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Episode 035 - "Oh the misery 🎶" w/High Potion
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This week, we have two very special guests, Hawes and Steve from the High Potion podcast! We chat about some of the stuff we've been up to and then provide our top 3 video-game-to-screen and screen-to-video-game adaptations.
A massive thank you to the High Potion dudes. They're absolute legends and this week's episode was one that we've been looking forward to for a very long time.
You can find High Potion / Blue Harvest content over at https://myweirdfoot.com
Connect with us via our website https://justshillin.com or send us an email/voicemail at [email protected]
Rate and review us on your podcatcher and Goodpods!
Thank you to our good friend Chris Hall for the amazing cover artwork!
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Transcript
Welcome to Episode 35
00:00:02
Speaker
Hello and welcome to a very exciting episode of Just Showin'. Episode number 35, I believe. I am one of your hosts, Sean Hoffman. And I am your other very excitable host, Andy Bell.
Big Surprise and Legendary Guests
00:00:18
Speaker
And ah guys, I've been hinting about this for a couple of weeks now and I didn't want to commit because I didn't know whether we could deliver or not. but um this is as good as it gets. This is as good as it gets. This this podcast downhill from here. It's all down has peaked early. We have peaked early and um we have two extremely, extremely important guests joining us this evening. um Mark, I was about to say podcasting legends. No, no, no, no, no, no. that That's that's that's underselling it. These are podcasting gods of
00:00:56
Speaker
pop culture of music and of course of video gaming. And so without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to my first guest. This is Steve Crothy. Oh, hi. How you doing? He did the thing. He did the thing. That's so goddamn cool. That is so goddamn cool. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. This is fun. Oh man.
00:01:24
Speaker
And of course we couldn't have Steve on without also having Mr. Horsberg up. Hey buddies, you know, I was just thinking about this. I think this is the first guest spot we've ever done on a podcast, right? Steve? I think so. Yeah. As high potion. Yeah. This is cool. This is awesome.
00:01:45
Speaker
This is so awesome. I hope you can put up. I'm feeling so honored. I don't even have words for it. I don't even have words. I'm just like, no and man, man, man. We're cool. This all this this is cool. This is awesome. I love it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Take that Sith Listers. old shots fuck up Oh, my that was Andy. i I'm not, I'm not on board with that. Steve, I didn't realize we were rolling into the podcast version of Streets of Rage.
00:02:14
Speaker
Eric strawberries already hates me there special moves special moves excellent well thank you so much for joining us what we normally do at this time is um on our part is that it typically i mean our ah our brand is basically two guys getting together.
Podcast Format Explained
00:02:30
Speaker
Two buddies getting together every week and talking about stuff that we like it doesn't get any more complicated than that and and so far so good i think oh i hope anyway.
00:02:39
Speaker
We certainly haven't had too much negative feedback. um But in the case of you guys being such special guests, um we thought we'd do something special, ah which I'll talk a little bit about in a second. But in the meantime, in the interest, and we we we'll do this quickly. but um in the What I would like to talk to you guys about is you know kind of what's been in your what's been on your radar, what's been in your wheelhouse the last week or so that's got you really excited with that ah news that we've heard that's out there at the moment, exciting news on on its way, whether you've been watching, listening, reading, or indeed playing anything exciting in the last couple of weeks
Guest Gaming Discussions
00:03:17
Speaker
or so. So, Steve.
00:03:18
Speaker
Um, in time model tradition, guests first. Um, if I can ask you first, what, what's, what's been going on in, in, in, in Steve's world the last week or so. So, uh, Hawes and I have been playing, uh, a game called the first descendant, also known as down bad destiny, which is, uh, has been a good time. Good, good bit material there. Um, I've been doing a replay of max pain three.
00:03:43
Speaker
ah the backwards compatible Xbox version, an underrated classic from 2014. And um I'm very excited about Metaphor, which comes out in about a month, I think, and very, very stoked about that one.
00:04:01
Speaker
Excellent. What about you horse? What do you mean? What do you mean? So like Steve said we've been hitting up the first descendant with our buddy Jeff and it's free to play ah Kind of because if you are like me and you're a down-bad aficionado of video game ladies there's money to be spent on this game and eye we We did. we We did. Yeah, let's be fair. Now, also, it's a solid game. Like, if if we were talking, you know, Suicide Squad, but with down-bad anime ladies, I don't think it would have grabbed my attention. um Still on Final Fantasy XIV, I am on a... long-term mission with that game. um And, oh, also Steve and I have been playing the Marvel versus Capcom ah collection that came out this last week. That's got, you know, X-Men children of the Adam all the way to Marvel versus Capcom too. um So if you're a fan of High Potion in your future, if you were to
00:05:07
Speaker
Rub a crystal ball. You will hear us talking about ah both of those games pretty soon. I think mm-hmm Tell me horse. Have you you still? Diving into outlaws or is is that kind of way if we know I I play outlaws I I play it a little bit every day when I feel like I have enough time the problem I'm having with outlaws is and it's nothing against the game. It's actually a positive is that there's so much to do that I feel like 30, 45 minutes is not enough time to play. I feel the same way. Yeah. And I just, I want to have a nice chunk of time to sit down and play it. Um, and I'm loving outlaws. I'm loving that I'm taking it a little more slow. Cause you know, i I, I would rather see everything it has to offer then, then run through it just for completion sake. Got it.
00:05:59
Speaker
Cool. What about you, Sean? What have you been up to? I mean we expect we respect i haven't been doing a damn thing. I've just been okay sitting around waiting for this and anxiously awaiting this day to come. and No, its it's an excitement, an anxious excitement. Well, one, I had this whole plan that was going to like just corner you guys the first minute of the podcast and be like, hey, why did you guys bully me off a street fighter?
00:06:24
Speaker
ah But oh then I let it go. Don't you play that Mr. Ben logged in forever since the game launched? You know, every time that we jump in, there's some sort of bug or something that shows Sean as being logged into Street Fighter 6 for like a year and a half, like straight. Every time we send him an invite, just hoping. So I don't want to hear this bully mess. All right. All right. If anybody was the bully, it was Jeff, not me and Steve.
00:06:51
Speaker
Come on. Jeff has tried his damnedest to bully us off of that game, too. And it's worked a couple of times for me. I'm too stubborn. That is true. It is. It's a shilling. My PlayStation, my PlayStation's sitting right here. I do need to get back on there and start playing. And my fight sticks to you guys bully me in a buy-in, too. So I got to... Dude, I haven't been doing anything. I've just been, I've been excited for this. Nothing. I'm ready. No, when I was ready, I was ready to take...
00:07:22
Speaker
but sean I was ready to take you aside then and defend you as my buddy, but to be honest with you, I've known you for a while now and you're you're not particularly reserved when it comes down to spending money, so I doubt it took an awful lot of bullying to get that get those fight sticks.
00:07:39
Speaker
No, i didn't any reason to start a project, dude, that's all I need. oh Yeah, exactly. You're in in a room full of people with obsessive compulsive disorders when it comes to that kind of stuff, I think. Yeah. Yeah, the amount of times that Steve or I have talked the other one into buying a game, like we'll just be hanging out and be like, you know what we should do? We should play the beat them up collection. Let's all buy it.
00:08:03
Speaker
You know, I kind of bullied Steven to get Marvel versus Capcom. Nah, you bullied me in the game. Let's be honest. But and you didn't bully me into buying it. And I have a ah ah magic eight ball for my like deciding what if I should hyper fixate on something. And every answer is yes. Yes. so saying Yes. comma Obviously.
00:08:25
Speaker
Excellent. What about you? Yeah, but what have you been up to? Well you and I have only only spoken about what three four days ago So not an awful lot the girls came back. My my daughters came back for the weekend, which was a good time They did that in them coming back. I was somewhat banned from playing outlaws, which wasn't great because I had to spend time with the family which you know, I guess is the right thing to do and overrated. Yeah, exactly that. um However, I have made more progress.
00:08:58
Speaker
um you Because eventually, they my ladies and the ladies in my life do go to bed. And I've then got the the living room to myself. and um And so I did make some progress. I've done Kijimi now. um And I'm moving on to Akiva, which is the the next planet that we're on. So I'm pissing around with that, having a great time still. Hawes, we talked an awful lot about it um in last week's episode. um it i like I love the game because it's lazy lazy gameplay, if you know what I mean. it's not There's nothing technically um revolutionary about the whole thing. In fact, it's it it lends itself to an awful lot of of of games that that that I've played even 10 years ago. you know it's it's not it's not there's no There's nothing innovative there, but hell, screwing around in star wars in a Star Wars universe is just so much fun. And there's and for me, there's less put pressure
00:09:55
Speaker
um than I felt with the the Jedi games. So Jedi Survivor, I didn't finish because I ended up getting... I'm i'm perfectly honest with you here. um For some reason, when you are doing when you were streaming Jedi Survivor, it landed at a good time for me to join, which is the reason why you may or may not remember. I i occasionally would with would watch you stream.
00:10:17
Speaker
And for some reason, I got so fascinated and so hooked it hooked into the streaming. and I ended it ended up not finishing it myself. I did finish Fallen Order, but with both of those games, because they're, should we say, um more disciplined games, the the the combat mechanic is is is a lot more finely tuned.
00:10:37
Speaker
um it it it it's it's it's it's that They're both both works of art, but I love, I love, love, love Outlaw because it is lazy. It literally is lazy. Yeah, the combat mechanic is it's solid, but it's not particularly it's not particularly dense. it's not you know it's it's um And I love it. and so And the good news, Sean, is that when I last left you, I was in Schitt's Creek with with um The pikes but I've been able to redeem myself and get a little bit of rep back So that I've actually lost the decimal death mark on me now, so I'm not getting attacked every do shit for the pikes I don't like the pikes. They put a death mark on me. I'll kill everybody comes after me. Fuck the pikes Yeah, what you did to that lady in the book of Boba Fett that ran the bar. I don't like you guys. Was that one? That Boba Fett wasn't in I
00:11:34
Speaker
Well, no, well, let no, love it I don't think I don't think the pikes were involved in. Sorry, guys, I was trying to trigger him for some entertaining content, but he didn't take the bait. I'm not taking him the bait. I said that's. but
00:11:48
Speaker
So, yeah, it's it's all been about it's all been about outlaws um for me. A couple of things I'm excited about. I don't know if you saw the Wall Street Journal interview with Donald Glover. um So while I'm not I'm not I'll take whatever Star Wars is is is is laid out to me and and and enjoy it um pretty much every single time. and I grade the stuff I like and leave the stuff I don't. It's no big deal for me, but um he seems to really know what he wants to do around his Lando story. I don't know if you picked up on that, but he's talking about it being a lot of fun and an awful lot of Star Wars at the moment taking itself way, way too seriously, which I have to agree with.
00:12:31
Speaker
and um I could apply the same logic to some of the fans as well um but um Yeah, he's approaching this with he seems to be approaching this with the intent to make it a lot of fun Relatively light-hearted and if it's a scratch on his kind of humor that we see it and to i'm I'm really looking forward to it So that's what's got me excited this week Cool very
Video Game to Screen Adaptations
00:12:55
Speaker
very cool. So as our Vast, vast, vast listener base, we'll know. All three of you, thank you for joining every week. um We'll know. When we have special guests on, we try and choose a subject that is close to their hearts um so that we can
00:13:15
Speaker
we can um get to know a little bit more about them. And and then this week, ah there's no exceptions to that. So what we're doing is we're going to talk about video games. Surprise, surprise. um But we're going to talk about video games um in the context of two two discussion points or two polls. The first question I asked this team to think about was, what are your favorite top three video game to screen conversions? And when I'm in screen, it could be animation, it could be film, it could be it could be a movie.
00:13:50
Speaker
any it could be It could be a TV series, but ultimately, your favorite video greet game to screen conversions? and The second question I asked them, well, let's reverse that. Let's spin it on its head. so What is your favorite screen to video game conversions? so What essentially is a um ah film, an animation, or a a TV show that's seen a successful conversion to a video game?
00:14:15
Speaker
and This could take hours and hours and hours. So what we've agreed is we'll keep it to the top three of each subject. um And just try and get to know each other a little bit more about the types of stuff that we like. Now, they as usual, we're winging it. ah we don't We don't really have a plan, as many of you already know, um when we when we cast. but um From my point of view, and I share this with it with the boys earlier on, um I'm approaching this from how these either these the the these these screen productions or indeed the game makes me feel. Not necessarily is it the best game ever. is it has it Has it won multiple golden joysticks? Has it has it won as the has the the the TV show won multiple Grammys or the film won multiple Oscars? It's really about how how I feel about the subject matter.
00:15:07
Speaker
So if everyone's clear on that, we're going to start with video game to screen conversion. So this is essentially originally a video game property that has been converted to um a multimedia experience, be that, again, animation, TV, or movie. And I'm going to start with number three. So in other words, my our third favorite And the first person I'm going to pick a pick on is Steve again. i will I will rotate this around. And if you have any and honorable mentions that didn't make your top three, ah you're more than welcome to volunteer them now. But but ultimately, I'm looking for your your your your third favorite video game to screen conversion.
00:15:56
Speaker
Right. OK, so number three, I have the Castlevania stuff on Netflix, which to me is is, ah you know, it's not faithful really at all to the video games, but it's pretty entertaining, ah very bloody and dark. And I've been I've loved the storylines each season. The new season, the Nocturne one was good.
00:16:18
Speaker
I think it gets the spirit of the game right. And it's something that I always look forward to. you know The quality of the animation isn't quite as good as their Japanese compatriots do, but it's good enough. It keeps me entertained. you know Excellent. Any honorable mentions that didn't quite make your top three? Yeah, um let's see. So Street Fighter the movie would probably be just outside.
00:16:47
Speaker
I'm sure Hawes will have a lot more to say about that one. um
00:16:54
Speaker
But there's, you know, there's been some pretty big misses, too, as far as video games being brought to the screen that I wasn't super crazy about either. oh hell bre The Resident Evil movies were not really my thing. Any of the Mortal Kombat stuff passed the first one, which spoiler alert might show up but a little later on my list.
00:17:18
Speaker
Amen. whos What about yourself? What's your, what's your number three and any, any honorable mentions that didn't quite make your top three? yeah Okay. So let's start with some honorable mentions here. So my favorite video game franchise is final fantasy, right?
00:17:35
Speaker
um And I wanted to include Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children But I felt like that was kind of cheating and the reason why I say it's cheating is it's not exactly an adaptation of Final Fantasy 7 as it is a ah Sequel to the game. Yeah, um I think it's incredible. I think it's really well done. I think it's the best of any of those sort of CG animated Final Fantasy movies they've done. um Mortal Kombat, the original one didn't make my list. It would have been very close. um And my number three, I don't think is as good of a movie as Mortal Kombat, but I enjoy it more. And that you can tell me and Steve be hanging out with each other way too much, because my number three is the 1994
00:18:29
Speaker
American cinema classic Street Fighter, the movie was Jean-Claude Van Damme. Hell yeah. I would have placed a bat that was going to stick in you. That was going to come into your top three. um like It is just batshit insane, right? Like yeah you're looking at Jean-Claude Van Damme, who at the time you could easily argue was like the most popular sort of action film star in the States at the time, at least.
00:18:58
Speaker
um And this is him at his peak and there's only you can only go down from Street Fighter IV or Street Fighter the movie as it pertains to his career.
00:19:11
Speaker
um It's just wild. He gives the best movie speech in any movie I've ever seen. He's gonna drive his ah boat up the river and stick his fist so far up. M. Bison's asked that the next Bison wannabe is gonna feel it. Oh, it's classic. um You know, Raul Julia being Bison acting his ass off when he is not doing well physically at all and you can tell.
00:19:39
Speaker
um It's just, I like it because they went all out with it and it did not turn out to be a great product, but it's a goofy product and it's fun to watch. Yeah. Amen to that. Going back to final fantasy. So final fantasy was one of my, um, honorable mentions as well. Did you ever see spirits within? Oh, I opening day, bro. Of course I did. What did you think?
00:20:07
Speaker
You know, at the time the animation was impressive. Yeah. It just didn't, it felt like a generic star, or not Star Wars, jeez, sci-fi story with Final Fantasy and name only. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the elements of Final Fantasy that I like were mostly not present in that movie. And it was a bit of a bummer. That was definitely a disappointment leaving the theater after seeing that.
00:20:34
Speaker
And they had a rocking cast as well. I mean, Donald Sutherland was part of it. Yeah, I i still have that. Again, Steelbook all the way. And it's a really, really good film. It's just not Final Fantasy at all. Like if they had called it anything, if they had just called it Spirits Within, I think it would be one of those hidden gems of movies that people talk about, right? Yeah.
00:20:58
Speaker
put the name Final Fantasy on it and it brings a lot of expectations that are in no way met at all in the movie. Thank you, David. Sean, number three. Yes. So I'm going to sprinkle some of my honorable mentions in just here and there throughout. I'm not going to give you all of them up front because I don't want it to spoil my my list. I will say one of my honorable mentions was the Street Fighter cartoon. Ooh, that was, yeah, I was gonna, I did another honorable mention that was gonna be on it. Because that is also insane. ah Makes no sense, but it' ah it was a good time on Saturday mornings. But my number three is actually a Detective Pikachu. I went in watching that movie thinking it was gonna be hot garbage, ah but it was actually very, very good.
00:21:49
Speaker
um in terms of whatever Pokemon provides. and Yeah, I thought that movie rocked. ah You know, I'll say this about a Detective Pikachu's. I'm not a Pokemon guy. I think it was, I think Pokemon came out right on the edge of when maybe I was a little too old for it. You know what I mean? I think I just missed it. I respect it. Don't have anything against it, but I was able to watch the Detective Pikachu and have a great time with the movie.
00:22:17
Speaker
I think that's a testament to it, is that I didn't need 20 years of being fanatical about Pokémon to enjoy the movie. It's really good. Pokémon came out when I was in sixth grade. It didn't come out, but it came on to me when I was in sixth grade. A tornado had hit my school the year before, so we were having class in trailers. I just remember I had red, a buddy of mine had blue,
00:22:43
Speaker
I don't remember doing any work that whole year. And so when Detective Pikachu came out, it was like, it kind of honored that, like, original 150. And it just, it just hit all the, hit all the right notes for me. It was a pretty good. And there's also that Pokemon. Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. I was going to say, I'm honestly surprised that they didn't do a sequel to that. Yeah. Because I believe it performed pretty well. I mean, they have that Pokemon concierge, but that's a totally different vibe on on Netflix, which is also an interesting one. but But yeah, that's my number three. oh Thank you, Sean. um So you've we've already mentioned one of my ah honorable mentions being Advent Children. um The other honorable mention I've got is A Guilty Pleasure. It's ah it's it's not a it's not perceived as a good film. In fact, it's got 32% on Rotten Tomatoes.
00:23:36
Speaker
um
00:23:39
Speaker
But it's Silent Hill. So, Silent Hill, as a game, scared the living shit out of me. And I watched Silent Hill the movie, not so much the sequel, but certainly the the the original movie. And I felt that anxiety.
00:23:59
Speaker
h For the first half an hour of that film, I felt the same anxiety that I felt around the game. And so that's why it became an honorable mention for me, but not but not perhaps part of my top three. In fact, um I've gone a probably a little bit predictable with my with my with my top three, but who cares? My number three is is Last of Us. um I think it's a phenomenal, I mean, it's,
00:24:25
Speaker
that really set the, but that that that for me set the standard um of how to do a TV production of a beloved gaming franchise. And um despite, you know I ah have a PS5 and prior to that I had a PS4 and I've played both games and um I'm really looking forward to season two.
00:24:54
Speaker
are you Are you really, are you really looking forward to season two? I'm looking forward to the first half an hour probably of season two. And then it go goes a rat shit. um but But so far, ah they've they've naturally um tweaked a little bit um in the interest of pace, but also in the interest of of of of um what the creators have felt have been the most impact most impactful way of um delivering the content on on the screen as opposed to being in a game. um But i I've loved every every watch every waking minute of that of that particular TV series. I think it was an absolute masterpiece. And um yeah, okay, it's it's the latest, it's the latest um
00:25:43
Speaker
I know it's new or so relatively new, sorry, and it's it's the latest and greatest. and you know it's it's it's Our buddy Pedro is is is is is is part of it, but the whole thing I thought for me was ah expertly done. Right, so and round two. and What we're going to do is we're going to do this systematically and move everyone over once.
00:26:08
Speaker
Number two, Hawes, we're gonna start with you this time. um Give us your number two. I'm hoping to ah maybe turn on some people to something with this one, okay? And that is Final Fantasy XIV, Dad of Light, okay? It's an eight-episode miniseries.
00:26:30
Speaker
Um, it's in Japanese with subtitles and it is about a father and son reconnecting through playing final fantasy 14 together. Now, why I like this is because I'm a final fantasy dude. I had to include it somewhere on my list. It's legitimately very, very good. Um, and I think it does a good job of showing the sort of connection you can make with your loved ones through video games, right? For so long, video games are kind of viewed as this solitary experience. Steve and I talk about it all the time. When we were kids, it was not cool to play video games. You know, you would, you might have some friends, you would talk about video games, but it wasn't the cool thing to do. And obviously that's changed. And with the invention of the internet and being able to, you know, it's no longer, you have to go to your friend's house to play a game together and being able to do it from all across the world together.
00:27:27
Speaker
um And I think Final Fantasy 14, Dad of Light, does a really good job of demonstrating that. And it's funny, it's touching. It was on Netflix for the longest time. i It might still be. That's where I originally watched it. That's my number two. Nice. Excellent. I didn't i didn't know, it that's on the list now. that I didn't even know it existed. That's definitely on the list. Sean Buddy, over to you.
00:27:53
Speaker
What's your number to follow? I mean, it's hard to follow up something that sentimental because my number two is Sonic the Hedgehog, the TV series cartoon in the early 1990s. Yeah, I got a lot of I got a lot of cartoons and stuff on mine. um There's not a whole lot to say about it. It wasn't like the greatest. It didn't follow cannon. Like if there is a cannon for Sonic, but it had.
00:28:16
Speaker
a cast of just goofy characters. And is that the one that Urkel did the voice of Sonic? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Julia White. Julia White did the the voice for Urkel. It had like Princess Sally and the the the bunny rabbit who was half robot and she had like a thick southern accent. It was ah it was a good old time. Yeah. You know, that's ah they they would have definitely made an honorable mention. They're not my top three. But I also like the the two live action Sonic the Hedgehog movies. Yeah. I think they are. Yeah.
00:28:45
Speaker
And, uh, just a good time. They nailed the vibe. Um, the second movie goes in some, there's some detours in the plot that, you know, I think are maybe a little unnecessary, but they're solid way better than they had any right to be. Oh, for sure. I agree a hundred percent on that.
00:29:05
Speaker
Excellent. Okay, so my number three um is going, sorry, my number two, sorry, let's start again. um Again, it's a little bit predictable. um it's it's it's This would add, ah how we had time and we were able to do the expansive list, this would all make sense. But anyway, my my number two is is Fallout. um yeah it's only you know It's not even a year old yet. And I thought, well again, what they did was grew great.
00:29:30
Speaker
ah The reason why i think why I think it's great is because they um one of the one of the problems I have with video game to screen conversions is they try too hard to get to to to get absolutely as close to the source material as possible. They try to be exactly like the game, which I think is a fundamental mistake because by definition, you're not you you're never going to achieve that. You're never ever going to achieve that. um And going by what, you know,
00:30:00
Speaker
I didn't actually go and see it in the cinema recently. We'll be talking about duds that are out there, but Borderlands, for example, trying exactly to use the same aesthetic as the game. Not, not, not, probably not a good idea. Casting choice was weird for me as well. Anyway, anyway, point being is that for me, Fallout, Fallout 4 came, landed at the right time for me. Um, 2015 it came out. So it's nine, uh, yeah, nine, nine, 10 years old, approaching 10 years old.
00:30:30
Speaker
Um, and it came out at the right time when I kind of, uh, hall, I think you and I've, I am each other about this or spoken about it somehow. Um, I'm a big mass effect two fan. And, um, when mass effect three came out, um, and there was no sign of, of, of, of, of what would come in the future for mass effects. Um, I needed a new kick. And so, so, um, discovering fallout when four in particular, when you start down in the, um,
00:31:00
Speaker
when you when you start down in the shelter, not shelter, what they call the vault. When you start down in the vault and you kind of then, as a child, and then you you you make your way out into into um um above ground. and Yeah, and and that whole vibe of that and that that beautiful naivety of 50s and 60s corporate culture in the in the vibe that they captured within the TV series, I thought was was absolutely tip-top perfect. and So that's the reason why Fallout is my number two. Steve, over to you, mate.
00:31:36
Speaker
Man, that was a good pick. I really liked Fallout. It's not on my list, but we really, really enjoyed that show. That's another thing. Sorry, that's another thing. you You said the word we. It's also my wife got into it as well. She really dug it. um And that's another reason. if there's any If there's any of my shit that she ends up enjoying, it kind of amplifies my enjoyment of the whole thing and my love for that for that as well. So, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. No, totally. i I get it. Like, she doesn't know anything about the Fallout video games and she loved the show. So, just shows they're doing something right, in my opinion. um I'm going to throw out another honorable mention. Sean, i I thought you were talking about this, but I might be mistaken. I want to throw out the Street Fighter animated movie, which was also out in the 90s. And it was, it had like an American grunge soundtrack. There was a scene where Ken was like driving to Seattle, listening to Alice in Chains.
00:32:30
Speaker
And, uh, corn's in a Tuesday. Corn, at the very end, yep, when Vison tries to, uh, literally kill Ryu by, or Ryu by driving over him with the, uh, semi-truck with corn's blind blaring in the background. ah Plus the chunnily shower scene, which, as a young man in the 90s, kind of enjoyed, you know, pretty good. The seeds of down bad were, were, were sown that day.
00:32:54
Speaker
um So, number two, I'm going with Mortal Kombat, the 1995 movie by Paul W.S. Anderson. um This had a lot to do with the fact that I was away at university, as y'all would say, and in Britain.
00:33:10
Speaker
Um, and it was the first movie I just kind of went to on my own without having like a family member or a friend I knew. And the theater was packed and it was kind of a shithole theater. So people were just acting up the whole time. And it made for just an amazing experience. Like all these people just hooting and hollering whenever Scorpion came out on the screen, you know?
00:33:31
Speaker
yeah There were fatalities, there were shout outs to like the friendships and stuff like that. I thought it was just a really entertaining movie, ah but it was probably amplified so much by the fact that I was in a full theater of loud people, you know, that really can kind of make a movie feel really special in the right situation. I think that had a lot to do with it. Awesome. Awesome, awesome, awesome. Okay. Number one, and we're going to kick off with you, Sean. You're the first to go. but So so I can uh, i'll have an honorable mention Uh, it's the uh, I look forward to seeing the reactions on this one, but an honorable mention was the halo tv series. Uh, season specifically season two. you really um everyone. Thanks for listening. Um specifically work just week specifically season two, uh, obviously it did not follow especially season one season one was all over the place. It didn't follow the uh
00:34:29
Speaker
the plot of the games very well, but season two was starting to realign with it. And I thought it was starting to get pickup steam. And I wouldn't say I'm like super bummed that I got canceled, but you know, I was, I was enjoying it as like a popcorn, popcorn. They were at least my number one steps in the right direction though. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My number one is easy. It's a last of us, uh, for all the reasons previously mentioned, um, but also similar to fall out. It's, it's allowed Madison to She's been invested in it. She doesn't know anything that happens in the games. And it's also kind of, I think feel kind of special to me too, because I didn't know anything. I mean, I knew about the games, like but I'd never really gotten invested in them. But as some people may remember, the beginning of the year, I think I just streamed and blasted through both games in like a matter of a month, like right before the show aired. So like I have like this window of just like nothing from The Last of Us to like,
00:35:24
Speaker
everything Pedro everything the last of us and so it's uh It's a it's been a roller coaster and I'm really looking forward to I think I'm gonna disconnect from the internet for like a month and a half when season two airs though Because it's uh, it's gonna be interesting. But yeah, that's my number one. It's a good show. Love it. Highly recommend. Excellent. Excellent um My number one um You and I have spoken about it at length and ironically so of the high potion guys as well at length. In fact, they dedicated an entire episode to this show. My number one is Arcane.
00:36:04
Speaker
yeah um i um I have rewatched that and again, Steve, it's been a family experience. My wife loves it and she doesn't like my shit. Do you know what I mean? right she doesn't normally She doesn't normally get on get on with the stuff that floats my boat. And ah we've i've I've rewatched it now five times and it's only been only been around for what, two, three years now?
00:36:31
Speaker
yeah um I love it. I absolutely love it. I think it's um some of the best animation ever. The animation quality is just superb. For real? The story is is awesome. um it um It genuinely, genuinely pulls heartstrings. I mean, that you know that the the two cut but the two girls and the I love the way that the when Jinx is older, the way that they they kind of um investigate her state of mind in the the use of the animation. i mean the whole that that That whole kind of schizophrenia and and and and and quite frankly, ah she's a very, very troubled girl. and um The way they portray that in animation, I think is
00:37:24
Speaker
phenomenal absolutely phenomenal and um I tried I've tried many many different other things and to to and nothing beats that that that show for me I can't remember the name of the animation studio I think they're I believe they're a French ah French studio And the good news is that season two is around the corner as well. Now the game itself, I couldn't give you shits about. It's not the type of game name yeah i would i that I would spend any time on. But goodness me, I mean, League of Legends, it's it's it's not at all my type of game. I mean, I've got friends that have played it wax lyrical for years and years and years and years and years. um that but But the output in this TV series is just,
00:38:10
Speaker
it's It's phenomenal. It's absolutely phenomenal. and um i can't we were we were um We took some time off as a family recently. The girls met us and we traveled south and um stayed by the seaside, stayed by the ocean for it for for for a while, and we burned through it again for a fifth time.
00:38:30
Speaker
Um, it's it's one of those experiences that every one of my girls are the right the right age. My eldest is 26 my youngest 24 They're at that age where they they kind of like that that that um, well, they like anything that have female um heroines and as as as as um the main protagonist, but they also have love the idea of of this You know, they're quite spiritual young ladies in themselves anyway. And so the idea of of of of this show really, really tackling things like, you know, family, found family, but also mental health and and and and and anxiety. And they they they it really, really resonates with them as well. So yeah, i it's my number one. Sorry, oh that's a long winded way of explaining my number one, Steve.
00:39:21
Speaker
um over you I love Narcan too, man. I love that everything about it except that damn theme song. Oh, damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Do you know what? Do you know what? I forgot. I forgot. Sorry, Sean. I forgot. I forgot. We were going to try and dial up a bit tonight. Oh, I was going to end that and say, of course, the best part about the whole production is that kick ass theme tune to see what to see if we could see the the vein on the side of your head. Throb a little bit. no but i need lock off I'm just kidding. Yeah. bye guys right up and it's right now
00:39:57
Speaker
and right now i gotta to go now that's That's a really great show and I enjoy that one a lot I want to give one more honorable mention to the Super Mario Brothers movie that came out recently um Yeah, I enjoyed that far more than I thought I was going to
00:40:15
Speaker
The performances were just fine, but the animation was terrific, like top tier. There was lots of stuff to liken it. I still think about that really depressed loom character. mayor yeah yeah my favorite character whatever that call that stars called and My wife loved that movie as well. um Lots of this stuff ah stuff my wife likes, so that's the pretty cool.
00:40:38
Speaker
Um, but my number one is going to follow probably, um, I'm guessing causes as well, but the last of us is number one for me. Um, and you know, this is, this is a game that actually turned my wife around on video games.
00:40:55
Speaker
because she couldn't believe that a game was able to present something so cinematically and have such, like, a poignant story and performances that really captured you, you know? And so she was aware of the story going into the show, as was I, and we're both just still just captivated by the performances. I love Pedro Pascal.
00:41:18
Speaker
Bella Ramsey's fantastic. um the the The little tweaks to the story were just fine to me. um I can't think of the woman's name, but she's the one who's running with Joel at the beginning. um And she ends up kind of sacrificing herself halfway through the show. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Really, really good as well.
00:41:37
Speaker
just tons of stuff that I could go on and on about that show for forever. But it deserves all the accolades. And even as as heavy and fucking dark as the next season is going to be, I still can't really can't wait to kind of see it play out how however they're going to do it. Very cool. My number one is The Last of Us.
00:42:02
Speaker
My number one's is The Last of Us. You know, The Last of Us is one of those things, we kind of talked about it on um the podcast. You know, Steve and I, since we've met, we've been gaming together, but there was a very brief, like maybe year and a half, two year period where Steve and the homies were off playing Destiny after I said, I'm done with this. It's a shameful part of my life. 2020 happens, we're all locked inside and that's where And we sort of reconfigured or reorganized or or whatever you want to call it, like got our little gaming group back together. And we played final fantasy 14 and fighting games. And it's something we have been doing every weekend since 2020. Right. And it's been so great. But one of the things that Steve and I really sort of both got hyper fixated on.
00:42:54
Speaker
in 2020 around the same time was The Last of Us. I had never played the PS4 remake or remaster of it, so I played that leading into 2, and then obviously 2 comes out. And you know I think Last of Us is the closest live action to what I would consider a Prestige TV show right? Yeah, like yeah fall out by the way. I think is excellent I can't wait to see what they did Kyle McLaughlin fucking Super Mario jumping in that power suit in the last episode I said hold up This ain't making the top three just yet. We got to see where this goes But
00:43:34
Speaker
Um, you know, the, I want to specifically call out the bill episode, right? um Yeah. Massive change from the narrative in the game. Yeah. But so well done, right? Yeah. Like the, the execution of that and the way they condensed that whole episode, that whole storyline into one episode was so well done and You know, in the game, in the original game, Bill's just kind of an asshole, right? That story is dark as hell in the game. Yeah, and and you really only get the full context of it if you do a couple of optional things. There's some things you can miss, right? And to me, it was really funny watching the assholes online freaking out about Bill being gay. But I was like, guys, that's in the original game. Somebody didn't get all the collectibles.
00:44:23
Speaker
yeah Get good, nerd. um but But they did such a good job. The casting was on point. Music, cinematography, writing. i have Literally, it's one of the few things that I've watched that no notes. You know what I mean?
00:44:39
Speaker
I have no notes about the execution of The Last of Us. um I am dreading, dreading the second season man as much as I am looking forward to it, right? um So yeah, Last of Us is my number one. Do you know what the, um sorry, I know i know we're we are really tight on time, so I don't want to go off on time too much, but the um The Last of Us is the um makes watching any other survival horror, TV program or film really hard. Really, really hard. I tried, um what's the Rick and Michonne thing? the The ones who lived, I got through two episodes, I couldn't, it's just like,
00:45:25
Speaker
this This pales and into into insignificance and comparison. you know I think that's a great um sort of comparison because The Walking Dead, for me, like i'm not I don't expect an adaptation of anything to be 100% in line with the source material. I think that's a silly way to go into it. The Walking Dead was not successful in that regard. The the comics are so much better.
00:45:50
Speaker
um so you know, just wanted to make make that known. Like there are good ways and not so good ways in my opinion to veer off from the source material. And every time the last of it did, I thought it was for the better, you know, um, and most of the time when walking dead did it, I thought it was for the worst. So well said. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah.
Screen to Game Adaptations
00:46:20
Speaker
we've done our we've done it We've done one segment, and I think that we've proven one thing in that we're actually quite clever folk that pretty much agree on everything you've all said. so um That's ah that's good it's good to know. we can We can hang out more often and not piss each other off, which is good. Okay, we're going to move on to the next one, which is um now we're talking about a property that originated on the screen.
00:46:48
Speaker
um that found its way to video games. And um we are back to... Sean, you kicked off last time, right? Oh, me. It's me. Yeah. Me. It's me. It's me. It's me. Right. Two honorable mentions. um One for the sheer fact that the game put the living shit into me was Alien Isolation.
00:47:14
Speaker
I thought that was a really, really good, really, really good game. it it it gave the Bearing in mind there have been some quite frankly some dogs out there when it comes down to to alien games and especially alien versus president types of game. When alien isolation came out, it put the living shits into me. so um that ah yeah no i I really, really enjoyed that. Because I'm ah what brings us together in the first place because we're big Star Wars fans. Shadows of the Empire. Shadows of the Empire, um I've called it out as an honorable mention because it's not so much the game itself, because let's face it, if you if you revisit it, it's it's not such a great game. um the The gameplay is pretty schwonky. I hope you understand what I mean by that expression, but it's it's not great. It's how I felt at the time.
00:48:10
Speaker
When Shadows of the Empire came out, it was like this whole multimedia pause. You've talked about this wax lyrical for the years now. um the whole experience of comic, novel, video game, all coming together at the right time where we thought there was going to be no more Star Wars again and there were new characters that were introduced. um I mean, dare I say, Dash Rendar and the Outrider. Fantastic, absolutely fantastic. So they are my two honorable mentions.
00:48:43
Speaker
um My ah number three, though, is Spider-Man on the PlayStation. um I remember the game that originally came out on the PS2, which I think was 10, 15 years ago. And i had and it introduced a that the web slinging and the web slinging across New York mechanic. that And then the Spider-Man 2 on PS2.
00:49:09
Speaker
great game yeah yeah yeah absolutely fantastic um but when they reintroduced it to the ah Gen 8 or Gen 9? Gen 8 console. um Phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal. I mean, it was no other no other superhero game has given me that much of a buzz. um And I really, really enjoyed the Arkham series, especially the first three first two, sorry. Really, really enjoyed that. But when it comes down to a superhero a true superhero um um ah game,
00:49:41
Speaker
um Spider-Man. I haven't played two. which I understand is really, really good. I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know. Again, it's one of my, it's my library of shame. I've got it. Don't shake your head, Hoffman. I know what you like. I've seen your Steam library. I've played it. I beat it. Now let's talk about it.
00:50:04
Speaker
but we Are we about to see a fight, Steve? This is a elevator situation brewing here. It reminds me of going to a tense stone cobra practice or two back in the day.
00:50:19
Speaker
ah But yeah, Spider-Man, all good. um Right, so we're back to Steve. All right. Number three, please. um A couple of honorable mentions. I want to shout out um X-Wing for the PC. ah You know, pretty much the reason I still play with all my controls inverted is because of that game. My Y controls are still inverted to this day because of that game. Terrific flight simulator for the mid 90s PC PC folks.
00:50:48
Speaker
My number three is going to be Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Turtles in Time, the arcade game. That's a banger, Steve. Yeah, dude this is this basically ruled a summer. You know, those magical summers when you're like 15 and your group of friends and you, you know, you got the whole summer in front of you, nothing to do, no job. All we did was walk to the pool hall down the street from our house and play that game nearly every day that summer.
00:51:17
Speaker
And it's so fun man. You competed on about five bucks and quarters. I still remember that Just a banger of the game man. Oh, do you remember like Going into the arcade and just you're like they made a new Ninja Turtles Turtles in time What the hell is this like, you know, there was no like pre-release hype for arcade games that I remember you know, you might occasionally see an article about Mortal Kombat 2 or 3 or something but Just the surprise of walking in and there's a brand new awesome arcade game. Oh, we're players. yeah know And with that cut, and casting my mind back, many times arcade games were released before the property was at the cinema. Do you know what I mean? So you'd get the game. It's a little bit like the days where Hasbro
00:52:14
Speaker
r i p um where were cana sorry ah r rp where they used to release Star Wars merch before the actual movie, a year in advance of the movie, which would give you that kind of excitement and speculating who that who that person was and what their role is. what their role is i mean In many occasions, they were they were they were they background characters and and were irrelevant to the story, but that wasn't the point. The point was that the is you you start speculating based on the merch that was out. and I felt the same way back in those days about video games that were coming out as well. I played Tron. I think I played Tron before I actually saw Tron.
00:52:58
Speaker
I certainly played Terminator 2, the light gun game, before I saw Terminator 2. Oh, really? absolutely Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And was that the Terminator 2 light gun game, which actually had the kickback as well? It was. yeah It was. Awesome. Great game, too. Yeah, good. so It started in the future. We had to shoot down. urge go Yeah. Good pinball as well, Terminator 2. Anyway, sorry.
00:53:24
Speaker
Very, very cool. Hors, over to you. number number Number three, please. Okay, so I promised you guys, Steve and I did not talk about this beforehand. and My number three is also an arcade game, but I want to take a moment to give some honorable mentions.
00:53:41
Speaker
there's gonna be no star wars games on my list and there's a reason for that because it's not fair just like if somebody asked me hey what's your favorite movies yeah i say well beside star wars stand by me almost famous nightmare in elm street three whatever right um So, I do want to shout out Star Wars games in general, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Dark Forces, Jedi Knight, you know, Knights of the Old Republic, Star Wars Galaxy, so on and so forth. I think Star Wars is the most successful property to video game transformation of all time.
00:54:16
Speaker
i think if' yeah I don't even think you can argue it. They were early to the game with the original vector-based Atari arcade game, which slaps, by the way. um So my number three is also an arcade game. It's also a side-scroller beat-em-up, but it's the X-Men arcade game.
00:54:34
Speaker
Which had a six player version. yeah It was humongous. And you had, you could have six players playing at once. It's great. The sprite work in it is phenomenal. It's beautiful. They used mirrors, didn't they? In the cabinet.
00:54:51
Speaker
Our buddy randy told us that the way they extended the screen instead of having to spend money on giant monitors is there's actually mirrors in built into the cabinet in the screen that gives the appearance screen is bigger so all six people can see the screen. um You know they did a couple of ports back in the early two thousand and tens on i wanna say playstation three and xbox live you can't get them now.
00:55:17
Speaker
You can't get those now, but boy, I wish you could. Um, so that's my number three. Great. Thanks buddy. Thank you. Sure. You're number three, right? So Joe, I'll drop a quick honorable mention in there and that is star Wars pod racer. Uh, that game, that game, there was a mini mini of Friday and Saturday night with friends trying to get the the pointless upgrades in that game and just maddening on the old hardware. Love it. On Switch, it's insanely hard too. They have a clocking issue or something where it just goes fast and it's really, really quite difficult.
00:56:00
Speaker
Uh, the other honorable Sean, Sean, did you, I spoke about this with the scruffy boys, um, a while ago and they had no idea what I was talking about. Did you guys have in the, the arcade version, did you have the full sit-in pod with the two, the two controllers that you so yeah those still exist in like our local arcade? We still have one. Oh yeah. Money was no.
00:56:25
Speaker
If money was no object, that will replace the exercise bike in my shed without a doubt. ah The movie theater that I used to go to, like the cheap movie theater in Birmingham, you know, it had like a little arcade in the front and they had that old sit-in pod racer. I never did it because like who needs to see me in that thing at the movie theater. You just come trying to come see Shrek 2 and this fucking monster is pod racing in the lobby.
00:56:54
Speaker
That's awesome. I want it for like my desk. I want to like get an old one and like convert it into like a working desk. That's what I want. I'd be sick, but that's never going to happen. Madison will kill me. my other My other honorable mention used to be a number three until the last minute before we started recording and I swapped it out because I forgot about one. And this is Chippendale's Rescue Rangers back on DOS. It was like the first game I ever played that was like, oh, this is hard.
00:57:20
Speaker
I just my fascination with video games started with that um God it was just it's hard to describe if you've never played it. It's just a DOS game on my old Tandy 3000 or whatever it was um Just fascinated me with computers back then but Yeah, my number three so I know we were all we were all shitting on it a little bit earlier but a good entry for this in terms of gaming is the Walking Dead telltale games Uh, Lee and k Clem. Um, Madison, I was walking with Madison. She was like, I'm like, I asked her what her answer would be. She's like, Oh, the walking dead. It's like, Oh my God. I forgot how good that game was. Uh, I'm a big story person. Uh, I play games for the plot and that the plot in the first descendant is great. There's a lot of plot. So much plot, but yeah, it was.
00:58:18
Speaker
the The story it's a it's just it's hard to explain like where all all the things that the later seasons of The Walking Dead got wrong that those two telltale games Just knocked it out of the park It's like I I like to tell myself that like the Walking Dead telltale games Walked so the last of us could run like what the pieces of that From the last of us that do really well telltale or the the Walking Dead game was just, it's it's very, it's similar, but different. A great entry in the genre of games known as sad dad games, yeah like Walking Dead, Last of Us, ah the newer God of War games. Love that genre. Oh yeah. So that's my number three, numero, numero three. Excellent. So we're back to the, yeah, we're back to the top. So number but two,
00:59:13
Speaker
And we're kicking off with you, Steve. All right. So another honorable mention this time is going to go to Aliens vs. Predator on the yeah the Jaguar. And I didn't actually play this game, but I'm just putting it on there because I always really wanted to. And I was jealous that I never did. So that's honorable mention. ah My number two is going to be the beat them up kind of side scrolling games that were based on the Lord of the Rings movies. Oh, my God.
00:59:40
Speaker
um I really enjoyed those. I think I want to say they were on the PlayStation 2 and GameCube and the GameCube. Yeah. They were way more fun than they had any freaking right to be, you know, fun with buddies too. no But, you know, just really kind of captured the vibe of those movies in a weird way that a beat them up could do. I don't know. Just seemed like something that shouldn't work, but it totally did.
01:00:04
Speaker
Yeah. And if they were to release like remastered versions of those where you could play with buddies online, it would be an instant buy for me. Yeah. It felt like a new golden axe should be or something like that. That's exactly what it felt like. Yep. Nice. Nice. Cause number two, please. My number two is Indiana Jones and the fate of Atlantis. Oh.
01:00:32
Speaker
What a game. It is, uh, developed by LucasArts. It was a point and click adventure game. Um, and at the time there were kind of two big players in the adventure game space. There was Sierra, they did the King's quest, police quest, space quest, yada, yada, yada. And then there was LucasArts and the Indiana Jones on the faint of Atlantis is like you're playing an Indiana Jones sequel. And it was one of those games that I would play with my dad because it was his computer. And my dad's a massive Indiana Jones fan. And it's the first time I remember being able to solve puzzles before my dad. And my dad would be like, how did you figure, what are you doing? How did you figure that out? Did someone tell you how to do that?
01:01:24
Speaker
Um, and it's just, it's a fun Indiana Jones adventure, uh, that, you know, to me felt like it fit right in with the universe of the movies. So that's my number two. I don't think I ever played it. Was it, was it kind of like a, I don't think a diagonal, but ah you know, when, you know, when they put up Is it a perspective game? like up on them No, it's not like isometric. Thank you. That's the word I was thinking of. It's a side view. So if you've ever played, say, tale ah Monkey Island, right? on Exactly what I was about to say. Yeah, OK. It's that exact same engine, but made or used to make an Indiana Jones game. Got it. Cool. It's available on good old games. if you ever If anybody ever feels like playing it, you can get it pretty easily and play it on PC nowadays.
01:02:16
Speaker
Excellent. Sean, you're number two, please, sir. So my number two, so I'll throw another honorable mention out there, and that is Adam's family on the Super Nintendo. Oh, that game was just. It was just hard and long and repetitive, and I remember playing at that game for hours and hours and hours, but it lives in my head rent free that I've never beaten it. So on a side note on a side note, yeah That is my favorite pinball game of all time. adam so Adam's family pinball game is excellent. Excellent. Great table. It's cousin it. Mm hmm. Sorry. Sorry, Sean. no two it's oh No, it's fine. My number two, ah just for a little quick context,
01:03:03
Speaker
um I have like a billion cousins and so at my grandparents house growing up, ah somebody got us to Super Nintendo. So we all like all billion of us so piled in this tiny little room every time.
01:03:15
Speaker
ah To play in Super Nintendo games and there was a Super Nintendo game. That is my number two that Given all the games that we had I think we would all collectively agree me and my cousins was the hardest game ever ever created at that time to us and i don't know if we ever beat it and that is the lion king on super nintendo that's a dark souls higher yeah's harder than dark souls yeah it's like it's the first soul's like there's no safe there's no safe points
01:03:47
Speaker
and it's just It's like the timing on the buttons and you're trying to like ah dodge. ah Yeah, and I see why the lions get killed in the movie. it It's hard. It was a hard game. And I still don't know if I could beat it. ah But yeah, the memories I have and the broken, almost broken controllers from the Lion King adaptation for the Super Nintendo ah lives in my head rent free as well. So that's my number two. Excellent.
01:04:14
Speaker
My number two is a Star Wars game, and there's a reason for this. It's Star Wars Galaxies. I have never, I burned 10 years of my life, easily. I mean, even after you know the new gaming experience came a few years later and completely wrecked the whole thing, I still persevered. But that um that game came out at just the right time.
01:04:40
Speaker
And Steve, thinking on that you know when when you have young kids and your life, you have no life anymore. You have no life. That's the definition of having, you know that's that's that's what happens. Released in 2003, my children then were five and three.
01:04:59
Speaker
And so we had a very, very different life. Date nights were off, or they were certainly very few and far between. Everything was, I mean, pause, I listened to you and Will on a weekly basis, and I feel the pain that the guy's going through these days. He is fighting for his fucking life right now. He really is. He really is.
01:05:23
Speaker
yeah It does get better. Well, I promise you, if you're listening, do you ever do listen? I promise you it does get better. And then at the end of it, if you've done your job properly, they end up being your friends as well. So um that's ah that's a beautiful thing. Anyway, sorry, going back to Star Wars Galaxies. So we didn't go out much. um And um it landed at the right time for me. And I still remember to this day,
01:05:49
Speaker
I had two characters, one was a Twi'lek, and because I'm ah um a Wookie guy, ah the other one was was was a Wookie. And I can remember um the end of my first day of playing it.
01:06:01
Speaker
and just sitting on the beaches of Corellia. I was on Corellia and I sat on the beach as I was logging out. Now, with hindsight, I realized that was a stupid idea because actually it takes you a couple of minutes to truly log out and somebody can come up and kick your ass. But anyway, that's not the point. And just this amazing, the concept of me living a life in Star Wars and,
01:06:29
Speaker
um moisture evaporating. it was i was I was making shit. i was doing the most I wasn't interested in becoming a Jedi or anything like that. I was just literally making shit, going around from player city to player city, selling my shit and and having a good time and then hooking up with people.
01:06:51
Speaker
ah Late at night in the local cantina and and in that virtual environment Just just just just having the time of my life and I burnt some years I genuinely burnt some years on that game and even when I tried um The Old Republic the Old Republic, you know what 10 15 years later it it It's good, but it has no way near the sheer feeling of expanse. And and um i I really enjoyed my time on on The Old Republic, but it didn't feel the same. It wasn't quite the same, despite the graphics being beautiful, despite the gameplay being stable, despite all the things that in many cases, um um the Sony Entertape, the Star Wars Galaxies, you know had it had its issues. But good God, how I felt about that game,
01:07:50
Speaker
um I don't say it changed my life because I don't, I'd like to think I'm a little bit more, a bit more grounded than that, but seriously, I, I burnt some time and that means an awful lot to me. Okay. Our number one gentleman. And, uh, we are starting our number one screen to video game conversion. We're going to start with horse mine.
01:08:20
Speaker
is the Spider-Man games on the place, the Insomniac Spider-Man games. Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Miles Morales, and Spider-Man 2. Spider-Man is my dude, okay? I can't express to you how much Spider-Man is my dude. Andy mentioned them. I think you, I don't think you can mention the Spider game-Man games without mentioning the Arkham games because I think a lot of the systems and things that Rocksteady built when making the Batman games, Insomniac certainly took inspiration from, but the feeling of playing those Spider-Man games is just, in my opinion, a hundred times better than those Batman games. And I love the first two. um You know,
01:09:07
Speaker
you want to talk about something that took wild deviations from the sort of source material, Spider-Man, those games is it. it's and It's one of those things where I can be sort of precious about Spider-Man lore or canon or whatever, because it those ah comics mean so much to me, but I love every sort of turn and twist that they put on the story. like I think the performances of the entire cast are really good, the writing's good. I don't think
01:09:41
Speaker
I like Spider-Man 2 quite as much as I like the first one, but it's very close. When I think back at it, there's a couple of sections of Spider-Man 2 that I would prefer not to play again, where with Spider-Man and Miles Morales, I would do it all over, right? um The boss fights are great, um emotional story, beautiful graphics. I can't wait.
01:10:06
Speaker
for whatever comes next. ah You know, it seems like it's going to be a Venom spin-off game and then maybe a Spider-Man 3. There's rumors that that team is going to be doing an X-Men game at some point, which really has me excited. Oh, Lord have mercy. I'm about to buzz. Yeah. They've got the Wolverine game coming. Like, you know, um And and there's I'm not even someone who thinks that Spider-Man games before the Insomniac games were bad. I think Spider-Man 2 on the PlayStation 2 is really good. There are a couple of Spider-Man games on the PlayStation 1 that were made by Activision that I think are pretty good. um But just the vibe that they nailed in those games, um they're just phenomenal. i And also,
01:10:51
Speaker
the best photo mode in any video game. I'm a big photo mode guy and that those Spider-Man photo modes, you want to talk about wasting some time. Sometimes I would just log into one of those Spider-Man games and take screenshots for two hours, like find interesting locations and viewpoints and stuff. Just the best of the best in my opinion. Very cool. Sean, Sean, baby.
01:11:18
Speaker
So Spider-Man was one of my honorable mentions as well. Just everything he said before. I want to make sure that that's on the record that I think that is fantastic. um My number one is very close to something that's already been mentioned. it's ah It's a variant. But I grew up as a Sega Genesis kid. And so my number one is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the Hyperstone Heist, which is very similar to turtles in time. um The levels are shorter, but the AI is harder. um And or the there's less levels, but the levels are longer and the AI is harder. um That being of the age that I am the te Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show was just I love it. It's perfect. I mean, how like
01:12:07
Speaker
I can't stop buying stuff with turtles on it. um And that game, hurles I like turtles. Yeah, ah that that game, I was obsessed with that game being Donatello. And like the show didn't do it any justice. Like, oh, Donatello, like the tech, the techy guy, and he's got a stick, but he doesn't really do anything with it. That game to me made Donatello like top tier cool for me. And I put hours into that game.
01:12:38
Speaker
um I've played it as part of the Kalabunga collection. I've played the subsequent games. Steve and I have almost talked to each other into getting in that Kalabunga collection a couple of times. Don't let it go on sale.
01:12:49
Speaker
Oh, the minute it goes on sale, it's going in my library. You know, you mentioned it, Sean, that's one of my favorite eras of video games where you would have two different, completely different games on the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis, right? Like Turtles in Time on Super Nintendo, Hyper Stone. high Mortal Kombat.
01:13:10
Speaker
Mortal one, but yeah, they would do that all the time where there would be in a you know, this is a bad example But say an Aladdin game and it would be two different types of games on both consoles such a weird thing that they don't do anymore probably for the better but Yeah, I always thought it was interesting how the different ah platforms would have their own unique version of a game to be with some butt-head games completely different and it's like And that's what's funny, it's like they were they were similar enough, I don't know the the the deep layers of it, but like they were similar enough where like the music was the same, but it was faster. Some of the levels were the same, but then there was mechanics, like on the Sega one, you couldn't throw people at the screen. like And there was other things that were just different, it's like, I'd love to go back in time or just like read about how that stuff was broken down technically, like with their technical reasons why it couldn't happen, but no, that was...
01:14:03
Speaker
Yeah, I miss that generation. And ah what's funny is Aladdin was one of my, uh, for Genesis was one of my honorable mentions. that's a good game too I could throw apples at people all day long, just all day. My sister got that for super Nintendo one Christmas Aladdin and why I watched her play it for hours game was beautiful. You know, what's a, uh, a surprisingly good game on the original Nintendo is the little mermaid. It is a solid game. The little mermaid game.
01:14:33
Speaker
nice nice nice good for you good for you man who might okay so i have nothing no no we're shawn we're we're inclusive on this on this cast um my number one mad max is mad max and again it's not it's not it's not the best of games um But I loved it, and it was one of those pick up and play works being shit. I need to do something to to um depressurize.
01:15:12
Speaker
and I picked it up, did a couple of missions, and I really enjoyed it. and it's it's the kind Again, it's kind of lazy gameplay that I'm enjoying at the moment with Outlaws. It doesn't take an awful lot of brain power to pick it up and play. and i really I mean, I already love the the the Mad Max franchise anyway.
01:15:30
Speaker
um
01:15:32
Speaker
as like As a kid, you know um the original, then Road Warrior and and Beyond Thunderdome were but staple viewing. you know from As far as I was concerned, it was massive, massive influence. and So when the game came out, i believe it was great. I don't think i don't think George Miller um had ah had a good time. with I think he was looking more for a tie-in with Fury Road when it was developed.
01:15:57
Speaker
And as a result, I think he had a bit of a falling out with the developer, but I think the developers did the right thing and basically say, well, you've got your Mad Max. We'll do our Mad Max. And ironically, um an awful lot of what appeared in in the game itself, like Bullet Town, um actually appeared in, of course, Fury Road. and then um and then Furiosa. But I just really enjoyed it. I really, really enjoyed it. it was um I can't see anything else, but it was, again, it's one of those it's one of those games that's not the most technologically advanced.
01:16:32
Speaker
um game. it doesn't It doesn't break any boundaries. It's pretty formulaic in in the way that the the quests or the objectives are done, but it allows you also to... I don't know if you've managed, if you've played it and you've got yourself lost out in the in the in in the in the desert or in the um the apocalyptic wasteland, um getting yourself lost out there, it's it's it's huge. It's absolutely enormous. And I kind of I don't know. I kind of occasionally quite enjoy the idea of just mooching about and getting lost somewhere and without actually any any kind of objective or criteria. So no, I really, really enjoyed it. um And that for me is, and again, it's not, it's it's about how it made me feel and the time I wasted on that particular game. um Loved it. Absolutely loved it. I feel like that was also out early on the Xbox One.
01:17:27
Speaker
2015. Yeah, 2015. And I'll say this, I really like the developer Avalanche. They also do those just cause games. yeah like If you sit down with a just cause game with the intention of just fucking around and doing goofy stuff and seeing what you can pull off. They're such a good time. Uh, I know that studio also has a Xbox exclusive game contraband coming out that I'm interested in cause I do like the developer. Um, so I'm interested to see what that's going to be. Excellent. So Steve, bring us home, my friend. did You already, you're the last,
01:18:06
Speaker
I'm going to do one more honorable mention too. Um, and you know, it's not Spider-Man that game has got glazed enough on this podcast. ah thought um It's a great game though. Both of them are I agree. I think I agree with you though, Hoz. I think I prefer the first to the second. Although I think that just it's just a bit, although I think that the second might hit higher highs. If that makes sense. I do that one level known Tom Mount. I do. And the the ability to play as both miles and Peter and switch and how they have their different, you know, like they actually feel different playing them also. Right.
01:18:40
Speaker
um So, yeah, my honorable mention is going to be um the Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay game that came out on the Xbox. It's underrated game, in my opinion. ah Surprisingly, like I thought it was going to be kind of bad, but it turned out to be an actual pretty competent first person kind of RPG action game and kind of a forgotten classic, really. But my number one and This is definitely a vibes thing, a nostalgia thing for me. But if you go back in time, ah it's a system I hated to this day. I'm not a fan of it, but damn it, GoldenEye.
01:19:19
Speaker
was like one of the biggest games of my teenage years. We spent so much time playing it on a stupid TV where you could barely see like your quarter of the screen, you know, because there's three other people also. Don't look at my screen, man. You're looking at my screen, aren't you? It was just so much fun. And to me, there's no other movie tie in. Like if I think about that subject in particular, my mind just immediately goes to GoldenEye with a bullet. There's just no other one that's even close to that.
01:19:51
Speaker
That's cool. that's really and And it was also a moment in time, wasn't it? i mean it was it was The film itself was a reinvention of Bond. I liked that. It was like, yeah, yeah. and Oh, no, no, no.
GoldenEye 007 and James Bond
01:20:04
Speaker
I didn't necessarily think Brosnan was the best of the Bonds, but that sure that first take on him I thought was before before stupid things like invisible BMWs start turning up in his in the films. I thought that was was grounded. He had Sean Bean, as the if i if um' if I remember rightly, he was the villain as well. and Then that game landed to a comp. Again, it was his whole multimedia kind of extravaganza that was going on at the time. and so yeah You can't deny it. It's a good choice. and Really, really good choice. really cool about that game too. Now that I think back on it was like playing the single player stuff. You could do it on like easy or whatever. And, but if you did it on hard or very hard, they would give you all these extra objectives you had to accomplish during the mission. sure And of course my ADD ass could not stand the thought of leaving like objectives uncovered. So we all had to just play through that game on very hard from the beginning.
01:21:01
Speaker
And we eventually did it. It took us a while, man, because that controller. I'm sorry if y'all are fans of this. But man, I hate that controller. I still have nightmares. Like I have to play an alien in a game to save the human race. And they put a fucking Nintendo 64 controller in my hand. We're doomed. We're doomed. But that's still my number one game.
01:21:23
Speaker
what do you what do you what do you reckon What do you reckon the actual logic behind that design was? Because I've never understood it. Nintendo weirdness. That's the logic. like they are always They've always got to do something a little weird, and a lot of times it pays off. A lot of times it pays off. like And then sometimes it doesn't, the Wii U. Sometimes the cap is born with two heads.
01:21:48
Speaker
Sorry, this is dark. My final ah honorable mention was actually 007 Nightfire on the GameCube. Like I loved GoldenEye, but that that Nightfire game I thought was a ah massive improvement. Like it doesn't have like the cultural significance, but like that game was like the GoldenEye successor to me that never came. It was.
01:22:12
Speaker
Phenomenal, just as good multiplayer, but obviously not the cultural significance. Right. Yeah, because perfect. Dark just perfect. Dark just didn't hit like it like Goldeneye. Yeah, just decided to check out the new perfect. Me too. Me too. It living at the time moment. It didn't hit the same. No. Hell yeah. Gentlemen. There we go. We have done it. We did. We have we have slapped that.
01:22:41
Speaker
I'm trying to think of a metaphor and I can't can't think of one, but that's um mate that that that guys that's that's amazing. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I have got, so brilliant. brilliant i mean The fact that we've complemented each other an awful lot suggests that all of our choices have been pretty rad.
Handheld Console Debate
01:23:02
Speaker
um I do have a question for you now that we've wrapped up that, and and and I know that we've got to cut this short ah quite soon because of family commitments, but um and need some I need some guidance on handheld consoles, gentlemen. ok Now I know that, right, so very, very quickly, if you had, if money was no object, and it's all about the experience and the content, um as you can guess,
01:23:34
Speaker
I'm in the market to buy a handheld at the moment, and I still don't know whether I go Nintendo, which is Lucy's preferred. um She's got the um the yeah the OLED version of the Switch. You've got um things like the the Legion, you know the the the Republic of Gaming, and sorry, the um ah Lenovo Legion and the ASUS Republic of Gaming ah consoles.
01:24:04
Speaker
You've then got the Steam Deck, but the Steam Deck seems quite proprietary and and locked down. A little bit like the the Switch, I guess, in itself. If you were to choose one at the moment, and only one, what would where would you put your money at the moment? ah Steam Deck. Yeah, I i concur. yeah What, more more than more than the Switch?
01:24:31
Speaker
So listen, we are, it could even be tomorrow. They're going to announce the successor to this. We're late that in that. Yeah. console you know now The benefit of the switch is you get the switch and you have.
01:24:44
Speaker
Dozens of amazing games you can play right but just thinking we're around the corner from the next Nintendo release I think they'd be silly not to have it be another hybrid console that can be handheld and Connect to the TV. So if we knew more about that I might say that especially if it has backwards compatibility But the steam deck like i know there's the fear of it being sort of a walled garden with you know just having the steam os but that steam os rules and playing
01:25:18
Speaker
the The caliber of games you can play on a Steam Deck is out of this world. Now, if you're if you're worried about not being able to play games that aren't in Steam, yeah you know, you can do like a dual boot loading where you can load Windows onto it and play games through there. I hear that.
01:25:39
Speaker
is really easy and it it's like a good experience. I just haven't done it. But even like games that you wouldn't think that you would be able to play on the Steam Deck like Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, which is an RTS. The thumb track pads for like mouse and cursor movements work way better than you can imagine.
01:26:00
Speaker
Yeah, the okay. It feels nice to hold. I have the LCD screen and it looks beautiful. um And it's just the ah the amount of content at your fingertips on the Steam Deck is kind of incomparable from old games to newer releases. so They have an OLED version now, right, as well? Yeah. yeah I would definitely start with that if you could get one. There's a couple of offers on that at the moment. I think you've pretty much defined, you've pretty much kind of whatever my choice is going to be, it's going to have to be like, I wouldn't say proprietary, but it's going to have to be something that's quite tightly locked down. I i i appreciate the idea of dual boot, but I don't have problems with something with a device and then have to go back and then
01:26:46
Speaker
yeah ah my My warranty screwed up. no That's why I haven't done it. now yeah you you You try and go back to the manufacturer and say, hey, I've got this problem. It's like, well, look at what you've done. There's no way we're touching this at the moment. yeah and spending From what I understand, you load Windows on SD card for the Steam Deck.
01:27:05
Speaker
So okay, so that I guess if that eases your fear now as someone who's a big fan of the more modern handheld switch steam deck portal yada yada I've been very interested in the ROG and the Lenovo Legion, right? Yeah, um and I've watched a lot of reviews on them and nine times out of ten the person that reviews it says This is really nice for this this in this reason, but I still prefer the steam deck And it's because of the apparently the app. Oh, yeah, the app, which is really good, which is your which is your what I'm talking about. I mean, you've basically got two, two window to two handhelds running full windows on it, which is not good practice anyway, because the footprints way too big, way, way big, too big for a device like that. And then on top of that, you've got these proprietary apps, which are basically your game launchers. And I've heard that the
01:28:03
Speaker
They're just not particularly robust. They're not but it that's not done right. yeah okay you know and And there's been the occasional weird thing on the Steam Deck with compatibility, like I play Final Fantasy XIV on it. um And I had to do a little bit of configuring to get it to work right.
01:28:21
Speaker
but I could figure it out. You know what I mean? It was nothing too daunting. So the Steam Deck gets a full thumbs up for me. And to me, at this moment, it's the best buy in handheld gaming. The Portal is very cool, but it's a very specific use case scenario where you have a PlayStation, you have a library, you want to play.
01:28:43
Speaker
while you're not at the tv and you got really good internet because it's all streaming i want one of those so i can play down bad destiny i think yeah well for for for for for for me it will literally just just just so i can so that lucy can have the the big screen in the house in our living room back um But I'm talking about it. You know, I I do a fair bit of traveling with work and I just want to take something with me So so maybe in deck is I think yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Listen, you don't mean honest there Thank you so much for you for that and I know we've gone over So I do apologize as you'll get to know me you'll realize I got for tangents pretty much pretty regularly Sean I can see
01:29:22
Speaker
ah you You're about to agree with me, but but you don't need to. i but not say i call you I call you Director's Cut behind your back, but I guess it's out in the open now. Thanks, mate. At least you didn't call me Snyder Cut. but anyway um Listen, gentlemen, thank you so much. um i I am a big fan of both of you.
01:29:44
Speaker
I love what you do. um i don't think I hope you understand just how much you're appreciated, not only by myself, but by by many, many, many, many people um about your approach to to life, let alone the but the content that you were you both ah you both create.
01:30:02
Speaker
um I have followed you guys for especially your sister since day dot. Um, I'm just so honored that you thought we were worthy enough to, that you would join us this evening and thank you. Thank you so much. Um, Sean, do you want to, do you want to wrap things up so that we can let these guys go?
Appreciation and Farewell
01:30:25
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. You guys rule. I appreciate it. I know we're, we're tied on.
01:30:30
Speaker
We're on tight on time, but ah I just really want to thank you again for for hopping on. It really means a lot. um you guys You guys want to so have a send off? Anything you want to say? put plug mean high po they're They're on High Potion. If you don't know what High Potion is, I don't know what the hell you're doing here. but I can make this quick and easy. Just go to myweirdfoot.com for all your high potion or blue harvest needs expertly crafted by Sean. um And yeah, check out the podcast if you haven't already. Steve and I talk about video games and mostly fuck about.
01:31:04
Speaker
Yeah, and thanks to you guys as well. like Andy, it was nice to really officially meet you. We've shot the shit on social media here and there. You seem like a really rad dude and generous. And it's nice to know somebody who's fighting the good fight behind the scenes. And Sean, you're the man. Every time you show up in the Discord, you leave me laughing, even though it's usually just like ah you just jump in and out for like a quick kaboom, boom, and you're gone. But while you're there, it's usually quality. You should hang out more, dude.
01:31:34
Speaker
Um, and yeah, anytime have us back, you know, yeah let's do it again, please. Anytime you guys are ready, you let us know. Thank you so much. Sure. Next time you can find our, you can find us at just shilling.com. We have an Instagram account now. Uh, you'll see a post up about this. I'm going to, I'm going to quantify all everything we talked about and put links in videos and stuff. So if you want the quick list, you can go there and find it until next time.
01:32:02
Speaker
Hang on, guys. um Sean's forgotten again. um So the the the thought of today is ah go confidentially go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you have imagined. Take care, folks. Thank you for listening. Heck yeah. Sheesh. Love it. Bye.