To the guy that is gaming on a budget: GET. A. LIBRARY CARD. Bigger libraries have been branching out into video games and no one know it. My library got the new Resident Evil 4 and it mostly just sat on the shelf. If your library doesn’t have video games, your library is probably part of a library system that will get it from a neighboring library.
Signed in to make this comment! The waiting list is long for most games at our smallish library but they get all the big titles. Just put in a hold request on all the ones that intrigue you, forget about it for a few months, and when your number comes up you get to spend some quality time with Mario and the gang (or whatever).
leaving a comment because this is how i play new AAA releases! if the machine you game on can accept physical media, just *ask* a librarian about yr options. you will, if nothing else, be surprised!
I've legitimately thought about this the last year or so. I don't see a reason not to do it. Although I'll probably just have that information in a doc/word file (assuming that it's still a viable format in 40+ years).
Believe it or not, this cold open might have resolved a longstanding family mystery for me?? My great-aunt notoriously referred to local pizza place Mario's Pizzeria as "MARE-io's Pitz-AIR-ia" right up until she died, and while the Mario thing was typical for a New Yorker, the "pizzeria" pronunciation was always mystifying. However, if that really is how they were saying it in Canada back in the '50s, it makes total sense, because she spent the first 10 years of her life in Nova Scotia! So, clearly, this is the most meaningful and important Besties cold open to date.
Yeah, except now I have a hard time going back and listening to their older YouTube videos where the theme sounds like its slowed down by like, maybe 25%?
I spent the past year or so listening to their entire catalog from the beginning (would I recommend this? I don't know!), and the original theme song was totally different! I spent months itching to get back to the cozy comfy theme I knew so well.
Hey Besties, I'm currently working on a university paper exploring gender representation and diversity in video games across their entire history. I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations on games that have stood out to you for their exceptional (or not-so-great) representation and diversity. Any suggestions on titles that have notably contributed to a positive shift in the industry would be incredibly insightful.
telltale’s “the walking dead” season 1 is a great point to start branching out from! the relationship between lee and clementine, a young black man and a young (asian-american iirc?) girl is incredibly-moving, and i haven’t personally seen any writing about how strongly and suddenly it *changed* the status quo for narrative games.
fullbright games deserve academic consideration, i’m praying there are already some published papers on gone home out there for you to thumb through! and two games that you’ll probably get a dead end from, even tho they’re personal favorites from this standpoint, are saints row iii and iv. saints row’s character creator, even when it only had binary gender options, gave you an incredible degree of control over who the boss of the third street saints could be. i’ve replayed each game once or twice since realizing i’m nonbinary, and am always startled by how they didn’t let me down this time around either.
good luck!! i got to write a final paper about a video game in undergrad once, and it’s consistently my favorite college experience!
Gubbins has been pretty cool so far. If anyone wants a similar daily puzzle game check out PUZZMO. they’re currently doing daily puzzles and if you’re the first of 500 to complete it you get a key to access the main game (which is all in the browser)
And Hideo's name is pronounced "hee-day-oh". I really prefer when white dudes don't just guess the pronunciation when they're hosting a programme for an audience.
I understand this concern, and it's good for everyone to try their best. But it's also true that different names will sometimes be pronounced differently due to the way our mouths work based on our first language. In the same way a native Japanese speaker would pronounce my name Ku-Ri-Su Pu-Ra-N-Te. (Which is also to say this isn't a problem localized to "white dudes.") We'll work on this, but the challenge isn't just remembering to pronounce it correctly but also undoing a lifetime of muscle memory. Not an excuse, but context.
Adventure Capitalist has been my go-to idle game for probably a decade now. The prestige system is simple, and you can easily progress without giving it any thought, though paying attention to how much money each of your assets is generating and prioritizing your unlocks/upgrades will definitely speed you up.
It also has multiple "levels" (that can run concurrently after you unlock them) with varying difficulty/progression curves, and a constant rotating series of event levels in case you're tired of being idle while playing your idle game.
Oh, and there's the sequel, Adventure Communist, if you're feeling both-sidesy.
Have any of the Besties played Death Must Die? It feels like a mix of Halls of Torment and Hades and just became available on steam this week. I’ve been playing the heck outta it.
This one is for Russ and Plante, but maybe more Russ? I dunno. I finally picked up the Binding of Isaac for the Wii U (the hot new console taking the world by storm). Anyways, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised at how I got sucked into the gameplay. I’m thinking about buying Afterbirth on Switch so that I actually support the developer (my Wii U is homebrewed, gasp!) and I wanted to know if the new version is really that much better. Lastly, to all the besties, thanks for making this podcast! I look forward to listening every week.
Interesting that Justin thought A Haunting of Venice was the better of these recent Poirot films. We tried to watch it just this week and couldn't get more than half way through, it's soooooo sloooooow
To the guy that is gaming on a budget: GET. A. LIBRARY CARD. Bigger libraries have been branching out into video games and no one know it. My library got the new Resident Evil 4 and it mostly just sat on the shelf. If your library doesn’t have video games, your library is probably part of a library system that will get it from a neighboring library.
Signed in to make this comment! The waiting list is long for most games at our smallish library but they get all the big titles. Just put in a hold request on all the ones that intrigue you, forget about it for a few months, and when your number comes up you get to spend some quality time with Mario and the gang (or whatever).
Oh that's awesome, I haven't checked my library in ages. I had no idea. I should check it out.
leaving a comment because this is how i play new AAA releases! if the machine you game on can accept physical media, just *ask* a librarian about yr options. you will, if nothing else, be surprised!
Gotta be persistent:
Has Frush ever been to a ska show?
i greatly admire your determination.
Plante, it is time for you to break your silence: how do you feel about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce???
"I'm happy for them!" Plante
Haha, the right answer for Chiefs fans and Swifties alike.
Are you guys going to let your children inherit your Steam account? Will you leave them the password in your will?
I've legitimately thought about this the last year or so. I don't see a reason not to do it. Although I'll probably just have that information in a doc/word file (assuming that it's still a viable format in 40+ years).
Believe it or not, this cold open might have resolved a longstanding family mystery for me?? My great-aunt notoriously referred to local pizza place Mario's Pizzeria as "MARE-io's Pitz-AIR-ia" right up until she died, and while the Mario thing was typical for a New Yorker, the "pizzeria" pronunciation was always mystifying. However, if that really is how they were saying it in Canada back in the '50s, it makes total sense, because she spent the first 10 years of her life in Nova Scotia! So, clearly, this is the most meaningful and important Besties cold open to date.
this is wild
"Has anyone ever made a murder mystery where it ends up really being ghosts?"
"I don't know, did they ever disprove or prove the existence of the soul on Scooby-Doo?"
Gentlemen, I'd like to direct both your attentions to the 2002 film Scooby-Doo
There's also Scooby Doo on Zombie Island where I believe the twist was that the zombies were in fact real.
When I hear the Besties theme song I feel safe
same
Yeah, except now I have a hard time going back and listening to their older YouTube videos where the theme sounds like its slowed down by like, maybe 25%?
I spent the past year or so listening to their entire catalog from the beginning (would I recommend this? I don't know!), and the original theme song was totally different! I spent months itching to get back to the cozy comfy theme I knew so well.
Hey Besties, I'm currently working on a university paper exploring gender representation and diversity in video games across their entire history. I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommendations on games that have stood out to you for their exceptional (or not-so-great) representation and diversity. Any suggestions on titles that have notably contributed to a positive shift in the industry would be incredibly insightful.
The games and writing of Anna Anthropy are great places to start!
https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Videogame-Zinesters-Drop-outs-Housewives/dp/1609803728
telltale’s “the walking dead” season 1 is a great point to start branching out from! the relationship between lee and clementine, a young black man and a young (asian-american iirc?) girl is incredibly-moving, and i haven’t personally seen any writing about how strongly and suddenly it *changed* the status quo for narrative games.
fullbright games deserve academic consideration, i’m praying there are already some published papers on gone home out there for you to thumb through! and two games that you’ll probably get a dead end from, even tho they’re personal favorites from this standpoint, are saints row iii and iv. saints row’s character creator, even when it only had binary gender options, gave you an incredible degree of control over who the boss of the third street saints could be. i’ve replayed each game once or twice since realizing i’m nonbinary, and am always startled by how they didn’t let me down this time around either.
good luck!! i got to write a final paper about a video game in undergrad once, and it’s consistently my favorite college experience!
horizon: zero dawn stood out to me as far as gender and diversity. I'm not sure if you're looking for story spoilers (as there's a story reason for the game's diversity), but the main character grows up in a matriarchal society and that informs her relationship with other societies she encounters. There's also multiple queer and gender-non-conforming characters. I did some quick googling and found this article which looks promising, hope this helps! https://screeningrace2017.wordpress.com/2018/11/17/horizon-zero-dawn-a-positive-outlook-for-diversity-in-video-games/#:~:text=Horizon%20Zero%20Dawn%20has%20no,true%20villains%20are%20white%20men.
Gubbins has been pretty cool so far. If anyone wants a similar daily puzzle game check out PUZZMO. they’re currently doing daily puzzles and if you’re the first of 500 to complete it you get a key to access the main game (which is all in the browser)
https://launch.puzzmo.com/
Pizzeria is half diarrhea. (How has no one mentioned that yet?)
Signed up just to tell Russ that Musou is pronounced "Moo-so". Sorry and thanks.
And Hideo's name is pronounced "hee-day-oh". I really prefer when white dudes don't just guess the pronunciation when they're hosting a programme for an audience.
From Plante:
I understand this concern, and it's good for everyone to try their best. But it's also true that different names will sometimes be pronounced differently due to the way our mouths work based on our first language. In the same way a native Japanese speaker would pronounce my name Ku-Ri-Su Pu-Ra-N-Te. (Which is also to say this isn't a problem localized to "white dudes.") We'll work on this, but the challenge isn't just remembering to pronounce it correctly but also undoing a lifetime of muscle memory. Not an excuse, but context.
Since you guys are talking about clickers: Spaceplan is an older one, but one of my favorites. And it has killer music.
Adventure Capitalist has been my go-to idle game for probably a decade now. The prestige system is simple, and you can easily progress without giving it any thought, though paying attention to how much money each of your assets is generating and prioritizing your unlocks/upgrades will definitely speed you up.
It also has multiple "levels" (that can run concurrently after you unlock them) with varying difficulty/progression curves, and a constant rotating series of event levels in case you're tired of being idle while playing your idle game.
Oh, and there's the sequel, Adventure Communist, if you're feeling both-sidesy.
Have any of the Besties played Death Must Die? It feels like a mix of Halls of Torment and Hades and just became available on steam this week. I’ve been playing the heck outta it.
This one is for Russ and Plante, but maybe more Russ? I dunno. I finally picked up the Binding of Isaac for the Wii U (the hot new console taking the world by storm). Anyways, I wasn’t really sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised at how I got sucked into the gameplay. I’m thinking about buying Afterbirth on Switch so that I actually support the developer (my Wii U is homebrewed, gasp!) and I wanted to know if the new version is really that much better. Lastly, to all the besties, thanks for making this podcast! I look forward to listening every week.
Interesting that Justin thought A Haunting of Venice was the better of these recent Poirot films. We tried to watch it just this week and couldn't get more than half way through, it's soooooo sloooooow