Latest / The #Backlog Breakdown / 190: 2 Months of Switch 2 w/ Parker & Mark

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190: 2 Months of Switch 2 w/ Parker & Mark · The #Backlog Breakdown

• 0:00
  Sam to another episode of the backlog breakdown of Video Game podcast where we seek to encourage and equip the church to engage with the medium of video games someday. I'll talk pretty nut today, but the, the midi, the midi, the medium of video games wisely and well. I'm one of your hosts, Nate, and with me today is not my co host and brother in Christ. He might join us later. But he's, he's being a bum right now and he's like having, doing like dinner things with other people. I guess what's more important than this? Get your priorities right, Joshua. But I am joined by friends of the show. You know what, we'll go in order that you're on my screens just so I, it makes it easy on me. My one of my best friends, long time, you know fairly frequent contributor Luke Parker, the international man of business, you know he, he joins us tonight. How are you Parker?
• 1:37
  Doing good man. Looking forward to talking about Switch too.
• 1:40
  Okay, well, see that you spoiled it. I hadn't even said what we were going to talk about yet, but you ruined it. You ruined everything.
• 1:52
  The title.
• 1:55
  It is in the title. So yes, I guess, I guess that would have given it away. But the other voice that you heard, it's, it's friend of the show long time, you know, collaborator, mischief maker. He's, he's actually a podcaster in his own right. But it's, it's Quick Mark or Mark Erickson from Quick Play. How you doing big guy?
• 2:19
  Howdy.
• 2:20
  I'm good. Yeah. Here to I'm excited to talk about Switch 2.
• 2:24
  We.
• 2:25
  I know this conversation kind of even started with I had you on talking about Nintendo innovation and so we wanted to you reached out to kind of continue that. Now the Switch 2 is out.
• 2:36
  Yeah. And, and you know if folks if you haven't checked out Mark's stuff in in at all yet. Quick Play, you know, tell give them the, the, the quick and dirty on Quick Play.
• 2:50
  Yeah, it is a shortish form video game podcast. It's on all the podcasting places are on YouTube. Biggest thing is I like to talk to people about video games and like to ask questions about games and yeah all sorts of topics. If you look for the ones with extra long run times, those usually have Nate on them so you can hear familiar voice.
• 3:14
  Dare you, sir?
• 3:17
  But yeah, we do try to keep it. I mean my, my runtime has gotten a little inflated over time but usually I keep around half an hour or less so it's respectful of your time. That sounds like A shot to this podcast. Not mean to be. I just, it's a different lane. I like to keep it short and in and out.
• 3:37
  Yeah, yeah.
• 3:38
  Talk about video games.
• 3:39
  Yeah, it's, it's, it's one of my favorite things to sort of jump on and chew it up with you. Why don't we just sort of get into how it's been since we last spoke and you know what, Parker? Mark. It has been a while since either one of you have sort of been on here. Parker, again, order of the. Of the appearance on my screen. What have you been up to lately, my guy?
• 4:10
  Not much, man. You know, just living life, taking it one day at a time, enjoying my Switch 2 and keeping it low profile. So nothing too crazy.
• 4:25
  Yeah, yeah. So basically you're boring and basic. I don't know what is going on with me. Like I am being super, like just petty and aggressive right now.
• 4:40
  It's the orange cream seltzer, I think.
• 4:42
  Well.
• 4:43
  And I've moved on to orange cream. Orange cream Coke Zero at this point in time. So like we're upping the stakes. Yeah. You know what? It was for one, man, dude, it's too, entirely too much. And like I just, I'm, I'm, I'm sort of, I'm approaching my thresholds. But Mark, since you've last been on, what's been, what's been good? What's, what's going on here, guys? Yeah.
• 5:08
  Oh, man.
• 5:09
  Yeah.
• 5:09
  We have two kids now for as of four and a half months ago, we had our, our newest daughter was born and we are cruising along. It's actually like life has been good. It kind of, it feels like we're in cruise control in a way and we're just kind of taking one step at a time, but in a good way. We did just have a road trip to visit my wife's family out in Texas, which is on paper a 12 hour drive. And it was like 16 hours. You have two kids who are under three. We also brought our dog. For whatever unknown reason. I mean there was a good reason. In hindsight, we're just not going to make this drive again for a while. We're going to figure out how to, how to fly because that was rough. But we are back now. Good to be back home and kind of like nothing else on the horizon for now. I mean like a daughter's big deal, but other big deal. Like I'm really into pickleball now. That's the, that's a new thing.
• 6:12
  Okay.
• 6:13
  Actually, yeah, I played some pickleball for the first time in a work retreat. And I'm all in. It's a great time.
• 6:19
  Nice.
• 6:21
  So since we've last, like last talk, like pickleball has become your identity then like, it's like, yeah, like crossfitters and pickleball. It's just like this is what you do now.
• 6:33
  This is. This is me video game podcast. And pickleball, it's one of sick and some Jesus too, I guess.
• 6:41
  Good, good. Yeah, that, that part's important.
• 6:45
  Rework the order a little bit there.
• 6:47
  Yeah, no, we'll workshop it. But pickleball.
• 6:52
  Great time.
• 6:54
  Okay, I see it because.
• 6:57
  Really.
• 7:00
  Throwing me off here. Like, I'm trying to like, kind of keep things sort of nipping along, but on my route. Is it the pickle or the ball.
• 7:09
  That'S really throwing you off?
• 7:11
  No, I'm. Is it like pickle ball courts are not as big as tennis courts? Correct. Am I correcting? Correct?
• 7:19
  Yes.
• 7:19
  Okay. Because I drive past what used to be some old tennis courts and now there's like four smaller courts in that same space or whatever. Yeah. Is.
• 7:35
  It's the sort of thing, if it was invented for old people and then 20 year olds found it too and made it really competitive. And so it's kind of like a. It's really an all ages thing, but it's a tighter court than tennis. You have like these little plastic paddles. It really feels like it's the medium point between tennis and ping pong. And so it's the floor, sorry, the skill floor is very low, so it's very easy to get into. And so that's kind of part of what's charming about it. It's like you can, you can pick it up and kind of like see how you can be good at it.
• 8:10
  Okay. So is the ball bigger? The balls are bigger too, right? That they play with. They're not like tennis balls.
• 8:16
  I mean, just. It's wiffle ball, basically. Yeah, it's like a glorified wiffle ball.
• 8:21
  Okay.
• 8:21
  That's basically it.
• 8:24
  Yeah, I see it. And like I said. And you know what? Now that, that, that tracks because it's usually when I'm driving past, it's like a bunch of like retirees while playing. So. Okay, Okay. I was just like, I've seen it around. I just. I didn't know anything about it and.
• 8:46
  Yeah, yeah, it's a good time. Check it out.
• 8:49
  Cool. I'm glad that it has become your identity now. So.
• 8:53
  Yes, I will make sure to bring it up at every given possibility as like vegans.
• 8:59
  Just like every. Every opportunity you get, you just need to work it in there. I play pickleball now. Pickleball is life. But, Joshua, I also have a pellet smoker.
• 9:11
  I can keep on throwing that in, too.
• 9:13
  Oh, nice. Yeah. Yeah.
• 9:16
  So, like all the suburban white dude stuff like pickleball and smoking, you turn.
• 9:23
  30 and this just happens to you. I'm sorry.
• 9:25
  You know, you get a podcast, you start a podcast, you get some kids, you start smoking meats, and you play pickleball. I do things differently than that, Joshua.
• 9:39
  The three things that happens to a. To a man.
• 9:43
  That's true. Oh, man. All right, enough sidetracking. Joshua, how have you been since we last spoke?
• 9:53
  It's been good, man. It's summer, and so the. All kinds of activities and events going on in and around. Our town is known for hot air balloons. And so we're having a hot air balloon festival in just a couple weeks here. But they had like a. They called it a parade, but basically it's like a flyover of our downtown area. So a bunch of. Well, there were a few hot air balloons in the sky, but actually there was apparently going to be this huge thunderstorm that was coming in that night, so not very many flu. And we got a little bit of rain, but nothing too bad. But I get it, if you're up in the air and, you know, at the mercy of the wind, you probably don't want to go up unless conditions are that great. But anyways, yeah, I would imagine so. I've never been in a hot air balloon. I've just talked to people who've been in them because there's a bunch of them around here. But anyway, so, yeah, we're just. We're just doing the summer thing today. We had some of the missionaries that we support out in Czech Republic come in and to. To service at church. It's a Sunday, by the way. And. And so they spoke for a little bit at the end of our service, and we had a little potluck and. And they. They spoke more during that and kind of explained what they're. What they're doing there with the. Basically, he is teaching at a college and they do some. Some student ministry as well at a school there for some theological training to send out some more locals into the mission field there. And my wife. Well, our family was invited to dinner this. This evening to spend a bit more time with them. So that's what's been going on with us. We're doing pretty good cruising sick, doing our Thing.
• 11:38
  Nice. Yeah.
• 11:39
  Yeah. Well, staying here in America for right now, but not recruited for the Czech Republicans. Yeah, I mean, there, there are possibilities of, you know, like, short term mission trips and things like that. So he was even talking about a program they do to teach some people music. And so, you know, I, I can kind of tell, you know, he's. He's kind of scoping out like, oh, who could we, you know, have, like, they would like to have people come, you know, for, for submission trip because they're connected to a bunch of different churches in Eastern Europe. So, you know, countries are so small over there. Like, it's not just a single. It's not just Czech, but it's like all kinds of different countries and that they're connected to, that they're sending, you know, other people out towards to. To churches in the area. So anyways, but like I said, staying in America right now, so nothing. Nothing on the horizon.
• 12:37
  Cool.
• 12:38
  Cool.
• 12:39
  Yeah. I mean, I showed you guys, like, sort of like the, the most recent adventure. And by most recent, I mean like today. And I didn't even know. Oh, wow.
• 12:48
  Oh. Oh, wow.
• 12:50
  Yeah. So I, I explained this story to, To Parker and to Mark already, but Megan's best friend, her brother had. Has a white husky and a black, like a regular German shepherd. And they had a litter of puppies, and he had asked us if we wanted one. And I kind of said no, like, just like, because puppies, like one. He was, he was charging for them. Um.
• 13:22
  Gotcha.
• 13:23
  And, but anyways, this little guy, he. He needed, basically, he was like, hey, he's like, I will give you this dog if you guys come and take it. And we went over and we looked at it and I said to him, I said, okay, because he's gonna be out of town for a little while. And I said he. He didn't really want to get rid of the puppy, but he can't keep it right now. And he's like, things are just kind of tough. And I, I said to him, I said, okay. I said, so what, what we. At the very least, what we will do is that we will watch the puppy for you while you're out of town. And I said, and we'll consider it a trial run. And if we get like super attached and we think we can do it, we might keep them. And I said, but there's also a chance that like, you know, at the end of the, the week and a half or whatever it is, like, you're just gonna get this dog back. I said, the other Thing I said is, like, we're going to be out of town here in a few weeks. And I said, if we do end up keeping him, we will need someone to watch him. And he was like, oh, absolutely. He's like, so. So we're doing like a bit of a test run and right now, little man, our little puppy is sleeping on the floor just a few feet away from me. He's had a hecking long day and.
• 14:46
  Nice.
• 14:48
  So. So yeah, we're puppy sitting slash, sort of just, yeah, giving it a bit of a test run. And it is already. And like, so, like a few hours ago, we went and picked up the puppy and it has been. It was really kind of fun, but then it was absolute chaos for a while.
• 15:11
  So is the puppy experience.
• 15:14
  Yeah. And you throw in the additional factor of like, you have a two and a half year old. So just. I took Byron up to bed and so I was like, Megan was out getting stuff for the puppy and so I was like, well, I'm just. We have a crate. I'm just gonna put him in the crate. And I could hear him in Byron's room. Like, not super loud because, like, we have like. Like there's an AC unit in the window and everything. But like the dog, like, he was losing the puppy, was losing his mind. And I was just like, oh, no, yeah, this is. This is gonna be terrible. Like, horrible. But. And anyways, so, yeah, that is what I have been into recently. But we are a video game podcast and we have video games to talk about at some point in time. But we also have other things to talk about because we don't just play video games. Unlike Mark, we do have more than just video game podcasting and pickleball and smoking meats on our life agenda. In fact, you could say like, dude, okay, brief. Briefest of tangents. I like smoked meats, right? But I actually prefer my meats. Like, like, if. If I'm doing like steaks, like, don't get me wrong, like a. A good brisket is. Smoked brisket is outstanding. Like, I'm never going to say no to that. Like, but like, for most other meats, I actually prefer them, like either grilled or we have a Blackstone. And I am very much more like, you can get like a really nice crust on like a steak on a Blackstone that is like. Like, you get that, like that nice sear. And I'm just like. I don't know, like, I'm just like, I'm. I'm more. I'm much more Like Team Blackstone, where I'm just like, sure. We.
• 17:15
  We do grill it too. You just turn all the way up. So it's like running at 400 degrees and it's kind of like an outdoor oven at that point. You get a little bit of a smoke tinge to it. It's not as smoky as if you were, you know, kind of the low and slow method, but you can kind of get some char on it if you just crank it all the way up.
• 17:34
  Yeah, but like I said, you don't get the. You don't get the good, like, nasty crust on it where it's just like. Yeah, the bark, I think is sometimes. I've heard it called. Anyways, anyways. Weird, weird tangent. Like I'm just, you know, rant over. But how about we get into this?
• 18:20
  Love that guitar. That kind of sounds a little bit like a harmonica, you know, but also it's.
• 18:25
  Yeah, it's just like. It sounds like a keytar synth kind of thing.
• 18:29
  Yeah, yeah, Even better.
• 18:30
  Sick. What's not to love, dude? Yeah. Parker's like, what did I just listen to? Some AI Slop buddy.
• 18:38
  Yes. That puts you in the mood for sharing your experiences with one another. So who's sharing. Who's going around the circle first to share some experiences?
• 18:49
  Why don't we just sort of. The order that I sort of like popped up when it was Parker, then Mark, and then you, then me. So let's just keep that order, like for coherency. So, Parker, non video game related media that you have been into lately. Go.
• 19:10
  Non video game related media. Okay, so I've been really digging this guy, Thomas Sowell. I don't know if any of you have ever even heard of Thomas Sowell, but he's kind of like a. I don't even know what you call the guy. An economic historian, social philosopher, like academic, professor, writer, popularizer of economic social theories. I guess he wears a lot of different hats. But anyways, he's a really interesting guy and he has lots of really interesting things to say. And I've been listening to some of his stuff and reading some of his books, and I just find his stuff to be really thought provoking and different. So whether it's like old interviews he's done from like the 1970s or 80s or like books that he's written more recently, he's just been really interesting. So I've been hitting up his stuff in multiple different formats and just kind of digging in and being provoked in my thoughts by all the crazy things he says. That actually make a lot of sense.
• 20:11
  So. No, he's great. Nice noise. Yeah. And you and I have talked a little bit about it. Like, I'm familiar with soul. I've read some of it, like, some excerpts and like, essays. And I've listened to some of his stuff and yeah, I think Provocative is like, definitely like a really good. Like, he. He challenges a lot of like, Status quo stuff and it's. It's pretty refreshing, but, you know. So, Mark, what have you been into that is non video game related?
• 20:47
  Well, if you thought Pickleball is my personality. Actually, this. This musical artist known as PD usa, which I think I actually, I mentioned one of his albums last. Not last time, but I mentioned one of his albums. His last album on here one time. He used to be known as just Petey. Now he's PD usa. He has a new album out called the Yips. I am. I just have not been as obsessed with an artist as I was since, like, Mumford and Sons in 2011. But he is. It's just a ton of fun. It's kind of a mix of, like, rock and electronic. But he grew up, like, on a lot of, like, early aughts emo. So this. So he's got kind of that influence. It's not necessarily that sound, but you can like, he's got that ethos. This album was actually produced by Chris Walla from Death Cab.
• 21:39
  So it's like.
• 21:40
  It's fun. He actually kind of got to work with a hero from his youth, which is a fun wrinkle to it. But why. Why I love him so much is he has, like, such a vulnerable songwriting. I should note too, he used a lot of bad words. Not. It's not like, pervasive, but he's got the little E next to all of his albums. So just listen with headphones and. But he's, like, really open about his, like, own search for, like, meaning and purpose in life. Like, not a Christian guy, but it's like he spent his early 20s partying and now he's like in his early 30s. Just kind of like, well, now what? And it's kind of just like I bought all the. What the world was selling me, and it hasn't panned out. So it's like, what am I looking for in life now? And so his previous album called USA is, I think, really much more about that. The Yips is a little more opaque, I feel like. And it's more. It's like taking different perspectives of people in, like, this fictional bar. And it's Kind of the core theme of being people who. Like the yips is this athletic term for when you, like, get in a slump. You can't seem to get out of it. You're in your head all the time. You're just on this losing streak. So it's this core of, like, people who are kind of burned out and stuck and kind of want to get out, get unstuck. And so it's. Yeah, it's been good. I kind of like his. I like that previous album a little better, but I'm really enjoying this. I think it's worth checking out. I'll also shout out. He did get. He has a writing credit on the new theme song for the Disney Junior show, Iron man as awesome Friends, which the theme song is sung by Mark Hoppus, but he also has some, like, writing aspect of it too. Yeah, that's so PD usa The yips.
• 23:35
  That's wild though, because, like, Byron loves Spidey and his amazing friends. Apparently. That's like. The theme song is, like, from the My Chemical Dudes or whatever. So. Fallout Boy, whatever.
• 23:50
  It's Fall Out Boy. Yeah.
• 23:51
  It's all garbage and it all runs together.
• 23:53
  It was somewhere in there. Yeah, that sounds right.
• 23:57
  Just some of that emo pop punk slop from the early aughts. Yeah, I hate all of it. I'm an old. My son loves it and I just like. I just want to, like, go commit ritual suicide or something and. Not really. It's not. It's not that intense. No, that sounds fun, though. It sounds fun. I'll. You know, that's definitely, like, one I'll try to remember to check out at some point in time in the. In the coming week or weeks perhaps. But. Joshua, what have you been into lately, my guy?
• 24:38
  Bunch of stuff. But since we are limited here, I've got one thing that I'll bring to the table, which is a. So I've talked about how I've read a few Russian novels in my lifetime, but they've been by Dostoevsky. And the other big name in Russian novels is Leo Tolstoy. I didn't read War and Peace and I didn't read Anna Karenina, but I did read a short story, the Death of Ivan Ilyich, and it is really good. It's one. It's another one of those books where the more time you kind of sit on it, the better it gets, if that makes sense. Because it's really a simple book. It's about a guy who dies. The opening chapter, he's dead. It's his funeral, so you know where this book is going. But it's also really funny because the opening chapter is all about how everyone who's there at the funeral doesn't want to be there and are thinking about, like, their lunch plans and how they're gonna go play cards afterwards and stuff like that. So it's very dark comedy, but it also. Then it. Then it kind of rewinds and it talks about Ivan and his life and what got him to that place. So it's really. It's a book about meaning, making your life count and what that means and how you would go about doing that in a life that is going to end. Leo Tolstoy, my understanding, is a Christian. I don't know how Orthodox he was, but you certainly at least get a flavor of that, even if it's not super explicit throughout the book. But anyways, the Death of Ivan Ilyich is what I read. It's short. I would highly recommend it if you're into some dark comedy.
• 26:20
  So. I love Tolstoy.
• 26:22
  Nice.
• 26:24
  Yeah. I'm glad that you're reading.
• 26:26
  I was gonna say he's great, but literally, this is the only thing I've read by him, so. To my shame.
• 26:33
  Yeah, it is to your shame. I'm glad you acknowledge that.
• 26:39
  I'm gonna go throw myself in front of a train now.
• 26:43
  Oh, you don't. Do you even know how apropos that is?
• 26:48
  I. I mean, that's why I said it. But I don't know anything else about.
• 26:52
  Okay, okay, okay. All right. Never mind. All right. We're gonna stop talking about that. And if people are wondering what any of that has to do with anything. Yeah, but just go read the bet.
• 27:07
  The best novel ever written, you know?
• 27:09
  Yeah, pretty much. Anna Karenina. I don't know. Some people really do sort of advocate for, like, that War and Peace is his best work. I have not tackled War and Peace, but Anna Karenina is awesome. I love that book. I'm gonna bring something that's, like, pretty, like, casual. Like, this is, like, kind of, like, chill energy. But Netflix has, like. They do, like, the original animation and their original content. And while I find most new things to just be, like, straight garbage, and I usually end up hating them or just resenting the fact that I watch this thing. Netflix has this, like, movie, and it's like an hour and a half, maybe. Maybe two hours. It's not super duper long. I. I don't think. I don't know. I don't know, because I had Fun. The whole time I watched it, I didn't regret it. It's pretty wholesome, and it's got a soundtrack that rips, and it's K Pop Demon Hunters, and it sounds kind of dopey, but it's actually kind of cool. This will not. This movie will not change your life, but it's a good time, and you should not regret it. I don't know. It's like, it's really fun. It's got definitely, like, a very Korean flavor, as far as I can tell. Like. And, yeah, it's. It's cool. I liked it. It's not like, my favorite thing ever, but I had a good time. And it's. I. I've, you know, told a couple people. I'm like, hey, this is a good time. The. The soundtrack is really catchy. And, like, I don't know, maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age, and I'm just not as jaded or as cynical as I used to be. But I. I've listened to the soundtrack a couple times, and it's fun. So, yeah, I don't know. It's K Pop Demon Hunters on Netflix. It's. It's a good time.
• 29:18
  You have something to say, Josh, this time?
• 29:22
  What's that?
• 29:23
  Yeah, that's true. Yeah. From a Russian novel about death to K Pop Demon Hunters. And you. You mentioned what it is. And in my mind, I'm thinking, like, bts, you know, a bunch of dudes who are going to go kill some. You know, I know a mashup of that and, like, Demon Slayer. And then I go, Google it. And this looks like Korean. Oh, my gosh. Why can't I think of it? But the. The. Anyways, these are three females. Korean females. And so, like, how is. Yes. Charlie's Angels is exactly what I was trying to think of. Yes.
• 30:01
  Google that. And it's like, ah, I got it.
• 30:03
  My question is, like, how is this not just Final Fantasy 10 2? That's exactly what this looks like.
• 30:10
  Probably has as many wardrobes. Okay. I mean, but way better soundtrack. I don't know, dude. It's. It's fun.
• 30:18
  Okay?
• 30:19
  It's like I said, it's one of those things where I. It's not, like, gonna change my life. It's not gonna become my identity. But I liked it. It was fun. It was. It was. And it was like. Here's the other thing, though. It was, like, real pretty wholesome as a general rule. Like. And I. Okay, I did just appreciate that. Like, yeah, they didn't like, get super weird or sleazy, and I. I don't know. It's fun. Yeah. So good sometimes. Sometimes. Well, I like to have fun. I like to have fun sometimes, not all the time.
• 30:58
  Despite what people say.
• 30:59
  Despite what people say or think about me.
• 31:01
  Have fun.
• 31:02
  Yeah, I like that.
• 31:05
  Girls do just want to have fun and they just want candy. I don't know. That's weird.
• 31:11
  Oh, my.
• 31:11
  Anyways.
• 31:12
  Oh, my.
• 31:12
  All right, anyways. Well, these. These were quite the experiences that we shared here.
• 31:17
  Just.
• 31:17
  I'm glad that I got to share this experience with you all.
• 31:20
  Like, you guys are all bringing, like, fairly weighty stuff, and I'm like, K pop demon hunters, suck it. Like, let's go. No. Yeah. So I make no apologies, no excuses. I don't believe in guilty pleasures. I like what I like. It was fun and it's a good time.
• 31:39
  Mine's not heavy. Yeah, I got yips.
• 31:43
  It's a you. I mean, like, you had a lot more to say. Just about, like, the range and emotional intelligence, and I'm just like, nah, it's like. It's like, it's fun and it's quirky and soundtrack is kind of a bop. So, yeah, I don't have. It has nothing profound. It's just fun. It's just a good time. Anyways, so. Yeah, but we are a video game podcast, as I have mentioned before. So why don't we take a few minutes here to talk about what we've been playing and sort of going back to that order. But, Parker, what have you been playing lately? My guy.
• 32:25
  Mario Kart World, bravely default HD remaster, and this really weird game called Outcast A New Beginning, which is a sequel to the original Outcast game from, like, 1999. And I probably shouldn't like it. I can't say that it's going to be a mega. A mega hit, super popular game with a lot of people, but for me, I just really enjoyed the heck out of it. It was kind of like everything I wanted from Avatar, the video game, but actually good. And so I just enjoyed it. It has a weird kind of like, if the Sci Fi Channel made an Avatar video game, this is what they would come up with kind of a thing. It's kind of like B tier, like, rental Sci Fi kind of stuff, like, but with a pretty interesting, compelling open world. And so, yeah, Outcast A New Beginning was like, a really interesting game. That's, like, probably most people would give it like a seven, but for me, it was like an eight and a half. I just really enjoyed it. So I can't defend it other than to just say I liked it. Other people are gonna probably think it's not that great, but I really enjoyed it. But other than that, yeah, that's what I've been playing.
• 33:42
  Cool, Cool, cool, cool.
• 33:44
  I pulled up the Steam trailer and there's a guy like on a jetpack and a glider and that looks pretty fun.
• 33:50
  The world traversal is what really sets it apart. So yeah, it's very fun to like fly and glide and jump around in this world and just do crazy stuff.
• 33:59
  So that's cool.
• 34:03
  But you actually. Because I have maybe sort of like a core memory kind of unlocked here. But like you were obsessed with like busted cause for a while too. The just cause games.
• 34:18
  The third one.
• 34:19
  Yeah, yeah. So. Which is big on like physics and goofy traversal stuff. So. So yeah, I can see that, that tracking for you. So yeah. But Mark, what have you been playing lately, my friend?
• 34:38
  Yes.
• 34:40
  I've been playing Pikmin 4, which on my Switch 2, as far as I know, it doesn't have any like special upgrades. I think it still is 30 frames per second. But it also, it looks great, plays great on Switch 2. I don't know if there's anything different about it. This is the first Pikmin game I've played and it was like the more I heard about Pikmin 4, the more I thought it would be like this might be. This might become my personality. And it has not yet, but I'm still, I am figuring out. It's like I'm compelled, but I don't know why I'm compelled. Where it's like I get it, but then I still wonder where it's like I get it because of. They talk about Dandori where it's like you're doing tasks efficiently, you're getting the instant gratification and you're figuring out how to do stuff. Well, I'm not. I haven't played many like real time strategy games. So this is. I understand this is real time strategy for babies, but this is my kind of first real time strategy game. And getting that like efficiency, all that feedback is like, it's amazing. But then I kind of wonder like, is, is this it? Like I am constantly feeling satisfaction but I'm not feeling much else, which is like it's doing this one thing really well. But I don't really get the sense of wonder, awe from different games or like it's not much thrill or even frustration. I'm pretty early on in the game. So it's, like, not that difficult yet. I'm still getting used to the controls. I think I'm still figuring out all the stuff you can do and. But I say all that and I'm like, I'm not sure of, like, why do I mind what. I like this game so much, and yet I do where it's like, at the end of the day, this is what I want to play right now. And I keep thinking about it and. But it's not. It hasn't really hooked me in a way that I thought it was going to. I think I'm only probably, like, I don't know, a fifth of the way through the game. A quarter, maybe. I understand kind of. There's a, like, a second campaign to it, maybe. So I'm curious to see where it goes, but. Pikmin 4.
• 36:58
  Nice.
• 37:00
  Nice.
• 37:01
  Yeah, I've played the other three. Well, actually, I haven't played the second one. I take that back. I've played some of the first and finished the third and really liked that, so. Nice. Yeah, Yeah. I dig the. The whole Pikmin thing, but I have not gotten the fourth one.
• 37:16
  I keep hearing that. It's like, this is definitely the best in the series. And so I'm kind of like, if I get really into this, will I be disappointed by working backward? But we'll see.
• 37:24
  I don't know.
• 37:24
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 37:29
  Maybe. But, you know, I'm glad that it hasn't become your personality yet, because it's like, at this point in time, your personality is getting too complex. You already have, like, three or four things, like adding another one.
• 37:41
  I've got four personalities.
• 37:45
  I still don't even know where the pickle comes in. You know, you're talking about pickleball, and I haven't heard any mention of any.
• 37:52
  I could get into pickling, too. That feels very much, very much up my alley.
• 37:57
  It's pretty easy. I've done it before.
• 37:59
  You know what, though? What I have to say, Mark, is that I'm glad that none of your personalities are like, Josh's one, and that it just sucks because he just likes wordplay and it's the worst. And I hate.
• 38:14
  I love that personality.
• 38:16
  And it.
• 38:20
  Change. He just. He keeps. He just. He's gotta, like, just, like, drag it out there and just, like, torture me with puns and just slope. Ah.
• 38:35
  And Nate never knows what to do with it.
• 38:37
  No, I just react poorly to it.
• 38:41
  It's filled with piss and vinegar.
• 38:50
  Don't like that.
• 38:51
  Did you know a cucumber is a fruit, not a vegetable. Isn't that crazy?
• 38:55
  Because the seeds are. Anyways. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 38:59
  Veggie tails is a lie.
• 39:02
  Two fruits. You're not even. That's so true. What?
• 39:06
  I never put that together.
• 39:07
  Asparagus junior that's funny. And the broccoli people, their. Their fruit or their vegetables. Yeah, but anyways, anyways.
• 39:18
  I've been playing Star Ocean second Story R on my. On my switch.
• 39:23
  I was gonna ask you, but thank you for beating me to the punch.
• 39:26
  Oh. So there's. There's a few things I've probably put way more time into the. Like I'm. I'm like 10 out. I think I've put in 10 to 12 hours at this point. And I'm probably like three hours into the game, if that makes any sense. Like in terms of story, I'm probably like way early on in the game. I've noticed something which is very weird. I've never considered myself as someone who likes to grind in games and I. I don't generally like to put games on easy mode either. But this game allows you to unlock like you use certain. A certain. Not currency, but things that you get in the game. Certain points that you get from battles. You can use them to learn special things that you can do as your character. So there's kind of like an in game thing. You can become a machinist and create certain kinds of items. Well, you can do that to unlock a. An ability that allows you to like in Earthbound for Super Nintendo, fight easy battles and just beat them automatically on the world map. So if you do that. What's that?
• 40:40
  That skill is so great.
• 40:42
  It.
• 40:42
  Okay, so you do that, you can unlock other skills that allow you to earn less money and it increases the amount of other things that you get experience and then these other types of points that you get. And you can unlock another skill that allows you to increase the amount of enemies that come at you while you're on the. While you're on the open world. So if you do all these things just right, if you tweak it, then you go. If you just go grind for a little bit and get to a high level. Well, now all of the enemies are lower level than you are, but they still give you a good amount of experience. So you can go run around on the map. And whenever the people who are following you touch these low level enemies, you just start getting experience and points and money. And so I have been grinding by running around and occasionally one will catch me, you know, and I'LL get hit with a back attack and I have to actually battle. But I have gained a ton of levels just from running around. Now in a different game, if this was just a setting that I could turn on. Oh, turn on easy mode and four times experience and four times money, I would feel like I was cheating the game. But for some reason, in this case, it feels like I'm turning these dials and setting it to where I want it to be and gaining tons of levels and making the numbers go up. So I did hit a point early. Again, it feels early in the game because I don't know too much about this world that you're in, but I've traveled to a few places already. But there was a scripted battle that I had to lose where I was like, pretty sure I'm like three times higher level than this character that I'm fighting, but he just killed me in two hits. So. Okay, I mean, I'll lose for story's sake, but I'm probably way higher level than this character I just fought. So anyways, all that to say is I'm having fun with the game. I'm not sure I even like, fully get the battle system because it's like real time. It's not turn based, but you are kind of choosing some. It takes some stuff from JRPGs. It's like the Tales of Battle system, but it's all real time. And I'm not sure that I fully understand it, but. But I'm super high level because I've tweaked these knobs under the hood. So I'm having fun with it. So, you know, it plays really well on Switch 2. Just saying.
• 43:16
  You know what's fun to me about that is watching Parker kind of light up and just be like, oh, that skill is so good. Right. Okay. And I wasn't going to say anything earlier, but I'm going to do it now. Like, I'm going to do it now. I'm going to shame some people. I'm going to shame Parker. He's playing bravely. Fault default, right? And yeah, we're gonna. We're gonna go there. And you disclosed to me that essentially you're just like, you have just retreated into, like, big stick where it's like you just whack the enemies till they're dead. And I'm like, dude, there's all this, like, fun stuff that you can do, like with the jobs. And you're like, no, I don't. I don't want to do that. And I'm Like, I'm like, josh just explained something that is comparable in sort of like, build crafting. And you're like. You're like, yes, this is so good. And then I'm saying, like, hey, you can play bravely default in kind of a comparable manner. And you're like, no, no, I will not. And so I'm just. I'm coming out here.
• 44:18
  I think it is. I think it is.
• 44:22
  You sure?
• 44:23
  Hey, listen, the way I played Bravery default, I did. Okay. I will confess. I've put it on 4x battle speed for sure.
• 44:31
  Oh, the speed.
• 44:31
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 44:32
  I mean, like, that's. That's like, a must. Then I found out that the monk class was, like, totally cracked in that game. And I'm like, ooh, one monk is good. But you know what's better than one monk, two monks. And then I started gaining all this XP from grinding, and I was like, you know what? Like, why don't I just ride this whole thing where if you, you know, win a battle on the first turn, you get a 50% XP boost. So you know what's better than two mon, three monks? And then eventually I have four monks. And I've grinded up to, like, level max 99, like, halfway through the game, just using four monks. But I'm like, this is not the big stick. This is the ultimate glass cannon. Because when you get to the final, highest level of the Monk, it, like, double the natural talent ability will double your damage, essentially, if you completely unequip all your characters. So my characters are running around with no equipment, just punching everything to death with their fists. It is the ultimate glass cannon build, in my opinion. And it is not a big stick. It is an elegant glass cannon, sir.
• 45:41
  It's the power of the Word of God.
• 45:46
  No, I. I beg to differ. Like, I'm just saying, like, there's.
• 45:51
  Because you know that I've gone through that game. I've beaten every boss in, like, two turns. No sweating balls.
• 45:58
  It's the most boring possible way to do it. Like, listen, I. I'm just. I'm like. One of the things I love about the bravely default games is, like, the. The. The depth of, like, the job system. And yes, I did have a monk. And yes, I just. I would just annihilate things, but it's like, there's so many cool classes in that game, and it's just like. And I'm like, you could have all this fun now. You can't do the Patissier of Doom because that's in bravely Second. But it's like, dude, like, there are some, like, really fun things in there, but you're just like, I'm just gonna be a monk, and I'm just gonna punch things. And I guess, like, if you just want to be a boring, basic fist wizard, that's. That's cool, I guess. You know, it's also lame. I'm just. But anyways, no, I, I. Anytime. Anytime I can sort of, like, do, like, the really broken thing, I do the broken thing. So. Josh, like, even you're like, hey, I just, like, run into things and I make them dead. Like, I. One of my favorite things about that reminds me of, like, Diablo. One of my favorite things to do in Diablo is make these builds where it's just like, once you get the engine going, it just becomes like, it's been almost like a Rube Goldberg machine where it just. It takes on a life of its own, and you just, like, you just become like this little, like, walking, like, murder thing. Well, not murder, really, because they're demons and dark spawn and all that stuff, so. Yeah. But anyways, yeah, I was. I just wanted to, like, you know, sort of shame Parker. And he. He did not shame properly. He actually doubled down. He was like, no, I feel no shame.
• 47:39
  On that.
• 47:40
  Yeah, he quadrupled down on. He's like, you know, it's better than one monk, two monks. And I was like, I think I know where this story's going, and I don't like the way it's ending.
• 47:56
  That's awesome.
• 47:57
  I will say, though, Josh, just on second story, R really quick, like, your strategy is great. I had so much fun playing that game and just running around and having my own characters run off in all different directions and just. It's like little clouds of XP and gold, like, just filling my bank account. It just felt so great.
• 48:17
  Yeah. And you've. You turned down the money dial, you know, but you still get a ton of it. Like, I'm want for nothing at this point. I still feel early on in the game, even though apparently how long to beat it has it like 25 hours. So it's probably going to take me at least 30, at least at this point. Although that might be faster because now I'm at the really high level. I don't know. I have no idea. But it still feels like I'm. It still feels like the story hasn't gotten. You're still in the question, like, first arc or whatever. Act. That's what they're called in storytelling. Your first act is what it Feels like to me.
• 48:59
  So hold on. And I'm just looking at the show notes here. Mark, you have getting a racing sim question mark. Like, expound, sir.
• 49:09
  Yes. So this is actually kind of partly related to the Beatdown meta. Well, for one, a friend of a friend was selling his, like, racing sim, where it's like a steering wheel and a seat for like 250 bucks. And overall, it would be like, new. It'd be like 650. So it's like that. That's tantalizing. So I think I'm getting it. I don't. The twist is I don't actually have something to play it on because I was. I would play F1 on my Xbox. I don't have that anymore. I might get like a used PS4 or something and get the latest F1 game on that. Eventually I'd like to get a PC, but that's not in the cards right now. I don't feel like. But the deal I made is like, if I get this, I've already gotten a Switch 2 this year, then I'm like, I'm just done with video game purchases for the rest of the year. So I kind of inadvertently now playing the beat down meta, where it's like, all right, what do I have available to me once I get all these things? And so, yeah, I think I'm getting this. We're doing a big garage project. We're turning it to a playroom, so I think it'll live there, which is nice. And so I think I'm getting this racing sim that pretty excited about.
• 50:29
  Yeah, super cool.
• 50:32
  Parker, you can speak to that a little bit, can't you?
• 50:37
  I did. That was one of my weird Covid hobbies that Nate likes to bring up every now and then. We all had those weird things where we were locked in our houses for two years and we just came up with, like, strange stuff to do.
• 50:51
  And so I didn't have that because I wasn't locked in my house. I had to go out and engage with the real world old. So.
• 51:00
  Yeah, I did not. So I was alone and isolated and depressed and needed video games to help me through that season. So, no, not really. But, yeah. So I bought a racing rig for my Xbox, actually, and had a ton of fun playing games like Forza Horizon 4 and Forza Horizon 5. On that, I got the shifter to go with it too, but I've never actually used that. I think that's more of a pain than anything else to use. But just like, the actual, like, steering wheel and pedals and stuff. It was a lot of fun.
• 51:37
  So, yeah, we. Over the last few years, we've gotten really into Formula ones. That's kind of really what I'm excited about for it is kind of getting into the F1 games. And I've tried some Forza Motorsport back when I had the Xbox and kind of enjoyed that. I was like, this would be really fun with a wheel. So that kind of got me down this path.
• 51:58
  Nice.
• 51:59
  That's cool.
• 52:00
  Yeah, no, that is pretty cool. I'm only a little jealous. Just a little jealous. I mean, the tiniest smidge. So. But anyways, since we're talking about what we've been playing, I have probably sort of been into. I've been into a bunch of stuff lately. I am currently playing Mist and Astral Chain for the podcast. Those are both patron picks. I've got a little bit of progress in both of them sort of coming back to Astral Chain and, you know, and that's just. That's like a really solid, like, action game. It's kind of fun. It's got like the. The twin stick sort of. There's like a mechanic in there, but I'm not too deep into that. I'm enjoying my time back in it though. It runs great on the switch too as well. Mist. I'm actually playing the 2021 reboot that was done in Unreal Engine. And it's. It's definitely like I can. Because it's. It's. It was basically built for VR and it's interesting. I can definitely see where, like, if I was playing this in VR being much more compelling experience. I don't know. I don't have a lot to say. I just kind of got through one area in it for you know, the other night. It's definitely. It's has a lot. Like, you can see like the age of that game. It looks gorgeous, but like in just the. The design as far as, like, how it. You sort of interact with it and stuff. And there's just a lot of. It's a game that sort of asks you to just sort of like poke around and. Which can be a little frustrating because, you know, I'm, you know, I've become a little lazy in my gaming and it's like if somebody's not holding my hand and telling me exactly what to do, I get a little frustrated a while. But so it's. It's kind of been an interesting experience. You know, I don't hate it. I will say that it's like. And actually like, once I sort of, like, figured out some of the stuff, and I have used an online guide to help, like, sort of, like, point me in the right direction a few times with that. But it's. It's. It's kind of neat. In addition to that stuff, I've also, you know, Parker, you and I have dipped into Remnant two a little bit. You know, we're sort of getting you through the DLC there. Nice for that. That game is. I. I have a ton of fun with that game, but it's like, I'm kind of, like, anxious to get it off my hard drive at this point in time. On the. On the PlayStation, I'm just like, I have room for other things, and I will talk about one of those other things here in a minute. But I also did fire up just to sort of like, get a taste like you guys are, you know, you're talking about RPGs. Josh, I didn't put this in the notes, so this is a bit of a surprise, but I fired up Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and. Oh, boy, that game is dangerous. Now, what I will say.
• 55:23
  Yeah.
• 55:23
  Is for me, like, I think I immediately kind of figured out, like, what the premise was. Like, so it's basically an mmo, but it's a single player game. And, like, I think mechanically, like, I just. I clicked with it. Like, almost immediately I was like, oh, no. I kind of get what's going on here now. I recognize there's, like, a lot more in that. But it's like, I was a hardcore wow. Player for several years. Like, I probably have thousands of hours in that game. I played that almost more than I played it. Probably more than I played Destiny 2, because that was like, all I played for, like, two or three years. But, yeah, so I was like, oh, yeah. Like, I started playing it and I was like, it was like, you do this? And I was like, oh, the audio. Oh, yeah, I get what's going on here. Okay, cool. Like, and it was just like, just like. And so now I have heard that, like, there's a lot of stuff that's sort of gets wrapped up into that, but it was like some of that stuff, right? And I'm. I'm really, really early in the game. So. But that's. That's kind of. That's been like, like kind of a slow burn. But I did. I did manage to sort of like, get some things kind of knocked off the list here. Nothing off my locked downloaded list. Well, that's not true. Actually. One of those is on my locked down list. I finally rolled credits on Astrobot. That game is a delight. Hey, now, full disclosure. If somebody were to look at my PlayStation profile, they'd say, nate, you have the platinum. And I'm like, well, I don't technically. I mean, I do, but I did not earn that. That was my wife, because she got sweaty on that game. And I looked at the. The, like, the big bad, like, last level thing for that. Like, there's sort of like a. When you. There's a part where, like, you can basically to. To get one of the. The trophies, there's like this gauntlet thing that you have to go through. And I took one look at that, and I was like, that's not for me. Like, no, I'm not doing that. But I didn't have to because she did. So I have the platinum. But there's like, it's like in sort of like the hall of Fame, like, Barry Bonds, baseball got the. The asterisk burned on it. You know, it's like, that's like my. That platinum has an asterisk on it. Like, I didn't actually do that because, like, the reality is, like, I like platformers. I don't love them. And that game, like, 2D or 3D. Like, I enjoy them, but, like, I. My bandwidth for that is like, I'll play it. I'll have a good time. Like, I played Mario Odyssey, had a good time with that. Love that game. And people are like, get all the moons. And I'm like, go pound sand. I will not do that thing. I have no desire to do that thing. And yeah, no, And Asher bot is very much, like, same energy. They're like, get all the bots. I'm like, no, I'm not doing that. No. Like, I see some of those challenges, and I'm like, no, thank you. Like, I don't care that much. It's a great game, though. And I would say, like, yeah, it comes, like, wholehearted recommendation. Like, I think it's great channels, like, a lot of, like, Mario 3D energy. Yeah. So Astrobot is a good time. I also. So that's. That's a negative one. And that is one off of my locked and loaded list. So. Yeah. But also, Parker, you and I.
• 59:11
  My. My takeaway there. Sorry. My takeaway there is your wife is performance enhancing drugs.
• 59:19
  Yeah, she makes me better, stronger, faster. Yeah, it's fair. That's fair.
• 59:25
  That's the asterisk for you.
• 59:27
  Yeah. Anyway.
• 59:28
  Sorry.
• 59:28
  No, I like it. I like it. In addition to that, though, I did roll credits On Space Marine, that's actually going to get logged as a borrowed game because that's one of the games on Deuces and I shared library, but we rolled credits on Space Marine too. That was fun. It's kind of a cool game. Very like Gears of War coded. Actually. You know what though? Like it does remind me of Gears of War, but I think Parker, when we were playing it, it definitely sort of like feels like a better version of Evil west, which is another game you and I played earlier in the year. Like it feels like a smoother.
• 1:00:10
  It's not really a Gears of War game.
• 1:00:12
  It's.
• 1:00:12
  It's kind of got an attitude like Gears of War, but it's not a cover based shooter. The mechanics are completely different. It's very melee heavy. So the Gears of War comparison I think is pretty superficial overall, but still a good game.
• 1:00:28
  Yeah, yeah, it's like I said, I think the, the sort of like the tangent for me is like it reminds me a lot of Evil west but a much better like a much more polished version of that game where it's like there's a lot of like, you know, you have abilities and there's like melee and there's like counters and combos and yeah, there's, it's just, it's not, it's not really cover based shooter. It's not even really a shooter. It's just you do shoot things but it's not like that's not like the chief goals. Like you're kind of like juggling like some of the cooldowns and like you sort of like. Yeah, I don't know. It's a good game. It's. It's fun. It's a lot of fun. If you, I don't know if you like Space Marine, if you like Warhammer 40K, it's a good time. Even if you don't like Warhammer 40K, it might be a good time. It's fun. You know, it's shootery but it actually just feels more like just sort of like a. Almost like a 3D brawler kind of thing too. So yeah, good time. But yeah, so that's another negative one which would have put my beat down score at negative six. But I, I succumbed to the hype. I have played. I played Clear Obscure, which is like one of the games that sort of like everybody was talking about it and you know, it's is a game of the year contender in a lot of circles. But another game came out like fairly recently and everybody that I've heard That's played. This is like, nope. It was clear obscure, but now it's this thing. And so. And I just couldn't help myself. Like, the hype was getting to me. And I love this. I love the first game and basically sort of like, I've heard enough endorsements of it, but I picked up Death Stranding too, that I was like, I couldn't like, all of the hype and all of like, the. The Kojima glazing and everything that was going on. Like, I just couldn't. I was like, no, I. I have to. Like, I have to buy this because if I don't, I'm gonna go insane. And so I. I like a weak little man, baby. I bought it. I haven't played it yet, but I did. Did buy it. I do intend to play it before the end of the year because, like, I think it's. It's just one of those things where it's like, I really liked the original Death Stranding, and I think what's most interesting to me is like, I think Claire Obscure is. Is pretty stinking excellent. I do think there's some. Some like it whiffs in a couple places, but Death Stranding to, like, for that. I liked the original Death Stranding, and I think that's a great game. But there's a part of me, it's just like, I need to see if the hype is real. Like, you know, and so, yeah, they just. It's like, because isn't. Sorry, go ahead.
• 1:03:41
  No, I was. I was just gonna ask. Isn't this one smaller in scope too? Like, is it still open world, like the first one?
• 1:03:48
  Mm. From what I've heard, it's bigger.
• 1:03:50
  Oh, it is, Yeah.
• 1:03:52
  I think it's way bigger.
• 1:03:53
  From what I think it's like, heard people talk about.
• 1:03:56
  Oh, I had only heard that it was just on the beach. Is it really?
• 1:04:06
  I am so angry right now. So incredibly angry. I'm. I'm disappointed. Disappointed, sir. I shouldn't be.
• 1:04:19
  Anyways, that. Yeah.
• 1:04:22
  So, Claire, you worked so hard for that. So hard for that.
• 1:04:26
  I just love that. But I also walked willingly right into that. The wave overtook me.
• 1:04:36
  I guess that's where you're usually stranded. Right?
• 1:04:47
  All right. Gotta, you know, sort of regain my composure here. But Claire Obscure is sort of going back to. What I was saying, though, is Claire Obscure sort of like, caught me off guard and I was so sort of charmed by that game that it's hard for me to. And. And again, I do think there are some, like, there are some shortcomings. But like, it is hard for me to fathom how something like. And I liked the original death stranding, but like, everybody's saying, like, nope, it's. It is all that in a bag of chips and it's better and it's more. And so there's kind of like, it's like I. There's almost this part where it's like, do I need to. No. But I also kind of need to, like, I need to, like, I need to put this question to bed for myself. You know what I'm saying? Where it's like, like, is it, is it that good? Like, and so it just, I don't, I don't often, I don't often like, care about, like, Game of the Year stuff. But like, for some reason, like, I'm just, I'm oddly invested in this. And so now I'm like, I need to figure out which one is. Is actually better. But yeah, anyways, so I would have been at negative six, but now I'm at negative five because I picked up a game. Yeah. So that being said, if anybody, you know, if this is your first time listening or watching and you're saying, what are these numbers? Well, Josh, what's your beat down score real quick?
• 1:06:23
  I believe it's still at negative eight. Okay so far.
• 1:06:27
  So, yeah, people are saying like, what, what are the negative numbers? Mark, you mentioned the, the meta a little bit. It. And it is just that it is a meta that we run all year long. Long where you play the games you already own and you get negative points, you buy stuff and you get positive points. You want to keep that down. Think about it as like you're just taking away from the backlog. Correct? Correct. Yes. It's a little more nuanced than that. But if you are interested in the rules, reach out to me or Josh or check us out in the discord in the backlog. Beat down 2025 channel. It's pinned at the top. That being said, if you like what we're doing here and you want to go a little bit above and beyond, like, you've done the rating and the reviewing, you've done the sharing and the caring, you've made your grandmother subscribe and your significant other subscribe, just to bump Those numbers up 1, 1. Thank you. Because that's kind of cool. Even though I'm sure your spouse and your family don't really appreciate that you're messing up their algorithm, my guy. But if you're looking for a way to partner with us, Maybe a way to encourage us. We do have a Patreon. You can think of it as a tip jar. You can think of it as a way to partner with us. But for as little as a buck a month, you can get early and uncut access to each and every episode. You can also get a special role in the Discord, which gives you a little bit more access to Josh and I, and, you know, that kind of. You have a little bit stronger of a voice. You get to help us shape the future of the podcast with games. You can pick a game for us to play or I have a recommend a topic for an episode. Lastly, but surely not leastly, there is an inclusive podcast for every patron called the Bro Hang. Tends to be a lot more stream of consciousness. So it's, it's a, it's a mixed bag. Sometimes it's going to be silly. Sometimes it's essentially Josh and I just making ourselves laugh by, you know, just making fart noises. It's more than that, but not by much. So actually, I don't know if we've ever just done an ep, like an episode of the Bro Hang where we just make fart noises and laugh at it. That would be an interesting, interesting one. But you know, Mark, I won't put you on the spot here, but you are a patron and on the spot. Yeah, yeah. Well, I'm not going to make you extol, like, the virtues of the patronage, but I'm just gonna say no, you.
• 1:09:05
  Should give them money. I give them money. You should too. I like what I'm getting out of this and I like these guys. So there you go.
• 1:09:11
  Oh, shocks. Well, thanks, pal. And your check will be in the mail. That is such a tired and wrote joke. Like, I don't know why. Like, it's so just. It's like, oh, I'll send you the check later. Oh, it's like everybody knows that there's no check involved, you know, Anyways, so.
• 1:09:31
  There isn't.
• 1:09:33
  No. Sorry, bud.
• 1:09:34
  Actually, we had talked about this.
• 1:09:35
  We do need to get. Get Porcho his money because, like, yeah, we still haven't done that yet. And he's. He's not, like, salty about that at all because he couldn't use it for the Steam sale and we were just doing him a favor. We're just saving his backlog there. Anyways, that being said, if you like what we're doing, check out the Patreon. Last but certainly not least, we have some friends over at the Playwell Network. We love those guys. We love what they're about. And we think you ought to check out some of their stuff. And so here's a word from one of them.
• 1:10:18
  Hey, this is the techno funk boy.
• 1:10:20
  10 years ago I released the Final Fantasy mixes. These were 10 high energy tracks that have remained even after a decade, some of my most popular songs ever. After 10 years, I want to come back to this recording and create an even more better version to live on for years to come. That is why I'm doing the 10th anniversary remasters that will include one or two extra tracks as well as for the first time ever, a physical release. But I need your help to do this. I started a Kickstarter in order to get the backing I need to get the physical release and brand new cover art to go with this project. You can learn more@technofunkboy.com ffmix that's technofunkboy.com ffmix and we're back. So folks, tonight, you know, since it's already been spoiled because you are literate and you read the podcast title, I forgot about that. Surprise. Not really a surprise. We're going to be Talking about the Switch 2, but not our initial impressions. Actually, we're going to be talking about it after, you know, after the fact. You know, we've had some time to put our hands on this thing. We've probably put it through its paces and there's actually already been some controversy. Controversies have sort of. What is he eating?
• 1:12:05
  What?
• 1:12:06
  Oh my goodness, the puppy. He's chewing on something. Controversy, controversy, controversy. Puppy. Just. This is a bad idea. Anyways, there have already. Some controversies have already arisen in regards to the Switch two. I'm thinking about the. The whole. There's like a screen thing going on where Digital Foundry did some testing and apparently the refresh rate is like not great or something. I don't know. I don't know. I don't pay like, I haven't noticed any problems, so I don't pay attention to that.
• 1:12:49
  Yeah.
• 1:12:49
  Anyways, that being said, we thought we'd get some of our favorite Switch two owners together to talk about our thoughts a couple months out. So how. I guess like the easiest way to sort of open this up is like we're a couple months. We are a couple months out. We've had some time and we'll just. It's the order we've been going with. Parker, your thoughts so far on the switch 2. What do you got?
• 1:13:25
  I really like mine so far. I think I like pretty much everything about it. I would say I'M a little underwhelmed by the launch lineup for it. Overall, sure, I mean, Mario Kart's great, but I've already three starred all the tracks and, you know, done all that fun stuff, so I'm already kind of like in the mode of like, what's next? And so it feels like it, it needs to build the library. So I would say in my opinion, that's like the one kind of like asterisk to it. But I mean, overall, like, I really like it. I think Mario Kart is great and I would say, like, it's a, it's a great launch game, but it's more like I'm looking at it from the perspective of it's got a lot of potential down the road if it gets supported with updates and content and stuff like that. That's where I think it goes from like a really good game to like an all time great. So like, it's got the potential there, but it's like not quite there yet. So. And I think that's the way I look at the Switch 2, just in general, like, it's great, it's got a lot of potential and the library to me is really what's gonna cause it to be vaulted into like an all timer. So that's kind of like a wait and see kind of a thing. But as far as like, you know, just like playing around with it and like the, the performance of it and everything, I mean, I don't have any problems with it. It runs super smooth. I mean, I love the fact that like the shop, the eShop opens up and doesn't take like three minutes to load like the old one did, you know, like the. You don't have the problem like with a lot of other handhelds with like it overheating and fan noise or anything like that. It's super quiet and super easy to use in that perspective too. So, like, I think it's a great little piece of tech and I'm just really pleased with it overall.
• 1:15:14
  Yeah. Yeah. Mark, sort of your opening salvo here. What do you got for us?
• 1:15:20
  Yeah, I'm trying to get beyond first impressions, but when people talk about Switch 2, it feels like kind of everyone's had a pretty similar take. And I think everyone's just right about it where it's like, yeah, this is a better switch. And I think that I don't want that to sound reductive because that does sound like, oh, it's just a better switch. But it's also at the same time like it's a better Switch. Like, I'm. Like, it feels better. It runs better. Obviously. Like, a lot of it is just, I guess where I want to play Nintendo games now. And, like, I want to play games on it. Like, I'm playing a Switch 1 game that has no extra features to it, just because it's like, I want to use my Switch to kind of like, what Parker is saying, too. I do feel there's a little bit of underwhelm around the lineup. Like, I love Mario Kart, and that's like, this is the best feeling Mario Kart, but it's also. It just like Parker says. Well, like, there's a lot of potential here, and I'm kind of. I am longing for the Mario Kart that it will be in three years because it feels like it's kind of halfway there. There's a lot of. A lot of foundation to it, and there's not much else. Like, I think I feel like there's a ton of Switch 1 games I've missed that I will enjoy on this because it feels newer and fresh. But I also, I. I keep forgetting, like, this is actually the first console I've gotten at launch. And so, like, I haven't ever actually been in this space where. All right, I got this console day one, and what all is there stuff to play? And it's like, there's Mario Kart World, and there's a bunch of ports and deltarune if you're into it. And there's kind of like, I got Mario Kart because it's game with it, and I haven't really bought any other Switch 2 stuff. I bought welcome Tour, actually. I did that as well.
• 1:17:18
  Okay.
• 1:17:18
  And so, yeah, it's hard not to feel a little underwhelmed by it, but I'm also, at the same time, like, I'm, like, really happy with this.
• 1:17:25
  Yeah. Yeah. Josh.
• 1:17:31
  Yeah, I. As I've thought about this, the one thing. Okay, so, Mark, you. You said that. That it's like a better switch. And it's hard to. To. To really capture that, because that sentence is very much true, but it's almost like a Switch that is better in every way. Yes, it feels better. It looks better, it plays better. Like, just everything and the small gripes that I have with it. Some things that I've noticed, I think because of the size of the screen and the weight of the console, it's harder to play without a grip because it feels a lot more flat just because it's bigger, but it's like, that's the nature of the beast. I like the bigger screen, and so I'm not gonna, you know, and you can't contour it, you know, right out of the box because then that's gonna cause all sorts of troubles with joy cons and all that stuff. So. So it's like tiny little. What's that?
• 1:18:27
  If I can do one air ejection, what you can do. I found this from podcast. I've got mine right here. If you could do the kickstand out just a little bit, you can rest your pinkies in right there.
• 1:18:37
  Nice.
• 1:18:37
  Actually is like a nice. It holds a little bit of the weight, so it kind of helps a little bit.
• 1:18:42
  Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome.
• 1:18:44
  So try that out.
• 1:18:45
  And that kickstand is another thing that feels so much better now. I never had the oled, which apparently the kickstand was a lot better one, but a huge step up from the original Switch. But so. So as far as kind of like, I guess that's sort of initial impressions, but having time with it, that is kind of the encapsulation is like, I'm. And I like again, Mark, the way that you put that is maybe slightly disappointed by launch lineup, but I'm still like, I'm very glad that I own this. That, like, no regrets? Like, no. I enjoy it very much. And it is odd. I'm not one to do launch lineup. And actually, now that you've said that, this might be the first system I've gotten at launch as well, because I've gotten other systems on, like, I guess within the window, like the first year or two. But this might be the first day one. Yeah. Because I generally don't pay full price for them and here I am paying full price for it. So. Wow. I guess I'm in that same camp. So the thing is, the difference is to me though, is that I wasn't looking for a huge launch lineup because I have such a huge backlog of Switch games. And I'm actually kind of glad, hey, I could just play my Switch games on this thing. So the weirdest thing and the thing that makes it so great for me, the way that I'm playing games this year. But the weirdest thing is I think this comes most highly recommended for the person that owns a bunch of Switch games that they want to play. Like, that's kind of that you're gonna get the highest value out of it. Because if you're waiting on Switch to exclusives, like, I wouldn't recommend you go spend $450 on this thing. If you're just gonna be waiting for a while, you know, is. Is. Is Donkey Kong Bonanza really worth, you know, the 550 or whatever it's gonna be that you're gonna have to drop in total? I mean, okay, maybe to you. It's not to me. So I. I. The strangest thing to me is that I feel like I'm kind of in a place where this is best. For someone in my position that owns a bunch of switch games, still needs to play a bunch of switch games, this is the best place to play. It feels great. It looks great, and, yeah, I'm really enjoying it.
• 1:21:06
  So, yeah, I mean, you know, I don't want to sort of echo too, too much here, but, yeah, I do think it is important to sort of, like, latch onto that. Like, this does feel like a better switch in every conceivable way. The weight, the build, the build craft, the. The. The build quality. Like, this does not feel like the OLED felt really good. The OLED felt, like, really clean and sort of like. Oh, like, kind of a step up. But, like, in comparison, like, the Switch 2 does not feel like a toy, whereas, like, the original switch very much feels like a toy. Like, especially like, when you sort of do, like, the. Like. Because we still have my oled or my old oled. It's Megan's now, but we still have that. And I picked it up the other day, and I was like, oh. Oh. Like, it's not. It's. It's like, almost sort of like a Toy Story moment where it's like, I don't like you anymore.
• 1:22:12
  I'm done with you.
• 1:22:14
  Like, I don't want to play with you anymore. Yes. But. So that is, like, something, like, initially that I've. And I've just been like, continue to be impressed with that. I do. I really like the screen on it. You know, I haven't had any problems with it. I've done a sort of a mixed bag. Like, I. I play some docked, and I play some handheld, and I just think it looks. It looks great. I. I, too, I did pick up the. The welcome tour just for content, and all I'm gonna say about it is, like, people just pass on it. It's not that interesting. It's. It's kind of unfortunate. Like, you know, I think there's a bit of a conversation maybe to be had at some point in time about how, like, Parker, you and I talked a little bit. But, like, the welcome tour really was just a missed opportunity. Where it, like it's neat and then you start playing around with it and you're like, oh, okay. Like, it feels very corporate. Very sort of like just. Yeah, not. It's. There's some neat ideas there and there is kind of a charm to it, but it's also. It's pretty sterile and kind of like just.
• 1:23:42
  To. To interject with that when the Game awards has a category for like Best Game direction, where it's like, what, like, what is that supposed to be? Eliza's not just Best Game. This is why it exists. Because this is bad game direction where it's like there was just. I really liked a lot of the stuff in it, but it's like there's a lot of weird decisions that were made along the way in the making of this game that just kind of hampered a little bit. Like, there's a lot of like OSHA style quizzes or just like that just kind of go along at the same time. It's like, I like the mini games and the little demo things are like really cool and probably worth the 10 bucks and. But to get them, you have to do the stamp stuff.
• 1:24:25
  Yeah. And that's. That's the. The. The cool parts are so sort of like buried under a bunch of tedium that it's like if you guys had figured out the way a way to gamify this a little bit more like. And I think even sort of like, you know, maybe leaned into like using some of like Nintendo brand stuff. I think that's the. One of the biggest sort of whiffs is that there's like. Like, why isn't Mario in this? Or why isn't like, you know, why aren't like Nintendo's properties featured in this in sort of meaningful ways? Like, it's just like. It's just kind of like, yeah, it's definitely like it's gonna get nominated for Worst Worst Game Direction. It's. But it's.
• 1:25:14
  I had a. Just last night I was doing the demo where it's like, it feels like a ball is rolling around in the switch and my wife looked over at me. He's like, what are you doing? It's like it feels like there's a ball rolling around. And she was like, I want to try. Like, she did a few times. That's really cool. She passed it back like, it's a $10 thing with a bunch of stuff like that. Like, that's worth it. But I don't want to have to go through all the stamps to get to this stuff. Like I want the game to be done so that I can just skip to all these different things in the game.
• 1:25:43
  You know what else too? Like just something that's kind of like, I love because like, you know, the whole premise of it is like you, you're touring like all the different things on the Switch when you get to the actual like screen part and when your guy is on the screen, he does like the little like skatey thing. I love that. It, it feels so. It's like, so it's like this is fun. But then like I said, there's the, you call them the OSHA style quizzes and it's like oh, it's like, like this, this just killed the mood immediately. I think though the thing is like, and, and while you guys are saying like it's sort of the, the launch lineup isn't that exciting and I can sympathize with that. Like this isn't my like, I came to the PS5 a little late, but it was still fairly early on in the console life cycle and I went into it with sort of my head sort of held up. I was like, I don't even care if I play any actual native PS5 games. I want the most optimal hardware to play the games I already have. And for me that's the win. Like, so it's like when, when there are these complaints about the, the initial lineup, I'm kind of like, dude, like, like let's be honest, like anybody who's gonna buy a switch 2 probably has a pre existing Switch library. And like out of all of the, the console manufacturers and all of the game devs, like Nintendo probably does the best job when it comes to just like getting people to like dip back into like their games are highly, highly replayable. So it's like to me it's like even if you don't have a massive backlog, you know, and even speaking to it, it's like, you know, I, I talked about like my kind of like, I enjoy platformers. I don't love them. I fired up Mario Odyssey and that game is immaculate looking like. And I was like, they had me playing it for a couple hours just because I was like sort of delighted by like the, that sort of that native like up upgrade patch thing they did to it. And so I'm just kind of like, while I'm, I'm sympathetic to a certain extent for a lot of people who are frustrated by sort of the lack of sort of that opening salvo because it's just Mario Kart and yes like, looking at, like, I haven't played it yet, but even looking at it, I'm like, yeah, this is just the beginning of this thing. Like, in five years, Mario Kart World is going to be a titan. Like, it is going. It is like just where they're starting now. It's like, give them time. And the numbers that it sells will dwarf Mario Kart, Mario Kart Deluxe Infinite, whatever that game is. Eight Deluxe. I don't know. They do they turn that eight on its side and they're like, oh, aren't we clever? And it's like, well, it looks like an infinity card. Infinity. Like, it's like you're confusing and I don't like it.
• 1:28:50
  So Infinity Deluxe, Game of the Year edition.
• 1:28:53
  Yeah. Super Super Mega Ultra Mario Kart Eternal, featuring Funky Mode.
• 1:29:01
  Funky Mode and Dante from the Devil May Cry series.
• 1:29:04
  Yeah. Yeah. That's actually. That's what Sakurai is going to do next is just. They're going to find ways to just Smash Bros.
• 1:29:15
  Ultimate.
• 1:29:16
  The Mario Kart roster is going to be immense. And it's just going to be like Pac Man, Sonic, you know, Mega Man, Solid Snake, you know, all of it. Sora.
• 1:29:29
  Or Sakurai is just going to put a Mario Kart racer in the next Smash Brothers. But when you select the Mario Kart racer, you can select through, like 120 different Mario Kart racers.
• 1:29:44
  Yeah, something like that.
• 1:29:45
  Sorry.
• 1:29:48
  No, it's. And all the different levels.
• 1:29:51
  That's right. Kirby Air Riders. Right? Isn't that the one that everyone's waiting for?
• 1:29:57
  Yeah. And just what I would say is like, Bonanza is, you know, Josh, I know you kind of poo pooed that, but that was some of the Mario or Mario Odyssey team that was like, sort of their project. And like all the hype around, like, people who have had hands on, they're like, no, this is not just 3D Donkey Kong. Like, this is going to be something kind of special. And so I.
• 1:30:24
  It looks like a lot of fun. Yeah, sorry, I. I just. I just meant to say that, like, it looks like a lot of fun. Is it worth $550, like, for entrance, for game and system? That's all that I was saying. It does look like a good.
• 1:30:39
  Yeah. Like, if you're just buying the Switch 2 to play Donkey Kong Bonanza, you have other problems, my friend. Right. But I think, like I said, and. And that's what's been so interesting to me, is that the way I think PS5 did this. And there's. There's still a lot of, like, grumping about, like, PS5, like, Sony exclusives on. On PlayStation 5. And again, I'm sympathetic to a certain point, but I'm also like, I. And maybe I'm sort of an outlier in this, but it's like, again, it's like, it's a sort of the transformative nature of the console jump where it's like, you don't need a massive, like, launch lineup. You don't even need to have, like, a massive first year because there's all this opportunity to go back and play things you already own in in an optimal state. Like, dude, I've made no bones about the fact that, like, I think Breath of the Wild is a good game, right? Like, I have gripes about it. I fired up the. The Switch 2 version of it, and I think I might have to, like, grudgingly concede that is not just merely a good game like that. That experience.
• 1:32:03
  More frames.
• 1:32:04
  Yeah, exactly. That sounds insane to some people, but I'm like. I'm kind of one of those people that, like, I just get, like, hung up on that stuff. And this is clean and it's kind of like. It's transformative and it's, dare I say, a little bit transcendent where I'm like, no, like. Like, I look at that and I'm kind of like, dude, like, that's the. That, like, it's not this explosive bump, but it is, like, a much more subtle thing where it's like, I think that this kind of. This kind of console iteration, again, is. It's transformative in the sense that it's not as explosive, it's not as in your face. And I think, as a general rule, consumers aren't used to that. You know, especially in, like, consoles like, we were. There's this constant, like, the. The need for hype. And there are some people who just like, hey, they. They buy like, friend of the show. We, like, I said we were going to try and get him on here, but he hasn't bought a Switch too, because he's a bum. But Micah. The way Micah plays games is very different than. Than the way I play games or probably even the way that any of us here play games. Like, he sort of buys new stuff. He goes all the way down the rabbit hole, and then when he's done, he's done, like. Whereas for me, it's like, you know, I pick up things that I'm interested in when they're on sale or whatever, and I've slowed down a little, but I have hundreds of game on my hundreds of games on my backlog. And like, again, it's just this, it's this opportunity to go back and sort of experience them in an optimal way. Like, dude, it doesn't even have a performance patch but I mentioned I'm playing Astral Chain. And like the loading on that is really pretty snappy. It still takes like a couple seconds or what? You know, it takes like a little bit, but it's like it's super clean. It doesn't get chuggy. Like it's, and that's transformative. Like those things will throw me out of a game. Like, because it's like, you know, when it's bogging down or it's getting two frame or whatever, like I just can't hack it. Like maybe I'm spoiled, maybe, whatever. But again, it's this. So I don't think it can, I don't think that can be undersold. And it's actually the, the more I get out from this, the more I kind of appreciate Nintendo is just saying like, no, like, we don't need to throw out the baby with a bathwater. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. Let's just make it better. Like, and I, I think that was the right call. And like I said, I kind of like, it's, my affection for this machine is growing like, you know, like a couple months out, like, and I just haven't played a ton of stuff period lately. But it's. What I will say is that my PS5 had a bit of a death grip on my gaming time and Switch 2 has pretty solidly like cracked into that. It's taken, it's taken a big bite out of like Sony's, you know, stranglehold on my, my leisure time. So I mean that's, that's kind of just like it was exactly what I wanted to be and I'm kind of loving it for that. So that's, that's sort of, that's my opening salvo like 20 minutes later. But yeah, you know, I think, you know, aside from, I guess sort of the, the way I want to go here is like I mentioned like this sort of like the, the, the ports and the, the Switch two versions and the upgrades and there have been like. I think one of the things too to give Nintendo props on is like they're not super consumer friendly but because they do weird things like, you know, not give you the, the ability to buy old games that you want to play. They're just like, no, you're Gonna sub to our library and sort of be subject to our whims here. Yes. I, I just want the option to buy things and I want them to bring Wind Waker remaster to the freaking Switch two Cowards. Like, I'm glad that Wind Waker is playable and it's gorgeous and I've done it, like. And I'm like, oh, this is so tasty. Just give me the optimal version. Like, give me the quality of life stuff, you cowards. Although I will say, like, that game is just such a delight to watch anyways. So, I mean, let's, I guess, sort of talk about some. Like, we, we obviously talk about the whiff that is. That is the, the welcome tour, but let's talk about some of the things that we think that they're doing right so far. So again, Parker, what do you think is sort of like the biggest win for Nintendo with the Switch 2 so far?
• 1:37:02
  I don't know if it's the biggest win or not, but I would definitely agree with you about the patches. I've played a few games that have gotten the Switch two upgrade patches for them, and it's, it's feels fresh. It feels great. Like, I think Odyssey is like a prime example of that, where it's like, it didn't cost anything. I feel like they did enough of a tweak to it that they could have justified five bucks or ten bucks to charge you to get this version of it that's basically running in 4K at a pretty solid 60 frames a second with I think it even has HDR support in it. So that's a major boost. I mean, if you, if you go back and play the original Odyssey, like, it's, it's pretty pixelated. Like, there's a lot of jaggies in those edges and corners and stuff. And it's not, it's not nearly as clean, but if you play it now, it's pretty eye popping. I mean, it looks really phenomenal. And so for them to do that and just provide that in a patch and just give it to folks for free, I think that's really cool. And that's not the only game they've done that for. Because I went back and played Super Mario 3D World and Bowser's Fury. They did the same thing to those games as well. They both look phenomenal. They both run phenomenally. I got stuck in Super Mario 3D World and just kind of lost interest in it. But when I found out that they gave us a free patch for it, I was like, well, shoot, let me just download the patch and see how this feels. And I liked it so much I went and just played through the whole thing and then played Bowser's Fury immediately after. And so again, that was a free upgrade from Nintendo on that game, which I thought was, like, pretty rad. And the fact that, like, they did this, what you were talking about, Nate, with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Like, I have Tears of the Kingdom and I've been waiting, hoping that they would do something nice for the Switch 2 version of it. And I'm so glad I waited because everybody who's played the Tears of the Kingdom Switch 2 version says this is what the game was always meant to be. You know, as cheesy as that sounds. And I've got the Switch online subscription, so I guess you could say it's not free in a way. I have paid for it in that sense. But to me, I'm not paying anything extra to access the Breath of the Wild or the Tears of the Kingdom versions of those games. So I'm like, all in on that. I mean, those games look absolutely gorgeous. And so, yeah, like, those kinds of things, I think in my mind are the biggest wins because they've made me go back into that library, play stuff that, like, I had either lost interest in or was like waiting and was just kind of like, I don't know if they're going to do anything with this or not.
• 1:39:34
  Maybe we'll wait.
• 1:39:35
  At least it'll maybe run a little bit better on Switch 2 than it did on Switch 1. And instead they've gotten full fledged upgrades for stuff like Tears of the Kingdom. So I think that's pretty rad, in my opinion.
• 1:39:47
  Yeah, that is pretty exciting. But Mark, what Nintendo's biggest W so far with the Switch 2 launch.
• 1:39:55
  When you asked the question, I was reminded of a quote that is from Ted Lasso, which at one point was one of my personalities. That one has expired by now.
• 1:40:05
  But nonsense.
• 1:40:06
  In the first episode he says, treasure, that's true. Season one's a perfect, perfect season of television. But in episode one says, I love a locker room. It smells like potential. And that's kind of what right now. It's like, Mario Kart's indicative of this, where it's like, man, this is a great first floor. And I can't wait to see where this is going next. And I think we talk about the launch lineup being sparse, but I think there is, like, I'm really excited to see what they do with this generation. And the games that do come out, Nate, you were on Quick Play months ago now when we talked about like Nintendo innovation, how oftentimes they're kind of like out of left field, twists on consoles and stuff will leave games stranded. Switch 1 was at the time felt like a huge innovation where it's like, it's a handheld and it's a home console, the same thing, but it's like actually looking back, it's like pretty conservative where it's like, it's a pretty normal like controller configuration. It's got motion control if you want. It's got a touchscreen if you want it. But it's like they don't really need this stuff. That there's the. This will all tie in somehow. But the Ask the developer series on Nintendo's website and they have a blog post kind of like talking about the Switch 2 highly recommend checking that out. But one of the things they talk about is how for Switch 1, one of the major concepts was like, we want to make something that they can, that can be a foundation and can people can riff off of. Like, so it wasn't like the Wii where everything's got to have this motion control. It was much more of like this is a base layer and you can do weird stuff with it. Like they meet, they made Ring Fit, which is a huge success. They made Labo, which was not a huge success, but they tried out these other things that kind of built on it. And they Talked about how Switch 2 really kind of had the same philosophy where I like, I pulled some quotes here where they talk about like, after considering various new ideas, we decided it would be best to keep the Switch systems designed and not make any changes for changes sake. Rather than leveraging hardware features to create something unique, developers can now choose which software technologies they want to incorporate to make their game stand out. So now it's kind of like you have these mouse controls, you have still the touchscreen, you still have motion controls and all this stuff is working a little bit better. It's like what games will be made that will be using this stuff even though they're not like in a way that they're not forced to use it. But it's really exciting to think about the concepts of like what they could do with it. So I'm excited for the future of Switch 2 and I feel like that it's like clearly they've got a good lead with it, even just like feeling good. Like this is where I want to play Nintendo games now. So I'm excited to see where it.
• 1:43:15
  Goes next and it's, it's something. Go ahead, Josh.
• 1:43:20
  I was just gonna say that is interesting too just now that you say it is that there, there's been previous Nintendo consoles that were kind of centered around something unique or a gimmick. You could say a gimmick. Wii with motion controls, Wii U with the tablet controller, 3Ds with the 3D, things like that, where it's kind of baked into every game that you play. Whereas this one's much more like you said, it's optional, it's there. And so you can do wacky stuff. You can have these cool experiences, but not everything has to incorporate it. And it doesn't feel lesser if you don't like for instance, Breath of the Wild on Wii U did not use the tablet at all. It was just a black screen when you were playing it. Unless you were playing it just handheld. Like you either had the screen on the TV or on the Wii U. And that feels bad. I want to say there were a couple, maybe a handful more games on Wii U that did that same thing. But every other game like incorporated the tablet controller in some way and. But Switch is different in that you, you can use these things. You can use the touchscreen. Sometimes I would take my. Like when I'm. Especially in Animal Crossing when you're trying to type out a name or a letter or something like that, I would take though I would physically take the Switch out of the dock and just tap on the screen because it's so much faster to type that way than to scroll through with with your Joy Cons. But anyways, that, that's, that's a really cool thing that I just, I. I guess I never had thought about before because when you don't. So you still have the, the gimmicks but they're not the center of what the console is. That's cool.
• 1:45:11
  Yeah.
• 1:45:12
  I think too something there is that some of it is just like you don't even have to get that weird with it. The mouse features with the Switch 2, frankly I think that's going to make maybe bringing over more like Hades 2 is going to be on Switch 2 when it launches on consoles. And I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some sort of like maybe mouse friendly mouse adjacent kind of.
• 1:45:43
  Yeah.
• 1:45:44
  Control scheme there. And frankly like dude, like you give me a D pad and then you know the option to like use maybe like mouse controls as well for like a first person shooter. Like some of these things. I'm saying that, like, I think it's going to be just maybe like low lift kind of stuff, where it's not even going to be like, really like, oh, hey, like there's the. Basically the wheelchair basketball game, whatever that thing is called. That also Drag X Drive. Yeah. That has the Halo guys in wheelchairs. That's. That's really, like, I just see that and I'm like, no, those are Halo dudes and they're in wheelchairs and they're playing basketball for some reason.
• 1:46:27
  Anyways, hey, if I could do one other anecdote on. On mouse stuff from this actor. Ask for developer series. So Kawamoto is the producer for Switch 2 and he has this kind of story he tells where, like, using the mouse controls in the Joy Con, like, isn't a great example of like, the Nintendo philosophy of lateral thinking of wither technology, where it's like, that's a. Gunpei Yokoi talked about that for Game Boy, where it's like, you use old technology that's cheap and you push it in new ways. And so he thought about, like, he had this huge, massive revelation like, oh.
• 1:47:06
  We could use the.
• 1:47:06
  Like, we could put mice in the Joy Cons and it'd be pretty cheap and, like, we could use games that way. He tells a story of, like, I thought it was a really great idea. So I pitched it to the team and they were like, oh, yeah, we've been thinking about that for a really long time. Like, they already thought of it forever.
• 1:47:21
  So, yeah, well, and that's just like, that's sort of par for the course for Nintendo, I think, too. Is that, like. I think even to be in that company, I think they just. They sort of do outside the box. They just kind of live outside the box. And. Yeah, so that's fun. That's fun. Josh, what do you think the Switch 2's biggest W is like, or Nintendo's biggest dub with the Switch 2 is?
• 1:47:55
  Okay, this might sound a little redundant, but I think I'm gonna try and say it in a different way, is that I think the biggest win with the Switch 2 is how well original Switch games play on it, frankly. And when I say that, I mean that the best place to play Switch 1 games are on a Switch 2. And there's so many. There's so much potential and I'd seen, you know, rumblings around on the Internet. There's so much potential for Nintendo to drop the ball in that area of like, oh, well, yeah, our games play well, but all these other games are pretty janky. And you don't really know what you're going to get when you pop in an original Switch game. And for me, and for a lot of people that I've talked to, it's seamless. Like, it plays really well. It plays better. The only downside is that the games look worse because they're on a better screen. And so the lower, you know, lower resolution, which is original resolution. So that I'm not saying that the games are any worse, but it's just more apparent because now it's maybe a little more stretched than what you remember seeing before. And so I think it could have been a lot, you know, even Nintendo kind of releasing, oh, we know about this bug in this game, in this bug, in this game, the big lists. So I think there was a lot of potential for the handoff of games from the first switch to the second switch to be bad. I'd even seen a YouTube video. And I don't even know if this is true or not saying that it's actually using a form of emulation in, or in order to play older Switch games, even if that, that's true, it's playing, it's playing that emulation with better specs, with better hardware. And so it still actually plays the games better than the original Switch does. So I think, you know, this might be a different conversation in 10 years when we have the full Switch 2 lineup. But for right now, the biggest win for me is the fact that it plays everything that I've tried to play on it and it plays it better like we've talked about in almost every way. And I think this goes to the nature of the console and even the name Switch two. Now we've all said it's kind of like a better Switch, it's kind of like a pro Switch. But in the, let's see, what was it 83 when the original Famicom came out? So in the 40ish years, 40 plus years that Nintendo has been making consoles, they've never titled something A2. Like that's, that's not something even the DS to 3DS. Sure it has a 3, but that's because it's 3D. Like, they've never done a sequel console in the same way they've reiterated on consoles with, with 3Ds and you know, even Switch and Switch Lite. But this is the first like truly sequel console. So we've seen that with, with other, with Sony, you know, they've gone with the PlayStation Route 2, 3, 4, 5. And so we think of it as a totally new experience, a totally different experience. But Nintendo's never done that. And what they're saying with this is like, this one is so much alike. Like, yes, this is like we're saying like a pro version, but it plays different games. It's different enough to be a 2, but it's similar enough to be a sequel to this original system. And while, yeah, it's, it's not the most flashy thing, it's not the most Nintendo thing to do, I think it was absolutely, absolutely the right move. And it really feels like it to me right now, who has a backlog of Switch games that I still need to play. And I'll be playing them on Switch too and trying to get my kids not to use it quite as much because it does make me nervous. As a nice piece of tech, they can play the old Switch.
• 1:51:59
  Yeah, there you go. It's like, yeah, just, yeah, take my dregs, get out of here.
• 1:52:06
  Go play with your toys with your children's consoles.
• 1:52:14
  Another quick anecdote from again, the Astro Developer series. And there were some headlines about this, but apparently they did consider naming it Super Nintendo Switch. But they didn't do it because the Super Nintendo couldn't play NES games. So it didn't feel right. It's like, wait, okay, I guess that makes sense, but it doesn't really make sense. But, but they did say like we do hope we called the Switch two because we want to be the new standard for the Switch. So like I don't think that logic totally follows that like of the naming convention, but it's a decent excuse for the branding to fit a little better for just calling it Switch two.
• 1:52:53
  Yeah. And I'm sure they're a lot more cognizant, like a lot. They're kind of walking on eggshells a little bit there with their marketing and naming. After the whole Wii U debacle of like how much is this a different console, how much of it is new? So I'm sure after that they're like, we need to draw some brighter lines in order to people know what to expect with two. Yeah.
• 1:53:19
  One of the things I think I'm gonna pivot. I think there are two W's that I don't think we really talked about. One, I think props has to be given to Nintendo and whether it's just like a logistics things or whatever, but like scalping is almost non existent with this system. And I just, while we were talking, they're limited quantities but you can get them from online retailers. Now it may not be immediately but like I got onto Amazon and I just checked it and now I can request to sort of be invited to buy one. So they are sort of like there are restrictions or like roadblocks and everything else but like they have, they have them in stock and you know, if you're a qualified buyer you, I imagine and again that's maybe, I don't know if that's individual retailers or whatever but some of that is like you just like because yeah we remember five years ago with like you know, Switch or you know, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series snx like scalping was insane and it like you know and actually the, the series S and X both seem to pull ahead because they, they didn't have the supply constraint that PS5 did anyways. So I think that's, that's a win. I think the other thing is that and I, and again this is more of just sort of like, it's kind of like if I'm at Nintendo, the fact that this is like the fasting selling console of all time. I think right now like just as far as like launch goes, like this thing is huge so far like for its initial lifestyle and I just think they've got to be happy about that. Like you know, obviously those numbers are going to like peter off after a while but it feels like the, the original Switch is still, is still sort of nipping at the hill heels of the PS2 which is the best selling console of all time. Like 155 million units or something like that. And OG switch is kind of like again it's nipping, it's coming close to those numbers. I would not be surprised to see with the sort of like the fervor of the launch. And I think there were a lot of people and rightfully so who were like is this thing going to sell that well? Like and I just, I was like well there's your answer. Yes, yes it is. You know, I think I thought it would do well. Like if I'm being honest, I didn't think it would do like the numbers that it has and I think that's actually got like, like Nintendo is probably like doing like victory laps over the fact that this thing is just like it is selling like gangbusters and they, they aren't plagued with again the scalper issues. Like there was that, that tractor truckload that kind of got. I, I don't know if you guys had heard about that but like some basically like an entire load of switches it was like it was, it was a lot. It was like a couple hundred of them or something. But Switch Twos, like just they, they got jacked off of a tractor trailer. And what's kind of funny about that too though is like the way that Nintendo has orchestrated this thing. I feel like it's not going to be really hard for them to find those and brick those, you know.
• 1:57:06
  Sure.
• 1:57:06
  You know, with just like the way that shipping and logistics and tracking goes. So. Yeah. So, you know, to any of anybody seen this video, if you haven't heard about that, I would not be buying any switches from any dude. Yeah. Switch Twos from, from any dude. You may save a few dollars, but.
• 1:57:30
  Trench coat with a bunch of Switch Twos?
• 1:57:32
  Yeah, yeah, dude. It's a very bulky trench coat. He's a very odd looking man. But I do think just like again like I just sort of look at the commercial success that they've had with this and just like they're really pretty smooth launch and sort of rollout and I just think that's an absolute like they've got to be feeling good about that, you know, so that's, that's kind of like, I just think that that has to. You have to sort of like, like, you know, give them a little bit of props for, for navigating that. But I think, you know, I guess it's, it's kind of like, I guess I want to kind of open up the floor here is like, you know, is there anything that anybody wants to talk about that we haven't sort of already covered here and you know, that we already haven't sort of like chewed the fat off and unfortunately like, you know, the, the thing is like in listening to this and maybe it's not going to be super sexy and it's not going to like be super appealing but like what's funny is that we have a little bit more perspective now. But it's like this, this conversation feels very much like my feelings on the Switch haven't. Switch 2 haven't changed. I mean like there's the initial like burst of like, like ooh, shiny new things. Yes. Like I'm gonna play. But it's like that hasn't really like dipped off too, too hard. Like I'm not like, I'm like, like I said, it's like because of my Switch 2, it's actually like sort of like eating up chunks of PlayStation time and you know.
• 1:59:17
  But go ahead Mark, to give a note on that. Like we're in this time right now and I'M I'm sorry. I'm gonna date the podcast. Like, we're. Before Donkey Kong's come out, where another podcast talked about this, like, how all the controversies have popped up right now in kind of the last few weeks is like, we're in this spot where it's like, Mario Kart came out with the switch to itself, and we're waiting for the next thing, and the fan base is getting a little squirrely and a little. Little stir crazy with it. And so you kind of. You get all these nitpicks coming in about, like, the screen and stuff and. And stuff that's like. I mean, I guess I can kind of see where they're coming from. I haven't really had that happen myself. I really noticed it and kind of. And this other podcast was talking about how, like, we'll probably see that fade away once Donkey Kong comes out. Like, once the fan base gets their hands on a new game to devour and talk about, like, you'll kind of see these controversies start to fade away a little bit.
• 2:00:20
  Hmm.
• 2:00:22
  Yeah. Well. And that's. I just think that's more of an indictment on just the. The hardcore gaming audience. Is that. Sure.
• 2:00:32
  Yes.
• 2:00:34
  And I'm. I'm gonna say something that I hope isn't too controversial, but I think, you know, some people might take offense to this. I listen. $450 is a lot of money. 500 is a lot of money. Like, I'm not gonna. Especially in this economy. And I'm not gonna pretend like that's an easy pill to swallow. But I keep coming back to this, like, almost every time I listen to any sort of, like, criticism about the cost in gaming. And don't get me wrong, I think some of it. I think the state of Microsoft and Sony, especially, like, in light of everything, like, indicates that there are problems in the industry that need to be corrected. Also. I think Nintendo manages to avoid that. And I just. I kind of love that. Like, you know, they. It isn't this, like, you know, like, Microsoft. And I'm not trying to be, like, too controversial devices, but Microsoft just laid off 9,000 people, you know, mostly from, like, Xbox and stuff. It's a stupid big number at this point. That's more than the number of people that work at Nintendo, period.
• 2:01:46
  Like, and Toto.
• 2:01:49
  Yeah, in total. And I think that's an insane. And like, you know, if you look at them, like, I'm sure that there have been some, like, reductions from, like, in. But, like, as a general rule, they are growing year after Year. And I think that's because they have like a good philosophy. I think they know what they are and I think, I think some of it is a bit of a like Sony's problem. I think it's a bit of a poison pill that like they're like, they kind of made their brand all about like this high quality super cinematic performance like production per square inch. And that is not cheap. And so like when you, when you make that like the hallmark of your games, you need to make sure that you're recouping big. And whereas Nintendo has just been about like, you know, and again the lateral thinking with. What's that phrase that you used, Mark?
• 2:02:43
  Withered technology.
• 2:02:45
  Yes, okay. With their technology.
• 2:02:48
  But yeah, they do, they do a lot with a little. And they're like. And they kind of get experimental and they get a little wild and they, I think there's a little bit more of a playful atmosphere like now. Also the only thing Nintendo does is makes video games. Like that's it. They make, they make this hardware and they make their games and, and that's pretty much it. Like they don't. Whereas Microsoft and Sony are both sort of like these like conglomerates, you know, where it's just like, like Microsoft has like a bajillion Cthulhu esque tentacles in all sorts of different sectors in the tech field. And Sony isn't much better, although it's just markedly smaller. But it's kind of one of these things where I just, oh my gosh, my brain just completely seized up like I had a thought and went. Just kind of dribbled out my ears.
• 2:03:46
  You kept saying you didn't want to be too controversial.
• 2:03:49
  Oh yes, thank you. That's, that's all I needed. I think, I think a lot of the conversation around the price of gaming and I'm going to say this, and it's not very like it's not going to make people feel good. I think a lot of it's like sour grapes. I think a lot of it is people want what they want and they want to pay the price that they want for it and they kind of don't care about the costs that the, the production of that thing has made like that has incurred. So it's like they're like, why should I pay $70 again? And listen, like if it's not worth it to you, it's not worth it to you, but be an adult and move on. Right? Like, and I think that's kind of like. So every time I hear that stuff like there's like. And even with hardware, and it's like, if it's not worth it to you, it's not worth it to you. Okay, like, cool. But, like, it's the grousing. And this sort of like this, like, I shouldn't have to pay this, you know, kind of like shaking your fist angry, and then sort of like. Like bringing up all the time kind of like, mentality. I just get, like, really fatigued by that. And I think a lot of it is just. It's like, it's envy because, like, you want the thing, but you don't want to pay for it, or, you know, and it's like, that's. That's a different problem altogether. And I think, like, the fact of the matter is that this is a luxury like this. This recreate this hobby that we all love. It's purely optional, right? And we're all very fortunate to sort of be in positions where we can afford this without, you know, incurring, like, destroying our lives. But at this. And I think that's actually kind of like the thing that I think sets us free a little bit to enjoy it more is that it doesn't have this, like, stranglehold. And so, like, that's why, in a lot of ways, we're able to sort of just, like, take delight in the fact that this thing exists, that it is in some ways, as good as it actually is, because it's not like, we're not. Like. I think some of, like, the discontent is people are like, I need my Switch 2 to, like, validate me, not just validate the purchase that I made, but I needed to inform my life in some sort of, like, potent way that it's not meant to, because it's. It's a. It's a piece of tech. It's a. Dare I say, it's a toy, like, Right? And although it's a remarkably constructed toy, that's what you know. But so it's kind of like one of those things where I think that every time I hear, like. And again, I'm sympathetic, like, because it's expensive. At the same time, like, whenever I hear that, those conversations, I get a little frustrated because it's like, you know, like, Randy Pitchford, and I'm kind of getting off on a little bit of rant, but Randy Pitchford, you know, that dude is awesome at putting his foot directly in his mouth. It's amazing. But he sort of says this thing. He tweets this thing a couple weeks ago, maybe months ago at this point, in time where somebody's like, Borderlands 4, make it not $80 Randy. You know, you can do it. And he's like one, that's not my call. Two real fans will, will pony up. And then he goes on to say like I was working minimum wage, you know, 20 years ago and I bought some game on day one and I made it happen because I cared. And you know what? He's kind of not wrong. Should he have said that? No, like he should have. Like it's like I would have complete, I wouldn't have even responded to that tweet if I'm in his position. Position, right. I'm like, no, we're not. Like, just like, dude, I, you know, like I'm not saying anything, but I think that's some of the thing. That's some of it. And again, I think we're all in pretty fortunate positions to where we don't have to make decisions about like, hey, can I pay my bills or eat? You know, like and, but I, I, I do think that some people who don't have those luxuries sort of feel the need to be included in the conversation. Like they're like, I need a switch too. And it's like, no, well, no, what you, what you got to do is get out of debt, my friend. Like, or like you know, better your life a little bit. All that being said, like, you know, I'm, I'm not trying to, to hammer on, but it's like I think a lot of the, the conversation around pricing or even just like the, this, the, the sort of knee jerk reaction to just complain about something. So it's like, oh, there's a type of games where like the switch to like handheld screen doesn't like these type of games. And it gets real weird with them because I think from what I've heard it's like 2D platformers, like 2D, mostly 2D games and it's sort of like actually older 2D games and like something about the screen doesn't. Like I haven't, and again, full disclosure, I haven't had any problems. I'm not saying that that isn't an issue and that for some people that's going to be like a bit of a heartbreak thing. I think it's kind of like, you know, what's that? The, the reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Like I think a lot of times Internet culture as a general rule just sort of does this thing where it's like we need to be angry at something, we need to complain about something we need to be like. It's like if you're not constantly feeding us and sort of keeping us like, you know, pacified with, with content or with entertainment, like we're going to kind of like shriek and howl and it's like, so they're just gonna, like, they're just gonna look like. I don't even think it's like, oh, we're kind of in this weird space actually. Again, it's just an indictment on gamers in general where I'm just like, I think we're kind of entitled and we're impatient and we foster discontentment in our hearts. So, yeah, sorry, I did not mean to have that. This conversation while, while talking about Switch two.
• 2:09:51
  Yeah, well, so along those same lines. And it doesn't have to do with the price necessarily, but, but similar sentiments. And you had mentioned it as well, Mark, of just how, you know, we're kind of in this little period in between games. And so it seems like there might be a bit. Some more nitpicks. Are you guys concerned with the, the what seems to be coming through the Internet of Nintendo bricking consoles if you try to do certain things with your Switch 2? Is, is that so? Also laying my cards on the table is I don't plan on trying to pirate games. I don't plan on trying to go around terms of service in order to do certain things with my Switch 2. So I am not concerned at all. Now I get if people are taking the terms of service and being like, look, you don't even own your Switch 2. Nintendo, you know, says these things, okay, that might like, file that away in the back of my mind, but am I personally concerned that my Switch 2 is going to be bricked by Nintendo? Not in the least bit. I'm curious if you guys, if you guys see this kind of in that bucket or if you're, if you're thinking, okay, now actually Nintendo is kind of overstepping their bounds here. Do you guys have any thoughts on that?
• 2:11:20
  I would say for me, because I'm not in that like piracy emulation crowd, that I don't have a ton of sympathy for that argument. I mean, like, I understand where people are coming from when it's like, well, Nintendo hasn't put this thing out for sale. There's no way for me to buy it without spending like a couple hundred dollars in a secondary market or things. But I'm kind of like, well, if, if that's the case, then you just. You're not supposed to own it. Right now and you don't have to own everything right now. So just wait and maybe it'll go on sale or maybe it won't and you don't need to have all these games. So I'm kind of like anti pirate in that sense. The only thing I would say that's like has me a little concerned is like the secondary market for Switch 2s where people are going to sell bricked consoles and you're not going to know about it and you're gon pay, you know, a pretty high price to get a Switch that is then not going to work for you because Nintendo's bricked it. So I don't know if there's a way for them to say like you know, hey, a different user signing in. Let's give them access to let's unbrick the Switch that we bricked now. Or if that's sort of like an irrevocable thing for the hardware on Nintendo's part. I don't know. But it would make me very cautious about buying any Switch Switch to in a secondary market. If it's not new I wouldn't buy one. So that would be the main concern I think for me on it.
• 2:12:43
  That's fair. Yeah.
• 2:12:45
  Cool.
• 2:12:47
  I feel like so much of my life is lived like at the mercy of giant corporations. Like I was one more. Yeah. I'm kind of, it's, I am sympathetic to it where it's like, I guess that it's concerning. Like I don't know what I'm going to do about it it and that kind of leads me down a path of like, well other like civil disobedience I should be doing about Nintendo, not about not owning my actual console from Nintendo. It's like I don't know. Yeah. So yeah, it doesn't bother me. Kind of the same things that y' all have said as well. Parker has a great point about like secondhand market. That is a really big concern. So that is, that is now my main concern too now that Parker's convinced me of it. Other than that I'm like, it feels like it's like I get that's in the right. I don't like that's in the right but I, I, that's the system that I bought into. So I don't know what else the other options are. I don't really. I am not threatened or bothered by it and often wrestle through should I be threatened or bothered by it and like I'd rather just play games.
• 2:14:09
  Yep.
• 2:14:10
  Yeah, I, I think like it's one of those things where I in theory don't like the fact that Nintendo is leveraging this, like, you know what I'm saying, where it's like, it's, it's kind of like the same way that like, like I'm a libertarian and I resent like the, the, the, the gross overreach the federal government has. Meanwhile, I'm also a federal employee, so, you know, whatever, you know, we won't talk about like planks in eyes or anything like that, but I think there's a kind of a, a justification like, you know, Parker, you said something there. That is something that I have kind of wrestled with from time to time. But it's like, even in sort of regards to just emulation in general, where it's like this, this question of like, do you have rights to content, especially content you didn't purchase? And if you're like, if you're somebody who pirates software and Nintendo bricks your console, like, that's kind of, that's like, to me, I'm like, that's on you. That's on you for, you know, presuming that you had rights to something that you didn't. You know, and it's like, again, I don't like the fact that kind of like Nintendo has that, that gun, so to speak, in their, their armory. But it is kind of like one of those things where I think, like, if you, if you just kind of play by the rules and you're not being a giant weenie like in trying to steal stuff, like, you know, there's, I don't know if you guys. There's that one streamer. I think we talked about it at one point in time though. But there was that streamer who would just openly advocate for pirating Nintendo games. Like, he would tell people how to do it. Like, he was like, I will help you steal Switch games. And Nintendo took them to court and basically they, they sued him for like, it is a fairly marginal amount. It was like 20,000 or $30,000. But they've established precedent at this point in time. And so if anybody, like, like some people are like, why would they sue them for such a trivial amount? It's like, well, one, it's, it's more punitive. Like if they sell, if they sue that dude for a million dollars, he doesn't probably have a million dollars. But the other side of it is like, it's like, it's, it's a little punitive. It's probably pretty much just like cover legal fees or something at this point in time, I don't know, but it's, it's establishing precedent that like, oh hey, yeah, you can actually do this like without consequence. And so I guess I kind of just look at it again. It goes back to this, this, this scenario where years ago on one of the different groups like this dude was talking about like pirating anime and I just basically said if you don't have a way to buy it like legally. It just says to me like that I think that is sort of like general provision and that like hey, you know, you don't need it. Now I do think like maybe there are some arguments that could be made for like games preservation or like, you know, who has the rights to X, Y and Z. But even there, like as a general rule, like, you know, as sort of an interesting little wrinkle here is the guys from State of the Ark played Terranigma and I was really wrestling with whether or not I was going to download an emulator and a ROM to play it because there's no way for me to really get a copy of that game realistically. And I was just like, like, you know, where I ended up suddenly is like I just, I don't need to play it. And I think that's the thing is like nobody needs to play anything. And so like it's just kind of one of those things, the, the TLDR to all of that. I don't like the fact that Nintendo could brick my console willy nilly. Because like, let's just say like Nintendo, you get a couple bad actors at Nintendo and they're like, hey, we don't like Nate McKeever. He has said things that we don't like. So we're just gonna like, like, like shoot his digital library, like his digital sort of like accumulation into space, you know. And it's like we're just gonna hit the big old red delete button on that and sucks to be him. You know. The reality is like if that happened, I would be really kind of bummed, but I'd be okay. I'd figure, I'd figure it out. I'd, you know, I'd suck it up and I'd drive on. My life wouldn't be over. Also. I don't think Nintendo's gonna do that. I don't think anybody's gonna do that. Just be like, you know what I'm saying? Like in this whole digital thing, the whole digital economy now, like as a general rule, like I don't think these companies are gonna do that because it's like, they're just more interested in taking my money than like, and they can't, they can't take my money if they're, they're icing me out. So it's like I said, don't, don't be an idiot. Don't steal things. Like, you know, and yeah, maybe you don't own your Switch, so to speak, anymore. Maybe like all you did was you bought a license and like, but you agreed to the eula. And if you don't like it, well, you still agreed to it and you're obligated to adhere to it unless you feel like taking Nintendo to court. And I say good luck because they got good lawyers. I don't know. So that was a long answer to your short question, Josh. But, you know, yeah, it's like, I don't like it, but like, also I don't see it being a problem except for the secondary market. And I just don't, as a general rule, buy things used anyways because I don't know whose grubby, nasty like Cheeto dusted hands have been on what. And so anyways, well, like I said, Parker, is there anything that you sort of wanted to hit while we were on this before we, we sort of landed up? You've been, you know, you've kind of been waiting in the wings there, I think, for a little bit. So.
• 2:20:50
  Nothing specifically. I mean, I am, I am interested to see what they do with some of the mouse technology and stuff. I've heard from people who've played like Civ 7, for instance, the Switch, Switch 2 version, that it's like a huge improvement obviously over the Switch 1 version, not just in terms of performance, but having that mouse capability makes it almost like PC adjacent. So I think if they play it their cards right with that, that does open up a really interesting market for that and kind of satisfies like this sort of like, I can play Switch games, but I can kind of also play PC games on this type of potential for it. And so having that in like a really nice portable form factor could be really interesting for games and you know, but it all comes down to the execution and whether, whether they use it or whether third parties buy into it. Like, it's hard to say at this point. You know, like, I was really excited with the PlayStation 5 when the haptic controllers came out and I thought, oh, this is great. This is going to be game changing. Astro's Playroom is so great. But like, the reality is, like, most companies haven't really used the haptics that much. There's been a few notable examples of it, but mostly it's been like a tempest in a teapot kind of a thing. And so I don't know if that's going to be the case with these mouse controls, but I'm definitely interested to try it. I know, for instance, like, Metroid Prime 4 is going to have like the ability to just kind of like seamlessly swap between modes. Like if you just sort of like flip the Joy con over, like you can play with it, you know, have the Joy cons in your hand, but know you. But if you just sort of like pop them out and slap one down on a table or whatever, like it'll just switch into mouse mode. And so I'm like, that's pretty cool. Like, you could probably gamify and do some really neat stuff with games like that, especially FPS games. But is it going to be revolutionary? I don't know. Time will tell. But I think that's kind of like a cool feature and it's one of the really one of the only like true innovations, I guess you would say, for the switch. Whereas everything else has been pretty iterative. So I'm interested to see. But I would say it's like a cautious optimism. So I don't know. That's the only thing I can think of at the moment.
• 2:23:01
  Yeah. Mark, any. Anything that you wanted to hit before we, you know, really. Because, full disclosure, I think we're all getting sleepy. Like.
• 2:23:17
  I have two small other wins I want to point out and then actually I have a final question that if you'll come back to me. But I think for one game chat is actually a ton of fun, particularly if you have not yet played Mario Kart with using the camera like that is a wild delight where it's like it does zoom in on the person's face and it's like a little 480p image of the person's face because it's using one tenth of the camera. But it's like it just adds to the charm of just as you're driving by, you see your. Your friend's dumb faces just grinning ear to ear. It's actually, it's really a lot of fun. The other thing I want to point out to you is this is actually something that Wesley Ray, the Henshin dad mentioned on a past episode. But the control sticks in the new Pro controller are magical. I was eventually I was convinced to get pick up a Pro controller and they. It is like a weird. It feels like a Magnet's floating on the control stick. It's pretty stiff, but in a good way. And it just. It feels like nothing's there. It feels like it's floating. It's amazing. It's like nothing I've ever used before. Yeah. Two of the things that I'm just.
• 2:24:40
  Enjoying about the Switch 2, man, you're making this really hard for me. Like, I was like, I can wait, I can wait.
• 2:24:45
  You don't need to do it, but if you wanted it, it's pretty nice.
• 2:24:50
  But see, that's the thing.
• 2:24:53
  The question is, if you have a Switch 1 Pro controller, like, is it to upgrade?
• 2:25:00
  I do have one and I got this one too.
• 2:25:03
  It.
• 2:25:07
  Is a lot of money. Like, it's like 90 bucks all told after tax. And like, I'm going into this thinking, like, this is the controller I'm using for the rest of the Switch 2 lifespan. And it feels worth to me when.
• 2:25:18
  I think about that.
• 2:25:20
  It is a hard. That was a hard pill to swallow a little bit.
• 2:25:24
  I don't know.
• 2:25:25
  Dealer's choice.
• 2:25:26
  The other thing that's a nice benefit of it because I'm lazy is I don't like to have to. To get up and turn on my switch by pushing the button and then sit down and connect my Pro controller. And so with the Switch 2, you can just do it like you could with the original switch. Just hit the button on your controller and it turns your Switch two on.
• 2:25:45
  It is one. I absolutely agree, but one weird change to it is they put the lights on top. And so, like, whenever I'm like pressing, it's like, is this thing on? Like, what's going on?
• 2:25:53
  Like, oh, I'm an idiot.
• 2:25:54
  It's on top now every single time.
• 2:25:59
  Yeah, I. I have eyeballed it several times in the store. I'm just like, I don't need it. That's why I keep telling myself I don't need it.
• 2:26:12
  If I can maybe convince you out of it. It does feel a little odd. I do kind of this, like, claw hammer, not, sorry, Earl Scrugg style controller where I've got my pointer fingers on the butt, on the bumpers, my middle fingers on the triggers. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it feels like the angles are too sharp, where it's like my hand's gonna slide together. But if I do more just kind of like one finger on the buttons, the grips work a little better. So I don't know if that's like a unique to me problem or if that's like, it just feels. My hands are gonna kind of come together and I'm holding it.
• 2:26:52
  Well, no one small grip. I have a dual sense here. But yeah, Mark, like that's. Yeah, that's how I.
• 2:27:01
  Three finger technique. Yeah, that's what I'm.
• 2:27:02
  Yeah, that's how I play. Yeah. So you're not alone, friend.
• 2:27:05
  But he's like, this is. Yeah, okay.
• 2:27:11
  Anyway. All right, all right. You know, Joshua, any. Any thoughts? Anything we didn't say that you feel like we should. Any. Has. Have you left any. You've probably left lots of things unsaid, thankfully, but is there anything relevant to the conversation? Well, I don't know why I'm being spiteful.
• 2:27:39
  I said this when I first got the Switch, but I, I actually love, kind of a counterpoint to the new stuff that's coming out is I kind of love that I can use my older stuff on the new system as well. I mean, even playing Mario Kart World with my kids, I didn't have to pick up new controllers. I have. I actually, for some, some crazy reason, I have three pro controllers, actually. Well, anyways, I'm not going to go into that story anyways. I'll just say one was given to me, so got the other two on sale, so I have three of them. And so. So yes, I'm tempted to pick up the new one because I've heard it's great. But also I have 3 pro controllers and now 2 joy cons for the switch 2 itself. So I like that you can use those. Now. It's not going to have all the same stuff, so you won't be able to play certain games or do certain things, that's fine. But the fact that I can at least at a base level, play some four player Mario Kart World without having to get anything else is pretty cool. So yeah, I think Nintendo has just kind of knocked it out of the park with, with the Switch 2. I think the sales numbers say that as well. My only, my last thought on the system though is because I am much more kind of budget conscious just in general with video games in general, is that I don't know that I can wholeheartedly recommend that everyone go and pick it up right now. I would say once again, if you have a backlog of Switch games, you're probably the best. You're in the best position to pick one up. But if you're just kind of on the fence of like, I don't really play Switch, I don't really have any games. I Don't think this is really going to change your mind unless you're. Unless you're just dying to play Breath of the Wild and have it look and play really well. Maybe in that case it might be worth it to you, but I wouldn't. As much as I love the system, I think it's tailored. Right now in July of 2025, I think it's tailored more for the person who wants to continue to play original Switch games. There's. It still remains to be seen, you know, what kind of new experiences you're gonna get them. It's Nintendo, it's selling great. So there. It's gonna be around for a long time. So you're not really gonna be, you know, you're probably not gonna regret your purchase even if you do pick it up now. But what I'm saying is that in terms of its utility right now, there's not a huge list of reasons why you need to go out to the store and buy one right now, unless you have a bunch of Switch games that you wanna play. Because, I mean, 99% of the games are going to just play better and feel better on the Switch too. So I love it. And that hasn't changed. Was there a little dip of disappointment after I got it? Maybe a little dip, but only because my hype was high and that hype was through the roof as I first was playing Mario Kart World. You know, like, it just, it just felt great. It felt amazing. So then maybe it's like, oh, okay, I guess there's not, you know, crazy new experiences right now. Okay, I'll go play Switch 1 games. And then I played the DLC to Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and it's like, oh, this is amazing. Anyways, so I love the thing.
• 2:31:10
  Yeah. And yeah, I don't have, you know, I think, you know, I just kind of. I don't have anything. Yeah, surprisingly, I don't have anything more to say, really. Like, I've. I've. I've vented my spleen. Yes. I have nothing substantial. Sub words. Hard, tired, sleepy. Yeah. So, Mark, you did say that you had a question to double back around to.
• 2:31:38
  Yes.
• 2:31:38
  What is your question?
• 2:31:40
  Oh, I don't know why I said that. Josh is actually kind of related to what you were just saying. Oh, what is like at this point, if someone had didn't pick up a Switch one, like as now, it's like, I kind of want to get into this Nintendo stuff. Would you recommend in July 2025, get the Switch 1 or the Switch 2.
• 2:32:06
  Hmm. I think, you know, as maybe a little bit of a counter, I would say I would actually recommend people to get a Switch to. And I think it is because like, even without like a huge pre existing library, it's going to be the optimal place to play. And so you know that whatever you're going to pick up is going to perform well. Whereas like, you know, there are so many, so many games on OG Switch that they play. But like, I mean, like, let's talk about like Pokemon. Was it Scarlet and Violet or whatever? Apparently they run like absolute dog water on OG Switch, but on Switch 2 they are supposedly a delight. So, you know, a frequent guest on your show, Billy Cox, I was listening to the episode where you guys were all playing Mario Kart together and Billy's like, oh yeah, I'm gonna play Pokemon again. And he was like, it was my favorite game that year, the year that came out, but I hated it. And, and he like, because he, he thought like the, the Switch, the experience of it on Switch was just abhorrent. And now he's like, and I'm playing on Switch too, and it's delightful. And so I would just like, for that reason alone, I would just say, like, listen, like, anything that you're gonna buy for OG Switch is just gonna play better on here. So just that's. That would be like. I know it's a lot up front, but like, I just think like, if you're seriously gonna get into it, like, that's. That's the way to do it. That's. That. That would be my answer. So.
• 2:34:04
  As a counterpoint to that, I would be curious as to why they haven't picked up a switch at this point. And so like, how much of a gamer are they, you know, like how much in the video are they just trying to kind of dip their toes in? Because I completely agree, if you're in it for the long haul, then Switch two is the way to go. If you just kind of want to try this video game thing out, if you've heard there's some cool games on Switch, then I would probably recommend even, even a secondhand Switch or oled, you know, that you could get on sale or something like that, I would actually recommend going the cheaper route, playing a game or two. Pick up a handful of games, play a couple of them and see what you think at that point you've spent 200, 250, something like that just to see and if it sticks, then save up and get a switch too. Does that mean you'd end up paying more in the long run. But I just. If by this point they've never played a Switch, I would be curious as to how much they're really into video games and. Yeah, so. But I'm also a cheapskate.
• 2:35:17
  So you're boring and you're basic. Yeah.
• 2:35:21
  Yes. Get a toy first. Try the toy.
• 2:35:25
  There you go. Versus like a man's, a man's piece of tech. I don't know. Parker, how. How do you respond to Mark's query?
• 2:35:42
  I can see both what Nate and Josh are saying that makes sense. I think like my recommendation would be probably just to say Switch to just without question. Because like if you're not sure and you don't know and that's going to be the thing that gives you the most options because you know the reality is like everything moving forward, you're going to be able to play. So there's nothing you're going to risk closing yourself off to because of the tech. You can play anything from Switches back catalog. You can play all the Switch 2 stuff if you want to play that. And even games that are going to be cross gen for a while. Like there's a new Pokemon coming out in the fall. You could play the Switch 1 version of it or the Switch 2 version of it. So I think it really is more a question of like how price sensitive you are. And that's really going to be more what dictates what the decision is. If you just can't afford the $500, then the decision is probably made for you. And if you're, you know, just that's not as big of a deal to you, then I think it's an easy switch to recommendation. Nice.
• 2:36:50
  I've realized too of like, what helps in both cases is the fact that there's so much of Switch one stuff that works where it's like you could buy the $500 console for Switch 2 and then if you need two other controllers, you can buy other Switch 1 controllers because they'll work anyway at the same time, like if you want to start a Switch one, like Josh was saying, like, well, then if you want to upgrade later on, all your stuff still works. That's great. So it's not like you're buying into the same ecosystem either way, which is kind of a nice approach to it. So I think I probably land more where Josh is because I am also a cheapskate. Like for my whole racing rig, I want to go with a. I'm going to try to find a $80ps4 on Facebook Marketplace rather than, like, getting a PC or something. So I'm in the same vein.
• 2:37:43
  The one * I would say is if you only want the Switch to be able to use Ring Fit Adventure, then.
• 2:37:52
  The one game that won't play.
• 2:37:54
  Don't get the Switch too.
• 2:37:55
  Don't get the Switch too.
• 2:37:57
  Well, is it that it won't play on Switch 2 or that you have.
• 2:38:03
  To use the Joy Cons? Don't fit.
• 2:38:06
  Yeah, but if you use base, you can play.
• 2:38:08
  Can you use original Joy Cons?
• 2:38:10
  Yeah, you can? Oh, yeah.
• 2:38:13
  Oh, man.
• 2:38:15
  It's like the one game that flat out cannot work on Switch. One is one of the Labo things.
• 2:38:20
  Yeah.
• 2:38:21
  Because the VR one.
• 2:38:24
  Yeah. You have to put that thing in there. The piece of cardboard that was made specifically for that original Switch.
• 2:38:29
  Right, Exactly. Cannot be replicated. They've never figured it out.
• 2:38:34
  They're like, nope, nope. Oh, man.
• 2:38:38
  Labo, we will not manufacture a larger piece of cardboard and send it out to you. No, it's not gonna happen.
• 2:38:45
  There are lines and we have drawn them. Like, we'll. We'll.
• 2:38:50
  All five of you who bought that? I'm one of those.
• 2:38:54
  Dare you ask for that? Dozens of us.
• 2:38:58
  When it was clearanced out for however much. Anyways.
• 2:39:02
  All right, well, well, gentlemen, I think.
• 2:39:07
  I think this time to switch to the next topic.
• 2:39:13
  He got the two in there, too.
• 2:39:19
  You have to understand, the on the beach joke made me cry. Like, I. I had to recover.
• 2:39:27
  It made me cry on the inside.
• 2:39:28
  My fault, that's what.
• 2:39:29
  Could you. But not because it was. Was. It was so just. Ah, I hate it. I hate it. We hates it.
• 2:39:41
  You gotta admit, naming an open world game on the beach is pretty stupid. It's pretty dumb.
• 2:39:49
  Not gonna dignify that comment.
• 2:39:51
  I mean, but also, naming a game Death Stranding 2, it's pretty dumb.
• 2:39:55
  Also, you shut your filthy mouth. Mouth. I will not hear you slander Kojima's work, sir. Yeah, enough. Enough of your. Yeah, anyways, but, Josh, it is the last episode of the month, so I think that we need a.
• 2:40:24
  That's right. We do need to ask a question. And that question is, what is your question? For us, this is where we pick a question that you guys have asked us. We answer it here on the podcast, and you get the possibility of getting some money at a certain time in the year. We gave away money on our last episode. We'll give away money at the end of the year as well. So we come to the table and we each ask a Question. I just kind of took a cursory look at these questions, but one of them stuck out to me because I just thought it would be so much fun to answer here on the podcast. And that question comes from a certain Sonichu in our discord. He asks, what are your top three Sonic games? So for me, you know, as I think about this question, I really have not finished a lot of Sonic games in my lifetime, and there are tons. I mean, he's been, you know, an icon for a really long time. And so the only ones that come to mind for me, top. Top one is going to be Sonic 3 and Knuckles. It has to be Sonic 3 and Knuckles. And then the second one is really Sonic 2 because I like the originals. And then as I was thinking, like, I've heard Generations is really good. I own it, but I haven't played much of it. The one that I finished that comes to mind is Sonic Lost World on Wii U. I actually liked it. I know it's. It's kind of. It has its haters, but that's it for me. That's my top three Sonic games. So how about you, Nate?
• 2:42:01
  You know what? I sort of. I wondered why I was being so spiteful earlier in the night. I know why. I know, I know. Mm, mm, mm.
• 2:42:16
  I'll say.
• 2:42:16
  I.
• 2:42:17
  To be honest with myself, I have no idea how many hours I spent in the Chao garden of Sonic Adventure 2 Battle.
• 2:42:22
  Okay, see, I owned Sonic Adventure 2 Battle on GameCube, but I never got around to playing. Like, I played a little bit of it, but I didn't get very far, and I was kind of like, eh, whatever.
• 2:42:34
  You play the best of it.
• 2:42:35
  Don't worry about it.
• 2:42:37
  I had a friend who had Sonic Adventure Battle too, for Dreamcast. And I will echo the Chow Garden. Like, there was something about that weird little mini game thing that I. I was obsessed with. Like, I couldn't.
• 2:42:54
  Oh, nice. So that's your number one.
• 2:42:58
  Just the Chow garden. That's it. That's cool. I'm not dignifying the rest of that question with any sort of response. Except for Joshua. I am not only angry, I am disappointed. Okay. How dare you, sir? How dare you? And you know what? Like, man, I'm really discouraged. But it sucks. Like, I hate that. I hate it so bad. Like, oh, I hate. I hate it so bad. I can't.
• 2:43:37
  I just love that it's a legitimate question that makes your skin crawl at the same time. So it works on multiple levels. Yeah, it's legitimate. It's earnest. It's a genuine question. Which ones do you like in the series?
• 2:43:52
  Yeah, it's something.
• 2:43:54
  Yeah.
• 2:43:56
  What I'm going to say here is I actually, I have a good question that does sort of beg some sort of like some sort of thought and maybe requires a little bit of insight, but friend of the show patron, Gracious Josh submitted this one. In today's world, we engage with so much media, games, books, movies, shows, etc. Do you ever get frustrated that you can't remember what you've engaged with?
• 2:44:24
  Sorry.
• 2:44:25
  Feel and. Or think. How do you fight against your forgetfulness practically in regards to that? And my. The simple answer is, I think what is so funny?
• 2:44:42
  Okay, sorry, we're just going to address the elephant in the room you cut out. And it was just at a very point, a very funny point in your sentence that it cut off. And I don't even remember what it sounded like now, but it was just very funny.
• 2:44:57
  Like you just completely like blipped out of existence.
• 2:45:00
  Sick. That's kind of how I want. That's what I wish would have happened when Josh asked this question. Just been the embrace of sweet death at that point in time, like, would have been preferable to that slop. But the sort of going back to Gracious Josh's question about just like when. When we played, like, just sort of keeping track of all of it. And I've actually thought about this a fair amount before, so it's like, it's. But I think the problem is at that point in time, like, we consume so much that after a while none of it means anything. And so the way to sort of like remedy that, in my opinion, is to really throttle back. So like, I don't watch a lot of television, I don't watch a lot of movies. I'm not opposed to them, but I just, I don't need to. You know, entertainment and media in general is kind of like, if you sort of use it on a food thing, I think like, like sort of use a food metaphor here. I think that we just. We're sort of just eating so much that none of it matters anymore. And I think that the. The answer to sort of like in like sort of combat forgetfulness is to just slow down. It's like not play as much. Like, don't just sort of like, you know, even just like listening to podcasts, like throughout the day. It's like I hear so much content sometimes that it all just runs together at. I think it's just. Just sort of like building silence, build in doing something Aside from watching the show. Like, that's. That's. That's my answer. Like, to practically sort of combat the forgetfulness, consume less. Be a lot more intentional about what you do take in. That's. That's my answer.
• 2:47:03
  That's good. That's. Yeah, that's. That's a really good point. It's not always easy to hear, but. But that will help you at least maybe get a better kind of reset your taste for these things. But in terms of just purely forgetting, I had this idea that I wanted to actually write up a little blurb, a little review for games that I finished. This was early on in the. It might have even been before the podcast days when we just had the Facebook group, and that did not pan out. I don't do that with all my games, but I do think taking some intentional time after you finish a game does help to solidify your thoughts on certain things. I mean, that's part of this podcast does that for me in terms of helping me remember games. But I still go back. We use gg, you know, we track our games. I'll still go back and, oh, wow, I played that game in 2022, you know, and I can't believe it's been that long since I played that game. You know, things like that. So it does. Yeah. You will forget experiences, I think, along with what you said, Nate, what comes to mind, and maybe this is just what I've been reading and thinking about a lot lately, is to be present, to be more present in the things that you do. So you mentioned podcasts. I'd say, like, if you're playing a game that you want to remember, and I know this is kind of hard to determine in the moment, but if it's a game you're not just playing just to kind of, hey, I just want to have fun and play some Mario Kart kind of a thing, but maybe a narrative or something that's in the game that you really want to savor is not to be listening to a podcast while you play it. Like, actually focus all of your attention on this thing, and if you find that it's not worth it, then cool. You know, you can recognize that about a certain game, but I have found myself sometimes in certain parts of games, if I'm grinding in an rpg, I'll have something, I'm listening to something also something separate, a podcast, a book or something like that. But then when it comes to kind of the narrative story beats of a game, I'll pause that, set it aside so that I can really just focus on what's going on in the game. That helps to some extent. But I do think even just writing something up, if you can, if there's a game that's really affecting you, I think writing something will help not only to remember things, but also help to articulate your thoughts. And instead of having just kind of vague feelings, like actually thinking through why you feel the way that you do about something within the game. So a little more focused attention. And then probably that post game, kind of like just writing. I was gonna say thought dump, but I mean, actually writing and. And writing something more cohesive just to. To help solidify your thoughts. Those are. Those are some ways you can do that. But I do also sympathize with you in that there are lots of games. Yeah. That I. I generally forget about until I go back on GG and see. Oh, yeah, I did play that, you know, two years ago, something like that, so.
• 2:50:19
  And frankly, not everything's always worth remembering. I think that's the other side of it. It's lots of stuff where it's like, listen, I had a good time playing War Warhammer 40k Space Marine 2. I don't need to think like it's a popcorn flick. So, yeah, just. But that. And we sort of got a little out of order, but that leads us into shout outs. And so, Josh, I'll sort of kick us off here. And you know, Mark Parker, if you guys have anything, anything or anybody you want to shout out, you know, feel free to sort of jump in here, but I'm gonna shout out, friend. This one of our. One of the. He's a patron again, but he's also in our Discord. It's Sojourner, man. A couple weeks ago, he basically told me how to put a bot in the Discord server that looks up scripture. So you can do a thing where you like, bracket out a. A reference and it'll grab the ESV of that passage and just like deposit it right there in the nice. In the Discord. And so I thought that was pretty sick. And that is commendable. So, yeah, he gets an Atta boy.
• 2:51:45
  I've. I've got a shout out just because I think it's super cool. The connections that have been made in our Discord. My shout out first shout out is kind of going to techno funk boy. He remastered his Final Fantasy mixes and he's just about got those out the door. So stoked about that. But I also think it's cool that in remastering those tracks he redid the artwork and he commissioned someone from our Discord in order to do that. So shout out to Jason as well for. For doing that artwork. That's pretty. Pretty flippin sweet.
• 2:52:19
  I did not know that Jason did that. Attaboy. To both of those like. Attaboy, Paul. Attaboy Jason. That's sick. That's awesome.
• 2:52:27
  Pretty cool stuff.
• 2:52:29
  That's very cool. So. Yeah. Mark, you got any shout outs?
• 2:52:36
  I'll shout out. He's one of your patrons as well, but Alex Castellanos, he's great. He's. He'll comment on quick play YouTube videos and I appreciate that.
• 2:52:46
  Nice.
• 2:52:46
  He's always got something really insightful and nice to say, so I appreciate his words. I want to get on Quick Play sometime too.
• 2:52:54
  So if you get him on Quick Play before I get him on an episode of the the the Breakdown, I'm.
• 2:53:01
  Going to be the challenge.
• 2:53:03
  I'm going to be big mad.
• 2:53:06
  Well, it is not till 2am for quick.
• 2:53:08
  Yeah, this is true. Stop it. You're not making this any easier.
• 2:53:17
  That's all. Now I'm going to win. So.
• 2:53:19
  Yeah. Parker, any shout outs, my friend?
• 2:53:25
  I got nothing, man. Nothing.
• 2:53:29
  As always though, I will shout out the two of you gentlemen for hanging tough with this crowd. I did not foresee that. Like, I don't know why I had. I was like, we'll kind of keep it light. I was like thinking like one o' clock in my head. I was thinking one o', clock, the latest. It's not that. It's not that. Sorry. So I apologize. But I had a great time. I hope you guys had a great time. And Josh, I did.
• 2:53:59
  I knew I was getting into. Yeah, this is what I signed up for.
• 2:54:03
  I mean, Parker. Parker has. He's. He's done the. The full episode a time or two before. So he is. It's not. It's not completely out of the realm of expectation, I assume. But.
• 2:54:20
  Anyways, I'm standing in my office, so I'll just be back here in seven hours to work. So no big deal. You're the one who's got to go into an office early tomorrow morning, Nate.
• 2:54:30
  So. Yeah, it's. Oh, dude, it's. You know, I was like. When I got that. When I got that text, I was like, should I go in? I'm supposed to record tonight. But then I was like thinking around.
• 2:54:38
  It's like that's.
• 2:54:39
  That's gonna be overtime. Yeah, I should go. So weird. Okay, like weird aside and this. But it's like I was really hesitant to get back on the overtime list, but I think it's sort of been like, a little bit of, like, medicine for my soul. Like, and it's gonna sound really weird, but, like, I'm kind of enjoying it. We'll see how long that lasts. So ask me tomorrow how I'm feeling or ask me later today how I'm feeling at the end of the day. That being said, Josh, we got to close this thing out, man. So if people wanted to get a hold of us, how can they do that?
• 2:55:22
  Oh, yeah, Tons of ways. Guys, if you've got some thoughts on the switch, too, if you are thinking that you want to switch our minds on some of the things that we talked about here, there's tons of ways that you can reach out to us. All those ways are available on our. On our link tree. Just go to linktree.com the backlogbreakdown and hit us up in one of those many different ways. In fact, you can even choose one way and then switch to a different way if you want to.
• 2:55:47
  I don't like that either. I don't like any of what you just did. Something like that. I kind of hate all of it.
• 2:55:58
  Oh, I know.
• 2:56:00
  I know. You know, and then. And then I. I felt bad for being, like, kind of, like, you know, semi passive aggressive and like, you know, adversarial. And now I don't. No, I don't like all the. All the spike. I'll find some more, you know, and I'll text you later and be like, here, here's some more spite. Anyways, I'll take a little deeper. I'm gonna look. Look. I'm going to look for some barbs. Anyway, this is getting weird. I'm tired. You guys are tired. Probably the viewers, slash listeners are tired. So, like, hey, let's call it a night.
• 2:56:37
  So I'm switching to a different podcast. Guys, keep beating down your backlogs and we'll keep breaking down the benefits.
• 2:56:53
  Sa.