured Yeah, oh my god, he's such a
fucking dipshit person married. Any others come to.
Speaker 4: Mind for you, I'm gonna I'm gonna ask if like
a compilation show, yeah, because I was thinking one of
my favorite episodes of Simpsons is twenty two short stories
about Simpsons and there's nothing that happens as a result
of that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and like maybe that's a lifercus. Simpsons isn't like
a sequential, like serialized thing, but it's like I do
when it kind of breaks from the format, like one
hundred and twenty eight episode Spectacular, Like I like that
one too. That one's fun too because it's like all
fake shit. They're saying, like, oh, the cash register says
nra forever one of the yeah right wing jokes Matt
Groening puts in there.
Speaker 4: That's a really funny thing because you know, Matt Groening
was like, God damn it, you guys.
Speaker 2: That kisses me off.
Speaker 4: The twenty two short films about Springfield is like has
a lot of iconic lines for me, like is there
something funny about me and my audiomobile?
Speaker 1: Wait?
Speaker 2: Yeah, wait no them kisses.
Speaker 4: I think it's a real, really funny standoff episode that's
very different than the show. It's like something in the
writer's cracked and they said, we're just gonna make a
bunch of crap that has nothing to do with anything.
You're gonna see characters that you never see, like Kleatius,
the slack jawed yokel, and we're just gonna let you
enjoy them for two minutes and then move on.
Speaker 3: To parody with Wigham. There treos of horror, like that's
a fun thing where it's like, here's it exists outside
of you know, like none of this matters. People are
going to die and stuff and it's it's not cor yet.
Speaker 2: They kill Yeah, they kill the characters because it's not real,
so you're allowed to kill Homer.
Speaker 3: This is pretty good, isn't it.
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Mine is this little indie gem called season two through
nine of the Simpsons.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4: That's what I thought of when I first became aware
of what a bottle episode was.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you Wes the educational segment Dan, you
want to read this one? From Darien, also a frequent emailer.
Speaker 3: Yes, hey, homies, I think Outriders is better than Destiny.
Fractured Space a pre Starfield NASA punk mobile that died
What are you saying that died in the early access
remains the only game in the genre I ever enjoyed.
It's me the man who liked Lawbreakers. What the fuck
is this guy talking about? Are there any other also
rans or abject failures you guys prefer to industry heavyweights.
That's Darren from Toronto Warhawk for PS three.
Speaker 1: I was Mary when you were going to get a drink.
I was just talking to Dan saying that the Pragmata
character looks like he kind of came out of Anthem,
that bioor mech game. I liked that game. That literally
Anthem literally failed, like shut down. Wow. Granted I played
like five hours of it, and then I was like,
all right, I've seen it, but I remember liking it
quite a bit bad.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you fly around? That was fun for second Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Warrock PS three is a fucking incredible one of the
best console multiple online games I've ever played. I fucking
loved Warrock.
Speaker 1: Why do I That sounds very familiar?
Speaker 3: It came with the bluetooth head said, and you could
it was first party Sony. There was a PS one
Warhawk game, but it was a single player game. This
one is like you'd be a dude and you can
hop into like a basically a vertical takeoff and landing ship,
or you can get into tanks and stuff like that,
and it was like a I can't remember it was
Catture the Flag or it kind of had its own
mode or whatever, but it was just one of those
games where you can hop in and out of all
these different vehicles, kind of like Battlefield style. But I
just it was like it was Star Fox meets Battlefield means.
I just I thought it was. I put so much
time into it, probably like top three, top five, most
time I've ever put into an online multiple that's so cool.
Speaker 1: I loved it looking character model, yeah yeah, I don't
know why. The screenshots briefly reminded me of Mercenaries. Holy
fuck that game.
Speaker 3: I could see it. I could see it. Yeah yeah.
Speaker 1: Trying to think of any other, like, yeah, I think
Anthem's mine. I mean, I don't, I don't, I don't know.
I go to bad for it, but I like it
quite a bit.
Speaker 4: I'm struggling to think of one that was considered like
a failure. I maybe that word is like to agro
for me. It's like there are games that I think are.
Speaker 2: Not as appreciated.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I think he means like any that just
literally commercially flopped and then they didn't make a sequel
because it just bombed that you liked anthem literally shut down.
I'm gonna say I like Marathon more than a lot
of people are. But actually that people are liking that.
Speaker 3: I think people like it. Yeah, yeah, it is cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, needs more content, but we can come back to it,
Mary if I.
Speaker 2: Have to think, yeah, I'm like struggling all the ones
that I have. I'm like, I think they were okay.
Speaker 4: Ultimately, what's hard as well for indie games is like
what's considered like successful for an indie game is like
we squeaked it out and we can.
Speaker 2: Make another game. Like I don't think they're like huge successes,
but they are. They did what they meant to do.
Speaker 1: He's also asking like Outriders is better than Destiny. I
think you're saying, like, compared to like the benchmark tent
pole in the genre, what is one? Yeah, like a
like a more of an underdog.
Speaker 2: It's a really good question. I have to think to
think a little a little bit more.
Speaker 1: Well, thank you, Darien. I'm gonna read this one from
Brad How's the party? Mike Maharty, You indicated that you
tend to play slayest fire and it's ill impatiently, but
your love of turtling in RTS games is well documented,
very true. Which do you think is the outlier? Do
you tend to play more offensively or defensively across games
in general? I'll answer that before I get to the
second part. Defensively for sure, even in like like a
shooter like Battlefield six, Like my favorite battlefields are the
ones where you have defensive options when you take a
point and you can actually like build fortification. A battlefield
one or five five had fortifications if my reserved, but
you could utually like play defensively block down a point
and like actually contribute to the match instead of just
like running from capture point to capture point. Strategy games,
I'm definitely way more defensive. I always like the factions
and strategy games where I they are like the it's
always the bad guys in RTS games that are the
offensive like throw throw shit like Soviets during World War Two.
Yeah yeah, and then the good guys like the Allies
have way more defensive options and I'm thinking Reddular two specifically.
Speaker 3: Even the gis you know, the thing was like turtling
up and yeah.
Speaker 1: God all right. And then second part is for all
three of us. Are there certain kinds of games that
bring out certain play styles? Can you think of genres
where you play differently individual games within a genre they've
caused you to think about things differently. Bloodborne seems like
a good recent example for Dan, but I think he
means Securo. Yeah, definitely love you guys, Brad in Arizona.
Securo did it for me absolutely literally just tying it
into what I was just saying. In action games, I
also play defensively if I've given the option and kind
of like block, dodge and wait for the opening. Whereas Securo,
you literally need to be making contact in order to
like that game is just about pushing you out of
your comfort zone and in the uncertainty.
Speaker 3: Yeah yeah, like in your own stuff, it's just like
you want to like sit back and dodge because he's
throwing so much shit at you, and you learn to like,
I need to get up in this guy's ass and
stay there if I want to stand a chance, and
like you really have to, h what are you laughing
at just.
Speaker 1: The phrasing is funny as I was. It was, and
he shoved it up his ass. This little ninja shoved
the sword up his ass. Yeah, slay the spire too.
I've still been playing that game. I maintained that that
game is does a really good job of getting me
a Monster Train two as well. I think it's the
deck builders that are doing it for me lately that
are like, all right, let's try a different play style,
and they're well designed enough that it's actually like carrying
me through and feels legitimate.
Speaker 3: Man, mine's like any kind of like arcade sports type
thing like I think of like Rocket League. I've never
played defense for a second in any game like that.
I am just I am going for the glory. I
am going for the score. I'm going for the highlight reel.
And if I have other people on my team, sorry,
somebody's got to watch the goal because I'm fucking not
doing it. It doesn't matter if you put my car
in front of the goal. I'm fucking boosting out of
there the second the bell.
Speaker 2: Terrible team player.
Speaker 3: Oh, I trust me. I never want a joint bomb.
Let me know. Last time we played Rocket League. Yeah,
but I'm not fucking guarding that goal. That sounds boring
as fuck.
Speaker 1: I would pays so much money to watch you play
on Andy Bauman's team.
Speaker 2: He got so angry.
Speaker 4: Notorious Andy Bauman, notorious editor at game Spot. In case
anyone remembers Danny's the point. Andy always edited the point
and so like he he's a great editor, but notoriously
angry Rocket League player and would grief the shit out
of you if you caused him to lose again.
Speaker 3: He would look back at the goal expecting to see me,
and then he would just see me in the air
doing flips and said, wait, read just absolutely nowhere near
the goal.
Speaker 2: He would be so my, they're that fun.
Speaker 3: I'm not here to guard new Defense zero.
Speaker 2: It's a part of the game, not for me.
Speaker 3: Something else.
Speaker 1: Problem Hell Divers two I think gets me out of
my comfort zone, often in a really good way. I
haven't played Heller's Hell Divers too since like second week
being live, But yeah, Verry, similar to your points, like,
I feel like these stratagems. They use the stratagems really
cleverly in a way that I'm not just oh, it's
a third person shooter. I'm just gonna shoot and I'm
gonna stick to one strategy the whole time. Like you
really do need to be using your the wide array
of stratagems if you want to succeed in some of
those harder missions.
Speaker 4: It's fun to do that in a in a group
dynamic as well. And you know, adding a puzzle element
when you were being swarmed by bugs and being like,
we need to call for AMMO, somebody's got to help me.
Speaker 2: Also, two of us are dead and I need you
to call us back down.
Speaker 4: That is fun and it's really fun to be able
to like switch your brain from puzzles to shooting to teamwork.
Speaker 2: And it's also funny. What a what a fucking fantastic one?
I asked in the break.
Speaker 4: I was like, Mike, I forgot the name of this game,
but one for me was I always really struggled with
turn based strategy games because I find them like kind
of exhausting and I struggle to get into them. And
into the Breach tickled my brain in a way where
I was like, m m oh, I get it. Yeah,
see now I know why Mike likes this so much.
It was the first game that truly hit me that
I understood why you like these games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean sometimes it just takes one design tweak
or innovation. In that game, you could see what all
of the enemies are about to do, and you're countering
it or trying to counter in it. Best. Also, yeah,
you're you're bouncing back and forth between defending the cities
and your own mechs is that game is still amazing,
similar to FTL, their previous game. Actually, maybe I.
Speaker 2: Should go back to FTL. That one lost me.
Speaker 4: I think there's something about losing a game after putting
forty five minutes into defending pisses me off because and
which is weird because I like Rogueldes, so I don't
mind losing my character build and being like, well seleve
like I'll do again. There's something about a turn based
strategy where I'm like, well I did all that for
fucking nothing and the city's dead, Like why do I
play this?
Speaker 2: I get despondent and I want to quit into the breach.
Didn't feel so desperate when I died and I lost everything.
I felt compelled to try again. There was something in
the design that allowed me to say, it's not a
big deal if you lose you just go again. I'm
trying to think of what they did to what kind of.
Speaker 4: Like spice or secret sauce they put in there that
made me feel like I could just play it again
without I don't know, getting.
Speaker 3: Upset, I mean would be I feel with that game
it was one where I truly felt like I knew
exactly what was going to happen after I ended my turn,
where it's like it was small enough, like both the
map and like the unit count, where it felt like
you had a very clear picture of what was going
to happen next. Where it's like bigger maps, you know,
more units and things like that, there's things you might
forget about. But if it's just like three and three
on a small map, I knew exactly like, well, I
can't have my guy here because then they're going to
attack the building or this guy's gonna out here. But
because you could see what their moves were going to
be in next, and I felt like in control, you know.
Speaker 1: You're also unlocking new mechs at a fairly steady clip.
I forget how many there are in the game.
Speaker 4: Now, But maybe you try again with a different build,
and it felt like you could change it there was
something in that game, some secret dust that they put
in that game.
Speaker 2: Because I never like those games. It's they're not for me.
I believe it in my core that I just can't
get into them. And then into the breach, I was like,
all right, I'm in.
Speaker 1: It's great. Its awesome if you do go back to FTL,
which it's a very stressful game. Still, they have a
really really good iOS version like on iPad or your
phone whatever what have you that that and uh, this
is completely random tangent. Uh what's the subway game where
you're building a subway line with like using the Milton
Glacier map.
Speaker 2: Oh it won like the indie the IGF.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Between that and FTL, it's like, those are two
very very solid plane games just to have on your
phone in case that your Steam deck.
Speaker 2: Diveni Metro was fun. I remember getting into that.
Speaker 4: That Also again, when you die, you're like whatever, like,
there's something about that for me. I have a short
fuse if I die a lot, I'm like, I don't
want to feel bad today. But those games, they don't
hurt my psyche when I lose. You guys, I thought
of the best example.
Speaker 1: For me.
Speaker 2: For the first question, unless you want to finish.
Speaker 1: This question, No, I'm done. So what is the the
also ran or abject failure that you prefer to the
genre heavyweight.
Speaker 2: Evolve? This asymmetrical for the one was absolutely annihilated critically
and gamers were like really mean to it as well.
Speaker 4: I will admit it had a very aggressive price structure
and I can't forgive I can't excuse that part where
I think I think you could only play a certain
amount of guys and monsters unless you spent like one
hundred and twenty dollars.
Speaker 2: That's pretty brutal. So I'm not going to get into
that part of it. But this game was the first
Mega Triple A launch that was arguing that asymmetrical competitive
game design was where it was at. It was genuinely
thrilling as a monster to try and evolve as fast
as possible and then.
Speaker 4: Rip these people to shreds. To shreds, you say, And
as a person a teammate, you had very different designs
as a trapper or as the tank, which I think
really paved the way for Dead by Daylight and all
of these asymmetrical games that everybody loves. Now you all
fucking love these games now, Evolve really put in the
work to do this first, and I know they made
a lot of mistakes, but I loved that game and
I was genuinely upset when they when they shut it down.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was ahead of its time. I remember when
they were pitching it to us a game in format
because they wanted to get a cover story and like
them explaining the concept of asymmetrical multiplayer and stuff. It
was like such a novel thing. It was like, yeah,
super ahead of its time. I think the issue was,
like I don't remember the reviews being like super duper negative.
I remember they were just very middle of the road.
I think the issue was it just that is a
game that you have to have a regular audience playing online,
and it did not find that audience, and it died
quick directly. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I also, yeah, I also looking back, like we've for
work when we're doing like genre now Sees or like
a landscape analyses. It's I think that game also came
out at a time before developers truly understood how to
make a compelling live service roadmap. Remember, people would Evolve
were like, there's only four monsters right now, so it
gets I don't know the exact number. I think it
just also straight up had a content problem, like a
mount that that couldn't sustain, and I just don't think
people fully knew. I mean, not everybody can be bench
an impact like that. I don't those mijo. The way
that they turn out content is just insane. But I
still think like Evolved needed to be a bit more
because that was Eternal Rock right after Left for Dead,
and Left for Dead kind of had asynchronous with the
zombie that multise.
Speaker 2: That is true, Yeah, I should probably I really appreciate.
Speaker 1: Brain like that studio. To your point, I think like
definitely paved the way for Dead by Daylight comes to mind,
is like the one that really puk off and.
Speaker 4: I do like Dead for debt Dead by Daylight, So
I'm not like that's not nearly as good as this,
I think.
Speaker 2: I think this game.
Speaker 1: Got a lot of flats walked so Dead by Daily
could run.
Speaker 2: Ye got the props?
Speaker 1: Was it packs or GDC? I played Dead by Daylight.
Mary we left the demo, were like that was kind
of fucking cool, wasn't there. Yeah, that game seems awesome.
It was jankie as shit at the demo.
Speaker 2: Though, I was like it was JANKI.
Speaker 4: It had a couple of things going for it, though,
I think it came out at a more technically advanced
time where more people were like, I can give this
a shot.
Speaker 2: It was easier to learn, like it was.
Speaker 4: Evolved was difficult, and every every player you had to
be like, you have to practice this like six times
in order to be good at it.
Speaker 2: You can.
Speaker 4: You can figure out Dead by Daylight in an hour.
You can fucking figure it out. Two the deals that
they signed to get like Jason Vorhee and you know,
like all of these iconic villains and get them in
the game.
Speaker 2: Brilliant, brilliant.
Speaker 4: Whoever is the guy who like inks their deals to
make sure that you could play as the Stranger Things
freaks Aid whatever his fucking name is, I really don't care.
Speaker 2: That is why that game blew up the way it did.
I just want to say, for the record, Evolved was sick.
Speaker 1: This just reminded me when we were playing Dead by
Daylight at GDC. I don't know there was another GDC
or E three where Rob Handlery and I played. Did
you guys, ever, I don't think this does not seem
like either of your kind of game but Dreadnought by Jaeger,
the developer who did uh specops the line, I know
a Dreadnought, you know what it is?
Speaker 3: It was, I remember there were pitching.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we played the demo and did it come out?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Released October fourteenth, twenty eighteen. General gist of it is
it's space combat, but you are controlling like like large ships,
so like the movement is like similar to the Expanse,
like you need to really consider, like like a boat,
you need to think like a few steps ahead to
where you need to move. But like you're also shooting.
Like the controller had different inputs for different weapons on
the ship, so it's almost like a third person shooter
as well. That game was awesome. I don't know whatever
happened to it. There might have been some I don't know.
I just remember playing that with Rob and I was like,
this game is more. People are not talking about it,
but it's.
Speaker 2: A bummer when it happens. Right Like I I was
scouring through my library of games and it's actually funny
because the game got shut down.
Speaker 4: I don't think you can play. You can't really find
much about Evolve anymore. But I came across an indie
game called Crawl. Did you guys ever played Crawl? This
game came out in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 1: Are you a baby? You are? No?
Speaker 4: It's I think maybe it's like to be a dungeon crawler. Oh,
it's also an asymmetrical game. But it's but it's an
indie game.
Speaker 1: Instinck. Oh, it's got like a oh why am I
blanking on the night? The night? Platformer games that like
Tinori loves shovel n Yes, oh like shovel graphics kind
of a little bit.
Speaker 2: It's got that eight bit vibe to it. Anyway, it
was also doing asymmetrical and I was like, man, that
game was so sick. Evolve like came out of my
brain when I started thinking about the best asymmetrical games
I've ever played.
Speaker 1: I remember Chris Waters was always champing. He was trying
to champion Waters and.
Speaker 4: He was right and noble and good. I really I'm
a big Chris Waters defender.
Speaker 1: Does he need defenders? Doesn't everybody love him?
Speaker 2: Everybody loves Chris Waters.
Speaker 1: So he's a shitty person. I know. Sorry, then want
to see he was pure as the driven.
Speaker 2: Everybody likes Chris Waters.
Speaker 1: When we left your when we left when we all
went to Washington Slash, Oregon last year, and Amanda and
I shared an Uber from the Spa resort back to
the airport. Mind you, we were all up late drinking
the night before, so it was not He is the
only person who could make that drive bearable. Like I'm saying,
if Amanda and I had to share with someone, I
was glad it was Chris Waters because he was just
still pleasant even hung over at like five in the morning.
Driving through Columbia Gorge, my.
Speaker 2: Head, it was like, basically, all adults, this is a
very adult function. No babies.
Speaker 4: But my sister brought my niece, who at the time
I think was eleven. That's a tough age, right, Like
they're they're like trying to fit in and be cool.
Chris Waters was so goddamn good to her. He made
her feel like a million bucks. She sung Eminem's like song,
she rapped the entire Eminems and he danced to it
and hyped her up like he was in the back round, being.
Speaker 2: Like yop yop, like the whole time, What did dude?
Speaker 1: What did Yeah? That's you're starting tomatoes.
Speaker 2: Better, you suck.
Speaker 4: He's just that kind of person I think that makes
everybody feel really good.
Speaker 2: He is one of the best people I've ever met.
Speaker 4: He kind of i'd compare, you know, like, you really
cannot find someone who doesn't like Vinnie.
Speaker 2: Yes, that's how I feel about Chris Waters. You can't
find someone who's like but Chris.
Speaker 1: It's not upfront with Chris though. It's like we all
know that.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, like you know, there's the real Vinnie that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, any Vinny Vinnie's gonna have ellen degenerous kind of record.
Speaker 3: I'm kind of shocked that didn't back in the day.
He was a minute.
Speaker 1: Yeah people. Do you see they did the celebrit the
Roast on Comedy Central and they had to cut during No,
it's actually I was going to a not funny place
with that anyway, Thank you, Darien and Wes and Brad. Uh.
That's our episode, episode one or almost the one thirty.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: We will be back in a couple of weeks. You
can get merch at fire Escape merch dot com. I
never check these after I say it, so they could
be going anywhere. You can go to our Patreon if
you want to get ad free episodes or video versions,
or just treat it like a tip draft. You appreciate
what we do, Dan, What do you have going on.
Speaker 3: In the meantime Giant Bomb check it out. Plenty of
fun stuff going on there, including the aforementioned Portal Pals
with Mary and Mike that is premium outside of the
first episode. Also, I just check fire skimmers dot com
and I this site cannot be.
Speaker 1: Reached really deep try deep dish pussy.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, that might be Patreon, right, yeah, okay, yeah
I can. I'll renew it.
Speaker 1: Mary, what do you have going on?
Speaker 2: A couple of things? I'm busy.
Speaker 4: Yeah, So Portal Pals is a really fun show with
Mike Manati that's on Giant Bomb. I'm live on Twitch
every Monday. In the next few weeks, I do go
live on Twitch's main channel. It's not always for fun,
but in the next week I'll be going to It's
not always fun in the sense that it's like work, right,
Like it's like work updates that I don't think would
be very fun. But we'll be going to Memphis for
Saint Jude, and that is a wonderful experience because it's
all the streamers raising money for.
Speaker 2: The kids, which I absolutely love.
Speaker 4: It's such a delight so I do encourage you to
watch that and follow along as a bunch of streamers
raise money for Saint Jude. Finally, Instagram, I it was easter.
I put a bunch of alcohol in eggs and we
hit them in the yard and a bunch of girls
and I ran around getting boozy eggs.
Speaker 2: I put all that crap on Instagram. It's very fun.
That's more like slice of life behind the scenes stuff.
Speaker 1: So using.
Speaker 4: I did use my meta glasses. I love that, you know,
and I'm using my meta glasses. Your mic changed significantly
just now. Did your cat touch something?
Speaker 1: Probably okay, at least we're at the end of the episode.
I don't know what. Well, sorry if I sound shitty
for as I take us out, sounds fine now maybe
like the cat she she booped it. Yeah, I'm over
doing my consulting thing for the day job. Playing a
lot of games. I feel bad. I don't always bring
a ton of ammunition here, but like, eventually the games
come out and then I could talk about them without
mentioning I played them like a year ago or something
like that. But I am still playing a lot of games.
Despite what you might think.
Speaker 3: I'm gonna get you guys Pragmata and I want to
hear your thoughts next time.
Speaker 2: I'd like to play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and then, uh, I am just doing wine stuff,
studying a ton most of my free time. Got a
test in early May, and then I got five more
after that over the next couple of years. Yeah, yeah,
I figured you were talking. You were saying, you think
I know, I'm more into wine than minates into Disney.
You said that a few episodes ago.
Speaker 2: That does sound possible.
Speaker 1: I could.
Speaker 4: You're dedicating your life to wine almost in Minate's.
Speaker 1: Genuine question, where would you where in your point of view,
how would you compare my wine knowledge to like your
video game knowledge?
Speaker 3: Maybe that's about some I think you are more into
wine than I am into wrestling, if that helps, okay,
put anything, and yeah, because like I barely ever bring
up wrestling, you know, because you.
Speaker 1: You have one of the most encyclopedic like breadths of
knowledge about video games of anybody I know. Yeah. But
the thing is, like the the thing that's different with
the wine stuff is I'm actually like studying a lot
about how it's made and farmed and whatnot, which I
don't think we have that. I don't think any of it. Well, now, Mary,
you you probably have better understanding than Dan and I
do about making games.
Speaker 3: Like Dan, we've covered, I don't know.
Speaker 1: That's why, like with the wine stuff, is I'm actually
like starting there, which is helpful.
Speaker 4: It's not that I only have like a couple of credits,
and it's not from doing anything super important. But I
was fortunate that my very first job in games was
working for a publisher, and I saw firsthand how many
game designs we funded, how many got really close to production,
and how many actually were shipped.
Speaker 2: And it is fucking insane. And that's why I'm always
so so much of an advocate that every game is
a miracle, because I saw so many games come and
go that never saw the light of day. It didn't
matter if they were good, it didn't matter if they
had a brilliant idea. Games are fucking hard, and I
watch it them crash and burn. Was always really tough
for me.
Speaker 4: But yeah, I'm also in a game dev house, since
every once in a while I'll just be hanging out.
Maybe i'll be shooting this podcast with you guys, or
on a work meeting, and you'll hear in my mic
someone's screaming about how many berries someone should be holding,
and like how how any berries is normal for character
to hold them? Like, oh, game design is actively occurring
in this house.
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a scream see if it's a yelling
match often. Yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 1: It's crazy that any video game gets made. We see
around for the day job. But like, I have a
much much much better understanding of like production gates and
timelines than I used to as a journalist. But it's
not like they're asking my help to code anything. Yeah,
please don't. I just say that if anybody is looking
for coding consulting.
Speaker 2: I'm not your It's a tough way. It's a tough world,
do you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Like you with wine is closer to Ben Hansen
with video games. Okay, because my history of video games
and knowledge and everything is like historic, and I can
talk about the games themselves. I don't know anything about
development or you know that type staff. Hanson goes super
deep on how games are made and who makes them
and things like that. So I'd say that is more
of the analogy. Is you with wine Hanson with games?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Gotcha? Well, either way, I'm doing a lot of that,
but yeah, we'll be back in two weeks, Episode one thirty.
Thanks for anybody who had their Monday morning commute for
this episode and had to wait a few more hours.
We wanted to make sure we could talk about Dan.
Want to make sure he can talk about Pragmata because
that game sounds awesome. Hopefully.
Speaker 2: He also just likes to delay episodes just because he
got to be.
Speaker 3: A little stinker. You know, every avenue I can.
Speaker 1: Yeah, West didn't get to hear us on his morning commute.
Speaker 4: So people tried to ban his user names Reddit. I've
been trying to get him banned from giant Bomb for years.
Speaker 3: There, I'm pretty firmly embedded at this point.
Speaker 2: I think we'll see.
Speaker 1: All right, we'll see everybody in two weeks, Dan, Mary
see you. I don't know when, but.
Speaker 2: We'll figure hear that out, all right.
Speaker 1: Yeah,