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Call of Duty: Black Ops Series Retrospective (BONUS)
262 Plays4 years ago
Bonus content from the end of the Call of Duty: Black Ops Series Retrospective livestream where we take questions from participants in the Twitch chat.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Welcome
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Chat Tsunami. Hello everyone and welcome to Chat Tsunami. I'm Sat Tsunami and joining me today are two very good friends. You might have heard their voices before. Adam and Craig. Hello there. Welcome. How do you do? Hi there, thanks. So, having back again.
00:00:31
Speaker
No problem, thanks for coming back, even though the check's bounced. Wait, the check bounced? Oh, shut up. I told you, I'd give you three strikes.
00:00:39
Speaker
Wait, hold on. Let me end the stream, guys. Let's come back. Cut. Cut. Right, let's start again. Yeah, let's
Nostalgia for Childhood Games
00:00:48
Speaker
start again. Hello, everyone. Welcome to the third episode of Chatsanami. So, yeah, today we are blasting all the way back to the past and we are going to be talking about quite a nostalgic topic this time around. We are going to be talking about our experiences with childhood games.
00:01:07
Speaker
which after that, I've been pretty hyped to do this one. Yeah, it was a fun topic. Yeah, it is going to be interesting to see what we come up with anyway. So yeah, before we get into kind of the meat of the subject and kind of sharing some of the games that shaped our gaming tastes. Yeah, first of all, I've got a question that is going to be directed to both of you and then we'll kind of jump into some of the games that we
00:01:33
Speaker
that were quite influential to us growing up.
What Makes a Good Childhood Game?
00:01:37
Speaker
So the first question is how could you define what makes a good childhood game? Because I don't know about you guys but I remember when I was younger playing loads of games when I was kind of growing up but there was only a certain amount that kind of stuck with me.
00:01:54
Speaker
Whereas you see other games that kind of pop up and they'll go, you'll kind of see them in passing and go, oh yeah, that was a thing. So, Craig, first of all, what makes a good childhood video game, do you think?
00:02:07
Speaker
Yeah, it's a pretty tough question, too. I think, for me, they're kind of related to films. But I think that it's the Pixar effect for me. See, if a game is really good and you played as a kid, it's typically going to be a good game for your childhood. But I think games that are made for kids are usually, if they're not, great games already. If you know what I mean? They're not going to be great games for kids, regardless of how aimed at kids they are. If that's kind of a long roundabout way of saying that. But the same way the Toy Story films
00:02:36
Speaker
for example incredible films and also the appeals kids and i feel like a lot of childhood games are the same like the mario 64 this is probably a good example like it was loved by adults and kids alike and makes a great childhood game well a game that was just made for kids like say um i don't know some 10 minute made movie tie-in game for a kids film
00:02:58
Speaker
or one of those mascot platforms that were pumped out not like one of the main guys but one of like I'm gonna like say like Gekko or TY or something because I was gonna try hunt me down for saying that but like those games like they don't really they might enjoy you when you're a kid but it's those memories you take away with are really special games the other one that was thinking there when you said 3D platformers was Bubsy 3D which
00:03:19
Speaker
See I had never heard of it until someone, I think it was someone on YouTube had brought it up and they were like saying oh this was a terrible game and everything and I think that kind of shows how much of an impact it made on me especially because yeah I never heard of it before that and I was like oh and then apparently it's getting like a remake or something and yeah again it's like I've got no investment in it and again that shows like how
00:03:45
Speaker
I suppose successful for an influential it was. But yeah, the same question to you too as well Adam. What do you think, what would you say makes a good childhood game? No, it's a really good question and yeah, I get a really difficult one. I think Craig can have all the major points there.
00:04:04
Speaker
I tried to look at it kind of from my perspective and I tried to think what kind of drew me to games when I was a kid, you know, getting into gaming. And I came up with four principles that I thought about. So I thought like simplicity, replayability, being engaging, and then familiar. So I do think there has to be, for a successful childhood game, I think there has to be
00:04:26
Speaker
It has to be relatively simple. It has to be kind of easy to get into, I think. Certainly for me, I wasn't going to be spending my time on a lot of games that required you to put lots of hours into getting good at it. So you want that kind of simplicity. As well, when I was a kid, I would often replay a lot of games. So it wasn't always getting that many. You can have them wait for parents to get you something at Christmas or birthday or something like that.
00:04:53
Speaker
So you're going to be spending a lot of time with probably a small selection of games. So you want games that are replayable and that keep you engaged. And then being engaging as well, bringing you in, really drawing your attention, pulling you into the world and everything. And then with Familiar, I was thinking about it. And for me as a kid, I was drawn to games. I was drawn to a lot of games from movies or TV shows I really liked. So I was a big Lord of the Rings fan. So I'd always get Lord of the Rings games. Same with Batman, things like that.
00:05:22
Speaker
But then as well, if I saw games that kind of reminded me of those things, so I actually played quite a few fantasy games because I really like Lord of the Rings, and I was like, oh, that kind of looks Lord of the Rings-esque. No, go into that. And I picked up Shenmue 2. I can't remember how old that was, maybe like 10 or 11 or something, because it looked like a Jackie Chan martial arts film. I loved it when I was a kid. So it was that familiarity I thought that really drew me as a kid. I don't know if maybe anybody else had that experience, but that was sort of four things I thought that make a good kind of childhood game.
00:05:51
Speaker
Yeah, no, that is a good point as well. We'll kind of get into specific games later on in the podcast, but it's like if you play a really good platformer and then you see other games that are doing a very similar thing that have got, like when you're a kid and you see them, they've got really bright characters and it's like what you're saying
Gaming Evolution: Niche to Mainstream
00:06:11
Speaker
Adam, it's like there's that kind of familiarity.
00:06:13
Speaker
and that kind of, like, because you do, you kind of gravitate to things that are very familiar and similar, especially at that age when you're gaming, because, yeah, you're kind of like finding your feet at that age, like, kind of trying different games out, but the more games that you're enjoying, I suppose, in like a certain genre, the more you kind of gravitate towards. At least like then, I remember I did that quite a lot, especially with platformers, but
00:06:39
Speaker
Yeah, those are very good points and I would definitely agree with both of you. I think definitely that familiar narrative with a gaming series and especially what you were saying Craig about the kind of appeal into all ages because I think that's
00:06:56
Speaker
quite an issue with a lot of games at the time where and I think it's probably like a perception back then when we were growing up when gaming was It wasn't really incorrect me if I'm wrong guys, but it wasn't really like what it is nowadays was it?
00:07:11
Speaker
Oh, no way. I remember when I was a kid, I wanted to be a computer games developer. I got pretty close, if anyone's wondering. But there was no industry at all. There was a small company called Rockstar, had a couple of games based out of Dundee. But there was no industry. And nowadays, if you want a job in the gaming industry, it's such a huge industry. You can get one. It's pretty incredible how big it is compared to back then. Yeah.
00:07:38
Speaker
It's actually, it reminds me of, I don't know if you've seen that comic, it's like, it's a pretty boomer comic, I'm just like, throwing that out there. But it's one of those ones where it's like, it's a child playing the, it's like the Super Nintendo, I think he's playing, and his mum and dad are like, reading in the newspaper, and there's all these like, adverts like, circled like, top gamer wanted and things like that.
00:08:02
Speaker
and top end game you know like player and all of this to beat Mario you know like very tongue-in-cheek at the time as if oh gaming couldn't be a career and you know and of course they were oh how very wrong I don't think many people probably would have expected like how much it would have blown up since like the 90s to what it is now because yeah it actually surprises me like I mean some of the games were probably before our time but a lot of the games that are like
00:08:32
Speaker
very kind of pixel based. As you were saying Craig, very throwaway games. I remember my brother used to have the McDonald's game which, trust me, does exist.
00:08:43
Speaker
And that's just like a, it's like a 2D side scroller. And yeah, it's like those kind of games, like I don't remember anything about it other than the fact it exists. I mean, don't get me wrong, you still get games that kind of throw away games nowadays, but like I think especially back then, it was more common, whereas nowadays, oops, sorry. You used to get games in your cereal. Oh God, that is true. Actually, I do remember that, what, the big disc? And you're like, oh, what's it gonna be?
00:09:12
Speaker
Well, I think I would have preferred to Beyblade. I actually do remember that at the time. There was a lot of series that was either a toss-up between, I think it was a Disney disc for a Disney game based on one of the films that were out at the time. I think it was Treasure Planet was the one.
00:09:32
Speaker
or like the other serials were doing like Beyblade covers so it was like yeah good times sorry that it really was um so yeah before we get into like kind of specific games just out of curiosity how did you both get into gaming?
Influential Games: Final Fantasy 8 and Xbox Beginnings
00:09:49
Speaker
Well, I actually can't go too much into that question without spoiling my first choice of game, but I'll briefly give an overview. I started playing on my parent Sega Mega Drive, which was my first console, and that was like the first Sonic the Hedgehog, and a game, I think EA's first ever game called Desert Stone, and they're both pretty bad games. Sorry, people don't like Sonic.
00:10:17
Speaker
But I was never really into games. You know, I enjoyed playing them, but I was never like, you know, I wasn't what I would have come. And then many years later, we got a PlayStation One and I was just kind of starting to get into games and then I picked up a certain game and that changed the direction of my life basically. But I'll wait. I'll wait my turn on that one. That's all I have to say so far on how I got into my gaming. Adam, what about you?
00:10:45
Speaker
Yeah, so I never got a video. I didn't get a video game console until the original Xbox, 2001. So my biggest exposure before that time to video games was friends, friends who had, like, PlayStations or Nintendo 64s. So, like, going round to friends' houses and stuff.
00:11:04
Speaker
playing games there. And I really always enjoyed like, you know, loved like going around playing stuff there and always kind of wanted to get one. But like for a long time, I kind of had to rely on like older PC games because my parents were notoriously bad at like updating both computers and operating software. So I was always several years behind the trend. And there's another series again, I won't spoil because it's one of the games I picked, a certain series of games.
00:11:29
Speaker
and kind of helped propel me into gaming as well. But yeah, it was three friends and that really kind of sparked my kind of interest and really wanting to play more games and stuff. And then once I got the Xbox, I just got out of control and got out of hand from there. Which brings you here today.
00:11:48
Speaker
I mean, for me, I suppose, like, because I've got two older brothers, they were really into the Mega Drive and the, yeah, it was the NES, and then it was almost that kind of divide. So one of my brothers had, like, the Sega consoles, and then my other brother had the Nintendo consoles. So it was kind of getting exposed to, like, both of those sides.
00:12:12
Speaker
and again like the same without kind of going too deep into like specific games it was kind of like following them but I have to admit seeing other than playing games with them like I always remember being I was always like kind of an outsider almost like sometimes I would play games like on the N64 I would play something like um Diddy Kong Racing I don't know if you guys have ever played that
00:12:37
Speaker
It's a very stress inducing game. It's like proto Mario Kart. I think it actually came out the same time but it was just very stress inducing especially because I always remember playing my brother at it.
00:12:52
Speaker
and I was about to win and then somehow the console reset itself and by that I mean somehow and by that I mean my brother stretched over and pressed the button with his foot so yeah right right as I was about to genuinely right as I was about to cross that finish line bam the console went off and he's like oh I don't know and it's like you find my own you oh how he chuckled
00:13:19
Speaker
in one other one although I don't know why this always stands out but I just always remember that again like I had another brother who would play more violent games I wouldn't say just because he was a lot older and one of the games he used to play was Duke Nukem 64
00:13:38
Speaker
Now, up until that point, I never heard of Duke Nookum. And I remember watching it and it's like, you know, see if you go back and watch it and look at the gameplay. It's all pixelated, it's all very goofy and over the top.
00:13:53
Speaker
Back then that was like cutting edge technology. So I remember I was in the same room as my brother watching him play it and I was just sitting there and then my mum walked in and she went absolutely off her head and she was like, how could you show your brother this? This is terrible. This is so violent.
00:14:12
Speaker
And it's like, oh, how games have changed. Like, see if, you know, my mum could say, like, the noodoom that's come out, like, years later. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that would blow, you know, games like Duke Nukem 64 out the water. But yeah, on that note, yeah, let's just dive in. So basically, what we were kind of discussing before we came on stream was that all of us have chosen to
00:14:41
Speaker
either particular games or franchises that have been quite important to us growing up and there's kind of like a couple of questions that we're gonna really touch on for each of the games so like before I go on kind of asking these questions does anybody want to go first?
00:15:00
Speaker
Ooh, I'll go first. I'll blast this. Nice. So, yeah, no, take it away. Right, so I have picked two games for my sort of childhood games. So Win Fraser asked the question, what was the best game of your childhood? The first question was, what's your childhood? Oh, yeah. That was kind of great. Like philosophical question. Yeah, yeah.
00:15:24
Speaker
really if any of us become adults at this point I was trying to figure out what the cut-off point was so I kind of alluded to my game earlier so it was on the PlayStation 1 and the first game I want to pick is Final Fantasy 8
00:15:41
Speaker
Not seven, not nine, eight. Just because I was that age when I was the first one I played. Up until that point, as I said, I was kind of into games, but even nowadays I'm not very good at them. I don't really like, I'm not good at like, you see me play four guys. I'm not good at multiplayer games. I don't play multiplayer. I don't play online. I like single player games and all that comes from Final Fantasy 8, I think. It was the first game I ever played where it was like
00:16:05
Speaker
Here's characters and they have motives. And here's a story. And here's you want to get those characters for a story. And it's like a really mature game, especially for a kid, which is we're going to weirdly think about it. But it really sparked my imagination, this high fantasy setting, all these different plot points and double crossing. And I actually played the game right through to the end, the 100-hour game, when I was like, I think I finished it when I was about seven or eight.
00:16:33
Speaker
that's a massive undertaking I don't think I could do it now and this game it basically changes my life at this point like if it's not for Final Fantasy 8 I genuinely don't think I get into fantasy as a genre or I don't get into RPG games I don't know if I play games after genuinely I genuinely don't know if I play games after the PS1 because I just wasn't that into them and I was kind of like
00:16:59
Speaker
And even now, the games that I'm into are the cinematic, story-driven RPGs. And I think a lot of that has to do with Final Fantasy 8. And I think that's had a massive influence on even things like outside of gaming, like Dungeons & Dragons again. You can basically trace that whole why you're interested in Dungeons & Dragons back to I play Final Fantasy.
00:17:20
Speaker
So that's my first choice, because I think that's such a big deal to me, that game. I actually went back and played it last year, until I started this year. My god, time's a flat circle now. I went back and played it on the Switch. I got the final answer, eight remastered on the Switch.
00:17:36
Speaker
Tell you what lads, this game is not aged well. I hated it. I hated it at a terrible time that I got to what would be disc 3 or 4 on the actual PlayStation. Thankfully the Switch doesn't make you unplug the cartridge or whatever. But that would be a nightmare. It'd be incredible. Four cartridges.
00:17:57
Speaker
and they all taste so good. Kids don't let you switch cartridges. PSA of the day, don't let you switch cartridges or any parts. They'll lick your sweats, that's fine. Don't lick the cartridges. You should tell me this before I started this podcast. Adam's sitting there like, that's what I've been doing. Adam hasn't had his dinner yet.
00:18:22
Speaker
It's just a quick smack. It used to keep me going. Don't we all? Anyway, I played that game, I must admit, I didn't actually enjoy it and I got to about three quarters of the way through and went, you know what, I've had my full thanks for the memories and I passed it up the game and put it away and that was it.
00:18:42
Speaker
My other game, I wanted to kind of talk about the duality of my gaming. I like the duality of gaming in general. On the one hand you've got these super deep intense plots and cinematics and incredible games that are all loaded up. And on the other hand you've got games that are so simple.
00:19:01
Speaker
It could not be simpler, but just strike that great balance of how fun they are. Obviously, you guys have played Overcooked on the stream. That's a prime example of that kind of game where it's just like the concept couldn't be simpler. And I love those kind of games. And I think the reason I love those games so much is the Guitar Hero franchise, specifically Guitar Hero 1, I'll pick out on the PS2. So when that game came out, I was so deep into RPGs. I was all I was playing. I would like spend hundreds of hours
00:19:31
Speaker
on each game and then Guitar Hero comes out my brother gets it it's another one where like my game tastes take another hard right shift so i still like these rpgs but these like rhythm games and um these simple games that become like kind of a staple of indie gaming going forward from Guitar Hero
00:19:48
Speaker
like, become such a huge thing for me. And I became a metalhead outside of gaming, so I don't know if that would just entitle it into Guitar Hero. You know, some of the songs when you had Ace of Spades was on it. I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett and the Black Arts. I'm Mine by Black Sabbath. It basically changes my music taste from being like, you know, when you're a kid you don't really have a music taste, do you? It's just kind of whatever. And then all of a sudden I'm like,
00:20:11
Speaker
Oh, hold on. I like this metal stuff. I like this guitars and crashing drums and making my pants uncomfortable. I love it. It's not a phase, Ma. It's not a phase, Ma. I got my... I've seen metal now. I got my Spotify 2020 results and turns out it was a phase. I'm really into K-pop now.
00:20:35
Speaker
Sorry Mum, you were right, it was a phase. Yeah, that's why I wanted to pick Guitar Hero's another one because I feel like the first one doesn't get a lot of love as well because Guitar Hero 3 is like the seminal version of the game and then Rock Band comes out and then the genre kills itself. I feel like Guitar Hero 1 is a fantastic game.
00:20:52
Speaker
does fantastic songs and I think it starts with that for me this next level of gaming where I'm like actually hold on simple games are also really good but you can pull a game right back to the bare bones. Guitar Hero was a game with five buttons and it was one of the best experiences I had and I had an amazing multiplayer and yeah I just wanted to basically harp on how great that was and couch co-op make sure there's more of that in your life.
Game Influences on Preferences
00:21:14
Speaker
No I'd agree with that.
00:21:15
Speaker
especially for streaming purposes co-op games are the way of the future so yeah just some kind of follow-up questions so you kind of touched on that before when you were talking about final fantasy like how you came across it but what about um guitar hero like what was the moment like you kind of like you saw it and you got into it
00:21:37
Speaker
I think my brother had it and my brother bought it and I just must have just walked in him and played it. And I was just like, what is this? Why is there a guitar? I think that must have been that. I can't remember the exact moment, but that visually striking guitar, you know, from the PS2, there was no peripherals, really. And I think that was probably the thing that probably grabbed my attention first. Like, why is it so loud as well if you remember that guitar went kadong, kadong, kadong every time you played it?
00:22:02
Speaker
So basically, I remember watching a brother play it, and I was like, I need to play this, and he wouldn't let me. Well, he was playing obviously. Oh, really? Yeah, it wasn't until he was out that I got a shot of it. Not going to lie, but I smashed the high schoolers to see. How did you do it? We only had one memory card. I had to overwrite your save. That was the only way of doing it. So, whoa, risky. That is risky business now. That's what I'm doing for me. That's what I'm doing.
00:22:27
Speaker
Well, I'm just breaking into people's houses and then just overwriting the guitar heroes course. That's why I lock mine up at night in the sea. Just in case. Breaking into your house and breaking your high schools. I'm getting a t-shirt.
00:22:44
Speaker
Oh my god. Yeah moving on. Before anyone that chats with an army is incriminated and can I just say I am not associated with any of these guys and they're breaking and entering ways.
00:23:04
Speaker
So yeah, you're kind of touching this as well, but I've got two more questions that are kind of linked together. So for both of these games, first of all, why is each game important to you? And then following on from that, what are your feelings just now about them? Like are you still a fan? Do you think they've not held up? I know you kind of briefly touched on that with Final Fantasy that didn't really hold up.
00:23:32
Speaker
So I think, yeah, I kind of mentioned the Final Fantasy 8 basically changed the direction of gaming for me and to this day I still play RPGs and I think a lot of that's to do with the Final Fantasy 8 and Guitar Hero again. I think that was maybe not the gateway to it but certainly the opening of this kind of like multiplayer simple indie games like being a big part of my
00:23:52
Speaker
my life, maybe, you know, and you can't tell the future, obviously, that maybe I would have gotten to these jobs a game without these things, but these were definitely the gateways for me. And in terms of holding up, I think I was a wee bit harsh in Final Fantasy because obviously the game came out the first time in 1997. That's like, it was developed in 1997. So, you know, obviously games have changed a lot since then. And two years ago, 1999, it came out, I think last year or the year before I played Persona 5,
00:24:22
Speaker
and if anyone's played that and I know you're waiting to play it, it's on the backlog. It really is on the backlog. It's looking at me right now. It's one of the greatest games ever made as far as I'm concerned and it does a lot of the stuff that Final Fantasy 8 was trying to do back in the PS1.
00:24:41
Speaker
And maybe if it came out today, it would have been as good and I would have like, maybe if they did, instead of doing the remaster, the remake, sorry for the final answer, they would have fallen in love with it. But going back and playing, it was quite difficult. But I, in general,
00:24:56
Speaker
I don't like going back to play games from our childhood games. I think, personally, I find that, see, like, the snares before, like, the snares and that kind of, you know, those games age really, really well. They age like a fine wine. In games from, like, the PS3, end of the PS2s, like, now, have all aged really well.
00:25:15
Speaker
And I feel like the PS1, early PS2 era, a lot of those games don't age well. They're really experimental and they're really difficult to play because of the 3D. They haven't quite got the grips with it. And I feel like those games get a lot worse, a lot quicker. Apologies to someone's favorite game out there is like Crash Bandicoot and the PS1 or something. Those games age so much harsher than other games just because of when they came out and what nobody really knew what they were doing. And I think Final Fantasy 8's victim to that, where it's like,
00:25:43
Speaker
If it was made now, you would just be able to spin the camera around to see things that you couldn't see. You know, I mean, there wouldn't be like set camera angles and stuff like that. Just simple things that just make that quality of life a lot harder. Guitar Hero, I actually haven't gone back to play the first Guitar Hero in a long, long time. Obviously, you need to peripheral, but I think I could go for a little bit of rhythm games. I haven't played a rhythm game in a while, apart from Vichy and Vector. Shout out to my favourite game of 2019.
00:26:07
Speaker
Oh, that is true, yeah. That was a great game. But no, I could go playing some guitar. Obviously, once Guitar Hero, I think it was World Tour, came out and Rock Band, whatever version that was, came out and they both started doing DLCs and they just kind of killed their own genre a bit, I think. I don't think it ever picked back up again.
00:26:25
Speaker
I'd love to play about Guitar Hero now that you say that. Yeah, it honestly reminds me a bit of The Sims, the way they went. This is kind of a really weird comparison, but it's like, I remember, I wasn't really a Guitar Hero person, I was more a rock band person, and I think that's because they had the drums at the time before Guitar Hero then jumped in the bandwagon and got the drums.
00:26:48
Speaker
So I remember, because they were relatively cheap games at the time, I ended up getting the Beatles version. There was even a Lego version, and I don't know why I've got it. I don't even know what songs are on it. But it is something I need to actually look up. It seemed I totally see what you mean. There were so many of them just coming in and in. And again, same with Sims DLC or something like that.
00:27:12
Speaker
is like so much of it that it's kind of hard to keep up. Whereas I think nowadays if they did something similar I don't know if they would do it like just I don't even know if like Rock Band or Guitar Hero are still going. Does anyone know?
00:27:26
Speaker
Yeah, well, they tried. But I think they failed quite badly. Oh, my God. I actually didn't know that guitar hero one had that weird thing where it was like it became a first person game. And so you were like, it was like full motion video and you were like,
00:27:44
Speaker
the guitar and then you'd like be in front of a loud, like a live crowd. Yeah. Get like the girl, the girlfriend on like a boyfriend's shoulders like, you suck! Like a real gig. That's not the truth. It just stressed me out. It's like the last thing I want is people, real people booing me when I fuck up at a game, you know? I feel bad enough for like, when the fake crowd boos, it made a really bad mistake making me feel bad.
00:28:11
Speaker
It actually reminds me of, erm, I don't know if you guys have ever caught any of the streams for it. I think it's Twitch Sings, it's called. Oh yeah, yeah. Where it's basically like, yeah, it's like a streamer chooses a song and then sings over it, but they can also do it with like other people. And it's the same idea, it's just like, I can do that. Because I feel as if like you would get someone who'd have the voice of an angel and then you've got me coming in going, and I'd be like, no, just absolutely no.
00:28:39
Speaker
Oh, but it's that, so you could do Evanescence, wake me up inside, and you could do the rapping bits. Well, as you know, I can't wake up. Save me. Up inside. Save me.
00:28:49
Speaker
And on that note, moving on from my failed singing career. It's alive, we've got to get in there. So yeah, moving on to Adam. Yeah, I'm laughing because I know one of the games you're going to talk about and you're very excited about. I'm very excited to talk about it. There is one that I may have been getting a bit overboard on.
00:29:12
Speaker
All in good time, all in good time. Yep, well, the floor is yours now to kind of distract my singing career. No one could ever distract from that, but I'll try my best. No, okay. Please do. I was going to say, this isn't even a bit now, please say. Sorry, go on.
00:29:36
Speaker
So the first game I picked was Legoland from 2000, which is on the PC. So I kind of alluded to this when we were getting going with the podcast.
00:29:47
Speaker
I really enjoyed, like, my kind of first proper video games were a lot of the LEGO video games at the time. Like, there was, like, Erasers, LEGO Island, LEGO Rock Raiders, and they all came out before LEGO Land. But I really enjoyed those, and as well, like, they were able to work on an old enough operating system, like, I could actually play those ones. But yeah, so LEGO Land came out, and so I think I was about, I must have played it when I was about eight or nine. I can't quite remember exactly.
00:30:14
Speaker
and yeah I think my parents got it for me and yeah so for anybody who's not played it it's a construction and management sim game it's kind of very similar to something like roller coaster tycoon if anybody's played games like that but it's it's you know kind of theme park management games but it's a lot more simplistic you know built for that kids and stuff it's much more simplistic mechanics yeah and so you're like you're the park manager at legoland and you've
00:30:36
Speaker
The resident crazy scientist blows the park up and it's your job to build it back up again and get it back to its glory days. The first game I think I can really remember getting really invested in, sort of a bit like what Craig was talking about, it was a game that I really wanted to see all the way through and it's nowhere near the length of
00:30:58
Speaker
Oh, and for a fun fantasy game. Just say that. But I really wanted to get through the levels and everything, and build the park and stuff, and have some new rides unlocked. And it was one that I really enjoyed replaying as well. Even once I'd done that, I really liked to go back to it again. And yeah, I was a huge fan of LEGO at the time as well. I was always trying to get LEGO birthdays and Christmases and stuff. So it chimed really well with my interest at the time. And it really inspired a lot of my creativity.
00:31:24
Speaker
and everything, like I'd play the game that I'd go off and make things with all various LEGO sets and stuff. So, yeah, it was a game that really chimed with me at a time in my life. And, you know, to give a little hint, I think, looking back now, I think it kind of defines some of my current gaming habits when I kind of make a link back to that. So that's a really important one for me. And then the second game I picked was Medal of Honor Frontline from 2002.
00:31:53
Speaker
And as I was saying to both of you before we started this, a series that I think has been lost to time now, like, you know, it's really been, obviously, you know, it's been, I think 2013 was the last time the Medal of Honor game came out. Although, like, there is a new, as we said, there's a new one, new VR game coming out.
00:32:09
Speaker
But really a game series that I think people forget how popular it was in the late 90s and other series I played. I played one called Rising Sun, which came out just after Frontline. I really liked Rising Sun and I kind of got into the series there and I wanted to play another one and I heard about Frontline. I think some of my friends had played it and really had a lot of fun with it. So, you know, I picked it up and yeah, like I just thought it was a great game.
00:32:32
Speaker
like had so much fun with it and it was again it was another it was another um time in my life that it just chimed with what my interests were um i was starting to get into kind of first person shooters like i played halo by this point but and this i think was one of the other ones i played so it really got me into that and also i was getting really really interested in history especially kind of like
00:32:50
Speaker
World War II history and so like this was this was perfect for me you know you know not saying the game is you know how good you should base a history essay off the game please don't because you can tell but like you know but it was like you know being a kid you were like oh it's really cool you know and you're landing on d-day and everything and it really for me was you know just hit the exact right time where my my interests were and
00:33:11
Speaker
Again, with Legoland, I think this really sparked my interest in a series of games and a genre of games that I still love to this day and still play and everything. So yeah, those are my two.
00:33:27
Speaker
So you talked about how you came across it and why it was important but the real question now is how do you feel about it now? Would you say you're still a fan of these games or going back to them would you say they hold up?
00:33:44
Speaker
Yeah, so I'll start with Legoland. I've not played Legoland in at least 15 years. And I don't even think now it would run on anything like it's not on Steam. It's not anything. And I doubt you'll you'd have to get a pretty old computer, I think, or maybe like something like good old games does it or something like that. But so the chances of finding something to run it now or miniscule.
00:34:04
Speaker
And honestly, I've never, I don't think I've ever played another like one of these management sim games ever. I've never played like a roller coaster tycoon or anything. I think this was the only example of that genre that I played. But, and I think probably now as well going back, it's probably a bit too simplistic now. I don't think I would, it would engage me in the same way it did when I was, you know, eight, eight or nine. Um, but yeah, I have a soft spot for it and I'll always like treasure the memories because I didn't remember how much fun I had with it.
00:34:28
Speaker
and just, you know, I said, like, how invested I would never forget, like, I think that game is one of the first examples of me of, like, getting gaming-related stress, because there's a level where you're building your park and an aliens show up and start, like, nicking your rides, and this caused me profound stress, because I was perfectly laying everything out, and then the aliens come in and steal all your stuff, the parking spectre shows up, you get terrible grade, and I'm like, no, it's not fair, like, no, I had everything perfect, and the aliens came, and I was...
00:34:57
Speaker
I absolutely got so invested and so stressed. So maybe that's not a good thing, but that was the first example of that for me. You've been really drawn into the game. So it's not something I would probably go back and play, but I have really, really fond memories of it.
00:35:12
Speaker
I hope I'm still going to say it reminds me of like, you know, one of those like really bad sitcoms you used to get back in the day. It's like the aliens come down and steal it and it's like, yeah. Yeah, they were jumping the shark.
00:35:28
Speaker
And season 12. But yeah, sorry. Yeah, so going back to Metal Warner Frontline, I still love this game as well, but I still replay this game. I still go back, I play it at least once, like every two years or something. I will admit, I use the invulnerability cheat now because it is damn hard and I did it, I played it once without any cheat. So I'm going to have fun playing it now and not have to worry about annoying things like bar health.
00:35:56
Speaker
But like, I still love it. I still think it's such a fun game. It's a bit clunky now, you know, compare it to like modern shooters and stuff. There's no spoiling. There's like taking cover or anything like that. But I really love it. And like, it's just so important to my developing interests, as I say, like getting me into kind of first person shooter games, but also really sparking my interest in World War Two and like in history and everything and making me go out and do research. You know, it's a subject that I still am fascinated by.
00:36:20
Speaker
and I still read about, and I've just got to say, I've got to give a shout out to the soundtrack. The soundtrack remains one of my favorite video game soundtracks of all time. I'll put it up there with anything. I think the Medal of Honor Frontline soundtrack is spectacular. I was listening to it last night when I was writing notes. I was getting all the feels. I was like, oh my god, it's still amazing. Go listen some of it. It's absolutely great. So yeah, I still have a deep love for both games, but yeah, I will go back. I have gone back and I will go back and keep replaying Medal of Honor Frontline because of it.
00:36:50
Speaker
And give the series some love, everybody. Go find a medal of honour. It used to be great. Remember the glory days.
00:36:58
Speaker
No, that is true. So just, like just before I go into mine, it's just kind of going back to what you were saying there about going to, you know, when you play like a modern shooter and then you go back to like an old one, or like when you grew up playing thinking, oh, this is just as good as, you know, the modern shooters. And then when you go back to your like, you know, as I think for me, I remember playing, I kind of remember, I think it was like modern, either one of the modern warfare games,
00:37:27
Speaker
and then thinking, oh, I enjoyed that so much. Let me go back and play Call of Duty 3. And then when I went back to play it, yeah, it doesn't hold up the same. That's all I'm saying. It's good enough, but it's just...
00:37:39
Speaker
I do think you need a healthy dose of nostalgia. It's kind of what we talked about when we talked about Halo. I'll still go back and play Halo and still love it, but I think some of them you do need a bit of nostalgia to kind of shield you. Oh, no, totally. But just play my cheats. Play my cheats so you don't have to worry about back control and all the other things. You can just really enjoy it. Yeah, speed 100 and you'll be in Paris in no time.
00:38:04
Speaker
Yeah, I suppose from mine.
Pokémon and Sonic: The Start of a Gaming Journey
00:38:06
Speaker
So I was listening, like, before the stream when I was asking you guys and you guys had told me, oh, um...
00:38:12
Speaker
I was going to choose this game or that game and I was looking at my own list and I was kind of thinking oh god mines are going to be really basic compared to these so fair warning. But I think the first game definitely and this is definitely a game that I think like a lot of people relate to as being like the very first game. So as I said before my brothers had like the old consoles
00:38:35
Speaker
And as I said, I played games before that, but I never really got into them, if you know what I mean. This is my kind of gaming confession. I'm not a big fan of the 2D sprite games. Like the shooters and things. Oh, not shooters, but the like, for example, 2D Sonic games, which I'll come to, but...
00:38:52
Speaker
You know in Mario and think they're like they're objectively good games But they just weren't games that interested me because if I messed up You know like see back then like if you messed up And you couldn't save the game and then you had to start the game all over again That was like a quick fire away for me to just go get him that I'm not interested in this
00:39:11
Speaker
but like the main game that really got me into gaming was Pokemon Yellow of all things and just Pokemon in general really as a series because like when I was growing up as I said as well my parents were they weren't overly strict like with what games I played but at the same time they were very cautious like they would kind of abide by the guidelines I don't know, were you both? Were your parents similar?
00:39:40
Speaker
For that, I think we had cut off with 15 of his final 16 account, what the age was at the time. But 18 was a complete no-go back in 2015. So I ended up getting away with quite a lot of games that I probably shouldn't have. So apparently couldn't quite understand it. I don't know why that was a cut off, but that was just it. That's the reason. Yeah. My dad was very strict with that, but he didn't really like he didn't he didn't watch a lot of games. I don't think he really knew all that much. My mom was a bit more lenient. So I was able to kind of like
00:40:09
Speaker
put the pressure on and be like, oh, come on, please. Kind of similar before the thing. 18 was the cough for a while, for a good while. But yeah, I at least had one parent I could squeeze on and get the good stuff. The goat dropper, please.
00:40:27
Speaker
But yeah, no, I was the same. I wasn't even allowed 15s because my parents were kind of like, oh, I don't know because it's got this or that. So I don't even remember. This is a weird thing because I don't actually remember asking. Maybe I did, but I don't remember asking for Pokémon.
00:40:44
Speaker
but for anyone who like us and anyone else who grew up like in the 90s like you'll know how big Pokémon was it just exploded it was everywhere everyone was playing it and I remember like back then like maybe not as much now obviously but back then I was like a very shy child so like I didn't really well I did speak to people but it was like quite hard but with Pokémon it almost felt like a way in
00:41:11
Speaker
if you know what I mean. Like, to be able to, you know, like, to have a shared interest. So, like, by extension you would have, like, the card game, you would have the stickers and everything. But the games were, like, the main draw. And, I mean, don't get me wrong, I think, like, other media around Pokémon kind of helped me into that. But it was the fact it was kind of like a faceless character. They could just call, you know, whatever you could call them.
00:41:37
Speaker
Sat Tsunami or buttface, whatever you wanted to call your character, you could be that character, you could be your own buttface. Why do you want to be called buttface? Is that what you call a bible movie? Could you be a podcast on this? What, a playthrough of calling your character buttface? Oh god. But yeah, it's like...
00:42:04
Speaker
You know, Eb is like, you were able to be that character, you were able to go out. And I have to admit, like, a lot of people will kind of say, oh, what was your first starter and everything? That's like a very important part of it. But because I started off with Pokémon Yellow, I didn't get the choice. Like, in Pokémon Yellow, they just give you one Pokémon, shove you out into a forest and say, go catch that creature.
00:42:26
Speaker
And then that's it, but of course like later on I ended up kind of growing up with it. I had like Pokemon Silver. I got that like one Easter and I just fell in love with it. It's still like one of my favourite games. And then like kind of growing up it's like I fell away from it. And then that's when I started getting into like FPS games. But I'm kind of similar to you guys in the sense that like I knew other people who had certain games.
00:42:52
Speaker
Like I always remember being round at someone's house and they had like Angler still in primary school and this guy had the Hitman games.
00:43:00
Speaker
And I remember standing there and being really nervous because I was looking around like, what if a parent comes in and sees you playing Hitman? And of course their parents had let that kid get it, but because I wasn't allowed, I was kind of like, oh god, I'm still playing Pokémon. But in regards to how I feel about it now,
00:43:25
Speaker
kind of a mixed opinion. I think it's just like any franchise, it's like franchise fatigue. I'll still go back to it every so often. That was actually one of the very first streams that I did for the channel. I played, technically it wasn't the same game, it was like a
00:43:42
Speaker
It was like Pokemon Green that wasn't the best. It's the same base game essentially. And it was a game that like I had started with, I was comfortable with. And it is not a game that I'll go back to often because it's evolved so much over the years. So it's kind of like, I don't know. If I do go back, I kind of like, as you say Adam, like
00:44:03
Speaker
you'll put in kind of cheats or stuff like that or you'll just like glitch it or do things like things to make it a bit more fresh or even do like challenge runs or things but like going back from playing the new games where it's so much simpler
00:44:22
Speaker
and then like looping all the way back to you know the old games that don't have those features it's really hard like to get back into it and yeah so yeah that was the first game and the second game um which it might be a bit controversial so initially i was kind of i was debating between
00:44:44
Speaker
First of all, Sonic or the Banjo-Kazooie series. But I don't feel as if when I was younger and I had Banjo-Kazooie, I really enjoyed it. I loved platformers. But I never completed it back in the day. I actually had to go back years later and play it through the Xbox to actually complete it. And it was like a childhood dream of finishing it.
00:45:05
Speaker
And then just texting people and everyone being like, what the hell are you talking about? And I'm like, I've been pendulcous! On my CV, right at the top. Yeah, just writing it. Both letters, aerial font, 50. Yeah, it's... Oh, yeah. So initially I was going to choose that, but...
00:45:25
Speaker
I didn't really follow the series that well but one series I did follow was the Sonic series and it's kind of weird because I'm not kind of and again this is going to sound like hashtag I'm not like the other Sonic fans but it's kind of
00:45:42
Speaker
probably it'll be a hashtag somewhere in the world um but it's like initially i remember my brother had the um mega drive and he would play all the 2d games and things like that and i could never get into it the one game we did have that i played a lot was sonic cd and it was like a demo version on the pc and i remember coming back from i can't remember if it was like
00:46:07
Speaker
This will get in a weird memory, but it was like some New Year's Eve or New Year's Day party that I came back from as a kid. And I remember coming home and asking mum, can I play a bit of that game on the PC? And I remember loving it. But see when I went back to play it, I absolutely hate Sonic CD. And I think that's just me showing my age because it's just
00:46:27
Speaker
too flashy, too in your face. It's like that band episode of Pokemon. I'm just like, no, I can't do it. But the kind of turning point for that was I remember I was going to school one day and my brother was off for whatever reason and he had the Sega Dreamcast and he was playing
00:46:48
Speaker
the original Sonic Adventure game and I remember being like instantly hooked because like at the very beginning you see you know Sonic like fighting like this boss like just instantly they throw you into a boss battle and I was like as a kid I was immediately hooked I'm like oh god what's this and of course I hear my dad in the background going yep time to go and I'm like no I want to see how this ends
00:47:12
Speaker
I'm getting dragged out. The claw march, I don't know. So eventually, years later, I ended up playing... I think I played the first one on the Gamecube, because they re-released it when they went bust and started selling the games everywhere. So I played the first one, I played Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, then just fell in love with them.
00:47:31
Speaker
And that was kind of what got me into platformer games in general. And I don't know, there was just something about it that really... I mean, like, Sonic nowadays is just, you know, it's like a meme at this point, it's a joke. And it got worse and worse after Sonic Adventure 2.
00:47:48
Speaker
like it is kind of like a well-known fact that it just went downhill until it hit like Rotobotum at Sonic 06 and things like that but it almost feels as if at least up until that point you know because you've got like good memories of it it's like kind of gaming junk food if you know what i mean yeah comfort food
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah, it's like, it's something that, you know, if you're not in the mood for like, you know, winning at warzone, hahaha, you know, if you're not, like, wanting to, like, have a high stress, like, multiplayer game or something like that, it's something to kind of slip into and you just think, oh, I'll play that game. And it is, it's like that kind of nostalgic burst of, like, you know, I don't want to be sappy but, you know, like, oh, the good days before, you know, mortgages and things like that.
00:48:34
Speaker
but and the music slaps as well the music is like just over the top like rock music and things um up until they started going for like the edgy i mean you remember what the what was it was it sonic forces you were saying craig it was the one for like the main villain
00:48:52
Speaker
it was where everyone had infinite in it yeah that's incredible yeah it's like 10 years out of date it's like a 2001 new metal song it's brilliant yeah it's just like a good one so it keeps coming up in my recommended spotify because it's like you listen to all these other bands you should love this song and i'm like i kind of do i kind of do yeah
00:49:16
Speaker
It is a bop, it is a bop. In terms of, so I was asking you guys like how you felt about like your games. So both of these games I've gone back and played them like on stream and I'm gonna say it's I think it's because they've changed so much over the years. I mean it's probably like a perfect kind of metaphor for you know like growing up and things it's like they've changed like completely from what they were if you know what I mean.
Challenges of Revisiting Childhood Games
00:49:43
Speaker
Like, I mean, it's the same, I suppose, for your guys' games as well. It's like games that kind of have to evolve with, you know, the times and things. And the Pokémon as well. Pokémon at its core is relatively the same. Like, it's still, you catch six monsters, you defeat a League, you know? But there's like small mechanics that just make it that bit better. So kind of going back to, like, Pokémon Yellow and going back to the old games is really tough because, like, the first generation especially
00:50:11
Speaker
It's just so buggy and there's just so many glitches that you kind of think, no I get it. It's like some of them you can exploit and you think oh this is great but the ones you actually can exploit and the ones that get you stuck in the game you're just like no there's no enjoyment out of this.
00:50:28
Speaker
And I suppose it's the same as Sonic as well. As I said, going back, I always remember the best parts of games. Games you enjoy, you think, oh I love that level, I love this. And especially for Sonic Adventure, I love the Sonic levels. I think it's a really good translation of
00:50:51
Speaker
what the platforming should be like but then you forget like you have to play through the game five more times as different characters with their own quirks and one of which is a fishing cat called Big if any of you guys have watched the stream or have seen it on my YouTube channel yeah that was like genuinely the lowest point for me in that game
00:51:13
Speaker
going back and playing that because I was just so, so crushing. Like this game I kept building up, I was really excited to kind of share with everyone and be like, oh, this is my childhood. And you know, getting stuck in that level was just...
00:51:30
Speaker
Yeah, it was no good. And especially with Sonic Adventure 2, that wasn't as bad, I have to say, except for one level. Yeah, going back, it's like it's not all sunshine and roses, which is a shame. I think as well, when it's a franchise, your brain gets a bit muddy, I think, with some of the stuff.
00:51:49
Speaker
I went to play Pokemon Silver, just kind of a similar brand to you, and all the things I remember, all day, I was like, yeah, the bag's got 10 different slots for stuff, and you've got Pokemon boxes and everything. I was remembering, I was misremembering the game from the later generations, especially because Pokemon remade them. And so there's a lot of key features that you think exist, but actually don't. And I bet, same as Sonic, where how,
00:52:15
Speaker
the ugly of the mechanics that goes on same as middle of orange first person shooter games they might have entered final fantasy as these games move on you kind of forget about how bad the quality of life is yeah and how good like people have because these games you're getting tweaked and i think in your your own brain you kind of i don't know you know you know i'm getting out you kind of like yeah yeah
00:52:33
Speaker
You can best remember, I certainly remember Pokemon Yellow was having the boxes and having the bag with the eight slot, you know what I mean? All that kind of stuff, which it obviously does not have. But your brain, you remember the good stuff, you remember the good stuff, you remember the detail. So whatever game you played or recently, you probably remember that detail.
00:52:50
Speaker
and it is it's a shame now it's like kind of gutting assuming you go back to a game because i've done that before as well you go back to a game and you play it and you're like where's this feature and then like it slowly sets in as you're playing it going no no they didn't introduce that like you know later on and then you actually go back and look it up and you're like
00:53:10
Speaker
Yeah, they did. And you're like, oh shit. Fair enough. And that is just like that kind of gut and thinking that you're going to get like this, you know, this experience that you were promised. And then it just, so kind of following up from what we said, I've got like one major
00:53:28
Speaker
follow-up question and again, I'm really interested to hear what you guys think.
Childhood Games and Current Interests
00:53:33
Speaker
First of all, so going back to the games you chose, how have these games shaped the Wii U game nowadays? Is it a positive or a negative experience? And I was gonna ask, do you still play these games? But I think we've kind of covered that, that most of us don't unless we're streaming or trying to find Windows 98.
00:53:56
Speaker
One of these days. One of these days. Yeah. One day. But yeah, sorry. Who wants to go first? Adam, how about you go first? Because I feel like I've been dominating the phone. I'm switching off by the end. Yeah. Throwing a curve ball right here.
00:54:13
Speaker
Yeah, so, well, in terms of, in terms of like men from Modern Frontline, I, I still play first person shooters and I still play history games. So that, that is definitely, that kind of game has sparked me into trends that I still, you know, the games that I still play and I still love to have like my favorite, to my favorite genres.
00:54:33
Speaker
As I said, with Legoland, I've never played another management simulation game again. But I think, looking back at it, again, it was kid-friendly, and so it wasn't that involved. But the game did require you to think a little bit, and you had to strategize a little bit about, OK, what kind of rights I want to put down, and look after people. Are people hungry? Do they need, do they want nice scenery to look at? And things like that.
00:54:56
Speaker
So looking at that, I've kind of loosely termed it as almost like a kind of puzzle, puzzle game in a way. And I really enjoy games now that have kind of puzzle elements in them and sort of games with strategy as well. So if I look at, I've perhaps never played another kind of management sim again.
00:55:12
Speaker
But I went on to play games in the Total War series, you know, what kind of strategic, uh, strategical elements. And then I really enjoyed games now, like the Sexy Brutale and Return of the Obra Dinn, which are more kind of puzzle and kind of, you know, detective games and require you to think and work things out. And I do think that I can trace that back to a game like Legoland that, you know, engaged my brain and made me think about, about what, you know, strategizing what I wanted to do and kind of.
00:55:38
Speaker
a bit of problem solving. So in that way, I may not have stayed with the exact genre of game, but it definitely broadened me out and for me to actually look for games that have these kind of puzzle elements. I remember saying to you last week how much I really enjoyed the kind of side missions in the last Call of Duty game because they required you to think and work things out. So almost new Call of Duty game is the perfect synthesis of of Legoland and Medal of Honor frontline. There you go.
00:56:03
Speaker
Yeah, try printing that on the cover of it. It's just like legal. Please leave a five-star review on the Amazon page or something just for that quote. Oh my god, yes. Like a man mixed with Medal of Honor.
00:56:20
Speaker
But yeah, what about you, Craig? Just going to say for a start, I regret going second there because that was a fantastic answer, Adam. Rolly Bosley. Yeah, kind of falling on from that. Kind of the similar thing where like I picked up the genre rather than the franchises. Certainly Final Fantasy, kind of Final Fantasy IX, sort of the count that comes out straight after. Final Fantasy VIII is on my... I did a list of games, like a top 15 for a
00:56:47
Speaker
game that me and my mates did during lockdown. We did a tournament to determine the best ever game and I put Final Fantasy IX in my top 16 games of all time and obviously that's a direct sequel to this one but even after that, I looked at that list before coming on just to kind of remember what I'd put on it and so many of the games are these really story heavy RPGs and I think the
00:57:09
Speaker
It's maybe a coincidence that so many of them are Japanese RPGs, simply because that's what most RPGs were for a long time. But I think now, for me personally, games have got better over the years because I really like cinematic story-heavy RPG-based games. So things like anything that involves lots of characters standing around talking is basically my ideal game. And the less time that I have to play it, the better.
00:57:35
Speaker
So Last of Us was on my list. The new God of War game. We spoke about that recently, the podcast as well, and that's one of my favorite games. And I think all that can be traced back to Final Fantasy VIII and just how that got me into that kind of heavy cinematic game. And the other hand, Guitar Hero don't really play that genre game. You don't really get rhythm games as much now. I did get Just Dance till I got Just Dance on the Switch, which is an absolute workout and not as relaxing as playing Guitar Hero by any means.
00:58:03
Speaker
Oh no, I could confirm that, but it's indefinitely not. Just on a side note for that, all the adverts show you like families and wee kids dancing to that. I was like a sweaty mess just panting on the floor just like, kill me!
00:58:23
Speaker
It's like Paul has this cheery pop song his own in the background. It's like, what, C just made this game? Me and my wife, Footloose and then the Backstreet Boys had to sit down and just sit with my head in my hands for a minute.
00:58:43
Speaker
Yeah, that's not quite as well actually. Tiptumism games, you don't really get that. I think kind of what Adam is saying about that opens the door and I think for me Guitar Hero, my love of Guitar Hero opens the door for me to maybe start not being such a dick about the games that way.
00:58:58
Speaker
It's been simpler games again. I think I'd kind of strayed off that path so far. And I think getting into Guitar Hero opened back up. And I also think that couch co-op is something that was missing for a long time in games. And I think it's coming back now thanks to the Switch, you know, the indie developers who love that kind of stuff. And obviously this year has not been the greatest year of a couch co-op. Yeah, it's been great to see that kind of getting rejuvenated. Guitar Hero, I think, getting two people in the room playing against each other and co-op.
00:59:26
Speaker
which I think is something a lot of people, a lot of games miss out is the cooperative element and the versus element and yeah just that guitar hero we kind of that love for me and I think some of my fondest memories we get a wee bit older so maybe not so much childhood but a bit after that there's things like playing rock band with like a big group of us, many a night at uni we've spent the
00:59:46
Speaker
that stuff and yeah that's probably my my summary of the two games oh and um before i move on shout out to the sexy blue tail because i had mentioned it as well fantastic yeah you guys played the sexy blue tail was amazing
00:59:59
Speaker
Yeah, I remember being around like last year, just going to preface it. I think I was around 8 years, Adam, and yeah, I remember you playing that and it did look really interesting. It's such a clever game. It's one of those games that I looked at and thought, wow, this is a really good game. I can't wait to add it onto the backlog.
01:00:19
Speaker
and then just completely forget about it because i sit there thinking how have i not played this game and then i look at the backlog and i'm like oh yeah because i don't play games um i suppose for me i don't know i feel almost deserve because like
01:00:38
Speaker
So I'll start kind of backwards, starting from Sonic. Because of Sonic I would say, I started exploring other platformer games. As I said before Banjo-Kazooie was a really big one for me. And Mario was well technically to an extent, but I never thought it was as fun if you know what I mean.
01:01:01
Speaker
like i felt almost as if because a lot of these and this was kind of a typical thing like especially for pokemon like as soon as anything similar to pokemon came out like everyone be like oh it's a clone of this like i suppose it's like what kids do like nowadays if they see you know like a battle royale game and they'll go oh it's like fortnite or just like in general really and but yeah especially like with pokemon and digimon and all of that and
01:01:26
Speaker
It almost, I don't know whether it was just really clever marketing or it was just like the, how to put it, it was like they really knew how to get you kind of loyal to the game, if you know what I mean. So it was like it was positive in the sense that I was trying to find games like it.
01:01:42
Speaker
But I don't think it actually ever came across a game that was similar to the Pokémon like an RPG game that I was really into because like I think I veered like in the opposite path to Ukraine. I never really like, other than Pokémon, I never really got into any JRPGs and then years later I did try getting into, I think it was Xenoblade, like years and years later and I just, I couldn't get into it. It just wasn't my kind of, and I know like that's probably like an exception.
01:02:09
Speaker
because I've still got Persona to try which I'm really excited about but in terms of like back then it was as I said before it was kind of that comfort of being familiar with that franchise so supposing that sense it was a bit negative because I was trying to find a game that was kind of similar but at the same time you know trying to find something different kind of trying to evolve from that but
01:02:36
Speaker
I had quite a weird relationship with games because I got and I don't know if you guys felt the same but I got to a certain point where I like stopped playing certain games so like when I started becoming a teenager and basically see when my parents let me buy 15 and 18 games it was like that that kind of barrier was removed and I was just like yeah I'm gonna play all the Call of Duty I think that was one of the first 15 games I got actually um Call of Duty 3 or something
01:03:06
Speaker
It was like one of those games, either that or it might have been that dually game. The Rockstar one. That was a good one. But yeah, it was like, even though like I was 15, you know, and I was playing these games completely legally, it was completely fine, parents had their blessing and everything.
01:03:22
Speaker
It almost felt like, and I was saying this as well, like the other week, I remember I played it was the Jak and Daxter series, that's another platformer mind you, but I was playing that and I think in the third game, there's like a scene where someone says like a really tame curse word like damn hell or you know like something like that and obviously nowadays it's kind of like alright okay fine.
01:03:47
Speaker
But see back then being like a kid, I remember like looking and going, oh my god he said that word!
01:03:54
Speaker
And then of course, there was one time I was playing it in my parents, or not my parents, but my mum and my brother had walked in. And like, oh, let's see what this new game is. And I was so afraid of... I was really afraid of going into another cutscene where they might start cursing and swearing and things. And then they would have been like, oh, what's this game? So I just spent the whole time they were there just driving round the desert area until they were gone.
01:04:33
Speaker
yeah like yeah there was that like point where eventually a kind of shade or not shade but there's like a really good comic for this i don't know if you guys have seen it and i can't remember if it's like penny arcade or one of these like gaming comics like one of the really old ones where it's a guy playing pokemon when he's younger um he's playing it as a kid and he's like everyone's going oh pokemon and then he gets to a teenager and everyone's like you know kind of very edgy and they're like oh pokemon oh that's kitty stuff
01:04:50
Speaker
And then as soon as I'm gone, it's like right back to the story. Because I was just like nervous.
01:05:03
Speaker
and then it cuts to the guy in college and they're all the same as the kids going, woo, Pokemon! And they're like, really excited about it. And that is definitely, I would say that was my experience. Like, being really into it when there was a kid and then kind of moving away and going into more, you know, like, shutter games and things and then going like back into uni, kind of having that, you know, like that shared
01:05:32
Speaker
not shared communication, but like that shared topic if you know what I mean because it kind of came full circle for me because it's like Yeah, as I said like Pokemon was that kind of gateway to like start talking to people and then Then it was like Call of Duty when you were older and then back to uni again it was you know the question of hey, do you remember that game Pokemon and You kind of look at them and you go
01:05:59
Speaker
Maybe. It's like, you know, like a Cold War film or something where you're like, how much did they actually know? It's like, they'll show you a picture of Magikarp and they'll be like, do you? It's like, do you know who this is? And you're like, maybe. Begins with an M and it's like, you know fine well, you know, playing games. Ironically enough, playing games but not playing the Pokemon name.
01:06:26
Speaker
And yeah, I think that is more or less us wrapped up. Is there any other stories or anecdotes you guys want to share? I had to laugh just when you were talking about when your mum walked in and when your friend the Jack and Dice came, it sparked a memory for me.
01:06:45
Speaker
with one of the early Call of Duty's where I had a similar thing. When my dad walked in and when I was playing it and I was really scared, I didn't want to shoot anybody because I didn't want to see any blood or anything. I spent the whole level running around just clubbing. That's definitely my gun. It makes the game a lot more challenging to be honest. I did this for about 15 minutes of just running around like a madman, just swinging my gun around. The pacifist runt. Well, same. No bullets.
01:07:14
Speaker
Yeah, no bullets. No bullets were harmed in the making of that level. Just part of that memory for me. Yeah, that's amazing. I'm bored about you Craig, is there any, like, closing stories? I don't think so, really. My parents were quite hands-off with me.
01:07:30
Speaker
in terms of games. I'll clarify that for us, I don't think so. I've got daddy issues. No, probably the main ones for me hiding was like, it's actually nowadays, there that I love my wife and I like to play a lot of games from Japan and unfortunately a lot of these games have questionable female characters.
01:07:51
Speaker
I'm just about a massive Soul Calibur and Tekken fan and I've like, I just can't even be bothered explaining them anymore and I'm just like, I can't. And then I'm about to get sold five and I just know I'm gonna have to explain why one of the characters breathes out of her skin and I just can't bring myself to do it. It all makes perfect sense when you explain that she's in the lore. Yeah, it's the rich, deep Kojima lore, you know.
01:08:20
Speaker
But it gets worse, there's another layer to this. I met my neighbours a wee while back. And one of them was saying, oh yeah, yeah, yeah. So you like wrestling, don't you? And I was like, what? Yeah, yeah. And I saw it was on your TV when I drove past your house the other day and I was like, oh no. Definitely not playing Metal Gear Solid 5 now with the curtains open, my god. I'm just thinking there's your neighbours driving by going water through.
01:08:48
Speaker
But like, I've been playing so many games, like Dragon Quest, I love it. I love the games in Japan, and it's like, I have all these women in it. I was like, oh man, I'm so ashamed right now. So that's my turn to hide game story.
01:09:07
Speaker
Yeah, and on that note, yeah, I think, probably a good time to wrap up. First of all, thank you both so much for joining me today on this. Thank you. Always appreciated. So yeah, as always, stay safe, stay awesome, and most importantly, as always, stay hydrated. Bye guys. Bye. Bye.