I Speel My Dreenk

Old news here, but to hell with that stapler question. Mike is probably close to correct above.

This is a good and true point. The denizens of NDC are definitely a mish-mash reminiscent of those from Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Pleasantville, and The Truman Show. Whoever populated the city with them obviously only had those sorts of inspirations to go off of, which is why they look like regular people from *our* dimension. It's really just a huge design faux pas by someone high up the chain in NDC, who is now too embarrassed to change it this late in the game.

The E-thlete reality show has the same structure (probably other shows do as well) as a recent Korean show called The Genius. Instead of athletes, the cast consists of roughly half South Korean celebrities, half semi-well-known-in-South Korea people of supposed higher intelligence - including multiple StarCraft pros. Additionally, instead of physical challenges, they engage in competitive mental games, usually involving bargaining, deduction, and deception on multiple levels. It's not the sort of thing I typically go in for, but I found it super entertaining, especially how the demeanor and relationships of the contestants are such a far cry from what you'd see on American reality TV. Here's the tumblr page for the person who's translated and subbed all four seasons (listed 4-1) http://bxrme.tumblr.com/tagged/the-genius

I'd love for you guys to stream some more Dark Souls - and while it's clearly up to you, I'd recommend setting Similar Face aside in favor of Breckon Jr., only because the game is already tough enough as it is, especially streaming, and it'd be great for y'all to see as much as you can. Something about the Souls/Bloodborne games makes them incredibly interesting to watch others play, even after hundreds of hours of playing them myself. It's probably seeing someone working through the learning process, discovering the game's ins and outs, and ultimately getting better (to one degree or another). Chris, you mentioned Kay's Youtube channel, and indeed her evolution from trying to remember where all the buttons on the controller are to thoroughly and effortlessly destroying everything in the game, all the while being observant and analytical, is incredibly satisfying to witness - especially in games like these (although she records video for, and is really good at, many other types of games). Hers are definitely my favorite Let's Plays to watch.

Has Doug Tabacco played Doug Dug yet? I'm super curious to know whether or not Doug dug Doug dug.

Please never stop talking about Fallout 4 so that Chris will keep this "Gollum tatoes joke" train rollin'. Also, I just thought of 'Brahmin Ramen', which I found funny and was wondering if that might be a real(?) thing in the Fallout universe. It doesn't seem to be, but I did find https://brahminramen.wordpress.com/, which purports to be a restaurant review site for the Boston area, but seems actually unfinished or maybe just a Wordpress demonstration site? Maybe it's a discarded Fallout 4 tie-in ARG site or something? Weird!

With both of their voices overdubbed by Steve Blum, naturally.

H A P P Y B I R T H D A Y

If Pardo would sit and talk for hours on end about WoW design choices and challenges, I would certainly listen. As someone who played so, so very much of that game and therefore spent so much time tangled up in all of its systems and mechanics, it's very interesting to think about lots of the design decisions from the outside-in as opposed to where the actual designers are coming from, especially while taking into account all of the changes that have been made over the last decade. That's something that is only possible to do for a handful of games.

After all these years, I don't expect you guys to ever stop worrying that what you're talking about is secretly boring the readers in some way, but: Just Do It™

Great job on these, Steve. It must've been difficult to find time for you and the interviewee to sit down and chat for a few hours, and with 14 fewer candidates (barring repeats) it likely won't get easier. Even so, looking forward to another season!

Junior Mints are is so, so, so good. Also, the candy is great. e: I'm surprised no one brought up Bill HIcks as the torch-bearer for offensive 90's stand-up comedy.

Was that mention of blankity-blank dot com at about 35:53 just a missed edit? or a megaton reveal?

Love these casts Steve, always something interesting contained within.

Definitely, this. I'm laughing constantly the entire time, it's the best.

I was shocked when I saw that this was NOT a Brendon Chung joint. I watched about 3 minutes into the Quick Look, then bought it on Steam.

Again, great job with this series so far. I've really enjoyed the candid conversations with all of the guests, and can't wait to see who you have on next (is there a Mechner in your future, perhaps?). While not a writer, I do take into consideration various aspects of game design, and have found everything these discussions have touched upon to be interesting, if not enlightening. Keep dat up.

King Genius Baby, the Kinslayer. You've finally sold me on this game. Danielle was a great guest, hope she comes back on!

Don't apologize for talking about goofy, dumb things. Do apologize for talking about pseudo-humanoid robots being creepy and gross. Maybe then they'll spare you when the revolution comes.

Excellent cast! I'm spreading the word on forums! These surprise endings keep me guessing week after week.

Regarding the repetitive board management, etc sequences: To me, there were three general game states that occurred. A] Combat time. You're actively moving through the environment with the intention of either sneaking past enemies or systematically finding and killing them. B] Story/action cutscenes that you have no control over. Here, the shit is typically hitting the fan either in terms of hazardous events occurring immediately, or from cumulative tension. C] Traversal, board management, cool-off time. The reason these sequences didn't overstay their welcome or feel dull to me is that I was usually waiting - and ready - for them to come along. For me it was a natural ebb and flow. I just got done either fighting off equally desperate survivors and/or ravenous infected or carefully sneaking past them because I didn't have enough supplies to take them out. If not those, then I just watched an affecting cutscene that related some new (probably dangerous) news about what I was going to have to go through soon, or reflected on how rough and emotionally draining the thing was that I just got finished doing. Those things are mentally taxing, and make playing the game difficult over multiple sequences. I'm fine with this, since that's what this game brought to the table in spades - the ability to get me emotionally invested and immersed in this terrible situation. TLoU relies on and needs those periods of respite to refocus and pull yourself back together, hear some awesomely corny jokes, read someone's final note, or stop to take in your surroundings - a beautifully rendered and immersive real-world analogue quickly being retaken by nature. I was invested enough in everything that was actively going on around me that when these sequences came up, they were usually just what I needed. It all fit so well for the duration of the game, and always made me want to keep going. If the real complaint here is that the actual act of hitting triangle to move an object is what's getting old, then yeah sure they could have mixed it up a bit. In the end, though, it just didn't make a difference to my experience one way or the other. Most importantly, I feel like they focused on all the right things. I hope you guys are able stick with it all the way, as I feel the resolution is something you'd all find interesting. tl;dr I feel that the traversal-ladderboardpallet sequences ARE there for a very specific reason, and they function quite well in that capacity.

The Vanamolyneux conversation is really fantastic, and strangely a bit inspirational. Weird, maybe! It's really refreshing to hear two talented guys just sit and trade questions and anecdotes. e: Actually, that sounds terrible given where I'm posting. It's refreshing in the context of a sponsored interview!

I'm imagining Jake cringing as Sam Jackson yells in his face in the middle of hundreds of people. Congrats, dudes!

While I haven't played it yet, Miasmata looks like something that could be right up some folks' alleys (lookin' at you, ja2ke). Here's a GIantBomb quick look. It looks to have decent atmosphere, but more importantly a map that you hold in your hands and in-world wristwatch, compass and notebook . You also map the game area manually by triangulating your current position based off of visible discovered landmarks, can stumble and fall when running downhill, and partake in a seemingly in-depth experimental botanical crafting system. ALSO, you can dual-wield a knife and... a bouquet of flowers. I plan on getting this when I have some more time on my hands, but I'm curious if anyone thinks it's as good as it seems.

I found the escort-y objectives in X-Com: EU to be pretty tense, which was presumably the aim. So, well done in that regard.