I literally came to this newsletter for the first time to also recommend Game Changer! It is as creative, comedic and caring as Taskmaster is and you'll be supporting the amazing business practices of Dropout as a network!
It took like 5 minutes for my email to load up and I still waited for the whole time so I could come here and recommend Game Changer as well. It’s so creative and fun and the new season is coming up soon!
An important question in trying to understand the enigma that is Russ Frushtick: if Mario is instead Mare-io, why is Aria of Sorrows not Air-ee-aye of Sorrows?
Haven’t listened yet, but I’m so glad y’all are enjoying LAD. It causes me psychic damage when you’re not into the games I am!
I do NOT want you all to talk about or play Palworld, but I might like to hear your thoughts about the lines between plagiarism, homage, and influence in games.
Wonderful episode this week. Long time listener, first time commenter. Feeling grateful for the opportunity to drop lines in the comments of this fabulous newsletter format. I’m seeing comments about skipping palworld next week, and I just wanted to pipe up and suggest that while it has been exhausting for some to hear about, it’s still relevant to the evolution of video games. I can only speak for myself here, might be others too, I don’t get to have the time to play video games right now, but love them, and rely on this podcast to stay up with the times and hear the good and the bad of what’s going on right now. The Palworld AI and plagiarism discourse is relevant, it might not be as exciting or enjoyable to play/discuss right now, but I hope it’s covered at some point. It’s a video game bookclub, and if we exclude every video game that has murky ethics, well we’d be missing out on discussing quite a few games, and miss out on how we can do better.
Not sure if Griffin has mentioned this, but PLEASE watch Devil's Plan on Netflix if you haven't already. Given that he's liked Physical 100, Siren, and other game survival shows, I know he's going to love Devil's Plan.
It's a Korean reality show where 12 unique people from the entertainment industry are gathered to play in a seven-day survival game with complex strategic and social games (the first game is a variation on One Night Ultimate Werewolf).
I watch all of these shows, too. I liked The Devil's Plan quite a bit, but I think just a little bit less than P100 or Siren. Sometimes when you watch reality TV, it's easy to be like, "Ah, I am smarter than these fools", but that is not the case with The Devil's Plan. Every single one of those people was much, much smarter than I am. Some of those games were so incredibly complicated I had to rewind halfway through, and I mean that as a compliment.
What Plante said about Like A Dragon being about recidivism reminded me that I really think some of y'all should read the book Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. It's Squid Games meet the US prison industrial complex. Super brutal, but super good and the way it explores reality television, prison, and the possibility of redemption for people who have done terrible things is truly spectacular.
Taskmaster is a great rec, but if you're trying to pick a first episode to watch, please, *please* don't start with Series 10. It was made in 2020 and the vibes are just not good without a studio audience. 5 is a great starting point, as are 4 and 7, in my opinion
Also, any Til Death Do Us Blart fans might be interested in Taskmaster New Zealand Series 2 (also available on the Taskmaster YouTube channel), featuring Death Blart's very own Guy Montgomery as a contestant, and just some fantastic television in general
i had yakuza like a dragon in my ps library and thought to try it out. I love narrative games but after 30 minutes I still have only had 5 minutes of gameplay. it was just cutscene after cutscene. I got bored and frustrated.
how is this in like a dragon infinite wealth? the silly gameplay looks fun but If I have te wade trough hours of uninteract-able cutscenes I won't be able to do it.
I love that Plante mentioned a Beat Takeshi movie, but if you're looking for movies to prep for the Yakuza games, I gotta recommend his Outrage trilogy (Outrage, Beyond Outrage, and Outrage Coda). Not only is this one of those trilogies where the second movie is just absolutely excellent, it's also a dense and twisty trip through Yakuza politics, allegiances, and betrayals. If you can follow these movies, you're absolutely ready for Yakuza 0-6.
Just came here for a random game rec. Lil' Guardsmen just came out. It's sorta like Papers Please but way more lighthearted. It's been a delight to play so far and I feel like it should be up at least one of your alley's.
Really love that you loved this Like A Dragon game!
A movie I'd recommend that has similar vibes to the Yakuza series is Survive Style 5+ It's set in Japan and features 5 bizarre sort-of intertwining stories (that could all easily be Yakuza side missions). There's comedy, action, crime and Vinnie Jones plays a very aggressive but complete fish-out-of-water hitman.
If Russ is in need of more wholesome game-show style content then Game Changer on Dropout absolutely scratches that itch for me
Game Changer and Make Some Noise are incredible, they’re Whose Line for millennial nerds.
as Wayne Brady said himself, after being on the show “there are only two people doing taped improv correctly- us and you [Dropout]”
I second this, Game Changer is such a joy to watch. Dropout is so great
I literally came to this newsletter for the first time to also recommend Game Changer! It is as creative, comedic and caring as Taskmaster is and you'll be supporting the amazing business practices of Dropout as a network!
https://www.polygon.com/23639574/dropout-tv-college-humor-game-changer-sam-reich
It took like 5 minutes for my email to load up and I still waited for the whole time so I could come here and recommend Game Changer as well. It’s so creative and fun and the new season is coming up soon!
Beat me to it. Its amazing
wait wasn't the Prince of Persia game fantastic?
me (plante) writing this issue of the newsletter, showing my bias
crooked media
An important question in trying to understand the enigma that is Russ Frushtick: if Mario is instead Mare-io, why is Aria of Sorrows not Air-ee-aye of Sorrows?
Haven’t listened yet, but I’m so glad y’all are enjoying LAD. It causes me psychic damage when you’re not into the games I am!
I do NOT want you all to talk about or play Palworld, but I might like to hear your thoughts about the lines between plagiarism, homage, and influence in games.
Wonderful episode this week. Long time listener, first time commenter. Feeling grateful for the opportunity to drop lines in the comments of this fabulous newsletter format. I’m seeing comments about skipping palworld next week, and I just wanted to pipe up and suggest that while it has been exhausting for some to hear about, it’s still relevant to the evolution of video games. I can only speak for myself here, might be others too, I don’t get to have the time to play video games right now, but love them, and rely on this podcast to stay up with the times and hear the good and the bad of what’s going on right now. The Palworld AI and plagiarism discourse is relevant, it might not be as exciting or enjoyable to play/discuss right now, but I hope it’s covered at some point. It’s a video game bookclub, and if we exclude every video game that has murky ethics, well we’d be missing out on discussing quite a few games, and miss out on how we can do better.
Not sure if Griffin has mentioned this, but PLEASE watch Devil's Plan on Netflix if you haven't already. Given that he's liked Physical 100, Siren, and other game survival shows, I know he's going to love Devil's Plan.
It's a Korean reality show where 12 unique people from the entertainment industry are gathered to play in a seven-day survival game with complex strategic and social games (the first game is a variation on One Night Ultimate Werewolf).
It's seriously the best shows in this genre.
I watch all of these shows, too. I liked The Devil's Plan quite a bit, but I think just a little bit less than P100 or Siren. Sometimes when you watch reality TV, it's easy to be like, "Ah, I am smarter than these fools", but that is not the case with The Devil's Plan. Every single one of those people was much, much smarter than I am. Some of those games were so incredibly complicated I had to rewind halfway through, and I mean that as a compliment.
Seconding this! Devil's Plan was a lot of fun!
What Plante said about Like A Dragon being about recidivism reminded me that I really think some of y'all should read the book Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. It's Squid Games meet the US prison industrial complex. Super brutal, but super good and the way it explores reality television, prison, and the possibility of redemption for people who have done terrible things is truly spectacular.
Tingus reminds me very much of the early-ish internet videos by cyriak. Really unsettling but compelling.
Taskmaster is a great rec, but if you're trying to pick a first episode to watch, please, *please* don't start with Series 10. It was made in 2020 and the vibes are just not good without a studio audience. 5 is a great starting point, as are 4 and 7, in my opinion
Also, any Til Death Do Us Blart fans might be interested in Taskmaster New Zealand Series 2 (also available on the Taskmaster YouTube channel), featuring Death Blart's very own Guy Montgomery as a contestant, and just some fantastic television in general
Cobalt sounds great, I just wish (hope) that more of these come to mobile platforms. Snap is just too easy to pickup and play mid-mundane task.
week 3: american arcadia. please. please besties. american arcadia in begging u
hey guys.
i had yakuza like a dragon in my ps library and thought to try it out. I love narrative games but after 30 minutes I still have only had 5 minutes of gameplay. it was just cutscene after cutscene. I got bored and frustrated.
how is this in like a dragon infinite wealth? the silly gameplay looks fun but If I have te wade trough hours of uninteract-able cutscenes I won't be able to do it.
Prob best to skip. The new one has hours of cutscenes early on
I love that Plante mentioned a Beat Takeshi movie, but if you're looking for movies to prep for the Yakuza games, I gotta recommend his Outrage trilogy (Outrage, Beyond Outrage, and Outrage Coda). Not only is this one of those trilogies where the second movie is just absolutely excellent, it's also a dense and twisty trip through Yakuza politics, allegiances, and betrayals. If you can follow these movies, you're absolutely ready for Yakuza 0-6.
What were the movies Plante recommended?
thanks for reminding us!
Yakuza Graveyard, Fireworks (Hanabi), and Tokyo Drifter
THANK YOU!
Just came here for a random game rec. Lil' Guardsmen just came out. It's sorta like Papers Please but way more lighthearted. It's been a delight to play so far and I feel like it should be up at least one of your alley's.
Really love that you loved this Like A Dragon game!
A movie I'd recommend that has similar vibes to the Yakuza series is Survive Style 5+ It's set in Japan and features 5 bizarre sort-of intertwining stories (that could all easily be Yakuza side missions). There's comedy, action, crime and Vinnie Jones plays a very aggressive but complete fish-out-of-water hitman.