The Besties - The Switch 2 and "Vampire Survivors+RPG"

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Nintendo finally announced the Switch 2. So why do folks seem a bit disappointed by the reveal? We discuss what we know so far… and what’s to come. Plus, one of our most anticipated games of the y...ear got stealth dropped and it’s a delight! Get the full list of games (and other stuff) discussed at www.besties.fan. Want more episodes? Join us at patreon.com/thebesties for three bonus episodes each month!

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Starting point is 00:00:00 I downloaded a Neopets cheat engine, and when that's running, which it is around the clock, because I'm always grinding it out, it tends to slow down some of the other processes. And what are you turning on in there? What cheats you got going? Infinite breeding. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:00:21 Who? Yeah, a lot of the Neopets, they only let you breed them once a day. I turned on that cheat in college. High five. I don't want to high five that. No, I mean, high five me. I turned on that cheat in college.
Starting point is 00:00:33 High five me. Yeah, I recently turned that cheat off for myself. I removed that cheat from my own personal bio cheat engine. Which is a cheat in and of itself. Griffin went to the vasectomy doctor and did it on Yes Clipping. Yes Clipping. That's a good line.
Starting point is 00:00:52 Oh man, that's good. And this contractually, this checks off this podcast for talking about my vasectomy on. I think I gotta get it on Death Bart this year and then that's the whole. And Radiolab, you said you were gonna do some of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Terry Gross has a lot of questions.
Starting point is 00:01:29 My name is Justin McElroy and I know the best game of the week. My name is Griffin McElroy and I know the best video game console of 2025. My name is Christopher Thomas Plant and I know the best game of the week. My name is Russ Frusher and I know the best game of the week. Welcome to the Besties where we talk about the latest and greatest in home interactive entertainment. It is a video game club. And just by listening, you've become a member. This week, we're gonna be talking about the Switch 2.
Starting point is 00:01:52 Didn't they just make one of these things? Chris Plann, is that right? They did it again. Nobody saw it coming this time, but they said Switch again. And here we are. Switch again. We're gonna talk about that, what that means,
Starting point is 00:02:09 why it means, and so much more right after this. In the B segment, we're gonna be talking about Heroes of Hammerwatch 2. Like it or not. So they did it. They did it, the Switch 2. They just made a sequel to one. They finally did it, they did it, the Switch 2, just made us equal to one, they finally did it. Like this is not unlike the Wii U,
Starting point is 00:02:31 which is a colossal failure. Yeah, God, I hope. Okay, that's interesting, juice. Well no, I'm saying like Wii, Yeah, please. Okay, I will, Wii, mega popular thing. Wii U, which is basically Wii 2, right? I mean, that's what it's supposed to sound like.
Starting point is 00:02:44 Wii U, Wii is basically Wii 2, right? I mean, that's what it's supposed to sound like. Wii U, Wii 2, Wii 2. And then it's bad, no one likes it. That's so cool, yeah. I would say the only difference is that the Wii U was a dramatic departure from the Wii in form and function and the Switch 2 looks like a big Switch. But they learned their lesson, right? You can't make a fool. Well, well did they though because the switch is really?
Starting point is 00:03:06 Just a Wii U without wires. I was gonna say everybody's like hey They're just redoing the same thing again, and they kind of did that with the switch They should go back and change the Wii U to like you the switch Alpha oh, that's cool. You see and now there's a natural progression Yeah, I mean I will you want who who? Understands the the specs the bet like I know I know what we have before we get into like this That's a good call good call. Okay. Here are all the specs. So the switch one came out it was three point seven inch screen with a
Starting point is 00:03:40 2400 Hertz processor and the switch 2 is a 6.4 inch screen with a 7700 Hertz that's a large that's that bigger screen hold on are these official specs or no what's been okay? Let's make that was very totally making numbers up. I was gonna say that's insane man. That's crazy We don't know anything what I like a monster, what's wrong with you? I like the bit, such was his confidence that we were kind of... Okay.
Starting point is 00:04:10 It's when he said the Switch had a three inch screen that I was like, what did you say? Isn't that right? We don't know the specs, they have not announced anything going on under the hood. We can share what the widely assumed rumor of the technology is. Yeah, go for it.
Starting point is 00:04:26 The Switch, even when it was released, followed the Nintendo trend of being pretty not powerful and then pulling off amazing feats with what amounted to like a middle of the road smartphone after a few years. The Switch 2 sounds like it will be basically like a Xbox Series S. And will it literally be that powerful? No, but with all the changes in modern technology, specifically things like DLSS, which is where you can use AI learning to make the resolution much,
Starting point is 00:05:02 much better and process it at a lower rate, it will be like equivalent to that. Why that matters, you can put third party games on the Switch 2 in theory in a way you couldn't on the Switch 1. And that would be like a big differentiator for it. You can run, what my headcanon is is like PS4 Pro, it's like in that ballpark, it is like the PS4, PS4 Pro.
Starting point is 00:05:27 And yeah, that's a big improvement. I will say, and obviously the other big change apart from the actual like raw power of it, it's about one inch bigger on the diagonal. I don't have the exact number, but it's about that size based on this, the CG trailer that they put out. Also, it looks like it has a mouse,
Starting point is 00:05:45 but that's not officially confirmed. Yeah, so there's a, it seems to be some sort of optical sensor on the side of the thing, which now snaps in VTOL style to the side of the screen part of the Switch, instead of sort of sliding into a groove. Using magnets. We, see, Nintendo hasn't confirmed that either,
Starting point is 00:06:05 I don't think. Yes, confirmed. I mean, you look at that, could only be magnets, that beautiful step. That is the problem, is after two years of leaks, they've just gotten closer and closer and closer to the truth, that the second we saw Joy-Cons sliding around on a table, we're like, boop, mouse confirmed. That's it, this reveal felt like the most perfunctory,
Starting point is 00:06:25 like we gotta, we're bleeding over it, we gotta get something out there. It felt extremely light on detail, but I was, my spirits were buoyed by the fact that it will be backwards compatible, aside from select games, which I have to imagine is like fucking Ring Fit Adventure and other sort of like peripheral games
Starting point is 00:06:49 that require the old Joy-Cons. I can see that, where I get the form factor of the thing. Right, exactly. Let me just kick this off. I would love to know what you guys think because I am having trouble ginning up anything too strong about this because it seems so kinda evident.
Starting point is 00:07:08 And for me, this just feels a little bit disappointing. I feel like of all the different aspects of the Switch experience, for me, at this point, the Switch is really just, it's permanently attached. Like the Joy-Cons, I mean, I don't even need to separate them at this point the switch is really just, it's permanently attached. Like the Joy-Cons, I mean, I don't even need to separate them at this point. It seems, it's a little bit disappointing that of all the things that sort of like carry over,
Starting point is 00:07:36 that that is something that was sort of like prioritized when I, for me, that is super not how I use the Switch. For sure. Are you saying you use it exclusively in handheld mode or? Yeah, or even if like, and even if not, even if it's docked, like... Pro controller. Pro controller, I'm certainly not sliding those things off.
Starting point is 00:07:55 And like, I just don't, of the things to like bring over, it's just like so sort of, I don't know, I find it very uninspiring. I think there is an argument to be made, and this might be Nintendo's argument, that because of the larger size and because they did improve the kickstand on the back of it, it's like a better kickstand or something,
Starting point is 00:08:16 it does become a little more viable in a split screen couch co-op scenario. I would love that. I would love that. I would love that to be true because the number of times that, you know, Henry's been playing a game on TV and then Gus wants to take over the TV and so we switched to playing, you know, Kirby co-op
Starting point is 00:08:36 with the thing on the couch constantly fucking falling over because the kickstand even on the OLED is not very good. The idea of playing that with the Joy-Cons, with individual Joy-Cons instead of two Pro controllers, though, is just unthinkable because it doesn't feel great to use a Joy-Con sideways as like a regular controller when there is a normal controller. But if that is available, that would save me a lot of headache,
Starting point is 00:09:00 you know, whenever that situation arises, as edgy as it is. Two takes different directions. One, we don't know what the Joy-Cons do yet. Like, they might be mice, for one example, which, if that's true, could be cool. And I hope that there are, like, weird things that the Joy-Cons still do.
Starting point is 00:09:24 Maybe they are better versions of the Wiimotes and they're actually going to have more physical play back in the system. I don't know. I feel like there's like still a surprise that could come. The other direction of this is what I guess like what do you think the audience is asking for? Because I feel like half the audience is like, this is a disappointment. I wanted it to be so much weirder. Nintendo, like they come out never
Starting point is 00:09:48 since the GameCube, they make things weird. And then the other half of the audience is like, I want it to just be the Switch, but better and like ultra powerful. And I think they're, I feel like it's kind of, they're caught between those two camps. That to me is what's hard is for a company this is like easily distracted as Nintendo with stuff like this. I feel like if you're not coming out saying that this mouse functionality is like a big part of the idea with the thing. I can't see them. I mean they even mentioned HD rumble when they pitched the Switch. Like I can't imagine it being a big aspect of it. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:10:26 I think if you're waiting for another shoe to drop, where it's a big bit of functionality, I don't think it's gonna come. I think this is it. I will say there's still more shoes to drop. I feel pretty confident. I'm not saying that they won't do it. I'm saying that they won't support it in any meaningful way.
Starting point is 00:10:46 I'm saying they might come out with something. That's interesting. If it's not- I know, they kind of forget. Yeah, it's like, right, like HG Rumble again. Like, okay, well- To be fair, all of the first party games on the Switch basically have HG Rumble.
Starting point is 00:11:01 It's just none of the third party games do. So they did forget about it, but you're right. It wasn't the like, oh, you can feel these balls and one, two switch rolling around in your Joy-Con. That was cool though. I stand by that beat test. That was cool. What I could get excited about is like,
Starting point is 00:11:16 if they were gonna use this to bring in, if they were gonna use mouse functionality, not for like gaming, because that's, no. Like no, we're not gonna do that. What if for a first for if you want to buy doom on your thing That's not about it Okay, I'm sure only if one joy con turns into a mouse and the other one turns into a keyboard Yeah, it's just like net realistically is that it's never gonna be a thing But like for creativity apps like if they wanted to get back into the Mario paint space
Starting point is 00:11:43 Oh, yeah, that's I said that earlier, not entirely joking. That would be cool. Like if you want to get into that kind of, or Mario Maker. Mario Maker, Mario Maker. Fucking Flipnote Studio, like they have a history of like having wild sort of apps like that. Wouldn't you make that part of the reveal? I mean, wouldn't you make that part of the reveal?
Starting point is 00:12:02 That's what's hard for me. There's gonna be so much more coming though. This is the conversation I feel like that we can have, right, because there's so many unknowns. The question is like, why was this the opening shot? Why was this the first salvo, right? Why not wait? For me, there is no company, and obviously there's not a lot of companies
Starting point is 00:12:20 making gaming hardware, but like, there's no company where the hardware and the software are more intrinsically linked than Nintendo, right? Because I pretty much at this point only play Nintendo first party games and multiplayer games with my kid on the Switch, right? Everything else is going through the Steam Deck. And so the fact that there wasn't anything
Starting point is 00:12:45 other than a new Mario Kart, which is fine, but like not at all demonstrative of what the Switch 2 could do, like I did, I honestly did not clock that it was a new Mario Kart game the first time I watched it, I thought the show was. You gotta look at Donkey Kong, he looks fucking weird in that trailer. Okay, yeah, I guess I wasn't Zep broodering it hard enough
Starting point is 00:13:05 to like, why not? We all know this shit. We know this stuff because like the images from accessory makers, like this thing was fully out there. Fully, fully, fully, fully out there. Not the specs, maybe the specs are all rumored, but like what the thing is and what it looks like is out there.
Starting point is 00:13:24 And then they had a trailer that 90% of it was dedicated to rumored, but like what the thing is and what it looks like is out there. And then they had a trailer that 90% of it was dedicated to like, and here's what the joy cons look like, and here's what the screen looks like. And it's like, yeah, we kind of know that. So why not have a reveal trailer that's like, yeah, here's all the stuff you already know. But also-
Starting point is 00:13:38 That's what I'm saying. If you could gin up some, if you had another thing where you're like, sorry, press sneak fucks, you don't have this, you probably would. And if it's coming out this year, they have that, right? Like they know what games are gonna be on it at launch now. Like you don't have to completely go ham and show everything, but like now we're waiting three months until we find out anything else about it.
Starting point is 00:14:06 Like, all you did was kinda say like, yep, all that stuff that is out there, that's true. Bye. Well, what that lets them do is now third parties can say we're making this game for Switch 2, which they couldn't before that trailer happened. Sure. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:14:23 So it does open the gates. I also just feel like this is like, this is wins all around for Nintendo, I also just feel like this is like, this is wins all around for Nintendo. Because now everybody, you're like, like everybody gets emotional, everybody wants it. People talk about it. People, oh, it's three months, three months!
Starting point is 00:14:36 Three months comes, and then they're like, here's everything. Here are all the games you wanted. Here's Mother 3, here's Mother 4 and Mother 5. Here's Pokemon 32. We've got it all for you." And then people are immediately like, okay, I'm relieved. I'm going to play the new Mario Kart and the new MMO and the new Mario and the new Animal
Starting point is 00:14:57 Crossing. Metroid. And nobody's going to think about this announcement ever again, except for like, sickos like us. It is a little disappointing though. I think the disappointing aspect is like, because when the Switch One was announced, and that trailer was like, what the fuck are they doing? Are they playing video games
Starting point is 00:15:16 on the rooftop of their fancy condo? That was mind blowing. And that shit came out of nowhere, right? Like, it is, there is no comparison. I don't want the Switch 2 to be bonkers. I want it to be a stronger Switch with a really good first-party lineup. For me, the thing I'm looking forward to,
Starting point is 00:15:34 isn't the Switch 2 hardware, it's that the dissolution of this fucking logjam of first-party Nintendo titles that we have just have not been getting. Speaking of, we're gonna talk about Donkey Kong Country returns HD later in the honorable mention segment. But like that to me is like when that is finally moving, when that is finally flowing,
Starting point is 00:15:55 then I'm gonna start getting invested. Can I ask though, like is Nintendo making a good case for them to continue to be in the hardware business if this is the hardware. Like, you said that you don't want the Switch 2 to be anything crazy, right? Yeah. Well, I'm not necessarily disagreeing with you. I can't say that I'm like, I was wanting it to be like, it's a camera that goes in your fingers.
Starting point is 00:16:18 But like, I mean, at this point, why be a company that makes hardware, right? Like, if this is the best you've got, if this is your big idea, is like, another Switch, and it's basically like, it's basically a Steam Deck. I mean, like, if Nintendo is not, things are so much more boring than they were 10, 15 years ago, 10 years ago, whatever. And I don't, I think it's worth like, kind of, I do think it's worth like, we like to joke on Nintendo for being such an oddball all the time, but like, I don't,
Starting point is 00:16:54 I do think it's a little sad that it's just like, such a clear sort of like, continuing to follow the money that's been working pretty well. I think that all completely checks out. I think what Nintendo does at its best is it gets ahead of where the market is going. And that is as early as like home consoles with the NES thing going into the Super Nintendo, that is the Game Boy going into the Game Boy Advance. They're always like ahead of where the market is. There was a moment, it's hard to remember now, where it felt like motion controls were the future of gaming. And the funny thing,
Starting point is 00:17:32 I guess, about the Switch is they were so far ahead of a schedule, like way more than probably ever before, where we're going to create a handheld console experience. So now the rest of the market is finally catching up to them. And they basically get a freebie of we don't have to completely reinvent the thing because we are just dead center in what the market is. The reason that they actually make the hardware then is because they can make money off of hardware where nobody else can. People will design their games down to be on their hardware. By say down, I mean the visual presentation, not the quality of the game.
Starting point is 00:18:10 And people will buy their games wherever they are. So I think if it were any other company where they're losing money on hardware, Xbox is I think hitting this problem. Totally agree with you. And I think there's real questions of like, should Xbox even make a handheld or should they just make an OS that is somehow better than Steam OS? Switch, I think it's just free money. Yeah, it's free money.
Starting point is 00:18:32 They sold 146 million switches. That was as of September of last year, so even more now. It's probably going to be the best-selling game console of all time. It's going to beat out, I think, the PS2 is ahead of it. Or the DS? Was the DS up there? DS was up there. I used to do the joystick Japanese gaming hardware sales report every week. And keep in mind, so strictly capitalist reasons, that's the reason to be in the console market. And the other thing is, as Plant was alluding to,
Starting point is 00:19:07 a lot of people will design for this hardware, and Nintendo is getting, what is it, 30% of every third-party sale that happens on their marketplace. So. Russ! Russ, I love you, my friend, I love you, but please, save this for CNBC.
Starting point is 00:19:26 This is an enthusiast. You're shooting your, your, your, your what? This is an enthusiast podcast. You wanna bring money, money logic into this? What are we doing? Like, what do we give a shit? Like, I'm serious. I'm telling you why they're doing it.
Starting point is 00:19:38 I understand that. I'm not saying it's why I'm. I'm saying that like, I think it's, I think it's sad. I think it's very sad. And I think that we should say that it's sad to watch the reveal video for a new Nintendo console. And the reaction is, hmm, because that's how I felt.
Starting point is 00:19:53 And I can't imagine anybody feeling any different. That's a bummer, man. Do you remember the first time you saw this? I admit it. I thought the first, the Switch one trailer was like a ground-changing moment. And this was definitely not that. We, Wii U, Switch, Virtual Boy, The Switch one trailer was like a ground changing moment and this was definitely not that. So I was-
Starting point is 00:20:05 Wii, Wii U, Switch, Virtual Boy, Nintendo 64, GameCube. I mean- Now hold on, you can't slide Virtual Boy in there. Like it was- When you saw the reveal of the Virtual Boy, you were like, what in the fuck are you guys doing? That's so crazy. You're gonna sell that?
Starting point is 00:20:23 I bought a Virtual Boy and it was all the money I had in the world, and it sucked shit. But it's still... But we like, I just think it's like, if the argument is like, we should be celebrating Nintendo because they get to rest on their laurels this generation. No, I'm not saying we should celebrate them. I'm just saying they're gonna make a really successful
Starting point is 00:20:42 fucking handheld. I would also say it leaves them room to do two things. One, you would leave this to Microsoft. Let Microsoft do this. All right. A true gamer would want the cameras in the fingers. Right. Where me and Modo is on, he sees the future.
Starting point is 00:20:56 Let me just say, I think apart from the shock value, all their innovation comes in software. You get that initial shock value of what is this console and then once the console's out, the next seven or eight years is just like, basically software innovation or, hey, we're gonna let you build a cardboard robot that connects to your Switch for some fucking reason. Like they will bring innovation in other ways. I agree with you.
Starting point is 00:21:17 This handheld, this console does not seem like it is bringing that fire, but they're gonna have the new answer to like what Zelda's fucking is this year. You know what, I want hoops. I want the original. You're proving my point. Don't make hardware then.
Starting point is 00:21:32 If they make hardware, then don't make hardware. They make money and then the money funds the software. They make money off of us buying it. Do you understand what I'm saying? Just make video games. You're not proving the worth of your existence. Why exist? We, we're missing it.
Starting point is 00:21:49 It is so obvious. They have to keep the Joy-Cons because they're gonna finally deliver on the original Switch's promise. You will be able to get fishing Joy-Cons. You will be able to get basketball hoops shooting Joy-Cons where you're flipping little baskets. You're gonna, it is gonna be this is the generation
Starting point is 00:22:08 accessories of joy-con switch to will be the one where you can insert it into the the original joy-cons will be a Keyboard is going to strap on to your joy-con. It's gonna be Fucking awesome. And then we're all gonna look back at this episode, and be like, we were, what were we thinking? We should have known that they were gonna put Seaman, the Dreamcast game, in my joint. That's not how it's pronounced, that is not the emphasis we like to put on Seaman. Here is what I'm telling you guys,
Starting point is 00:22:35 here is what I'm telling you guys. We went from a world where there were multiple Nintendo consoles doing different things in different directions, different form factors, like as many as three platforms at once going. And I just think that it's, like, a little sad to go from that Nintendo to the Nintendo that follows up, like, the longest running console
Starting point is 00:22:57 it has ever had with just, like, a number two of that console. It's like... The name is bad. The name is disappointing. The name, I think more than anything, is disappointing. I mean, the name is accurate. I feel like the name I have the least problem with because it very much is like, mm, Switch 2.
Starting point is 00:23:12 You know, my grownup Christmas wish for the Switch 2 is that they get a little bit more fun with the OS. I miss me, Street Pass. I miss, like, that stuff, I feel like, was, I don't know, it really characterized what Nintendo's priorities were when the 3DS was kind of like, you know, the big heavy hitter for them.
Starting point is 00:23:40 And I feel like the Switch has a very functional OS, but it's not as sort of like silly I want to I want to be able to open presents when I buy a game I want it to be a little present box and I click that present box and here's here's what I what I would love if If Nintendo is gonna go down this route, right? What I think you're missing by increasing the size is I think you're losing more of like that portability market. I think there's a market of people. And I do think that a lot of the retro consoles,
Starting point is 00:24:10 part of what they show is that I think people want a device in that form factor, right? You don't necessarily want your Jinkos to carry around your thing. I would love for them to play with something that's in like a VMU, like the idea of a Joy-Con that you can bring with you. You know what I mean?
Starting point is 00:24:26 And hope it can respond to other people's Joy-Cons. You know what I mean? Make there a reason for that. Like joy-con street pass functionality. That would be very cool. Because I don't wanna carry, even less, I already don't carry the Switch around, but even less am I gonna carry around
Starting point is 00:24:41 a Switch 2 in my pocket. But there's also the Switch Lite, which also isn't pocketable. I love the Switch Lite. It is my preferred form factor of the Switch, even though the screen is not anything to write home about. But it is not, it ain't pocket sized, right? And so there is something lost there.
Starting point is 00:25:01 Yeah, I would agree that of all the things, the limited things they announced, it being bigger was not necessarily a selling point for me because I play it almost exclusively in handheld and I just wanna like have it be light and easy to hold. Yeah. I was also a little bummed that the Joy-Cons do not look remotely,
Starting point is 00:25:19 they've like seemingly made no effort to make them ergonomic, which was one of my big critiques of the first Joy-Cons. They still look terrible. They're still just like flat backs, which I think is because they want people to use it detached and sideways. But again, I don't think a lot of people
Starting point is 00:25:35 are necessarily doing that. So maybe just make them comfortable to hold in most circumstances. If they made them comfortable to hold without the doodads, I think people can be, it is just that combo of like, even after you put the stupid things on, they're still not very good. It's not worth it.
Starting point is 00:25:50 Have you all seen the Ion Neo 3? Yeah. Like how you can like replace the, effectively the control faceplates, they're like clip in. I guess, I know I'm repeating myself now, but I really wish Nintendo, I really hope they do something like that. I think having Joy-, but I really wish Nintendo,
Starting point is 00:26:05 I really hope they do something like that. I think having Joy-Cons that are more for ergonomics, I know that, like saying this out loud, I know that they're gonna rely on third party to just handle it, but having their design level handling this issue would be so much better and so much more enjoyable. Take it.
Starting point is 00:26:23 You know, I'm starting to feel like the third parties are really doing kind of an amazing job filling in the blanks on the ergonomic side. Like you talk, you look at companies like, um, I've been using like a GameSir controller, which is a company that I hadn't heard of until like the last year. And it kind of crushes the original Xbox controller, Like, Dbrand and all these sorts of companies, I think, are doing a very good job of filling in the blanks. I got a PowerA Nano controller for the Switch
Starting point is 00:26:52 for Henry to use, because it's a little bit smaller, and now it's also what I exclusively use, because it feels good to use it tiny. I think it just allows for more flexibility, rather than being locked into whatever the thing is. I just fix the fucking Joy-Cons, guys. make sure I don't have to replace them every year because that was... Yeah, they hate that. Yeah, they really do.
Starting point is 00:27:13 I am impressed with our ability. What's one of their least favorite things about the Joy-Cons is how fucking many of them you buy. I appreciate the fact that we have gotten 28 minutes of blood out of this stone. I don't know that there's a lot more to talk about this week, too, until April. There is one more thing I wanna say, because you guys didn't see him initially, because he was in the background.
Starting point is 00:27:30 Can we comment on Donkey Kong, the new design for Donkey Kong, specifically in Mario Kart 9? Because that was like the biggest difference that was in the entire trailer. I've dropped an image of the new Donkey Kong into the chat. Yeah. What are your first reactions?
Starting point is 00:27:43 I mean, we'll start with his gains are impressive. This is a thick man who has been putting in the hours and the discipline. Is this AGH that he's using? It's, yeah, it's ape hormone stuff. I don't know what the acronym stands for. It does look like the movie, it looks like the movie DK to me. Yes.
Starting point is 00:28:11 Oh, and like the very classic, drawn on the side of the arcade cabinet. Oh yeah, it's kind of throwback in that way. Yes, I think that's what they're going for here. That was a meaner Donkey Kong, an angrier Donkey Kong. The Donkey Kong that is on the left here is just Andross from Star Fox 64 with different, with wearing some sort of grim ape mask on.
Starting point is 00:28:39 Can we go to the break and talk about a really good game called Here's a Game Watch 2? Let's do that. Okay, so let's all look back in time to when I introduced Heroes of Hammerwatch to this crew. I was hoping this would be a celebration of you. Many years ago, I introduced this game and you guys rolled your eyes,
Starting point is 00:28:59 you're like, oh, this is, look at these little baby guys with their old graphics, who cares? And it grabbed the podcast by storm. I don't think Plant played it, but everyone else played it a lot and really liked it. It was my most played Switch game of that year. That's crazy. I didn't play it a bunch.
Starting point is 00:29:16 You didn't play it that much, too? It was just me and you really, Russ. It's a... Oh, okay. We got hard into it. We did not play this. It's strange. Hammer Watch 2 came out. We didn't really like that too much.
Starting point is 00:29:24 And now, Heroes of HammerWatch 2 has come out and the naming convention is very confusing, but this is the good one, y'all. Yeah, this is the good one. It's like Forza Horizon, right? Right, this was on my most anticipated Games of 2025 list. I didn't realize that it would be out
Starting point is 00:29:40 three days after we released that episode. They totally stealth dropped it. Yeah, so it's like, if you can imagine, they grafted RPG mechanics onto vampire survivors. So like, or in gauntlet, and you put a little bit of gauntlet in there, and I think you're pretty close. Wow.
Starting point is 00:30:05 Why have I not played this? Yeah, Chris, you should play this fucking game, man. you put a little bit of gauntlet in there, and I think you're pretty close. Wow. What? Why have I not played this? This sounds- Yeah, Chris, you should play this fucking game, man. Yeah, it's pretty good. I mean, basically- Wow. Yeah, so basically you're making, you're taking a, say you pick a wizard,
Starting point is 00:30:14 there's four different classes. It's the classics, right? There's actually seven, but some of them are- Yeah, you unlock other ones as you play. Come on, Juice, do your homework. Does your wife seem happy? Like, does she seem like a happy person? No, she does not.
Starting point is 00:30:26 I didn't think I wouldn't imagine. So there's four classes. There's a warrior, and there's a wizard, and there's a rogue, and there's a paladin. Each one feels pretty different. You know, there's like the difference between slinging spells around and then having like more close combat abilities, but it is still that like, feels that auto shooter thing or you're trying to like fire as fast as you can and fire off your abilities as fast as you can. More, I would say more agency than a lot of those like auto shooter things give you, but it is that, it feels like that.
Starting point is 00:30:57 It's like a Diablo demake in a way. Yeah, it feels like an ARPG more than an auto shooter. It's hard because like Vampire Survivors is already like a, you know, like we're taking like mechanics there and like boiling them down to their, there's some of that in there. There's Gauntlet in there, there's Vampire Survivors in there. There's a persistent sort of,
Starting point is 00:31:17 and actually if you didn't play Halls of Torment, it's kind of similar to that, where you have different characters that have different gear that you unlock. So like, as you're leveling up each of these individual classes, you guys would play a lot more than me, so you could probably explain better how leveling up each class is helping your, like, meta. So each class has, like, a mastery bonus that applies to every character. So for the rogue, if you make a rogue, every level that you get with your rogue
Starting point is 00:31:47 adds like a 1.5% gold bonus, which really starts to stack up as you level up that class. Sorcerer, if you level them up, it increases your mana regeneration. The basic loop of the kind of rogue-like elements of Heroes of Hammerwatch 2 are what make it so strong, because every time you play, you are leveling up your character
Starting point is 00:32:11 and earning those bonuses for every other character you might make. You're finding resources to upgrade your town, which unlocks all kinds of different upgrade opportunities for you. You are finding pieces of equipment, which is new for Heroes of Hammerwatch 2, so you're not just leveling up, you're also putting builds together
Starting point is 00:32:28 based on what kind of equipment you're finding, which has all kinds of new systems associated with it. There's an enchanter that you can use to get the right sort of bonuses on it. It is so much stuff, and it makes it feel like every time you are playing, you are getting stronger in like 10 different ways, which is very, very, very compelling to me.
Starting point is 00:32:52 It also has the like, the juice that you get when you're playing a Vampire Survivors or Halls of Torment where you are fighting seemingly like a thousand, I mean, it's not this many, but like a hundred guys at once and the screen is filled with numbers going up and you get that satisfaction of I'm gonna not this many, but like a hundred guys at once, and the screen is filled with numbers going up, and you get that satisfaction of, I'm gonna drop this nuke and clear the entire screen.
Starting point is 00:33:11 That feels fucking amazing. I will say that as long as the Vampire Survivors comparisons are coming, I did experience kind of a slow period in most of the time, early in runs, where it's not really much of a challenge and you're just trying to get it going. I don't know if, like, I know Vampire Survivors fixes that with a hyper mode or that kind of deal.
Starting point is 00:33:34 I don't know if that's an option. Yeah, there's a fast travel mode that's a little bit hidden in the game, but you basically get the ability to skip the first five levels, worlds, if you feel like you're strong enough. It's actually a really smart system. Once you get deep enough into the game, you unlock this air, this tower, this room,
Starting point is 00:33:53 and you basically say, like, okay, I'm gonna challenge myself with basically, you can light these different candles. And if you light four candles, a shitload of enemies are gonna come in, and if you survive all those enemies, it'll give you enough gear to basically survive seven levels deep. So it kind of like, it's like a skill test.
Starting point is 00:34:11 It throws one incredibly difficult challenge at you in lieu of playing through three or four levels. Which is great because then you skip ahead to the harder stuff where you're getting more experience and more money and better loot, and it lets you skip some to the harder stuff where you're getting more experience and more money and better loot, and it lets you skip some of the more repetitive stuff that you've already done. Here's a Hammer Watch 2 is actually pretty good
Starting point is 00:34:32 at doing that, more so than Here's a Hammer Watch 1. I think it looks great. I think it, I'm playing as a paladin, and it also has class specializations, so once you get a class to level 10, there's like three different branches that it goes off in. So the paladin I'm playing is all about like fire magic that goes out in this huge radius, which then sets off this combo system. So now you're moving twice as fast and shooting like bolts of light out of you.
Starting point is 00:35:00 It's so like fast and crazy. I'm often hard on games with a retro aesthetic, but I will say they're doing some really cool stuff with transparencies and things like that, that have a, it almost makes it feel a little bit uncanny valley, because it's like, graphically it looks like something you'd remember, but there's effects, there's things going on under the hood
Starting point is 00:35:18 that feel very modern, I don't know, it's a cool. Yeah, the lighting is very modern. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And the designs, the designs of the individual like characters and the spells and stuff are are are modern Did you guys like playing all of the classes equally or did you find yourselves? gravitating towards some I Went wizard I started with a wizard and that's kind of like glass Cannon is usually what I start games with and that felt really good and I ended up leveling that up all the way and eventually beating the game with it.
Starting point is 00:35:46 What's the bonus for that? What's cool is when you beat the game, you get gear for the other classes. So I was able to start a fresh Paladin with like a level 20 sword right from the jump. So what was previously like a very slow restarting of a character from scratch actually went a lot faster because I was like, what's the term?
Starting point is 00:36:06 Twinking, is that right? It doesn't sound right, but when you drop to the floor. That's right, I mean that is what it is called, yeah. I have not heard that term used for quite some time for reasons that I bet you could figure out. So yeah, I was able to basically get past the slow parts of leveling up a guy from scratch. For Chris Plant, I was able to like basically get past the slow parts of leveling up a guy from scratch for Chris plant
Starting point is 00:36:25 I will say this The reason that I think I think you would enjoy the core gameplay But this game definitely requires you to do that thing where When you're level three, there is no possibility you will ever beat the game Numerically speaking you will not have the strength to get to the end of the run. It's not spunky, you don't start from scratch, you need to like grind the resources to get enough stuff to level up the skills to get you there.
Starting point is 00:36:53 Once you're there, it feels really good and satisfying because you feel like you've earned it, whatever. But that is just a heads up because I know you are not a big fan of doing that stuff. I did not have a lot of problems with the game. The only thing that was tripping me up, and this could just be, yeah, your mileage may be everything, but some of the abilities,
Starting point is 00:37:12 the wizard has an ability where it's bringing up a reticle and then you're firing, so it's bringing up a targeting reticle while you're moving around. And there's this targeting reticle, and then you have to push a different button to fire off the attack. So it's like you start the ability and then you aim with the reticle while you're moving
Starting point is 00:37:31 and then you fire it off. And I found- It feels like more of a mouse and keyboard kind of contrivance. It's not hard or impossible. It just, especially on the Steam Deck, like felt bad. It just like, I was getting like a weird claw grip to make it happen.
Starting point is 00:37:44 Yeah, I ended up remapping a lot of controls just to make it feel better. And when you're moving, trying to like target something in that view while you're moving, it just feels like too much. I don't know. I like the characters that were, that didn't rely on that as much.
Starting point is 00:37:58 Yeah. I will also say there was a patch yesterday that improved this somewhat, but there is this insane issue where after you play a certain number of levels, the load times become exponentially longer and it doesn't get fixed until you quit the game and restart, which is like,
Starting point is 00:38:16 they do save it every time you start like a new level of your run, so it's not like catastrophic, but it is pretty annoying, and hopefully the kind of things that they can fix. It seems like they've been very proactive. There's been, I think the game launched last week, and there's been three patches, significant patches,
Starting point is 00:38:35 since then that have really addressed a lot of the community concerns. I think they are very worried after the reaction of Hammer Watch 2. I think they're like extremely worried of like falling in that muck again, but obviously the response for this one has been much more positive.
Starting point is 00:38:49 Really great. It's so strange to me how they released this. Like I know it's not the biggest franchise in the world, but this game kicks ass. It's really exceptionally fun and good and I can't stop playing it. And the people play, the community is like super, super into it.
Starting point is 00:39:06 I don't understand why they didn't put like a little bit of heat. Here's my thinking. Well, I will say guys, I think you got some roastin and glasses on. I'm enjoying it, but like, I think you're seeing a lot of the potential because of the experience you've had.
Starting point is 00:39:21 That, my experience technically was really bad. I mean like really bad, like freezes beyond the caching, like it would just stop, hard stop, or like it wouldn't be able to move the character. Like there's a lot of stuff going on like that. And some of the things we're talking about with like equipment and the way that those systems all interact, a lot of it's like not very clean or well explained.
Starting point is 00:39:43 And maybe you understand it better like from previous experience, but I think there's probably more rough edges than you're seeing. That's fair, yeah. I think that's right and keep this in mind. When I got super into Heroes of Hammerwatch, it was at the Switch launch
Starting point is 00:39:58 and this game is only on PC right now and I'm pretty sure when Heroes of Hammerwatch 1 launched, it launched on PC first and then, I don't know, it could of Remarch 1 launched, it launched on PC first and then, I don't know, it could have been a year later that it launched on Switch. And so it wouldn't surprise me if to answer both of your questions, one, they're going to address a lot of those issues as they work through these
Starting point is 00:40:16 patches and two, they'll do more of a marketing push when the game hits console. I could see both of those happening. I am really loving it. I'm very much into it. And if you're a fan of the first one, I think you should definitely check it out. If you're a little wary, you can wait
Starting point is 00:40:33 because they're clearly patching it a lot and a short board content will be dropped. It definitely feels like one of those that if you play it in a year, it will almost certainly be a better experience. It's almost certainly gonna be very refined. I don't think it's in a bad state right now, but I think a lot of that, you're right,
Starting point is 00:40:50 has to do with me and the amount of time that I've spent on the original. On the original. But the fact that I'm already seeing performance gains and like not seeing as those like dramatic slowdowns that I was three days ago, really says that they're pretty tuned in to what's going on. The first game also got a few really good DLC releases
Starting point is 00:41:09 that I'm hoping they will continue supporting. I don't know, I loved that first game and Hammer Watch 2 I thought was so disappointing and frustrating and I was worried that they would not be able to sort of like return to form, but I think that those fears have been assuaged for me. I was worried that they would not be able to sort of like return to form, but I think that those fears have been assuaged for me. One last thing, it is really, really fun in multiplayer.
Starting point is 00:41:33 We mentioned it in passing, but it's like kind of perfectly designed for multiplayer. It supports up to four players. Normally, apparently people have been using debug codes to get like 16 people in a game, which is very funny to watch. I joined a server with 64 players. It was so funny.
Starting point is 00:41:46 I had to leave after like 10 seconds because my Steve deck was gonna melt in my hands. But it's great. You can revive people. There's like this tension of like, oh shit, this guy died while going through a bunch of traps. Do I bother to revive him or not? It just feels very much like a great,
Starting point is 00:42:02 it would be like a great couch co-op experience or online for that matter. It's very stable. It doesn't feel laggy at all. Yeah. What are we gonna do now, guys? Are we gonna do honorable mentions and talk about Donkey Kong Country Returns HD? Let's do that. Let's do that.
Starting point is 00:42:17 Sure. I didn't play the original Donkey Kong Country Returns. I played it on 3DS. This is actually the third time it got, I guess the second time it got re-released, because it came out on Wii originally, and then it got released like a year later on 3DS, and now this is coming out on Switch, which is a very bizarre sequence of events. Yeah, but it was the predecessor to Tropical Freeze, which was a Wii U game that came to Switch. And now there's an HD version of Donkey Kong Country Returns.
Starting point is 00:42:54 Yeah. Called Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. And this was basically retro saying, we're going to reboot the Donkey Kong Country franchise after doing so well with Metroid Prime. And so they made basically, you know, these games play like Donkey Kong Country, but obviously with 3D graphics, but still side-scrolling. And I think with this one in particular,
Starting point is 00:43:18 they were, it feels very much like they're like, let's get our feet wet, and more or less make, like, a relatively basic platforming game in the style of Donkey Kong Country, but from a design perspective, we're not gonna swing for the fences necessarily, we're gonna focus on other stuff, I don't know, just to get it set.
Starting point is 00:43:39 And so when you compare this game to Tropical Freeze, it's kind of night and day. Tropical Freeze feels like a much more developed, thoughtful game. Yeah. I played it with Henry, pretty much exclusively, in two-player mode. And we were having a pretty good time with it.
Starting point is 00:43:58 It does get really hard, really, really fast, because it's a Donkey Kong Country game. And when I say really hard, I mostly really fast, because it's a Donkey Kong Country game. And when I say really hard, I mostly mean, you know, for an eight-year-old, I'm fucking, I can beat any game, like, try me, put me in front of you, I'm gonna fuck it up. But it started to get very frustrating. There is one mechanic that I think is the worst thing,
Starting point is 00:44:23 just the worst thing ever to ever feature any kind of multiplayer platform or game. And it is that if one of your players dies when you're playing co-op, that player can respawn into the world as a decay barrel on a balloon that floats down. And it goes across the screen back and forth in an insane sine wave that is unpredictable and demonic.
Starting point is 00:44:47 And if you don't hit it as the other player to free that monkey, then that barrel's gone as is that life. So like there was a level we were trying to get through for a long time that was like an ocean level where you're jumping across all these little platforms and trying not to fall into the water and instantly die. And if one of us would die, we'd spawn back in
Starting point is 00:45:09 and the barrel would just zoop, zoop, zoop, zoop, zoop, back and forth and we'd miss it and would go through all of our lives and then lose and have to restart the entire level. Like there's some stuff in here that is so frustrating and not in an enjoyable way. Ruin the faith of your child in you. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:45:28 Right? Like your child is like, you, dad, mom, you're a pro gamer. Surely you can do this. And here you are jumping off a cliff trying to save the life of your child. Of your child, yes. And they're like, wow, you can't even do this.
Starting point is 00:45:43 You can't even do this for me If you're gonna fail me here, how are you gonna fail me in the future? I do not I'm not a fan of this. It's also weird cuz Tropical freeze did add more I guess help to kid gamers They added the funky Kong mode which had he had more health. He had a double jump he had like fucking hovering like he had all sorts of like things that he was making the game easier with, and it doesn't seem like they've added
Starting point is 00:46:10 a lot of that stuff here. There's an inventory where you can like bring power ups and stuff, like into levels. Most of them don't work when you're playing in co-op mode. So like, what are we doing, man? We pivoted off discussing this as like our main game of the week, I think pretty quickly after each of us played it and we're like,
Starting point is 00:46:31 there's not a ton to- It does make me wonder, I just worry a little bit because Nintendo will obviously continue doing this. They're gonna re-release their old games and in a lot of cases, I'm thrilled that that's happening because there are games like Link Between Worlds that I would love to play again in full graphics and on a big screen, something like that.
Starting point is 00:46:51 But I do worry that like, if the barrier to like a remake is this rather than like a much more full featured thing, that makes me a little worried. Like I think Super Mario World was a great example. What was it, Super Mario, what's that one? 3D World. 3D World was paired with Bowser's whatever the fuck story. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Starting point is 00:47:13 Whatever that game was. That was great. That was fucking amazing, because you got two great games in one package. Totally worth it, but this for $60 is just like, it's a Wii game for $60. I wanna just say also, I wanna rescind my earlier trepidation about the Switch 2.
Starting point is 00:47:28 If Nintendo can continue to deliver like this on the software end, I think we're in for a very bright future indeed. I think this is more indicative of the log jam. The past, like, I don't know, man, year of Nintendo first party exclusives has been so lackluster
Starting point is 00:47:47 And so disappointing and it just feels like there's this big beautiful Tomorrow waiting just around the bend the weird one for me is why not? Wind Waker like that thing has been done Yeah, or ever and like why are we getting this instead of Wail Waker? My thinking, my guess is that they just are spacing out Zelda titles and they just had a Zelda title come out four or five months ago.
Starting point is 00:48:15 So they need one next year. And they need one next year. So that would be my guess. But I'm sure it'll happen. I mean, I've been saying that for four years, but I'm sure it'll happen. Can we talk about other honorable mentions? Yes. Yes. I guess, but I'm sure it'll happen. I mean, I've been saying that for four years, but I'm sure it'll happen. Can we talk about other honorable mentions?
Starting point is 00:48:27 Yes. Yes. I wanna briefly mention one, the movie Night Bitch. You can watch it on Hulu. It's adapted from a novel, and it's a, I would say like it's sort of a heightened reality movie. I hope so. Yeah, I would say like it's sort of a heightened reality movie. I hope so. Yeah. I would say, uh, it is a movie about, uh, a, a woman struggling with, uh, balancing like motherhood and her career and her aspirations and the
Starting point is 00:49:02 pressures that society puts on her and everything. And it is, in the premise, there is this idea that she is turning into a dog at night. And that is a metaphorical device, maybe. I don't know. You gotta watch the movie to find out. There was a wink there. Yeah, there was a wink.
Starting point is 00:49:20 You didn't hear it. But it's a movie about how women are expected to function in our society and parents in general and how hard that is and how unrealistic and monstrous in many ways it is. There is a lot of stuff watching this movie that I could feel like my wife reverberating with and things in this movie that helped me understand
Starting point is 00:49:44 what her experience is like and has been like. sort of like reverberating with and things in this movie that like helped me understand what her experience is like and has been like. There is a lot of this movie that I already realized from like talking to my wife over the years and living through things with her. But if you are someone who is a young parent on no matter what, where you are on the sort of like gender spectrum, I think that's like a really powerful movie and a very like I wish I had seen it as a younger dad, because I think I would have been a better parent and if I had seen it and understood a little bit better, sort of like my wife
Starting point is 00:50:16 and and and where her head had been at, but it starts Amy Adams. It's called Night Bitch. It's very funny. It's very well done. It's very entertaining, it's not preachy or anything, but I found it very moving. So the other thing I briefly wanted to mention is that since we had our retro discussion, I've been messing around a lot with the retro retro games and trying to get a bunch of stuff up and running on the Retroid 5. And I had this idea of trying to get a bunch of stuff up and running on the Retroid 5.
Starting point is 00:50:45 And I had this idea of like trying to get a bunch of FMV stuff that I had never checked out, right? Like digging that out. So here's the problem is the Phillips CDI had this thing called the digital video cartridge, which- And Justin can confirm, this shouldn't be a three hour YouTube essay, right? It'll be really quick.
Starting point is 00:51:04 Jenny Nicholson this if you want You could. It'll be really quick. Jenny Nicholson this if you wanted to. It'll be really quick. So, you know, like a memory pack expansion for the Nintendo 64, right? Right. This is a digital video cartridge that you had to install in the Philips CD-i because it could play video,
Starting point is 00:51:20 but in order for it to like process video off the discs, you needed the digital video cartridge, which was not in built into the Philips CDI The digital video cartridge has not been well emulated in any Real sense that is that can be reproduced. So there are a lot of titles on on The the CDI that I have never and as far as I could tell will never experience because the emulation is not there and there's no passion for it. There's things like guys, what's Christmas country and Christmas crisis?
Starting point is 00:51:57 I don't know. Right? Do you remember the 60s? I don't know. I don't get a chance to. You know, because I don't get a chance to. You know what I mean? Cause I don't. Wait, is that actually a game? Yeah, Monty Python's invasion from planet Skyron and I don't get to. Holy wow. It's not fair, right? There's a seventh guest, you know?
Starting point is 00:52:15 Guys, there's a Hulk Hogan, Thunder in Paradise FMV game. I don't think I'm good. I listen, okay, listen, that's a bad word. But here's what I'm doing. Here's the deal. I am taking this opportunity to announce Justin McElroy Prize for Success in Innovation.
Starting point is 00:52:33 And here is the prize. If you can get the Phillips CD-i digital video cartridge emulated in a way where I can play it on my Retro Pocket 5, I will give the recipient of that award $1,000 in Olive Garden gift certificate. Wow. That's a lot of pasta.
Starting point is 00:52:56 I will not be adjudicating this. I will not be researching it. If you are the person who says, hey hoops, here's how I can get these digital video cards that's going for you, I did the emulation, I made it up, that person's gonna get this incredible prize. Let the race begin, let man's progress be unfettered,
Starting point is 00:53:19 and let's get, oh. Okay, I mean like. And our lawyer's not here, our lawyer's not on the call. So I'll go ahead and say- Our lawyer is not on the call. I'll go ahead and say this might not work for you at home. If you think I have the skills to do this, you might do it and still not win the prize.
Starting point is 00:53:37 There is gonna be an element of chaos. I think it's the first person to email you, right? The first person to email me with their work. Don't just email me a link to something you read that might work. No, I want you to make it. Make it easy for me. I'm using the same, I'm using the same CDI core.
Starting point is 00:53:53 It's within the main framework. That seems to be the accepted way people are playing CDI games. By the way, this isn't like piracy. No one gives a shit about the film CDI on any reality. If I called Phillips They wouldn't I don't even know if I could call Phillips. I don't think I do I don't think you could call Phillips at all. I
Starting point is 00:54:11 Just want to make sure I have this right because I am writing the rules down into the newsletter if the the Justin McElroy prize for success and innovation if You can get the Phillips CDI emulation fully playable on justin's retro pocket 5 well I let me say the the philip cdi digital video cartridge emulated because that's what I mean it's easier to pick a title maybe you should tell people if you can play no Christmas Christmas because I don't want them to like but this is a prize in innovation. This isn't selfish I'm trying to move mankind forward. I see you understand. Yes Sorry say this the digital video cartridge. Yeah. Yeah. Hey plant
Starting point is 00:54:54 I'll say this if they have this much trouble with what it's called. They're probably not gonna win the prize Can they get cash value for the cards? Yeah, they can. They can, as long as they don't mind selling someone their Olive Garden gift certificates, because that's the only way it's gonna work. Maybe somebody will give them pennies on the dollar. Potter down at the bank is buying Olive Garden certificates for 50 cents on the dollar. I'll be closing my account.
Starting point is 00:55:20 Now hold on just one second. I'm trying to open Khabara's Grill. Your money's in her olive garden gift certificates. All the Darden family of brands is represented. I wanna promote a documentary series on Peacock called SNL 50 Beyond Saturday Night. It's a four part docu-series about Saturday Night Live on its 50th anniversary. First episode's about, it's called Five Minutes, and it's all about auditioning for Saturday Night Live,
Starting point is 00:55:55 what that is like from all the cast members. The second episode's about what it's like to be a writer going through the week, you know, Monday to Saturday. The third part is about the more cowbell sketch. The whole thing is about the whole, and then the fourth part is about season 11, which was the insane season where Lorne Michaels returned to the show after like a five year hiatus and cast fucking Randy Quaid and Robert Downey Jr.
Starting point is 00:56:23 and like all of these people who were only on for a single season, almost getting the show canceled forever. It's so fascinating. The audition and writing episodes have given me so much anxiety as a comedic performer. And so there is a strong emotional response, but I think it's just fantastic.
Starting point is 00:56:44 And it really, really, really takes you behind the curtain. I cannot fathom the amount of anxiety that that show must produce in people. It is truly the worst scenario. It really though, I just wanna echo what Griffin said. That first episode is the only one I've watched so far, but you think about what Broadway video,
Starting point is 00:57:05 which like Lorne Michaels' company has access to. I mean, think about all of these auditions are perfectly captured in HD. So there's so much footage you've never seen before of people watching their auditions for the first time. Like that's- It's the NFL film of comedy. Yeah, 100%.
Starting point is 00:57:24 Oh man, Heidi Gardner's audition is so, like her response to it is so moving. You get to see Tracy Morgan's audition, which is like the funniest shit. Will Ferrell's audition is like iconic. Like, I don't know, it's, I have fallen off SNL. It's not a show I watch every week anymore,
Starting point is 00:57:40 but the, I feel like I care a lot about that show still and got to see some stuff about it that I didn't know. I also have been messing around with the Retro-Roid Pocket 5, and I've been playing mostly Final Fantasy IX, because we talked about it last week. That game still looks fucking great, and it's fun to play.
Starting point is 00:57:58 And Shenmue, because finally Dreamcast emulation is pretty good, and Shenmue is a absolutely wild game. I may need to come up with a new prize to make Seaman work. That one's tough to emulate too. I was trying to get that going. Do you have a mic on the Retro Packet Five? I don't know. How are you gonna talk to Leonard Nimoy
Starting point is 00:58:17 if you don't have a mic? I don't know. I'm gonna Google that. Plant, you have anything? I'm gonna Google that. Uh, Plank, you have anything? Um, people who are in New York, go to the MoMA, if you can, between like now and I think like mid-February,
Starting point is 00:58:34 because there is a movie playing that I think the last time it played was 2010, called The Clock, and it is a 24-hour movie where each minute is related to moments in other movies where they're talking about that minute. So like if it's 2 22 p.m. They it's a clip from taking a Pelham one to three where John Travolta is like it's 222. You better be ready by two thirty four. And then at two thirty four we like get follow-up to that scene for 24 hours
Starting point is 00:59:08 It sounds kind of watching Netflix or something I really wish because the first I Don't know 10 minutes. I was like, oh, this is real painful and slow the next five minutes I was like, I think I'm asleep and then then the next two and a half hours, I'm like, this is the most engaging thing. I mean, it's like TikTok. It is. You can't stop. Like it's.
Starting point is 00:59:33 Cause it's like constant cliffhangers. And they, the, the artists who made it has like a great sense of humor. So you start to realize that it is kind of building its own story and that there are callbacks and goofs Between all of it and it is not like all art films like a lot of it is I mean it couldn't Yeah It's great and I Yeah, if you can go see it you should also if you can't go see it
Starting point is 01:00:03 Hey, I'm just gonna say you should be using your country roll subscription right now because it's the new season of anime there's a lot of good stuff honey lemon soda I watched it was just good vibes if you want a little sweet romance you can get them right now cool what about you I played Donkey Kong Country. I'm in, uh, you know, potty training hell. So there hasn't been a lot going on. I'm continuing to play Pokemon Snap, new Pokemon Snap, which is, I think we're like probably 50 hours into that game.
Starting point is 01:00:37 There's so much fucking shit in that game. It's insane. That's incredible. I think, I think I massively underestimated it when I first played it. in that game is insane. That's incredible. I think I massively underestimated it when I first played it. And if you are a Pokemon fan, or you want to turn a child
Starting point is 01:00:50 into a Pokemon fan, holy shit, this is the one to do it with. Very, very, very fun. I think we did it. Do you want to recap? Yeah, we talked about the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement. We dug into Heroes of Hammerwatch 2, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. We also mentioned Final Fantasy IX, Shinmue, New Pokemon Snap, Night Bitch, SNL 50, Beyond Saturday Night, The Clock at MoMA, and Honey Lemon Soda.
Starting point is 01:01:20 And we revealed or announced the Justin McRoy Prize for success in innovation. You can find the details at besties.fan. I want to thank everyone over at the Patreon for supporting us at patreon.com slash the besties. You can get new episodes and all sorts of cool stuff there. We have rest these episodes. We have this month's bracket episode. We have a new bracket episode coming out first week of February. Always cool stuff there. We have rest of these episodes. We have this month's bracket episode. We have a new bracket episode coming out
Starting point is 01:01:46 first week of February. Always new stuff there. So thank you so much to all y'all for supporting us. I also wanted to mention that the readers, specifically Bastode, wanted to applaud us over the fact that Russ from Retro Game Corps last week mentioned that he was a Master Chief in the Navy and none of us made a joke. Oh, guys.
Starting point is 01:02:10 Oh, man. It was really cool, man. We were all on our best behavior, I think. We really were. Yeah. I think we all did the simultaneous eyebrow raise. Hmm. Hmm.
Starting point is 01:02:18 Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. OK. I was vibrating. What are we doing next week? Next week we're gonna be talking about Citizen Sleeper 2. Bit of a cult hit, getting a follow up here.
Starting point is 01:02:30 We beloved the first one. Will we beloved this one? Hard to say. Only time will tell. Find out next time on the Besties. Because shouldn't the world's best friends pick the world's best games? Besties!

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