Get Played - Halo with Cody Ziglar

Episode Date: August 3, 2026

Cody Ziglar (Futurama, Static) returns to the show to talk Halo with Matt and Nick! Check out our merch at kinshipgoods.com/getplayed Follow us on social media @getplayedpod Music by Ben Prunty benpruntymusic.com Art by Duck Brigade duckbrigade.com For our exclusive show Get Played DLC, ad-free main feed episodes, our complete back catalogue including How Did This Get Played? episodes go to patreon.com/getplayed Join us on our Discord server here: https://discord.gg/getplayed Wanna leave us a voicemail? Call 616-2-PLAYED (616-275-2933) or write us an email at [e-mail] Advertise on Get Played via Gumball.fm All of our links can be found at linktree.com/getplayedpodSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

This is a HeadGum podcast. Hey, buddy. It's Weiger here. You know what I love? Content. The problem is, a lot of the content I consume is not domestically available. Not something that I can just hop on a stream and watch. That's why I use Nord BPN.

If there are TV shows, film, anime that aren't available in your region, You can switch your virtual location to a country that's showing it. I do it all the time. And if you're traveling abroad, you can access all your streaming services back home. Switching your virtual location with NordVPN can also allow you to save money by purchasing flights and hotels from other countries at a cheaper price. That's the reality we live in. Might as well fight back with NordVPN. NordVPN can also act as an invisibility cloak.

How about that for some video game verbiage? Would you use an invisibility cloak? be worried about being hit by a car. Anyway, NordVPN can also act as an invisibility cloak for your IP address, protecting your privacy online and leaving no digital footprint, especially when you're traveling and using public Wi-Fi. Digital footprint. It's what apes leave when they walk around.

Because they get hands instead of feet. They get them digits. NordVPN protects you wherever you are in the world. It's super fast, no buffering, will streaming, and it stops your ISP bandwidth, throttle, and you use one account on up to 10 devices. Chief, there's been a breakthrough in the case. The suspect left the digital prints all over the place.

There's digital footprints. It's got to be an ape. I know who's behind this one. Apey Roberts, the monkey menace of our fair city. Well, you know what, AP Roberts? You're not going to be terrorizing the public much longer. Not while I'm in charge. Or my name isn't police chief a horse.

That's right. It's an animal city. Everyone here's an animal. And we love NordVPN. Premium cybersecurity for the price of a cup of coffee per month. To get the best discount off your NordVPN plan, go to NordVPN.com slash get played. Our link will also give you four extra months on the two-year plan. There's no risk with Nord's 30-day money-back guarantee. The link is in the podcast episode description box.

Hey, Nick, I know Heather's not here. So she's not going to get to appreciate this, but I thought maybe you'd like to have the scoop. Yeah. Notice anything different about me? Um, let's see. Yeah, you got the nice fit. You got the... Oh, thank you, King.

I know what it is. You usually wearing a baseball hat. Today, you get a halo. That's right. You got it. Number one with a bullet. I'm wearing a halo. Yeah, you're wearing a halo.

I'm wearing a halo. Classic sort of halo. What happens? Like, because it does seem to be actually levitating above your head. Yeah. Is that like a special effect? What's happening there?

I became an angel. You're an angel. I'm an angel now. You'll also notice that I'm wearing a white cloak and I have white feathery wings. Yeah, I guess I was going to like, you know, I was just sort of like, I said, No genitalia.

Well, that I didn't clock. In fact, I don't know what's normally going on there, so anything would be a shot. I'll just say, it was more than none. So you died? You passed away? No, I just decided to become an angel. It kind of seemed like the right move for me, honestly, at this time.

Have you seen an angel before? I got to say no. You ever look at the top of a Christmas tree? Well, yeah, I guess I've seen the idea, like the iconography of an angel. I've seen artistic depictions of an angel. They're just so beautiful. Yeah, but just an angel in the flesh. I guess what I'm saying is like, do you have literal angel powers?

Are you just like a guy in kind of angel cosplay? Well, I have the halo. It's hovering above mine head. Can I just do something real quick? Yeah. Yeah, I just wave my hand under there. It just doesn't seem to be, have any sort of a stick or anything holding up. Wait, what?

You hit me in my no genitals. Well, sorry, that was an accident. I didn't mean to do that. I was just trying to reach over your head to see if there was any space. You missed. Wait, wait, what? I missed the top of your head

and hit you in the genitals. That's what happened. I'm just trying to walk this through. Yeah. So, okay, so I was trying to reach up. I have my no genitals. What's happening? It's fine.

I'm just saying, I'm an angel. Okay. You thought you were doing one thing. You accidentally did something else. It's fine, though. Well, I guess that brings me to something I should tell you. See, I know you think I'm childless, but I'm actually a, I'm a deadbeat dad. I have a kid I had in a prior relationship.

Wow. That I've just been like, you know, I'd. Self-proclaimed deadbeat dad. Yeah, I kind of rode a motorcycle out of town and he was like. You didn't have a pack of cigarettes rolled up in your shirt sleeve, did you? I sure did. Oh, my God. And I was like, and as I was leaving on my hog, I said, I said, hey, son, I'll

see again when the angels win the pennant. And I'm checking a look at MLB.com right now. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheimert at 42 and 66 at the bottom of the AL West. I think like if you want to reunify me with my estranged son, you get your work cut out for you. And that's sort of sort of my main thing that I came here to do. When I think angels, they're always in the outfield. And I'm just saying like I've had a feeling as someone who follows baseball. I know you're more of a Dodgers fan, but this got to be at the top.

at your agenda. The thing that really bothers me about it actually. Yeah. Because I see, I see them out there in the outfield. Right. I thought, what if I become an angel? Get me in the infield, actually? Yeah, there's a lot of stuff happens in the infield that like an angel could really help out with. Yeah, you don't need to be just trying to catch a home run balls or, or, you know, like you could get in there and you could mix it up and just like stop some some ground rule doubles or whatever. Come on now. What are we doing? Right, right, right. Anyway, I'm an angel now. Why did you do this?

I didn't want to be alive anymore. Wow, it's Get Played, your one-stop show for good games, bad games, and every game in between. It's time to get played. I'm Nick Tiger Weiger, along with my co-host, Mr. Games himself, Matt Upadaka. Hello, everyone. Guess who's back? Back again. It's me, I'm back.

That was about you? Not our guest? Not our returning guest? I wasn't here last week. Oh, I get it. Yes, you weren't here last week. I wasn't here last week. And, you know, the trivorce of friendship is once again fractured because Heather is not here this week.

Unrelated. Unrelated. Don't go spreading some rumor that I got Heather sick or so. It was not a communicable disease. No. Heather is working another of her secret cool jobs. So being, you know, that means assassination. Just kidding.

In case something happens, just kidding. But instead, we have one of our favorite guests Return to this show. A writer and committee from Rick and Morty, Miles Morley, Spider-Man, Futurama, and Static. Cody Ziegler is back. Hi, Cody. Hello. I immediately abandoned the bit that I was going to do.

What were you going to do? You did like a deep voice, like, hey, I'm back. I was going to do a deep voice, but I couldn't commit to it. Your voice is already pretty deep. I know. I felt like I was a hat on the hat. How deep can you go, you think? This is killing with the whales right now.

The human spectrum came here, but this is right here. Okay. That's pretty low. It's pretty low. We can all go pretty low. Wrench how low can you go? They could go. But you went too low.

Zig we had you on. One of the previous times you guessed it was to talk about the Resident Evil 4 remake. Oh, that's right. Did you get a chance to mess around with Resident Evil Requiem this year at all? I don't even if I messed with it. I messed it up. Wow. I don't know if you were subject to this, Matt,

but it was a game that I played it through. I loved it, and it became my hyper fixation for about a month. Like, I was speed running it. Like, I would wake up being like, I got like four hours before this meeting. Let's only do a speed run in. So, like, I think I beat the game maybe about a dozen times. Wow.

Like, to the point, like, doing, like, the speed run tricks or like, there's a certain section when you first meet the stalker enemy. Yes. Or if you stand in a specific position, they'll knock or knock. knock a cart and roll right in front of you can hop onto it, quick spin around, grab a key, and then run out. Like, I was doing that level of, um, of, um, gameplay manipulation. It was very fun. Yeah, and like, there were people were like, oh my God, this guy's got such awe walking down

the street. I was like, calm down. I'm just a guy. I, too, sort of remember there was, um, a sort of incident locally here in Los Angeles where like people were mobbing the streets to shake your hand. And it was like, guys, I got to save this hand for my head next, my action button. They were a petition online to a change.org petition to have you legally change your name to Leon S. Kennedy?

Because you're him? I was him. And like, fans would come to greet me. I'd grab them, flip them around, suplex, and they'd continue on my way in honor of Leon. But no, it was, I loved that series. Like, as I said in the last game, but, like, I feel like Resident Evil 9, Rechrum,

it's a perfect split between, like, Capital V video game. And then, like, I missed the seven and eight, like, the more, like, horror focus. Like the movie was like the perfect split. I had so much fun. Yeah, that's awesome. Where do you think that you have to give us your ranking? But like, where, well, I guess you're gonna.

Where does it rank for you in the Resident Evil series? I missed, I missed seven and eight, the first person. I would say as far as like pure fun, like, Resident Evil 4 and then Resident Evil, like, Reckwoman, like back to back for me. Wow. Yeah. Like, I read, I downloaded Evil 2 and 3 remake. I haven't played them yet.

But, like, as far as, like, pure game, like, I put, like, 60 hours into... Yeah. I had a lot of fun. It got... They got my... I got my money's worth out of it. You'll get through two and three pretty quickly. They're both extremely fun.

I also... I started seven earlier this year. Yeah. And, or after, you know, Requiem came out, and I haven't picked it back up because it was immediately too scary. I'm about to ask, are you spooky boys? Do you guys do spooky games? So I think Matt has come around on the spookiness to some.

degree. I've always been like, I kind of keep them at arm's length, but I do mess around with them. Like, like, like, like, games with some sort of spookiness or some, you know, horror elements, like, those are, there are some of my favorite games that have that. It's just, like, things that are, like, pure, like, scare, like, you know, like, kind of, things that are really trying to, like, to throw you off with a bunch of jump scares, I kind of have to, like, I kind of bounce off of those. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heather would tell us that she's never been afraid of a video game and that we're babies. Yeah, they were cowards.

She'd be right. And she's right. Well, if I can retort, go-go-guga. Oh, actually, oh, I never thought about hitting her with the Uno Reverts. Actually, I am a baby. Shake my rattle. I, look, but I do like, you know, I'm thinking about Half-Life too. You know, I have some just like really, like, scary sort of horror aspects.

Obviously, like the Last of Us franchise. I'm a huge fan of. I'm a resident before I love. I mean, it's more of an action game than a horror. game. Maybe that's why that that one kind of splits a difference for me. I think the scariest parts of four are like, well, to me are just

seeing like gross stuff. And then the, when you can get sort of like boxed in by like a horde it's like sort of situation, not like a horde, but like, you know, you'll get like six or like so guys kind of just like coming at you speaking Spanish. And you're kind of like, ah, ah! Now was it hard for you to play

when your hands were like in your MAGA shirt? Yeah, well I was sort of wearing my onesy. My yeah, my I don't want to play this anymore Sorry, I mean to cut you off No, no, no, but like It was extremely hard to play that way And, but like

That stuff was scarier versus like In Requiem, there's Act just like legitimately like horrifying things in the game Ranch is afraid of the spiders In the game for example Did you turn on the no spider option that they have? Oh, I didn't know that there was an in-game

Yeah, there's an arachnophobia option that you can click when you start the game that I guess I know what they replace them with but I downloaded a mod to replace the spiders with Thomas the Tank Engine. Nice. Which is somehow less scary.

It was cute. There was like all these like little when the little fighters came out. Yeah. A bunch of tiny Thomas the Tank Engine. Yeah. Whatever I think about Thomas the Tank Engine though, I always think of Heather's

tweet about Thomas that Tank Engine because there was a toy or a figure of him or something wearing a space helmet. the tweet was something along the lines of this implies that he has lungs and can breathe yeah he's got to I mean he has to respirate right yeah yeah I don't like like this

that stuff really does mess with the because like I we've talked about this before right the the the Pixar cars behind the scenes where they're talking about a there's a there's a sequence in Cars 1 I believe where the Lightning McQueen

was supposed to produce a map and they're like where's this map going to come out of? They're like, well, it can't come out of the hood because that's where his brain is. So like, like, the animator is talking in like serious terms about the anatomy of the fictional car. And so...

Why did they do that? Why do they do that? Why isn't the fucking like, like, alternator his brain or some shit? Like, you know what I mean? Like, you hear that Pixar? You could just make the engine.

The engine would be his heart. That look, that does... That does, actually, that does track. That makes more sense to me, but they decided that that engine was brain. And so that was their math. I would also say, like, if it is, if engine is heart, then what is brain? Brain. All cars have computers and everything's computer now.

Brain is computer. Everything's computer now. But then there was, but what was the shitbox car that Larry the cable bred? Mader's a tow truck. Yeah, but he's like, and you put respect on his name in this house. Sorry. I will get it done. Get her down.

I'm gonna kill you. But he's like, he's explicitly like an antiquated truck so his brain would not be computer. His brain would not be computer. Yeah. That's why I think it has to be engine. Yeah. What was the computer before the computer? Abacus.

His brain's an abacus. He's moving little beans. Have you been on the car's ride? No. You're not a rides guy. I'm not a rides guy. I think when you're, so I'm six, five. Yeah.

So any time that I'm in, do I have to get in a confined space? It's miserable for me. So, like, I'm an experienced guy. Like, I'll go to, like, Star Warsland or, like, Avengers Academy. But if you want to put me on a ride, like, it's not going to be fun for me. It's not going to be fun for the people behind me. Like, it's just misery. So, no, I'm not a car.

I'm not a car. The Cars ride, I've never seen a single Cars movie. The Cars Ride might be one of my favorite rides. The Cars ride is dazzling. It's really good. When Dazzling, Radiator Springs Racers. Yeah. I'm with those, I, because I'm, I'm, I'm,

Comptative to you I'm I'm six one I'm you know like so like like in like shrimp I know exactly But I still feel like in in in Rides in particular you think like like like I don't know you're you should be accommodating to everyone right. Why is why do I feel like I'm squeezed in here? Yeah I'll say even me Yeah all five six of my ass I'm like they couldn't make this a little bit bigger like this is like small. Yeah I just want to ride the donkey Kong ride like let a man live you know yeah yeah yeah absolutely but like the the the cars ride It takes you through, it's not necessarily the story of the first movie, I guess, but it takes you through the... Is it like a roller coaster? It's like a...

It's half dark ride, so there's like animatronics of the cars and they look like they're talking and stuff. That's like unbelievable. Those look awesome. The mix of like the physical animatronic and then just like some computer elements and projection elements. It's a really good effect. Yeah. And then there is a part where then you're in a car. Yeah.

The car go real fast. Car go from room. And then you're racing another car on the track. And then it's kind of fun if you win. If you don't win, it kind of makes waiting in the line fucking suck. No, that right rules. It's really, really good.

Where's this is that Disney win? This is that California adventure, yeah. But we're not, this is not a rides show. This is not a ride show. But this is a game show speaking of which, beyond Requiem, are there any 2026 favorites of yours? Anything, any new releases that really, you know, caught your attention?

I've been playing through Mina the Hollower and I am getting dog walked. I am just getting my ass kicked every single time I get in that game. And not in a way where like, I feel like Hades or Hades too. Like I've, I mean, I'm sure there are elements of this game because I'm so so early into it.

But like I felt like with Hades, I was so enraptured by the art style and the art direction and like the acting in them and all that sort of a kuthramong that came with it that I could sit through it. But man, when I get hit by another fuck, if I could hit one by one more fucking mouse in a piece of armor

They have like plasma guns for no reason It's maddening But I think once I get to the point where I can actually Get some hours in Get my stats up and get some of those Perks and stuff I'll enjoy a lot more Have you thought about getting good Shit

That was the thing I did when I played the game I decided to get good And then the game kind of became well actually pretty easy for me All right I'm going to get good And then I'm going to get built different Hades is one of my favorite games all time the first one.

And I like Hades too a lot too. So I'm with you there in terms of like those games are so aesthetically pristine. They're just absolutely gorgeous in the score by Derek Holba who also, you know, voice Zagrius in the first game is just like it's it's so, so good. But I still like, I don't know, meaning of the Halloward, it's obviously evoking like a Game Boy Color game. So it's a little bit less, you know, contemporary. But I still do really, like the art direction, really works for me in that thing.

But all that said, in terms of difficulty, absolutely on a different level in the Hades game. Even you put a bunch of heat levels in Hades. It's like nowhere near as hard as Mina the Hollow Earth. Yeah, it is taken, again, I've put less than like two hours into the game. Sure. So like, yeah, the first like 30 minutes is like, oh, I'm adjusting to like, this is very much in the like, like, Zelda or the games that I grew up playing

and like I really appreciate the pixel art. It is the difficulty that I think I've been so accustomed to like the game we talked today. like, oh, my health refills or my shield refills. Like, there's very nice, there's very giving auto saves. And this is like, no, we're throwing you the trenches. Like, you gotta do the work yourself. And we talked about this a bit on the show.

And I think it's like a thing that people have talked about with this game is that the difficulty is very front-loaded. Because by the end of the game, I'm just kind of like melting some of these. That's what I'm assuming. Like, I've also been playing the new Doom, Dark Ages, DLC that came out, which is like I've that game just it's just such a part of my my my my mentality and my my my my my way that I play games but like there is a certain point like 30 minutes like maybe halfway third of the game you're like oh you're trapped in here with me like that's the game

the game it's just like you're gonna put me in the smallest pace um it's a it's a put me in the smallest place imaginable and I'm just going to wreck all these demons and it's like it's a horror game for the demons like that's the perspective of the yeah once you get like really locked in the doom so coming off with that from that like a power fantasy to like, oh, you know, like it's very, it's very much on the opposite side of that coin. Right. I got to get used to like working my way up and like learning the mechanics and all that stuff. I'm looking forward to it, but it's not fun right now.

We're halfway through the year and this year I've been really focusing on upgrading my health. Buy new tracking tech, eating better, fitness equipment. But we, society as a whole, always forget about the single most important thing for your health. And that's sleep. Have you heard that soccer player talk about it? Holland? He says sleep is the number one most important thing. So I upgraded my mattress to the Sapira hybrid mattress, and that's been a huge difference in my day to day.

Guys, I fucking love sleep. I fucking love it. Bleep me all you want. I know it's an ad, but I'm telling you right now, the number one most important thing in my life is sleep. And Lisa has a lineup of beautifully crafted mattresses. to how you sleep. Each mattress is designed with specific sleep positions and feel preferences in mind. From night one, you'll feel the difference. You really do. You lay down and you're like,

oh, God, I have not been treating myself well. Just take the Lisa's sleep quiz and you'll find your perfect match in less than two minutes. Me personally, cool sleeper. I need it cool. Lisa mattresses are meticulously designed and assembled in the USA for exceptional quality, and they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and 120-night sleep trial. Lisa's been awarded Best Hybrid and Best Memory Foam Mattress by New York Times Wirecutter and is featured by West Elm as their go-to mattress partner. That's like a fancy store. Lisa isn't just about sleep. It's about impact.

They work with local nonprofits across the U.S. to donate thousands of mattresses each year to families in need, with over 43,000 mattresses donated to date. That's a ton of mattresses. That's a number of survivors at the end of season one of Battlestar Galactica. Plus, Lisa is committed to eco-friendly materials and sustainable manufacturing practices and partners with organizations like Clean Hub and Green Worms to help remove harmful plastic waste from the environment. Go to Lisa.com for 25% off mattresses. Plus, get an extra $50 off with promo code, Get Played, exclusive for our.

our listeners. That's L-E-E-E-S-A dot com promo code, get played, one word for 25% off mattresses, plus an extra $50 off. Support our show and let them know. We sent you after checkout. Lisa.com promo code get played. Hey buddy, losing weight is one thing, but looking and feeling your best this summer, that's the real goal. That's why weight loss by Hymus now offers access to the FDA-approved Wagovi pill and Wagovi Pen. Wagovi is designed to help you lose weight and keep it off so you can show up this summer feeling like yourself.

With Wagovi at Hems, lose up to 20% of your body weight when combined with diet and exercise. Helps you regulate your appetite, eat less, and keep weight off. Plus, Wagovi is the first ever GLP1 pill for weight loss so there are no needles needed. Through Hymns, everything happens online. You'll connect with a licensed provider who will determine if treatment is right for you.

If prescribed, your medication is delivered right to your door, no insurance necessary. Hymns makes hitting your goals seamless by offering access to 24-7 messaging with your care team and in-app lifestyle and nutrition support like recipes, meal plans, fitness videos, sleep content, and more. With a range of affordable GLP1 options, Hymns makes it simple to find a weight loss approach that fits into your world and your wallet, if eligible. You'll get a treatment plan personalized to you and unlimited dosage changes as needed. Ready to reach your goals, visit Hems.com slash get played to get a person. personalized affordable plan that gets you. That's h-imms.com

slash get played. Hems.com slash get played. Weight loss by Hymns is not available in all 50 states. Wagovi is the registered trademark of Novo, Nordisk AS. To get started and learn more, including important safety information, Wagovi clinical study information and restrictions, visit Hems.com.

August is the perfect time to hit reset before the autumn rush begins. And honestly, I can't think of a better. place to start than my closet. I'm going to get back in the closet. I'm in the closet again. Wow, there's a lot of weird clothes in here. I need some new clothes. And you know what? I'm going to get some, and that's why I love shopping at Quince. Quince is all about fewer, better pieces. Their clothes are made with premium materials built to last and designed to become the ones you reach for day after day. But if you're going to reach for them, you're going to have to get past me.

I live in the closet now. Quince specializes in everyday staples that work harder, like their ultra-soft organic cotton teas and premium Mongolian cashmere sweaters. They're versatile, timeless, and transition seamlessly from a casual workday to dinner out. If you're still hanging on to the same worn-out basics like these pants without a crotch, Quince makes it easy to upgrade. They have premium denim and tailored chinos for just $60 with the kind of perfect fit, structure and high quality fabrics you'd expect from a luxury designer brand. Uh-oh, somebody's in the bedroom. I got to be quiet for a sec, because I'm hiding in their closet. Everything at Quince is priced 50 to 80% less than similar brands. They work directly with ethical factories and cut out the middlemen,

so you're paying for high quality, not brand markup. We get promo codes when we do these ads. And when my wife heard that we had Quince promo codes, she said, give me. She said, give it to me. And I went, can I see what's? And she's like, no, I want it. That's how much she likes, quince. And what my wife likes, I like. It's not just clothing.

Quince has become her go-to for everything from hotel quality betting and bath essentials to premium cookware and travel must-haves. Shh, somebody's in the room. Okay, they left. upgrade your every day. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com slash get played. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns now available in Canada and the UK too.

That's Q-U-I-N-C-E dot com slash get played. So you were at San Diego Comic-Con this year. I was there for just a day and I get some hot dogs, which we'll talk about. But I want to see, was there anything you experienced at Comic-Con, anything in particular notable about your experience? Hold on a second. Yeah. Nick had to say, and I got some hot dogs, which we'll talk about.

Like, put a pin in this, just so you know, just so you're not worried, I did have some hot dogs, but we're going to talk about it later. Did I put those hot dogs in the group chat? You mentioned that you got them, but I didn't see a single fucking photo of these hot dogs. Okay, well, again, we'll get to it. But the one thing I will say gaming related that I saw is, or the one notable gaming related thing is I saw someone in Mandalorian, um,

Mandalorian Samus cosplay. Like it was like a hybrid. I was like that's fucking sick. That suit is awesome. I like when people, I like when people do that. Yeah, just little stuff.

No take. Just I like when people do that. There is this one person dressed up. It seemed like some sort of Tron adjacent character. Like they were maybe seven and a half foot tall with like the costume. Yeah. Red neon LEDs around. Like it was an amazing costume.

But as far as like gaming stuff, like I didn't make it this year. But last year there was like one section in one of the adroying hotels that was just Marvel Rivals, like just people playing Marvel Rivals. I was like, I'm going to get in there. I'm going to show these people what's up. Yeah. The way that I was smoked instantly. The way I was so instantly humbled.

And I, so humbled so much that I did not make my way back. Um, because I, I, I feel like, uh, Comic-Con, it's so front-loaded with like, TV and film and then comic book stuff, but I don't even think about the game aspect of Comic-Con at all. Yeah. I mean, like, honestly, that, that's, that's, that's not why I was down there. So it was just like, I would, I agreed. I mean, I just think of more video game-specific environments for, or, or, I mean,

E3 is the classic. I would say it's surprising to me and maybe a lot of people. I'm from Southern California. Comic-Con represents a lot of my interests. I've only been one time, and I snuck in. I didn't, like, I didn't attend officially. It's overwhelming. Yeah, it really is.

How often, this is all my second time going. How often have you been? I haven't been in 10 years, and I went this year for work, and I was just like, I get, I get really agoraphobic and claustrophobic But like both like just like confined spaces with a ton of people It's just like a nightmare for me So like I'm I'm almost like instantly tapping out But I but I will say that

The energy of it is fun It's fun to just go to your hotel and be like hey there's a Chun Li here How about that? You know I mean like yeah that's cool I like that aspect of it I more just like like People watching more than than like waiting in like queuing up for some panel or something I've always just got like the you know I'll eventually see a clip of a panel and be like, oh, cool. Like, I would have liked to see that in the room, but I've seen it now, and I feel

as good as I would have felt probably seeing it. Yes. Yeah. Like, but like I just, there's, you know, it is like, it's obviously changed so much over the years. And it changed from when, it's changed from when it changed last. You know what I mean? Like, I feel like in the early 2010s, people are like, oh, now it's like this, like,

marketing machine where people are, you know, debuting movies. movie trailers and things like that. And now it's just like, it's, it's that times 100 in the, you know, in the intervening years. Yeah, I'm sort of the same boat as you, Nick, we're like, it is a, like, truly, I think there's like 100,000 people is what I heard. Like, 100,000 people in a city that's not, in a section of downtown that's not that much is a lot of people.

Yeah. So it is sort of, it is like, you're not unlike Hercules doing, Hercules doing a labor, I think, to get through the floor. But I find myself when I'm there, like, I'm there. like I'm there purely like to buy toys like the soon as I get there I'm like let me find the gondoms let me find the I love buying stuff yeah that's the thing is like capitalism is a prison but baby get you one a view a cell with the view that's like I bought so many like Gundam toys so many dragon ball z toys and like I think about this as someone who does cons pretty regularly anyway for for my other jobs is that like it is one of the few places

I feel like left in in the U.S. where like you can go and physically buy art from an artist and you can support them like yeah I like the idea of like an art bazaar it's not a thing that it really exists anymore so I do appreciate being able to walk to as someone who works in comic books like the industry is built on the artist like being able to go to an artist booth be like oh like I have been following your art for so long here's money that can physically give to you and support you physically yeah is and financially isn't something that I think it's something that I think it's something that deeply appreciate now yeah because you you're somebody that

actually does you do buy a lot of prints and you you have like a lot of like cool pieces in frames and in your place. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We, so I was with our buddy Garrick and, uh, past guests to get played, and he had bought a Gundam and he was carrying it around. Um, and we, uh, met, like, we're just talking to be, we're just chopping it up and we met somebody who works on the, like, I'll vaguely say on the business side of an anime company.

Yeah. Um, and at a certain point, it turned, the conversation turned to, uh, this person asking Garrick, what's in the bag? And Garrick says, oh, it's a Gundam. Yeah. And then this person who works in anime goes, what's that? That's wild. And then I just looked at Garrett just like slack jawed.

Like, like, oh-ha. You see Garrett break their neck and like, shh. That would be like if like the president of the NBA confused a basketball for a football. Like what the fuck? You don't know this shit? This year's season will be a touchdown. Yeah. You don't know?

You should know. But it was a, yeah, I like, I, I, okay, back to my hot dogs. So I was hungry. Hang on, hang on. Hang on. Yeah. Are we done with all the rest of that? Is it time for the hot dog?

I was going to ask about your food situation down there. So like, this is actually a perfect pivot. San Diego's got good food, I think, full stop. They have good food. I like San Diego's food. I spent a lot of time down there. I got family down there. I took the, the chew-choo,

down. A great Pacific surfliner. Great. And when he said Thomas. And then I was going to say when you're on it,

it's C. HeW. C.H.E.W. Uh, yeah, that's true. Bars. But, mm-hmm. Yeah.

I like both these things. Anyway, so I was on the train down there. I got off. I checked in my hotel room. I had something I had to get to. Um, so I had time for a quick meal.

And I was just looking at Yelp for places that were nearby. There's a place called Hot Dog Corner. And I'm looking at the reviews. It's in the hot dog district. That's out. I'm there. Um, there's the hot dog corner and it was all reviews of like, look, you don't, you won't think this place is going to have good hot dogs, but trust me, it does. And I was like, so you weren't thinking about getting a hot dog. No, but you're just always open to the opportunity. Now, now I'm in chat. I mean, the name hot dog corner and then also just like the kind of like, like, I know you're going to walk into this place and walk right out, but, but don't make that mistake. Uh, get yourself some dogs. I walk over there and I get it because it's a, it's like functionally a liquor store. Like you go and, and, you go and.

And it looks like an old school tobacconist. There's just like walls are like cigarettes and like hard liquor. Yeah. And then, but then like a woman there with a grill. Yeah. And like like nine different hot dogs you can order. So I wrote myself up two dogs. She grilled them up.

They were ready about five minutes. And let me tell you those hot dogs are great. What kind of dogs are talking here? So I got one, um, Philly dog, which had a cream cheese and onions on it. And then they also got a New York style dog with just like, you know, slaw and, or not slaw. sourcrow and mustard and relish, and they were both delightful.

I think I'm going to perhaps drop a take that is catastrophic. Yeah, go for it. There only needs to be one kind of hot dog. Stop. Boot, tomato, trash can beating you over the head with it. Just like ketchup and mustard and like whatever else you want.

Fucking onion ring hot dog or whatever the hell or like barbecue sauce. Is the hot dog through the actual onion ring in that or the onion rings on the hot dog? Hmm. In my version, they're placed on top. Okay. That would be farcical if it was placed through the...

Yeah, right. It would be a little cumbersome to eat. Yeah, yeah. But maybe two types of hot dogs, then. Chili dog is the other variant. Okay, Sonic. I know you're already... Yeah.

But like this cream cheese nonsense, I'm sure it was good. It was good. I don't need to be doing all that. What other options did they have? Do you remember... Like a Chicago dog? They did have a chili cheese dog, Sonic. And so they had like...

You know, they had, they were mostly regional varietals. They, they feel like the, the Angelino dog, the L.A. street dog is like, okay, I've reversed my stance. Yeah. Every region should have a hot dog. That's what I think. That's part of what's fun about it. Like, you had like the Carolina slaw dog. Yeah.

It's like, oh, I got some, I got some coal slaw on here. Why not? Because I did forget that the L.A. street dog is like its own thing. And it's like, it's such a special thing. So, yeah, because we got the Carolina chili dog is the thing that we're used to, the small dog. Yeah. Yeah. I think if your region, if you're listening and your region doesn't have a special hot dog, get on it. Figure it the fuck out.

You ever have a Sedoran dog? Oh yeah. Those are delightful. What is that? What is a Cedoran dog? It's got like a, it's in like a, is it a Boliol roll? How do you say? And it's got the, and it's got pinto beans on it. Oh, shit. It's, it's delightful. It's funny because I had a hot dog when I was there as well.

I, there was like, next to her hotel, there's like this little like food pavilion and there was a burger spot and I saw specifically they had hot dogs because I'm never like, I'm never like, go out to get a hot dog, but if I see one, like, I'll get a glizzy. And eating it, I was like, man, I don't do this more often. Oh, yeah. I mean, I don't think I'm ever necessarily in pursuit of a hot dog necessarily.

But when it comes up and I can get one, I'll happily oblige. I was talking to my brother about this pretty recently. He's just like, hot dogs are not planned. He's like, I never. It wouldn't be crazy to make a reservation, get in your car, drive, and like, I'm here for the hot dog. He's like, every hot dog I've had this year was a complete surprise to me. He's like, and I've been happy every time. It's an accident followed by an emergency.

You know what I want now was I would love to do a bracket of regional hot dogs and see like what ends up. Yeah, no, I would feel like, I mean, should we do that instead of talking about Halo? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do think that, look, I mean, it's just a regional bias and this is the same thing. I was saying this too about maybe off pod about how they should do a World Cup, but for cuisines. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Because I do think that Mexican food might just, like, clear the bracket.

Like, it might go pretty far. Yeah, I mean. Look, this is certainly some homerism, both of us from Southern California. But, like, I love Mexican food is my favorite food. So it's like that would be hard to win me over. I think a lot of people would be like, you know, Italian food, probably a one seed. Yeah, but I kind of. Japanese food up there.

I think some stuff, some, some, I love Italian food and I think it is probably a one seed, but there are some other foods that I think that wouldn't necessarily be a one seed that I think I like more than Italian food. For the record, I'm talking for, talking for me. Italian food is not my top five. It might not crack. Yeah, it'll crack the 10, but it's not five. It's probably top 10, but honestly, like, if I think about pizza and pasta, I'm like, yeah, all right, I probably do like that enough for that to sneak in there. But, like, I don't know, you know, like Thai food, Chinese food.

Yeah, I feel like a lot of those countries, I think once you get to, like, the Caribbean, they're clearing. Oh, yeah. Eastern, Central Africa, clearing. The food that we had at your party that one time was like, that was. Zieg had like a screening for friends for last season of Your enemy book, please. Friends and one enemy. I did have to sort of attend the party, Blair witching myself in a corner.

But your friend catered the party, which is really great. And the food was like, I was like, this is like the best food I've eaten all year. It's so good. Yeah, my friend, she is a caterer. Shout out Jazzy Harvey. She's a chef. she makes Jamaican

She makes Jamaican food She actually just won like The L.A L.A. L.A. Oxtill competition Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah.

So it's incredible food But it was like Here is the perfect Perfect set of like Like here's a bunch of food That's gonna put you to sleep You're gonna get 30 minutes Watch the episode

And then you can go home And have the best night Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Oh no. As soon as the episode was over I was like Congrats Zig.

I gotta go home. Circling back to the snoring dog. It is a, it is typically a bacon wrapped dog, a Bolio style roll with a, which is like a softer roll. And I think one of the better rolls. Good role. I think it's like, it could do anything. Pinto beans,

tomatoes, onions, jalapeno salsa, and then, you know, you want some creme on there, you want some mayo. It's got some commonalities with an L.A. Street dog. And people are always doing two dogs, right? Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. Like, one hot dog does not a meal make.

I'm having two hot dogs. Except a Costco. I've parroted this forever. It was something I heard Gabris say a million years ago on a podcast, possibly on doughboys. I apply this to donuts and hot dogs. You don't ever just have, no person on earth has ever had one donut. Yeah. You're going to have a second, you're going to have at least some of a second donor or maybe a full second donut. I'm, two hot dogs is the default, two patties and a burger is the default. It's always two. It's never just one. Yeah. Yeah. If there's a box of donuts at the office, you grab a donut, that plastic knife is coming out and you're having like at least a half of another one.

And then it's a lie that you're telling yourself. Right. And you're going back for that other half. Because nobody wants, I'm never reaching for somebody else's half. I will, look, I will do that move. And this is a place I've reversed myself on. I flip flopped a little bit. The regular John Kerry for donuts.

But like, like, I used to be like, I want one donut to myself. And now I'm like, if I can come up with like a pact between another individual or it's like, you know, like, let's have these two donuts and we'll trade halves. Then I'm on board with that. Yeah. If we're ever in a situation where there's a box of donuts and you want to do that, I will happily be the other person to share with you. You'd never even have to ask.

I love it. Rochelle, with hot dogs and donuts. What do you think? I like them both. Okay, great. Fine. How many dogs you, I was about to say how many dogs are you putting down, but I do want to say it like that.

How many dogs are you taking down if you're going to have hot dogs? Probably just one. Probably just won. Well, I guess that's one way to live your life. Do you have a favorite kind of like topping combination or regional top dog varietal? I love sourcrow. Yeah, sourcrow. Yeah, and then no ketchup, just mustard.

Yeah, I mean, I've got nothing against ketchup. I've just like, like, if people who want to put ketchup on their hot dogs, that's fine with me. I'm not doctrinaire about it. For me, my choice is not to use ketchup. I've evolved my stance on ketchup. I used to only mustard and ketchup, and now as I've gotten old in my palettes, mature and I'm like, just give me that mustard baby. I do acknowledge that I think ketchup

is for babies. First of all, second, go-go-gaga. I can reiterate. I love ketchup. I love it. But it doesn't necessarily have to be on a hot dog for me. For me, my favorite hot dog is ketchup and mustard. But if I can get some onions on there, some

sourcrow, I'm a happy camper. Yeah. But I think the idea of like every region getting its own hot dog. I mean, it already has happened organic. Yeah. So, you know, I like that. Every region on earth. needs their own hot dog. That's the battle enemy I want to watch.

I want to see what they're cooking up, you know, in Japan and Australia. I want to see what's going on. Call out a hot dog? This is a hot dog. Oh, yeah, great. Dingo meat hot dog. You talked about Marvel rivals in the context of Comic Con. I was, I did have in my notes, I wanted to ask you about this, the state of Marvel

rivals because I know it's a game you fuck with. Yeah, it's a game that I do fuck with quite often when great temerity. I made the mistake. I don't know if you, I can remember if you guys do hero. shooters, but I took, I made the mistake of taking like three months off to play Resident Evil Requiem, and I came back and it felt truly like an old man who doesn't know what

who these characters are, like, they've they've had the very serious reintimplea, re-implementation? Yes, they've basically changed the whole way that the game works now, like characters have new moves, like, a huge rebalance, like it's actually kind of perfect because like now everyone's back to square one.

I'm not playing it as much, because I put like 300 hours into the game. And I was really craving like a single player experience. But I pop back in every now and then like, Garrick is one of the people that I play with. Yeah, yeah. It is fun having like a standing invitation to like call the boys up. Like, hey, well, I was to hop on Discord.

Put the zig signal up in the air. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I put that Z up and people come flocking. I'm just not like, like, hero shooters to address your question. Like, it's a thing we have talked about. We've done a Marvel Rivals episode. We did it with Zig. We did it with Zig, yes.

That I was like, obviously as you remember, but like I, I'm just not someone who like plays them on my, of my own volition. Yeah, that's not really, it's not really, to quote Austin Powers. Not really my bag, baby. Yeah, I mean, part of it is I'm trashed at them, but also like I just, if I'm going to make, make a, like, time for, I liked it. We all liked it. I'm going to just need you to give me a little bit more than yeah.

We're all silently enjoying it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're acknowledging it. We're letting it. We're giving. the listener room to laugh to themselves in their car. Yeah, yeah.

You did great. You did awesome. I was shocked that they didn't knock you on your ass. Well, there was someone listening right now that they fell. They were doing back squats in the gym. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The fucking buff as hell that's thinking of the show. Yeah. So, yeah. I wonder where our buffest listener is. If you think you're our buffest listener, like hop into our Discord and yeah

Get your stats. Yeah, what your PR is. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The bench, you know, a dead lift, a squat, you know, you know, you know your standard list.

But yeah, where were going with this? Oh, here's shooters is not my bag, baby. That's what it was, and I liked it. Well, here's what, here's what, it takes a lot of time commitment to get good to these games. You also got to have three to five with the people that can also give the same commitment of time to it. So I understand it's a hard. It's a very hard buy-in. And also, it does sort of, for me, it felt like we came to work.

Like, oh, I'm going to get in. I'm going to go and train. I'm going to, like, warm up in the, like, training area before I actually go into, like, the quick play. And then I'm going to do quick play to warm it before I can go into, like, the competition play. Do you think you're going to fuck around with Tokon Fighting Soul? I'm, I was looking at it. And I loved fighting games.

I love Marvel fighting games. But, again, it's like, I'm going to need at least 20, hours to like get yeah bad of the game like to play online and like find your characters and like find all that stuff i think if they end up dropping more dLC with like um more characters that like no flex but like characters like i have like written i that that would get me into it but right now i'm like i could spend 20 hours like playing other games and then once this game is figured out i can like get back into it look i don't you don't have any control over this and this is not this is just a jumping off player what you just the characters you've written yeah they need to

get on a static video game ASAP. I will love nothing more. It'd be so fucking sick. I would be the sickest. That's all I got to save with that. I'm with you on fighting games because like I, that's another thing of like we did a fighting game episode recently where we all, the three of us all just play to pick a different fighting game to try to learn or not even to learn.

You just mess around with a little bit. And I'm just like, God, man, there's so much just learning one character's moveset. Yeah. And that's not enough because you have to know everyone. Everyone's moveset so you know how to counter it, even if it's not, these characters aren't your main or your secondaries. It's just like, it's a lot, but also I have

so much fun when I play them, even though I'm getting my ass kicked. Yeah, I've always appreciate, did anyone here watch the TV show at the expanse? No, I never got any expanse. It's really good, but there's a sort of fun theme in that like, takes place in space, and it's a lot of grounded spaceship travel, so like

the characters will be in the middle of a fight, but they're doing real life, like, in real time calculations and telemetry to understand like how things are working and like the missile goes here, blah, blah, blah. But think about that when I'm playing, um, fighting games is that like, the game design, the people that play the game are so locked into like drop, drop frames and like, um, Oakees and like all this technical stuff are like, like, you have to pay attention. And like, I know that on the 13th frame of this move, when you wake up, I can like get this

move in. Like, it's become so technical. Yeah. That I appreciate people that can sort of see the matrix code. But to your point, like, yeah, the part of that 20 hours is like, I just want to have fun. And then I can like understand like how the science and how. the sausage is made when I'm playing these fighting games. Yeah.

White cheddar truffle and leak burger. Home style chicken and gravy. Truffle butter filet mignon. Spinach and sun-dried tomato shrimp fusili. Why am I eating one loose piece of cheese out of a bag that I found in the back of my fridge when options like these are available to me? What did I do this week? Why did I make these choices?

White cheddar truffle and leak burger. It's out there. This isn't even Velvita. It's a slice of plastic I've been gnawing on for a half hour. Homestyle chicken and gravy. Truffle butter filet mignon. Ketchup and cheese. What did I do?

Where's my wife? Why didn't I turn on the lights? My pants are wet. I should have made better choices. My routine has taken a hit. Travel plans, the heat of the summer, everything's slowing me down. I ate a label when I could have had spinach and sun-dried tomato shrimp. Fusili.

Why didn't I think? About Factor! Factor makes chef-crafted dietitian designed ready-to-eat-meals so you don't have to choose between real food and convenience. Factor makes chef-crafted dietitian designed ready-to-eat-meals so you don't have to choose between real food and convenience. Factor meals are ready in two minutes and require no prep and no cleanup. So even on the days of your schedule is completely out of control, eating well is still achievable. Every week you'll find over 100 nutrient-dense menu items to choose from and new options like salmon burgers, shredded pork, collared greens, and more.

Plus, add-ons you'll crave like pumpkin. flavored cheesecakes and protein shakes. I've been living with the lights off and one sock on one foot, the other sock missing. I've been drinking three-week-old milk out of an empty jar, but I could have been living on factor. Don't be like me. Make brilliant, achievable, intelligent choices. Discover foods like white cheddar truffle and leak burger, or tasty, home-style chicken and gravy, or delicious truffle butter filet mignon, or amazing spinach and sun-dried tomato shrimp foocily. Let's eat real. Head to factormeals.com slash get played 50 off and use code

get played 50 off. That's get played the words, the number 50 and the word off to get 50% off and one free breakfast item per box for one year while supplies last until 1031, 2026. That's code Get Played 50 off at Factor Meals.com. Get played 50 off at Factor Meals.com. See website for more details. Hey, buddy, when we were kids, summer meant freedom. No homework, no teachers, no school. Sometimes just out there, unsupervised till the sun went down.

Drinking from the hose. Who knows what we're up to out there? In the woods by ourselves. No phones. Adults completely losing track of us. They got their own things going on. Our parents are just like, you know what? These kids are self-sufficient.

They know I'd take care of themselves because it's summer, and we're in a society that's pre-the-ubiquity of smartphones. But here's adults, summer still means freedom, thanks to Mint Mobile's summer sale. Right now, all of Mint's plans are $15 per month, even unlimited. So free yourself from big wireless and their gimmicks and gotchas and switch to Mint for high-speed data and coverage on the T-Mobile 5G network.

Here's the thing about Mint. Ease, quality of service, savings, and so smooth the switch. Mint Mobile took what's wrong with wireless and made it right with premium wireless for 15 bucks a month. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered in the nation's largest 5G network. God, I remember drinking from the hose? Just out there? You just turn on the hose, get yourself a sip of water. Parents aren't like,

You need electrolytes. Is that organic? Not dealing with that. Just drinking some hose water. Maybe you spray your friend. You can even bring your current phone and your number. Choose from three, six, or 12-month plans and say goodbye to a monthly bill. Ditch overpriced wireless with MintMobile.

It's so easy. Sign up online and get three months a premium wireless service for $15 a month. To get your new wireless plan for just $15 a month, go to mintmobile.com slash get played. That's mintmobile.com slash get played. Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at mintmobile.com slash get played. That's it. There's no catch.

Up front payment of $45 for three months, $90 for six months or $180 for 12 months, plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees are extra. Initial plan term only, greater than 50 gigs, may slow when network is busy, includes up to 20 gigs hotspot. Capable device required.

Availability, speed, and coverage varies. See mintmobile.com. Hey, buddy, you know me. I'm not well traveled. In fact, I just crossed a notion of the first time this very year, but having some experience in a land where English is not the first language and recognizing that it's interesting to communicate with people and what they speak natively. It's taught me the value of language learning. And real phrases really changes the experience of traveling. And you know what? I've been learning some Spanish. And if you're traveling this summer,

here's a real travel hack. Don't wait until you land, start learning the language. Instead, try Babel. That's right, I'll be prepared by having some Spanish speaking skills that are applicable abroad when I travel to a Spanish-speaking territory because of Babel. Even just 10 minutes a day with Babel can help you start having real conversations in as little as three weeks. Instead of memorizing random vocab, which doesn't get you anywhere, you're learning phrases you'd use for ordering dinner, asking for directions, or talking with locals. You know me, I like to chop it up with everyone. What I like about Babel is it's built for real life. not vocablist, not verb charts, but real conversation, practice, and that's what you want.

Lessons are quick, practical, and built by more than 200 language experts. They have interactive dialogue, personalized reviews, even podcasts, all designed to get you speaking quickly and confidently. And unlike cramming before a trip, Babel fits into your actual schedule, coffee break, commute, or a few minutes before bed. Babel's award-winning app has sold over 25 million subscriptions and is backed by a 14-day money-back guarantee. Wow.

If you've got summer travel coming up, now's the time to start so you can actually use what you learn on the trip. Right now, Babel is offering listeners up to 60% off. Go to babble.com slash played. That's Babel, B-A-B-B-B-B-E-L-L-slash-played for up to 60% off. Rules and restrictions may apply? Well, we should ask another question for everyone, which is a question we ask every episode. And the question is, about some video games we're playing right now. It's, what are you playing?

and I see we actually have a voicemail here. Let's listen to this. Hi, it's me, the Resident Evil Merchant. I'm sorry I couldn't be there this week, everybody, but I had a dentist appointment for what the dentist called. Oh, God, what is that? We've got to get it out of there. Anyway, I'm here to ask my friends, what are you playing?

Wow, thank you, Resident Evil Merchant. As always, Yanks. Comprehensible. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, totally. Made sense, we understood it, and God bless. I was all normal stuff to hear. Could be a little bit looser, honestly.

Matt, what are you playing? Look, I've been a bit busy as of late. I just moved, and moving is hard. It's like, it takes up a lot of your time, and I also at a certain point. I packed my consoles, like, basically last, because I was like, I'm going to be needing the TV and stuff up into this, but I might want to play a couple games before. I just had no time,

and it could have easily packed them days before I actually did. But what's worse than packing is unpacking. And I've been doing a lot of that in my place. And then, Wiger, you had this idea. You're like, you should try out the game unpacking. So I did try it out, and I was playing it. And you know what? It's good.

It's so much nicer than the experience of, unpacking, there is a sort of thing that then I'm sort of thinking about when I'm playing it, which is that I should be doing this. Yes, right. I should be, you know, everything that is like essential that needs to be put away, like spoons and stuff, that stuff's put away. But like the fun stuff of like DVDs and shit, like, I haven't hung up a bunch of clothes or whatever. Like that stuff is coming in waves.

But in the game, in the game unpacking, which is, I got it on sale. I was like... What are you playing at the Switch? I play on PS5. Oh, okay. I should have got it on Switch, but it wasn't on sale on Switch. It was on sale on PS5, baby. Yeah, love it a deal.

And you basically start, it's like a, you have like a room diorama, and there are cardboard boxes in it, and you just kind of click on the boxes. It's like an isometric perspective. And I just, like, isometric perspective. And you're just sort of like looking at like a room, and you get an item from a box one at a time and you just sort of like placing it around the room wherever you want and it's like so cozy and nice that does sound like it slaps it's fucking great it's so fun but as you progress because like the first room is like your childhood room and in every level is like a a flash forward in time

and then you're in a dorm room and then you're a first apartment that's good and so then you're unpacking the rooms but as as you get uh as the game progresses there are more more rooms for you to unpack. So, like, in your dorm room, you have your dorm and then the bathroom or whatever. Yeah. And so, like, sometimes you'll open a box and you'll be, like, toothbrush, this doesn't go in here.

You've got to go take it over to the bathroom, put it in the bathroom. Yeah, because it won't let you progress if you're just like, put, you can't just put, you can't just put your toothbrush under the bed. Yeah, you can't just do, you can't just, you can't just fuck around. It's not just chaos, yeah.

Does it, is it one of the things we're like, oh, this is like, your child's room? Is it like, there's like, there's like some story elements of that, or is? I haven't quite gotten like, I haven't gleamed like what the story is, but it kind of does seem like it's telling the story of, for, it's, there is sort of like environmental storytelling where like I've noticed that like when you're in the childhood, when you're in your childhood room, you have all these like arts and crafts types of things. And then when you're in your dorm room, you have like one of those like wooden model like figures and like a bunch of little sketchbooks and things like that. So you're like sort of learning. I think my, what I've gleamed is so far, it's the story of this. this artist through their life basically

and it's just like a really charming design it's really really fun I don't it doesn't seem like it's that long so I'll probably keep messing with it but I just how many hours are you into it now I think 200 oh you fucking got me

I think I probably only done like two hours I think it's like four hours long I did get through a few of the different ones there is sort of like I think, I don't know if this is intentional or unintentional, but like, you're playing through these levels and there is a sort of like inherent sadness on the passage of time kind of. Yeah. Because you're sort of like, you just unpacked this room and it was like your childhood room.

And then you're sort of like, there's a lot more toys. There's a lot more like fun little things. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then you get older and they're sort of like, here's like a fucking can of raid. And you're kind of like, this is for grownups. It's like, yeah. It's just stuff you didn't have to think about when you're a kid, so you're kind of just like watching this person you don't know grow up in a very specific way. It's very interesting game.

Did you play a mixtape? I did start mixtape and then for some reason fell off of it, but I want to get back to it. It seems sort of complimentary to this vibe that you're. Mix tape is. It's my favorite game of the year that I played. Oh, wow. See, I skipped a mixtape. I completely forgot why you mentioned games when we play like, I don't want to get into it because it'll take forever.

But like, it was my favorite. game that I played this year. Wow. Well, I mean, all I had done is play Halo and this unpacking game. Why don't you tell us about mixtape a little bit? Oh, yeah. It's another quick game. It's more of a, I'd say more of a cinematic, interactive, animated movie is the vibe that I would say. Yeah. I think it's probably the, the current iteration of like what a pointing click was for us going up. It's resonated a lot with me, like small town in bands. Like, it's the last day like before everyone goes off to college and like it's all these like sort of vignettes and they um do this really beautiful thing where um well they'll they'll capture it like there's just

this one moment where like a character like the main character was just supposed to meet a friend and she's like oh the friends that they can't make it and so she's walking around the town and she sees that friend with like someone that she doesn't like and then like the camera locks on to you and you just follow the character as they have their internal monologue and this song is playing it's in black and white and it's just him like floating away and they're they're knocking things out of the the way it's like it's all very beautiful and poetic and like I remember playing it and like having such an intense reaction wow like crying at these scenes and being like oh I remember like the feeling like you go away from from college for the first time with all your friends and it's just a really

beautiful game that I think because I was so locked in on like let me backtrack I think it changed what my perspective of what a game could be I'm used to like getting down and I have to go from point A to point being to shoot these characters or like put the ball in the hole or or beat the team or capture the flag or whatever but like watching this it did make me understand a different appreciation a deeper appreciation for video games and what the um I think for the long time I experienced video games it's like um entertainment which it is but for this it was like oh I'm watching a piece of art and I'm engaging with a piece of art and I haven't had that experience in a very long time I'll have to play it because I mean it sounded like I remember when it was coming

out and I just remember being annoyed by the discourse because there were a lot of people complaining about like like, oh, go, it's got some of those the cassette specifics wrong, things like that. And I just like, I was like, I don't know, for whatever reason, that just kind of made me tune out of it entirely. Yeah, yeah. But I've heard nothing but good things for people who've actually played it. So if you got four

hours to knock out in an afternoon, it's a great game to play. Um, I, but I have finished unpacking. And, and, uh, first off, I mean, it's just such a one to one of like, you doing the unproductive thing when you could be doing the productive thing. I'm like, Directly.

Yeah. It's like playing like, it's like your job is 911 operator and you're ignoring it to play 911 operator simulator. It's like, you're just like not doing the thing you could be actually doing. LeBron James in the locker room with the NBA finals playing NBA 2K. I mean, get out there. Oh, I'm sorry, my hamstring hurts. Anyway, so.

I gotta get me one of these Philly hot dogs. So, but as far as what I've been playing, we're going to stay in the indie space and maybe that actually is a nice counterpoint a nice contrast to, since we're to be talking about the most AAA franchise there is the Halo franchise in a little bit. But I played through a game called And Roger.

This is developed by a Tirihan Studio. It was published by Kodansha and it's largely the work of a solo dev in Japan who goes by Yona. It came out in mid-2020, but it got on my radar because they just released a switch two port. And I was like, oh yeah, this game,

It's really well reviewed. I got it on Steam. And, oh, boy, this game. It is about an hour long, as I mentioned. I got the bulk of the achievements in 72 minutes of playtime. It is a visual novel. It's got point-and-click mini-games.

And it is pretty brilliant, but it is absolutely gutting. Wow. This is one of those ones where it's really hard to talk about specifics without ruining the experience because at its heart is a magic trick where you think one thing is happening

and then it keeps lensing out to you seeing the wider world and then by the end you're like, oh, that's what's actually happening this whole time. And it all retroactively makes sense. But it starts out and it feels like a horror game that is so dark it actually maybe bounce off of it, not because it's scary, but because it's so upsetting and unsettling. And I actually think it goes one notch too far in this regard because I frankly thought I was like, I was going to be, I was like playing a game about child abuse. And I was like, I cannot immerse myself in this.

But it's ultimately not that. It's just like that's the way in for this narrative that ultimately is also about kind of the passage of time and just like what it is to be alive. And I think it ultimately lands in a place where it's just incredibly effective. It's like a work of art. It's just, and it's got this nice line art. It's like kind of like, I forget which software it was used to make it, but it's kind of like, it feels like it was almost like in Corel Draw or something like that. It's just like a real like, like just sort of like simple, straightforward, kind of a very simple color palette.

But really, really evocative, really the character is really emot a lot. And it's one of those things where you could only have this feeling from an interactive experience because you could not, you could tell the exact same story through like, you know, like a theatrical or through a narrative film, but it just would not affect yourself in the same way, because you just could not have this sort of the disorienting

presentation that this one offers making you at the center of it and making you realize, I'm in control of this thing, but I'm actually not in control of this thing. But because so much of it rifts on existing game UX, for instance, like, we all know we play games, one of the first things you encounter,

that gamma slider, where it's like, like, you know, adjust this so this image is visible and this one is not. So there's like there'll be like a puzzle that's based off of that. And I'm like thinking about like, well, I could see this game really working on a non-gamer because it's just like at its core so universal and the themes it's exploring, except they would be baffled by something like that. Like that would find to be inscrutable and maybe that would be their roadblock as opposed

to the content itself. So it's a little less approachable for non-gamers. but if you do play games and you are open to this kind of experience and you you play, you, you, you, you, you,

you, I, I, I, I, it's a, it's a, it's a, really, really awesome experience if you, if you didn't, if you missed it last year.

One thing is, I will say is that it is surprisingly Christian, which is not like a, like a thing that's going to make me bounce off of it necessarily. Not on this show, it's a Christian show. Yeah, but I,

but I know some people like, whatever, you have some, perhaps a, a, a, not great associations with that or whatever. it's not just subtext in this.

Like the characters are talking about prayer. And I was like, oh, is this just what the, is hard of the characters? But no, there's literal text. Like, I mean, a Bible verse on screen level of, like, Christianity. And I guess the developer is like a really a person of strong Christian faith.

So that is like very much on the surface of this. In my video games, on the bottom of my in-and-out cups, I can't get away from this stuff. Where does this get prayed? But it's a absolutely, total gut punch at the end and I'd like you know worked all day yesterday and I was just I play I finished this game and I was just sitting there it was like 11 p.m. and I was just like numb. Um, now he was asleep and I was just like looking in the middle distance just like,

you know, feeling like I'd been, I'd been, again, just like I'd been punched in the stomach. There's not a better way to say it. You know, just like and so I just, I was just kind of like the lingering experience so as so I had to watch an episode of a chain soldier so I put that on it's funny that like you describing it in this way in any in any other respect in any other context I'd be like you're not selling me on this at all yes right it sounds like a fucking nightmare but you're you are selling me on this because it sounds like an interesting piece of art that I'd like to engage with that's that's exactly it I like it's not a pleasant experience or it's an experience I'm glad I had.

Yeah. Yeah. And I'm glad it also was not going where I thought it was going in the first 10 minutes. Okay, cool. I'll check it out on Twitch 2. Why not? Another thing to mention is just a thing I installed and messed around with. I went to the horniest place on the internet Nexus mods to get the Baldersgate 3 true

third person camera mod. This was Modder Relicia, came out with this in July based on the native camera tweaks mod by Ersch, another modder. and what it does is it implements a full OTS POV for Baldersgate 3. So it's like, you know, you already have a lot of flexibility because of the Larian's engine to move the camera around. But this just makes Baldersgate 3 look like Witcher 3. It makes it look like just like a standard any sort of third person game in this day and age. And it's kind of awesome.

Like it's like I'm still a mouse and keyboard guy, but it you can, it controls really well with a controller. I just like it's it's one of those community things that it's just like oh okay I can kind of experience this game that I know really well in a different way I do miss I haven't played on PC in a very long time but I do miss like you would find mods particularly like the older days I think back to like Unreal tournament and you'll find a mod that you could just create aliens versus predator in Unreal and I do miss that flexibility from the community just be like oh I'm going to have Mr. Burns voice pack on my Warhammer 40K Marine as I fight the predator in the blood gulch like it's very cool I remember being a kid this is like a whole episode we could do too mods yeah but like I remember being a kid

and like I think it had to have been like a doom clone or something where like they replaced the enemies with Barney and my uncle showed it to me because I was like of Barney generation right and I remember being a little upset that they were killing Barney I was like you actually can't do that to do it Yeah, it's

It's I like The mod's a thing like Like fan art That I just like love exists Because I know it's purely for the love of the game There's no way for someone to really monetize this So you know

This the two third person camera mod Will coexist with my Withers Big Naturals mod Well that's a thing to a lot of mods at the end of the day Are like how do we fucking get some huge honkers On someone Increase jiggle by 40% Rochelle, what do you been playing? You've been messing around with Mina, right?

I've been playing Mina the Hollower. Wow. It's so hard. I didn't realize it was like a soul's like. Yeah. So the first time I died, I was really pissed off. But it's good to know that it gets easier. Yeah, it does get easier, but also, if you want to do this, there's no shame in doing this.

there are things that you can toggle in the settings menu that just make the game easy. I'm doing that. You can do it because I think the game is worth experiencing

however you want to play it. I don't think that it does disable achievements and in game feats and stuff like that. But like I think the game is worth playing and so like I think it's cool that like from the jump that they're like

yeah just turn all this shit off. Who cares? Like give yourself a million axes or whatever or like make you stronger than your enemies or whatever who gives a shit? You play it however you want but like I think

I think you'll enjoy what happens with the story and like the gameplay I think is fun enough what do you think of Mina? So cute yeah Mina's really cute The moment I found accidentally you could I guess hollow

I felt like this is so sick hollowing is really good Hollowing is like concrete It's a hollow world's life for me baby. See, I never even conceived really of hollowing prior to this. And now I'm like, hey, you can hollow. I never thought about

doing it. And then you know what's actually crazy? I was on a walk the other day and I was like, damn, I wish I could hollow. There was a bunch of dirt around and I was like, if I was a hollow or I could fucking make short work of this path. It's one of those things where it's just like, and you know, Matt, you laughed me. I played this game first, but I bounced

off of it and I got to go back to it because it is one of the best things I play at all. It's my game of the year with a bullet. I completely trust your opinion, and I have a feeling I may land to the same place, ultimately. But you feel like if this was like a major publisher, if like EA was putting this out or Activision Blizzard, they'd be like, you can't call this game Mina the Hullower. No one's what the fuck a hollower is. And they're just like, you know what?

No, we're going to call it Mina the Hullower. It's a thing that we are just like going to make a thing. We invented this. We invented this. And then we're just make people say hollower. And you know what? It's going to sell like hotcakes because it's good. She does this and she's one of several people who do this. And it's not even her main thing.

Her main thing is that she's an inventor actually. Yeah, I forgot about, yeah. I forgot you were there to like change light bulbs. She has to repair stuff, an infernal carnation that she, you know, a contraption that she's made, that she has to repair. What weapons did everyone pick? I went with the they're called Whisper and Vesper

I think the two of the two knives Yeah I was a I was a tribute to Simon Belmont I went with the whip The whip

Ranch what did you pick Is your starter weapon I did the double knives too I kind of like two knives Yeah I do two knives in Hades or the two daggers Or the two daggers

Or whatever it is Fuck you people I fuck people up with those things Yeah Very British of you Because they stab people in Britain. They stab people there?

Yeah. Is that knives? You're all right? I don't know, man. I was think of the Australian the Australian knife one-upsmanship. That's not a knife. This is a knife. You get a second knife.

You just like, well, that's a knife. This is two knives. So you have two knives to sort of combat any potential one-upsmanship. Like, don't even think about, you think you have a bigger one? I actually have two. So why don't you back the fuck off?

All right, let's talk about Halo. So we've, Matt, you pitched this. I pitched this. And I was, and of course, HAL campaign evolved is our, is our way in, is our newspaper here. But I was like, how can we have never done a HALO episode? And then I'm realizing, you know what, everyone who comes at us for ignoring Xbox is correct. Yeah. Because we don't, we don't fucking do episodes about it.

That is shocking. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I actually, so like, I've played the original trilogy and then, I messed around with Halo Infinite, which I actually enjoyed. I thought was pretty fun. And that's it. I absolutely love Halo 1.

I have so many, like, fond gaming memories attached to Halo 1 and just was, like, a completely unexpected, you know, like, like, just wonderful, transcended a gaming experience for me where the time in my life it hit me. And just like that it was not even going to buy an Xbox. And then all of a sudden there's this system seller that gets going to get me to buy an OG Xbox. Yeah. I was a kid

I didn't have an Xbox until I got my very first series S you know back in 2020 so I had no experience playing Halo or any sort of Xbox titles whatsoever except for the ones

that would eventually be on other platforms which were not very many at the time I'm thinking specifically of Psychonauts was like the one that sort of jumped from Xbox to PlayStation 2 later but

I would play it at my friend's house like he like a friend of mine had an Xbox and then would have the four controllers and my three friends would be good at Halo because they also had it and I just never had it and I would just be the one friend in the

in you know the bottom screen just like fucking up being bad at the game and just like dying all the time like not having any fun because I just also early on first person games which is really, really make me motion sick

but then when I did get the Series S, I think per your recommendations, Z, I think one of the first games I played on on the Series S was Halo Reach. Oh, yes, incredible game. Which is I think it might be in like the top 50 games.

Yeah. Everybody gives me a lot of shit because I say a lot of games are all timers on this thing. But I think if I made a list Halo Reach would be not necessarily in the top 20 top 10 but like if we got to 50 I think I could put it in there safely because it was a fucking

great time but I remember playing it on Twitch I was streaming it and I had to pause the stream for a second you know guys I got to hold on just got to pause something real quick and then it came back because I got to go lay down I feel so shitty like because I was motion sick

yeah I had to go lay down wow and I felt only Halo, but you can do other first person shoes? I've gotten better at it now, but like I think it was maybe like a proximity to the screen thing that was like happening for me and then like trying to focus on. And frankly, I was like, I don't really want to be streaming right now. But like I felt like I felt physically ill so I had to stop. But I did power through eventually and beat that game.

And I've messed around with the first Halo and they kind of stopped there. But then when the Halo Infinite came out. Yeah. I don't think I played a second of the campaign. at all. Really? I think I maybe play like, like if anything, like the opening thing was kind of like, I kind of just like playing online. Oh, wow. I would play with you and our buddy, Jeff, who we used to work with at Earwolf. And then one time, one time we invited If he, I'm pretty sure we told the story on the show before, but we were going to play with Iffy. And we had this like big plan.

It was kind of like, I think, I feel like it was his idea. Absolutely. He was for sure like, let's all three of us get online and play Halo. We were like, fuck yeah. It's going to be so fun. We all had, you know, our headsets with the mics and stuff. Customs fits on the game. We were like, let's get in there. We're going to have, the boys are going to have a laugh on a Friday night. We're like, it is us. We're like waiting for Ify, which if you know iffy at all is unusual. Yeah, yeah. Concerning. Deeply concerning. We're just waiting and waiting for him. And finally we got it, we text him. We're like, hey, are you hopping? I think we waited conservatively like 45 minutes. Absolutely. Yeah. We had done matches ourselves.

And then we're like, where's if he's going to get in here? We get a text for him. He's like, I'm at the airport. He's like, I'll be home in like two hours. That's not even the craziest iffy, like, flake that I've ever gotten. I used to, I mean, I could, we could do the whole show. I've known iffy since I was 14 years old. So now over 20 years.

But I went to, we used to, I used to pick him up for us. Garden Grove, which is out of the way for me. Right. Having lived in, you know, in Lakewood. And I'd pick him up and we would drive to here, Los Angeles for like improv class. Oh, so you're going south and then going back north. Going south and going, but he didn't have a car.

So he was like, hey, we're in this thing. Or we go see shows or whatever. I waited outside his place one time for an hour. And I saw on like the PlayStation app or something that he was online. And I like was texting him, get off the fucking game. What are you doing? And he was like, sorry, man. I was just like taking a shower.

I was like, you straight up weren't. I saw what you were doing. Well, there's wireless controller has hand outside of the shower courage. Yeah, yeah, yeah. One hand of the fucking back looper, the other hand playing the game. He's, I love him more than anything.

Yeah. God bless him. But we would play Halo Infinite a little bit, and then I think we both just kind of like bounced off of it. Yeah, I was getting kind of nasty with it in there, though. It was a fun game. You were, I was, I didn't, that makes so much sense, more sense that you were only playing

Yeah. Um, um, um, um, multiplayer because it was like, is John Wick here? What's going on? Because Matt would always consistently have such a high kill to death ratio that I was fulmix. Um, I, I, I've, Halo. All panic. It was just, it was just, yeah. Oh, God, they're coming for me.

I, uh, Halo was, I was like an original Xbox guy. Like, that was the first system. I had. Dreamcast and had the PlayStation. Remember the Xbox was the first time, like, oh, this is like a new generation. Like, it looks like fucking real life. And my mom got it for me for Christmas,

and she was like, you can open one gift before on Christmas Eve. Like, thank you. That's such a clutch mom. I know, and I opened up, and it was Halo, the game. I remember reading through the booklet all day, every day, being like, oh, this gun is 35 millimeter or 7.5.6. It's a standard issue, UNSC. Like, I read, I became so.

entrenched in the lore, but I think because I read that book from front to back for like, I saw it 24 hours. Yeah. That I got into like the whole like extra lore. Like there's a book series that came out. I read the three books. I was really like in the Halo universe. Like I was there for like one, two, three. Like I remember the first time I beat

it. I heard that if you beat a game on legendary, like the hardest difficulty, like a special ending. I remember trudging through that game. Trudging like truly like get home from school. Mom, don't talk to me. I have to beat this game on legendary. And like, being the game on legendary and getting like the extra 15 second cut singing and being like, it was all worth it.

It was all worth it, maybe. Legendary, a truly punishing difficulty. Yeah, not fun. No. It was also one of those, the first games where I remember,

like, this is before, like, YouTube was a thing. So, like, everything that became, all the, like, the, like, the, like, the, like, the sort of, like, mysteries, like,

oh, if you go to this section, you'll see this weird character. Like, I remember that was the first game where I was, like, getting out of bounds and, like, finding, like, leftover, holdover pieces that they left in the game and being like,

oh, there's just a random, in the level, I think, when you go when you first meet the flood, if you get off the ship, if you hold X or something on the ship, you can stay out for a long time in the ship just like goes out of bound

and lands, I guess to save memory, I don't know how games work, but if you hop out, you'll find one soldier just like hanging out in the middle of the forest. I remember I've seen that as a kid of being so terrified. There's a ghost in my machine.

I gotta put the controller down. So my way in debt to Halo 1 is, which Halo campaign involved, is a remake of, a total remake of in Unreal Engine 5, was I, like, I grew up playing PC games. And I also, we also had Nintendo consoles in the home. But like, I was like, that was, that was always kind of my primary platform. And outside Nintendo first party games. And so I'd played a bunch of like PCFPSs, like, you know, Wolfenstein 3D and Doom and, you know,

the aforementioned half-life. And I always was like, a little elitist about and no doubt like an annoying teenager way of like well yeah console FPS is I was like this is really the real experience. Halo was the first even like Golden Eye which all my friends

absolutely loved and I was just kind of like I don't know this play is clunky I'm used to using a mouse and keyboard. The first console FPS I got that really got its hooks on me was Halo which I you know and the run up was before the Xbox console

was supposed to come out on PC and then that ultimately ends up being delayed and then you know doesn't really come out on a PC until the you know one of the the collections many years later but play like it plays so well on a console like it controls so well you know with the dual sticks it's like it's

and it's just so playable and also just so it's such a fun design in terms of like all the things like the advances they made in that game, from a design standpoint, like, like, the shield that refills, or the limit on the number of weapons you can carry, which is one of those things where it's like, this limitation actually makes this experience more fun, whereas, like, gamers, like, you would think approaching is

like, no, I want to be able to carry every gun, but you having to make those hard decisions, you having to discard things, it makes it, like, it just makes it a more immersive, uh, tensor experience. And so, like, I love things like that. And I love the, being able to play the whole campaign co-op, rather, uh, which I, which I did with, with my buddy that we just like we played through the entire game together every single level I was like this is fucking this is like this is what gaming is all

about like I just loved it so much and so as the series evolved and as Halo the Halo franchise got handed off from bungee the original developer or two is it is it 343 343 like I just was like I just kind of bounced off of it for whatever reason and never really got into subsequent entries

but I have heard from another people that like reach is good what about like the other you know any other later entries in the series Beyond Infinite, which I'd mess around with. Oh, please go ahead. I was gonna say I heard like five is not good. People don't like five. Yeah, there is, you can, so people,

a lot of people's view, I think, rightfully so as Halo Reach is like the Pinnacle. It was a Bungie's last game that they were doing. They'd been spent like, you know, 10, 15 years, like building this lore and this world and this reality. You could tell they were really firing on all cylinders. And also they were, reach was like covering this sort of

sort of Damocles that's been hanging over the series forever. People always wanted to know what happened before like the first Halo game it's kind of a brilliant opening like you just open up on the fucking ship tear-assing out of a slip stream and be like what the fuck happened? Like that game answered that question.

It's just a really well-constructed game but I feel like five people were like it was like the second handoff to 343 it felt my perspective was it felt a little bit too much like Call of Duty it felt weird and tactical and like a little bit too real life just wasn't as video gaming as I wanted, but

But there's three and then there's three ODST, right? Oh, yes, people like ODST a lot. Yeah, people really, I'd say, yeah, if people really loved ODS because you're not a super soldier, you're just like dudes. Hell yeah, maybe. The storytelling was, yeah, just dudes being dudes. Man, here's the thing, if I can just be a dude,

I fucking love that. It's funny because ODST actually stands for only dudes shooting things. Yeah. Can we have others on here for this one. And that, right there, that's my bag. I'd say, like, for my, like, for my amount of fun, it's hard to be the first time you play the first Halo,

but then after that, definitely Halo Reach and then ODST. There's so many conventions, I think, from the game, though, that I think are so iconic. Like, I mean, I'm even just sitting here just thinking about it right now, like the Halo Tony Soprano memes. Have you seen these? Oh, that's where they're holding Halo guns. Or like, it'll be like Polly Walnuts and Tony like holding fucking needlers.

Yeah. Or like pulling up in a ward hog. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nick was talking about how it sort of was a flashpointed. Like it really was this like the cultural context was like, this was like the first time like a first person shooter on a console was like worth it. Yeah. But also I think about even the sort of adjacent.

things with like the birth of like red versus blue and like machina and like that whole art form that just sort of spun out of like people making sitcoms and in the multiplayer one of the crazier things about the game to me is that that that that was so popular yeah that was just like the game is so popular that people are like let's make a funny version of this yeah it's like they're just hanging out and like that's crazy yeah i was looking through the list of all the the the gear and and you know certainly like what are kind of like the fan favorites and the kind of the signature items.

It's crazy how much of it was established just in Halo 1 and 2. Oh yeah. You know what I mean? It's like basically like the aforementioned you know, needler, the you know, the state of the UNSC assault rifle, the battle rifle,

the energy sword. Those are all, they're all Halo 1 and 2 weapons. Yeah. And then certainly like the Wart Hog also comes from just Halo one and the other, I think like the ghost of the banshee, all those were like kind of just built in. Yeah. And then then of course like I always think of the halo sticky grenades.

Yeah. Which I, you know, I don't know. Like, that was just like one of the most fun weapons I would think. You put one of those on a guy and just watch them run around. I'm just like, here we go. Yeah, it was, it was like the perfect multiplayer fuck you weapon because like you'd, the best would be like, you'd toss at the start of a match and you'd see it to sail and then you just see like the Dan died, you know, like that was always the worst.

But also when you get sticky, stuck by one and then you would kamikaze your friend. Those were like, I'm having flashbacks to like college playing those. video games. Did it I mean it's certainly not the first game that invented teabagging but I feel like it was like I don't know it might have been I feel like because that was because Halo 2 was the first time first one you could do like land like connect to your Xboxes but yeah Halo 2 the big selling point was like we can use this on Xbox Live right I think it came like a three month subscription like a headphone

and I remember that was the first time I did like online multiplayer okay and it was so toxic And it was a lot of like And you were at this point You're you're in North Carolina still Yeah yeah yeah so even as toxic as you would think Even more than that I remember I remember being so upset that I would get sniped

Halfway across the map and then this fucking kid would teabagg me And then talk shit while he was doing it at me And I'd be like you know I can do this for another four hours I'll buy for one more round There was as toxic as you know some communities are The early days the wild Wild West of Xbox Live was really something. Yeah.

Just, just like, you get in a match of Uno, and it's just like, I can't believe, I'm just getting fucking, just slurs or just being yelled by like a 12-year-old. Here's the thing. Same thing happens when you play Uno with a group of people. You know, when you get together, maybe not slurs, but when you get to...

There's a lot of shit talking going on. Yeah. When you get your group of high school, friends together and you're playing you know, shit comes up. Yeah. You get fucking mean real fast. No, so was this, you played Halo, the original Halo.

Yes. And you played nothing after that. No, I mean, I played Halo 2. I played Halo 3. And then that's basically where I stopped until Halo Infinite. Okay. And Halo Infinite was, but I've always been like, you know, more into the single player campaign side of things.

Like, I always just found that more compelling. Because I also like As much as the story of Halo, the Halo franchise in hindsight was so heavily informed in probably a bad way by post 9-11 War on Terror like this is like these are, there's religious

sellets that are just like evil. I mean no reason to remake it in the current era. But I mean like that's kind of that's so baked into it. But I do kind of find like the world's so appealing and like

Yeah, yeah. Like, I don't know. It just, this is, this is such a trite thing to say, but it's like, when you play in video games, it's like, you just want cool stuff to look at. And I just like, I really love the games aesthetically. Yeah, I was, I was, I did the, I did the first, like, there's like three, like, prequel missions you can do, which are brand new. And, like, the first mission half of, like, the actual game. And there's a point where you, in the prequel missions where you, you get guns that weren't originally in the first Halo. And there's a gun called the Spiker this.

just it's a gun that has like a big metal heat thing that shoot spikes and it has blades on the side. I remember looking at me like this might be the coolest shit I've ever fucking seen. It's like I mean even Master Chief looks fucking awesome. He looks awesome. And he's sort of like the you know like sort of quintessential like stoic bad guy like bad badass like tough guy. There's not a whole lot to him. Yeah. But he's fucking cool as hell. He is cool. Cortana is um, uh, wifu. It's like there's just like there's just like, there's also. There's not a whole lot to him. There's All sorts of like just, and I like all the enemy designs.

I remember the experience of getting to, yeah, the first flood level, because you're fighting a different, like, like the type of enemy. And so just like that, like that's a whole thing of like,

oh, wow, there's like another front in this war. There's a different sort of, you know, like evil empire of got a battle. I just remembering something. In high school,

a friend of mine came to school with like, a bob haircut. She got a bob. And another kid thought to roast her and called her

Cortana, which I thought was funny, but she didn't know what the fuck it was. She's like, what is that? What is he saying?

Yeah. I was like, oh, she's like a hologram woman from Halo. And she goes, oh, shut up.

Like, not even affected by the roast. I don't want to get a Wikipedia to get your burn. Really good. So how much?

Because I haven't got, we're recording this, basically, I think technically the day Kalo campaign evolved released. I have not gotten a chance to spend any time with this game, I will admit,

but y'all were playing it some. Yeah, I play, I mean, I played like about like an hour of it. And it's like, I mean,

this is the thing about this remake. I think it exists for two reasons. One, to have it on modern hardware and make it look nice because it is available through backward compatibility and stuff. You can play it on, you know, you can play it on Steam

through the Master Chief Collection, which is a great collection. It's routinely on sale for like $9, and it's like five games. I think for that version, you can also press a button and go between, like, the original graphics and, like, sort of updated graphics. Yes, exactly. And it's on, you know, you can play it on any Xbox, but it is now on PlayStation 5 also.

That is, I took a picture of my, I'm sorry, I interrupted you, I'm so sorry, But I have a friend that's a diehard Xbox loyalist, and I took a picture of like the Halo thing next to my controller, and I was like, this would have blown my mind 10 years ago. Yeah, it is, it is, I think, still very strange. Yeah.

It's because like it would be, I mean, Kratos is, you could play God of War on PC or whatever on Steam. Yeah. But like, imagine he's on the homepage of Xbox. You'd be like, what the fuck is going on? Yeah, yeah. It really feels as seismic as Sonic and Smith. Smash Bros.

Yeah. Just like I did not think this was going to happen. Yeah. But it's, there's also an element to that of watching the, like, living through the entire expanse of the basic, I guess now the full lifespan of the Xbox brand. It's just like, oh, they've just kind of given up on it.

They've really just like, we're not going to be a hardware company anymore, which is weird. It's strange. I do think, though, too, there is something to like, I mean, obviously the Master Chief Collection has been available for forever. they've reached everybody that they're going to get in the Xbox and PC ecosystem

because if you have one of those things you've played that. You've just, you have it, you've downloaded it on Game Pass or whatever, you've done it. So they're like, we need to sort of get it in front of people

who have maybe never had this and we'll start with this remake, which I think they're going to do more of. I mean, look, I would love, if I would love, I would love a Halo Reach remake. Like that would be so good. Oh, yeah.

I mean, it's the only one of them that I've played all the way through and I fucking love it. I would love to play it again. Very good. So you said you've been like an hour in? Yeah, and I don't know what you... I want to hear what you think about it,

but my thought on it is, having messed around in the Master Chief Collection, these games play pretty well even though they're old. There was, I think, maybe no reason to do this other than let's get, let's make some money. Yeah, I think that. I think also it seems very much like a,

like a tech demo for like Unreal 5. Yeah. But playing it like, it is still fun. It still has that, like the gameplay loop is still very, um, um,

joyful and infectious. Yeah. And addictive. But also, um, there are moments from like, oh, this is like a 25 year old game.

Mm-hmm. When like you, the, the, the gameplay loop in the like base game is like, corridor, red enemy, blue enemy.

The like, the writing is like just a little, you're, it's like, like when you're like 13 like oh yes I haven't seen aliens like this is really cool but now you're like I need I think I need like a little bit more than like

stoic badass being like I'm gonna go down with the ship chief give them hell you can only see that beat so many times before you're like I think I need a little bit more but I am very curious to be like if you've only been on the PlayStation ecosystem for however long yeah that's your first time playing Halo like are you are you like oh this game is incredible or does it feel like a sort of an old game

I'm very curious. Because, I mean, there are things in it that, like, I didn't really know about, or I wouldn't have really known had it not been for, like, my limited experience playing it at, like, friends' houses or whatever. But, like, I think if I had never played a Halo game before. Yeah. And my first opportunity was to play it on PlayStation 5. Yeah.

And then I'm introduced to those little alien guys that are running around, like, wow, la, blah. I'd be happy that I was doing it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because, like, I think the stuff in the game is good. Like the, it's kind of just like not entirely necessary, I think. Like I think they could have fully gotten away with porting their Master Chief Collection over to PS5. I don't know how big of a task that would have been necessarily. But like this, it, I don't think it needs to exist, but it's cool that it does kind of, I guess.

The bones are all there. Like, they're almost like, oh, this is, even now it's so different than I think what most first person shooters are. Yeah. I mean, I think maybe Doom, maybe I just have the coin, which, like, Doom is very self-aware of what it is. Yeah. But, like, comparing this to, like, any other, like, Call of Duty, like, it is very fun, and it does know what it is. And I feel like that's something that is, I think that's something that they may have lost for me throughout those games where, like, it becomes a little bit too serious. Yeah. A little bit too, like, we have to save the universe.

But something about your enemy is, are absolute cowards. Yes, they're always afraid of you. And they're always getting bullied by the other people in their ranks is very funny to me. This is happening a lot in the Xbox ecosystem in general where just even, I don't know if it was at the end of last year or earlier this year where there was the Gears of War reloaded. The Years of War I remake. Yeah. And, you know, now we got the, we got the Star Fox remake on Switch 2. We got an o'carina time, O'Carina of Time later this year.

The Final Fantasy 7 trilogy, like I think there is popular wisdom. These remakes sell. Because I think at a certain point, people like new games, sure, but people really love games that they love and games that they've played before. Yeah, it's, boy, games are in such an interesting space. Yeah. Because we haven't quite yet, like, settled on like, hey, and maybe Unreal Engine 5 or, you know, something that follows or will be kind of like, hey, this is just going to be like this is going to be the equivalent of 35 millimeter in film. This will just be like kind of like the de facto standard that will exist for decades. Yeah. Maybe we'll ultimately sell on, but right now we're just like, the leaps have been incremental as opposed to what happened.

We went to the 8-bit to the 16-bit to the, you know, 32 and 64-bit eras. But like we are still making progress like every generation in terms of what you can achieve. Yeah. At least graphically. And so, yeah, but it's kind of like the equivalent of like, well, I still want to watch Jaws, even though that movie came out in. 70s, you know what I mean? It's like, well, I still want to play Street Fighter 2, even though that game is 30 plus years old because I just like Street Fighter 2. So I want it to be presentable in a contemporary sort of format. And then with these like these kind of early I always forget the name, which console generation is which, you know? Like I always feel like it's like the most annoying sort of thing of like, like, what's in console generation six right now? what the fuck? I have no idea.

But I guess like, like, that the PlayStation 1 and PlayStation 2 era, you know, like Xbox era, Nintendo 64 era as for Star Fox, all those games are like such early salvos at 3D gaming. Yeah. Where it's like, well, I still

like these games and I love these, I have nostalgia for these games, I want to play these games, but playing them in the original format is just like a little bit clunky. So how do we make some concessions tomorrow to modernity and make them playable on modern hardware, but still honor the games that people love, you know? So like, it's just so, I don't know, it's like,

hopefully eventually we'll just land on, on, on, like, they said the equivalent of like a criterion release of like, you know, Stanley Kubrick's The Killing, you know, I mean, where it's just like, oh yeah, this is just a good looking version of this thing that I know, but it doesn't fundamentally change it. Yeah. Because like with this, like I want to play more of it, I was having a lot of fun.

Yeah. Because it's just like, yeah, you remake a fun game, a game that's good that everybody likes. And you basically just don't do any, don't mess with it. It's going to still be fun and good. Yeah. And I, we feel like, and again, we're going back to a previous topic we discussed. It was like, the Resident Evil 4 remake was just like so well done. It just was such a great balance of like, yeah.

This feels like the game I remember, even though it's not the game that I remember. Oh, yeah. And it also feels like a fully modern game. There's like no reason for me now to go back to play the original one. Right. Because like I think the new one was so good and so fun. Yeah. I see what you're, yeah, I think getting in that mindset,

comparing this to like the Master Chief Collection, I don't know if there's fundamentally much difference between my experience of those games. Other than like in this new version, we can use a couple of new weapons and they're like, you know, we can put skins and stuff like to sort of modern things. But like I feel like I had just as much fun playing the Master Chief Collection. I think because also I could go back and see what came before. Like I could hit L3 and like, oh, this is what it used to look like. This is what it looks like now.

Like I don't know if I, I don't know. Like if I wasn't a super fan of Halo or if I never played Halo before, maybe a good introduction. But yeah, I don't know if there's anything fundamentally thus far that I've experienced that made me like I should buy this game. Because then it also is like how far are they going to go? Like obviously they'll probably remake the Halo 2 and Halo 2. three. Will they do reach? Will they do like four? Like four feels like it's like old but still kind of more modern than the original three at least. Like what are they like how like where does the buck stop? Because like that with like just bringing back Resident Evil they're not

deciding to remake five. They're doing Veronica, um, which I think is interesting. Um, But, like, are they going to do six? Like, what's like, where, where do we draw the line with, like, where do they draw the line of, oh, this game doesn't actually need to be remade because it's, like, modern enough? I think probably that, but I think also, like, what sold well, like, I don't think people are necessarily clamoring for Disney or Sips or clamoring for Halo 4. I could see the last, I could see them doing greatest hits. Like, you'll do probably two, three, maybe ODST, but I could see Reach being like the last one.

We're like, all right, we'd made the game that everyone wanted to make, and now we can keep going. Boy, because you always think of, like, I'm just thinking about movie remakes, is you always think, like, well, they don't need to remake King Kong because King Kong is great, you know what I mean? Yeah. But, like, they're going to remake King Kong

because people know what King Kong is, but it's more interesting to remake a flawed movie. And then also I'm just like, like, oh, I also like the Peter Jackson King Kong. Yeah. The Peter Jackson, King Kong's fucking awesome. It's an incredible movie. Yeah. But like...

And the guy, you know, Godzilla, perhaps a better example for our purposes. But it's like, but like, you know, original Godzilla holds up and they keep doing new takes on Godzilla. And you know what? I'll take all that you got. Well, this is why I feel like we've been saying for years, let's get back in the... Let's get back in the Water Wars and remake Waterworld because I think there's meat left on the bone. I think they could do a good version of it. So that's the thing like, like, to going back to your like, like, you know, Reson Evil.

six point or like are they going to remake that or something like that it is more interesting to be like yeah remake a remake something that's like a little flawed that like maybe had some cool ideas but didn't quite figure it out yeah yeah like like that's always what you want to have happen but like from a purely commercial perspective it's a little bit harder to get that going um do you all know how many halo novels there are I would guess I guess it's a staggering amount it's a lot I've read six of them and that was like 15 years ago yeah and there's been I don't I I I I'm going to say under 20?

I'm going to, I was going to say maybe 30 plus just because you have the stuff, like, and that seems low to me. Because like you have the like Star Wars Expanded Universe stuff and that's like hundreds of books. Maybe 100. Maybe is there 100 books? Rochelle, do you have a guess on a number of Halo books? Actually, I will say Halo novels. There can't be more than 10. There are 26 Halo novels. and as far, if you could talk about all, like, works of Halo fiction that have been officially published, there are 33, because there are some novellas and some short story collections.

There's just a staggering amount of, of, of, of, halo fiction. I like the idea, though, that ranch definitively, and is as many as they could actually do. There's just absolutely no way. Let's be reasonable. There's less Mr. Bean episode. You know what, this is the thing we were talking about pre-show, but yes, there are fewer, I guess there are fewer episodes of Mr. Bean. There are only 15 episodes of Mr. Bean ever made. There are fewer episodes of Mr. Bean than there are Halo novels.

Is it same with Jackass though, too? You would think that there was like 50 episodes of Jackass, but I think it's like under 20 episodes. Isn't that wild? That is wild. Yeah. Yeah. I do like that we've, that just like the Master Chief is still,

I know, I know we know his name is John, but still that we just don't know all that much about him. John Master Chief? Yeah. I think it's cool, like, that they kept him as such. a, such a, such a, still such a mysterious kind of protagonist who's just, like, like,

kind of almost like a just a self-insert power fantasy character. Did you all watch the show at all? No, I did. I watched those scenes. The show's kind of like not so good, I think. In terms of like what has now we've seen with, like the fallout show. Yeah.

And certainly the first season of the last of us. Yeah. But in the Halo show, they take his helmet off. Yes, like immediately. A lot. thing. So you see his face all the time. Right. And I like that actor. I think he's a good actor. And frankly,

you want to see his face. If you're going to cast this guy, he kind of want to see his face in stuff. He's a good looking guy. And at one point, you see his ass. They do show master cheeks. Master cheeks. I will say that they course correct the second season. We're like, we probably want to put him in the suit more. And I would say

if you watch anything, watch maybe like the second, like maybe two episodes of the second season where it is like, This is I call it lore accurate master chief where he is just like Desimating these poor grunts like yeah almost like cartoonish like stop hitting yourself type type it is very fun But the overall I did not enjoy most of the series surprising to me that the doom movie that we got was Really bad actually and that like you could do nobody's brave enough to do this now but you could do Silent protagonist movie yeah just guy going through yeah and just fucking shit up for

87 minutes you know just having a blast yeah it's yeah boy it's uh did you all see The Furious do we talk about this

I haven't seen it but I did tell you that my mom maxed out her um did I tell you this my mom had too many tickets reserved on her AMCA list

so that she had to purchase a ticket to go see the Furious and she was like Matt this is the best movie I've seen this year I got to text to your mom about the Furious

I was like, we're going to be on the exact same page because I agree. It's my favorite movie the year. It's not a silent protagonist, but it is pretty close to what you're described. Yeah. Of just like the guy at the center of it is just wrecking house. Yeah.

It's fucking awesome. I mean, even like John Wick says like less than 20 things in a single John Wick movie. Right. It rules. I like that they like tried to make like these, you know, they made all these,

these John Wick spin-off thing. you know I mean? Yeah. And just like, they're like, well, everyone wants to know about like what's going on

at the bad guy hotel, right? Like we want to know what's going up with the Continental. It's just like, no, we like Keanu Reef. Yeah,

you like Keanu Reeves. And here's a thing. I will say, I'm fascinated by the Continental and the world of it. Yeah. But I'm happy with it in my imagination.

Yeah. I don't need to see any of that. I don't need to see them hire a bunch of like roller derby rockabilly ladies to operate the, because yeah. That's actually, that's so interesting. I love that.

Are the tattoos cut? Like, would they come with the drive interview? Like, there's so many questions that, like, I don't want to have. You have to have gauges to work here. Like, what is the, what is the protocol? Also, how much is a coin worth? Because it can be either worth nothing or everything. Like, here's a non-denoptional national coin.

Flip. I kind of think the coin is like, it's not necessarily a amount of currency. Yeah. It's just that I have the coin. Okay. And like now, because I, now I'm giving you this. Yeah. You have to do, it's like a, it's obviously, it's, it's, obviously, it's

transaction all it's worth something like how many nights here and they'll flip a coin yeah it's never like here's 10 coins yeah yeah more than one she's like here's just here i got this i'm part of this now i'm gonna ask you but do you get change back yeah like if at the bar you can get flip a coin they give you like a smaller section of coins they give you back regular money yeah yeah hey i once exchange rate on one of these coins yeah i just because i remember i don't think that stuff's in the first one yeah they sort of bringing into the second one you're kind of like wait what the hell is this yeah this cool hotel yeah you're a question dueling pistols that you use?

There are rules in the hotel or you can't do any of that in here? But outside it's fine? Hey man, I'm a bad guy. I'm going to do some stuff inside the hotel. Nope, that's not how it works here. That's to keep going further down. But my favorite thing in the first one

is that everybody knows that John Wick is an assassin and that he retired. So you're back to work, John? No, it's great. It's just like, I don't know, because it's just maybe a matter of convenience. But, like, it's very funny to me that, like, John Ligwazamo's like, hey, John. Oh, but they're back at it, huh?

Man, we got legs in an Odyssey. I got to go. I got a good. I got to touch in it. Jesus Christ. Every time he shows up, I was like, I love this guy. I think he's the most underappreciated greatest actor. Yeah.

He's so fucking good all the time. Yeah. I also just like the halo. And I know it's derivative of Ringworld, which is the Larry Niven. The actual structure, you enjoy the actual structure. But the physical halo is so cool. And I think part of why I have affection for it, because Ringworld, Larry Nivens, my dad's a favorite science fiction author.

And so, like, I, you know, that does, like, a book in a series I grew up with and, like, just kind of like, I think it's just such a cool concept. Yeah. The idea of that sort of structure and space and just a game set on it was just like, that's kind of the closest day I came to play in this thing. Ringworld, it's kind of like all of our hands combined. Hey, we were some regular ring guys. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A couple of ring guys.

There's a couple normal ring guys, but no issue with that. We've all got, what's our, our ring count is like we're two apiece, right? Two apiece, and I think that's enough. I think once you go to three, then you're a ring guy. Yeah. Can I say it like here? Ringo star. Yeah.

I think it's either, I think it's three. I can maybe it's four rings. Let's say four rings. I think we have four rings or three on one hand. Like, if then I think you're a ring guy. Yeah, I think that's about right. You're like an earl at least or some sort of thing. Yeah, yeah.

And you know how to do that thing where you can sort of make the coin go through your fingers. You definitely are like, you definitely said, seize him. Seize him. Release the hound.

I will definitely, I'm definitely going to mess around, especially seeing it that it's on Game Pass, I am definitely going to mess around with, with the remake, with campaign evolved, just because like I have so much nostalgia for combat evolved. It comes flooding back really quickly.

And I think that, hey, flooding back. Hey. Hey. Hey. But I don't know. Like I, I hope I do like that three, I do hope that three four three industries rebranded, I guess now like Halo industry.

They're just called like Halo Studios, right? I think so. Because now Bungy has ended destiny, has ended Destiny 2. There's no Destiny 3 necessarily in the pipeline. They're pivoted over to Marathon. Marathon is not doing great. Yeah. And so it's just, and they were like, I don't know, they were the chosen ones.

Their gameplay is so tight. Like, I will say like the game, the actual gun gameplay, and below, it, even though it's 25 years old, it's still some of the tightest I've ever played. I, this is something I've brought up on the show before. I remember looking at my most played games on my PlayStation library. Yeah. And for some, I don't, I have no memory of this. Destiny One.

Oh, wow. was in the like 100 plus area. Wow. And I was like, when did, when did that happen? Like what did I like men in black like myself afterwards and just like completely just like memory wipe that for me? Because I also couldn't tell you a single thing about destiny at all. No, I've been doing this podcast with you, Matt, for what, six years, seven years. And I feel like this is maybe the first time I've heard you mentioned destiny.

It's crazy. All I was talking about our shared destiny. but I sunk a hundred plus hours into this thing I do sort of remember thinking the gameplay was good and you know it's like you go to different planets or whatever and shoot stuff yeah that's my understanding I've never played the destiny series I heard Destiny 2 is great I play destiny 2 having never played any Destiny game

and I did love it but also the world building is like Like, it's the shadow, it's the light. It's like, it's so basic. Yeah. It's the medium. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Yeah.

Huh? Well, like, they really, I just feel like it sucks what has happened to Bungy. Hopefully, hopefully Marathon picks up. Because when Garrick was here, he was really singing Marathon's praises. And I was like, to the point where I was like, man, my new friend, Garrick says, I should play marathon. Maybe I should play it. People say, people have played Marathon all really like Marathon. It just does not have much of a player base.

It's weird because the Marathon I think of when I was a kid, my friend had a Mac, and it was a Mac exclusive, like, FPS game, which was extremely rare those days. And called Marathon, it was like, I just played it as his house like a little bit and watched him play. And I guess it was just like, it's just like a long dormant franchise. they've always wanted to revive. They also, I think they just did a remaster of it, not too long ago, too.

The original one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't played it, but I ever, yeah. Well, look, I love Halo, I guess. I mean, I like it. Yeah, I mean, it's weird. Like, this is one of those things where it's just, like, going, thinking through it,

and when I was compiling my notes and prepping for this episode, and just like, it's kind of like similar to what we're saying about it, when we're talking about Astrobot, where it's just like, you know, playing Astrobot, I was just like, like, oh man, I have so much more nostalgia for PlayStation than I remember.

Yeah. It's the same sort of thing. It's like, oh, yeah, like, at least my experience is the Halo franchise back the day, even though they fell off of it. I do just like really, I do really like Halo as a franchise and as a world. And so, like, yeah, I want it to succeed. The Xbox version of Astrobot would be fucking bleak. It would be such a bummer because it would be like studios that they fucking shuddered.

Yeah. And, yeah, you know, PlayStation's not immune to that as well. They've done that similarly, but it's just like, what would it even be? Here's some fan service for all you people who loved Fusion Frenzy. Yeah, yeah. Oh, and who links the time pan. Blinks listening, catching strays. What the hell?

How about a segment? Let's do a segment. Ranch, are you aware of Blinks the Time Sweeper? What? He's a, they tried to launch him on Xbox, and he was a cat who could control time. I've never heard of him. Google Blinks, B-L-I-N-K-X, and I want a gut reaction right now. What you would think of blinks on site alone.

There might be a K in there. It might just be B-L-I-N-X. See, that's the thing. I don't think he's cute enough. No, he's kind of a repulsive character design. I think he's fucking ugly. I think he's meant to be cool, but like, yeah, and you're saying this is a cat man.

I love cats. I would fucking punt that one like a damn football. Also, time sweeper? What is sweeping time? Doesn't make sense. How about time jumper? Is it a vacuum, right? They have a vacuum?

Yeah, it's got like a weird sort of like appliance. Time sucker, how about? Yeah. You don't sweep with a vacuum. Corona sucker. Yeah. Okay.

I'm going to name some video game characters and you have to tell me what you think their age is. It's time for what's their age again and Ranch, you got to use the sting again. You could put it in, you can put it in there.

We don't get to hear the sting? I didn't tell Ranch ahead of time. Okay. It's a good sting. It's me singing a song, a parody of what's my age again? by Blink 1A2. It's about the segment.

You got to fit. The short walk, I get it. It's a short walk, and it's exactly A to A. Yeah. You kind of get it. Yeah. Here we go. You didn't play it because you knew Zig was going to roast you.

I didn't play it because I didn't want Zig to fucking dance for two hours. It's too good of a bump. Yeah, yeah. Fucking, just fucking stanking in here. Like a thriller zombie? Can't control it. Look. All right, here we go.

So it's basically exactly how it sounds. I'm going to say the name of a character. I'll mention the game to just sort of timestamp because some of these characters are in many games. Here we go. Are these prices right rules? No, because everybody gets mad. Okay, so everybody fucking hates the prices, right rules.

It's a rule standardization for a fucking reason. Everybody fucking hates it for some reason. So you know what? No, they're not. I'm done with that. I'm never doing it. again. I mean, I'm just talking those shoes now, Matt. Those are Nutska to tigers? I bought these in Japan, baby. Oh, man, those are sick as hell. They're really, really great. I don't wear them

that much because I'm afraid of getting them filthy, and they are a little dirtier than I like, but I'll have to clean them up. You're both wearing pristine white kicks. I don't know how you doing it. Yeah, well, this is, I'm actually the opposite. Like, I want, I bought, I saw some white chucks on, but I want them to get dirty because I do like the look of, like, worn. Yeah, sure, yeah. I saw you intentionally try to jump in a puddle of mud and it got sucked up in a vacuum you got all that. Well, then blinks popped out and then your worst would back out. I'm not just a time sweeper.

I'm a mud sweeper. Like, no, you're not. Stop trying to be a guy. Now it's time to say the age to me. Are they 19? Are they 23? Is it canon? Is it just a thought? The matcher research probably not. Can our contestants guess their age?

What's their age again? What's their age again? It's kind of good. It actually, it actually fucks. I'm actually, I'm norated how good it is. I am,

I am, of course, rightly humiliated. Ranch off the top rope just plump out. How about this, bitch? These guys are talking

mud sweeper, now's my opening. Yeah, yeah. Let me fix the show real quick. Let me stop this bullshit. Here we go. Since we were talking about him so much,

how old is Master Chief in Halo? Combat Evolve. Wow. I'll guess 30. Nick says 30. Yeah, I'm going to guess like 35. Zig is closer. He is 41 years old.

That's such a funny age. And for some of the characters, I have their birth date. So the game is set in the year, 2552, and he's born March 7th, 2511. Wow. He's 41. Cortana, I keep going up to the music bathroom at night. Now that I'm 41, I'm sort of, you know, turning 40 was crazy, but 41 is kind of like, it's kind of normal.

Yeah, I just kind of feel like I'm actually kind of liking it. I'm kind of settled in here. I do have used the flashlight on my phone to read a menu. I'm only going to celebrate number five. 50, Cortana. Can I get frozen again and wake up when it's time for my prostate exam? Anyway, my 12-year-old daughter has French horn practice. I'm thinking of pivoting to electric.

Do you think I can date a 24-year-old? I mean, I did the math, and it does work out. Here we go. So Ziggs on the board with one. Ranch, you can play two if you want, actually. Sorry, I didn't give you a chance, even though you embarrassed me in front of my friend. What would your guess have been for, you know Master Chief? How old would you have guessed to you who was?

I would have guessed early 20s. Yeah, you know, because that's what it feels like video game characters are always younger than you expect, which is why 41 feels so asynchronous. 41 is so crazy, it should be 40 or 45. Like, who cares about 41? It's kind of funny, though. But it's crazy to me.

It makes them seem too normal. A 41-year-old man? Isn't it funny that he has a specific birthday? Yeah, yeah. Um, Barrett from Final Fantasy 7. How old is Barrett in Final Fantasy 7? So, like, you know, I'm, I'm thinking of playing this game as a kid and, like, but I'm, I'm realizing Barrett must be younger than I am now, which is weird. It's like the George Costanza thing, right?

Um, but I always thought of him as, as such a grown-up. I'm going to say he's, I'm going to guess younger than I think I expect. I'm going to guess he's 28. Why you're at 28? I'm gonna, I think Cloud's like 23. And I think Barrett's like, is he like 32 or 33 or something like that? Do you want to lock in an answer? Oh, 33.

You're gonna say 33, Ranch? 38. But before you give the answer, I think this is one that says where Cloud might actually be like 17. Oh, yeah, maybe. I could be wrong. I could be wrong about that. I'm just like, but we'll see. Zig is once again closer.

He's 35. 35. Wow. The game takes place in 2008, if you recall. at his birthday is December 15th 18, 1972. He grew up during the 80s,

Midgar 80s. It shouldn't have a similar time to us. It's very, yeah, shouldn't it be like, he's from the year 3000 or something. Yeah, just change, just have a different scale. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I grew up during disco. He knows, he has like a fuzzy memory of Richard Nixon. Really.

I like that 35-Moberty's just starting to figure out what his career is going to look like. Am I a bar owner or a terrorist? How about this one? The gun arm was like a tattoo. He regrets from college. I should have done this. I should have done this, plowed.

Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, in Insomniac Spider-Man, the first one. Ooh. Boy, how old is Peter Parker and the Insomniac Spider-Man? Depending on the story, he could be kind of any age. So, yeah, in the comics he's, one particular age. I will all, I'll guess. I'm just going to say 19.

Let's try. I'm going to say 23. Zig says 23. Wiger says 19 ranch. I'll go 21. Ziggs on the money. He's 23 years old. Wow. He's born in 1995. The game is said in 2018. And at that point he had been Spider-Man for

eight years. So he started when he was 15. 15, yeah. That's wild. too young. Too young to have all that responsibility. Hopefully she used it greatly. Well, hopefully he understands that in conjunction with

the responsibility also comes great power. Right. Yeah. I miss Uncle Ben. I miss him too. I'm not even going to do the joke because not even good. Do it. You think he walks by the Uncle Ben's rice and he's like, fuck. I think he does think it.

God damn. They didn't have to do that to me. That's a rough one. Who fucking did this? I can't even eat rice now. Oh, great. Who did this freaking scorpion? Mysterio?

It's in his pantry. Who bought this? Mary Jane. Ned, come on. Okay. Ziggs running away with this. How about John Marston from Red Dead Red Dead redemption? John Marston from Red Dead Redemption

I don't know All about that, Dutch People look so much older in The Old West I don't know if though Are they applying that time? Yeah, I was thinking that too It's like I'll just say 34

You're gonna say 34 I'm gonna say Yeah I'm gonna say like 37? You say 37 ranch? 31 Zigg's really good at this game so I don't know what's going on he's he's 38 years old okay no

hold on let me finish this Zigg just leaned over and showed me something silently from his phone it's so in conjunction with what you're talking about right now it literally burned out in my pocket I was like I know it's bad decorum as a podcast podcast podcast guest but I have to show you this shit post I'm so sorry

John Marston is 38 years old. He was born July 3rd, 1873, and the game takes place in 1911. Wow. The end of the old west. How about that? He's younger in Red Dead Red Dead Redemption 2. Spoiler. So for those who obviously wasn't here, I have a picture.

It's a shit post, and it says Red Dead Red Dead Redemption 2 is super slow in the beginning. But once you get this Chevy Silverado, it's so much fun. And it's just a Photoshop Silverado. And Norma Silverado. The Red Dead. And someone posted said, Dutch, I need a little change. Dutch.

I love it just saying Dutch. Well, Zig's running away with this, so I'll just do one more. Fox McLeod in Star Foxx 64. How old is Fox McLeod in Star Fox? 64. I know it's going to be a weird number, too. Oh, boy.

God, I'm doing so poorly here. I'll say 25. Wiger says 25. I'm going to say 23 23 from Zig Ranch 27 Zieg's closest

I don't know what to do Wow He's 18 years old Doesn't that seem too young So he just joined up He just Now he has to fight in the fucking Lilat war

He's a new recruit Yeah That is really intense Really grim A lot of responsibility for him Yeah well hopefully he understands It also comes with great power He has though

You know Peppy is a nice mentor he's got Slippy there backing him up Of course, got Falco, who's brash, but knows what he's doing. What is his dad's name? His dad, Fox McLeod's father, of course, is called Not, not fuck, why can I know? It's,

it's like, isn't it James McLeod? It's like a normal name, yeah, I'm like. Do you think Fox McLeod goes to a grocery store and sees the James, Uncle James Rice? It goes, oh, fuck. That's this week's get play. It is James McLeod. A producer is Rachel Chan Ranch,

Twitch.com slash yard underscore underscore Sart. Are you trying to, are you streaming, Mina? No, it's during Biosech. How's that going? Good. What do you think of the big daddy? I think he's cute.

My music is by Ben Prunty, Ben Prunty, Music.com. Our artist is by Duck Brigade Design, Duck Brigade.com. We got merch at kinshipgoods.com. And a bonus episode every Wednesday on our Patreon, get played, D.L.C. Matt, you know what's on the docket this week? I do.

Weiger and I are getting together, and we're going to build an ideal video game-themed restaurant. How about that? We're going to have a lot of fun shooting the shit about that. Yeah. We love food. We love video games, and Heather would not be interested in this topic.

No, no, no, this is a perfect one for the two of us. Yes. That's over at patreon.com slash get played. And the perfect guest for this episode, Cody Ziegler. Thanks so much for being here. Anything you'd like to plug, Zig. Thanks for having me.

Check out Feetron. August 3rd, it drops out, the new season on on a Hulu. I think we're doing weekly. Check out. It's a very, very fun season, very, very goofy. That's awesome. Do you get to write the lines for Zoidberg? Sometimes.

Sometimes we gotta do rocker-by-res-sissors. That is my favorite type of question when you meet somebody was like, so do you write for Rick or you write for Morty? Yeah, people who think that TV rights is like you assign a character to a writer. That's your responsibility.

Yeah. I mean, I do get it. Because like, why would you, anyway, you know how that it actually works, but... It would be an interesting exercise. Maybe, probably wouldn't actually, but to like have that happen one time just to be like how... Everybody would be working on the script together. Yeah, you go to your room and write responses to things that you think are happening. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I know it's such an interesting, like, because I know that division of labor does happen with like a sprawling RPG like Balders Gate 3, where they'd have just like, Astyrean has like a writer assigned to that character, but it's also because that character is all so many social. like, you know, side quests and like, like character-specific quests that just like, like, it kind of makes sense for it to do it that way. But, yeah, not generally how TV works or comics work. Can you say when your static run starts or is just that you're announced that you're doing it? Just announced it, we don't even have a date yet. You don't even have a date. But static is coming back, which is very, very exciting.

Thank you. I'm very excited for it. Hell yeah. So rad. But Futurama on Hulu, people should check that out. And Zig, hopefully you'll come back real soon, but unfortunately for now you got played. I hate when it happens. That was a HeadGum podcast.

What's up everybody? I'm Kyle Mooney. And what's up everybody? I'm Beck Ben. And man, ooh, we got something to tell. Oh, yeah, we definitely do. Yes, it's a brand new podcast on HeadGum. That's right.

And it's called What's Our Podcast? Yep. And that's because we don't have that. a single idea what our podcast you'd be about. Yeah, we don't. So, we actually have guests come on and they tell us what they think our podcast should be about and then we try it. Yep, guests like Mark Marron, Jack Black,

Bernie Brosky, Caper Lan, Bobby Moynihan, Meg Stalter and Tim Balls, Landon Axler, Jory, Joni McGreeze, and Dender. And Dender. New episodes release every Wednesday. So subscribe to what's our podcast. On YouTube, or any of your favorite podcast platforms. Yeah. I'm going to go do it right now.