GameFan Volume 5, Issue 12 - Quake (Saturn) [S1E20]

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Hey, Ti, it's the holidays. You've got kids. That means
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you had time to write a cold open right?
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No, no, what do you do? Come on, You've got
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fun Factor Two old gamers reviewing old video game magazine reviews.
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I'm Ti Shelter, He's Aiden Mohert, and we're two professional
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writers who grew up loving the video games and video
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game magazines of the nineteen eighties, nineteen nineties, and two thousands.
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Every episode we take a critical look back on the
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games media that, for better and for worse, inspired us
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to do what we do. First, go to funfactorpod dot
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com and follow the show on your podcatcher of choice.
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Leave us a rating review on iTunes, Spotify, YouTube, or
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wherever you check us out. We'll read the best, kindest, funniest,
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and most insightful ones on the air. In our latter section,
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Please consider becoming a member of fun Factor Ultra, our
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premium tiers, the unlock ad free episodes, bonus episodes, and
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the swanky members only channels of our discord. So just
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go to Funfactor pod dot com. I promise you cannot
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miss it. Then help us spread the word. Shout us
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out on Blue Sky at funfactorpod dot com and everyone
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else and everywhere else at fun factor Pod Aiden. Waves
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of layoffs have rocked a game dev industry over the
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past couple of years, and the tech sects are more broadly,
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and publishing and media even more broadly, digital media more specifically,
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and games media even more specifically. Folks, if you are
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listening to this podcast, you've had announced games you were
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looking forward to get canceled. Studios you loved, clothes, writers
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and creators you love leave the industry and outlets you
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love gutted. You might also yourself have been laid off
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or let go or lost work or lost opportunities because
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of all this. And you know, in one sense there
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has been a post forest fire spring. Small independent teams
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in small creator owned publications like Hello this one have
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sprung up to fill in the gaps between the big
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tripa A tent pole releases and the handful of big
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corporate game sites left. But amidst all of this, we
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lose a little something that's harder to define. Mentorship Aiden,
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can you maybe convey to our reader's what having editors
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in place for a long time at an outlet can do.
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Yeah, I mean my.
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Career as a writer goes back very far.
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And if you know, like I would pinpoint two thousand
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and seven when I opened my blog A Dribble inc
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As the start of that, like really a start of
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a career writing. I didn't make money off of that
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for many, many years until I kind of branched out
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into doing you know, professional work with outlets like Reactor
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which he used to be, Towar dot com, Barnes and
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Nobles science fiction and fantasy blog, and then into games journalism.
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I honed you know, a lot of my voice through
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my blog and learned how to write in my own
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voicy way. But there was also something that I could
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tell was was sort of keeping me from being able
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to level up even further. And a lot of that
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was just ego. Like you know, I was always a
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good writer in school. I was always you know, my
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dad's a writer. I was always praised for that. Told
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I could write, and so I could. You know, I
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had a great blog, did really well. I was doing
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it on my own, and I actually, by the end
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of that kind of moved into more of an editorial
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role where I was acquiring a lot of pieces, reaching out,
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you know, curating writers to come in and write for me,
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doing a lot of guest posts on specific topics, and
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so I was doing that editorial job from the other side,
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and that gave me that first inkling of like, oh
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hey wait, working with an editor isn't like an ego check,
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it's collaborative. And I started having conversations and I remember
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one of them, like one thing I was really well
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known for on a dribble of inc was like cover
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art critiques. You know, well, I'd scoured databases. I'd find
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like early covers before they had been officially announced, leak them,
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and then often have fun at the expense of the cover,
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sort of critiquing it. And one of the one time
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I sat down with Brent Weeks, who was a science
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fiction and fantasy writer. Fantasy writer, I guess, and his
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books are great. I was having dinner with him down
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in Portland and he was like, hey, man, like, you know,
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I think I hadn't liked the cover for his recent book.
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And he's like, hey, hey, Like, you know, I get
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what you're doing, but like, you know, I think you
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have such a big platform you could grow into something
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that's more reporting base. It's more journalistic than what other
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blogs are doing. Because you have access to so many people,
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Like when you're doing a cover, reach out to the
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people who made the cover, like, don't hold your opinion back,
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but you know, place your opinion beside that of someone
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else right who was involved in the process. And I
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was like, Hey, that actually makes a lot of sense.
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And then Andrew Liptak did this fabulous history of the
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Expanse science fiction series, which did a lot of reported
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like interviews and you know, talk to a lot of people.
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It wasn't his same voice, y you know, writing that
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he usually did from his perspective, and I kind of
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stopped him. I was like, oh, yeah, okay, this can
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work in this space. What does that look like? And
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so I started seeing the way that other people's work
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and you know, like influence on me was changing my
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writing for the better. And that helped me understand collaboration.
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And so when I closed to Dribble, Inc. I kind
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of did short fiction for a number of years, and
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then as I started to expand out where it's into journalism,
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A huge push for that was wanting to work with
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these writers and editors that I've admired for a long time.
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And so my big first feature for Kotaku was edited
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by Chris Kohler, and it was a behemoth. I didn't
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know what I was doing right now. Feature it was
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ten thousand words. It like, God bless Chris for working
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on that with me, but he made so many cuts
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that made it so much better, and that was a
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real like eye opening moment for me. I went, hey,
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like working with somebody on this helped me, and like,
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there are bad editors out there who are, you know,
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also egotistical, but I I mean it's ten to one,
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one hundred to one, you know, like in my experience
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of editors who are in there wanting to make the
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best piece possible. And so you kind of lose that
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when you get out and away from a really strong,
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not hierarchy, but a strong community of writers and editors
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who kind of like allow experience to guide younger and
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newer people. And as we move forward into worker owned sites,
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that's great, but you're also having a bunch of experienced
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writers edited by their equally experienced colleagues and no room
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for new writers to break in. And that's something that
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I think we've really lost and I watched since I
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broke into games journalism twenty nineteen I've watched like the
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level of editing that I get on my pieces dwindle, right,
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and so like people like Jason Wilson, people like Chris
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Kohler were doing a lot lot of like content edits,
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like a lot of back and forth working with me
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to find the best way to tell my story. And
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now I don't see a lot of that. And that's
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because editors, not that they're not good at it. It's
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not that I've gotten so good I don't need edited
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it's that there's just not time and resources, and so
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they hire someone like me because I'm experienced and they
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know they can get a good first draft out of me.
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And there might be style guide updates, his copy edits
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and all that, but rarely ever like content updates at
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this point. And I think that like for young writers,
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it's just really important to recognize that you're raw and
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that's a good thing, and you can learn from people
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who have been around forever and find the advice from
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them that makes sense for your writing and what doesn't,
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and just grow and meet people and have conversations, build relationships.
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And that's just disappearing, which is sad for me. It is,
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you know, tough time to get into games writing.
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Yeah, yeah, and you know, for me, obviously, I've not
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held a regular games writing game. But I was in
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sports writing full time for quite a long time and
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still freelance quite heavily, you know, and I have regular gigs,
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ongoing gigs, and coming up in Bleacher Report. It was
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the same thing where I had an independent blog that
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was all me, all the time, all my voice, all
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just my taste and what I thought. In the same thing.
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I was the writer guy in school, or at least
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I thought of myself that way. And you know, I
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had some experience. You know, my mom was in advertising
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and she's a great copy reader and proofreader and writer.
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So like, okay, great cool, But working professionally was different.
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In some of my first couple of freelance things where
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you know, whoa hold on, I'm freelancing for newspapers. This
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is a whole the different thing. And then yeah, when
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I started working at Bleacher Report full time, part of
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it was they were going from totally wild West blogging
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to oh, we need to like up our games. They
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brought in some old magazine and newspaper editors to coach
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up their writers and got just a crash course on Okay,
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what is a lead? What is nut graph? How do
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we write that? You know, what is the voice of
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the site? Who is the audience we're trying to reach?
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Right? Like?
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Every piece can't just be here's what I'm thinking, you know,
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very at large, even though that's cool, right like, and
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and there are reasons why we have the gamer column
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and reasons why we have the like morning After column,
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right like, there's these formats to follow, you know, and
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it's because it's what the audience likes and expects. And
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sure enough, some of that was right for disruption, right
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but like having decades of experience and going hey, like
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casually someone mentioned once I went, oh wow, and that's
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stuck in my head forever, right and it's made me
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a better writer. And so you know, the thing with independent,
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like you said, aiden, like, Okay, you have a bunch
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of colleagues who are all roughly the same age, who
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often worked at the same autge together and have an
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idea of what they want their site to be, and
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literally their site, they own it, right who's mentoring them?
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And sometimes you have people and you know, obviously no
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shade at all to the twenty five to thirty one
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year olds doing this in a lot of cases, right,
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But like a lot of those people didn't have very
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many editors either, because the winnow wing was already happening
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for editorial leadership. So if you've been writing about games
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more or less full time for the last five, six,
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seven years, you've probably been doing it at sites where
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they haven't had one person or two or three or
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four people in charge for the site for years and
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years and decades on end. And we're transporting back to
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as part of fun Factor, a time where editorial changes
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meant big changes. Right, Who is the editor in chief?
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Who are the senior editors? When someone comes or goes,
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or leaves or stays, the whole voice or look of
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feel the site can change, and you know, for the
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better or for the worse. An audience might grow, audience
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might shrink. And you know, I think this Mirror is
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game def itself.
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Yeah, big time. And I think, like, I think there's
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something too about I mean, the whole concept of the show,
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I suppose is that we're at a place now where
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the first generation of people who only knew a world
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with video games and video game magazines, the kids that
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we're reading Game Fan or EGM or Game Players, Nintendo
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Power are now the ones that are sort of like
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making those magazines and games only. The games industry and
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the games media landscape is not built for adults with
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jobs and kids, and so you do see also, like
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the flip side is people kind of burn out and
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reach their early thirties and say, oh, I can't do
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this anymore. I need something more sustainable, and so they're
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leaving games media, or they're leaving you know, the game's industry,
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or they get play it off. And it's likely maybe
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that's the wake up call I need. They go to
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get into PR or they go into you know, different
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industry or different writing beat entirely if they can find it.
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And I think that there's that loss of sort of
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institutional knowledge that can happen as well. Uh, you know,
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I have forty two years old. I'm sort of one
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of the old people in games media these days, right,
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Like the editors I am working with are you know,
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they'll mention that like, oh, hey, I'm going to turn
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twenty nine in three days, twenty nine. Man Like I
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could barely even like tie my shoes when I was
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twenty nine. Ah, But you know, I think It's just
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like building communities requires all types. And it's not to
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say that you know, the people worker own sites like
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Aftermath don't produce amazing work. Of course, I do think
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that like the best environments are going to have like
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I'm not getting into like you know, the like both
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sides diverse, like whatever nonsense that gets pedled at, you know,
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like centrist magazines or how whatever CNN and more diverse
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in their opinions. That's not what I'm talking about. But
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people who sort of like can work in tandem with
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others who have more experience, who have more you know,
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you know, learning and knowledge that they can pass down
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and frankly, like the biggest mentor I've had as a
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game drenalist has been you. I didn't know what a
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nut graft was and I literally had to explain it.
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You used it in some feedback you gave me, and
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I was like, I don't know what a nut graph is.
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And then you know a kicker. You know, I knew
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them conceptually right, just from reading and writing, and I
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was writing that graphs and kickers and stuff. But you know,
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you've provided that level of like, Okay, you're a good writer.
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But now here's how sort of reporting works. Here's what
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an editor is really gonna like, here is what readers
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respond to. Here's how to structure this piece, you know,
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in a way that maybe flows a little bit better.
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And so that's that rawness that, like, you know, the
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rawness is what makes my writing my writing.
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But there are just.
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Those ways of refining it and making it better and
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finding somebody like you, because like the one constant throughout
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all of this this is turning into, like, you know,
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a love letter to Tie. But like you've been sort
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of that constant throughout where I've been able to like
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have consistent, ongoing feedback, and you've been there to see,
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you know, the growth that I've made responding to that growth,
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because the fact of the matter is nine out of
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the ten editors I've ever worked with have been fired,
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laid off or left the industry, right, Like, nobody is
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around that I've worked with. I like, you know, I've
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been getting a bit of work for Retrogamer, which is
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a paper magazine in the UK, which is fabulous and funny.
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That fun factor sort of came up at the time
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when I've finally broken into some print magazine stuff, you know,
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and working with the editor there and being able to
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kind of grow our relationship has been really great and
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it's led to, you know, some pretty fun opportunities. But
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a lot of the time I write something, you know, Wired,
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I was able to write three pieces and then the
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editor left, and I've just never been able to crack
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them in. And you know it, when you don't have like,
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you can build relationships, and they're great because it's good
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to have good friends. But the journalism industry has been
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relationship based forever, I think, and when the professional aspect
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of relationship building falls apart, you can sort of see
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how it then like then what like what are you
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supposed to do? Right?
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Yeah?
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At that point, you know when I have to reintroduce myself.
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Like I'm six years, seven years into this, and I'm
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still having to write, like, hey, my name's Aiden Mohurt.
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You know, like, are you go winning journalists with working Wired?
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Every time I pitch a story, because it's an editor
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I've never worked with, even if it's a place i've Also,
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I was about to say, also, hey, I published three
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pieces for your website that you work for two or
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three years ago. Yeah, yeah, I mean Kotaku was putting
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out a call for freego lance writers, and so I
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through my hat in the ring and it's like, hey,
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you know, you know, I'm Maiden. I've written for a
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bunch of places like Washington Post, Wired, and Kotaku way
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back in the day. It's like, but you know, still
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having to do that sort of dance because there's so
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little consistency. It's hard. Let alone mentorship, Like just like
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it would be nice if editors knew who I was
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because they had been at a place yeah long enough,
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you know, between two pitches that I've sent to that outlet,
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let alone like mentorship over years. And like, I don't know,
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I don't know what the future is. Nobody does, right,
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Like there's so much turmoil, but I do think there's
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gonna be a premium on human content again, uh, probably
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before long. And that's where I think you're gonna start
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getting really strong return to like some of those practices
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that really made work great up until all the layoffs
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started happening. Yeah, I also have to recognize that at
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this point I need to be a men tour not
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a mentee, right, And it's funny to think about that
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that my experience would place me in a position where
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it's like, oh wait, I'm no longer looking for someone
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that I need to teach me. Now it's my turn
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to kind of pay it back. And so you know,
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I've always tried to as much as I can use
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my platform to to help other people and you know,
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be generous with my time, generous with advice and stuff,
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and just pay it forward as much as possible, because there,
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you know, there's been so many people who have taken
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that chance on me, and you know, I don't have
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a lot of influence in this space, but you know
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I do have experience, and being able to pass that
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along is it feels.
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Good, absolutely, And some of the experiences I had right,
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like some of the stuff we talked about, you know,
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honing your craft, like Patrick Kruby at Vice years and
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years ago. The first big reported piece that I had
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to travel for, right, I actually drove to Chicago for
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peace covering the Legends Football League as it then was
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in between being called the Lingerie Football League and the
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X League. But I went to go cover this. You know,
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I've been working on a reported story and talking to
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people and there was all sorts of drama. You know,
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I was getting unsolicited anonymous emails, tips and stuff like
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oh my gosh, you know, I'm working with my editor,
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and the PR person for the league emailed me to
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deny me immedia credential at first, saying, oh, you're talking
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to the wrong people. You know. You come in with
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these pre known narratives, but unfortunately the truth is not
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always sexy. And I like emailed my editor Patrick and
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he was like, can you take a call. I'm like yeah,
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and he gets on the phone. He's like, she just
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gave you your headline and either your leader, your kicker.
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Oh my god, like she just handed to you out
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of silver platter, you know, and we please start talking
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and everything. And it was it was great. But I
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being there and talking to these women and talking to
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these people and going through the you know, I had
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so much stuff and we talked about like thirty five
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hundred words, you know, maybe a little bit upward growth.
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And my first draft was twelve thousand and I flop
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sweated cutting down below ten thousands. Yeah, And I sent
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it to him at like midnight thirty seven, you know,
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and he woke up the next morning and just replied, HA,
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got this in half, like right, you know, and like
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it's as much about what the audience will pay attention to,
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you know, and what he himself had bandwidth to edit
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or you know whatever. But like it was just the
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he knew how much story was there, and I realized
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that there's like seven stories there, right, that I could
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cover this league full time and write real human stories
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that connect with people, just like I could cover any
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other sports league, right, But like you just can't do
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that all at once.
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And I think, like also, there's such a like distinct
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difference between being a freelancer or being like a salary
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or like permal lancer. Is like, yes, for me, I can't.
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I'm not guaranteed to be able to tell all seven
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of those stories, you know, So like if that's good stuff,
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if those if that's enough to like carry a story,
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but I have no guarantees of like selling a follow
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up to that same publication. That like that is tough.
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I like to cram all of that stuff in there
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because I find it all fascinating, but absolutely a good
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editor is going to say, hey, like this is cool,
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but like it's often its own little like section, you know,
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it's it's its own thing, it's its own narrative that
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the main narrative doesn't need you know, if they were like, hey,
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could you you know, spin this into like an eight
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hundred word op ed or whatever, great cool, But that's
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just for freelance. It also doesn't work that way. So
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it's like, if you're cutting stuff, if you're cutting that
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down to five thousand words, that's like five thousand words
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a good narrative that nobody'll ever see, which is also
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just like as yeah, it's just that's a tricky, tricky
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thing for me to always balance.
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And bleacher report the big problem they had because they
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started by just going, hey, anybody can write for our site.
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You just get an email address, you start logging, and
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you start writing. And they just sold advertising a bunch
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of against a bunch of whatever content, right, and it
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grew and grew, and then they went, oh, hey, you know,
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they did some editing to like clean up some stuff
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and call bad stuff or whatever. But as I came on,
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I was part of a thing of no, wait, we
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need to hire people with some amount of track record
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who are professionals and bring them on, and then we
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also need to coach up some people. So they actually
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developed a really robust in house like edited writer mentorship
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program and like feedback coaches. So there's the copy editors
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and stuff, but then there are also like developmental editors
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that would pick selections of pieces and go hey, like,
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let's you know talk Kay Jennings who writes novels. She's
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sort of the Stephen King of Portland, Oregon. She writes
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a lot of like Pacific Northwest based cozy mysteries. K
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is wonderful. She gave me a ton of awesome feedback.
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King Kaufman of like Solon and either Salon or Slate
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that he he did a bunch of mentor stuff, and
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I've talked before. He actually did this little video about
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explaining leads and being like, hey, when you start a piece,
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you have about the length of time, Like pretend somebody
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is getting on a bus and you've got just enough
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time to run up and tell them your lead, right,
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And he's like, the best lead I ever heard of
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my life was I was in eighth grade and somebody
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shot Pope John Paul the second I think this is
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eighty two or eighty three, so this is this is
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Adrian King. But so like a girl in his class
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ran up as he was getting on the bus to
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go home and went somebody shot the pope.
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He's like, whoa what somebody shot the pope?
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Right, you know, and he's like okay, now, like here's
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what inexperienced writers like often do. And like they went
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and filmed him getting on a bus, right, and they
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just had like an intern do this, and so like
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they first reenacted somebody shot the Pope and then he's
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getting on the bus and she like runs up and
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he turns to look at her and she goes The
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history of papal assassinations is both long and interesting in
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you know, thirteen seventy two. And he's like okay, and
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he like gets on the bus and the bus drives away, right,
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And I'm like, oh wow, Like what an incredible way
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to demonstrate that, right, And that's because Bleacher Report as
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an organization, as an outlet, went we have to put
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time and money into mentorship and like yeah, Andrew says
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in the chest that's a good bit, like absolutely, and
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it's like wow, Like what an instant crystallization. So I
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will think about that till I die when I write
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the first sense of a piece.
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Also so focused though on like online writing, where there's
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a million, infinite number of auditions, what somebody could be
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doing one of Like I talk about the one up
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dot com days a lot because they were so influential
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on me. One of my favorite writers at that time
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Sean Elliott, who would write a review and he'd have
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an eight hundred word review and he'd like open it up.
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He'd open the review with three hundred and fifty words
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about like I don't know some like kid who crapped
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his pants at school when he was a kid or whatever,
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or how had some kid xlax at school or whatever? Right,
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And he'd spend three hundred and fifty words on this
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and he'd be like why, like w and then but
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then he'd like tie it all together in the final
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four hundred and fifty words into this like really eloquent
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in a crude way review of whatever game, like you know,
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Company of Heroes that he was working on, And I
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always kind of admired his ability to like do the
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opposite of what you're describing here, which is like lead
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someone in with like what I thought I was reading
469
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a review of Company of Heroes? Why is this about
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a kid crapping his pants? And that sort of writing
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has always appealed to me, But I think that Sean
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was sort of an outlier or maybe just they wn
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up being so far ahead of their time. He was
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sort of taking a style that works maybe better in
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print media because somebody's already bought that magazine, right, They're
476
00:25:09.720 --> 00:25:12.519
committed to buying it. They've already paid for that writing,
477
00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:14.519
So it doesn't even matter really if they read it.
478
00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:19.039
You know they're not. It's not going to more money
479
00:25:19.039 --> 00:25:22.000
for anybody if they spend more time looking at that page.
480
00:25:22.880 --> 00:25:25.039
And so you could maybe have more diverse structure of
481
00:25:25.720 --> 00:25:29.519
the way that people approach something like you know, features
482
00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.640
or op ads or interviews or previews rather than all
483
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:35.079
this like news beat based stuff. Like you if you're
484
00:25:35.079 --> 00:25:38.079
writing about lines game last night, like you have six
485
00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:43.160
hours to capture that audience, right, whereas like magazines obviously
486
00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:46.279
were running on monthly timelines, and so you wrote news differently,
487
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:48.319
you wrote previews differently, and maybe there was a bit
488
00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:52.480
more leeway in how you approach storytelling, which I think
489
00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:54.559
is also really interesting, and I think like, in some
490
00:25:54.640 --> 00:25:58.119
ways I'm wired to have written for old video game
491
00:25:58.160 --> 00:26:03.319
magazines more than you know, twenty twenty five era websites,
492
00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:06.160
but you know, working with editors is the way that
493
00:26:06.200 --> 00:26:08.200
you figure that out, and sometimes you do have to
494
00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:10.960
like put your ego aside and say, hey, this isn't
495
00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:12.480
the way I want to read it, but like, this
496
00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:15.079
is the way this website presents stories and writes stories,
497
00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:18.240
and so I can be really good at writing stories
498
00:26:18.240 --> 00:26:19.279
that way too, if I need to be.
499
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:24.240
Yeah, well, if this were just a writing podcast and
500
00:26:24.400 --> 00:26:27.400
not also a reading and reviewing podcast, we could go
501
00:26:27.480 --> 00:26:30.079
in a little bit about how my column for Pride
502
00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:34.480
of Detroit Direct did actually lead with a anecdote about
503
00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:38.240
my youngest and micro and macroeconomics and how football is
504
00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:43.960
both simple and complex like economics. But we have game
505
00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:48.680
Fans nineteen ninety seven December issue to discuss and their
506
00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:53.319
review of Quake to discuss and review as well. If
507
00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:55.680
you aren't already a member of Fun Factor Ultra, if
508
00:26:55.680 --> 00:26:59.240
you aren't listening to this live as we record it
509
00:26:59.319 --> 00:27:02.880
on stream for our Fun Factor Review crew members, well
510
00:27:03.079 --> 00:27:05.960
you know, sit tight, hang on through the break, listen
511
00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:09.640
to some ads and millennium thoughts incredible original music right
512
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:30.200
here on fun Factors. Welcome back to Fun Factor. We're
513
00:27:30.200 --> 00:27:32.720
two old gamers review old video game magazine reviews of
514
00:27:32.759 --> 00:27:36.160
course we want you to review us. Do we get
515
00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:38.799
a full five point zher in fun factor? Leave us
516
00:27:38.839 --> 00:27:42.359
a review on Apple podcast, YouTube wherever we will read
517
00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:46.319
the best, funniest, kindest and most entertaining ones on the air.
518
00:27:46.880 --> 00:27:50.119
Aiden I want to ask, what's the deal with game Fan,
519
00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:53.039
But of course, uh, you know, we have discussed game
520
00:27:53.079 --> 00:27:56.039
fan before, We've done game fan before, and if you
521
00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:59.000
are not a review crew member, you've missed out on
522
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.519
the bonus episode, our interview with Molly Patterson, who was
523
00:28:02.839 --> 00:28:06.799
heavily involved in editorial content creation, etc. Throughout the run
524
00:28:06.839 --> 00:28:09.200
of Game Fan, and then to eat GM Definitely go
525
00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:10.880
back and listen to that. I think there is a
526
00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:14.960
preview teaser on the main feed and you can get
527
00:28:14.960 --> 00:28:17.200
some of the good conversation that we have with this one.
528
00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.920
December nineteen ninety seven, one hundred and forty two pages
529
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:24.559
of editorial content plus all the game Fanish ads in
530
00:28:24.599 --> 00:28:27.799
the back. Again, if you don't know, Game Fan started
531
00:28:27.920 --> 00:28:32.920
out as a one video game retail stores sort of
532
00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:36.599
newsletter slash catalog and grew into its whole own magazine,
533
00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:38.359
but they kept a bunch of the ads in the back.
534
00:28:38.680 --> 00:28:43.599
Number of games reviewed and systems reviewed for honestly, and
535
00:28:43.640 --> 00:28:48.039
I didn't go bother count because in classic game fan style,
536
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:53.480
the previews and reviews and even a secret third thing
537
00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:56.920
that I don't think has ever been formally done in
538
00:28:57.000 --> 00:28:59.799
any other magazine that we've reviewed or that I've come
539
00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:03.319
up is present in this. So you know, hey, it's
540
00:29:03.400 --> 00:29:06.599
nineteen ninety seven, it's a console mag it's the consoles,
541
00:29:06.640 --> 00:29:11.519
it's PlayStation, it's Saturn, it's N sixty four. That's pretty
542
00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:15.359
much it. The masthead is actually the thing that I
543
00:29:15.440 --> 00:29:18.039
want to spend a little bit of time talking about,
544
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:22.559
both less time talking on the masthead itself and more
545
00:29:22.599 --> 00:29:26.680
talking about the change in the masthead that came with
546
00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:32.160
this issue. So we have the ad zone here. I
547
00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:34.920
have two letters to the editor. Aiden I put in
548
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.839
the script here the kind of the key part of
549
00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:42.920
the first letter to the editor if you want to
550
00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:43.880
read that for me.
551
00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:48.319
So this letter from the editor is from Dave Halverson.
552
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:52.920
Is infamous, I suppose in the gaming space. And Dave
553
00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:57.000
Halverson says quote, Since nineteen ninety two, when I founded
554
00:29:57.000 --> 00:29:59.960
Game Fan Magazine, I have acted as the magazine's editor
555
00:30:00.160 --> 00:30:02.720
in chief. It has been my pleasure to assemble and
556
00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:05.799
work with what I feel is the finest staff in
557
00:30:05.920 --> 00:30:09.359
video game publishing today. Not only those who remained, but
558
00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:12.079
those who have passed through in my time have my
559
00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:16.720
deepest gratitude of the original team. Few remain as many
560
00:30:16.759 --> 00:30:20.680
of Game Fans original members have gone on to successful
561
00:30:20.759 --> 00:30:24.799
ventures throughout the industry, and now I too have reached
562
00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.720
a point in the evolution of my publishing career where
563
00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:30.119
I feel the need to move on as well.
564
00:30:31.240 --> 00:30:35.519
So, yeah, this issue marks the transition from Dave Halverson
565
00:30:35.640 --> 00:30:40.519
to David sj Hodgson. And are you comfortable explaining this
566
00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:43.440
a little bit because I did not read Game Fan
567
00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:46.680
much at all, and I was not paying attention when
568
00:30:47.279 --> 00:30:52.200
whatever was controversial about Dave Halverson happened. You've alluded to
569
00:30:52.200 --> 00:30:54.559
this before in the past, that this is an issue,
570
00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:57.440
So I'm just wondering, are you comfortable talking about more
571
00:30:57.480 --> 00:30:59.519
about what is the deal with Dave Halverson.
572
00:30:59.680 --> 00:31:01.599
I mean, I feel like we should have a Dave
573
00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:05.599
Halverson episode, bonus episode.
574
00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:07.759
Okay, with them or with people who've worked from him.
575
00:31:07.799 --> 00:31:10.559
But you know, he was an influential games journalist and
576
00:31:10.640 --> 00:31:14.119
editor who started Game Fan, who just has a reputation
577
00:31:14.519 --> 00:31:19.480
of being very controversial, very polarizing. He had an incredible
578
00:31:19.559 --> 00:31:23.559
mullet I think from what I understand, and I think
579
00:31:23.559 --> 00:31:25.880
a lot of that is just like I don't know
580
00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:27.440
what he was like to work with on a day
581
00:31:27.480 --> 00:31:29.400
to day basis, but I do know that, you know,
582
00:31:29.480 --> 00:31:33.039
like he was always just pushing that like personality based
583
00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.960
games journalism in a way that I think encompasses what
584
00:31:37.240 --> 00:31:42.720
is maybe wrong with current games journalism, or not games journalism,
585
00:31:42.759 --> 00:31:46.720
but games culture. He was just bombastic and aggressive and
586
00:31:46.839 --> 00:31:49.920
sort of caustic in a way that I think made
587
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:53.359
him hard to work with, probably made his stuff interesting
588
00:31:53.599 --> 00:31:57.240
and energetic, but also maybe undermine the work that other
589
00:31:57.279 --> 00:31:58.960
people were doing around him.
590
00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:01.920
Interesting. Okay, so he says here he's going to stay
591
00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.519
on as creative director, but otherwise we'll let David Hodgson
592
00:32:06.559 --> 00:32:10.799
take over. They also this this dual sort of letters
593
00:32:10.799 --> 00:32:12.920
from the editor. Here's the old one, here's the new one.
594
00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:17.480
They also talk about their editorial alter egos and how
595
00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:20.519
those will continue to play a role, which I think
596
00:32:20.599 --> 00:32:24.039
is really interesting right that you're doing this, it's not
597
00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:27.039
even really k fabe, but as game fans. Okay, well,
598
00:32:27.079 --> 00:32:30.960
you'll still see this character who I write and voice
599
00:32:31.519 --> 00:32:34.680
in the magazine, appear in the magazine and that will
600
00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:39.160
be me. However, Da da da da da. Right, this
601
00:32:39.240 --> 00:32:42.119
is just such a to me. It's such an interesting
602
00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:45.920
artifact of this magazine in particular and the scene in
603
00:32:46.039 --> 00:32:46.920
general at the time.
604
00:32:47.920 --> 00:32:50.720
Yeah, I think that that makes sense, and like there's
605
00:32:50.759 --> 00:32:53.759
also this transitional period for the magazine where you're also
606
00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:56.920
you know, you're seeing Game Fan being such a ragtag
607
00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:00.759
organization that wasn't founded on like strong business bands, right,
608
00:33:01.839 --> 00:33:03.920
and that stuff is hard. People aren't just naturally good
609
00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:08.480
at that sort of thing. In chat, Greg says when
610
00:33:08.559 --> 00:33:11.039
Ryan Lockhart started working for EGM, he used to tell
611
00:33:11.079 --> 00:33:13.920
us stories about how the Game Fan editors would befriend
612
00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.960
the guy with the fastest car because the first people
613
00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:19.359
to the bank on payday were the only ones who
614
00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:21.759
would be able to catch their paychecks. And so that
615
00:33:21.880 --> 00:33:24.200
was sort of the professional environment that they were working in.
616
00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:26.200
And I think a lot of that came down to
617
00:33:26.319 --> 00:33:29.559
sort of just the challenges of running the small business
618
00:33:30.400 --> 00:33:32.759
that maybe you don't have experience in in the background,
619
00:33:32.799 --> 00:33:34.920
and you know, enthusiasm can only take you so far
620
00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:36.680
at a point, you need to learn how to actually
621
00:33:36.759 --> 00:33:37.960
run the business that you're running.
622
00:33:38.920 --> 00:33:41.720
Yeah, and there is a sort of there is a
623
00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:46.359
type of guy where you run your small business, and hey,
624
00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:49.960
you running the small business is the important part. Things
625
00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:53.519
like employees getting paid is not the important part, no
626
00:33:53.599 --> 00:33:56.039
matter how much money you're getting or how many how
627
00:33:56.079 --> 00:33:58.920
many employees you have. And there are other people that
628
00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:01.440
you know, would rather, you know whatever, will take care
629
00:34:01.480 --> 00:34:04.200
of their employees no matter what. They'll starve themselves before
630
00:34:04.200 --> 00:34:07.119
they let somebody wants a paycheck. So it's just it
631
00:34:07.160 --> 00:34:09.119
is kind of reflective of the sort of fly by
632
00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:13.599
night type thing. Dave Alrickson went on to found Gamers
633
00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:17.480
Republic and Play so, like Dave Alvison, continued to not
634
00:34:17.519 --> 00:34:20.880
only edit this magazine, but continue to edit other magazines
635
00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:25.000
and other outlets in the industry. And this maybe why
636
00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:27.760
is I wait, this is maybe why I'm not as
637
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.840
familiar with Dave Haverickson because I wasn't reading game Fan
638
00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:34.400
regularly while he was in charge of Game Fan and
639
00:34:35.280 --> 00:34:39.960
making this thing his own, perhaps above and beyond anything
640
00:34:39.960 --> 00:34:42.760
else as far as the magazine's concerned. And I, like
641
00:34:42.800 --> 00:34:45.280
you said, I would love to know more about how
642
00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:51.159
it became clear to him that he's reached a point
643
00:34:51.159 --> 00:34:53.079
in the evolution of his career that he needs to
644
00:34:53.119 --> 00:34:57.440
move on as well, because that decision can be come
645
00:34:57.480 --> 00:34:59.360
to from all sorts of ways, all sorts of reasons,
646
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:02.159
just like anybody in any industry.
647
00:35:02.519 --> 00:35:04.559
So, you know, as you've been talking, I've been doing
648
00:35:04.599 --> 00:35:06.440
a little bit of like research to try to get,
649
00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:09.559
you know, to the bottom of some of this. And
650
00:35:09.920 --> 00:35:12.440
Shadoshi who worked on game Fan, there's a history of
651
00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:14.760
game Fan on hardcore gaming one on one. So this
652
00:35:14.840 --> 00:35:17.480
was a letter they wrote to Dave. They have said
653
00:35:17.519 --> 00:35:20.280
they've the in the history, they say they've cooled on
654
00:35:20.679 --> 00:35:24.960
Halverson a bit. But this is a quote from the
655
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:28.679
letter they wrote initially back in the day. So quote,
656
00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:31.400
you are such a great example of the situation where
657
00:35:31.400 --> 00:35:34.519
someone idolizes someone, meets them in person and then finds
658
00:35:34.559 --> 00:35:37.320
out how much of an asshole they are. All the
659
00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:40.159
people in here who say so many good things about
660
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:43.079
you actually met you, their tune would be different afterwards.
661
00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:45.880
I know, because I was exactly like them before I
662
00:35:45.920 --> 00:35:48.920
met you. I hope I pray that one day you'll
663
00:35:48.960 --> 00:35:51.280
realize what kind of person you are, that you'll stop
664
00:35:51.320 --> 00:35:54.239
caring about only yourself, that you'll realize how much you
665
00:35:54.239 --> 00:35:56.440
have dicked over so many people for your own games,
666
00:35:56.800 --> 00:35:59.119
how much you have lied and deceived people to help
667
00:35:59.159 --> 00:36:02.440
boost your rock star lifestyle, and that you'll really open
668
00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:04.960
your eyes and be a decent person. I have every
669
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:08.079
belief that you, indeed could be a really great guy,
670
00:36:08.480 --> 00:36:11.840
even after all the crap you put on me, sorry all,
671
00:36:12.320 --> 00:36:14.079
even after all the crap you put me and so
672
00:36:14.159 --> 00:36:18.000
many others who have worked for you through. Wow, this
673
00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:23.440
and that was like ten percent of this letter, damn. Yeah. Yeah,
674
00:36:23.480 --> 00:36:25.840
we can drop that in in chat or in the
675
00:36:25.840 --> 00:36:28.760
show notes as well. But the hardcore gaming one on
676
00:36:28.760 --> 00:36:31.800
one has a lot of like firsthand experiences with with
677
00:36:31.880 --> 00:36:34.559
Halverson and how hard and difficulty was to.
678
00:36:36.039 --> 00:36:38.760
Work with. Yeah. No, I think that pretty much nails it,
679
00:36:39.480 --> 00:36:41.960
based on when you, like, as I was just saying,
680
00:36:42.159 --> 00:36:44.719
I've worked with some fly by Night people you know,
681
00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:49.159
in meat space, in business online, et cetera, and sometimes
682
00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:53.599
there's a hey, I'm the swashbuckling guy. Who's the guy,
683
00:36:53.840 --> 00:36:56.199
and this is me and I am this business and
684
00:36:56.280 --> 00:36:59.760
da da da, and yeah, like, sometimes people get pushed
685
00:36:59.800 --> 00:37:04.280
to thee and sometimes the contributions are assumed rather than recognized.
686
00:37:05.480 --> 00:37:08.559
Just for Clarity's sake, Sorry, should Oh she is Molly L. Patterson,
687
00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:10.360
Molly Patterson who we've had on the show as well.
688
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:12.679
So we have that, you know, like strong connection. This
689
00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:15.559
is somebody that you know, I have immense respect for
690
00:37:15.760 --> 00:37:20.280
as well writing about her experiences with Dave. So in
691
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:23.719
any case, what's the deal with Dave Howerson? That's an
692
00:37:23.840 --> 00:37:27.320
entire bonus episode of fun Factor. I think maybe where
693
00:37:27.320 --> 00:37:30.280
we dig into some more of you know, people's actual
694
00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:33.800
experiences and you know, maybe did Dave change who knows?
695
00:37:33.960 --> 00:37:36.760
But what did lead to his sort of exodus as
696
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:39.719
a leader of Game Fan. I don't know the answer to.
697
00:37:39.639 --> 00:37:43.519
That, all right. One thing that I know, it is
698
00:37:43.639 --> 00:37:55.079
way pastime for the flip through. I actually have jumped
699
00:37:55.119 --> 00:38:00.360
ahead already for your benefit. Page sixteen and seventeen, Actually,
700
00:38:00.400 --> 00:38:05.000
I believe a couple more pages. We have an interview
701
00:38:05.360 --> 00:38:08.960
with Bruce Campbell. Okay, that Bruce Campbell.
702
00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:09.920
That's pretty cool.
703
00:38:10.599 --> 00:38:14.960
Yeah. So this month Activision invited game Fan down to
704
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:18.360
their new headquarters to shoot the Breeze with actor and
705
00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:22.440
call icon Bruce Campbell, star the Evil Dead trilogy. Because
706
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:26.239
he was the voice for Pitfall Harry in their three
707
00:38:26.320 --> 00:38:31.000
D remake of Pitfall or three D whatever, their new
708
00:38:31.000 --> 00:38:34.960
Pitfall game, Pitfall three D. And I tried to clip
709
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:38.519
out a piece of this for you, but I like
710
00:38:38.719 --> 00:38:41.079
every single thing I wanted to clip because there's so
711
00:38:41.199 --> 00:38:43.880
much good Bruce Campbell stuff. Right, there's a.
712
00:38:43.800 --> 00:38:46.840
Fabulous pull quote right in here in the middle of
713
00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:49.480
the first page, and it's just quote. I never watch
714
00:38:49.559 --> 00:38:52.199
horror movies, you know, I think most of them are
715
00:38:52.239 --> 00:38:57.559
really stupid. Yeah, which is also like inherent not that
716
00:38:57.679 --> 00:39:01.000
all horror movies are stupid, but like there is absolutely
717
00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:04.480
like sort of that style of horror movie that incorporates
718
00:39:04.480 --> 00:39:09.159
absurdity as part of its whole stick, which I think
719
00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:11.239
maybe he's under selling. But I'm also not a big
720
00:39:11.320 --> 00:39:13.719
horror movie fan. I wouldn't call him stupid though, but
721
00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:15.880
I'm not Bruce Campbell, so who knows.
722
00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:20.599
Yeah, yeah, No, Bruce Campbell is very funny. Unfortunately, he
723
00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:22.880
came to do a talk when I was in college,
724
00:39:23.159 --> 00:39:26.840
and I showed up, but so many people showed up
725
00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:30.719
so far ahead of time that we were like eighty
726
00:39:30.800 --> 00:39:34.000
people short of even making the door, Like they packed
727
00:39:34.000 --> 00:39:36.719
the whole hall of seats, and then they packed it
728
00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:39.920
standing room only, and then we were still like eighty
729
00:39:39.960 --> 00:39:44.440
people from actually getting in the building. Yeah, but I
730
00:39:44.480 --> 00:39:47.159
did hear from someone who did make it in that
731
00:39:46.960 --> 00:39:49.480
that the poll quote was kind of someone was like, hey,
732
00:39:50.320 --> 00:39:52.960
have you well it's not even a pull quote really,
733
00:39:53.039 --> 00:39:55.320
but the memorable moment was someone was like, hey, you've
734
00:39:55.320 --> 00:39:58.280
been like a lead in all these like small movies.
735
00:39:58.320 --> 00:40:05.719
Have you ever tried being like in big movies. Scample
736
00:40:05.880 --> 00:40:11.719
just like yeah, of course, Like what are you No,
737
00:40:11.960 --> 00:40:15.400
I just like really love being in shitty little movies.
738
00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:19.519
He's like, uh like what Yeah, he's just post Harry Potter,
739
00:40:19.639 --> 00:40:25.960
Daniel Radcliffe who just does like the weirdest, funniest, strangest movies.
740
00:40:26.039 --> 00:40:28.159
He yeah he can find because.
741
00:40:28.000 --> 00:40:30.840
Yeah he just does that without the like tens of millions,
742
00:40:30.840 --> 00:40:37.199
without the thirty million, exactly exactly. And this is and
743
00:40:37.239 --> 00:40:40.119
as you see here, they put every little bit they
744
00:40:40.159 --> 00:40:42.639
got from Bruce Campbell into this interview, which of course
745
00:40:42.679 --> 00:40:44.920
you would. They put it all on the text classic
746
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:48.199
game fan style. This is this is tiny text, man.
747
00:40:48.480 --> 00:40:50.599
They put the whole thing in there. This is a
748
00:40:50.639 --> 00:40:51.880
big meati interview. Yeah.
749
00:40:51.920 --> 00:40:55.800
This isn't like editorialize. It's like they've got it all
750
00:40:55.840 --> 00:40:59.519
in there. Speaking of cuts, right, yeah, yeah, like if
751
00:40:59.519 --> 00:41:02.119
you saw this on a website right now, it'll be
752
00:41:02.159 --> 00:41:07.159
like an eight hundred word mini interview, right. Yes, yes,
753
00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:11.440
we're like half of its editorialized, which I like. I
754
00:41:11.519 --> 00:41:14.320
write those. It's like, I'm not it's not a dig
755
00:41:14.360 --> 00:41:17.519
on anybody. But times have changed, Yeah they have.
756
00:41:17.679 --> 00:41:19.960
Yeah, they have. I'm gonna zip ahead a little bit
757
00:41:20.280 --> 00:41:23.320
to the viewpoint their reviews section, and again a classic
758
00:41:23.360 --> 00:41:28.119
game fan style, we have capsule reviews here, three quick rundowns,
759
00:41:29.039 --> 00:41:35.280
basically a big paragraph from three different reviewers, plus five
760
00:41:35.719 --> 00:41:40.039
mini scores added up to a total score. And you know,
761
00:41:40.119 --> 00:41:42.639
there's some there's some really interesting ones here. And as
762
00:41:42.679 --> 00:41:45.400
we've noted before, game fan is using the whole scale
763
00:41:45.400 --> 00:41:47.960
in a way that most reviewers then and now did
764
00:41:48.039 --> 00:41:51.960
not write. You know, so you can see here, just
765
00:41:52.039 --> 00:41:54.280
in this one page, we've got five games. Got Armored
766
00:41:54.320 --> 00:41:58.960
Corps gets ninety two, eighty nine, ninety two, bug Riders
767
00:41:59.000 --> 00:42:04.119
gets forty two, two, fifty five, fifty two. Right, But
768
00:42:04.239 --> 00:42:09.400
then here a critical depth for PlayStation I don't even
769
00:42:09.440 --> 00:42:15.480
remember this one. It's seventy eighty eight and seventy three,
770
00:42:15.800 --> 00:42:18.519
which feels like a big spread for three different reviewers
771
00:42:18.559 --> 00:42:20.079
from the same magazine that was like.
772
00:42:20.079 --> 00:42:24.679
A submarine game. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
773
00:42:23.639 --> 00:42:25.800
And so you'll see here here you know, for me,
774
00:42:25.960 --> 00:42:29.559
a sixty five and a seventy seven are like two
775
00:42:29.599 --> 00:42:32.199
completely different classes a game. But Fighting Force gets a
776
00:42:32.239 --> 00:42:38.119
sixty five seventy seventy seven and oh snuck in the
777
00:42:38.119 --> 00:42:40.480
middle here one.
778
00:42:40.960 --> 00:42:42.360
Yeah, game of the month, and.
779
00:42:42.320 --> 00:42:44.719
It's the game of the month, and it's got the
780
00:42:44.760 --> 00:42:48.480
same treatment as everybody else. Ninety six, ninety eight, ninety seven.
781
00:42:48.880 --> 00:42:50.800
I'm gonna need like somebody to walk me through the
782
00:42:50.800 --> 00:42:53.039
differences between a ninety six and ninety seven and a
783
00:42:53.119 --> 00:42:55.199
ninety eight. Yeah, hundred point.
784
00:42:55.039 --> 00:42:59.519
Scale is wild spawn, which this game was panned hard,
785
00:42:59.679 --> 00:43:03.679
yes by everybody. But he got a seventy eight, a
786
00:43:03.880 --> 00:43:08.320
sixty and a seventy nine, which is like, okay, the
787
00:43:08.360 --> 00:43:10.639
sixty is more in line with what I remember.
788
00:43:11.639 --> 00:43:14.719
Sixty seems high from my memory of the reception to
789
00:43:14.760 --> 00:43:17.519
that game, I have, yeah it but yeah, and.
790
00:43:17.480 --> 00:43:19.519
Of course, and then just flip the page. Tomb Raider two.
791
00:43:19.519 --> 00:43:22.599
Here we are, here, we are. We're like fifteen reviews
792
00:43:22.599 --> 00:43:26.360
into this sixteenth review is tomb Raider two ninety eight,
793
00:43:26.480 --> 00:43:30.920
ninety four, ninety six thrown in there with Automobile Lamborghini
794
00:43:31.800 --> 00:43:34.440
San Francisco Rush, which actually has a big feature later
795
00:43:34.480 --> 00:43:38.159
in the episode episode Issue Aiden. I swear to God
796
00:43:38.280 --> 00:43:42.880
this podcast. I'm alreadycalling issues episodes and episodes issues till
797
00:43:42.920 --> 00:43:43.559
I die.
798
00:43:43.760 --> 00:43:46.719
I get you, oh Lord.
799
00:43:48.239 --> 00:43:50.719
And the one I really wanted to point out here
800
00:43:51.400 --> 00:43:56.000
is Quake for Saturn. We have three paragraphs here ninety two,
801
00:43:56.719 --> 00:44:02.800
ninety ninety three, and we're going through review the actual
802
00:44:03.400 --> 00:44:07.719
two page spread editorial review that will be later in
803
00:44:07.760 --> 00:44:11.320
the magazine. But hey, why not give three different reviewers
804
00:44:11.679 --> 00:44:15.360
three different bites at the Apple. I find this so appealing,
805
00:44:15.639 --> 00:44:16.880
the like mixture.
806
00:44:16.519 --> 00:44:19.880
Of like full length like feature review and yps reviews.
807
00:44:19.880 --> 00:44:22.480
I love it too. Yeah, I think it's great. Yes, yeah,
808
00:44:22.519 --> 00:44:25.920
I mean taps or reviews and like feature reviews serve
809
00:44:26.079 --> 00:44:29.480
totally different purposes, and so I like the fact that
810
00:44:29.519 --> 00:44:31.440
we get both of them. I think caps or reviews
811
00:44:31.480 --> 00:44:33.800
are great as little buyers guides tell people what the
812
00:44:33.840 --> 00:44:35.800
game is if they are going to like it, you know,
813
00:44:35.920 --> 00:44:38.079
like should they spend their money on it? And I
814
00:44:38.119 --> 00:44:40.199
find that feature reviews are better at being like, hey,
815
00:44:40.199 --> 00:44:42.280
what is this game, what's interesting about it? Where did
816
00:44:42.320 --> 00:44:45.360
it maybe fail against its ambitions? And so like you
817
00:44:45.519 --> 00:44:47.840
usually wouldn't get both, and so I like the fact
818
00:44:47.880 --> 00:44:50.039
that they give both, even for like the big games,
819
00:44:50.079 --> 00:44:52.519
instead of just giving the big games feature reviews and
820
00:44:52.559 --> 00:44:55.679
caps or reviews for sort of the smaller releases. Everything
821
00:44:56.039 --> 00:44:58.800
gets at least caps or reviews, and then you know,
822
00:44:58.840 --> 00:45:00.000
feature reviews for the big one.
823
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:03.679
Yeah, and Craig Stewart and check goes. Look at those
824
00:45:03.679 --> 00:45:07.400
spont sizes. I've tried to blow this up big enough
825
00:45:07.440 --> 00:45:09.320
that you can read on street, but it really doesn't
826
00:45:09.360 --> 00:45:13.039
look like you can. So for just the quake, this
827
00:45:13.159 --> 00:45:15.000
is okay, here we go, I'll read. I believe this
828
00:45:15.039 --> 00:45:19.440
is Halverson's review. I could spend this viewpoint telling you
829
00:45:19.480 --> 00:45:23.079
all about the extra lighting effects, startlingly precise control, and
830
00:45:23.199 --> 00:45:26.079
all around marvel that lobotomy created. I could chat about
831
00:45:26.079 --> 00:45:29.400
the scary musical score that outperforms any N sixty four
832
00:45:29.480 --> 00:45:33.039
ham and organ warblings out there. I could banter out which,
833
00:45:33.079 --> 00:45:35.519
by the way, my grandpa taking strays. He was a
834
00:45:35.599 --> 00:45:38.000
jazz and poco organist and had a ham and organ
835
00:45:38.079 --> 00:45:39.920
that I used to poke around with as a kid.
836
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:43.159
Damn ooof. I could banter on about the hidden comic
837
00:45:43.440 --> 00:45:46.360
Mondo cool Daddy you the four lobotomy levels and the
838
00:45:46.360 --> 00:45:48.639
fact this is all running on a machine which most
839
00:45:48.679 --> 00:45:51.079
folk imagine can only handle two D. But I won't.
840
00:45:51.280 --> 00:45:54.280
I'll offer a quick two thumbs way up for the
841
00:45:54.360 --> 00:45:57.519
maniacal marines up at Lobotomi HQ, and then quickly rant
842
00:45:57.599 --> 00:46:00.519
about the ineptitude of Sega of America had not allowed
843
00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:05.760
that link compatibility. Hello Hambleton to soa engage brain please,
844
00:46:06.519 --> 00:46:08.880
of course you don't want to make the best multiplayer
845
00:46:08.920 --> 00:46:12.880
game on the planet NetLink compatible? Yes, good move. I
846
00:46:13.079 --> 00:46:16.440
like it, and the Bottomy already had the NetLink version
847
00:46:16.519 --> 00:46:20.360
up and running, but you still canceled Bravo bracket sobs
848
00:46:20.440 --> 00:46:23.760
bracket ninety three. And again I want to underscore. This
849
00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:28.800
is one of three capsule reviews for Quake on a
850
00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:35.920
page that contained three capsule reviews each for five different sorry,
851
00:46:36.000 --> 00:46:40.239
six different games, six different games. Right, So that means
852
00:46:40.239 --> 00:46:45.719
there's eighteen capsule reviews on this one page. And that
853
00:46:45.880 --> 00:46:47.559
was that covered a lot of ground.
854
00:46:48.880 --> 00:46:52.559
It's pretty impressive. I mean it is dense, it is
855
00:46:52.639 --> 00:46:55.400
not readable, but there's a lot there. And I mean
856
00:46:55.480 --> 00:46:58.960
like that review just read out too like fits in
857
00:46:59.039 --> 00:47:01.880
a lot of voice also, which can be challenging in
858
00:47:01.920 --> 00:47:04.599
a small space like that. But you know, some of
859
00:47:04.599 --> 00:47:08.199
these cops reviews are probably like, I don't know, two
860
00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:11.039
hundred words, you know, one hundred and fifty words, like they're.
861
00:47:11.079 --> 00:47:15.599
Yeah, yeah, there are full page reviews that only get
862
00:47:15.599 --> 00:47:17.920
two three hundred reviews in most magazines, right because they
863
00:47:17.960 --> 00:47:21.440
have screenshots and you know, non font size is bigger
864
00:47:21.480 --> 00:47:25.679
than four or six points. Oh my lord. Yeah, Greg
865
00:47:25.719 --> 00:47:28.280
immediately says small spaces get less challenging when you reduce
866
00:47:28.320 --> 00:47:30.320
the font size to add fifty more words, for sure,
867
00:47:30.760 --> 00:47:33.519
and like this doesn't change. They've got a big old
868
00:47:33.639 --> 00:47:36.880
Duke Nukem special. I'll just I'm just gonna flip through.
869
00:47:36.880 --> 00:47:39.840
But again, this is a super dense strategy guide. Every
870
00:47:39.880 --> 00:47:43.039
item in the game, every weapon in the game, all
871
00:47:43.119 --> 00:47:46.079
this stuff absolutely dense. And Molly talked about this in
872
00:47:46.079 --> 00:47:49.719
the bonus episode right where you go. Look, I'm so
873
00:47:49.840 --> 00:47:53.239
passionate about this. I want to get all of the
874
00:47:53.280 --> 00:47:57.039
information to these people, right, Like, here are the readers.
875
00:47:57.079 --> 00:47:59.480
They want the information. They're buying the magazine to get
876
00:47:59.480 --> 00:48:01.920
this information. I am going to give it to them.
877
00:48:02.599 --> 00:48:06.639
Does it is it readable? Maybe not? Is it attractive?
878
00:48:06.719 --> 00:48:09.519
Absolutely not? But like I'm gonna get it in.
879
00:48:09.480 --> 00:48:11.840
There, and it just speaks to the passion that I
880
00:48:11.840 --> 00:48:14.440
guess like that, I mean, maybe that's why I'm doing
881
00:48:14.440 --> 00:48:18.679
a podcast with you thirty years later. But like that
882
00:48:18.880 --> 00:48:22.840
was an upsell for me, Like I was not daunted
883
00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:27.199
by small text and bloated features, you know, like I
884
00:48:27.280 --> 00:48:29.760
love that. Give me everything, give me every word of
885
00:48:29.800 --> 00:48:33.599
that interview, like uh, and you know, when we talk
886
00:48:33.639 --> 00:48:36.800
about how we've been influenced by our time with these magazines,
887
00:48:36.840 --> 00:48:38.639
like that probably is a big part of the why.
888
00:48:39.320 --> 00:48:42.360
You know, writing online for my own blog was appealing
889
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:46.840
because I did that big, expansive writing where everything just
890
00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:49.280
sort of spilled out because I didn't have that editor
891
00:48:49.320 --> 00:48:52.400
telling me, you know, like fitted into this box. As
892
00:48:52.440 --> 00:48:55.039
I've been writing for magazines for like retro Gamer, it's
893
00:48:55.039 --> 00:48:58.199
been like a nice challenge being told, hey, you need
894
00:48:58.239 --> 00:49:00.199
to write this sidebar and it can only be one
895
00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:02.920
hundred and fifty words, you know, And I'm like, oh,
896
00:49:03.119 --> 00:49:05.000
oh yeah, this is like, you know, now I got
897
00:49:05.039 --> 00:49:09.119
to write like a tweet instead of like you know,
898
00:49:09.239 --> 00:49:12.400
four paragraphs or whatever. But okay, I don't know, like
899
00:49:14.559 --> 00:49:17.440
you say, like people say, like you know, editors now
900
00:49:17.480 --> 00:49:19.239
are like oh, you gotta do this, you gotta do that,
901
00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:21.360
But like, I don't know this. This stuff breaks so
902
00:49:21.480 --> 00:49:23.840
many of the rules that I've learned over the years,
903
00:49:23.880 --> 00:49:25.000
but I love it.
904
00:49:25.039 --> 00:49:28.320
Too, and I wanted to flip through. We had a
905
00:49:28.360 --> 00:49:31.920
couple of ads that I found interesting right between that
906
00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:35.000
and this that I had highlighted already and not get
907
00:49:35.039 --> 00:49:38.159
ready for the most anticipated special move in fighting game history,
908
00:49:39.199 --> 00:49:43.639
street Fighter in three D street Fighter ex Plus Alpha.
909
00:49:44.639 --> 00:49:53.039
So it's street Fighter in three D. Yeah, yeah.
910
00:49:53.159 --> 00:49:55.079
I was never a fighting game like. I would play
911
00:49:55.079 --> 00:49:57.559
Street Fighter Too with my friends a lot, but I
912
00:49:57.599 --> 00:49:59.880
was never very good at them, and so I always
913
00:50:00.599 --> 00:50:03.119
when this was announced it started being shown off through
914
00:50:03.159 --> 00:50:06.239
as like this, I was like, Okay, street Fighter Ex
915
00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:08.239
Plus Alpha is gonna be my game. I'm gonna buy
916
00:50:08.239 --> 00:50:09.719
it and I'm gonna become good.
917
00:50:09.920 --> 00:50:12.519
Oh as street Fighter ex Plus Alpha.
918
00:50:13.039 --> 00:50:16.360
I did not buy it or become good at it,
919
00:50:16.400 --> 00:50:18.599
but I was like determined that this was gonna be
920
00:50:18.639 --> 00:50:21.760
the game that I was like good at. But turns
921
00:50:21.760 --> 00:50:25.719
out I'm just not. Wow, I'm just not a a
922
00:50:25.719 --> 00:50:29.079
fighting game guy. My brain doesn't work that way. Yeah.
923
00:50:29.320 --> 00:50:33.119
No, And of all the ones, I you know your
924
00:50:33.199 --> 00:50:36.480
your hobby horse of like, hey, that's a great fighter
925
00:50:36.519 --> 00:50:39.599
too incredible in two D. You know, why do we
926
00:50:39.679 --> 00:50:41.840
need to make it in three D? Yeah, where it
927
00:50:41.880 --> 00:50:47.280
looks objectively much worse. Yeah, But also we have this
928
00:50:47.360 --> 00:50:48.760
thing here and aiden.
929
00:50:48.639 --> 00:50:51.519
This is a beautiful preview, this beautiful preview.
930
00:50:52.079 --> 00:50:54.280
I'm I'm gonna and I've said it before, I've said
931
00:50:54.280 --> 00:50:56.639
it online. We've talked about this Quest sixty four, which
932
00:50:56.639 --> 00:50:59.280
there's a great Blue Sky account that makes Quest sixty
933
00:50:59.320 --> 00:51:00.159
four literally.
934
00:51:00.119 --> 00:51:01.280
My favorite Blue Sky out.
935
00:51:01.440 --> 00:51:06.199
Yeah, it's incredible, it's great, but it's got so this
936
00:51:06.360 --> 00:51:10.719
thing here P for preview. Here's why I didn't go
937
00:51:10.800 --> 00:51:13.559
and count all of the reviews, because they're all put
938
00:51:13.599 --> 00:51:17.000
together and they all look pretty similar. Some are marked
939
00:51:17.039 --> 00:51:20.039
P for preview, some are marked ORE for review. And
940
00:51:20.079 --> 00:51:24.079
then also there's the secret third thing. Right, So Quest
941
00:51:24.559 --> 00:51:28.440
sixty four, this was the cover story Quest sixty four,
942
00:51:29.119 --> 00:51:32.760
and we are back here. There's so much could ninety
943
00:51:32.760 --> 00:51:37.360
eight's hottest action RPG have thhq's name on it, sum
944
00:51:37.480 --> 00:51:44.840
and magic Spectacular creatures, Like there's no doubt that like
945
00:51:44.960 --> 00:51:48.400
some of this stuff was like way up there in
946
00:51:48.519 --> 00:51:50.320
terms of what the N sixty four could do at
947
00:51:50.320 --> 00:51:53.400
the time. But there's also a lot of stuff that
948
00:51:54.599 --> 00:51:57.519
I'm sorry, our hero here, our Quest sixty four boy,
949
00:51:58.320 --> 00:52:01.639
is extremely, extremely torky.
950
00:52:02.679 --> 00:52:03.280
Uh.
951
00:52:03.840 --> 00:52:06.079
Some of this stuff is brilliant, some of this stuff
952
00:52:06.119 --> 00:52:08.679
is terrible, Some of it is great, some of it
953
00:52:08.760 --> 00:52:14.920
is laughable. Some of it is totally anonymous Zelda like,
954
00:52:15.679 --> 00:52:18.400
others of it is like, wow, they were they were
955
00:52:18.599 --> 00:52:22.880
really on one with this. I'm stunning polygon and virons
956
00:52:22.920 --> 00:52:26.360
to gasp at, and I'm like, I I struggle to
957
00:52:26.400 --> 00:52:29.880
believe that the game fan folks even were gasping at
958
00:52:29.920 --> 00:52:32.400
these polygon and virons in nineteen ninety seven.
959
00:52:35.599 --> 00:52:42.480
No, except that people liked three D graphics or some
960
00:52:42.719 --> 00:52:47.280
huh uh. Quest sixty four is not a game I
961
00:52:47.480 --> 00:52:50.119
like in Quest sixty four to Pokemon Scarlet and Violet.
962
00:52:50.599 --> 00:52:53.239
I think like, if you had released Pokemon Scarlet and
963
00:52:53.320 --> 00:52:57.400
Violet and then sixty four and it looked like it
964
00:52:57.440 --> 00:53:00.199
does now, people would be impressed. So I think Quest
965
00:53:00.559 --> 00:53:03.119
was probably impressive back then, not a game I played
966
00:53:03.119 --> 00:53:05.360
at the time. For reasons that are probably obvious to
967
00:53:05.440 --> 00:53:08.599
most people who listen to this podcast, it is one
968
00:53:08.639 --> 00:53:12.400
that I keep wanting to go back to, though, probably
969
00:53:12.440 --> 00:53:15.320
because I love the Quest sixty four official like Blue
970
00:53:15.360 --> 00:53:16.400
Sky account.
971
00:53:16.239 --> 00:53:17.880
Like Daily Quest sixty four like.
972
00:53:19.800 --> 00:53:22.679
Posts are incredible, but it is also one that I'm
973
00:53:22.840 --> 00:53:25.960
so curious about. One of the interesting things is that
974
00:53:26.480 --> 00:53:33.280
it went on to get a European version, the Japanese version,
975
00:53:33.920 --> 00:53:36.480
which had a lot of changes and improvements, and apparently
976
00:53:36.519 --> 00:53:39.440
the Japanese version is is much better than the American version,
977
00:53:40.119 --> 00:53:42.199
you know, consistently what it is.
978
00:53:42.400 --> 00:53:43.639
But interesting.
979
00:53:43.800 --> 00:53:47.480
But yeah, I mean, like in a post final Fantasy
980
00:53:47.519 --> 00:53:51.960
VII world, I think qu s sixty four was like hard.
981
00:53:53.800 --> 00:53:57.320
It was a hard follow up, right yeah, like Founts
982
00:53:57.519 --> 00:54:02.119
seven where RPG's were going. I don't it was fine
983
00:54:02.159 --> 00:54:03.719
for what it was, right, Like if it was a
984
00:54:03.760 --> 00:54:07.400
reimagining of like, you know, action RPGs on Supernintendo and
985
00:54:09.039 --> 00:54:16.840
Farantac seven like completely rearranged the RPG's ecosystem, you know,
986
00:54:16.880 --> 00:54:19.239
maybe it would have been more fun. But I I.
987
00:54:19.960 --> 00:54:21.360
Just look at this because this is the most n
988
00:54:21.440 --> 00:54:23.920
sixty fourth thing of all time, right because Nintendo ended
989
00:54:24.000 --> 00:54:28.039
up rebalancing the hardware for texture maps, soursus polygons, and
990
00:54:28.079 --> 00:54:30.880
so we get these rose bushes that are clearly just
991
00:54:31.760 --> 00:54:37.920
hexagonal bumpers that then have rose rose garden. Yeah, textures
992
00:54:37.960 --> 00:54:41.800
on them, and this just looks like hedges have the measles.
993
00:54:41.920 --> 00:54:43.159
This is this is terrible.
994
00:54:43.519 --> 00:54:45.880
Yeah, okay, obviously that looks bad and I can't believe
995
00:54:45.920 --> 00:54:48.760
I'm defending like bad three D graphics. But keeping in
996
00:54:48.760 --> 00:54:51.199
mind these also look at this point like there may
997
00:54:51.239 --> 00:54:55.639
be direct feed screenshots versus like photographs off CRTs, And
998
00:54:55.679 --> 00:54:59.360
I do think effects like that did benefit from being
999
00:54:59.400 --> 00:55:02.840
played on con humor CRTs with like low TVL like
1000
00:55:02.920 --> 00:55:03.639
line counts.
1001
00:55:03.760 --> 00:55:06.000
Sure that helped blurrow a lot of that together.
1002
00:55:06.239 --> 00:55:10.960
And obviously the Nintendo sixty four was blurry period, but
1003
00:55:11.599 --> 00:55:15.599
you know, a system appropriate or like era appropriate hardware
1004
00:55:15.639 --> 00:55:16.159
helped a lot.
1005
00:55:16.840 --> 00:55:18.760
Yeah, and also.
1006
00:55:18.559 --> 00:55:21.639
What is happening? Why what have you done to me?
1007
00:55:21.719 --> 00:55:23.239
Why am I defending Quest sixty four?
1008
00:55:23.320 --> 00:55:24.719
I don't know, I don't know. And I did this
1009
00:55:25.039 --> 00:55:28.639
because this enemy design is cool, right, Like these these
1010
00:55:28.719 --> 00:55:30.599
roses that have come and attack you, and like that,
1011
00:55:30.679 --> 00:55:32.639
look that looks cool. You've got shines on the eyes
1012
00:55:32.679 --> 00:55:35.679
and stuff. You know that's cool. But again, here's our protagonist,
1013
00:55:35.800 --> 00:55:39.760
who you know, if anything is name protagonist Brian?
1014
00:55:39.880 --> 00:55:43.800
I think yeah, definitely, like a right, you know, recovers
1015
00:55:43.800 --> 00:55:45.199
some of his coolness, right.
1016
00:55:45.519 --> 00:55:47.960
Oh yeah, one hundred percent. Okay, well that was our
1017
00:55:48.000 --> 00:55:51.639
cover story and I just I don't know. And then
1018
00:55:51.679 --> 00:55:53.760
of course you turn it's like here's Resident Evil too,
1019
00:55:54.000 --> 00:55:56.960
and this whole thing is bathed in blood. But like
1020
00:55:57.760 --> 00:56:00.360
when you're seeing some of the stuff that play station
1021
00:56:00.480 --> 00:56:02.440
is pulling off at this time, and like, of course
1022
00:56:02.639 --> 00:56:05.960
a bunch of this is is assets and and graphics
1023
00:56:06.039 --> 00:56:09.679
laid on top of the actual screenshots, right, but like damn,
1024
00:56:09.840 --> 00:56:11.119
like PlayStation was.
1025
00:56:11.079 --> 00:56:14.039
Doing some unbelievable yeah, right here, please go back to
1026
00:56:14.079 --> 00:56:17.719
the first page of the Resident Evil to review, because like,
1027
00:56:17.800 --> 00:56:21.559
look at this text layout. It's amazing. It's like a
1028
00:56:21.599 --> 00:56:25.239
big T shape kind of cut out around a bunch
1029
00:56:25.239 --> 00:56:29.239
of screenshots, but it like reads right into the scene
1030
00:56:29.320 --> 00:56:31.920
the like the fold, so you're you're probably having to
1031
00:56:31.960 --> 00:56:34.559
like smash that flat just to be able to yes it.
1032
00:56:34.519 --> 00:56:37.159
And in real life you are probably not able to
1033
00:56:37.239 --> 00:56:42.559
read No. Two or three in either. Yeah.
1034
00:56:42.599 --> 00:56:45.559
But then it's also like the text on the left
1035
00:56:45.599 --> 00:56:48.639
page is right aligned against the like scene, and then
1036
00:56:48.679 --> 00:56:50.440
the text on the right page is left line, so
1037
00:56:50.480 --> 00:56:53.199
it's like it also looks like it reads straight across
1038
00:56:53.320 --> 00:56:53.800
is one.
1039
00:56:53.760 --> 00:56:58.239
Huge la does it does. That's so funny, but.
1040
00:56:58.280 --> 00:57:02.239
Yeah, incredible stuff. I man, I just I love this era.
1041
00:57:02.480 --> 00:57:04.559
And like when I say I love this era, like
1042
00:57:04.719 --> 00:57:08.519
genuinely I love this. I love how unique game fans
1043
00:57:08.639 --> 00:57:11.320
layouts were. I love how they tried new things even
1044
00:57:11.360 --> 00:57:14.320
when it didn't work, and that level of enthusiasm is
1045
00:57:14.360 --> 00:57:15.239
just so appealing to me.
1046
00:57:16.239 --> 00:57:19.760
Absolutely, there's a big Turm Rator two feature. Again, we're
1047
00:57:19.760 --> 00:57:22.159
talking about the sequels, right, We're now at this point
1048
00:57:22.159 --> 00:57:25.559
in the cycle. All the big twos to all the
1049
00:57:25.559 --> 00:57:29.079
big ones are coming out. They look great. Duke NUKEOM
1050
00:57:29.119 --> 00:57:33.360
three D. Also a preview Fighting Force is an r
1051
00:57:33.519 --> 00:57:38.159
A review commanding concrettlort a review. I wanted to quickly
1052
00:57:38.199 --> 00:57:41.360
get to a shoot. I forgot which page where we
1053
00:57:41.519 --> 00:57:47.000
have a special third thing Final Fantasy Tactics preview. Again,
1054
00:57:47.599 --> 00:57:51.159
this this is amazing. There's a big, big swing. Unfortunately
1055
00:57:51.199 --> 00:57:53.960
it's a P not an R, or we would be
1056
00:57:54.039 --> 00:57:59.480
reviewing the review insane Medio spell like yo, the whole
1057
00:57:59.519 --> 00:58:02.320
map like's on fire. And again we have the passion
1058
00:58:02.320 --> 00:58:05.280
of the people who know what this series means, what
1059
00:58:05.360 --> 00:58:08.000
this could mean. So much of the screw texted here.
1060
00:58:08.000 --> 00:58:12.599
It's great. We evenfree. We overlaid the graphic over the
1061
00:58:12.679 --> 00:58:17.679
little little score bug here really cool, very nice touch,
1062
00:58:17.920 --> 00:58:20.400
very nice, and that like the little poll quote is
1063
00:58:20.440 --> 00:58:24.199
better than Final Fantasy seven And the answer is yes, yes,
1064
00:58:24.440 --> 00:58:29.280
that's correct, the correct answer. We also have oh you
1065
00:58:30.000 --> 00:58:33.199
whoa a you for an update.
1066
00:58:33.840 --> 00:58:38.000
Okay, so this is Trap Dungeon. I don't like the
1067
00:58:38.079 --> 00:58:39.320
fourth episode. We've talked about it.
1068
00:58:39.480 --> 00:58:41.119
I know it's literally the fourth episode of a row.
1069
00:58:41.159 --> 00:58:43.239
We're talking about death Trap Dungeon because this is an
1070
00:58:43.480 --> 00:58:50.360
a you an update, which is a repreview basically, I think,
1071
00:58:50.840 --> 00:58:54.119
and this is great. I usually approach an update with
1072
00:58:54.159 --> 00:58:57.360
two goals in mind, discuss recent changes of improvements to
1073
00:58:57.400 --> 00:59:01.559
the gameplay, and explore possible future edition. Naturally, we also
1074
00:59:01.679 --> 00:59:03.800
strive to bring you the best shots of the latest
1075
00:59:03.800 --> 00:59:08.159
Eye Candy. No we have like an ogre or Gnome
1076
00:59:08.440 --> 00:59:11.239
flashing has butt at us. Thank you for the best
1077
00:59:11.239 --> 00:59:14.400
shots an Eye Candy game fan. But these theories in mind,
1078
00:59:14.400 --> 00:59:16.679
I present to you IDOS is death Trap Dungeon a
1079
00:59:16.719 --> 00:59:20.280
game in desperate need of help. I've tried my best
1080
00:59:20.320 --> 00:59:23.800
to find solid, enjoyable gameplay in this latest version, and
1081
00:59:23.840 --> 00:59:26.280
I've failed. And the cool shots you see on this
1082
00:59:26.400 --> 00:59:30.280
page a miracle. I pray that IDAs has some kind
1083
00:59:30.320 --> 00:59:34.599
of emergency plan for DD, because it's scheduled December release
1084
00:59:34.639 --> 00:59:38.079
seems impossible at this point. So this is going out
1085
00:59:38.079 --> 00:59:39.679
in the NOE. I'm sorry, this is going out in
1086
00:59:39.679 --> 00:59:44.119
the December nineteen ninety seven issue of this magazine as
1087
00:59:44.119 --> 00:59:47.519
an update, not a review, which you would think it
1088
00:59:47.519 --> 00:59:49.280
would be. This would be your review copy so that
1089
00:59:49.320 --> 00:59:51.800
it can go in the December issue for a game
1090
00:59:51.800 --> 00:59:58.960
with a December release, right you would think so, And instead,
1091
00:59:59.440 --> 01:00:02.639
like they said, this is an early Like what bill
1092
01:00:02.760 --> 01:00:08.039
did they send? I were game magazines regularly getting, hey,
1093
01:00:08.360 --> 01:00:13.239
here's a playable pre release build to write a preview
1094
01:00:13.320 --> 01:00:15.360
about before they get a review.
1095
01:00:15.679 --> 01:00:18.119
Well, but on the disk based systems came around, they
1096
01:00:18.159 --> 01:00:20.079
were probably getting like pre release builds.
1097
01:00:20.400 --> 01:00:26.239
Yeah okay, okay, I mean you know what this reads as.
1098
01:00:26.480 --> 01:00:28.880
This reads as like, hey, our next cover is Death
1099
01:00:28.960 --> 01:00:35.440
Draped Dungeon. Yeah yeah, we're not gonna slam it in
1100
01:00:35.639 --> 01:00:38.119
an official review yet because we're hoping that maybe next
1101
01:00:38.159 --> 01:00:44.280
issue you'll be excited. Uh that's weird, like Rea, Like,
1102
01:00:45.679 --> 01:00:48.760
you know, follow up previews were normal for games, so
1103
01:00:48.880 --> 01:00:50.719
like to call this an update is kind of funny,
1104
01:00:51.199 --> 01:00:54.440
but but yeah, it kind of slots in between. It
1105
01:00:54.440 --> 01:00:56.599
reads almost like a review that doesn't want to, like,
1106
01:00:57.239 --> 01:00:59.679
you know, officially be acknowledged as a review.
1107
01:01:00.159 --> 01:01:03.679
Yeah, that's so. That was just interesting. There's one other
1108
01:01:03.719 --> 01:01:06.599
thing I wanted to look at. It was other stuff,
1109
01:01:06.719 --> 01:01:07.519
which is.
1110
01:01:10.039 --> 01:01:12.719
Before we get to page one, can we go to
1111
01:01:12.760 --> 01:01:17.519
page one? Is that sure review of It's yeah? Next
1112
01:01:17.519 --> 01:01:20.320
page over there it's the preview of Panzer Dragoon Saga,
1113
01:01:20.599 --> 01:01:26.679
which is cool. Two page Oh yeah, just beautiful screenshots,
1114
01:01:26.719 --> 01:01:30.639
Like it's lovely to see this game get such a
1115
01:01:30.800 --> 01:01:35.639
strong write up from a magazine like Game Fan famously.
1116
01:01:35.719 --> 01:01:38.320
Of course, pans Are Dragoon Saga got like, I think
1117
01:01:38.360 --> 01:01:43.599
twelve thousand copies printed in English in North America, so
1118
01:01:43.679 --> 01:01:46.639
it's very rare. It's very expensive. Now it's a really
1119
01:01:46.639 --> 01:01:49.760
really interesting game. I was, I finally played through ant
1120
01:01:49.840 --> 01:01:51.559
Well I'm not, I haven't actually even finished on him
1121
01:01:51.559 --> 01:01:55.559
hear the end, but been playing through it on my Saturdays, right,
1122
01:01:55.599 --> 01:01:58.719
I got all that set up and and it's really interesting.
1123
01:01:58.800 --> 01:02:02.639
It's like, it's not the type of RPG that typically
1124
01:02:02.760 --> 01:02:05.400
I am looking for, especially compared to other games at
1125
01:02:05.440 --> 01:02:08.239
that time. But what it does is so compelling and
1126
01:02:08.360 --> 01:02:12.000
unique and like it's an experience unlike anything that I've
1127
01:02:12.920 --> 01:02:15.400
you know, played before since And the merging of sort
1128
01:02:15.400 --> 01:02:21.360
of Panzer Dragons, you know, three D dragonflight mechanics with
1129
01:02:21.440 --> 01:02:24.760
more traditional RPG mechanics is really cool and I wish
1130
01:02:24.760 --> 01:02:27.000
more people had a chance to play it, and I
1131
01:02:27.039 --> 01:02:30.440
wish there had been you know, I wish it's publisher,
1132
01:02:31.360 --> 01:02:34.719
Sega had given it as much confidence as game Fan
1133
01:02:34.760 --> 01:02:37.400
here where they did a huge two page spread with
1134
01:02:37.519 --> 01:02:41.599
a lot of beautiful graphics, beautiful art, screenshots and stuff.
1135
01:02:42.000 --> 01:02:44.880
The screenshot now, this looks really well formatted, really well
1136
01:02:44.960 --> 01:02:47.199
laid out that I like it a lot. Also shout
1137
01:02:47.199 --> 01:02:50.679
out to our friends at Retrograde Amnesia, who did a
1138
01:02:50.800 --> 01:02:55.519
really good playthrough series for Pansy Dragoons Saga Excellent had
1139
01:02:55.519 --> 01:02:58.719
a lot of really cool insights into the development and everything,
1140
01:03:00.159 --> 01:03:03.360
and I love the I love the There's one little
1141
01:03:03.360 --> 01:03:06.079
bit they talk about at the beginning where you know,
1142
01:03:06.280 --> 01:03:11.199
our main our main character, like a dragon writer, is
1143
01:03:11.239 --> 01:03:13.280
like dying, and it's basically, oh, you've got to take
1144
01:03:13.320 --> 01:03:16.760
this to this place. My dragon knows the way, and
1145
01:03:16.840 --> 01:03:21.679
with like one line of dialogue sets up the whole idea. Oh,
1146
01:03:21.719 --> 01:03:24.239
here's why it's on rails. Right, here's why it's a
1147
01:03:24.320 --> 01:03:27.079
rail shoots because the dragon will fly you there. You know,
1148
01:03:27.519 --> 01:03:30.800
so super super super cool. But I wanted to get
1149
01:03:30.840 --> 01:03:37.280
to other stuff. This was actually a like growing section.
1150
01:03:37.400 --> 01:03:40.639
We've seen several other magazines attempt something like this, which
1151
01:03:40.719 --> 01:03:45.199
is like sort of a like rumor, Like we were
1152
01:03:45.280 --> 01:03:47.679
printing rumors, right. We did this with the Next Gen
1153
01:03:48.559 --> 01:03:51.000
issue where they talked about here are all of the
1154
01:03:51.199 --> 01:03:53.960
Ultra sixty four rumors all in one spot. And some
1155
01:03:54.039 --> 01:03:57.599
of them were very clearly like the publisher told us
1156
01:03:57.639 --> 01:03:59.920
this directly and told us we could print it as news,
1157
01:04:00.199 --> 01:04:02.559
and we're calling it a rumor, and some of it
1158
01:04:02.679 --> 01:04:05.760
was like we are making this up, and other stuff
1159
01:04:05.840 --> 01:04:08.880
was in between. So aiden, if you want to go
1160
01:04:08.960 --> 01:04:12.440
in the script here I cut out uh or I
1161
01:04:12.440 --> 01:04:15.400
thought I did? Hang on, okay, I copied it, I
1162
01:04:15.400 --> 01:04:17.920
thought I did. Can you see the Final Fantasy eight
1163
01:04:18.000 --> 01:04:20.960
finished done that as section? Okay? Great, and the blow
1164
01:04:20.960 --> 01:04:22.039
it up just a little bit bigger.
1165
01:04:22.719 --> 01:04:26.400
So kicking off this edition of other stuff is a
1166
01:04:27.079 --> 01:04:32.360
rumor called Final Fantasy eight finished done that is, and
1167
01:04:32.400 --> 01:04:36.320
it reads yes, according to reliable sources at Square Los Angeles,
1168
01:04:36.320 --> 01:04:38.880
the team responsible for Final Fantasy seven is in the
1169
01:04:38.920 --> 01:04:41.920
stages of putting the finishing touches on Final Fantasy eight
1170
01:04:42.239 --> 01:04:45.559
in Hawaii. Oddly enough, it appears that it has been
1171
01:04:45.599 --> 01:04:48.480
done for more than four months and is now undergoing
1172
01:04:48.519 --> 01:04:51.639
bug testing and translation of the text in the US version.
1173
01:04:51.960 --> 01:04:54.880
The only question now is when will the game be released?
1174
01:04:55.159 --> 01:04:57.920
My best guess would be summer nineteen ninety eight, and
1175
01:04:58.000 --> 01:05:00.639
expect Square to drop this bomb on Enix as a
1176
01:05:00.719 --> 01:05:04.880
unveiled dragon quest to a frothing public. Most importantly, it
1177
01:05:04.920 --> 01:05:07.880
would seem that Square is shooting for a simultaneous launch
1178
01:05:08.000 --> 01:05:10.960
in the US and Japan, though I'll believe that when
1179
01:05:10.960 --> 01:05:14.119
I see it last, but certainly not least. The same
1180
01:05:14.239 --> 01:05:18.239
sources also state that Final Fantasy nine is already undergoing
1181
01:05:18.440 --> 01:05:22.679
preliminary design, the big question, of course being for PlayStation
1182
01:05:23.199 --> 01:05:26.880
or PlayStation two. If I had a basket in some eggs,
1183
01:05:27.320 --> 01:05:30.719
they'd all be on PlayStation two. Wow.
1184
01:05:31.760 --> 01:05:36.719
Lots to unpack here, right, which, of course, of course,
1185
01:05:36.760 --> 01:05:39.639
Final Fantasy eight was well in development by the time
1186
01:05:39.679 --> 01:05:42.960
Final Fantasy seven was released, especially here in the US. Right,
1187
01:05:44.039 --> 01:05:46.400
it's been done for more than four months and is
1188
01:05:46.440 --> 01:05:49.679
now undergoing bug testing and translation for the US version.
1189
01:05:49.760 --> 01:05:53.519
Seems ludicrous to me in December nineteen ninety seven, and
1190
01:05:53.519 --> 01:05:55.239
of course, you know, I don't know exactly when the
1191
01:05:55.280 --> 01:05:58.440
deadline is. Probably would have been October November, right, and
1192
01:05:59.000 --> 01:06:02.239
uh uh, Andrew saysin Chat Yeh, Summer nineteen ninety eight
1193
01:06:02.320 --> 01:06:05.239
was extremely optimistic. Obviously they didn't hit summer in nineteen
1194
01:06:05.280 --> 01:06:08.239
ninety eight. But yeah, and then PS two, if I
1195
01:06:08.280 --> 01:06:11.719
had a basket and eggs, they'd I'll be on PS two. Right,
1196
01:06:11.800 --> 01:06:15.679
that the final Fantasy ninety PlayStation two exclusive. And it's
1197
01:06:15.719 --> 01:06:19.800
just like right wrong wrong wrong right wrong wrong wrong
1198
01:06:19.880 --> 01:06:21.000
rung Okay, but I'm.
1199
01:06:20.840 --> 01:06:22.880
Going to give them a mea culpa for the PlayStation
1200
01:06:22.920 --> 01:06:25.639
two thing because Phone nine, ten, and eleven were all
1201
01:06:25.639 --> 01:06:29.519
announced at the same time in development sort of simultaneously,
1202
01:06:29.960 --> 01:06:33.079
and so Square was probably working on fon Fantasy ten
1203
01:06:33.280 --> 01:06:37.719
in some fashion, at least working on, Hey, what's the
1204
01:06:37.719 --> 01:06:40.400
PlayStation two version of finn Lance you gonna look like?
1205
01:06:40.880 --> 01:06:43.320
And so, you know, like was fon Fancy nine on
1206
01:06:43.719 --> 01:06:47.119
PlayStation two? No, but Fooanzi two to ten came out
1207
01:06:47.199 --> 01:06:49.800
less than a year later on PlayStation two, and so
1208
01:06:49.920 --> 01:06:53.440
I do think that there is some waight to you
1209
01:06:53.519 --> 01:06:56.199
know what is essentially them just guessing right, Like, I
1210
01:06:56.199 --> 01:06:59.400
don't think they had any intel on this, but you
1211
01:06:59.440 --> 01:07:03.119
know nine would come out not long before a PlayStation
1212
01:07:03.159 --> 01:07:07.159
two Final Fantasy. Yeah, can you imagine? Oh man, I'm
1213
01:07:07.159 --> 01:07:09.920
playing Final Fancy nine right now, can be to do
1214
01:07:09.920 --> 01:07:11.280
a full play through for the first time in a
1215
01:07:11.280 --> 01:07:13.760
long time, and it's just such a wonderful game that
1216
01:07:13.920 --> 01:07:18.719
just like perfects everything that Square sort of discovered and
1217
01:07:18.760 --> 01:07:22.280
created during that PlayStation era. And I just recently beat
1218
01:07:22.320 --> 01:07:25.559
Fan ten and it undoes so much of what Final
1219
01:07:25.599 --> 01:07:28.639
Fancy nine, in my opinion, got right. And I'm so
1220
01:07:28.760 --> 01:07:32.880
glad I bought that Final Final Fantasy on PlayStation because
1221
01:07:32.880 --> 01:07:34.440
it's it's just so good.
1222
01:07:34.639 --> 01:07:37.519
I'm also actually finishing up a nine playthrough. I got
1223
01:07:37.800 --> 01:07:40.519
close to the endgame a few weeks ago, and I've
1224
01:07:40.519 --> 01:07:43.320
been doing it with my eldest. And because I've been
1225
01:07:43.320 --> 01:07:46.559
doing it with my eldest and not myself just by myself,
1226
01:07:46.639 --> 01:07:49.440
I'll skip this. I don't need to like, you know,
1227
01:07:49.599 --> 01:07:51.960
grind too much here. I don't need to like play
1228
01:07:52.000 --> 01:07:54.079
too much. I've played more of the card game than
1229
01:07:54.079 --> 01:07:56.679
I probably should have for someone who's like watching me play,
1230
01:07:57.639 --> 01:07:59.880
but you know, like it's still like and now I
1231
01:08:00.039 --> 01:08:01.639
got to the endgame and I'm like, oh my gosh,
1232
01:08:01.679 --> 01:08:04.760
there's so much stuff. There's so much stuff that I
1233
01:08:04.840 --> 01:08:07.239
you know, a missed, which is fine, but be like,
1234
01:08:07.920 --> 01:08:12.480
I'm not soft locked, but I'm in rough shape going
1235
01:08:12.519 --> 01:08:17.239
into the Kuja fight. So uh yeah, it's it's it's funny,
1236
01:08:18.079 --> 01:08:20.920
all right, folks, It is time for us to do
1237
01:08:20.960 --> 01:08:23.319
the thing we do once again. If you're not a
1238
01:08:23.359 --> 01:08:25.800
member of Fun Factor Ultra, if you've not been watching
1239
01:08:25.840 --> 01:08:28.399
the live stream of us recording this episode, stick tight
1240
01:08:28.840 --> 01:08:31.239
through the break. When we come back, we will review
1241
01:08:31.800 --> 01:08:37.359
game fans review of Quake for the Sega Saturday. Right
1242
01:08:37.359 --> 01:08:58.680
here on fun Factor we are having five stars out
1243
01:08:58.680 --> 01:09:00.439
of five stars worth fun today and folks, if you
1244
01:09:00.479 --> 01:09:03.159
are too leaf a rating review on Apple Podcasts, we
1245
01:09:03.199 --> 01:09:07.319
will read the best, funniest, kindest, and most entertaining ones
1246
01:09:07.359 --> 01:09:09.920
on the air. But now it is time to review
1247
01:09:10.399 --> 01:09:21.880
the review of Quake. I could not figure out who
1248
01:09:21.920 --> 01:09:25.640
the reviewer is. It's just k Oh. I guess it's
1249
01:09:25.800 --> 01:09:29.159
it's nightmare. Okay, all right, this is the thing where
1250
01:09:29.159 --> 01:09:31.199
I was like, who is k and I tried to
1251
01:09:31.199 --> 01:09:32.840
go back and look through the bast had to figure
1252
01:09:32.880 --> 01:09:35.920
out who K was. K is Nightmare with a K
1253
01:09:36.520 --> 01:09:39.640
who appears to be English and hold a chainsaw. Okay, great,
1254
01:09:39.680 --> 01:09:43.560
so that's our reviewer again. This developer, Lobotomie, who, as
1255
01:09:43.560 --> 01:09:46.439
we talked about in the Capsule reviews, is already making
1256
01:09:46.479 --> 01:09:50.479
a name for themselves in terms of porting cool PC
1257
01:09:50.640 --> 01:09:56.520
games to various unsuitable consoles. And here we have Quake
1258
01:09:56.880 --> 01:09:59.680
for the Sega Saturn. And did you even know Quake
1259
01:09:59.760 --> 01:10:00.560
k to Saturn?
1260
01:10:01.000 --> 01:10:04.640
Yeah, because I've played it. I've talked more about getting
1261
01:10:04.640 --> 01:10:08.079
a you know, an ode and optical disc emulator for
1262
01:10:08.279 --> 01:10:11.560
my Saturn installing it. And so I've just been messing
1263
01:10:11.560 --> 01:10:13.119
around over the past couple of years with a ton
1264
01:10:13.119 --> 01:10:16.960
of different Saturn games, and I one of them was Quake.
1265
01:10:17.039 --> 01:10:18.399
I didn't play a lot of it, but I played
1266
01:10:18.399 --> 01:10:22.039
a bit of it. And like the review says, pretty
1267
01:10:22.039 --> 01:10:25.359
neat to see Quake running on a home console, And like,
1268
01:10:25.640 --> 01:10:28.119
I think what's really notable is Doom was always sort
1269
01:10:28.119 --> 01:10:32.520
of like a flat plane first person shooter, right, and
1270
01:10:32.560 --> 01:10:36.439
so say, for height automatically didn't really have free mouse movement,
1271
01:10:36.600 --> 01:10:39.760
especially back in the mid nineties, but Quake was like
1272
01:10:39.800 --> 01:10:43.680
full three D, and so the concept of first person
1273
01:10:43.680 --> 01:10:47.479
shooters on consoles was like pretty mind blowing. We hadn't
1274
01:10:47.479 --> 01:10:51.600
figured out first person shooter controls on consoles. That wouldn't
1275
01:10:51.600 --> 01:10:54.600
really be sorted out, I would say, until Halo is
1276
01:10:54.640 --> 01:10:57.880
probably the one that figured it out. And so like
1277
01:10:57.920 --> 01:11:00.880
the idea of playing at FBS with a controller was
1278
01:11:01.039 --> 01:11:04.560
wild back then, and so when they did play well,
1279
01:11:04.880 --> 01:11:07.880
it was even more impressive. Makes them hard to go
1280
01:11:07.960 --> 01:11:10.079
back to because the controls are not what we expect
1281
01:11:10.359 --> 01:11:13.159
or not what we're used to playing with now. But
1282
01:11:14.840 --> 01:11:17.920
you know, when you could get something figured out like
1283
01:11:18.039 --> 01:11:20.119
Quake on Saturn, it was you know, it was good.
1284
01:11:20.199 --> 01:11:20.680
It was neat.
1285
01:11:21.479 --> 01:11:25.319
I love again the game fan stuff. It's it's so
1286
01:11:25.560 --> 01:11:31.279
variable right from page to page. It's brilliant layout, terrible layout,
1287
01:11:33.039 --> 01:11:39.199
outstanding kind of art direction, miserable art direction, everywhere in between. Right,
1288
01:11:39.239 --> 01:11:42.039
the writing quality can swing because it's it's just it's
1289
01:11:42.079 --> 01:11:45.000
inexperienced people doing the best they can to do a
1290
01:11:45.000 --> 01:11:46.640
cool job. Like we talked about at the beginning, right,
1291
01:11:46.640 --> 01:11:50.000
when you don't have editorial oversight, you don't have mentorship.
1292
01:11:50.680 --> 01:11:54.840
And not that they didn't have an editorial team in place,
1293
01:11:54.920 --> 01:11:56.600
not that they didn't have a leader, but when those
1294
01:11:56.680 --> 01:11:59.760
leaders aren't people who are like twenty year old magazine
1295
01:11:59.760 --> 01:12:08.079
into street vets, they're you know, fly by night charismatic leaders. Right, Okay, well,
1296
01:12:08.319 --> 01:12:11.079
like sometimes you hit absolute home runs. I love this
1297
01:12:11.159 --> 01:12:15.479
layout Quake, the logo, the backdrop, everything. There's a ton
1298
01:12:15.560 --> 01:12:20.399
of screenshots of various sizes. They really effectively convey the mood,
1299
01:12:20.840 --> 01:12:24.399
the lighting, all this other stuff. Right, and then the text,
1300
01:12:24.640 --> 01:12:27.560
you know, the text is tortured a little bit, justification wise,
1301
01:12:27.840 --> 01:12:31.279
but not nearly as bad or as in a compromising
1302
01:12:31.319 --> 01:12:32.920
way as it is in some of the other stuff
1303
01:12:32.920 --> 01:12:35.760
in this very issue. All right, and do you want
1304
01:12:35.800 --> 01:12:38.520
to review? I'm sorry, do you want to read nightmares
1305
01:12:38.960 --> 01:12:41.039
a little bit? Here? I think this is a really
1306
01:12:41.039 --> 01:12:45.279
effective intro. First they talk about having faith in lobotomy.
1307
01:12:45.760 --> 01:12:47.880
But from from this point.
1308
01:12:47.600 --> 01:12:51.439
Forward, trying to fit Quake into a Saturn is like
1309
01:12:51.520 --> 01:12:54.760
trying to fit Doom into s NES. And you know
1310
01:12:54.800 --> 01:12:58.119
how that turned out. I was convinced that Lobotomi had
1311
01:12:58.159 --> 01:13:00.760
bitten off more than they could chew this time. I
1312
01:13:00.800 --> 01:13:03.399
was convinced that no matter how good a job they did,
1313
01:13:03.479 --> 01:13:06.199
Quake would lose so much in the transfer that it
1314
01:13:06.239 --> 01:13:10.000
would compromise the integrity of the experience. As a conversion,
1315
01:13:10.079 --> 01:13:14.319
Quake exceeds all expectations. The game may not run quite
1316
01:13:14.319 --> 01:13:17.520
as smooth as Duke NUKEOM three D, the enemies may
1317
01:13:17.560 --> 01:13:20.760
not be as detailed as the PC original, and some
1318
01:13:20.840 --> 01:13:23.880
of the level layouts may have undergone minor surgery, but
1319
01:13:24.039 --> 01:13:28.560
otherwise this is a remarkably authentic reproduction of the PC original,
1320
01:13:29.159 --> 01:13:32.800
right down to the ability to rocket jump and instigate
1321
01:13:32.880 --> 01:13:37.560
monster versus monster fights. Lobotomy have succeeded against all odds
1322
01:13:37.560 --> 01:13:41.399
in bringing the single player Quake experience to the Saturn intact,
1323
01:13:41.760 --> 01:13:45.000
and despite what you may have heard elsewhere, that's good
1324
01:13:45.079 --> 01:13:46.359
news for Corridor fans.
1325
01:13:47.680 --> 01:13:50.159
Yeah. So that's the segment I wanted to read leading
1326
01:13:50.199 --> 01:13:54.680
into this, and I I think it's great because so
1327
01:13:54.720 --> 01:14:00.359
many great Saturn accomplishments Panzer Dragons Saga included. It is like,
1328
01:14:00.439 --> 01:14:04.680
against all odds, against all odds, these people pulled together
1329
01:14:05.079 --> 01:14:09.680
and did an incredible port of a iconic PC game
1330
01:14:10.039 --> 01:14:13.880
on a console almost specifically designed not to be particularly
1331
01:14:13.880 --> 01:14:17.319
good at it. Right, And as I was saying, you know,
1332
01:14:17.640 --> 01:14:21.159
everything outside of the text itself to me is a
1333
01:14:21.239 --> 01:14:24.800
home run for this review. But I also think a
1334
01:14:25.000 --> 01:14:28.159
Nightmare here did an outstanding job pulling us in and
1335
01:14:28.159 --> 01:14:32.119
going like, yes, they delivered what nobody thought they'd be
1336
01:14:32.159 --> 01:14:33.119
able to deliver.
1337
01:14:34.319 --> 01:14:36.479
Absolutely, And I think, like, you know, on top of
1338
01:14:36.560 --> 01:14:39.159
like first person shooters on consoles just being kind of
1339
01:14:39.239 --> 01:14:42.000
unique at the time, the Saturn didn't have a good
1340
01:14:42.039 --> 01:14:44.760
reputation for three D graphics, and I think that was unearned.
1341
01:14:45.319 --> 01:14:47.520
I think it could do more and better than what
1342
01:14:47.560 --> 01:14:49.119
people gave it credit for. And you know, we were
1343
01:14:49.119 --> 01:14:53.399
talking about Panzer Dragon Saga earlier, and so to see
1344
01:14:53.479 --> 01:14:57.520
Quake pulled off on the Saturn in particular was you know,
1345
01:14:57.720 --> 01:15:00.000
like it was a bit of a flex, especially since
1346
01:15:00.159 --> 01:15:02.600
the Saturn was basically dead in the water at this point.
1347
01:15:04.359 --> 01:15:07.680
But being able to bring Quake two people at home
1348
01:15:07.760 --> 01:15:10.760
on their TVs who maybe didn't have a PC that
1349
01:15:10.760 --> 01:15:14.000
could run it is you know, still impressive stuff. And
1350
01:15:14.039 --> 01:15:17.439
I think that, like you know, the reviewer here, Nightmare
1351
01:15:17.600 --> 01:15:22.680
really accurately gives kudos to the developers or the you know,
1352
01:15:22.720 --> 01:15:26.159
the port team at Lobotomy for for what they accomplished here.
1353
01:15:26.399 --> 01:15:28.880
I haven't played enough Quake on the Saturn to really
1354
01:15:28.920 --> 01:15:32.760
know or compare it, you know, like against the PC version,
1355
01:15:32.760 --> 01:15:35.760
which I played a ton of, and you always have
1356
01:15:35.760 --> 01:15:38.399
to recognize that a console version is always going to
1357
01:15:38.399 --> 01:15:42.199
be different and softer and like compromised against you know,
1358
01:15:42.239 --> 01:15:46.560
the original PC. But you know, they bring up Doom
1359
01:15:46.600 --> 01:15:49.119
as a comparison to Superintendo, and you know, I love
1360
01:15:49.199 --> 01:15:52.600
the Superintendent version of Doom, even though it's like objectively
1361
01:15:52.680 --> 01:15:55.279
not good. But I've been having a lot of fun
1362
01:15:55.319 --> 01:16:01.760
playing the the limited run do Boom SNS like re
1363
01:16:01.760 --> 01:16:04.159
release where they've put in a ton of work to
1364
01:16:04.319 --> 01:16:07.359
make Doom SNS better and it's interesting to see and
1365
01:16:07.399 --> 01:16:10.319
it's fun to see what they're able to kind of
1366
01:16:10.319 --> 01:16:13.680
pull out of the original SNS hardware with you know,
1367
01:16:13.720 --> 01:16:16.960
all this time and perspective and probably some extra chips
1368
01:16:17.000 --> 01:16:19.319
on the cart, but you can still play Doom. I
1369
01:16:19.359 --> 01:16:22.760
put the cart in my original Supernintendo and play it
1370
01:16:22.840 --> 01:16:26.399
on a regular TV and it is really wild to
1371
01:16:26.399 --> 01:16:29.680
see it running at you know, higher, higher stable frame rates.
1372
01:16:29.720 --> 01:16:32.399
Like all these new additions is rumble added, So like,
1373
01:16:32.479 --> 01:16:35.119
what could the best version of Quake on the Saturn
1374
01:16:35.159 --> 01:16:37.039
look like? How much better would it be than what
1375
01:16:37.079 --> 01:16:39.199
we got here, which was already impressive enough.
1376
01:16:40.000 --> 01:16:43.920
Yeah, and I I don't want to jump to the
1377
01:16:44.039 --> 01:16:47.359
end necessarily, but jumping to the end, this is the
1378
01:16:47.359 --> 01:16:50.039
same thing that the capsule reviews told us, right, Quake
1379
01:16:50.079 --> 01:16:53.279
Saturn is a technological marvel. The Bottomy have pulled out
1380
01:16:53.279 --> 01:16:55.640
the stops to bring this baby home and end result
1381
01:16:55.720 --> 01:16:59.199
is nothing short of stunning. My only real complaint, and
1382
01:16:59.239 --> 01:17:01.640
you're going to hear this everywhere you go, is that
1383
01:17:01.680 --> 01:17:05.319
the game has no multiplayer mode. I've been saying this
1384
01:17:05.359 --> 01:17:08.159
since the beginning, but without deathmatch, Quick lose ninety percent
1385
01:17:08.159 --> 01:17:10.239
of its appeal. It's still a great game, but as
1386
01:17:10.279 --> 01:17:12.119
a single player quest, I just don't think it's a
1387
01:17:12.119 --> 01:17:15.760
better purchase than Duke nwcom three D. So I this
1388
01:17:15.840 --> 01:17:18.319
is fascinating to me. And the kind of shoot yourself
1389
01:17:18.359 --> 01:17:21.479
in the foot decisions that game companies made the end
1390
01:17:21.560 --> 01:17:25.159
now right, And they hinted at in the capsule reviews
1391
01:17:25.199 --> 01:17:30.279
that there was a net ready build already done or
1392
01:17:30.399 --> 01:17:35.039
or you know, in late late lately beta, right, and
1393
01:17:35.800 --> 01:17:37.880
it got killed and spiked and released as a single
1394
01:17:37.880 --> 01:17:40.800
player game. The idea that you could have been playing
1395
01:17:40.840 --> 01:17:45.119
this multiplayer and just couldn't as astounding to me.
1396
01:17:45.680 --> 01:17:49.600
Yeah, but like could they have, right, like where there's
1397
01:17:49.640 --> 01:17:52.359
beta stuff that like we've all you know, we always
1398
01:17:52.399 --> 01:17:54.920
see stuff pre like pre release builds, and then the
1399
01:17:54.960 --> 01:17:57.119
real build comes out and it's you know, the text
1400
01:17:57.239 --> 01:18:00.600
resolutions lower and you know, things don't work. Is good
1401
01:18:00.880 --> 01:18:03.000
in an open environment as they do in like a
1402
01:18:03.000 --> 01:18:04.239
closed testing environment?
1403
01:18:04.439 --> 01:18:04.640
Right?
1404
01:18:04.840 --> 01:18:07.640
Uh? Yeah, I don't know that I'd necessarily buy that
1405
01:18:07.720 --> 01:18:10.840
it was just something they chose not to do rather
1406
01:18:10.960 --> 01:18:15.479
than something that like didn't really have the legs for
1407
01:18:16.039 --> 01:18:17.359
like a full commercial release.
1408
01:18:18.560 --> 01:18:22.720
I've been googling furiously. I figured it out thanks to
1409
01:18:22.760 --> 01:18:29.960
our friend Molly. Nightmare is Dan Jevons, still an Englishman
1410
01:18:30.000 --> 01:18:34.279
in La, says his LinkedIn senior writer at Game Fan
1411
01:18:34.359 --> 01:18:38.920
through nineteen ninety seven. Then became and now I'm going
1412
01:18:38.960 --> 01:18:42.840
to rewrag. I cut this opening sentence Aiden, I have
1413
01:18:43.000 --> 01:18:46.359
faith in Lobotomy after Duke Nukeman three D in Power
1414
01:18:46.359 --> 01:18:49.760
Slave who doesn't? But I must admit even I had
1415
01:18:49.800 --> 01:18:53.319
doubts about their ability to apport Quake to Saturn. Well,
1416
01:18:53.479 --> 01:18:57.880
guess who became a senior game designer at Lobotomi immediately
1417
01:18:57.920 --> 01:19:03.640
after leaving Game Fan magazine. No, really, get out, Yes,
1418
01:19:03.880 --> 01:19:09.079
get out? It gets better, became a business development development
1419
01:19:09.079 --> 01:19:12.680
manager for Crave Entertainment. Da Da Da worked on Tony
1420
01:19:12.680 --> 01:19:14.880
Hawk pro Skater for Dreamcast, Soldier of Fortune for Da
1421
01:19:14.920 --> 01:19:20.800
Da Da Da Dada, Creative director for Union Entertainment, Founder
1422
01:19:20.840 --> 01:19:26.600
and CEO of Content King Studios, Executive producer of Chain Games,
1423
01:19:27.560 --> 01:19:34.640
co founder of DJ two Entertainment Incorporated, creating ip bibles
1424
01:19:35.039 --> 01:19:41.319
for Nether Hawckin Black Light, Rubicon Supernova, Sort of Souls
1425
01:19:43.079 --> 01:19:48.159
in twenty fifteen Skulls of the Showgun. They produced a
1426
01:19:48.199 --> 01:19:52.600
five part animated series based on that game, and then
1427
01:19:54.439 --> 01:19:58.000
Sonic the Hedgehog Feature Film twenty twenty co producer Sonic
1428
01:19:58.079 --> 01:20:02.319
the Hedgehog two feature film, twenty two, co producer Sonic
1429
01:20:02.359 --> 01:20:06.239
the Hedgehog three Feature Film TVD, co producer with original
1430
01:20:06.239 --> 01:20:11.000
film Sega and Paramount Original. Duties included creating or overseeing
1431
01:20:11.039 --> 01:20:15.199
creation of all original content at DJ two. Trans Media
1432
01:20:15.239 --> 01:20:18.079
materials D Da Da Da Dah. So Yeah has been
1433
01:20:18.119 --> 01:20:22.800
working on all of the stuff that's not actually the
1434
01:20:22.920 --> 01:20:29.319
movies for the Sonic movies, the trans media, like promotions, campaigns,
1435
01:20:29.319 --> 01:20:32.840
et cetera. All this original media content, narrative designs, games.
1436
01:20:33.199 --> 01:20:36.359
So I'm like, wow, Okay, so this this is Nightmare
1437
01:20:36.479 --> 01:20:40.560
Nightmare immediately after this review, and actually it says nineteen
1438
01:20:40.640 --> 01:20:47.199
ninety seven at Lobotomie, so he was probably already at
1439
01:20:47.359 --> 01:20:50.439
Lobottomie by the time this review hit the show.
1440
01:20:50.479 --> 01:20:52.760
He carried the he like carried this issue to his
1441
01:20:53.479 --> 01:20:56.640
like the proof of this issue, to his job interview.
1442
01:20:56.600 --> 01:21:00.640
Exactly like his This his draft for this review was
1443
01:21:00.680 --> 01:21:08.119
his job app for lobotomy Totally. We've we've seed reviewers,
1444
01:21:09.479 --> 01:21:12.960
you know, ultimately or quickly linked to the games they
1445
01:21:13.039 --> 01:21:16.439
ended up reviewing. I've never seen this before. This is wild.
1446
01:21:17.039 --> 01:21:20.239
Yeah, that's a that's a direct jump for sure. But
1447
01:21:20.399 --> 01:21:22.640
I mean like this is also where though the capsule
1448
01:21:22.680 --> 01:21:26.119
reviews come in handy because we also see, like you know,
1449
01:21:26.199 --> 01:21:28.920
Nightmares work on here. But also those capsule reviews kind
1450
01:21:28.920 --> 01:21:35.239
of backing up Nightmares scores, right, So it's not like, yeah,
1451
01:21:35.399 --> 01:21:38.640
you know, super egregious to have made that jump, but
1452
01:21:38.720 --> 01:21:41.640
it is kind of interesting something also and.
1453
01:21:41.600 --> 01:21:43.760
As you put, as you put, we talked about with
1454
01:21:43.840 --> 01:21:47.960
that these these game fan reviews don't have scores, right,
1455
01:21:47.960 --> 01:21:51.560
the big splashing editorial ones they don't get they don't
1456
01:21:51.560 --> 01:21:52.239
get the scores.
1457
01:21:52.479 --> 01:21:56.840
Yeah, just digging into like this Quake version or satur
1458
01:21:56.960 --> 01:21:59.920
version of Quake. What's interesting is Lobotomy actually use their
1459
01:22:00.119 --> 01:22:03.359
own game engine rather than like pouring over using what
1460
01:22:03.840 --> 01:22:07.479
Quake was running the Quake engine created by Carmac. Then
1461
01:22:07.760 --> 01:22:10.600
at ID they used the same engine that they used
1462
01:22:10.640 --> 01:22:13.199
for Power Slave in Duke Nukeom three D on the Saturn,
1463
01:22:13.760 --> 01:22:16.399
just incorporating the three D l share of the engine
1464
01:22:16.560 --> 01:22:18.680
rather than the sprite based stuff used in Power Slave
1465
01:22:18.720 --> 01:22:22.960
in Duke Nukem three D, which is interesting. Probably also
1466
01:22:22.960 --> 01:22:26.680
made them, you know, like a good Canada because they
1467
01:22:26.800 --> 01:22:30.199
had that strong understanding of how to make three D
1468
01:22:30.279 --> 01:22:32.920
games work on the Saturn rather than trying to squeeze
1469
01:22:32.920 --> 01:22:35.760
the existing version into the console, which I always think
1470
01:22:35.840 --> 01:22:39.560
is interesting. Again, you know, we talked about Doom for
1471
01:22:39.560 --> 01:22:42.000
the SNS on an earlier episode, and it's another one
1472
01:22:42.000 --> 01:22:44.880
that was you know, like when you're bringing it to consoles,
1473
01:22:44.880 --> 01:22:46.680
you basically have to remake and figure out how to
1474
01:22:46.960 --> 01:22:49.920
how to remake a game on a completely different architecture.
1475
01:22:51.680 --> 01:22:53.960
There was also a Nintendo sixty four version of Quake
1476
01:22:54.359 --> 01:22:58.279
between Yes, Yes decent, I think, though I've never actually
1477
01:22:58.319 --> 01:22:58.760
played that.
1478
01:22:58.720 --> 01:23:01.279
One before we were view the review. I have to
1479
01:23:01.319 --> 01:23:04.119
close this out still, if you have the money for both,
1480
01:23:04.199 --> 01:23:06.239
I do recommend you check it out. The Bottomy have
1481
01:23:06.319 --> 01:23:09.520
single handedly turned the Saturn from a quote corridor free
1482
01:23:09.680 --> 01:23:14.199
zone into a quote corridor rich environment. If I were Sega,
1483
01:23:14.319 --> 01:23:16.760
I'd be doing everything in my power right now to
1484
01:23:16.840 --> 01:23:22.560
keep Lobotomy very very happy. Co signed the guy who
1485
01:23:22.600 --> 01:23:25.760
was working for Lobotomy. By the time this issue itself,
1486
01:23:26.720 --> 01:23:31.079
oh my gosh, you know it's not it doesn't read
1487
01:23:31.159 --> 01:23:35.399
before I googleed this, that didn't come off as out
1488
01:23:35.399 --> 01:23:40.079
of place to me. Right, this is not an outlier review. Obviously,
1489
01:23:40.640 --> 01:23:44.319
getting this game, a full three D heavy game that
1490
01:23:44.479 --> 01:23:47.840
was a age you know, boundary pushing first person shooter on
1491
01:23:48.039 --> 01:23:52.439
PC not long before its release like onto the Sega Saturday,
1492
01:23:52.479 --> 01:23:55.760
it is an achievement. It is like wow, but also
1493
01:23:55.920 --> 01:23:59.439
it's so it changes everything once you know that detail
1494
01:23:59.479 --> 01:24:01.199
about what this guy then went.
1495
01:24:01.079 --> 01:24:05.039
And did definitely puts things into perspective for sure, because
1496
01:24:05.079 --> 01:24:07.680
like I am looking at, you know, a round up
1497
01:24:07.720 --> 01:24:10.560
of reviews for the Saturn version, and game Fan gave
1498
01:24:10.600 --> 01:24:13.319
it a like what amounts to a two hundred and
1499
01:24:13.319 --> 01:24:17.000
seventy five out of three hundred, so whatever, that's almost
1500
01:24:17.399 --> 01:24:20.159
you know, almost that's nine point seven five out of
1501
01:24:20.159 --> 01:24:23.399
ten or whatever. But then like GameSpot gave the Saturn
1502
01:24:23.479 --> 01:24:26.560
version six point four out of ten, that generation gave
1503
01:24:26.640 --> 01:24:30.319
three out of five, so six out of ten. What else?
1504
01:24:30.399 --> 01:24:31.960
We have six point five out of ten from e
1505
01:24:32.000 --> 01:24:34.199
GM as well three and a half out of five
1506
01:24:34.279 --> 01:24:37.880
from all game I'm just pulling these from Wikipedia. So
1507
01:24:37.960 --> 01:24:40.760
like game Fan was sort of the standout here, they
1508
01:24:40.800 --> 01:24:42.199
were definitely above and beyond.
1509
01:24:42.319 --> 01:24:44.399
Maybe maybe it was when I said it was an
1510
01:24:44.479 --> 01:24:47.399
alle review. Okay, all right, yeah, yeah, no, that's yeah.
1511
01:24:47.479 --> 01:24:50.720
It's interesting, and now I'm eager to go play the
1512
01:24:51.359 --> 01:24:54.520
Nintendo sixty four and Saturn versions of Quake and kind
1513
01:24:54.560 --> 01:24:58.920
of see how from that perspective they hold up. I
1514
01:24:58.920 --> 01:25:00.119
don't know what to give.
1515
01:25:00.000 --> 01:25:03.640
This one, Ty, I don't know either, because I think
1516
01:25:03.680 --> 01:25:07.319
as a whole piece by the team again, pamback out,
1517
01:25:07.359 --> 01:25:10.600
look at this. This is awesome, two page beautiful, none
1518
01:25:10.600 --> 01:25:14.039
of the layout problems that sometimes come with them being ambitious,
1519
01:25:14.079 --> 01:25:17.119
all of the benefits that come with them being ambitious,
1520
01:25:17.800 --> 01:25:20.640
good captions without being without the whole review being in
1521
01:25:20.680 --> 01:25:23.600
the captions, and I think it covers all the bases.
1522
01:25:24.119 --> 01:25:27.520
It's just once again wild to then turn back and go, Okay,
1523
01:25:27.520 --> 01:25:29.840
wait a minute, this guy was singing this teams praises
1524
01:25:29.880 --> 01:25:32.319
and then was on this team immediately afterward.
1525
01:25:32.479 --> 01:25:35.319
Yeah, but you know what I'm looking at quotes from
1526
01:25:35.319 --> 01:25:39.600
a lot of other contemporaneous reviews of that version, and
1527
01:25:39.720 --> 01:25:44.119
like a lot of the knocks are similar, Like EGM.
1528
01:25:44.319 --> 01:25:46.560
Craig Kujawa for EGM said, you know, it's not a
1529
01:25:46.560 --> 01:25:49.920
great one player game, gain notoriety for its you know,
1530
01:25:50.159 --> 01:25:56.119
multiplayer Sushi Xcent without multiplayer, I'd pass Rich ledbetter from
1531
01:25:56.199 --> 01:25:59.880
Sega Saturn Magazine, who has now now runs our favorite show,
1532
01:26:00.079 --> 01:26:04.560
Digital Foundry, gave the port in ninety two percent acknowledging
1533
01:26:06.159 --> 01:26:09.239
basically saying like, quote here, here's a quote. Look, it's
1534
01:26:09.319 --> 01:26:11.560
quake on the Saturn. The machine has no right to
1535
01:26:11.600 --> 01:26:15.680
be doing this. In Sega Saturn Magazine basically saying like, yeah,
1536
01:26:15.720 --> 01:26:20.079
you know, like blowing smoke up the Saturn's ass right
1537
01:26:20.279 --> 01:26:22.319
by saying like this game should not be able to
1538
01:26:22.399 --> 01:26:25.960
run on this console in the magazine dedicated to that console,
1539
01:26:26.000 --> 01:26:29.279
and so like, we are kind of seeing patterns in
1540
01:26:29.399 --> 01:26:32.800
the critical feedback, and the scores may be changing, but
1541
01:26:33.039 --> 01:26:37.079
you know, somebody like Rich who I trust now about
1542
01:26:37.279 --> 01:26:41.760
console conversions and understanding the intricacies of something like Quake
1543
01:26:41.840 --> 01:26:46.239
running on an inferior console. You know, for him to
1544
01:26:46.279 --> 01:26:49.159
say like this shouldn't be happening lines up with what
1545
01:26:49.279 --> 01:26:51.079
Nightmare is saying in this review as well. And so
1546
01:26:51.159 --> 01:26:55.000
when you see patterns within the text of the reviews,
1547
01:26:55.199 --> 01:26:57.319
I would say that backs up the idea that you know,
1548
01:26:57.479 --> 01:27:00.239
there wasn't any there weren't any shenanigans going on. You're
1549
01:27:00.399 --> 01:27:03.800
necessarily even though there's you know, the look.
1550
01:27:03.600 --> 01:27:07.239
Isn't great getting this review from future co producer of
1551
01:27:07.279 --> 01:27:10.279
all three Sonic the Hedgehog movies. I was stuttering a
1552
01:27:10.279 --> 01:27:12.880
little bit earlier because I saw he's listed as a
1553
01:27:12.880 --> 01:27:15.039
co producer on IMDb, and then I was reading his
1554
01:27:15.119 --> 01:27:17.399
LinkedIn and I was trying to make sure I didn't
1555
01:27:17.479 --> 01:27:20.319
overstate what his role on the movies was, because I
1556
01:27:20.399 --> 01:27:22.760
was searching in real time trying to figure out what
1557
01:27:22.840 --> 01:27:24.960
his role in the movies is. But he is credited
1558
01:27:25.399 --> 01:27:28.680
as a co producer. Yeah, I think this is a
1559
01:27:28.680 --> 01:27:32.880
fantastic review overall, what you're saying about the scores and
1560
01:27:32.960 --> 01:27:37.119
the enthusiasm, and I'm sure some magazines just went, look,
1561
01:27:37.119 --> 01:27:39.920
I'm not giving this higher than a six just because
1562
01:27:39.920 --> 01:27:43.039
it has no netplay right or something along those lines,
1563
01:27:43.039 --> 01:27:45.359
whether that's explicitly stated in the review or not. So
1564
01:27:46.000 --> 01:27:50.359
I I want to give this kind of a comparable score.
1565
01:27:50.479 --> 01:27:55.279
I think I want to give it like a eighty
1566
01:27:55.319 --> 01:27:58.479
three nails in the nail gun.
1567
01:27:59.000 --> 01:28:04.039
I think that's maybe a little low. I like how
1568
01:28:04.159 --> 01:28:06.600
honest Nightmare was saying, like, hey, I came into this
1569
01:28:06.640 --> 01:28:09.039
singing this was going to be a nice but it's great.
1570
01:28:09.159 --> 01:28:11.239
So I think eighty three is a little low? Are
1571
01:28:11.199 --> 01:28:14.479
you going to go with an eighty four? Feels feels
1572
01:28:14.479 --> 01:28:15.359
a little more right to me.
1573
01:28:15.600 --> 01:28:20.239
I think, inter your game fan fashion, we're.
1574
01:28:20.079 --> 01:28:21.439
Either one hundred point scale.
1575
01:28:21.520 --> 01:28:24.600
We're either forty points apart or we're one point apart.
1576
01:28:25.000 --> 01:28:27.960
We can we can't do that exactly, all right, folks,
1577
01:28:28.000 --> 01:28:31.079
Well we did we get it right? Leave our review
1578
01:28:31.520 --> 01:28:34.439
a review on Apple podcasts or in the comments on
1579
01:28:34.479 --> 01:28:37.880
YouTube or on Spotify, wherever you are listening to us.
1580
01:28:38.000 --> 01:28:41.399
The best, funniest, kindest, and most insightful will get read
1581
01:28:41.520 --> 01:28:43.720
on the air in our letters section. And hey, there
1582
01:28:43.760 --> 01:28:45.880
wasn't a letter section today, guys, because we didn't have
1583
01:28:45.960 --> 01:28:48.439
any new reviews, new comments. We did have a couple
1584
01:28:48.439 --> 01:28:51.039
of new subscribers over the holidays. It was super cool.
1585
01:28:51.640 --> 01:28:54.359
New members joining the Ultra Lounge and say, hey, I
1586
01:28:54.399 --> 01:28:57.520
got some Christmas money, wanted to subscribe to you guys,
1587
01:28:57.560 --> 01:28:59.399
wanted to be there for some of these recordings. Want
1588
01:28:59.439 --> 01:29:02.319
to do that. That is awesome. We feel super excited
1589
01:29:02.760 --> 01:29:04.800
when you guys join it because that is what makes
1590
01:29:04.880 --> 01:29:08.479
this possible for us to do. And walking through game
1591
01:29:08.600 --> 01:29:12.239
history and talking about game present together and with you,
1592
01:29:12.359 --> 01:29:16.239
it is fantastic. Please again, if you're listening, consider becoming
1593
01:29:16.279 --> 01:29:19.000
a member. Just go to fun Factor pod dot com.
1594
01:29:19.119 --> 01:29:21.760
You cannot miss the sign up with you're on the homepage,
1595
01:29:22.000 --> 01:29:25.079
or just shout us out on Blue Sky YouTube, TikTok
1596
01:29:25.319 --> 01:29:28.479
at fun Factor Pod. Specially thanks go as always to
1597
01:29:28.520 --> 01:29:31.319
Millennium Felt for our amazing original music. Check out his
1598
01:29:31.439 --> 01:29:35.000
work at Millennium f a lck dot com. And unlike
1599
01:29:35.039 --> 01:29:37.159
these old magazines, you won't have to wait a whole
1600
01:29:37.159 --> 01:29:40.600
month for your next installment. We drop new episodes every
1601
01:29:40.840 --> 01:29:43.960
two weeks. Just go to fun Factor pod dot com,
1602
01:29:43.960 --> 01:29:47.279
follow our show on your podcast choice, and I promise
1603
01:29:47.640 --> 01:29:51.520
you and we will have a maximum score in fun Factor.
1604
01:30:07.840 --> 01:30:14.439
My broadcaster is not Oh wait, I know. No, that's
1605
01:30:14.479 --> 01:30:14.840
not right.
1606
01:30:18.520 --> 01:30:23.000
Oh my gosh, outstanding, outstanding.
1607
01:30:24.920 --> 01:30:27.720
In any case, pretend that that was our interstitial music.
1608
01:30:27.760 --> 01:30:32.960
We'll put it in the v O D version. But
1609
01:30:33.000 --> 01:30:36.960
even anti authoritarianism or anti anti I don't even know.
1610
01:30:37.039 --> 01:30:37.359
I don't know.
1611
01:30:37.439 --> 01:30:40.439
It's too hard to explain. But we should do some
1612
01:30:40.479 --> 01:30:46.920
more research. And of course, uh uh these guys hold
1613
01:30:46.960 --> 01:30:48.840
on one second.
1614
01:30:49.399 --> 01:30:49.760
Uh.
1615
01:30:50.079 --> 01:30:55.720
Dave Alleckson went on to, uh, let me see. Uh,
1616
01:30:55.840 --> 01:31:00.319
I thought I did actually get a piece into the script.
1617
01:31:00.760 --> 01:31:03.920
We're going to cut this, okay, I'm sorry, and hang
1618
01:31:03.960 --> 01:31:06.960
on one second. I'm sorry, folks, vamp for just a second.
1619
01:31:06.960 --> 01:31:09.039
I need to run to attend something real quick. At
1620
01:31:09.039 --> 01:31:12.000
one moment, we need the Jeopardy theme here.
1621
01:31:12.800 --> 01:31:14.760
I don't have the Jeopardy theme. You guys want to
1622
01:31:14.760 --> 01:31:16.880
hear what other sound effects I have on my soundboard.
1623
01:31:16.920 --> 01:31:18.840
I got some good ones. Let's see what do we
1624
01:31:18.920 --> 01:31:25.159
have here? Oh, this one's good for when TI returns.
1625
01:31:25.640 --> 01:31:30.880
This one's good. Oh here. It's a hard Stewie and
1626
01:31:30.960 --> 01:31:33.119
Chat says. It's a hard balance to strike though, because
1627
01:31:33.159 --> 01:31:36.119
the freedom of the Internet allowing for longer pieces has
1628
01:31:36.199 --> 01:31:39.039
been so often taken advantage of my publishers to bloat
1629
01:31:39.079 --> 01:31:42.159
the whole thing and run as many ads as possible. Absolutely.
1630
01:31:42.279 --> 01:31:46.039
I wrote a huge piece for games Beat a number
1631
01:31:46.079 --> 01:31:50.640
of years ago about the history of online digital magic,
1632
01:31:50.680 --> 01:31:54.399
the gathering, and it was like ten thousand pages, ten
1633
01:31:54.399 --> 01:31:55.000
thousand pages.
1634
01:31:55.000 --> 01:31:56.199
I could write ten thousand.
1635
01:31:55.960 --> 01:31:59.479
Pages, ten thousand words, but it was like split across
1636
01:31:59.520 --> 01:32:02.000
sixteen from pages, just a fit as many of those
1637
01:32:02.039 --> 01:32:04.920
ads in there as possible, And that absolutely hurt the
1638
01:32:05.359 --> 01:32:08.439
readability of it, even if it's sort of generated more revenue.
1639
01:32:08.439 --> 01:32:10.720
And that comes back to the idea that, like in
1640
01:32:10.760 --> 01:32:13.119
a magazine, that person's already paid for that magazine, so
1641
01:32:13.159 --> 01:32:16.479
you're not getting you know, if they don't read every
1642
01:32:16.479 --> 01:32:19.000
single word or they skip past stuff that's not really
1643
01:32:19.039 --> 01:32:21.079
up their alley, that's okay because you're getting the same
1644
01:32:21.079 --> 01:32:23.600
amount of money from somebody who reads just the reviews
1645
01:32:23.680 --> 01:32:27.119
as somebody who reads every single word and the whole issue.
1646
01:32:27.279 --> 01:32:30.319
And I'm sorry once again, this is me forgetting to know.
1647
01:32:30.359 --> 01:32:31.640
Oh here it is here, it is here, it is
1648
01:32:32.680 --> 01:32:34.720
so yeah, they also have a chat. It's going well,
1649
01:32:34.760 --> 01:32:36.880
as I'm flipping through pages here, I'm doing it the
1650
01:32:36.920 --> 01:32:40.079
hard way, right, anime fan, So now we're getting like
1651
01:32:40.159 --> 01:32:47.920
anime coverage. I've been scrolling back the slow manual way
1652
01:32:48.239 --> 01:32:51.840
rather than jump to the actual page while I'm killing time,
1653
01:32:52.239 --> 01:32:54.920
and I've lost the actual page, so I have to
1654
01:32:54.960 --> 01:32:58.439
do it manually. So there's burning rangers, this thing here,
1655
01:32:58.600 --> 01:33:02.680
oh my gosh, the video game control glove, the PlayStation
1656
01:33:02.840 --> 01:33:05.800
power glove. There's a thing like this called the Naya
1657
01:33:05.880 --> 01:33:08.960
that's come out. It was like a kickstarted keyboard thing
1658
01:33:09.079 --> 01:33:12.039
that looks like this, and I've been like, oh man,
1659
01:33:12.279 --> 01:33:14.720
I wanted that so bad. Okay, here we go, all right,
1660
01:33:14.800 --> 01:33:15.600
the actual thing.
1661
01:33:16.279 --> 01:33:22.279
As a conversion, Duke, Duke, my breaker just went again.
1662
01:33:26.960 --> 01:33:30.439
I didn't known, okay, all right, yeah, my breaker just
1663
01:33:30.439 --> 01:33:31.640
went again just one second.
1664
01:33:32.720 --> 01:33:36.000
Oh no, okay, okay, said and you're back.
1665
01:33:36.600 --> 01:33:37.039
I'm back.
1666
01:33:37.279 --> 01:33:39.840
Yeah all right? So where was I?
1667
01:33:39.960 --> 01:33:40.279
Okay?
1668
01:33:41.199 --> 01:33:44.920
I think was wrong? And so yeah yeah.
1669
01:33:46.479 --> 01:33:48.079
Yeah, should I just pick up where I was?
1670
01:33:49.600 --> 01:33:53.760
Yeah? As a conversion, I think throughout this entire site,
1671
01:33:54.079 --> 01:33:57.640
throughout this entire I've thrown site into the mix. Now
1672
01:33:57.760 --> 01:34:02.000
episode issue issue episode site issue episode Okay.
1673
01:34:02.640 --> 01:34:04.159
I got to figure out what's going on with my
1674
01:34:05.359 --> 01:34:05.920
my breaker.
1675
01:34:06.359 --> 01:34:09.399
Yeah. Man, it's like back in college, me and my
1676
01:34:10.000 --> 01:34:12.000
best friend who had then become the best man at
1677
01:34:12.000 --> 01:34:14.640
my wedding and you were still very good friends. Had
1678
01:34:14.680 --> 01:34:16.439
it down to a science in term of Okay, we
1679
01:34:16.439 --> 01:34:19.840
could have the TV on TV running through stereo, stereo on,
1680
01:34:21.000 --> 01:34:23.119
both of us, could have our computers on, but then
1681
01:34:23.159 --> 01:34:24.920
we couldn't microwave a burrito.
1682
01:34:25.359 --> 01:34:26.439
Yeah oh yeah, So if.
1683
01:34:26.319 --> 01:34:28.359
We wanted to run the microwave, one of us had
1684
01:34:28.359 --> 01:34:31.840
to shut down one of our computers, yes, of course,
1685
01:34:32.119 --> 01:34:34.800
or if God help us, if you wanted a vacuum,
1686
01:34:34.960 --> 01:34:37.279
because then we had to shut down both computers or
1687
01:34:37.359 --> 01:34:40.880
one computer and the TV and the stereo, because we
1688
01:34:40.920 --> 01:34:43.520
put we put that circuit breaker through hell that year.
1689
01:34:44.720 --> 01:34:46.720
I don't like it's weird. I don't even know what
1690
01:34:46.800 --> 01:34:49.119
I have any like my deep freezing in here, but
1691
01:34:49.279 --> 01:34:52.439
it shouldn't trip a breaker on its own, right.
1692
01:34:53.359 --> 01:34:56.359
If it's close, if it's close, the compressor kicking
1693
01:34:56.399 --> 01:34:58.960
On, well, that's that is what my father in law said,
1694
01:34:59.079 --> 01:35:00.760
was maybe like ma, the compressor