Get Played - Neopets with Sierra Katow

Episode Date: June 10, 2024

Sierra Katow ("Funt" on Comedy Dynamics, Golden Axe) joins Matt, Heather and Nick to talk all things Neopets. They talk about making multiple farm accounts, what Neopets is like 25 years later, and more. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @getplayedpod. Music by Ben Prunty benpruntymusic.com. Art by Duck Brigade duckbrigade.com. Check out our Anime watch-along podcast Get Anime'd and our complete Get Played, How Did This Get Played? and Premium DLC back catalogue only on 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.fmSee 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. Welcome to Neopets.com. I see that you're a new user. When you've created your account, you'll get to choose the name of your first Neopet. So please enter a name for your first neopet. Okay. All right, Matt, here's what I'm thinking. You know, we got this little, this little Chia here.

He kind of reminds me of my pet turtle. Okay. So I think I'm gonna name him Chip. I'm sorry, the name Chip is already taken. Oh, I'm sorry. Oh, it has to be, it has to be a unique name. Oh yeah oh, it has to be has to be unique name Oh, yeah, so it's not just you can't just It's not it's not like you can just put any name. I guess yeah I thought it was like Pokemon where you could just like name it whatever, but I guess it has to be unique

Oh, yeah, okay Yeah, if it was if it's let's go still turtle like let's go with I don't know Raphael Raphael is already taken hmm. Yeah, I felt like Raphael was gonna be taken. It would be a lot of people's first thought How about uh my my fifth grade teacher? Mr.. Johansson Mr.. Johansson is already taken What about I I mean... I wonder if he's already playing. You think he's playing?

He might be playing. I know this is, I feel like we just have to clear this as an option, because obviously it's a very popular name, and somebody that has this name is gonna go ahead and pick it, but maybe they're gonna think, I'll get a little more creative than my own name. What about Matt? Let's try Matt.

The name Matt is already taken. Okay, yeah. I mean, we knew it. It was a low percentage play, but it was worth trying. Yeah, we knew it. I got one, just kind of like getting a little punny here. Instead of Timothy Chalamet, how about Timothy Ski-Shelley?

Let's see if that works. Timothy Ski-Shelley is already taken. That's where I thought of that, it's's such a good pond explained the pun to me later I guess How about how about this? I mean, let's just see if we can even put in a cuss. Yeah Doctor shit. All right, let's try doctor shit. I can't get to doctor shit doctor shit doctor shit It's already taken. Yeah, someone else Good, it's too funny. How about a doctor fuck doctor fuck is already taken. Yeah, someone else is gonna come up with that. That's too good. It's too funny. How about a Dr. Fuck? Dr. Fuck is already taken.

What about Dr. Ass? Dr. Ass is already taken. Do we try Dr. Shit? Dr. Shit is already taken. Fuck is already taken. Even without a degree. Yeah, even without a degree. Yeah. Okay, okay, okay. Even without a degree. Yeah, even without a degree, yeah. Shoot. How about here's what I'm gonna do. I think if we just throw in a bunch of extra characters.

So I'm gonna do mr. underscore pib underscore 07032249. Mr. pib underscore 070 24229 is already taken. Ah fuck! I wasn't trying to trick the computer. We're not trying to trick the computer. If any computers are listening, we are never trying to trick. We only want to help.

We're just trying to help with something unique. It's really difficult. Your account will expire in 35 seconds. Wait, no a neopet okay just a guy I don't want to get too political but uh let's go Brandon let's go Brandon is already taken somebody so somebody who thinks that is playing someone's definitely of course yeah of course how about a let's go. How about a Let's Go Brandon 69420? Let's Go Brandon 69420 is already taken. You have 20 seconds left to register your Neopet. What about?

What about is already taken. No, um, um, um, shit. Yeah, don't just type out your thoughts. Oh, sorry, sorry. What about I'm scared that I'll never be the man that I'm destined to be? I'm scared that I will never be the man that I was destined to be is already taken. Okay, so at least it's not just me thinking about this. Yeah, how about a Dr. Ass?

You already tried to input this name once before. Dr. Ass is still already taken. I don't wanna play. I don't wanna play anymore. Congratulations. I don't wanna play anymore. Is the name of your Neopet. Who's the Dr. Ass now? We visit the Soup Fairy and collect interest

on our Neopoints as we discuss still active quarter century old web game Neopets. This week on Get Played. [♪ theme music playing. [♪ theme music playing. [♪ theme music playing. [♪ theme music playing. [♪ theme music playing. [♪ theme music playing.

[♪ theme music playing. [♪ theme music playing. Welcome to Get Played, your one-stop show for good games, bad games, and every game in between. It's time to get played. I'm your host, Heather Ann Campbell, along with my fellow host, Nick Weiger. That's me, Nick Weiger, and I'm here with our third host, Matt Apodaca. Hello, everyone. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the premiere of Video Game Podcast, where I'm excited because I think today's episode falls kind of in the category of our old format.

Oh. Interesting. Maybe a little bit. Maybe a little bit. I think some defenders would have perhaps some things to say about that. Some defenders of the Neopets franchise. No, but I mean like- they tie you up like Gulliver at the Lilliputian Island.

No, but I mean like worst and weirdest. I think it falls into weirdest. I think it's weird. It is definitely an odd experience. I will say certainly as someone who did not play this at the time and coming to it in 2024, I was definitely disoriented. We'll get into it.

Can we talk about those Lilliputians for a second though? Why don't we, what? Did you ever read that book? Fucking nasty. It's nasty, but they also? Did you ever read that book? Fucking nasty. It's nasty. But they also, like, they made short work of Gulliver. They got his ass. They tied him up, but once they did,

he was like, it was like nothing to him. They ate him like piranhas. Right? I haven't read it. No, he just like, they tie his ass up, but then he can like, he's so big. It's like one of us being tied up with like a bunch of fire ants tying us up with dental floss. It's like we could just like, I'll just stand up and I'll be fine.

You'd be annoyed. You'd be annoyed. You'd be like, why'd you guys do that to me? What did I do to you? Why? I mean, I would not move if fire ants tied me any. Actually, I said fire ants. Like they're just like, like, like regular ants. That's a special kind. Plain ants. Yeah, I was just trying to get the scale right. And even that's probably not quite right. Ants like they're just like like like regular Yeah, I was just trying to get the scale right and even that's probably not quite right more like field mice Field mice yeah again if you're nice tied me up. I'd be like I am NOT moving I'm terrified of what else these animals can do whatever you say

I guess you know they tie knots little tiny baby knots up in my chef's hat. Let's make some money Yeah, I went up a restaurant. I see the potential here We have a couple of things I want to mention before we get to our guest first off Rochelle Chen our normal producer is out, but Emma and her drink is back guest engineering today our doughboys MVP. Hi Emma Hello. Thanks so much for being here And also the there's a couple of news events. We're not the newsiest of video game podcasts, but in case people are coming to this wondering

if we're gonna talk about them, the answer is not really. The Sony State of Play happened since our last record and now will be pretty dated by the time this episode is out. Also the Xbox Game Showcase will have just happened yesterday, Sunday, as of this episode's release on June 9th. So we won't be talking about either of those things.

That's why a giant palm gas exists. I thought you were talking about the fact that the Google employee... So it turns out that the leaks for the state of play have been because a Google employee has been watching the videos before they are public. And then was released... And then released that content as leaks.

And it's a huge privacy issue. Because if you're a major corporation, of course you trust Google to keep your YouTube links private. Right. But then those links were being watched by an employee and then leaked. So some Google employees just watching my unlisted reel? Also, is it even like a Google employee? Cause also they imply an army of freelancers,

all of these companies. Who knows? Some of them who have the shittiest, but most essential jobs, like content moderation. Yeah. I don't know. We don't know. We're not a news podcast.

We're not a news podcast. It's not a news podcast. Check out the BBC if you want that. We're going to be talking about a game from 20 years ago. 25? That's correct. It is a full quarter century since Neopets first came on the scene.

We'll talk about it with our guest, a writer, actor, and comedian from Sex Lives of College Girls, and the upcoming Golden Axe. Her new comedy dynamic special is Funt. Sierra Cato is here. Hi, Sierra. Hi. Hey, thanks for having me on.

Such a treat. I wanted to start with just generally talking about video games and like your fandom. I think as adults, so, you know, some of us continue to game and make that into content. Other of us like have other things going on, but I didn't spill. Fucking watch it.

Wait, hold on. Yeah, hold on. I didn't spill. Hold on. Emma, I didn't spill. He didn't spill. He didn't. He didn't. You need watch it. Hold on. Yeah, hold on. I didn't spill. Hold on. Emma, I didn't spill.

He didn't. You need to put your arms down. Put the drinks on a different table. Where can I put these? Put them in front of us. I'm gonna fucking Lilliputian you and tie your ass up. Three different containers of liquid. Yes, I have three drinks.

That's fine. And I am prone to spilling. That's fine. I'm very good at running for paper towels This asshole's gonna kick that table I can He's more of an arms guy. He's got dead legs when he's sitting down. You know those things aren't going anywhere You need like a like a bandolier holster Slam drinks into and then you withdraw like cuz then they won't spill unless you unless you tilt yourself over

I'm gonna put you in a sleeping bag like Mike for bigly and that will back a Multi-pouch camel back you've got like your whatever that is vodka. Yeah Grapefruit juice vodka meat my glass of room temp vodka Your full glass of You should get like a beer hat with like two spin drips. There you go. That would be really great for Nick.

That would be really good. Very useful. Yeah. Okay, back to my question before we so rudely interrupt it. Oh my God. I know us hyenas on this couch over here. No, I'm curious, where are you as someone who plays video games?

Do you play video games still? Is it something that was more in the rear view? Oh, yeah. Yeah I mean, I definitely still play I think I'm a little like light version because I kind of I know if I get in Oh, I get in when I was playing, you know I already dropped some names when I was playing tears of the kingdom recently It was sort of a thing where you know, we were also on strike So I could play and then I would go to the picket line and I would just try to find people to talk about it. Like, it's like, you really, like, I couldn't,

I can't just, you know, set it down in moderation. I think that's kind of the design. So yeah, but you know, I think I came into all of it. I really wasn't gaming as a child. Didn't have any, wasn't allowed any gaming things until my family got into DDR, and then that convinced my parents to buy a PS2, and then from there we were able to like rent games

and stuff, so. So you had the PS2 floor pad. Yes. We've talked about that floor pad on the show before. What was your solution for the slippage problem? The way the thing would like fucking slide all over the floor. I think at least a rug at some point I'd imagine, but I think sometimes we were just

slipping. We were just slipping. Part of the challenge was to stay afloat. It's funny when families get like their hooks into something like that because we had a Wii and I didn't, I was not super into the Wii when we had it. It was sort of like the family's Wii And because it was on like the family TV. I wasn't like I'm gonna go play I didn't I never bought a Wii game But the person that was buying games for the Wii all the time was my mom and they were all like dance games

like they had always Zumba games and stuff and like different like sort of like dance workout games and so I think if if It logged the hours of who was using the Wii the most, it's for sure my mom by a country mile. How did your family get into DDR? Oh, yeah, I think our friend or family friends who are, you know, my my dad's dental school pals who we see every year got into it. And like many things, I feel like they also introduced me to Wii, Mario Galaxy, and I was like thinking about that a lot after

I got it so they definitely were more in the gaming business I remember they even would bring it you know bring like back when I guess they put like Mr. Beans or something or beans and something I don't even know what it was but as a child I was in awe of that and I think even you know sometimes we would go on vacation with this these families and some of the the condos had a gaming console in it already, so I think we played Mortal Kombat and stuff. So I associate those friends with gaming, and then they got my parents into it,

so lots to thank them for. Wow. Also, dentist dad, that feels like a lot of pressure. Oh, you know, luckily I don't think he was super passionate about it, so he kind of, it was a job to him, and so I don't think he was trying super passionate about it. So he kind of it was a job to him. And so I don't think he was trying to like bring it home with him. I hate what I've done.

You know what he was doing. Tease. All I see are teases. You come from a dentist family. This is true. Yes. Oh, yes. I'm sure we've talked about this, but yeah, my mom is also a dental hygienist. So they work together. So, yeah, so that's kind of the origin story. But also, you know, I don't think she was she was too passionate about either. And my mom is also a dental hygienist, so they work together, so yeah. So that's kind of the origin story.

But also, you know, I don't think she was too passionate about either. I actually think she loved seeing people and making them happy and smile. There has to be some sort of sim game, not unlike a power wash simulator for dentistry, I would imagine at this point. I think that there's a hospital simulator,

I think has a dentist simulator, but the hook of those games is that you can't pick up anything. Yeah. So it'd be like trying to do a surgery, but remember, we played it for the show. We did, well, yeah. We played Surgeon Simulator, but that's kind of a meme game.

But we also, there are some like the, it's not called Sim Hospital, but there's one of them that they have a university one, they have a hospital one, I'll look it up, that I both played, I messed around with on Game Pass, but those are more like strategic, you're more like running the facility. All right, first, I'll do the first tooth. Then I'll do the second tooth.

That's good strategy. I did have a tooth brushing game for like our shitty computer Like and it was like a it was like a like a five and a quarter inch floppy disk Use the keyboard to like move a toothbrush up and down mom and dad I'm having fun Anything to keep him away from me. Oh my God. Keep him away from me. Go play with your teeth, son.

The series I was looking for is the Two Point series, Two Point Hospital. Yes, yes. And then I think it's called Two Point University. What the hell is it called? Something like that. But yeah, that's a different approach versus actually like, you know Simulating the I don't know if there's there's got to be something where you're simulating getting in getting all of it

Honestly, the power wash simulation games should just have a mouth Level that would be very satisfying. Yeah, cleaning some teeth. Yeah, like a hippo or something like that Yeah, cuz I feel like a lot of my animal a lot of my tick I've been talking about my tick-tock algorithm a lot recently Yeah, one of the things that pops up in my algorithm a lot is dirty rugs Oh, yeah, like I get like sort of power washing rugs. Oh, it's yeah, I think you'll love it I've seen those in the past, but I it back my algorithm was like she does not care for this. Oh, I love it It's so satisfying to watch the dirty rug become clean rug. Yeah. Really good.

It can be like five minutes. It's quite a process. These fuckers are long. Yeah, they're good. I feel like also living in California and watching that, it's a lot of stress because it's so much water. You're like, we're in a drought.

Right, right, right. But they could be anywhere. They could be in a droughtless place. Yeah. You know, an interesting experiment on a podcast might be the first five videos on your TikTok algorithm. Be absolutely horrified. Like you just like watch. Buy a horrified. Watch it, buy a new phone and do it.

What? What? Wipe your history. I was like getting, so I don't have, I don't have a personal Instagram account, but I have one that, you know, my wife and I just look at for dogs. And so it's just like, I have one follower and it's her

and I don't do anything else with it. But like, I just hit dislike on every single ad that I get served. So it reached a point where my ads have gotten so targeted where now it's like a guy advertising like himself. Because I basically said any brand or anything like I'm not interested in. So now it'll just be like, like check me out.

I'm online. in. So now it'll just be like, check me out, I'm online. This guy seems around. What is he offering? This is my new friend. Cool. I'm glad he spent his hard earned money on that ad. That's kind of worked for some. I think it does, yeah.

Okay, so I want to ask about, because talked about the DDR got you like like into gaming Did you have any other games like from when you were younger? Was there ever a point where you had like a you know a Gameboy color or something? You had a handheld I guess a lot of you know a lot of this just the PC games Right sure and then I I mean I played like Oregon Trail 2 I remember Sims for sure. Yeah sure was Sims 1 all the expansion packs type of gal and then you know Also, I think my dad loaded onto like an old PC like Galaga and like all but you could like plant You know pole position and and dig dug

So those kind of ingrained in my brain plus got into Mavis Beacon teaches typing which I think could count as a game I was a big Mavis Beacon guy I was not till later in life that I learned that Mavis Beacon teaches typing which I think could count as a game. I was a big Mavis Beacon guy. I was not till later in life that I learned that Mavis Beacon does not exist. Well I also yeah learned that within the last five years blew my mind. I was scandalized. Yeah yeah. I was like they lied to us. They really did. I was like looking up to this woman. I know I had a close personal relationship with Mavis. It kind of brings up. It's a real like they have a photograph of a human being on the box. It's like I'm Mavis Beacon and then like she's like in the game. Why couldn't they just Call up the game. Whatever her name is Face just name it after her

She could have been yeah had a legacy. Yeah, I know I think they probably even you know, whatever I think I had like Mavis beacon 8 eight teachers typing eight and then like even for subsequent versions They picked a new actress. So I think it was a different face Yeah, so I should I would have known if I had you know, collected them all I kind of think that typing games Could have been more popular because like we did we did typing of the dead on on here Many years ago House of the Dead game that you type to shoot Oh good, oh good Really really fun, but then I had that Pokemon one or that Pokemon typing game for the DS

Yeah, and that wasn't too bad and the keyboard that came with it was pretty cool actually And I don't know, but I guess maybe do we want to type so much We kind of all do that for work all day all the time Well, not so fun anymore. Yeah, I wonder I think it's also like it's a different skill because I think a lot of I've heard Like kids will like write essays on their phone now Yeah, they're not even like using a laptop anymore people are just so used to that sort of typing that's like a different skill I would not be shocked if in the future. It's just a thing that no one knows how to do We just like lost that skill. We've forgotten it because you think it's just a thing that no one knows how to do. I think? Yeah, we've just lost that skill we've forgotten. Because you think it's going to become all dictation?

I think it'll be replaced by different input methods. Either we'll just be so used to doing it by thumb input, or we'll have some other sort of way. Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Suck out the thought. Gross. Isn't there, and not to skip ahead to Neopets many mini games, you know, but I'm sure because you

know, there was like all the basically anything you could make with Adobe Flash into a game and that was probably the right choice. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it.

I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. I think that's the best thing about it. They had so many mini games, you know, but I'm sure because, you know, there was like, all the, basically anything you could make with Adobe Flash into a game, and that was probably the right age, so.

But I can't think of what that might've been actually. You know what's interesting, thinking about typing of the dead. So Pokemon teaches typing, or Pikachu teaches typing makes sense because like, there has to be an introductory elementary course for teaching typing.

We learned how to type in fucking elementary school at my school, right? Yeah. Typing of the Dad implies that you've made it all the way to 15 years old without any knowledge of typing because it's an R15 game. Yes. You can't just play that as a child.

You would never teach a child how to type using typing of the death yeah, right So that's like for a very specific subset of people for whom Typing is difficult, but but they are also older You're looking at him Such an odd thing to have existed, but I think but it's rad That's for that reason because it doesn't really make sense, you know, commercially. I guess the novelty of it is why and it, you know, has lasting notoriety, obviously. But also, yeah, the Dreamcast port, you needed to buy the Dreamcast keyboard to play.

I don't even think there was a PC port initially. I don't think so. I think it was it was. Yeah. And I had it. I had the Dreamcast keyboard and I had typing of the dead, and I loved it. I was in the time of my life It's really fun. It's in test. It's rad Fantastic, and then I sold all of it to GameStop for school. Oh my god. Wow. Yeah, I don't know what you do with a $10 Pre-ordered like Madden 21 or whatever. The best way to learn a language, immersion. Living where the language is spoken and using it every day.

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because if we can get into that, because this was a game I played as a kid. I played this in the arcade. Also, my friend had the port on his Sega Genesis. Did you have much experience with Golden Axe going into this and how have you reacted to the game in its previous and its more contemporary iterations? Right, yeah. Honestly, I don't think I did have much experience going in.

Maybe that's not what I said in the interview. No. But I played the emulator before, you know, and everything. And then, yeah, I think just like similar games to that, of course, but so much over the course of how many different versions of it. But yeah, what were you saying? Oh, I was just going to say, give context for any of our listeners who maybe aren't familiar with the series. It was a beat-em-up, but it was like set in like a fantasy world.

So you'd be one of three different fantasy classes and going around killing monsters. It was a Sega beat-em-up, but it was set in a fantasy world. So you'd be one of three different fantasy classes and going around killing monsters. It was a Sega beat-em-up. And when the Genesis came out, having the ability to play Golden Axe was one of the few highlights of the early library, the pre-Sonic library of the Sega Genesis. Also, it had one of the best sounds

for swinging an axe, which was like, boop. Like that, just like a low... That was quite accurate. You're like, I can picture it. Did you do the voice for that? But yeah, that is true. Great sounds. And the dying sound was always a lot of fun.

A lot of bouncing and like long dying moments. Which makes it all the more satisfying. Can I ask a question that I think is gonna be interesting for like maybe 12 listeners, which is like, so I worked with Joe Chandler, one of the, I guess he's a co-creator on Golden Act? Yeah, yeah, yeah. For like 12 years, do you have any gossip about Chandler?

Like, does he, like, I know he's tall because I worked with him for 12 years all the time, but the only thing I know about him is that he's tall. It does, yeah, that is a big fact, I feel. Like, I think sometimes when somebody is that tall, then it's sort of like I Got where the brain goes you're like for the listener. I asked him as Slenderman And he had to you had to sort of bend down a little bit because he's too tall to be believable

Yeah, I feel like I feel like he did maybe mention this Slenderman role But yes, I guess that was probably one of his, his, you know, magnum opus outside of Golden Act. But yes, I think a San Diego man. Okay, great. Not to dox his family, no. He doesn't live there anymore. Yeah, but yeah, I think, I mean, you know, just great all around guy. What does he eat for lunch?

That's what I wanna know. Like, is he like a tuna fish sandwich type of guy? Cause he seems like a... You know, I would say no, I don't think I was seeing a lot of tuna fish sandwiches, but that might've just not been on the Burbank menu, you know? Did he bring like au jus for sandwiches that weren't necessary? Like in like a very tall like case.

That's a lot in like a very tall Yeah, I I'll look into the shoe I feel like that that feels right, you know that really that quite a Heather that Interrogation died like that last bit make me anxious cuz I was like cuz Sierra and I work together and I was like, if someone asked me, what does Sierra eat for lunch? I'd be like, man, I don't know. I have a salad and a protein. You are lunch. I hope nobody knows the answer to the question. I've worked with you, Nick, and I don't know what you eat for lunch.

I know you know what I eat for lunch. Yeah. But he did. Jug of Soyl lunch. Yeah. But he did. Jug of Soylent. Yeah. That's true. At the time I was. Nice, nice.

Yeah, that's all you need. Soylent and a multivitamin. Yeah. I actually, I didn't bother the get played group text with this today, but I sent Nick a picture of my lunch and it was two hot dogs. It did look great. Oh.

Were those homemade dogs? Those are homemade dogs, made at my home. How did you cook them up? Pan fried them, baby. Yeah, that's a good way to go. Wow, yeah dogs made at home. How did you cook them up pan fried and baby? Yeah, that's a way to go. I Just an air fryer hot dog. I've heard this I don't have an air fryer fucking astonishing I do that. I have six more hot dogs at home. I will be eating the rest Here's what you do. You you cook the hot dog first

Yeah And then you once the hot dog is like 95% cook Then you stop the thing turn it up to 400 put it in its bun and put it back in the air fryer One in and it's it is the best hot dog you've ever had former host or former guest of our podcast Ashley Esqueda uh Told me about this hack and it's fucking life-changing. Oh, I'm gonna do it cuz I I got it I gotta finish these hot dogs. Yeah, they're good. You always want two hot dogs and you're like, I have all these hot dogs I kind of just wanted to what do you mean? Like you want it you buy a whole pack and you only wanted two of them

Yeah, I kind of wish they would sell them as to you can solve that problem by getting dogs from a butcher Which is how I get my hot dogs. Whoa, I Would never think to go to a butcher for hot dogs. Me neither. For like a loose dog? Yeah, you can get like two months in. I can get a loose dog, give me two loose dogs. Two loose dogs, please put them in the bag.

Wow. Did you have them in a jar on the counter? I got my own buns, just deposit these. I wanna know when you've decided this was the wrong podcast to be on. No, it's good, it's good. We're talking about guessing lunch, and I just happened to send a picture of my lunch today.

Yeah, I don't have an air fryer, but I am thinking now, where else am I gonna put my loose dogs? So I gotta get one. It's gonna be expensive, but it'll work. What you were saying about Tears of the Kingdom earlier and talking about it on the back of the WGA sag after Picket Lines, which was last year, but feels like forever ago.

It's like, I'm remembering that now, because you spend a lot of time just like walking and talking with people. And you need something to talk about. It's like, oh, yeah, Tears of the Kingdom landed there. And the other game, Baldur's Gate 3 also landed during that stretch. And so I feel like I had just long conversations

with people I kind of knew about just like their own experiences playing these games Why is this guy talking to me? I'm practically running and he's still keeping pace I'm trying to make Shadowheart my wife Cool man Oh my god I'm sure you were in the belly ball I do think there was like a wave of relief

I think when I brought it up with people where it was like, okay, good, we do have something to talk about. Because there was a lot of like small talk where you're like, oh, so, you know, what, you know, if especially it's somebody you don't really know that well. So I think it was like, oh, good, okay. How many temples, what temple are you on? You know, and then even somebody who had like a Korok leaf like sign that was really well done.

And that just, you know, I felt like going up to her and, you know, like when you go up to someone, like I love your work, you know, I just think it was really well done. And that just, you know, I felt like like going up to her and, you know, like when you go up to someone like, I love your work, you know, I just think it was it was a bonding moment. So I feel like another game that was like sort of like a totemic game for people who are lapsed gamers and also came during a time where we had a lot of time was Animal Crossing New Horizons. Yeah, sure. Did you do did you mess around with that? So I actually didn't.

My sister got into it pretty heavily And then she ended up getting me a switch specifically to play with her and then I ended up only playing other things But yes, she was really into that and I I'm enticed but again, I was a little scared it was yeah I mean the day that it dropped I played it for 11 hours It was like week Like the second week of the pandemic or something. That's great though, because then it became social, right? Yeah, you're right.

Like you guys were playing or like, I think I saw that on Twitter. I was like, oh, cute. They're like meeting up, but not in real life. I did stumble across a screenshot of Weiger on my island and I dug a hole next to him and I typed in, get in. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. times. Yeah, really good. Wouldn't let me get in. Okay, the other the other the final question I have for you Sierra is also for everybody. The question is what are you playing? What are you playing? Hey, it's me the Resident Evil merchant and I'm here to ask the question of the week. What are you playing? Hey, it's me the Resident Evil merchant and I'm here to ask the question of the week. What are you playing? So Sierra when you got here, the gate was closed and I think we are sort of like I have a key card

We gave you a heads up that a guest would be coming in for this part of the show I have a key card. You don't have a key card. No, I have a key card. It seems irresponsible that you have a key card. Why? I'm an employee. No, I guess. I mean, it just seems like, you know. Imagine the mixed messages of being being like, hey, show up for your segment, but also like not giving me away into the building. I know. I just think that I'd have to dig a tunnel.

You can still show up and be here on time, but you should be escorted in and out. Yeah. I don't think you should be able to come in freely. I agree with that. Well, because of what I did to the refrigerator. Well, we weren't gonna get into that on the pod, but that was gonna be a discussion for later,

but yeah, it's kind of been- Is that your broccoli in there, by the way? Yeah. Wanna cover that up. No. Why? You can just put loose broccoli. Yeah, it's kinda just making everything smell like-

It's everywhere. I got a broccoli. Well, if you cover it up, it gets wimpy, it gets loose, you know, flexing. Why don't you just take it with you? Cause you're not gonna be back till next week. And so then the problem's solved and then you do, you know-

I gotta do pickups. Pickups? Yeah, usually they have me in to do some pickups. They're like, hey, you were popping. Right. Because I can't control my volume. We'll just roll on all those at the end. We'll just make sure we got you cleaned up here

so you don't need to come back. All right, do you need me to do some loose efforts? you don't need to come back. All right. Do you need me to do some loose efforts? Um, yeah, I guess we might as well get these. Might as well. Yeah, this is where like, imagine I'm trying to get on top of a car.

Honestly, pretty evocative. Yeah, I was, I it. I felt the struggle and I felt the triumph. It's not that hard to get on top of a car, but it's harder than you think it's going to be. I was picturing maybe the back of the car, not the hood. Yeah, yeah. No, that's what I was picturing. I guess I'm some fucking asshole and I was picturing the front. You're not an asshole for that. Here's one for the front of a car.

Yes! Okay, yeah that is really, yeah. That's, that does, I do now hear the difference. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kinda just bounded up at it. Yeah! Well, the front of a car is knee height for me. Right.

Yeah, you are gigantic. You're like, I don't know if you know Joe Chandler, but you're kind of his height. That guy's tall! Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was doing a lot of car hooks. You are gigantic. You're like I don't know if you know Joe Chandler, but you're kind of his height No time for tuna sandwiches. I was gonna lose my job for him tall guy So I guess I'll ask you Matt warning, okay look last week I talked about how I am now back and I had a bit of a reunion with

Final Fantasy seven rebirth They say it in the game And I like what they say I like it Just my head just bouncing between Emma and Sierra to see who's more confused I have no idea Seconds it's my fault. I provide continuity. I come in, I say the thing, and then I leave.

Yeah. They say it in the game. I just met, you know, because in my first playthrough, in the original Final Fantasy VII, I didn't get to meet Vincent Valentine. Oh yeah. Oh wow. Well, he's like, he's an unlockable character. You have to do some, jump through some hoops to get him. He's a secret boy.

I love this guy. Yeah, he's great. He's got a bad attitude. He's, he's, he's, he's grumpy. He's a star, this guy. What a great character design. He has the best moment in Advent Children. He does, yeah. Cause he's like, I gotta get a phone.

They're like, where do they have phones or whatever? He's got two then, yeah. Cause he's's like I gotta get a phone. They're like where do they have phones? We've got two then yeah, cuz he's like I gotta find a phone But then he also he also has the moment where like the little girl hides behind him And he wraps his cloak around like a vampire to save her yes, it's pretty good. He's good. He's really good I'm toward. I'm in the latter half of the game now. I've abandoned Side quests, and I'm just having fun. I got to have a whole sequence where I was playing as Kate Sith and was just like I love watching this little guy run around. He's a cat He runs around like a cat. It's really funny

Like cat I like cats I have two of them at my home Matt likes cats. I like cats. I have two of them at my home I have Hurley and then my newest Bonnie aka Chobani flip and so we're a big cat household and They don't care they're not very interested in the games honestly, but I've been playing that and I I also picked up paper Mario the thousand- Door. Haven't spent that much time in it. Gorgeous. It's really cool.

Looks great. Really gorgeous game. You're looking to remaster. Hoping to spend more time with that too. That's sort of a nighttime one because there's a little less going on. That's sort of like my reading for the night because it's sort of just low input.

Kind of just pick it up, put it down. Whereas like Final Fantasy. I'm like this is getting pretty nuts Getting pretty nuts in here, but that that's it. I'm playing two huge games as I'm known to do that's that's it for me Who wants to go for next? Heather, what are you playing? Um so I've had a busy week I dropped in I know I complained about Fortnite for most of the segment last week. I stand by those complaints. They've balanced a few things in the game

to make it a little less like when you get in a car, you are invincible. So I've played a couple, I've been playing ranked. I think I'm either diamond or platinum too now. Still frustrated, still bummed out, but that's it. Like I haven't had a lot of time. It's hard, it's like I feel like I was broken up with. Like I'm still like seeing my ex and I'm like,

hey, you wanna have some fun? But the truth, and also to clarify clarify Mary didn't break up with me Well, I'm saying the fortnight is the game that broke up with me just right so a listener Who's like half tuning in half driving their car isn't like oh shit? No that didn't happen But yeah for I feel like fortnight broke up with me, and I'm trying to find your other girlfriend Yeah, I'm trying to find somebody new and it may be this handheld Dreamcast that I sent to Matt. Yeah.

There's a Dreamcast that's on, I think, AliExpress that was sent to me by a, I believe a listener on Twitter. And if they weren't, then I'm sorry, they won't ever know, they believe, a listener on Twitter. And if they weren't, then I'm sorry, they won't ever know, they're not a listener. True. But it is a custom designed, handheld, Dreamcast, only Dreamcast, where the bottom of the machine is the Dreamcast controller and the top is an IPS screen.

So it's not like, oh, you're playing Dreamcast games on essentially a Game Boy. It looks like a Dreamcast that has been Frankensteined from parts. And it has like a hard drive on it. You can obviously take any game that you own, but at this point also games you don't own because nobody's fucking,

no one's enforcing whether or not Seaman exists. It even has a built-in VMU, like into the controller. So that might be something I hunt down and becomes my new obsession, and I could like play through the back catalog of some Dreamcast games, but real sad about Fortnite. It's the way you were just saying about like games

you could legally own, you could, like, I remember that's, that's a thing you'd always see on ROM sites, like, and it's, you'll still see that copy. And I think it's one of those things that has legally no foundation. Like I think even if you own the cartridge, even if you own the disc, it's still illegal to have this, have this ROM in your possession. I think it's still a violation. Wait, so you can't, if you own the disc, it's still illegal to have this ROM in your possession.

I think it's still a violation of law. Wait, so you can't, if you have, I thought that the VHS law, which was created so that you could like make a duplicate of something you already own, or like the cassette law, I thought that applied to games. I could be wrong. So maybe it does, but I think there's fundamentally

something different from making a digital backup as opposed to burning a copy of a CD. And also like if you burn a copy of a disc of a game you own, and then put that into like a modded, you know, version of your PlayStation or whatever, I think that is still also illegal. So like it's like I buy don't know. But it but to me, it's like the kind of thing of just like, you'll sometimes hear like, Oh, yeah, we can use you know, 15 to 30 seconds of this track as long as we have commentary

over is just like, wait, no, that's just completely, that isn't true. That's just the thing that people say, you know? And I want to say here, first and foremost, I would download a car. Given the option, I would press download. I'm getting the car. Yeah, it'd be nice.

It'd be nice, especially if it was like pre-modded Yeah, we'd be like it has better gas mileage It's or it's it's hacked. So it doesn't need gas. Yeah This this is the issue though And we've learned this from basically all anything that's that's gated in an online store if cars are downloadable. They will be more expensive Oh, yeah, they will find a way to jack the price up. Horrible. Sierra, what are you playing?

Oh, pretty boring answer, but I did really, okay, because I'm on my phone a lot and I was swiping on TikTok a lot and that was being bad, I deleted it for a bit and then I downloaded, I redownloaded Candy Crush, so I've been playing a lot of that. Wow. Like a senior.

Yeah. And all the, you can watch ads to like, you know, prolong your game play to get like lives and extra bonus things. And a lot of the ads are like, hey seniors, you know, here's another great game for you. You don't even need wifi. I'm like, hey, I'm one of you.

I like that that's a top concern for seniors. Like, this game needs Wi-Fi. I'm out. I don't need Wi-Fi. Why would you have that? It's all in the disk. So, yeah, I think it's been kind of nice because I think, you know, it's just the scrolling and stuff is really just me with muscle memory with the phone turning it on and, like, just whatever's there.

And TikTok provided that sort of endless of endless like game of swiping. So in some ways, you know, it's, I think this is slightly more positive. Are you a phone game person? Like, do you get into them? Do you have phases? I used to be a little bit more like, I mean, we'll get into Neopets, but there were like certain pet games that you could play and then I think like, um, you know, there's different variations, but like ones where you're kind of just local

and like raising your little pets. And then, so I would play those. And then I would delete them because, you know, various time issues. And then, and then, you know, I was always a bejeweled person. Oh, sure. Yeah. So I feel like that's why Candy Crush, you know, finding out that that was gaining extreme popularity

when it was at its height, you know, I think that was kind of like, oh yeah, but Jool does need a little candy theme laid on over it. Yeah, it's all, I mean, like those match three games I find very compelling. I mean, and like I was playing, I did play Candy Crush for a time before I was just sort of like, you know, all the,

just the waiting or the ways that it was like designed to have you sink cash into it But it's funny that you mentioned because this the senior side of it because my dad does play like he plays Gotten into stuff you handful of games one of them was minion rush, which he was really into and the other one is Candy crush. Oh hell yeah, and yeah, I think they're just like they're super playable for people who aren't like frequent gamers Yeah, yeah, yeah, and it's you know, it's it's uh kind of endless like they kind of they're just different variations in different maps So you're like always getting something new, but it's still familiar I like consider that like candy crush as like one of those one of those like phone games that was like

Just ubiquitous like I feel like that's up there I'm forgetting they may have an out clash of clans was like super big I was sure I was very into clash of Clans was like super big. Oh sure. I was very into Clash of Clans. I didn't know that. I played Clash of Clans with a group of UCB people. So it was like me, I think maybe Ferney, Alex Ferney was in there, Drew Defonzo Marx.

Wow. Like just friends of ours. And then I think Billy Merritt was in there too. We were all just like mean to each other But it was like a really funny time to be playing that game, but then also the Gosh there was this other Oh Angry Birds. I was so into Angry Birds. Yeah, I loved it I know Angry Birds never really clicked with me that specific game But like I the physics based gameplay was obviously the thing of just like that, I think was a real novelty

for a lot of people. I didn't care how funny it was. It was just like, I did like the trying to figure out how am I gonna knock down this structure with the pig or whatever, what pigs am I gonna use? Talking about it out loud sounds dumb, but it is a good game. I, the only two mobile games I've ever really sunk my teeth into

were Final Fantasy Record Keeper and Final Fantasy, what was it called, First Soldier? First Soldier, yeah. You always ask me what it was called and I always remind you. Well, it's because I... I'm the keeper of this Heather lore. This is the thing that I'm holding onto for you.

First Soldier. Yes. And I spent real money on both of those games. And now neither of them exist, and neither do the things that I purchased. Yeah. Which is brutal. I mean, I will say, some of the mobile games,

yeah, they can just stop updating. And then you are still invested. And you're like, hello. And then it's like the whole company, OK, when I was playing the, I think it was like all right there was there was like a whole thing called like Castle Story Dragon Story those that might I know my sister played those there was the one that I was playing was oh tiny monster so there was a whole like tiny line and so I was playing tiny monsters and they weren't updating and it was like

affecting the game and and then I like went on their company's website and you like see all the people and it's like, oh, they're working on some family guy game or something. So they're all like, okay, great, you got Fox Money now or whatever. You're going down that path and then you've abandoned me and the rest of my friends in tiny monsters territory. In favor of Stewie and Brian and Clagmire and Cleveland and the rest. I think that that does tie in with what happened with Angry Birds, which I think the original was delisted because Angry Birds 2 is the one that has microtransactions that wasn't built into the first Angry Birds There's like well, we're getting that out of there

We don't want people buying this thing once and then not being able to spend money endlessly I like the Star Wars Angry Birds the best Hmm. What it just is Angry Birds with this Star Wars skin? Yeah, but the pigs have little lightsabers. That's fun. That's pretty good. Yeah. Did they have- Or no, you throw the birds.

You throw the birds at the pig. Yeah, yeah. The birds had lightsabers, and they used that as part of the physics too, so sometimes you'd have to use the lightsaber to hit a certain thing or, it was cool. Oh, were the pigs the Sith? They were. Nice.

Wow, those pigs. Were they, but were they all like, were they, were they dark Jedi or were some of them like storm troopers and like, were they like kind of like a panoply of- I'm sure they had different skins, but I feel like I'm picturing a lot of the pigs with the Darth Vader helmet. Like it's like not more creative than that. Yeah, sure.

But it's like, but I liked it. I liked it the best of all of those. When you finally finished the level, did the next level start with somehow pigs returned? Yeah, sometimes there are more pigs. They fly now. Pig patina. Oh, no.

We were talking, we were talking brushing teeth earlier. No, you were. I was talking brushing teeth earlier. No, you were. I was talking brushing teeth earlier. We're talking teeth. Teeth games. But my friend had a Darth Vader talking toothbrush that had a voice clip in it, but it was not James Earl Jones.

And it was not even someone even attempting a James Earl Jones sound alike. So it was a thing we would quote to each other all the time because you would like, you could use a toothbrush and then have like a button it would press and it would be, what was it? Impressive, most impressive. But you are not a Jedi yet.

Oh no. It's like they just had someone in the office just like cold read this line. Are you sure that you weren't like the wrong battery size inside the thing? I can tell that was like deep from deep from within your soul. You remembered that you really searched to remember what it was. That's so fucking funny. Wow. And it wasn't even like it didn't give you like a timing of how long you should be brushing or

Just no, I don't think was that advanced I think it just had like a clip some clips that would were built in I don't remember toothbrush growing up That's saying a song and you had to listen to the song three times and that was the length of tooth brushing Three times yeah would sing a song and they would finish and then you'd press it again and it would play it one more time And you press it a third time and it said on the... well my parents told me they're on the box So you have to play it three times. So maybe they were tricking me? Song was Eric Clapton's Layla

What song by Mickey? Play it! 11 minute piano break 11 minute piano break. Hey, what I've been playing is Humanity, which is on Game Pass. This is developed in Japan by the LTD, which in the past has done like art installations, I guess. This is I think their first like traditional sort of video game. I could be wrong about that.

And it's published by Enhance, which is Tetsuya Mizoguchi's company, the guy behind Rez and Luminis. It is a puzzle platformer akin to Lemmings, if y'all remember Lemmings, but it's in 3D in this grid based reality. And it's with human beings. The humanity is the, is a mob of people that are following you, who is a ghost Shiba Inu, leading them through different obstacles. So it's kind of a follow the leader style of gameplay. It's definitely- It sounds amazing. It's rad, but it's all puzzles. So I'm not sure how much you'd like it,

but like aesthetically it's really cool. And it's kind of like this kind of Philip Glassie score. And the whole thing about it is it's just like, how many character models can we get on screen at once? It's just an abundance of just like humans walking around, a mass of humanity. I mean, it looks fucking cool as shit. It's really cool.

Yeah. And it looks awesome in motion. Anyway, so basically what you do is, is you go around as a Shiba Inu and there's all these, you know, I love grids, I love how the tiles feel here, you know, give me some cardinal directions to work with. So you take the Shiba Inu and then you can leave individual commands on a tile and then the humanity following you will follow that command.

So like if you have like, I'll have you turn left here, then they will turn left before that gap and then continue on their path. And then you'll also have things like, oh, like I can do a long jump here. So it'll be a specific type of jump that will cause cause me to jump over this chasm or what have you, it quickly gets extremely complicated. But it's it's really, it's really, really fun. And there is a thing where when you can retry stages, that's a

really useful feature, which is keep commands. So basically everything that you've previously done on your previous runs will just still remain in the play field. So you can just make adjustments instead of having to do it all from scratch, which is kind of fun in terms of how you want to experiment with it, especially because there's other things, this other element, which are goldies, which are specific people that you want wanna try to retrieve from specific locations and then keep them alive and usher them towards the goal. The goal is really fun because the goal is just basically a portal to heaven.

So you're this massive humanity, they're just watching, you're just watching them be raptured basically, they're all being sucked up. And it's got this weird, you know, hard to follow, but cool story tying it all together. But I just really enjoy it. I think it's just a really cool puzzle platformer. And I really did like Lemmings back in the day.

So anything where it's just like, hey, here's a huge, huge swarm that you've got to control, that you've got to muster. I find that like really just engaging and satisfying when you finally tie it together and you get to fast forward as you're seeing this like, again, thousands of people just walk through this path that you've laid. I just saw that it's on PlayStation Plus and that is one of the ones that I pay for for

some reason. So I just downloaded it as well. Yeah, why not? Try it out. Nice. Yeah. No, I'm really enjoying it. Look, I got like Matt and I'm not playing games of this scope, but I've got too many, too

many irons in the fire right now because, you know, I still got to polish off Animal Well, which I, which I which I really Really have enjoyed. I've got a but I but I got I got a keep keep plugging away at that And then I got to do you know, I've been playing chance of sonar which I really liked But I had to mess around with this one and and I'm glad I did because I'm gonna continue with it. Oh, yeah That's humanity. Should we talk Neopets? Let's go. Neopets.

Okay, so here's the thing. I do not understand Neopets. I like had been aware of it forever. I am definitely too old for it. And when it came on the scene, I was like, you know, this was a thing that kids were playing and so this was not a thing that I was really like ever following actively. I have a few just sort of like bullet points here to just kind of lay the groundwork for what Neopets is and anyone feel free to correct me because again I don't know all that much about

it but as far as I can tell it's a web game that's kind of part Pokemon part nintendogs with a bunch of different mini games that kind of like you know end up being ways that you can accumulate in-game currency and then subsequently like kind of upgrade your arsenal of Neopets and get them wearables and so forth. That's my understanding of it. Yeah, I would almost even think of it as sort of like an extension, not an extension, but like the next iteration of what a Tamagotchi was.

Right, yeah, it's the same sort of thing. It's more about like, as opposed to, hey, we're gonna take all these things and, you know, and like Nintendogs, as opposed to, we're gonna take all these things and they're gonna fight each other. It's more like, oh, I'm just gonna, these are my friends and I'm gonna make them cozy, it's more like, oh, I'm just gonna, these are my friends

and I'm gonna make them cozy. But it was also, it came out in 1999 and it came at a time when everybody was making these effectively like portals that would be their product portal on the web, right? So like, you'd have like, say for example, and I don't, this is not an actual example, but a conceptual example, Wired Magazine't, this is not an actual example, but a conceptual example,

Wired Magazine, one of the first tech savvy magazines, creates a website, wired.com, where you can read the latest issue of Wired, but you can also go to the Wired store, and you can listen to Wired Radio Show, which would eventually become like the Wired Podcast. But there would be like these gates that you would enter on the web before social media,

where it would be a pipeline of all the same brand's material. And Neopets was one of those things where it was like, this is where you can go to the Neopets, you can play these flash-based games, you can also use that pet and print them on a t-shirt and buy the t-shirt. It was a bunch of shit that was all coming

through the same pipeline. And you're correct that this was an age of the internet where, yeah, you would have a bunch of websites, a bunch of URLs that were bookmarked that you would visit manually to see what was going on. Like I remember going to at a certain point in my earlier in history, going to yahoo.com daily just to see like what is going on here because they have news and shit too. Anyway, so it was as you

mentioned, it was launched in 1999 by British college students Adam Powell and Donna Williams quickly acquired by American businessman Doug Doe Ring who passed away last year. But Doe Ring was a devout Scientologist, and the company was originally managed by the Scientology org. However, Powell and Williams were able to successfully present prevent Neopets from becoming a Scientology indoctrination site for children, which I think was Doe Ring's ultimate aim. The site ends up

being sold to Viacom in 2005 for $160 million. Subsequently, it's acquired by American company Jumpstart in 2014. Then Jumpstart is acquired by Chinese firm NetDragon in 2023. The original site was Sunset in 2023 and relaunched as World of Neopia. And this year, as we mentioned, it is celebrating its 25th anniversary. But this was a game that was very, very big, like in its heyday. At its peak in the mid 2000s, it had 35 million unique users per month, 80% of whom were children. So this was like kids were just playing the shit out of this game. And Sierra, I imagine that was your experience.

Oh, yeah, yeah. I hit it right in the sweet spot. I think like kids at school were playing. So there was a lot of like, you know, discussing, hey, can you send me your Neo points, you know, and no, obviously, can you send me your Neo points, you know, and no, obviously. Do not give away your Neo points. And there, you know, I think a lot of it, like, cause I think, yeah, cause it's pets,

a lot of people, it's reminiscent of like Tamagotchi and stuff, but I think what was so enticing to me about it is that it was really like a community. And I wasn't, you know, of course pre-social media, I was also under 13 signing up. So I think you had to at some point, like have your parents vaccine, like a signed waiver so that you could have more access to like the community parts of it, because there was sort of a light version,

which was like you can play the games, but like you can't, you know, go on the message boards, of course. And those were already very censored anyway. But like you can participate in like exchanging. You know, I don't even know exactly the limits, but it just opened up a bigger, better site when you had your parents sign the waiver or if you were already over 13. So yeah, that's how, you know,

it was very popular for that. And I think the fact that like, you know, you could build wealth and sell things, like the marketplace was really there, so you have your own shop. And then you kind of do your daily things. And like, I mean, I had like 16 accounts and sell things, like the marketplace was really there, so you have your own shop, and then you kind of do your daily things. And like, I mean, I had like 16 accounts

that would like funnel. So yeah, this is where we get into it. But yeah, everybody did it, but it was probably against terms and conditions. But you know, because there are things that you could do every day per account, I would like use the 15 satellite accounts to then accrue whatever to send to the main account.

And then the main account, you know, add the most wealth. And then, yeah, you just use that to your advantage. So you're logging in out of 15 different accounts, doing your dailies, and then sending all that, the currency and goodies that you accumulate. And by dailies, we mean like flash based games? Or were there like, was it like, the way that when we played Pokemon Sleep,

you had to like okay? I've got to feed this guy. I've got a search with this guy. I've got to like dig with this guy Yeah, it's like um so yeah definitely the the games I think you could only play three times and actually earn points you could continue to play Beyond But then it would just be for nothing which I kind of make games into almost like a chore You're like this game, I gotta play this game. And then if anybody asked me to play a game for fun, I would be like, no, I need to be earning currency during this game.

So why would I do that? And then there was things like going to the giant omelet and getting your free piece of omelet, you know, and that feeds your, I was going to say child, but you know, Neopet. And then there's also, you know, going up to the money tree, which the money tree had like free items you could snatch up, but it would become like it would not work after certain points. So that was kind of a daily thing as well. Yeah, and then going around the world or just different things and things got added. And like when Viacom bought it, it turned into more of a real media site where you're like playing a game that's related to the new, you know, movie that's coming out that weekend. where you're like playing a game that's related to the new movie that's coming out that weekend. So there was that element, it changed over time and then wearables were kind of later as well. But yeah, for sure. I think there were like daily chores to do that that was kind of what made it good. And I would even do a thing called pound surfing, which was

like you would like surf the, this is crazy, but I guess like the pets you could like disown and then you could look for unique rare pets. So at the time for me, it was like when they were painted different colors, there were like Christmas themed pets or like spotted pets. And those were rarer because that required a paint brush, which was extremely expensive. So I would like refresh the pound on end

and I would fill all the excess accounts with the rare pets and then you could send them to the other ones by putting it in the pound and then trying to you know like hurry up login and then log back into the new account and get it and sometimes somebody would get it before me and I would try to message him be like please it was and then they'd be like no You know because it's a doggy dog world out there Yeah, and you know I was learning that young. And- Neopia is not a meritocracy. Yes, exactly. Many things could go on,

but there are just lots of advantages, I think, of having multiple kids. Wow. And I wanna clarify, so you were under 13 and your parents did have to, did you have a fax machine? Yeah. Or did they have to go to like the Kinkos?

Yeah, I think they had a fax machine at the dental office. Oh, right. Yeah, thank God. they had a fax machine at the dental office Yeah, yeah, so thank God for that but yes Fax machine and I had to fax something recently for the government Which they have apps on your phone you can use as a fax machine Yes, in case anybody's wondering but anyway, you know, but yes, so that was I think and I had some friends who did it So that kind of was the reason I learned that that's possible. But also a main thing too, is I think as time went on, like the rare Neopet thing was then the name of your Neopet

because each Neopet has to have a unique name. So you can add numbers. This is a thing I learned, which I was shocked by because like basically any, you know, account system these days, like you would do, like you're making a username, you don't have to come up with something that's completely unique.

They will affix something to the end of it that will make it be like, whatever, I can be Nick Weiger, and then I've got like a 04067 that's hidden at the end of it. But these have to be utterly unique. It has to be something that no one's ever used in the game's history. Oh yeah, yeah, it was quite a lot.

It was pretty difficult, but I got very good at like, I wanted for some reason, my main one to be called Bomo Scoco, which is, and so then, but even Bomo Scoco, the way I guess you would think it would be spelled was taken. So it ended up being B-O-M-O-S-K-O-K-O-A. Wow. Anyway, just one example, but- Trailing A. It became Trailing A, but it became a thing

that the unique thing is called an RN, which is a real name. So if you had a Nick or you had, you know, like I think I had a Ulysses. Wow. But then I lost Ulysses, so I don't like talking about it, but you know, that was a real name and that would be extremely rare today.

Yes, right. 10 years ago, which is more interesting. I mistakenly tried to get the name Matt and was shocked that it was not available. You gotta do Matt. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I ended up going with, because I made a Neopet to just see what it was, a Jub-Jub, which I don't know really what a Jub-Jub is. It's like a little fuzzy looking guy.

I actually, let me pull up his stats because the stats are like because you you you you make this guy, right? And you can pick there's a variety of pets you can pick from and a lot of them look like animals that you've seen before that are like Yeah, like they look close enough. Like a dog. Yeah, it's like a Pokemon or Digimon It's like you know it's akin to real wildlife a lot of times. Yeah, there's an elephant named elephante You know that sort of shit right, but then there's Jubjub and Jubjub is just like feet and like a fuzzy little head. Yeah, that's the same one

I picked man I picked that one because I was like this one's kind of the funniest looking one He looked like a Pokemon, and I picked I made him green And I gave him a yellow Bandana and I was like I'm gonna name this guy pickle. That was my first instinct No, no, absolutely not 1999 yeah Having to go with I

Named him at ma at ma. Yeah to go with I named him Atma. Atma? Yeah, A-T-T-M-A, like because I was like I just want to get my name in there somewhere. So I got that in there and you have to fill out a little personality profile for him. Where does your Neopet like to live? I picked city. What does your Neopet like doing? I picked reading and learning. Yeah. How does your Neopet greet others I went with the default here, which was stand their ground oh? The ground loss yeah What's happening in you? Yeah, but I found it interesting that like you can just make another guy

Like when I was doing it. I was clicking around they're like you can make another one. Yeah You can have four you can have four okay the time, you know, they may have updated it since but Yeah, four I think was the limit and so you said you have 15 accounts. You said the name of the guy of Your of your main one, what kind of pet was it? Shoy Roo. Oh, okay. The dragon one.

The Shoy Roo, okay. Yeah, and I paint him Christmas. This is... He's Christmas colored. It was the cheapest one at the time. This is the first one I made. Is, I don't, what kind of guy is this? That's a Juv Juv.

Oh, you have it on your phone. Yeah, because as I learned, they're trying to make this a mobile friendly website. I see and so a lot of the HTML design that they're trying to do in order to Recreate these video games that were all flash based which are no longer in existence Also, I can't imagine the day that flash got turned off. Yeah, Jesus must have been like the day that Flash got turned off on Neopets. Must've been like- Apocalyptic. Yeah. Oh boy.

Yeah, like the stock market crash. But I named my guy, Gajorapaporp. Ooh. And then I tried to play games and I could not get any of them to work. The games are confusing. You can get the games to work period on iOS. Not at all. Yeah.

Okay, cause I got the game, I was playing on PC and I can get the games to work, period, on iOS. Not at all, yeah. Okay, because I got the game, I was playing on PC and I could get the games to work, but getting them to work did not really help much because I didn't know what was going on. But I was able to, I made a mohog. And who's like, as you might assume, kind of like a warthog little guy. And I was able to name him My Big Fat Hog,

which I was shocked was not Well, I'm guessing that it's been taken and that they continually, the moderators of this children's game, delete that name. That's amazing. You have long done a game that is like a 13 and over game and you walked in as a, I'm assuming, 30, 40 year old man, however old you are, and you immediately chose my big fat dog. Hell yeah, yeah. No, definitely when I was like, when I was scrolling down to find my birth year and you immediately chose my big fat arm.

Definitely when I was scrolling down to find my birth year for a long time and I get to the 1980s, I'm like, they should not let me play this game. I just should say I'm too old for this. I was thinking about that when Sierra said that you had to fax in, this is okay. That's very easy for a weird adult to circumvent Right like I mean also a lot of kids

I mean a lot of my once I learned that that was the case because I was an honest child I put in my regular year that time the subsequent accounts. I just put Yeah, yeah, we were not faxing we don't have that much money for the fax machine Yeah, so it was yeah, I feel like everybody was just lying about their birthday So I think if they saw that they'd be like this is probably a 13 year old saying that And obviously the games are a big part of it And I do want to talk about the games But I want to circle back to the community part of it because like that was the part of it that I didn't and

Would not interface with that. I could engage with that But like what was the experience like as a kid on there? Like, what are you doing in the chat? Well, I know that Harry Potter six book was spoiled for me on the Neo Blurts. Oh my God. Unfortunately, yeah. Wow.

That was like the top title. One of the top ones was Snape kills Dumbledore. Oh my God. Horrible. I was like, dang it. They just made that the forum post title. Yeah, I guess. So I guess that was okay.

I'm sure they took it down at some point But anyway, it was very limited like I think man But but so and I will also say this kind of spun off into so Neopets would also play April Fool's prank and one time they made it seem like you were any time you went to a different page You would have to like pay money or was like accruing like a debt for you So I was like oh hell no, and then I like I didn't realize it was a prank So I moved over and I looked for other pet sites, and I actually moved over to Subeda which was this other one at the time a little less popular little aged up

I would say so that was more like more possibilities because I feel like there were things there were it's like you could like create your own digital art avatar thing or something and then like Create like a persona for yourself, which I felt like early social media, of I wanna be known for how good I am at digital art. Oh my God, what are the, it would be so cool to be famous for like Ansoo Beta or whatever, right?

So, but Neopets was more limited. I don't think you could share images or anything custom. So you couldn't really have a personality. The only thing that you could kinda do, which actually helped me learn how to code and stuff, was you could customize your pet page, so people would be really creative with that, because that was even very limited.

They had something called Neo HTML, which means you couldn't just do, like it was a limited version of HTML, so you could do certain things, but you couldn't hack the site, right? So yeah, so I feel like there were certain ways for you to stand out and not just be playing the game, which I feel like was kind of something

that was building at the time, which was like, hey, this internet thing, like what if you could also be like, you know, making a name for yourself or something? Is there much chatting going on? Like, can you talk to another person in the, like a stranger in the game or whatever? I mean, so yeah, how did that work?

I know there was Neo-Mail, so that was kind of like direct message. But I feel like you could kind of only, you know, message people who you were friends with, so, you know, make sure it's a mutual situation. So I was mainly messaging like my friends from school. And so that was like very safe. And I'm sure, you know, they monitored a lot. I think certain words were definitely like you probably couldn't even say pretty harmless words.

Yeah, but you could say my big fat hog. As long as it's, yeah, no spaces in between, I think you could say that pretty easily. But yeah, I think it was pretty much all in service of like the Neopia and making sure, yeah, everything was pets related. Now, when I was watching videos about this and reading about this,

one thing that seemed to be the case, and I don't know if this, I imagined as you were talking about that this worsened after Viacom comes on the scene, but there were a lot of like ads that was always monetized, right? Like there was like a premium thing I think you could pay for, I don't know when that was added,

but like I imagine a lot of it was just like, you're basically playing AdBor games. You're just kind of like, you're watching an ad, you're being fed an ad under the guise of like, this is some sort of activity. Totally, yeah. I mean, it was a lot of the games, sometimes they were like outright like a quiz

about whatever movie was coming out, so that felt really different. But sometimes they would, probably whatever that the company comes in is like, we wanna make it really interactive with Neopets itself. So I think for during like World Cup or something, they had like a Neopia Cup and you could like play with the different lands of Neopia. And that was like in tandem with like, and also watch the real one in the real world. They had like, I know they had a partnership with McDonald's and did like a Happy Meal.

So like, and I was like kind of old by that point, but I kind of wanted to get the benefits of like, if you got the Happy Meal, you got the toy. And then you could scan that toy and get like certain prizes online or something. So I did that a couple of times. And that was like the most, you know, I was willing to bridge into like the real world of, you know, spending real money on it.

But yeah, that was big. So it was getting pretty commercial towards the end of my playing, which was, I don't know when, but post Viacom for sure. Right. And then, yeah, and I feel like they also, they had a magazine that I have a couple copies of. I think they discontinued it at some point.

And they had plushies, of course, and that's what they called them, plushies in the game, and I think in real life. And yeah, it was not too crazy, but like Webkins, that was like later, but that kind of was like, oh, all you could do to really monetize, like go forward and do sell extremely like physical merchandise.

Right. But yeah. Well, the other one I remember like this, I don't know if this is something you ever played, I never did again, too old for it, but I remember Club Penguin was another one people were super into. Anyone ever mess with Club Penguin?

Remember you had Club Penguin? I wasn't allowed to do this or Club Penguin. Right, Emma was saying that too. You were just kind of like your parents just sort of overall, anything that you had to sign a waiver for that they had to authorize, you were just not allowed. Anything online, there was nothing online that was allowed. Independent console was fine

But yeah, anything internet-based absolutely not yeah I can't imagine my mom using the my mom printed out like sheets and sheets and sheets of like Pokemon websites and stuff like for me like at work and got in like so much trouble I can't imagine her using the fucking fax machine this like allow me to play Neopets. I using the fucking fax machine to allow me to play Neopet. I told my parents that I had to write a book report on the Satanic Bible and they bought it for me. I love the Campbells. I got to fax the devil.

OK, another thing I saw is that at a certain point, Macy Gray was a Neopet. Do you remember this? She was, I don't know that she was a Neopet, she was a featured character. She was a featured character in the Neopet's world. Like based, like it wasn't that Macy Gray was, she was, it was based on Macy Gray, but it wasn't like, oh, this is Macy Gray.

It was like, oh, we're doing a parody of Macy Gray. And she's like- It's a Macy Gray-esque character that exists in the world. Got it, okay, okay. Okay. Oh yes, okay, I do remember this, wow. Yeah, that is, that maybe predates when I was playing

because it is like a specific, I mean, you can kind of tell from the artwork too, like it got, you know, the digital art became more like refined, I guess. Yeah, it was like, it seemed like when it launched, it was pretty crude and then they kept iterating on it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, makes total sense. And then recently they tried to convert Neopets

into a metaverse project called Neopets Meta, and they were selling NFT Neopets into a metaverse project called Neopets Meta, and they were selling NFT Neopets. So you would actually have your own Neopet. And of course, when that entire scam collapsed, not the scam of Neopets, but like the scam of NFTs, then it brought down the Neoverse Meta project with it. Oh yeah, I believe it. Yeah, cause I feel like when that was hitting

and everybody was, you know, oh, oh, you can make it, you know, Neopets, of course, they're probably like, that's exactly what we were doing. But like, you know, now, now we want to cash in. And then of course, yeah. Which is also funny because it's not, it's not the same, but because you have to come up with a unique name, you are creating essentially a non-fungible permanent NFT Neopets.

Like Ulysses, you saw Ulysses. Ulysses still exists somewhere on those Neopets servers, is somewhere out there, and there isn't another one. Yeah, that's the whole thing. You don't actually need the blockchain to do this stuff. People have been doing it forever. So, but I'm still hopeful I'll be able to flip Yeah, that's the whole thing. You don't you don't actually need the blockchain to do this stuff people have been doing it forever, so But I'm still hopeful. I'll be able to flip my

Javell Mickey NBA Top Shot Good purchase. Yeah, I think so I did I did mess around with some of the games today. Yeah, and I mean They're all Like for kids like me they're all I, obviously they're all for like little kids. Yes. Like one of them was like a Bejeweled type game that I was playing that was just like match three of the same color ball. That's all it was.

There was another one that I couldn't figure out how to do. This is the thing. So I feel like this is my experience. So for instance, like Fairy Bubbles, which I played, I was like, okay, this is just Puzzle Bobble slash, you know, bust a move. This is just like Snood. Yeah, this is the exact same.

This is just a clone of one of these. I can wrap my head around this immediately. Then I played some Fashion Fever, and I was just like, I don't think this is a game. I think this just is a way for you to dress up your Neopet and then somehow you get currency. But like somehow you're getting Neo, but I could not figure out why.

Like I think I got my, I think my costume got judged and then I got whatever the currency is on Neo points. And then I was playing both J'Udora's Bluff and Illucin's Glade. And I was just like, I don't know what the hell is going on here. Cause they started playing J'Udora's Bluff and J'Ud Glade. And I was just like, I don't know what the hell is going on here. Cause they started playing J'edora's Bluff and J'edora's like, you need to get me a red carpet.

And I was, I see the red carpet right there. So I'm like, I got this. And I click it and she's like, you're a liar. She got a little mad at me. Oh no. And I was like, well, okay, I pissed her off. I'll go play Ellucin's Glade. And I go to Ellucin and she's like,

you can't be here. You're over at J'Dora's bluff. And I was like, what? I was like, oh man. Yeah, what the hell were you doing, man? I know, I know. So I guess they have like a little war. So then I figured out, okay, what you're saying is

you want me to get an in-game item, which is a rug, an in-game rug, like a buy a red rug from the online store. And then once I did that, I went back there and I was like, oh, then you dissolved it. She was like, great job, I'll see you tomorrow. I was like, okay, so that was my daily judo. Like, but it was a kind of thing of like, I could see this getting its hooks into me if I was a kid.

Yeah, I think the figuring that as a kid would be very satisfying or having your friend at school tell you, you gotta do this and like, oh yeah, and then you go home and do it. Like that would be very satisfying. And then the idea that I'm doing this thing today and then I'm coming back tomorrow

and I'm gonna do another one, like that would be, that would absolutely get me hooked. One of the ones that I did, this thing today, and then I'm coming back tomorrow And I'm gonna do another one like that would be that would absolutely get me hooked one of the ones that I did I don't remember the name of it But it was these two little guys and they're on like a seesaw type thing and you have to take turns jumping to catch Letters or the things up there. Oh, yeah, I think that's like Pussy bounce yes, and you have to also yes And you're doing that and I was but also There are these like little like donut type things that you could also get that extend your time

But then there's also shit and barf. Yeah, you don't want to barf No, you could like land on the shit and they'll say like you grow. Yeah, there's like the bit the coughing sound for like Yeah, and then I didn't get All the letters so when my time ran out, it just shows the two little guys on the screen and they're crying like babies. Yeah, what the heck man? You made me cry.

They're like, oh yeah. It made me feel so sad for that. This is all, like I do think a lot of it, it is for kids, but it's also from like the early 2000s Yes, and like thinking about judora and elucidants glade like I know So it's a PHP game right like an issue like everything is PHP at some point They introduced I think the flash games But the sort of like go to click around and go over there and then bring it back and stuff

That's very like PHP so I feel like that's probably even predates all the Adobe Flash games. Then Hosty Bounce is kind of newer. I mean, newer than that, but still very old. So I think, yeah, everything like, I don't think kids now would even find it exciting because it just, technology has progressed and they're just like, this is so boring. I would say.

Well yeah, kids now are playing Call of Duty Warzone. Oh yeah, well yeah, not a four. I think the Ted Chiang novella, the life cycle of software objects is based on Neopets. Oh my God, because yeah, I read that and I felt all the feels. Yeah, yeah, it is about a semi-sentient or fully sentient pet that somebody creates

and then I believe basically the servers are shut down and they have to take this conscious entity into their personal care because they can't play in like the Neopets arena anymore. And it's kind of like a real melancholy read. Yeah, and I mentioned before, cause I may have listened to that one. I listened to one Ted Chiang collection on audiobook,

and it was really a disorienting experience because it had like a traditional narrator. And then between chapters, Ted Chiang would hop in and tell you where the story came from. But it would be the thing of like, the creature breathed its last its consciousness faded into oblivion just zeros and ones once more Hi, I'm Ted. I

Came up with a story when I was playing I think if I had if they were like for some reason It's totally different. You kids ever play Neopets? Yeah. Ted. I think if they were like, for some reason, Animal Crossing New Horizons doesn't work anymore, I would be like, Dom the sheep could live with me for the rest of my life. Wow. I love him. I would die for Dom. Yeah, that was the thing, because I did play Nintendo Dogs,

and the thing I remember, which I referenced earlier, but the thing I remember at Nintendo dogs is like, your dogs wouldn't die. But if you left them unattended, you'd come back and they'd be like, a little dirty. Starving and filthy. Yeah.

And you feel like, and like have to use the bathroom. I was just like, I can't, this is just, this poor animal has been living in a prison inside my Nintendo DS for like, you know, the past four months since I stopped playing. I don't know if I've ever told this story before. Uh-oh. Matt killed a dog.

No, no, no, no, no. I remember this is like in high school, this is when I'm getting electronic daily, or electronic gaming monthly magazines sent to my house. I remember seeing Nintendogs in the magazine and being like telling all my friends like, guys, there's this game coming remember seeing Nintendogs in the magazine and telling all my friends, like, guys, there's this game coming out called Nintendogs where you can take care of a dog for the DS.

And I was like one of my friends that had the DS and they all made fun of me so hard. They were like, you would play this dog game? They roasted me for months and months and months. Just for wanting to play it? Just wanting to play it and I never got it. And then my birthday comes around, and my friends bought me Nintendo.

Wow. They're like, you want it so much. And then they made fun of me for playing it. Oh, no. Yeah, they like threw it at you and then kicked you in the stomach. But I remember playing it. And I loved it.

I loved Nintendo. It was like next level bullying. It was really, really funny. Here, play it it you stupid dog. Freshman in high school and didn't have jobs they had to scrape together like five bucks and buy me this

$35 Nintendo DS game just to make fun of me more. Very funny. Check out Matt, he's having the time of his life. What an asshole. We made him feel good. Kick his ass. We're all gonna be friends forever. Yeah, we made him feel good. He has a long, long bond. Kick his ass. Yeah. We're all going to be friends forever. They're still my friends.

I saw them a week ago. There's a real window of time when every company was trying to create this interactive pet. Tamagotchi sort of kicks it off. And then Neopets. And then I feel like Hey You Pikachu and the Pokemon pedometer or whatever it was called.

Even some Dreamcast VMU mini games had that component. And then like Nintendogs, and then simultaneous to this on like the hardware side, like Sony's releasing the Aibo, which is like a dog that could like live in your space, but was like a mechanical dog. And it felt like a lot of people trying to solve the problem of like going and getting a pet.

Like, because they are almost as much work. Like the amount of stuff that you have to do at the beginning of the day to do a Neopets, very similarly, the thing that I eventually bounced off of Animal Crossing I was like I feel beholden to this thing. Yeah. Yeah, I was getting to To invested in the turnip market. I was like I had an app. I had several apps to manage my turnips I was like I can't do this anymore Yeah, once I started doing that,

because it also like, you can really break the balance. You can accumulate so many bells by doing that. Once I was like, I have to stop doing this. I'm just like, have I said good price? I'm like a friends, that's fine, but I'm not gonna like try to find, I'm not gonna exchange like Tom Nook tickets, Nook Miles tickets to get to go to some stranger

because they have a high stock market price. Yeah, but the men, I'd do anything to go back to those times. It was, I will say it's the thing. And I'm sure as Sierra, your experience with Neopets are similar of like, you have this time where like you spent so much of your life doing this thing. And then it just kind of goes away

and all you're left with are the memories but it doesn't feel like wasted time. It's still just like, oh, that was a thing that I occupied my time with. I think of the hundreds of hours I put in Animal Crossing New Horizons that eventually, like Heather was just sort of like, this has taken up too much of my time.

I'm done with this and walked away from it. But I look back at that fondly, because it was like, you know what? This was a thing that I needed and I enjoyed right then. Oh, definitely. I feel like it fills the void sometimes. I think as a child, it was like, oh, maybe a hunger to be in the real world. So it's a child it was like, oh, maybe a hunger to be in the real world.

So it's a little bit of like, oh, I have money, points. And then like, I have, they even had like a fake stock exchange or so. You could like learn certain things and feel like you're doing something that you're not allowed to do yet. And then as an adult, yeah, I feel like it's kicking into the thing of like,

sometimes feeling getting deep, feeling powerless in our economy No, and stuff like that and you're like, oh, but you know If you're able to like have your whole world being fine in this other life, then hey, maybe I can do it Yeah, so yeah, I like the things that are like, you know quaint and have clear numbers of like doing better You know Escalating over time. It's funny that you, because, that you created these multiple accounts

in order to funnel money into your primary account. Because when I did my first online game, which was Final Fantasy XI, same thing. You create multiple accounts, and then you can use one account as like your storefront and just have that account sitting out with like open trade activated, because there was like a place you could put items

on like a community board in the game, or you could have items on your person, and then you would sit that person down in like a designated area, and then people would just click on each of the individual people. But it's funny that in these simulations of capitalism, how rapidly it becomes that you exploit a group of people

in order to enrich a primary person or account. Yeah, for sure. Like even on Neopets, it's like, oh, I'm gonna create these like, like it's always kind of the exact same experience. Interesting. Yeah. Well, I, so like you were talking about that and what you just mentioned, Heather, I'm gonna create these like tent like it's always kind of the exact same experience interesting Yeah, well I so like you were talking about that and and what you just mentioned How there's making me think of like my Diablo two days, especially before the the first expansion

I Guess the only expansion the the stash that you had for storing items was so small that you ended up employing What were mule accounts. Yeah, mule accounts. Mules are like that's a common thing everywhere now. But like I remember this was my first experience having like mules creating mule characters. And yeah, when I think about like their digital reality, I was creating, I had like characters that got to enjoy the fun of playing the game.

And then they also other characters were basically like laborers for their whole job was just to carry all the their excess possessions. And like so you'd have a thing of like I'm trading with somebody and so I got to get my mule who has all my stones of Jordan so that he can come in here and he can like and you would have like a like you'd have a server and then you'd throw your character in there and you'd like drop an item on the ground and then hope that no one else picked it up by the time you got back there so you can switch it to your main or whatever. But yeah, it is like when you actually think

about what you're doing, it is that whole, it all feels like multi-level marketing. Wow, interesting. No, yeah, I mean, yeah, and that's just the natural like incentive, right? So you're even as a child, you're like, oh yeah, this is what we do now. Teaches you that lesson young.

Well, yeah, because also in Neopets, you can like have a bank account and then you like accrue interest, right? So that's a whole thing and that's a whole like a preview of adult life. Oh totally Yeah, and it even does have tiered system where if you have a higher net worth you get a higher rate, right interest. Yeah, I Wonder if there's somebody our world is our world is so bad and then we just like choose to like emulate Maybe I can win in this version I just I just saw a thing this is new and true in roblox you can get a job at IKEA and they pay you I don't know if they pay you in the game or real money I doubt it's real money yeah but they must pay you and so you get to do you have a job and fucking in the fucking game 20 years from now, a younger versions of us

and a younger version of Sierra will be doing like some version of a podcast, whatever it is, talking about Roblox. They know a lot of kids are growing up with it now and it is like just in their bones. And it's a thing that like Neopets is completely inscrutable to me. I would never have any actual understanding of it.

But it's also way more predatory than Neopets, because kids can spend so much actual money in this thing. And yeah, they can basically do free labor that is then just like other people are making money off of it. And I was wondering too, I wonder if there's somebody who's been playing Neopets for 25 years, and has like, I'm sure there is.

Absolutely. Yeah, so I know they shut shut it down for a bit. I don't know what's been happening with the Flash interim, but yeah, I think that it was definitely going for a long time. I saw when I was making my account that there are a couple of options when you're making the account.

It's like, you can start a new thing, or I think you can use your old login to bring stuff into the new ecosystem. Yeah, it's like sign in with your original Neopets account. Which is maybe what you don't want to hear, but you could get back in there if you wanted to. No, no, no, yeah, I'm aware, yeah. I haven't tried to migrate all the stuff over yet,

but yeah, there's a spreadsheet somewhere of all my passwords and birthdays. Man, I had an early email client that no longer exists, and it bums me out. Because Gmail didn't come out until somewhere in the 2000s. But if you had certain 1990s email and it wasn't Hotmail or Yahoo mail, those emails are just gone forever.

No, yeah. It's the same thing. It's the old email accounts that just disappeared. Even if you had a... Because one of my first email accounts was a Yahoo account and it was just so dormant that after a certain amount of time they like took it and deleted it and took it back. And now I can't log into this one website

that me and all my high school friends used to use called Photo Bucket where we used to put our pictures online in there and now there's like memories just lost and like memes that we would make making fun of each other Just gone. It's horrible if he got into his recently and there's really some cursed stuff in there I I remember there because there was also a time when up like every website like what you're talking about earlier was trying to Have their own email client because just like oh, yeah, we'll just yeah, we'll just have this and we'll have people come here So I I did it at a certain point. I never used it regularly, but I had a marijuana comm email That's gotta be worth something

That them should spend deactivated that's so funny Amazing any other lay any other any other thoughts on Neopets anything? We didn't cover I know it's like it's like a big topic and it's it's hard to mine the memory on Neopets, anything we didn't cover? I know it's like a big topic, and it's hard to mine the memory well as the archives, but was there anything that you really bothered you about the game, or that you really miss about the game? Oh gosh, no, I think, yeah, overall,

I think people, what's kind of funny too is, I guess this happens for all games, or anytime there's changes, but anytime there was a change, whether it was because another company bought it, or it was getting more commercial, or they changed the look of the shoy-roo, and anytime there was a change, whether it was because another company bought it or it was getting more commercial or they changed the look of the shoy-roo and it's got thicker lines, everybody would be out and up in arms and pissed about it.

So I think it was kind of nice to be, yeah, again, a part of that sort of community and seeing how people cared about the good old days, even though it looked shittier, honestly, that was pretty funny. And then, yeah yeah what else I mean they they like I guess personally it did teach a lot including myself I think it because maybe it skewed a little bit more female sometimes taught a lot of

young girls to code so a lot of I would say maybe women in STEM these days are working you know at in tech like maybe came from Neopets. And it was how I got into it and like other, you can only learn basic amount, but it definitely gave you the bug a little bit. So I think that was cool. That's a cool legacy. That's really cool.

Yeah, as you were saying earlier, like even if you're just learning like kind of basic HTML through it, it still like feels like, oh wow, look at this thing I was able to make, you know? Oh yeah, yeah. It opens up your mind in that way. It was great, like immediate gratification

where it's like you type it in and then you see the changes and you're like, hey, this could be fun, you know? It's bold. Oh, I did that? And yeah, I think that is a cool part of it. But yeah, I'm not sure like what the evolution was after I stopped playing, you know, probably post high school or

even in high school I feel like I might have played a little bit but um yeah it was it was there an age threshold where you were like you felt like you were too old to be playing it I'm sure yeah I feel like everybody just stopped you know so there was a little bit of that but I feel like I would still play you know probably later than usual because that's what I did with most things so probably like you know into the 15 or 16 range I would say I Will ask I asked Rochelle who all who played as far as I can tell that the two the video games she played Other than fortnight were Mary Kate and Ashley sweet 16 license to drive and neo pets

Oh, yeah, um and ranch sent over her thoughts I moved to Thailand with my mom when I was eight and was getting bullied and Neopets was my first real introduction to the internet. This was my main pet, she includes a little picture here, who was a blue Ixie or, yeah Ixie, and I was really into stealing Hall's lozenges from the medicine cabinet, so I named him Hall's 99. Oh my God, wow.

An incredible Rochelle Lore. Halls99 is really, really good. I want to hear from our listeners if you guys played Neopets, if you had any specific Neopets memories. And I want to hear specifically if you're still playing it, because then I have some questions. But let us know in the Discord, discord.gg slash get played. And I'm interested.

Yeah, I'm curious. Don't tag me, but I do want to know. No, I'm curious as well. I'm curious as well. All right, hey, that was our talk about Neopets. It's time for a segment. It's our quiz segment. You don't know Jack off. And this topic is Neopet, Pokemon, or Ewok.

I will read the name of a creature. You tell me if it's a Neopet, a Gen 9 Pokemon, or a notable named Ewok according to Wookiepedia. So buzz in with your name. Got it. And chime in. So it's Neopet, Pokemon, Ewok. Emma, could you keep score for us?

Awesome, all right. First up, Jub-Jub. Heather. Heard Heather. Ewok. No, it's not an Ewok. Oh, Sierra. What?

Sierra. Neopet. It is a Neopet. We both picked a Jub-Jub. That's your Neopet. Yeah, no, that's the one you picked. Oh, that's what he said. Yeah.

E-O. Yeah, he just, he would go, Jub-Jub. Oh, interesting. Yeah, that's what he said. Yeah. E-O. Jub-jub. Yeah, he just, he would go. Jub-jub. Oh, interesting. Yeah, that's the song at the end of Return of the Jedi. Fuck. All right, next up, Wiglet. Matt, that's a Pokemon.

You are correct, that is a Pokemon. Hell yeah. I think we're all gonna guess the ones we know. Jub-jub. Number three, Chirpa. Heather. Ewok. Chirpa. Other Ewok. Chirpa is an Ewok.

Oh my God. Nice. It's all tied up. Chirp, chirp. Grundo. Uh, Matt. I'm gonna say that's an Ewok. No, it's not an Ewok.

Oh my God. Are we allowed to use that? Sierra? Pokemon? Grundo is a Neopet. Wow! He was added later. Next up, Orlo.

This game is awesome and sucks simultaneously. Orlo, Heather. Orlo. Orlo. Orlo is a Pokemon. No, he's not. Aw, man! Anyone else?

See, we're all going, see, we each guessed Orlo. Not our thing. That's the problem. Sierra. Go ahead. Ewok? It is an Ewok. Wow.

Sierra has two. Next up, Diplin. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Diplin ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Matt gets another one. What's the score? Gen 9 is... Matt and Sierra at 2 and Heather is at 1. Okay, great. Gen 9 is... is that the most recent gen? That's why I made it Gen 9 because I figured it would be too easy if I made it earlier. Because I know you're less familiar with the more modern ones. Diplin, man.

Alright, next one is Tebo. Tebo? Tebo. Is Tebo a Neopet? Heather. Pokemon or Neowalk? Heather. Neopet. No, heeebo a Neopet? Heather. Pokemon or an Ewok? Heather. Neopet.

No, he's not an Ewok. The thing about this game too that you also have to know, listener. Yeah. Nick loves saying these, and he loves saying, no, that's not it. He's having the time of his life over there.

I'm gonna hog Evan. Teebo. Teebo. It's not a Neopet. No. Matt, I'm gonna say it of his life over there. I'm gonna hog Evan. Pfft. Tebow. Tebow. It's not a Neopet. No. Matt, I'm gonna say it's an Ewok. You are correct. Tebow is an Ewok.

I should just guess. I would've guessed the wrong one. Next one is Wocky. Sierra, Neopet. It is a Neopet, you are correct. Next up, Watrel. Matt, I believe that's a Pokemon. You are correct. Next up, Wattrell. I believe that's a Pokemon. You are correct, that is a Pokemon.

Number 10, Wonka. W-U-N-K? Yes, that is correct. Wonka. Wonka. Oh my God. What they call Wonka in the German market? Wonka. Wonka.

Heather. Yes. Ewok. It is an Ewok. Is it all tied up? What are the scores, market? Wonka, Wonka. Heather. Yes. Ewok. It is an Ewok. Is it all tied up? What are the scores, Emma? No, it's not. I'm in the last place.

No, Heather's at two, Sierra's at three, Matt's at four. Okay, we got a few more. Tugtar. Wait. Heather. Pokemon. No.

Fuck! Tugtar. Sierra. Neopet? No, Tugtar is an Ewok. God damn it! Oh! No. Fuck! Tugtar. Sierra. Neopet? No, Tugtar is an Ewok. Goddammit! Oh, God.

Horrible. Next up, Yerble. Yerble. Yerble. Um, Matt, I'm gonna say Neopet. You are correct. Yerble is a Neopet. Wow.

But can you guess the next one? Pawme. I can, Matt. That is a Neopet, but can you guess the next one? Pommy. I can, Matt, that is a Pokemon. You are correct. Nice. What's the score? All right, Heather's at two, Sierra's at three, and Matt's at six. Wow, Matt running away with it.

A couple more here just to close it out. Chomby. Sierra. Yes. Neopet. It is a Neopet, and closing it out with Chundar. Heather. Yes. Ewok. I will is a Neopet and closing it out with Chundar. Heather. Yes. Ewok.

I will give you a point, Heather, but this is a trick question. This is actually a Wookie. Hey, I want my money back. Matt wins. Wow. About a spirited contest. That's this week's Get Played.

Shout out to Emma for covering for Rachelle. Hell yes. Our music is by Ben Prunty, BenPruntyMusic.com. Our art is by Duck Brigade Design, DuckBrigade.com. And check out our Patreon, patreon.com slash get played where you can find our entire pre headgum back catalog plus ad free main feed episodes. And also our Patreon exclusive show Get Animated Heather, we're watching Mobile Suit Gundam, the 8th MS team.

We're watching Mobile Suit Gundam, the 8th MS team. We're watching Mobile Suit Gundam, the 8th MS team. Nick said, let's watch Gundam. And I said, OK. And I'm having the time of my life. The truth is, all three of us are. Yeah, great show. You can check that out at patreon.com slash get played. We're watching two episodes a week.

We've just started. So if you sign up now, you can join us for the ride and watch Hulu's 8th MST. Check that out. Sierra Cato, Funt is available now on Comedy Dynamics and will be streaming on Prime Video July 1st. Tell us about your special, congratulations, and then anything else you wanna plug.

Oh yeah, thanks so much. It's my debut comedy special. You can get on demand County dynamics the meo Amazon Apple TV wherever you want and then yeah I'll hopefully be out on streaming very soon and then Yeah, it's just you know a fun time our Follow me on Instagram. I'm at Sierra Cato si e rra k at o w for clips And thank you so much. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much. What a treat Yeah, this was really really fun and

I'm really sorry to have to do this to you as our guest. I know Nick's telling me not to do it I don't think you should I don't think you should do it. You got played Sierra and I'm sorry that sucks It sucks to hear but you got played. Wow. I didn't expect this Sorry, that sucks. It sucks to hear, but you got played. Wow. I didn't expect this. That's brutal. I know, such a nice guest, and I'm like, sorry, but I guess we gotta do it. Well, alright, well, end of a couple friendships, but that's okay. That's okay.

Now you get Joe Chandler. Didn't need him.