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What Is Content? · Critical Error

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  Every single one of these reviews for
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  Mario Tennis Fever is making a big deal
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  out of that single player adventure
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  mode. Taking off points, talking about
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  how it's boring, drawn out, not a good
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  singleplayer thing. But it's a tutorial.
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  We all agree. We all agree that it's
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  nothing. So why is everybody making such
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  a big deal out of it?
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  >> Jake,
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  there's no wrong way to play a game.
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  A critical error is an error which the
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  OS cannot reasonably ignore. J Jake Jake
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  Steinberg is a streamer, writer, and
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  certified yapper. Complimentary. Peter
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  Hunt spit tech
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  is a YouTuber, journalist, and certified
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  yapper. Derogatory. These are the things
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  they cannot reasonably ignore. I think
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  Mario Tennis Fever is the best Nintendo
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  exclusive on the Switch 2 right now. I
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  have been having a phenomenal time with
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  this game. The most fun that I've had
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  with this console since I bought it, I
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  think. And so much of that fun has been
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  playing online, doing kind of like the
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  competitive grind, learning the
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  mechanics, picking my favorite
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  character, my main. And the more I play
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  this game, the more I enjoy it, the
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  better its reputation grows in my mind.
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  But so does the dissonance, the space
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  between me and the critical reviews for
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  this game. Yeah,
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  >> I'm finding that, you know, this this
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  game's getting in like the seven to
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  eight range, like like a 75 67 maybe on
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  Metacritic right now. And uh I just like
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  can't see it in that way. I see it as
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  like this this mechanical masterpiece.
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  And I find that so much of the
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  dissonance between me and the reviews
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  comes down to this emphasizing of the
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  singleplayer adventure mode. Every
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  review I read, it ref it refers to this
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  adventure mode as kind of a slog. It's
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  like a It's It takes about three hours
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  to beat and everyone refers to it as a
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  tutorial. So,
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  >> if we know it's a tutorial, why is it
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  being kind of like dug into as if it is
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  something of great importance in what I
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  think we all understand as ultimately a
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  competitive multiplayer game. And that
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  kind of sets the table for the
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  discussion that I think we want to have
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  here about
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  >> Sorry, go ahead. No, just about like
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  video game content and what the content
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  of a video game really is. And I think
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  we all know almost implicitly what is
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  worth examining as like the text and
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  what isn't. It kind of reminds me too of
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  this is this is kind of a stupid
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  example, but like when those Mass Effect
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  games were remastered and they didn't
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  include like the multiplayer mode.
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  >> Yeah. So, it's like there's almost this
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  this admission of well, this is the game
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  and that other stuff
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  >> is maybe content. Like, what do you what
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  do you think about all this?
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  >> So, it's interesting like I think that
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  like Mario games actually do this a lot.
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  Um, and this is like one of the one of
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  the like not most notable times in
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  recent memory for me where there is this
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  sort of like dissonance between the idea
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  of like what is the main thrust of this
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  game, but what are people talking about
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  and why are they different? Mario Maker
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  2, I didn't play the first one, but I
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  know Mario Maker 2 has a story mode. Do
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  you know this?
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  >> Yeah, of course. Yeah, I like that.
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  >> It's 15 minutes long.
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  >> It's like it's like nothing. It's just
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  >> No, it's good. There's some good levels
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  in there. There's some good levels in
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  there.
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  >> There are. There are, but it's just a
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  like example of just showing you like
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  this is what you can make in Mario Maker
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  2, right? And like it
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  >> but it's not the game.
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  >> Sure.
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  >> Because the game is about playing levels
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  that other people have made and making
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  levels yourself and like doing all that
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  sort of stuff. And so like the Nintendo
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  created levels in my opinion are like
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  fully not the idea that the game is
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  trying to trying to give you. It's the
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  tutorial to show you like this is what
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  you could make or this is like if you're
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  stuck in a level what you could do. You
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  know what I mean? And so like no one
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  would review Mario Maker and be like I
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  don't know the campaign's too short,
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  you know? Like it's silly, right?
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  >> I I love this I love this example that
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  you highlight here because there is
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  something there that our instincts are
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  telling us this is what's important to
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  this game. And I think what we are kind
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  of interpreting there is the the meaning
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  the meaning of the game. What you said
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  was like the idea of the game. Mario
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  Maker when you play through this
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  campaign of levels that you had no uh no
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  one had any input in making that maybe
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  is not the idea the meaning of Mario
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  Maker. So, that's like a really great
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  example because I think it's so obvious
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  kind of like what is is the game and
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  what is um uh content on the on the side
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  of the game
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  >> because it's a part of the game, sure,
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  but it's also like this is the tutorial.
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  Like you wouldn't you wouldn't just be
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  like, "Oh my gosh, I didn't like
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  whatever game." We were we were big into
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  Apex Legends right now. You wouldn't be
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  like, "Well, I played the the the firing
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  range for Apex Legends and it's just not
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  a very good first person shooter." It's
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  like, well, obviously, right? Obviously,
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  it's not. There's there's more to it
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  than that. That's it's it's a a part of
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  the game certainly, but focusing on this
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  one specific thing and basing sort of
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  the entire crux of your review off of
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  what is essentially just a tutorial is
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  just a very odd way to sort of go about
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  like discussing a game and discussing a
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  work and and all that sort of stuff, you
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  know,
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  >> and and I think with like a sports game
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  in particular, similar to just like
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  multiplayer games, it is better judged
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  in the way that like the in the way that
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  a sport is judged, right? And I think
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  that when you think about a sport and
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  the joys of watching a sport, you don't
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  think about the drills. You don't think
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  about the the things that you do in pra,
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  which which ultimately what you are
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  doing in the adventure mode for Mario
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  Tennis Fever. Those are those are
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  drills, you know, they're they're kind
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  of like funny Mario drills. There's a
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  there there I got to say there is
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  actually some creativity in some of
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  those that I think is being uh undersold
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  in these reviews as well. You know, it's
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  like it's like, oh, I'm riding on the
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  back of a little creature and I'm like
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  hitting fish that are coming up to me as
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  I'm going down the river. I'm like, this
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  is this is kind of good. But
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  >> is there something to be said? Yeah. Is
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  there something to be said about the
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  fact that because it has a story, people
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  are like, well, that's the main mode.
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  >> 100%. 100%. They've been train. They've
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  been trained. They've been Yeah. There's
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  a What do What do Nintendo games do?
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  What are Nintendo games? They like when
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  you say that there is an adventure mode
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  in a Nintendo game, I think that that
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  sets an expectation that this is
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  important. They are kind of the kings of
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  the single player adventure experience
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  and always have been. So it is this
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  thing and I and I think that this is a
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  huge crux of the argument that we are
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  constructing where if you go to the main
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  menu of Mario Tennis Fever and you
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  change the word adventure to the word
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  tutorial, does anyone focus about this
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  focus on this as much in their reviews?
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  >> No, the answer is no. The answer is
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  simply no.
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  >> No way. And is that a I and I kind of
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  think that No, I'm not even going to ask
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  the question because I think that it is
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  that is I think a flaw of the system if
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  you are letting the framing affect your
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  read that much. I think that it is on
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  you to kind of like sus the meaning and
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  not not be so dependent on like
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  >> the the the framing of the game trying
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  to sell you something in the most
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  interesting way possible.
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  >> Yeah. cuz it's it's this thing too where
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  it's like it is difficult because you
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  want to leave it up. You don't want the
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  game to tell you what the important
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  stuff is because hey, if if it's saying,
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  hey, the adventure mode is the important
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  stuff, and then you play it and it's
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  three hours long and it's kind of not
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  good or whatever, then I I think that's
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  a failing of the game, right? And it's
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  it's this and and and
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  but you don't want to just completely
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  miss it if you are unable to discern
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  what the important part is, right? like
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  so many games. You you were talking
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  about the Mass Effect games. I think
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  about like so many games that get
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  remastered drop the the old school like
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  multiplayer stuff. I'm thinking about
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  the um the Last of Us remastered and the
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  that Uncharted remaster they did and
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  stuff like that just drops those
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  multiplayer modes and it's like exactly
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  what you said earlier where like are
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  those the main like text of the game?
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  And I I think no one would say yes. I
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  think that's not to say they're not fun.
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  That's not to say there's not a
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  community or audience for those things,
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  but when you sit down and say like,
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  "Dang, I got to talk. I'm going to write
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  my review of of Uncharted 4. Are you
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  going to talk about the or three? I
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  don't remember which ones had it." Um,
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  are you going to be talking about those
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  multiplayer modes? You might mention
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  them, but
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  >> but is that why you're here?
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  >> I think that's a distinction that you're
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  making there. And when you invoke the
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  word text is kind of a a call back to
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  critical theory because when we when we
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  talk about text we are not just um
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  concerned with the object the physical
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  object of criticism. Yeah. Um that is
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  not what you know uh Roland Bart's the
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  book is um from work to text and it is
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  concerned with the distinction between
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  the work and the text. So the work would
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  be the physical object. The work would
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  be all of the maybe content that the
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  object has to it. The text is the field
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  of meaning that is activated in reading.
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  >> So
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  >> the work is something that is bound and
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  the text is something that is
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  experienced.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> And I think that the text is not
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  necessarily
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  um you know you consume content. You can
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  consume content completely, but the text
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  is not something that you can consume
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  completely because it's something that
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  happens. And if we think about like,
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  hey, you have not really engaged with
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  the text because you didn't finish the
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  game. You didn't finish the game.
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  >> We know that that is, I think, an
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  invalid criticism because what they are
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  saying is that you have not exhausted
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  the work.
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  >> Yeah. And that's that's the distinction
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  because you can finishing the campaign
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  does not exhaust the text. No. I I think
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  a lot of people think it does.
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  >> No. Well, so here's here's something,
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  too. So, I've been playing um Romeo is a
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  dead man.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> And um that is a game that has one mode,
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  right? It just has the story mode that
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  you play through. It's very
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  straightforward. However, there is a
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  there's this side thing that you can do
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  that is um a hundred question long
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  choose your own adventure quiz that you
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  do with this one character and it's like
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  basically meant to like frustrate you
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  and troll you and whatever, but it's
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  it's this basically entire other side
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  activity in the game that when you
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  complete spoilers for Romeo's a dead
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  man, I guess. Oh my gosh, there's a set
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  of credits that plays for that mode. And
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  it it got me sort of thinking about this
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  idea of like what is like this is its
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  own separate game within this game that
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  h that that like addresses the fact that
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  it is its own separate game by having a
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  separate set of credits from the rest of
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  the game for this one thing that you
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  don't even have to do. But if you did do
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  and you got to the credits would you be
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  like I finished the game? You know what
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  I mean? Like like probably not. But I
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  think you could. And it sort of like
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  brings me back to this thing that we
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  said like jokingly during the intro of
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  this, but I do think it's like worth
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  saying like, can you play a game wrong?
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  I know I know the I know the the online
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  answer is like no, you know, you can
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  there's no way to play a game wrong
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  because it's in your hands. And that is
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  true and that you can do whatever you
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  want with a game, but I do think that
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  there is a certain level of um
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  understanding a game that I think a
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  review should try to achieve. Would you
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  agree with me?
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  >> Yeah. I don't think you can play a game
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  wrong. I think you can do an inadequate
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  reading of a game.
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  >> Yes, this is Yes. Correct.
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  >> Yeah. And so it's it's this funny thing
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  where it is like um I I know kind of
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  like what you alluded to, there is this
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  impulse to say that all everything is
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  valid all of the time.
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  >> Yeah.
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  >> And that's just in in every field, in
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  every social category, we are really
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  into validity. But um I think when we
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  talk about criticism, when we talk about
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  writing, there is an elevation that must
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  go beyond valid because we are not um
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  writing into our diaries. We are writing
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  pieces under themselves. And I think an
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  argument about what a piece is doing,
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  the value of something um needs to be
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  grounded in the movements of of the
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  text, how the work is functioning unto
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  itself. And I think that I again kind of
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  bringing it back to our central thing
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  here. Uh feel that dissonance when
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  again I think that there is an
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  outweighing of the importance of this
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  threehour campaign mode in this Mario
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  Tennis Fever game. That to me is a flaw
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  of misidentification because like
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  >> how many hours does does anybody who
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  gets into like any kind of online
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  multiplayer game, how many how many
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  hours do you end up putting into that
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  online multiplayer game? Is the
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  threehour campaign that like Okay, let's
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  be a little vulnerable right now.
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  >> Please.
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  >> I've put maybe 15 hours into Mario
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  Tennis Fever.
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  >> Great.
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  >> I have not finished the three-hour
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  campaign.
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  >> Sure.
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  It's it's like is that why you're here?
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  >> Is that why I'm here? Can I can I ask
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  though? So who because we were sort of
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  like talking about this a little bit,
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  but I'm curious like if we can nail down
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  a more concrete answer and I of course
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  understand that the answer is well it
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  depends which is not satisfying or fun
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  but it is worth discussing. So like
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  whose job is that to figure out why
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  we're here? Of course it's like on the
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  reviewer but like if the game
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  inadequately
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  >> displays that, right? If if the game
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  does not do a good job of telling you
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  like, hey, this is um what the the game
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  is, is it the critics's fault if it if
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  it doesn't do a good job? So like Near
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  Automa has like four or five, I'm
• 13:52
  forgetting like campaigns in it, but you
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  wouldn't know that on the 10 because
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  after you play through it once, you get
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  the credits and then the game kind of
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  suggests like, hey, if you replay this,
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  things are going to be different. And
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  the second time you replay it, it's a
• 14:04
  little bit different. And then after the
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  credits, the third time, it's like, "Oh,
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  it's really different." And then it like
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  keeps going from there. But do you sort
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  of know what I mean? Like, like I don't
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  think it would be wrong for someone to
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  get to the credits and be like, "Well, I
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  guess I'm done." Because they they think
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  that they finished. You know what I
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  mean? Like, like, like, so whose job is
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  it?
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  >> Yes. So, I think this question, and
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  correct me if I'm wrong, is kind of
• 14:26
  concerned with we have all of this
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  content in front of us. We have all this
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  content in front of us so that when we
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  when we sit down to write our review,
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  >> we understand not all content is equal.
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  So what is this equation? How do we
• 14:44
  decide that the how much weight in an
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  open world game do we give to the side
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  quests,
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  >> right?
• 14:50
  >> How much weight do we you know? So we've
• 14:52
  got all these different things in front
• 14:54
  of us. How do we decide where the the
• 14:56
  kind of um the focus or the if we have
• 14:59
  an 800word review for a video game, how
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  how many words how many paragraphs do we
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  give to these kind of maybe more
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  supplemental aspects of it? That's
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  that's kind of what we're focusing in
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  on.
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  >> Yeah, because it would Yes, 100%. It's a
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  similar question to like do you need to
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  talk about the graphics?
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  That is a great that's a great element
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  of this like like it's a similar thing
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  where it's like okay the graphics do
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  they matter to some people sure but like
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  matter enough to make that be the thing
• 15:29
  you talk about you know and some games
• 15:31
  have that as their big selling point but
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  yeah what you're saying
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  >> I think that ultimately this act of
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  interpretation is a is something that
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  the critic needs to argue for they need
• 15:43
  to
• 15:44
  >> yes yes I agree
• 15:45
  >> in in their piece not not literally be
• 15:48
  like, "Hey, I'm writing about this
• 15:49
  because," but you need to make me
• 15:52
  believe that the thing you're writing
• 15:53
  about is important. How do you do this?
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  I think that a if a critic is asking
• 15:58
  what is doing the work here? What is
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  doing the work here? I think what you
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  need to know is what is producing the
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  player's understanding and what is like
• 16:07
  forcing the player to make meaning. So
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  for me, what is a generator of meaning,
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  right? And it's any element in the game
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  that is shaping my interpretation and my
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  emotional orientation. Yeah.
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  >> So, like
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  there's a funny there's almost a funny
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  comparison to make here too because when
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  I think about like a movie, if I'm
• 16:28
  reviewing a I've got a DVD for a movie
• 16:30
  and I'm going to review it and in the in
• 16:32
  the as I'm going through my Blu-ray,
• 16:34
  it's got like bonus content.
• 16:36
  >> Oh, some behind the scenes, please. It's
• 16:39
  what I want. It's what I crave.
• 16:40
  >> It's It's funny, right? It's funny. I
• 16:42
  think um so
• 16:45
  it kind of to get back to the line of
• 16:47
  logic I was on the in a in a sports game
• 16:49
  in something like Mario Tennis Fever I
• 16:51
  am thinking about the generators of
• 16:53
  meaning and I am not finding meaning in
• 16:56
  the tutorial. I am not finding meaning
• 16:58
  in the drills. I am finding meaning in
• 17:02
  competition in in a comp in the
• 17:05
  competitive nature of the game in what
• 17:07
  blossoms in front of me when I go online
• 17:09
  and I see somebody a real human being
• 17:12
  using a strategy that I had not seen
• 17:14
  anybody use before and I don't know how
• 17:16
  to deal with it and now that is setting
• 17:18
  something that is setting up a
• 17:19
  relationship between me and the game in
• 17:21
  my mind that is an interpretation in
• 17:23
  which I have to make a choice now I have
• 17:25
  to decide am I going to this is real you
• 17:29
  know after I get beat by Boo with the
• 17:30
  Ghost Racket, am I going to abandon my
• 17:33
  character and become a Boo player and
• 17:36
  use the ghost racket because I saw how
• 17:38
  effective it was or am I going to pick
• 17:40
  somebody else who I perceive as a
• 17:43
  counter to the Boo with the Ghost Racket
• 17:45
  and it's and it now and it's this thing
• 17:47
  where it's like and you know nine times
• 17:48
  out of 10 I I'm going to be honest I'm
• 17:50
  sticking with Bowser because I can't I
• 17:51
  can't I love him. I love
• 17:53
  >> how could you not?
• 17:54
  >> I just read online that people say he's
• 17:56
  low tier and I'm like well appeal to
• 17:58
  reason. Come on.
• 17:59
  >> But um but yeah, there's so I think
• 18:01
  there's a generator of meaning here and
• 18:03
  I think that it is about like what
• 18:05
  levers is is the the design choices in
• 18:09
  the game, the mechanics, what levers are
• 18:11
  these pulling in me? And ultimately I
• 18:13
  think people are focusing so much on
• 18:15
  things like the adventure mode whatever
• 18:17
  because it's easy it's easy to say this
• 18:20
  is bad.
• 18:21
  >> Yeah. I also wonder too if like
• 18:24
  >> this is one of those like un unknowable
• 18:27
  I mean like not unknowable but like we
• 18:28
  just don't have this information because
• 18:29
  it's not just like publicly available
• 18:31
  but like okay let's say you got this
• 18:33
  code really late let's say
• 18:35
  >> this is a good element to bring in I
• 18:37
  >> let's say review goes up on Wednesday
• 18:38
  you get the code on Monday so that means
• 18:40
  you have uh Monday to play it Tuesday to
• 18:43
  play it and then maybe in the afternoon
• 18:44
  you're like writing your review
• 18:46
  >> yes
• 18:47
  >> and it's like okay well I got to find I
• 18:48
  got to figure out like I got to find
• 18:49
  something to play
• 18:51
  I got to find something to write about.
• 18:52
  And so you're like, I guess I'm going to
• 18:54
  write about this thing because it's the
• 18:56
  adventure mode. It's a single player,
• 18:57
  whatever. I can do it. And then also
• 18:58
  like multiplayer servers aren't up or
• 19:01
  multiplayer servers aren't up to snuff
• 19:02
  or whatever, right?
• 19:03
  >> Well, even if they are, the only people
• 19:04
  you would be playing against would be
• 19:06
  other people with the review with codes
• 19:08
  who also haven't had the time to like
• 19:11
  play it and whatever. Yeah.
• 19:12
  >> Um, so like I wonder if there is a
• 19:14
  certain amount of like uh
• 19:18
  I wonder if if the way the industry is
• 19:20
  set up is sometimes
• 19:22
  forcing reviews to be a little bit
• 19:24
  worse. I think we we can acknowledge
• 19:26
  that that is probably true across the
• 19:27
  board in the way that anything.
• 19:29
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um but I wonder if
• 19:31
  there is like this element of like if
• 19:34
  you had more time with this the reviews
• 19:37
  would be better. And again I don't know
• 19:38
  how long people had with Mario Tennis.
• 19:40
  Maybe they had it for six months.
• 19:41
  Probably not. But you know what I mean?
• 19:42
  Like it's it not worth to me really like
• 19:46
  speculating about too much. But it makes
• 19:49
  me think about this idea of like if I
• 19:50
  had more time to play a lot of this game
• 19:55
  and to go in all of the different
• 19:56
  directions that it can put you in,
• 20:00
  then I think you would probably have a
• 20:01
  good read on like, oh, this is where the
• 20:03
  the like main uh uh thrust of this game
• 20:08
  is. This is where you're going to find
• 20:09
  the most meaning in this multiplayer
• 20:10
  thing. And I've only discovered that
• 20:12
  because I beat the single player and
• 20:13
  then I put a bunch of time into the
• 20:14
  multiplayer and like did all these other
• 20:15
  things. Do do you sort of get what I'm
• 20:17
  >> Of course I do. Of course I do. I think
• 20:18
  I think that that that maybe isn't from
• 20:20
  my perspective a generous interpretation
• 20:22
  of what's going on just because
• 20:24
  >> Oh, not speaking about this game
• 20:25
  specifically because I have no idea. Do
• 20:27
  you know what I mean? But I'm saying
• 20:28
  like in general if you have the most
• 20:30
  amount of time to experience as much as
• 20:32
  you want
• 20:34
  >> like
• 20:36
  do you sort of understand what I'm I
• 20:38
  100% know but but at the same time uh I
• 20:42
  you know I myself have produced a review
• 20:44
  for this game in the same time frame
• 20:46
  that like other people who did not get a
• 20:47
  review code have and I think that there
• 20:50
  is a um well first off on on the subject
• 20:53
  of the kind of pre-release reviews. I
• 20:55
  entirely agree with your perspective
• 20:57
  because something that's going on there
• 20:58
  is that we have trained the reviewer to
• 21:02
  think that they need to have like this
• 21:03
  exhaustive representation of the work in
• 21:07
  their review. So, it's this thing where
• 21:09
  I mentioned to you I have not beaten
• 21:11
  this three-hour campaign yet because I
• 21:12
  just don't feel like I have to. M
• 21:14
  >> but if you are playing this game on a on
• 21:17
  a on a deadline and you think you have
• 21:19
  to beat that adventure mode, is that
• 21:22
  positioning going to affect your
• 21:25
  ultimate interpretation and judgment of
• 21:26
  how much you liked the game because you
• 21:28
  felt you were forced to sit down and be
• 21:31
  at work? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
• 21:33
  >> And I didn't I didn't have to do that. I
• 21:35
  didn't give myself that that limitation.
• 21:37
  But um again, that is I
• 21:39
  >> But you know what's interesting about
• 21:40
  this? This is sort of uh the opposite
• 21:43
  that we often times see. Again, this is
• 21:46
  us doing fanfiction about what happened
• 21:48
  with these reviews, right? I have no
• 21:49
  idea when like people got them whatever
• 21:51
  for the pre-release stuff. But like um
• 21:53
  this it feels like it's a little bit the
• 21:55
  opposite of what a lot of the times
• 21:58
  happens with like reviews or like
• 22:01
  preview events and things like that
• 22:03
  where you are having an experience that
• 22:05
  is uh unlike what the person who is
• 22:09
  actually playing it in their living room
• 22:10
  is going to have when they actually buy
• 22:13
  the game. in that like you are you got
• 22:15
  like the deluxe edition and you're
• 22:17
  playing it early and you have all this
• 22:18
  stuff or like you're at the preview
• 22:19
  event and like they give you all this
• 22:21
  food and there's like a I don't know
• 22:22
  like a gymnast there or like a tennis
• 22:25
  like Serena Williams is there you know
• 22:26
  what I mean like like
• 22:27
  >> oh my god
• 22:28
  >> it was a big guy Serena um you know what
• 22:30
  I mean like like it's this thing where
• 22:32
  you have uh an experience that is unlike
• 22:35
  what other people are going to have and
• 22:36
  so if you are sitting down and being
• 22:37
  told like you have to finish this single
• 22:40
  player mode it's like that is not what
• 22:42
  other people are going to deal because
• 22:43
  if you sit down, Jake, and you're like,
• 22:45
  "Well, that's not that fun." The fun
• 22:47
  part is the is the online multiplayer or
• 22:49
  the, you know, local multiplayer,
• 22:51
  whatever, then that's the thing you're
• 22:52
  going to be focusing on because you
• 22:54
  don't have to do this, you know?
• 22:56
  >> Yeah. It's just such a funny thing
• 22:57
  though, man, because I feel like if you
• 22:59
  if you engage with like the text at all,
• 23:02
  everything in it is pointing you towards
• 23:04
  kind of the the ecstasy and the joys of
• 23:08
  competition. Yes. So, I I don't know how
• 23:10
  you avoid this reading. It's this weird
• 23:12
  thing because I I think that oftenimes
• 23:15
  reviews run into this issue with what I
• 23:17
  refer to as the imagined audience. And
• 23:19
  because it's there's a practical
• 23:21
  dimension to this, right? There there
• 23:22
  when you're writing a review, you almost
• 23:24
  have this imagined reader in your head.
• 23:26
  And I think for a lot of people that
• 23:28
  imagined reader is asking what exists in
• 23:31
  this game. But if you were to ask me, I
• 23:35
  would say that that is a
• 23:36
  misinterpretation. And I think that or
• 23:37
  even just a mistake. I would say that
• 23:39
  they are asking what will this game mean
• 23:41
  to me? And answering that question
• 23:44
  requires a kind of ideological hierarchy
• 23:46
  because if a reader loves a comment that
• 23:48
  I've gotten on my review for Mario
• 23:50
  Tennis already a couple of times is
• 23:52
  people saying, "Wow, this sounds like it
• 23:55
  will appeal to me as somebody that
• 23:56
  really loves fighting games." And I
• 23:58
  didn't have to go into my review and
• 24:00
  say, "This is like a fighting game for
• 24:02
  that to come across." But based on how I
• 24:05
  wrote about competition and I think um
• 24:07
  you know a reader that you can imagine
• 24:09
  this kind of reader, right? The one that
• 24:11
  loves games that reward mastery and they
• 24:13
  need to understand how the core loop
• 24:15
  kind of scales difficulty, what kind of
• 24:17
  learning it demands and that kind of
• 24:20
  person is different from somebody who
• 24:24
  values a maybe like narrative cohesion
• 24:26
  and
• 24:29
  I yeah I don't know. So there's this
• 24:30
  there's this thing where I think often
• 24:32
  times we read these reviews that spread
• 24:34
  themselves so thin across every category
• 24:37
  and to the point that they fail to
• 24:39
  provide kind of like a meaningful depth
• 24:41
  where it's needed and instead become
• 24:43
  informationational instead of
• 24:45
  interpretive and if you don't have that
• 24:47
  interpretive layer, if you are not
• 24:48
  determining, if you are not saying this
• 24:50
  is where the meaning is, then all you
• 24:52
  are doing is um adhering to the back of
• 24:55
  the box, adhering to the menu.
• 24:57
  >> Yeah. Yes. Because this is the thing,
• 24:59
  right, that I think is a common
• 25:01
  frustration with us from reviews where
• 25:02
  it's just like, oh, a review is just the
• 25:04
  feature list and it's just the the the
• 25:06
  list that the you saw in marketing,
• 25:08
  right? Like, oh man, in uh Metroid Prime
• 25:11
  4, you get the psychic beam and you get
• 25:13
  to control the thing and then review is
• 25:15
  basically just like, yep, that's in
• 25:16
  there. And then you move on, right? And
• 25:19
  um to your point here, if you are just
• 25:21
  going off of what the game thinks is
• 25:23
  telling you is important, then you are
• 25:26
  sort of not using your critical brain to
• 25:29
  assess and to discuss and to interpret
• 25:32
  and investigate meaning, which
• 25:36
  leaves your review maybe lacking because
• 25:38
  then you're in a situation like this
• 25:40
  where it's like, no, no, like so many of
• 25:42
  these reviews are like feeling myiffed
• 25:44
  about the tutorial. It's like, okay,
• 25:45
  well then how do we get here, you know?
• 25:47
  And I think that this is a um key
• 25:50
  element of why we wanted to do this
• 25:52
  podcast because I think that if you as a
• 25:56
  critic are really engaged with every
• 26:00
  checklist and every icon, the the almost
• 26:04
  um the clearing of work, the processing
• 26:08
  material, if that's what you are focused
• 26:10
  on, I think what you're focused on is
• 26:13
  content. And I think that content
• 26:16
  actively suppresses text because you are
• 26:20
  reducing the engagement with the work to
• 26:23
  consumption. You are you are
• 26:25
  >> Yes.
• 26:25
  >> Clear. Yeah. Yeah.
• 26:26
  >> Yes. Um it's this thing too. Can I speak
• 26:29
  your language for just one second?
• 26:31
  >> Oh my god.
• 26:32
  >> Um in recent Pokemon games now I can't
• 26:36
  speak to the most recent ones, but like
• 26:39
  I'm thinking about like uh in
• 26:42
  >> like Let's Go Eevee I played.
• 26:43
  >> Oh my god. Yeah. or I believe this was
• 26:45
  also in Sword or Shield. I don't
• 26:48
  remember which one I played of that.
• 26:49
  Shield, I believe. Um,
• 26:51
  >> there was like an element where you
• 26:53
  could like set up camp with your Pokemon
• 26:56
  and like throw balls with them or like
• 26:58
  give them apples or whatever. You know
• 26:59
  what I'm talking about?
• 27:00
  >> Oh, I know what you're talking about.
• 27:01
  Yeah.
• 27:01
  >> And it's this thing where like is that
• 27:03
  the game?
• 27:04
  >> I have no idea. I have no idea because I
• 27:06
  don't play Pokemon that much. So like
• 27:08
  for me I'm like I have no idea if this
• 27:10
  is an essential element of this video
• 27:12
  game or if this is Wait, can I cut in
• 27:15
  here? This is great. Okay, so I think
• 27:17
  the thing is is that the answer is that
• 27:20
  it can be both depending on how you are
• 27:24
  interrogating it because because there
• 27:26
  is a side quest that exists solely to
• 27:30
  add runtime to pad uh the the the the
• 27:35
  content of the work. But there is also a
• 27:39
  side quest that reframes the themes of
• 27:41
  the game to increase the value of the
• 27:44
  text.
• 27:45
  >> Yeah.
• 27:45
  >> So that's that's what it is. So, it's
• 27:47
  like can you can you draw the line from
• 27:50
  the experience you are having camping
• 27:52
  with your Pokemon to what the game is
• 27:54
  doing or do you feel that the that the
• 27:58
  camping is just kind of a um an element
• 28:01
  of like like a like a sideshow like a
• 28:03
  little an attraction at a theme park and
• 28:06
  it is not that valuable to you on its
• 28:08
  own or in relation to the larger text.
• 28:10
  But and I think what this requires is a
• 28:13
  critic that needs to um be able to look
• 28:18
  at both of these levels. You need
• 28:20
  somebody who is who is thinking about
• 28:21
  the meaning. And I think too often we
• 28:24
  are kind of like siloing these things
• 28:26
  and talking about them as if it is a um
• 28:29
  oh man wait this is this is the whole
• 28:31
  thing. This is the whole thing. the
• 28:32
  because the reason that we know that the
• 28:34
  Metroid Prime 2 multiplayer mode is
• 28:37
  maybe not an important facet to the text
• 28:40
  is because of I think the interpretive
• 28:43
  understanding that it is
• 28:46
  what it is trying to achieve within its
• 28:48
  player is completely different from what
• 28:50
  the single player campaign is trying to
• 28:53
  achieve within its player.
• 28:54
  >> Yes, 100%. And it's it's interesting
• 28:55
  because it's like um it's not even
• 28:58
  necessarily
• 29:00
  that like a multiplayer mode can't be uh
• 29:04
  uh a part of like the text, right?
• 29:06
  There's a really really famous uh
• 29:08
  example of like spec ops the line have
• 29:11
  like a like team deathmatch multiplayer
• 29:13
  mode which is really silly cuz as like
• 29:15
  the developers have talked about like
• 29:17
  it's just like entirely
• 29:19
  uh uh dissonant with what that game like
• 29:22
  the narrative is of that game is about.
• 29:24
  But then you get something like um to
• 29:26
  speak my language for a moment, Dead
• 29:28
  Space 2 had a multiplayer mode where you
• 29:31
  played you either were like the uh uh
• 29:35
  humans trying to like complete
• 29:36
  objectives and stuff or you played as
• 29:38
  the necromorph the space zombies
• 29:40
  >> trying to stop them. And it can tell you
• 29:42
  I miss multiplayer modes like that
• 29:45
  asymmetrical stuff. Yes.
• 29:46
  >> Is the that's what that's called. Okay.
• 29:47
  Yeah. Where one person's the big monster
• 29:49
  and then the other people are doing
• 29:50
  Dude,
• 29:51
  >> I'm ready for one of those to come back.
• 29:53
  I think somebody needs to
• 29:54
  >> What was the one where Evolved? Yes.
• 29:57
  >> I I I love that game. I love that game.
• 29:58
  It was so fun.
• 29:59
  >> Can I Can I tell you sometimes I mourn
• 30:02
  um old multiplayer games that I never
• 30:04
  played because I'm like if that came out
• 30:05
  now, I know me, Jake, and Christian
• 30:07
  would be having a great time with
• 30:09
  Evolve. We'd be having a great time with
• 30:10
  Evolve.
• 30:12
  >> H Yeah. But like to the point though is
• 30:15
  is like that multiplayer mode in Dead
• 30:18
  Space
• 30:19
  >> Yeah. was
• 30:21
  >> in like in conversation with the main
• 30:23
  mode. And I think you could talk about
• 30:25
  them uh and and you know, you were
• 30:27
  talking about like drawing that line
• 30:28
  like like attaching the string on the
• 30:30
  corkboard between the multiplayer and
• 30:32
  the main campaign and saying like these
• 30:34
  are doing similar things and like making
• 30:37
  similar arguments and they are not they
• 30:39
  they can exist um discreetly but they
• 30:44
  don't have to. And that to me is um just
• 30:48
  an example of like a game that's doing
• 30:50
  this sort of thing, right?
• 30:51
  >> Yeah. Right. Because there's a there's a
• 30:53
  reframing of the core thematic tension
• 30:55
  that allows you to see it in a different
• 30:56
  way. Yes.
• 30:57
  >> And it's like there I think that there
• 30:59
  are games where there is kind of the
• 31:01
  that that lacks in its multiplayer mode.
• 31:03
  And then I think there are games where
• 31:05
  you can even see how it's heightened. I
• 31:06
  think about like those Until Dawn style
• 31:08
  games, how I'm like,
• 31:10
  >> "Oh, yes."
• 31:11
  >> The vision of what this is actually kind
• 31:13
  of blossoms in a multiplayer setting in
• 31:15
  a way that like you could never achieve
• 31:17
  in a in a single player one, even though
• 31:19
  it is kind of like the same tension.
• 31:21
  >> Um, so let me ask you this.
• 31:23
  >> Yeah, please.
• 31:24
  >> When So now what I'm kind of circling
• 31:27
  here is something that I think anybody
• 31:29
  who is familiar with video game
• 31:30
  discourse will recognize. Uh, when you
• 31:33
  see somebody say that a video game just
• 31:36
  doesn't have enough content,
• 31:40
  what is going on there? What is going on
• 31:42
  there? Is that something that we should
• 31:43
  ever say? Is that a Is that a valuable
• 31:46
  criticism? What does that actually mean?
• 31:48
  >> You know, it's funny. It's It's like
• 31:51
  >> Could you say that like Limbo doesn't
• 31:53
  have enough content?
• 31:55
  >> What is Dude,
• 31:56
  >> it's like two hours long.
• 31:58
  I think that would be like to me saying
• 32:00
  not enough content um
• 32:04
  is usually
• 32:06
  I I think a if if a game has does not
• 32:09
  have enough content I think that that is
• 32:11
  the um a misattribution of the problems.
• 32:16
  So, if you say like, "Oh, there's not
• 32:18
  enough content in limbo." That to me
• 32:20
  means that like, okay, the the story
• 32:21
  that was going on, the little like
• 32:23
  wordless narrative that they were trying
• 32:24
  to tell, uh, didn't hit the right way,
• 32:28
  right? Oh, there wasn't enough content
• 32:30
  in um what's some big open world game?
• 32:35
  Ghost of Yote. Not enough content to be
• 32:37
  found in Ghost of Yote. That's not true.
• 32:38
  There's a lot of content in there, but
• 32:40
  you know what I mean.
• 32:41
  >> I think that it's like, okay, no, the
• 32:43
  world design was lacking, right? I I I I
• 32:45
  would say that that to say uh there's
• 32:47
  like not enough content is
• 32:51
  a short form for trying to say something
• 32:53
  else and it but it's not it's not
• 32:55
  specific enough. It's it's too broad. Do
• 32:57
  you know do you agree? I just I think
• 33:00
  what I need help with here is if we have
• 33:03
  like a clean definition of what content
• 33:06
  is, I think it kind of exposes
• 33:10
  that this is maybe something that we
• 33:12
  should not be concerned with because
• 33:14
  >> yeah,
• 33:14
  >> okay, because let's let's just I know it
• 33:17
  sounds stupid. I know I know it sounds
• 33:18
  obvious like we all know what content
• 33:20
  is. We see this word all of the time,
• 33:21
  but in the context of video games, I
• 33:24
  think, you know, uh, downloadable
• 33:26
  content is a word that we know. So,
• 33:29
  we're kind of like taking the language
• 33:30
  of video games in that way and and and
• 33:33
  deploying it back at the games. Um,
• 33:35
  endgame content, multiplayer content,
• 33:38
  campaign content.
• 33:39
  >> Um, a content content is
• 33:43
  >> we've said it too much at this point.
• 33:45
  The word is like meaningless to me right
• 33:47
  now.
• 33:47
  Like
• 33:48
  >> so in a in a in a video game, content I
• 33:51
  would I think if you have a game that's
• 33:53
  uh made up in missions or levels. Yeah,
• 33:56
  >> that's that's content.
• 33:57
  >> It's um quantifiable and
• 34:00
  >> additive and I would also say discreet.
• 34:02
  It's like authored.
• 34:04
  >> So
• 34:05
  >> um missions, uh cutscenes, maps in a
• 34:09
  multiplayer game, uh weapons, cosmetics,
• 34:12
  modes, these are this is content. And I
• 34:15
  think that again added, removed,
• 34:17
  counted, delayed, whatever. That's
• 34:18
  that's you can kind of see how this all
• 34:20
  works. But we would not say that like
• 34:26
  what's what's like a good what's a good
• 34:28
  like like structure? Like I I don't
• 34:30
  know. I'm trying to like what isn't
• 34:32
  content in a video game, right?
• 34:33
  >> No, that's that's the thing, right? Like
• 34:34
  it's one of those those sort of
• 34:37
  conundrums where we say this word all
• 34:39
  the time, but what is the absence of it?
• 34:41
  It doesn't exist, right? because it's
• 34:43
  it's like that's
• 34:44
  >> okay. Well, let me ask you this. Let me
• 34:45
  ask you this. Um the the kind of like
• 34:49
  >> Estus flask system in a Souls game, the
• 34:52
  ability to summon your horse, a stamina
• 34:54
  bar, these things are are
• 34:57
  >> This is not content.
• 34:58
  >> No, those are like mechanics.
• 35:00
  >> Those are like mechanics. And so I I
• 35:01
  would say that those are trying to kind
• 35:04
  of broaden our our field of media
• 35:05
  understanding. I would say that those
• 35:07
  are structured
• 35:08
  >> as opposed to as opposed to content. So
• 35:10
  I think like when people say there isn't
• 35:13
  enough content, we can almost take it to
• 35:15
  mean there are not enough
• 35:18
  authored variations
• 35:22
  of the work.
• 35:25
  >> Yeah, because it's it's like the systems
• 35:28
  are there, but the way to apply them
• 35:31
  might not be.
• 35:33
  >> Oh my god. But so okay, so let me
• 35:35
  >> Is that is that is that similar to what
• 35:37
  you're trying to say?
• 35:38
  >> Yeah, it is. But but so god. So so the
• 35:41
  thing that I'm like I really kind of
• 35:44
  keep zoning in on is this almost like
• 35:49
  think about books man.
• 35:51
  >> Let me think let me think about books
• 35:52
  for one second.
• 35:53
  >> Think about books. So what is what is
• 35:54
  content in books?
• 35:56
  >> Words, letters, brother. Little numbers
• 35:58
  at the bottom of the page.
• 35:59
  >> Uh number of pages
• 36:02
  >> added or subtracted.
• 36:03
  >> Uh chapters
• 36:06
  appendices.
• 36:08
  bonus material.
• 36:09
  >> Dude, it's funny content.
• 36:11
  >> You know, you you bring up books. We did
• 36:12
  just um today the second episode of our
• 36:16
  uh of the Critical Era book club uh
• 36:18
  reading Heating and Cooling by Bethanne
• 36:20
  Fenley did go up on
• 36:21
  patreon.com/critical.
• 36:23
  Um only $5 to get access to the entire
• 36:26
  uh bonus podcast library, which I got to
• 36:29
  say it is it is getting hotter and
• 36:31
  hotter. People are going back. They're
• 36:32
  going through the library really
• 36:33
  enjoying it. Love seeing those comments.
• 36:35
  >> Yes. Yes. Uh so shout out to the
• 36:36
  Critical Iron Nation. You'll hear more
• 36:38
  about them later. Uh, it's only 107
• 36:40
  pages. Pretty content light to be honest
• 36:41
  with you.
• 36:42
  >> Extremely content light.
• 36:45
  >> This is my point. This is my point,
• 36:46
  Peter. So, because in literary theory,
• 36:48
  that is not how we talk about value. You
• 36:50
  cannot imagine holding up Withering
• 36:53
  Heights and saying not enough content.
• 36:56
  >> No, it's it's like
• 36:58
  >> Yeah.
• 36:59
  >> I mean, already we can recognize that
• 37:02
  something strange is happening by the
• 37:04
  fact that we even review games this way.
• 37:06
  So,
• 37:08
  >> well, because it's the it's the idea
• 37:10
  that like I think this goes back to a
• 37:12
  little bit of what we talked about, was
• 37:13
  it last week or the week before, but
• 37:14
  this idea that there's like this uh uh
• 37:17
  sort of artistic critical review and
• 37:20
  then this like product review and the
• 37:23
  fact that those sort of exist in similar
• 37:24
  places. And the reason we talk about
• 37:28
  content and and value in this way in
• 37:31
  games is because there's this huge like
• 37:33
  bang for your buck question that I feel
• 37:36
  like uh resides over a lot of like
• 37:38
  pre-release coverage, right? Where it's
• 37:40
  like, okay, in Assassin's Creed uh
• 37:42
  Shadows, the most recent one, like how
• 37:44
  much content is is in there? The game
• 37:46
  cost $70 or more if you get all the
• 37:48
  deluxe stuff, what what is the value
• 37:51
  that you're getting out of that? And I
• 37:52
  think that comes down to the fact that a
• 37:54
  lot of reviews, especially pre-release,
• 37:56
  are trying to be product reviews first
• 37:58
  and critical assessment second, which I
• 38:01
  think is um I if I might say one of the
• 38:05
  points of this show, of us doing this
• 38:07
  show, like I think that's like one of
• 38:09
  the big like
• 38:10
  >> uh uh
• 38:12
  >> circled in red pen see me that like we
• 38:15
  are trying to examine with this show.
• 38:17
  Does that kind of make sense?
• 38:18
  >> Uh yeah. No, 100%. And I think I think
• 38:21
  what's what's tough is that
• 38:22
  >> instinctively I feel like I and a lot of
• 38:25
  our listeners probably understand the
• 38:27
  the heart of the comparison that we're
• 38:29
  making right now, but because so much of
• 38:32
  this conversation is kind of uh
• 38:33
  collapsed into familiar shortorthhand,
• 38:36
  it can be hard to like really um
• 38:38
  articulate exactly what's going on.
• 38:40
  That's why I think it's kind of um
• 38:41
  valuable to bring in the books thing to
• 38:43
  kind of hold a mirror up to ourselves
• 38:44
  and see exactly what we're doing. But um
• 38:47
  again I think if I'm going to frame this
• 38:50
  in the most comprehensive way possible
• 38:52
  in literary criticism value is located
• 38:56
  in the form and the structure rather
• 38:59
  than the quantity of the material. We
• 39:01
  all know this. That is why a poem that
• 39:04
  is a sentence long can be of the utmost
• 39:06
  quality. And we know this in video games
• 39:08
  too because there are of course short
• 39:11
  games or games with with that lack a lot
• 39:14
  of content that we all agree are you
• 39:18
  know
• 39:18
  >> exceptional
• 39:19
  >> exceptional like does Tetris have a lot
• 39:22
  of content? Probably not
• 39:24
  >> but it is it is one of the most cited
• 39:26
  right. So, okay. So, I think that is
• 39:29
  actually such a great case study for
• 39:32
  >> understanding the key issue at play here
• 39:34
  because like video game criticism, I
• 39:36
  think often accidentally defaults to
• 39:39
  evaluating the quantity of authored
• 39:42
  content rather than maybe paying
• 39:44
  attention to the governing system that
• 39:46
  organizes player meaning because that
• 39:48
  system is what makes Tetris so good, not
• 39:50
  the content.
• 39:51
  >> Right. And the the I think so I think
• 39:54
  the difference here res kind of reveals
• 39:57
  this unresolved tension between games as
• 40:01
  products and games as aesthetic forms.
• 40:04
  And when you can identify the aesthetic
• 40:07
  form of something like Mario Tennis
• 40:09
  Fever that gives you an inroads to your
• 40:11
  criticism to how to organize the meaning
• 40:14
  of what you are what you are
• 40:15
  interrogating. Whereas if you look at
• 40:18
  it, if you accept that this is all
• 40:20
  content, then you are at the whims of
• 40:24
  what the content tells you is important
• 40:26
  because you are not leading that
• 40:28
  interrogation with your own meaning. you
• 40:30
  are instead following the path that is
• 40:32
  often set to you by set set for you by
• 40:37
  uh I don't know like PR or whatever
• 40:40
  other influences that that are acting
• 40:42
  upon you making you assume that
• 40:44
  something call it an adventure mode must
• 40:46
  be important.
• 40:46
  >> Yeah, I I really do like the the entire
• 40:50
  crux of this comes back to what it is
• 40:52
  labeled as right in the game. Like I'm
• 40:55
  thinking about like if you
• 40:57
  like what you said like if you labeled
• 40:59
  it tutorial are people going to give
• 41:02
  that such a big emphasis in their
• 41:06
  reviews? And the answer is just no. I I
• 41:09
  it would be mentioned, right? Like I
• 41:10
  play the tutorial and it turns out it's
• 41:11
  like a three-hour long like adventure
• 41:13
  thing, but I I I think that that is
• 41:17
  going to push people in the direction of
• 41:20
  looking at other elements of it. And so
• 41:22
  I wonder like
• 41:25
  uh do you think that Yeah. No, I don't
• 41:28
  know if this is worth talking about. I
• 41:29
  was going to I was going to bring up
• 41:30
  like you tweeted about because I haven't
• 41:31
  played Mario Tennis Fever. Um but you
• 41:34
  you mentioned like the UI design kind of
• 41:36
  like doesn't lead you in any direction
• 41:37
  cuz everything is kind of like
• 41:39
  non-emphasized whatever.
• 41:40
  >> Dude, it's kind of crazy. I actually uh
• 41:43
  really dislike the main menu of this
• 41:46
  game. It's it's giving uh it's giving
• 41:48
  mobile game. It's giving iPad.
• 41:50
  >> Oh.
• 41:50
  >> And Yeah. And it's funny, I like I like
• 41:52
  pull this thing up and I just like look
• 41:54
  at all of these squares and I'm and I'm
• 41:56
  just like, damn, they just made sure
• 41:59
  every button was there. They're just
• 42:01
  like here's every button.
• 42:03
  >> Everything you could possibly want is
• 42:05
  here. Interesting. There's also there is
• 42:07
  a you know you showed me that in the
• 42:08
  bottom right if you if you're just
• 42:10
  listening to this, there's a thing that
• 42:11
  said how to play. Is that is that like a
• 42:13
  tutorial that you're like jumping into
• 42:15
  or is it like just text with like some
• 42:16
  pictures that I'm playing tennis? There
• 42:18
  there is like the what what the buttons
• 42:20
  do essentially. Yeah.
• 42:21
  >> So so it's just like text.
• 42:23
  >> It's no no there there is detailed info
• 42:26
  that is just text and you can read a
• 42:27
  bunch of stuff but there is also like
• 42:29
  the you can replay the beginner tutorial
• 42:33
  which based on what controller you have
• 42:34
  tells you like tells you like what the
• 42:36
  buttons are because you can play this
• 42:37
  game with a lot of different
• 42:38
  controllers. So it's kind of like
• 42:39
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, that it's so
• 42:40
  interesting the way that like Switch 2
• 42:41
  because it's like has to accommodate for
• 42:43
  mouse mode or most games do, right? Have
• 42:46
  to accommodate for like mouse mode or,
• 42:48
  you know, single joy or two, you know,
• 42:50
  like whatever. Um, that's interesting
• 42:52
  though. And and like I said, I was going
• 42:54
  to bring up like maybe this idea of
• 42:57
  should a game funnel you in a direction,
• 42:59
  but I I think we've already sort of
• 43:00
  talked about that. Can I can I say
• 43:02
  though in in this particular for
• 43:04
  instance, the longer that I sit with it,
• 43:05
  the more I'm kind of confident in my
• 43:07
  assertation that that it's just kind of
• 43:09
  like the incorrect thing to focus on
• 43:10
  because I think if we look at
• 43:12
  >> Are you familiar with like Super Smash
• 43:14
  Brothers Ultimate?
• 43:14
  >> Dude, can I be honest with you?
• 43:16
  >> Yeah.
• 43:16
  >> I think Super Smash Brothers Ultimate
• 43:18
  has probably the worst UI of any video
• 43:20
  game of all time.
• 43:21
  >> Okay.
• 43:21
  >> I can't figure out how to [ __ ] play.
• 43:22
  >> You can't You're not going to You're not
• 43:24
  allowed to say that. People will People
• 43:25
  will kill you.
• 43:26
  >> Is this Is this Do people like it? Are
• 43:27
  you kidding me?
• 43:29
  You can't find how to play the game.
• 43:31
  >> Peter, you've seen what happens when we
• 43:33
  criticize Masahiro Sakurai. And guess
• 43:35
  what?
• 43:35
  >> That's true. I guess
• 43:37
  >> the wife does all the UI.
• 43:39
  >> Oh, his wife does all the UI.
• 43:41
  >> That's correct. In all of his games.
• 43:42
  Yeah.
• 43:42
  >> I'm so sorry.
• 43:45
  >> Mrs. Sacharai.
• 43:46
  >> Yeah.
• 43:46
  >> Oh my god. Apologies.
• 43:50
  Peter, I think it is comically I think
• 43:52
  it is comically stupid that the main
• 43:55
  menu of Kirby Air Riders for no reason
• 43:58
  whatsoever is a desk with different like
• 44:01
  index cards and pieces of paper for each
• 44:04
  menu item. There is no there is no
• 44:06
  coherent reason that that is the case
• 44:08
  and I so I no I don't I no I don't I I
• 44:12
  don't mess with Mr. Sakurai's UI but
• 44:13
  that that's neither here nor there.
• 44:14
  Anyways, the Super Smash Brothers
• 44:16
  Ultimate features a um a a mode that is
• 44:20
  an extremely extensive singleplayer.
• 44:24
  >> Good luck finding it though. You can't
• 44:26
  find it. You can't find it. I've tried.
• 44:27
  I've tried. It's impossible. It doesn't
• 44:29
  exist. It's not in my copy of the game.
• 44:31
  It doesn't exist. So in this in this for
• 44:34
  instance though if you were to do this
• 44:36
  assessment of the content of the game
• 44:39
  you would very easily make this mistake
• 44:42
  that the majority of the game the if we
• 44:44
  talk about the economy of the page how
• 44:46
  much space things are taking up right
• 44:49
  you would you would accidentally be
• 44:51
  fooled into thinking that this is the
• 44:53
  main event this is but nobody makes that
• 44:55
  mistake because we know we're not stupid
• 44:57
  we know where the meaning of this game
• 44:58
  is and it is in the fighting it's in the
• 45:01
  fighting
• 45:02
  And the it turns out the fighting
• 45:03
  emerges when you are playing against
• 45:06
  human beings. Yes. It's like that's
• 45:07
  that's the purpose of this game. And
• 45:09
  it's crazy to me. It is crazy to me that
• 45:11
  in Mario Tennis Fever I bring this up
• 45:13
  and people are like
• 45:15
  >> a step too far.
• 45:18
  >> A a step too far.
• 45:19
  >> Step too far.
• 45:20
  >> I'm like I just really don't get it
• 45:22
  because it's it's like
• 45:24
  >> it it almost is this.
• 45:27
  >> Oh.
• 45:28
  >> Oh. It is almost an objectivity
• 45:32
  discourse play.
• 45:34
  >> Like
• 45:35
  >> because this game has an icon on the
• 45:39
  main menu that says adventure, I must
• 45:43
  give it this this that's the amount of
• 45:46
  weight it has. I have to do that. But
• 45:48
  you don't. And I and I think that is
• 45:50
  almost a a flaw of thinking that there
• 45:52
  is like an objective way of measuring
• 45:55
  the components of this game when that is
• 45:57
  just I think a insufficient way to go
• 45:59
  about criticism.
• 46:00
  >> Yeah, Jake, I agree with you entirely.
• 46:03
  Which I think is what makes our show
• 46:05
  sometimes um
• 46:07
  >> Yeah, I agree. I agree.
• 46:08
  >> It's just two guys going to the back of
• 46:10
  the class going Exactly.
• 46:12
  Can I tell you I had one the I had one
• 46:14
  today I thought about that and I was
• 46:15
  like we should do this topic for no
• 46:17
  reason other than I think we can I think
• 46:19
  we can violently disagree.
• 46:20
  >> Oh my gosh. I had one the the I am in
• 46:24
  favor of the God of War remakes.
• 46:27
  >> Oh interesting. I
• 46:30
  >> I I
• 46:30
  >> feel complicated about it.
• 46:32
  >> I Right. And I'm I'm I'm all about it.
• 46:34
  I'm I I'm like excited for them.
• 46:40
  >> Yes. I I feel uh complicated about it.
• 46:43
  >> I know. I know you do. And I'm I'm ready
• 46:45
  to I'm ready to
• 46:46
  >> Maybe this Maybe this will be a future
• 46:47
  it. Maybe Maybe we wait until those come
• 46:49
  out. Wait, they're not coming out. I
• 46:50
  mean, it's They said they're
• 46:51
  >> They got They got to get a trailer or
• 46:52
  something. Then we'll have some material
• 46:53
  to talk about.
• 46:54
  >> Yeah, they said they're in early
• 46:55
  development.
• 46:56
  >> I just I love a new take, Peter. I love
• 47:00
  >> um
• 47:00
  >> new voice actor. New take.
• 47:02
  >> Well, is it going to be new voice actor
• 47:03
  or is it going to be the same guy? Cuz
• 47:04
  then he come out and he was like,
• 47:06
  >> it's not Christopher Judge. Well,
• 47:08
  Christopher Judge is is Oh,
• 47:10
  >> Christopher Judge wasn't the old one.
• 47:11
  >> No, the guy who was in the in the like
• 47:13
  announcement trailer was the old voice
• 47:15
  actor.
• 47:15
  >> They're just using the same one,
• 47:17
  >> I think. So,
• 47:18
  >> no,
• 47:21
  >> no, never mind. Never mind. Shut it
• 47:24
  down.
• 47:25
  >> Shut it all down. Shut it all down.
• 47:27
  >> All right. So,
• 47:28
  >> Jake, can I tell you about the Critical
• 47:29
  Error Nation,
• 47:30
  >> please?
• 47:31
  >> Oh my gosh. The Critical Error Nation
• 47:32
  people supporting us on Patreon at
• 47:34
  patreon.com/critical
• 47:35
  error. some of my favorite people in the
• 47:37
  whole world. I'm gonna be honest with
• 47:38
  you. Really, really leaning into the
• 47:40
  parasocial dynamic here. I would like to
• 47:42
  give a big shout out to the Jake and
• 47:44
  Peter tier. This is the highest tier on
• 47:46
  our Patreon. This is Andrew Bular. This
• 47:49
  is Evan Snee. This is Mero. This is
• 47:51
  Robert Quesada. Supporting us
• 47:52
  financially means so much. It means that
• 47:55
  we get to prioritize doing this. My
• 47:57
  Wednesdays are just critical error days.
• 48:00
  I'm going to be honest with you. That's
• 48:01
  just what it's happened. Thanks to the
• 48:03
  support of people like R.J. computer
• 48:04
  tier and also thanks to just the the
• 48:07
  support of the nation, the people at the
• 48:08
  $5 tier who are getting our book club
• 48:12
  which has wrapped its second episode
• 48:13
  where we finished the book, did a bunch
• 48:15
  of discussion on it, loved the second of
• 48:18
  this book. Yeah,
• 48:18
  >> we have a very exciting opportunity
• 48:21
  coming to the critical air nation.
• 48:23
  Anybody who pays for the $5 and up tier
• 48:25
  right now. So, we have already recorded
• 48:27
  our two episodes discussing the book. Uh
• 48:30
  but now we are doing a special treat
• 48:32
  where we are asking for creative writing
• 48:35
  submissions, micro memoirs from our
• 48:37
  patrons. And if you are watching this
• 48:39
  episode, you have time to get in and
• 48:41
  still be a part of this. Watch our book
• 48:42
  club episodes, get involved, join the do
• 48:45
  a little creative writing submission.
• 48:46
  We're going to be talking about them
• 48:47
  next week. And we always bring written
• 48:50
  pieces to this show. We are going to end
• 48:52
  this show today each with our own micro
• 48:55
  memoirs so that people have a little
• 48:56
  something to go off of when they are
• 48:58
  crafting their own. H I love it. I love
• 49:01
  it. Jake, the critical error uh the the
• 49:04
  Jake and Peter here are not the only
• 49:05
  people we want to give a shout out to.
• 49:06
  No,
• 49:07
  >> no, no.
• 49:07
  >> We want to shout out the critical error
• 49:09
  royalty the $10 tier. I hear you have a
• 49:12
  sound effect prepared.
• 49:13
  >> Yeah. What do you think would happen if
• 49:14
  I made myself do like my best Kratos
• 49:17
  impression?
• 49:18
  >> Oh, see that's good. You know what else
• 49:19
  I was thinking of? Uh I was thinking
• 49:21
  like maybe you do their names as if they
• 49:23
  were tennis grunts.
• 49:25
  >> Oh my god.
• 49:26
  >> Do you know what I'm talking about? Oh
• 49:28
  my god.
• 49:30
  >> Kratos impression is good. Tennis grunts
• 49:32
  is good. I'm I'm excited to see what you
• 49:34
  do with it.
• 49:35
  >> I'll see what comes to me.
• 49:36
  >> Yeah, let's play this round.
• 49:38
  >> Yes. Thank you. James Pierre Reed, Mayor
• 49:43
  Roar, Connor True Love, Robert Quesada,
• 49:48
  Pinky Oaks, Boy, Jacob Richter, Andrew
• 49:52
  Bulkar, Vic, Dick, Mystic, Danny,
• 49:56
  Disaster, Kia P,
• 49:59
  Cole, Evan, Snee, Mitch, Dyer, Sam
• 50:03
  Woods, Ansot, Trait, Kochow,
• 50:08
  Jared, Kuseno,
• 50:09
  >> Jacob, How do you do Do you want to
• 50:11
  start? Do you want me to start?
• 50:12
  >> I'll start.
• 50:13
  >> This is so fun. We've never done one
• 50:16
  each on an episode before.
• 50:17
  >> Yeah. And these are these are short.
• 50:19
  This is short and easy. So,
• 50:20
  >> yep. So, again, uh this is in the style
• 50:23
  of the micro memoirs featured in Heating
• 50:25
  and Cooling, the book from our book club
• 50:27
  on patreon.com/critical
• 50:29
  error.
• 50:30
  >> Yeah. So, here's my uh here's my micro
• 50:32
  memoir, please.
• 50:34
  Uh it's called Ring Ring.
• 50:39
  Okay.
• 50:40
  Ring ring.
• 50:43
  Hey.
• 50:48
  Listen. I was wondering if you wanted to
• 50:50
  get together, get a drink or something.
• 50:54
  Really? Yeah. I think we should talk
• 50:56
  about the other night. What night is
• 50:58
  that? The under the window night, Jake?
• 51:03
  Right. Yeah.
• 51:07
  So, you don't hate me, right? Never.
• 51:10
  Good.
• 51:12
  A pause. The sound of something being
• 51:15
  set down on a table.
• 51:17
  Ice in a glass.
• 51:20
  What's up with that guy, though? What do
• 51:22
  you mean? That guy. Is he really um
• 51:25
  opening his own restaurant? Yeah, he is
• 51:29
  like on his own. Hey, what?
• 51:33
  Just don't do that thing. What thing?
• 51:37
  That thing where you measure yourself
• 51:39
  against everyone else and then decide
• 51:41
  you're losing.
• 51:44
  I'm not doing that. You are.
• 51:48
  It's good though, right? We're both
• 51:51
  moving on. That's what we're Wait, what?
• 51:53
  You think you're moving on and I'm not?
• 51:55
  Is that it? I thought you were moving
• 51:58
  on. Then you showed up outside my window
• 52:00
  at 3:00 in the morning screaming my
• 52:02
  name. I was Don't say it was the
• 52:05
  alcohol. It wasn't the alcohol that made
• 52:07
  you come over.
• 52:09
  You really want to do this right now?
• 52:11
  Well, you know, you care an awful lot
• 52:14
  about how much your ex-boyfriend hates
• 52:16
  you for somebody who's moved on. Jake,
• 52:18
  I'm not I'm just checking on you. Oh,
• 52:20
  okay. Thank you. I'm great. I'm actually
• 52:23
  great. Thank you.
• 52:25
  Another pause. The sound of a breath
• 52:28
  being pulled in. Held.
• 52:32
  You know, if I hadn't moved on, seeing
• 52:33
  that restaurant guy naked in your window
• 52:35
  would have You know what? I've got to
• 52:38
  go.
• 52:40
  The end. I love this. Um there's there's
• 52:44
  two things. Can we talk about this and
• 52:46
  then we can talk about mine and then we
• 52:47
  can do mine?
• 52:48
  >> Yeah. Great.
• 52:49
  >> Okay. So, there's two things I really
• 52:50
  like about this about So, like there's
• 52:52
  the
• 52:54
  95% of this is dialogue.
• 52:57
  >> Yeah.
• 52:57
  >> This back and forth, right? But the two
• 52:59
  points that you break and you describe
• 53:02
  what else is happening, they're so like
• 53:05
  informative. You know, you talk about uh
• 53:07
  there's a pause, you put the you hear
• 53:09
  the glass on the table. Uh ice.
• 53:12
  How How do you How did you say it?
• 53:14
  >> Uh a pause. The sound of something being
• 53:16
  set down on a table. Ice in a glass.
• 53:19
  >> Ice in a glass.
• 53:20
  >> Oh, it's cold.
• 53:21
  >> Yeah.
• 53:22
  >> Oh, it's cold.
• 53:23
  >> It's good. You know what I mean? Like
• 53:24
  like you just get this feeling of like
• 53:26
  first of all ice in a glass makes me
• 53:28
  think like finished drink.
• 53:30
  >> Do you know what I mean? So it sort of
• 53:31
  maybe
• 53:34
  highlights sort of what you're talking
• 53:35
  about too about like you've been
• 53:36
  drinking right or whatever. But then
• 53:38
  also just ice in a glass just it's cold.
• 53:40
  >> This conversation is cold.
• 53:43
  >> You know it's not warm. These are not
• 53:45
  people who are like maybe excited to be
• 53:46
  talking. And then the second time you do
• 53:48
  it uh what do you say? You inhale a
• 53:50
  sharp inhale.
• 53:50
  >> Uh another pause. The sound of breath
• 53:52
  pulled in held. Dude, that like to me
• 53:56
  like
• 53:57
  it sounds like the sound of like getting
• 53:59
  a shot or like or like like hey, brace
• 54:02
  yourself. This is going to hurt a little
• 54:02
  bit. You know what I mean? Kind of like
• 54:04
  that.
• 54:05
  >> I I'm so familiar with that sound. And
• 54:07
  in the in my memory of this event, I can
• 54:10
  recall that exact sound with higher
• 54:13
  clarity than anything else said in this
• 54:15
  conversation. I And it made me so bad.
• 54:18
  It made me so mad, dude.
• 54:23
  This is great. This is really good. And
• 54:24
  it's also it's it's cool too like um
• 54:28
  >> it is dialogue that is so short and
• 54:30
  curt, right? It is it is like uh the way
• 54:34
  these people are talking to each other
• 54:37
  are it is you get the the vibe that that
• 54:41
  this is not really a great conversation.
• 54:43
  This is not like a conversation that you
• 54:44
  guys are like really excited to be
• 54:46
  having. It it feels tur
• 54:50
  >> what what what can I say without
• 54:52
  revealing too much about my life? You
• 54:53
  know what I mean? But it was it was uh
• 54:55
  this this was char it was charged.
• 54:58
  >> It feels charged. It felt
• 54:59
  >> right. Right. It was it was it was
• 55:00
  charged. It was uh you know I think
• 55:03
  there's I think what I find so I said to
• 55:06
  you in our bonus episode
• 55:06
  patreon.com/critical error that I
• 55:09
  enjoyed writing this because it's about
• 55:11
  an event that I still don't entirely
• 55:13
  understand
• 55:14
  >> and I think one of the funniest things
• 55:16
  about this conversation to me is that it
• 55:18
  ends with her saying to me we should get
• 55:21
  together and get a drink and me at the
• 55:24
  end going yo [ __ ] you [ __ ] you actually
• 55:27
  >> it's good it's good
• 55:29
  >> it's I yeah I don't No, it's it's funny.
• 55:32
  >> No, I love that. I love that so much.
• 55:34
  >> Thank you for indulging. Uh let's let's
• 55:36
  uh share yours.
• 55:38
  >> Mine is called They're Getting Married
• 55:39
  Next Fall.
• 55:40
  >> Great.
• 55:42
  >> Back when I was still living a life that
• 55:44
  required roommates, Josh was helplessly
• 55:47
  in love with a woman who had dyed hair.
• 55:50
  A rogue dye job, we called it. 90% of
• 55:53
  her head was black, but the front
• 55:54
  strands were maybe white or bleach
• 55:56
  blonde. She looked like an X-Men.
• 55:59
  Through hook or crook, or perhaps most
• 56:01
  likely an act of God, Josh had convinced
• 56:03
  her to leave the hustle and bustle of
• 56:04
  Chicago streets to spend an evening out
• 56:06
  in the cornfields of North Aurora in our
• 56:08
  apartment. Before she came, we went
• 56:11
  across the street to the only thing to
• 56:12
  do in town. We went to Woodman's, an
• 56:15
  aircraft carrierized grocery store, in
• 56:17
  search of the things you need to have a
• 56:19
  woman over.
• 56:21
  Josh had never been with anyone with
• 56:23
  dyed hair before. He told me subtly
• 56:25
  pointing our cart in the direction of
• 56:26
  the pharmacy as if what we needed to
• 56:29
  host her would be a pile of goods
• 56:31
  uncontainable in a basket.
• 56:33
  You used to have dyed hair. It wasn't a
• 56:36
  question. Okay. Don't I need like new
• 56:41
  shampoo?
• 56:42
  We picked up some purple shampoo to
• 56:44
  preserve the color of her rogue cut. But
• 56:46
  before we left, I pushed the
• 56:48
  conversation in a vital direction. If
• 56:50
  you're spending money on shampoo, you
• 56:53
  should probably get some new body wash,
• 56:54
  too. It wasn't a question. Why?
• 56:59
  Because
• 57:02
  because you use Irish Spring Bar soap.
• 57:06
  Josh told me it didn't matter. As a
• 57:09
  person with leg hair, I knew that it
• 57:11
  did. But maybe she'll be impressed
• 57:13
  enough with the brand new bottle of
• 57:15
  purple shampoo conspicuously out of
• 57:17
  place in a shower it didn't belong in
• 57:19
  that she wouldn't notice a brand of soap
• 57:20
  that should have stayed in the 1940s.
• 57:23
  Our apartment had thin walls. I tried to
• 57:26
  tune the two of them out, but I heard
• 57:28
  over the sound of running water an
• 57:29
  exclamation, "I can't believe you have
• 57:32
  Irish Spring. My roommate in the city
• 57:34
  hates the smell. She won't let me have
• 57:36
  it."
• 57:38
  That's it. Oh my god. When did you know
• 57:42
  you were going to write about this? Did
• 57:43
  you know? Like what? Okay. All right. I
• 57:46
  I think what I am most compelled by is
• 57:49
  that this is what you were like, "Oh,
• 57:51
  I'm
• 57:54
  just
• 57:56
  I I will say I've been missing my friend
• 57:58
  Josh. We used to be roommates. He lives
• 57:59
  in Tennessee now." And um I uh I've been
• 58:04
  thinking about him and I've been
• 58:05
  thinking about he's engaged to this
• 58:06
  woman, right? They're going to get
• 58:07
  married in the fall. And uh I was
• 58:10
  thinking about like moments that um
• 58:14
  stick out to me where I was like, "Oh,
• 58:17
  there's there might be something here."
• 58:19
  Do you know what I mean? That like there
• 58:20
  might be something to this relationship.
• 58:22
  And like literally overhearing this, I
• 58:24
  just remember like first of all, I'm not
• 58:26
  trying to listen at anyone, right? Like
• 58:27
  I'm trying to give them their privacy,
• 58:29
  whatever. I'm in my room. We had
• 58:30
  separate showers too in our our place,
• 58:32
  which was nice. We had two bathrooms, um
• 58:33
  which was like so amazing. Um, but like
• 58:37
  I just remember hearing that despite my
• 58:39
  efforts not to.
• 58:41
  >> And it just like sticking out to me
• 58:43
  being like that's actually really sweet.
• 58:45
  That's actually extremely sweet that she
• 58:47
  would that the thing that I was like
• 58:49
  dude no like like no she is not going to
• 58:52
  want this. I like hear and she's like oh
• 58:54
  my gosh like like you have this thing
• 58:56
  and I love this thing but my roommate
• 58:59
  hates it.
• 59:02
  You know, there were a few times during
• 59:04
  this too where maybe we need to figure
• 59:06
  out a solution for this for the future
• 59:08
  where I was uh I was compelled to want
• 59:10
  to see this written in the text form
• 59:13
  >> because there was there was actually a
• 59:15
  moment of I had a moment of confusion
• 59:17
  and I wasn't sure what the intended
• 59:18
  meaning was because
• 59:20
  >> I didn't know if rogue was capitalized
• 59:23
  or not. Okay. All right. That's great
• 59:25
  because I actually interpreted it the
• 59:27
  other way and I was like and then it
• 59:28
  took me a second because you you made
• 59:30
  the the X-Men joke which was funny and
• 59:32
  then um when you said that it was like a
• 59:34
  rogue haircut I thought it was like a
• 59:37
  >> she like did it on her or rogue die job
• 59:38
  rather she did it on her own. It was
• 59:40
  like it was scandalous. It was like she
• 59:42
  went and got the but then then I started
• 59:43
  thinking about it. I was like oh wait is
• 59:45
  or is it just like the is it the stripe?
• 59:47
  >> It's the stripe.
• 59:47
  >> It's the man that's so funny.
• 59:50
  >> Yeah.
• 59:50
  >> Oh god. It's such a like a I don't know.
• 59:53
  this this really is pulling me in the
• 59:56
  direction of the book we read just
• 59:57
  because it is kind of concerned with
• 59:59
  this environment of mutual care.
• 1:00:02
  >> Mhm.
• 1:00:02
  >> And that's something that I've just been
• 1:00:04
  like thinking a lot about in my life.
• 1:00:05
  And it it's it's what you described.
• 1:00:07
  It's like, oh, this is like really
• 1:00:10
  it creates a a halo in an environment
• 1:00:14
  around people that's like we're taking
• 1:00:16
  care of each other and we appreciate
• 1:00:18
  each other and we're doing I don't know,
• 1:00:19
  man. It's it's very like
• 1:00:20
  >> and it's so tangible in the little
• 1:00:22
  things. It's It's not dramatic. It's
• 1:00:24
  like
• 1:00:25
  >> Can I also say I wanted to write about
• 1:00:26
  this because I was wrong.
• 1:00:28
  >> Do you know what I mean? And and like
• 1:00:29
  like uh uh in in a low stakes way, you
• 1:00:34
  know, where I'm just like, I don't know,
• 1:00:35
  man. I guess if you don't want to spend
• 1:00:38
  money on body wash, sure. But I was like
• 1:00:40
  like I couldn't have been more wrong.
• 1:00:41
  You know what I mean? Like I couldn't
• 1:00:42
  have been more wrong. And like like I
• 1:00:45
  just I think it's sweet, you know?
• 1:00:47
  >> Yeah. No, it is sweet. Oh man. Isn't
• 1:00:49
  there something about this is kind of a
• 1:00:52
  couple episodes ago now though, but like
• 1:00:55
  writing about sweetness is so is so
• 1:00:57
  underrated and it's so much harder than
• 1:00:59
  people than people think to like
• 1:01:01
  >> seed in that. Yeah. Well, too, also, we
• 1:01:04
  talked about this in in the episode this
• 1:01:06
  uh I think this week's or maybe it was
• 1:01:07
  last week's episode, but the idea of
• 1:01:09
  like Oh, no, it was this week's um
• 1:01:11
  writing about like love in a way that is
• 1:01:14
  not
• 1:01:15
  like this giant grand thing, but is
• 1:01:18
  instead um small and intimate and is the
• 1:01:22
  actual way that I like experience it.
• 1:01:25
  You know, not talking about like I would
• 1:01:27
  go with you to the ends of the earth,
• 1:01:29
  whatever. Oh, that's great and whatever.
• 1:01:30
  But it's like actually the moment where
• 1:01:32
  I'm like, "Oh, maybe these people might
• 1:01:33
  be in love." Is that they both like the
• 1:01:35
  same soap and that this soap that they
• 1:01:37
  both like is shitty, you know? Like like
• 1:01:40
  that's something.
• 1:01:43
  >> It's so mature to me. It's such a mature
• 1:01:45
  understanding of what love is. And
• 1:01:46
  that's that's the distinction. I think
• 1:01:48
  that like with a with like a real adult
• 1:01:51
  relationship that
• 1:01:53
  >> makes you a better, more rounded person,
• 1:01:55
  with that comes wisdom and perspective.
• 1:01:58
  And I think you can that's something in
• 1:02:00
  heating and cooling in Beth and Anne
• 1:02:01
  Fenely's book I think is like so
• 1:02:03
  tangible and so clear is like this this
• 1:02:05
  higher level of thinking that she has
• 1:02:07
  achieved from the wisdom accrude through
• 1:02:09
  like a real adult relationship.
• 1:02:11
  >> Yes. Well, and dude, I think wisdom is
• 1:02:13
  is like the word I would associate with
• 1:02:15
  this book about just like like yeah,
• 1:02:17
  there's a lot of like real adult [ __ ] in
• 1:02:20
  here that's like, you know, it's it's
• 1:02:22
  like it could be seen as just like, oh,
• 1:02:23
  it's just trying to be heavy. Like, if
• 1:02:25
  she framed it in a different way, but
• 1:02:26
  she doesn't. Instead, it's it's like,
• 1:02:28
  no, there's a perspective. There's a
• 1:02:30
  there's a like I'm I'm I have a I gained
• 1:02:35
  something from this. I learned something
• 1:02:36
  here and I'm now trying to impart that
• 1:02:38
  into you without being like I would not
• 1:02:42
  say this is a book that's hitting you
• 1:02:43
  over the head with stuff.
• 1:02:45
  >> No, no, no, no. And that's why I think
• 1:02:46
  in our uh discussions on the bonus
• 1:02:48
  podcast, patreon.com/critical,
• 1:02:51
  >> it is it's uh patreon.com/critical.
• 1:02:53
  >> Oh, got it. Okay.
• 1:02:54
  >> Yeah. $5 here and up.
• 1:02:55
  >> Got it. Okay.
• 1:02:56
  >> And uh you can It is such a joy to dive
• 1:03:00
  into our really salient discussion about
• 1:03:02
  that book. the way that we are able to
• 1:03:04
  uh vivisect and close read that book I
• 1:03:06
  think is awesome. And for the people
• 1:03:08
  that are considering getting involved
• 1:03:09
  right now, I just want to say the
• 1:03:11
  support that is that is get, you know,
• 1:03:14
  granted to us by people on Patreon is so
• 1:03:18
  huge. Like we you said earlier that your
• 1:03:20
  Wednesdays are like your critical error
• 1:03:22
  days. And we really want to make,
• 1:03:25
  >> you know, our Tuesdays and our Mondays
• 1:03:27
  critical error days, too. And we've
• 1:03:29
  we've been actually talking about what I
• 1:03:30
  find
• 1:03:31
  >> creeping closer to making Tuesdays are
• 1:03:33
  critical error day as well.
• 1:03:35
  >> I've we've been talking about different
• 1:03:37
  kinds of products that we want to do
• 1:03:39
  outside of the main podcast that frankly
• 1:03:41
  I think are really really good ideas.
• 1:03:43
  >> Yes.
• 1:03:43
  >> And uh
• 1:03:44
  >> 100% agree. with continued support on
• 1:03:46
  the Patreon from people that enjoy this
• 1:03:48
  content. Uh you will empower us to make
• 1:03:51
  that content a reality and uh get
• 1:03:54
  involved for I think a lot of people got
• 1:03:57
  a lot out of this book club discussion
• 1:03:59
  and you know it won't be long until
• 1:04:01
  we're picking the next book and it would
• 1:04:03
  just it would be so awesome to have more
• 1:04:05
  people there from day zero as we're
• 1:04:07
  talking on Discord, talking on preon
• 1:04:09
  going through what I think next time
• 1:04:11
  will be like an actual novel. So I would
• 1:04:13
  love to see more people there. And hey,
• 1:04:15
  I'm excited. We, you know, we just did
• 1:04:16
  the reading of R2 memoirs, micro
• 1:04:18
  memoirs. I'm really excited to read what
• 1:04:20
  what The Nation comes up with. I'm
• 1:04:22
  actually really really excited to read
• 1:04:23
  what the nation comes up with. So, if
• 1:04:24
  that sounds interesting to you,
• 1:04:25
  patreon.com/critical
• 1:04:26
  error. Other than that, I think that
• 1:04:29
  does it for us. Thanks for being here.
• 1:04:31
  Make sure to subscribe on YouTube as
• 1:04:32
  well. Let us know what you do there.
• 1:04:35
  We'll see you next time. Bye
• 1:04:37
  >> bye.