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This Is Getting Bad · Critical Error

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  video game price discourse. Today we're
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  getting into the anxieties, the fears,
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  the $70 price point, every single thing
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  that
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  >> Jake,
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  did I lose? Why'd you stop talking?
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  >> Oh, sorry. That's actually locked behind
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  the $5 upgrade. If you want to get the
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  rest, you got to pay the premium.
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  >> patreon.com/critical error. A critical
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  error is an error which the OS cannot
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  reasonably ignore. J Jake Jake Steinberg
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  is a streamer, writer, and certified
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  yapper. Complimentary. Peter Hunt
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  tech is a YouTuber, journalist, and
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  certified yapper. Derogatory. These are
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  the things they cannot reasonably
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  ignore. Price discourse. Oh my god, the
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  world is our oyster. Where do we begin?
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  games as a service, monetization,
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  marketplaces, the $70 game, the dreaded,
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  the feared $80 game. This discourse pops
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  up everywhere. I think where I want to
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  start, yeah, the question I am I am most
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  interested in figuring out at the
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  beginning here is that when we talk
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  about the anxiety of the increasing
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  price of video games, what are we
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  actually talking about there? Is it as
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  simple as we don't want to pay more for
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  anything? Price going up is bad across
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  the board and that's worth talking about
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  over and over or is something deeper
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  going on?
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  >> I mean, I think it's it's a very simple
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  answer and it's just it's just that
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  prices are going up and wages aren't
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  going up,
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  >> right? And and like that's what it is,
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  right? proportionally. Now, a
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  PlayStation 5 costs significantly more
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  out of your income if you've not changed
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  if you've not gotten some sort of
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  significant raise or whatever than it
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  did when it came out. And so, when when
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  we're talking about price discourse, I
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  think there's just so much like um it's
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  it's like you said, there are so many
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  different like avenues of discussion for
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  it. Whether it is, okay, now Nintendo is
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  charging 10 more dollars for its
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  physical games than it is for its
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  digital games. Um, whether it is talking
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  about console prices or even what you
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  were saying too, but like the $70 game,
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  the $80 game. I I I think people just
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  get freaked a little bit because like no
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  one wants to pay more for stuff and no
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  one wants to be priced out of their
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  hobby because of course I think it is I
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  mean it is a realistic thing to to think
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  that people are getting priced out of
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  it. I'm getting priced out of it. I
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  really want to play Resident Evil 9 and
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  I haven't yet because I just can't I
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  straight up can't afford it. You know
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  what I mean? Um, so but when we're
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  talking about price discourse, what I
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  think we are talking about is just the
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  anxiety of uh increasing prices across
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  the board.
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  >> Wow. I really like something you brought
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  up there actually about kind of the the
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  threatened identity because all of the
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  people who are in kind of uh games
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  discourse spaces online, I think
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  obviously see playing video games and
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  games themselves as part of who they
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  are, their understanding of the self.
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  And I would even go so far as to say
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  that like that's part of how I see
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  myself.
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  >> Yeah. It's this thing where like I don't
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  know. I I would never like identify
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  myself as like a gamer because I think
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  there's just it's just like lo kind of
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  loaded over the past like 10 years or
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  whatever.
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  >> Um but it is like it's a hobby I love.
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  Right. It's it's something I really
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  really enjoy and um I have seen myself
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  get priced out of this to a certain
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  extent or like if I needed to buy a
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  brand new PlayStation 5, I just couldn't
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  do it, right? Because I just I just
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  simply don't have the cash to afford it
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  right now. Um, but it's it's like what
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  you're saying. Okay, so if I'm not
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  playing games, then what am I doing? And
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  now I have other hobbies certainly, but
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  like with with how much time games um
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  sort of demand from people, it is what I
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  would say one of my bigger hobbies,
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  right, in terms of like what I'm doing.
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  Um, and so if if Yeah. Go ahead.
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  >> You know, I think that we have created
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  this space too where being a gamer and
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  being somebody who plays games is really
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  the playing of the games is really only
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  half of how you participate as a fan.
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  talking
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  because we've kind of created this
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  environment that is so focused on the
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  latest releases and then very very very
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  quickly moves on to the next thing. uh
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  you create this kind of hostile
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  environment to people who are maybe not
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  the video game reviewers who are
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  constantly getting new codes for new
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  games and need to keep up purchasing 607
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  $80 games week by week, monthtomonth to
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  uh feel like their identity in the space
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  is not being threatened and something
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  that they spend a lot of time and energy
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  and get a lot of joy out of
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  participating in whether it be on a
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  forum or or like a discord. It's like
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  you are maybe missing uh you're having
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  that heightened sense of FOMO, right?
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  >> Yes. Well, and I think I think that is
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  the other like major
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  underlying uh conversation point for
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  when we talk about like price discourse
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  is the fear of missing out, right?
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  Because it's it's like um I don't know
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  you you look at like the way that games
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  are discussed now. It's like oh my gosh,
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  the Dragon Quest remake is out now and
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  you have to play it. It's simply
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  phenomenal. And if you aren't playing
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  it, you're missing out. And it's like,
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  okay, cool. But how often does that
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  happen in any given year? Every week,
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  every two weeks, when when the next game
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  that's going to score an 85. Yeah,
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  exactly.
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  >> Um, and so it's it's like I think that's
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  that's a big part of it. The anxiety of
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  missing out of those conversations of
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  being a part of the zeitgeist, even
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  though the zeitgeist, as we all
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  understand, is fleeting and fickle. You
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  know, I have seen people refer to people
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  who play video games or people who write
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  about video games as a community. And I
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  think that that is an incorrect um
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  assumption because I think part of being
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  in a community has uh there's a sense of
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  like a shared group of needs or like
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  material circumstances, right? And I
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  think that people in games, they vary
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  too much. The the in terms of like
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  access there there's not a community
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  there. What I think is there that people
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  are misidentifying is a culture and
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  there 100% is a um it is it is more than
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  a hobby. There is a defined culture and
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  we can
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  >> lifestyle.
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  >> Yeah. 100%. I mean you think about like
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  uh
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  you know it's so funny like like social
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  media does such a bad job at
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  representing what life is like for most
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  people. I think that's like fair across
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  the board, right? You talk about like um
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  you know so many people have like body
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  image issues and whatever because it's
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  like oh people are presenting this like
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  fake like nonachievable sense of self in
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  that way. But I think like there's that
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  same thing to the on the gaming side,
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  right? Like um someone saw my office
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  once and they were like, "Oh, I'm
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  surprised you don't have like a bunch of
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  like like LEDs everywhere." And I was
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  like, "No, I think that's just for
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  people who like
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  >> make viral content on Instagram." You
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  know what I mean? Where it's like,
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  "Check out my setup. Check out my rig."
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  And I think most people are sort of like
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  dealing with this thing where it's like,
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  "No, no, like the way that people
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  consume games online is just like fully
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  not attainable for most people, you
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  know?" And obviously like the LED like
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  super like beefy computer rig whatever
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  is one aspect of it. But I think in the
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  way that like you look at um playing new
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  games is is such a big aspect of that.
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  >> Definitely. It's there's this thing
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  where if we accept that there is a
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  culture being formed here. It's not that
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  you are just being priced out of a
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  hobby. It is that you are you know it's
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  not like um oh I'll skip this one but
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  I'm still participating in the space in
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  the same way that I was. It's like no,
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  you are actually locked out of the space
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  for a period of time because frankly
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  like there really is no um active
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  meaningful or prominent conversation
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  surrounding like oh I'm going to go back
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  and play games in my backlog because
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  part of why it's so hard people never
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  talk you know everybody has this
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  discourse surrounding like the oh maybe
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  I'll get to my backlog one day but so
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  much of the reason why it is hard to
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  actually go back to your backlog is
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  because of the culture and the culture
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  doesn't create us. You're missing half
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  of the enjoyment that people get out of
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  talking about the thing that everybody
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  else is also talking about. Yes. So,
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  yeah. So, there's definitely like a um a
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  cultural pressure here that I think
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  enforces that sense of FOMO. And um
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  there's also I think something else I
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  want to bring in here too is that uh I
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  think we all have understood for quite
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  some time that you get a lot of bang for
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  your buck out of gaming.
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  >> Oh yeah, certainly.
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  in in terms of like entertainment that
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  you could participate in, there is so
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  much value in video games. And I do
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  wonder sometimes if people have known
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  that and when prices for games start to
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  go up fairly or unfairly, there is this
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  feeling of being threatened of like that
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  value of game, you know?
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  >> Well, you know, it's funny. Um, there is
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  this like whole so much stuff is free
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  with video games, right? And it didn't
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  it didn't used to be this way, right?
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  Like so many freetoplay games um are
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  like phenomenal, right? Fortnite free to
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  play, Apex freeto play, like all these
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  there there's so much that you can get
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  if you are not even spending a dime on
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  actually like purchasing video games,
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  right? And you know there's something to
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  be said about those marketplaces and
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  freeto play um the way that freeto play
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  games are monetized and all that sort of
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  stuff. But like you and we can get
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  there. But what I find interesting is
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  there is a certain level of um like
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  entitlement I think that we see out of a
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  lot of like gamers in like the gaming
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  space. Um because of I think there might
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  be a certain like level of anxiety about
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  the idea of like what if starting
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  tomorrow Fortnite was like hey actually
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  you have to play pay $60 to play this
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  game. No that's not going to happen
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  right probably. But like the I think
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  there's a certain amount of like anxiety
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  surrounding the idea that like hey the
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  things that I like that are free might
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  not be free forever. One and two um the
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  things that I like uh things that I like
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  should also always be getting updates.
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  You look at what happened um this past
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  week with um the developers from Peak
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  who's Landfall Landfall Interactive um
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  someone tweeted at them saying like they
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  have a lazy dev cycle and they responded
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  by saying and this is from an IGN
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  article by Rebecca Rebecca Valentine. Um
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  they said uh neither of us neither us or
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  code developer Aggrobab are live service
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  studios. Any update is a bonus not a
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  right. And I think that like sort of
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  speaks to um part of
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  the anxiety of what's going on with all
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  this from the development side and from
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  the consumer side.
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  >> Wow. A bonus not a right. So yeah, the
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  the this thing you're pointing to here,
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  the um the anxiety. There is something
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  funny about gamers, too, where we saw
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  this earlier this year with the $20
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  release of Pokemon Fire and Leaf Green
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  on the Nintendo eHop where
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  >> there is this entitlement that gamers
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  often have in terms of um if I identify
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  as a gamer, if I'm somebody in the video
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  game space, I almost feel like I should
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  be able to access everything at some
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  point. I should be able to play
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  everything. And it's funny because it's
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  it's it turns into this fear very
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  quickly of I don't want anything to be
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  taken away from me ever and I should be
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  able to play everything at a almost
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  arbitrarily chosen price that I have
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  decided on. Yeah. See this like weird
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  entitlement that come cuz let's let's be
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  clear here. I think that there's like a
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  weird relationship that gamers have with
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  video games that I don't know if there
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  is a direct analog to when you consider
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  things like the insane um sale prices
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  that you can get games at not long after
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  release on many marketplaces and how
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  that distorts people's perspective of
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  value. People get mad at Nintendo for
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  not marking their games down
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  significantly or ever because it it
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  feels like something is they're being
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  wronged in a way which is really strange
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  when you consider the just like offering
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  something of value. Why does that value
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  go down
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  >> immediately? Immediately it's a very odd
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  thing. Yeah. But then then past the
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  Steam prices or like the sales or
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  whatever, there's also this weird
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  relationship that gamers have that I
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  have a hard time mapping to um like
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  emulation and sometimes outright like
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  piracy and stealing that people just
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  look at that like well stealing is a
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  thing. So this should be priced in
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  accordance to the fact that you can take
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  this away steal it. I could steal it.
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  So, which is like something cuz here's
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  the thing like like piracy stealing
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  whatever. I'm not here to like make a
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  judgment call on that. I actually also
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  don't care. But like it is silly because
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  we don't do this for like other things,
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  right? Like
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  >> I could go into a grocery store and walk
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  out with a pocket full of grapes, right?
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  That I can enjoy in my car. They don't
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  get smooshed, right? But like you would
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  never be like, "Listen up grape farmers
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  or whoever. I don't know who. Dole. I
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  don't know. I'm not looking at the bag."
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  All right. Um,
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  no one's like, "Well, I could steal
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  these, so they should be cheaper." What?
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  >> Dude, I could plant a banana tree in my
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  backyard today, and you're telling me
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  that you're going to charge me for your
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  simple banana, right?
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  >> Like, no. Like, come on.
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  >> Get out of here.
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  >> No banana,
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  dude. No.
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  >> And here's the thing. They say that we
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  take ourselves too seriously on this
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  show, and here we are with a [ __ ]
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  banana jokes.
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  >> It's like, did they make it far enough
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  to get to the banana joke? Do they know?
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  Do they know that we have fun here?
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  >> Certainly not. But no, it is it is kind
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  of a weird like like it's a weird
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  discourse. It is a weird discourse
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  because I think that like uh so many of
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  the talking points are like missed and
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  and some of so many of like the
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  important bits of this sort of thing are
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  um
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  I don't think like on purpose missed,
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  but I think like there's just a certain
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  amount of like um missing the point of
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  what we're actually talking about here,
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  which is the insecurity and the anxiety
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  surrounding uh price and not just the
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  fact that the Switch 2 costs $450. Well,
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  and you alluded to this earlier, and I
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  and I do want to make this this point as
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  clear as possible because I still see
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  people make this mistake in the wider
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  space every single goddamn day, but the
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  a Nintendo Switch 2 game being $10 more
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  or less expensive,
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  it should not matter. It should not
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  matter to any of us. And
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  I understand how that might be a hard
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  thing to reach. I see this kind of um
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  discernment with video game pricing,
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  this ritual that happens a lot of the
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  times in in articles or in tweets where
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  the analysis people will run is that
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  they will pull up an inflation calendar.
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  They'll put in the year that the
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  Nintendo 64 came out. They'll put in its
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  price and then they'll be like, "Look,
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  the price of games hasn't actually
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  changed." And it's because they have a
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  fleeting understanding of, I think, how
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  money works and what inflation even is.
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  Because the fact of the matter is is
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  that the measuring something against the
• 14:43
  value of the dollar is functionally
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  meaningless if you are not also
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  performing a material analysis of how
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  much money people are actually making at
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  the time. Because yeah, if the price of
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  gaming hasn't actually increased over
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  however many years, that is great. But
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  at the same time, we have unavoidable
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  costs that are being imposed on every
• 15:03
  citizen of the country. Housing goes up,
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  food goes up, everything that you need,
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  things that everybody is paying for,
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  more costs that didn't exist before,
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  phones, Wi-Fi, whatever the heck it is.
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  If all of that is now being imposed on
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  that same person, guess what? It doesn't
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  matter that the price of video games
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  didn't go up. It is more expensive
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  because you have less money in your
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  pocket than you should. And if your
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  analysis does not start there, your
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  analysis is useless to me. And I am sick
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  I am sick of reading the the posts, the
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  tweets, the op-eds, whatever it is,
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  talking about the price of video games
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  that is too scared to get political, too
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  um uninterested or unurious to have an
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  actual meaningful material analysis that
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  is focused on solutions. And instead all
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  it ever sounds like is a ungrateful
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  video game player going, I can't believe
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  I have to spend $10 more, $10 less. We
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  should not be arguing about $10. We
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  should not be fighting about $10. It
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  should not be on Nintendo or Sony or
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  whoever to put $10 more in my pocket. We
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  should be getting thousands of dollars
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  more in our pockets all the god damn
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  time. This is fighting over this is
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  exactly what they want us to do.
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  >> If we rely on them to solve these
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  problems for us, we will always be
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  trapped. We will always be under their
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  foot. And we will always live in an
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  economy that lives and dies by us
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  getting little treats so that we can
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  feel better. so that we can treat them
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  like medicine and get along under this
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  shitty system. That is it.
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  >> I completely agree. And I also wonder
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  like how much of this discourse is also
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  like driven by people who are just kind
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  of going like well it might be this,
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  right? Like do you remember like we all
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  decided that GTA was going to cost $100?
• 16:45
  GTA 6 is going to cost $100. Do you
• 16:47
  remember this?
• 16:48
  >> I do remember this. Yeah. And when you
• 16:50
  look at like why everyone thinks that,
• 16:52
  it's because like one industry analyst
• 16:53
  said like, "Well, maybe if if you know
• 16:56
  based on based on the development time
• 16:58
  and cost of GTA 6, you know, it's been
• 17:00
  in in the works for what, like 15 years,
• 17:02
  like
• 17:03
  uh it might make sense for them to
• 17:05
  charge more for it." And then everyone
• 17:06
  just sort of like decided 100% that like
• 17:08
  this vibe that we've sort of just like
• 17:10
  gotten from some guy. And I'm not saying
• 17:12
  that that person isn't credible or or
• 17:14
  like doesn't have anything interesting
• 17:15
  to say, but it's just like we're not
• 17:17
  even talking about the real the reality
• 17:18
  of what's going on here. And I think it
• 17:19
  just goes back to like what you're
• 17:20
  saying here. This idea of like like
• 17:24
  sure, you know, we can discuss the facts
• 17:26
  that Nintendo games are going to cost
• 17:28
  $10 more for physical editions. We can't
• 17:30
  like that is a fact, right? But at the
• 17:31
  end of the day, the actual conversation
• 17:33
  here is like, but why is $10 more so
• 17:37
  staggering for people? I was
• 17:39
  >> You should be able to pay $10 more
• 17:42
  without even thinking about it.
• 17:43
  >> Yes. Yes. I was I was relieved when I
• 17:45
  found out that my nephew only has a
• 17:47
  Switch One because I got him Pokemon
• 17:48
  Legends R or uh ZA for for Christmas
• 17:51
  >> and I was like, "Oh, sick. That's only
• 17:53
  going to be $60." Do you know what I
• 17:55
  mean? And like it's this thing where
• 17:56
  like of course like being able to save
• 17:57
  everyone wants to save a little bit, but
• 17:58
  I was like, "Oh, $10 is actually like
• 18:00
  material materially like different for
• 18:02
  me."
• 18:02
  >> Allow me to peel off the main
• 18:05
  conversation of the podcast for one for
• 18:07
  one fleeting moment. You just brought up
• 18:09
  getting your little nephew. How old are
• 18:11
  they?
• 18:12
  >> He is
• 18:14
  eight.
• 18:15
  >> Eight. Great. Um, Pokemon Legends ZA.
• 18:18
  And I just had this I just had this
• 18:20
  Jimmy Neutron Brain Blast go off in my
• 18:22
  head
• 18:22
  >> and Brain Blast and I was like, "Wow,
• 18:26
  imagine Jake yourself. You're 8 years
• 18:28
  old and the Pokemon game you're playing
• 18:29
  is Pokemon Legends ZA." I think one of
• 18:31
  the cool things about Pokemon and Game
• 18:33
  Freak is that like over the course of my
• 18:35
  life I've you can go all the way back to
• 18:37
  when the games were black and white when
• 18:39
  they were nothing and you can kind of
• 18:40
  see this lineage this history and you're
• 18:42
  going up that staircase the entire time
• 18:44
  and that's really neat and that's a
• 18:46
  privilege of the era that I grew up in.
• 18:49
  But to start to start at ZA to be there
• 18:54
  when you are 8 years old and be like wow
• 18:56
  this is the the game that Jake dreamed
• 18:58
  about when he watched the cartoon. No,
• 19:00
  100%.
• 19:02
  >> I don't know. There's something about
• 19:02
  that that I'm just like what a what a
• 19:04
  life. What a perspective. How fun is
• 19:06
  that?
• 19:06
  >> A thousand%. And I think that's like
• 19:08
  what's kind of interesting about where
• 19:09
  like gaming is where like anyone who's
• 19:10
  like jumping in now and jumping in now.
• 19:12
  Anyone who's like a child now, it's like
• 19:14
  like you don't even understand, man.
• 19:16
  >> We used to have to like wait around for
• 19:17
  games to load so long. I always I always
• 19:20
  tell people though that like the the age
• 19:22
  that I am, I feel like I'm like
• 19:24
  perfectly situated to see like a lot of
• 19:27
  the contrivances of our entertainment
• 19:31
  and technological culture today because
• 19:33
  like
• 19:34
  >> you know I remember before the iPhone I
• 19:37
  remember I remember the Game Boy and
• 19:40
  being able to have that scope of seeing
• 19:43
  the whole I think it's just cool. I
• 19:45
  don't know about agree. I completely
• 19:47
  agree. just having the uh sometimes I
• 19:50
  think about like how would a Nintendo
• 19:52
  Switch hit a kid who has always known
• 19:55
  the iPad. I think about that all the
• 19:57
  time
• 19:58
  >> because it's like like
• 19:59
  >> it's fascinating, right? Cuz the Switch
• 20:00
  is such a thing to us. But if you've
• 20:03
  This is so off topic, but if you've But
• 20:05
  like if you see the Switch and you've
• 20:06
  known the iPad the whole time, don't you
• 20:08
  just look at it and you go,
• 20:09
  >> "Oh, it's just another thing.
• 20:11
  >> It's an iPad with things on the end."
• 20:12
  >> Yeah. Yeah.
• 20:13
  >> Fascinating. Funny, right? It is. Yeah.
• 20:15
  I don't know. There's there's something
• 20:16
  about having the lineage that really I
• 20:18
  don't know. It's Yeah. So anyways, but
• 20:20
  um okay, sales discourse. Something I
• 20:23
  want to something I want to tie in here
• 20:25
  is the um because I do think it's
• 20:27
  related is something that we see in
• 20:31
  games culture all the time. this
• 20:33
  emphasis on Steam charts and sales
• 20:36
  numbers, the the pocket watching of
• 20:39
  Nintendo hit their sales goal, Sony
• 20:41
  wanted to sell this many copies, the the
• 20:44
  obsession with this. Now, I think that
• 20:48
  kind of what you were talking about with
• 20:50
  um you know, kind of who's driving these
• 20:53
  conversations when you when you brought
• 20:55
  up like GTA, somebody just kind of made
• 20:57
  that up. I think a lot of this can be
• 21:00
  explained by it just being lowhanging
• 21:02
  fruit discourse and really easy to as a
• 21:07
  content creator, right? Kind of
• 21:09
  manipulate into your business. You know
• 21:12
  what I mean?
• 21:12
  >> I think if we had someone should make
• 21:14
  like a critical error bingo card and one
• 21:16
  of the the spot should be like gets to
• 21:19
  the root of the fact that no one's
• 21:21
  actually talking about the games.
• 21:23
  Yeah, course, you know, uh we could talk
• 21:26
  about, you know, price discourse and
• 21:27
  whatever, but anything that doesn't get
• 21:29
  us actually interpreting what's going on
• 21:30
  in a video game, I think is is good for
• 21:32
  us. But no, 100%. Cuz it it's like um
• 21:35
  there's a whole economy now surrounding
• 21:38
  the idea of it's not looking good for
• 21:41
  Marathon.
• 21:42
  >> Yes. The cottage industry of kind of
• 21:43
  like pocket watching companies and um
• 21:46
  saying like, "Oh, people are playing on
• 21:49
  Steam.
• 21:49
  >> This company's doomed." Compare it to
• 21:52
  Hey, if you compare it to Apex Legends,
• 21:53
  it looks bad, doesn't it?
• 21:54
  >> It looks really bad if you compare it to
• 21:55
  one of the most popular battle royale
• 21:57
  games of the last decade. It looks
• 21:59
  pretty bad if you do that. It's really
• 22:02
  >> And not to be a complete crazy person to
• 22:03
  tie everything into this, but uh I think
• 22:06
  flip side, you see something like um the
• 22:08
  critics hate the Super Mario Galaxy
• 22:11
  movie, but look at how much it's sold.
• 22:12
  >> Look at the money.
• 22:14
  >> It's validated. Look, no, no, no, no.
• 22:16
  It's the consumer is right. If if it is
• 22:19
  successful, that means it is good. Look
• 22:21
  at crimson dessert. Oh my god,
• 22:24
  everybody's licking up that sweet
• 22:26
  dessert, tasting it off of their spoons.
• 22:28
  Those stupid critics don't understand.
• 22:29
  But I understand cuz I'm a gamer. The
• 22:31
  market has spoken. The marketplace of
• 22:33
  ideas. I have dominated you. I've owned
• 22:35
  you in the marketplace of ideas. Oh,
• 22:38
  it's delightful.
• 22:38
  >> Yeah, I might as well just go home,
• 22:40
  right? Right. I mean at this point like
• 22:41
  well if it made a billion dollars then
• 22:43
  yeah I got
• 22:44
  >> because I I think what's very clearly
• 22:46
  happening there is that um when you are
• 22:49
  arguing about whether or not a game did
• 22:51
  well all you are really doing is if is
• 22:54
  your has your positive or negative taste
• 22:56
  been socially validated again because
• 22:59
  this is a culture.
• 23:00
  >> Yes.
• 23:00
  >> So you are looking for that cultural
• 23:02
  capital that comes with your taste being
• 23:05
  validated. So sales are simply a way to
• 23:09
  win arguments about um your position in
• 23:12
  the space in to say that like I I
• 23:15
  understand this space better than you
• 23:16
  do.
• 23:16
  >> Yeah. I mean it's it's something we talk
• 23:18
  about a lot on this show is like the
• 23:20
  idea of like creating an in-group and an
• 23:21
  outgroup.
• 23:22
  >> Yeah.
• 23:22
  >> For you know the clout of it and for the
• 23:25
  ability to feel smart and big and and
• 23:26
  whatever. And it's just like I don't
• 23:28
  know if that um
• 23:29
  >> I mean it works in the sense that like
• 23:32
  uh it if it didn't work people wouldn't
• 23:34
  do it right. But um when I see people
• 23:38
  doing this, I'm like, I think it's clown
• 23:40
  pound. Do you know what I mean? I think
• 23:41
  >> it's also um it's also lazy, I would
• 23:43
  say, because the the analysis of what's
• 23:46
  going on there, you don't have to know
• 23:47
  anything about the game. You don't have
• 23:48
  to do any work. All you need to do is
• 23:51
  look at a number and say that number is
• 23:53
  not high enough. And there is a degree
• 23:55
  to which it is capitalist
• 23:56
  imperialistrained to even be so
• 23:59
  concerned with how the business is
• 24:01
  doing, how they're how much money they
• 24:03
  are making, how many copies they are
• 24:04
  selling, to put that above to prioritize
• 24:08
  that, telling that story, sharing that
• 24:09
  story with your audience, with your
• 24:11
  readers above whatever your experience
• 24:13
  with a game is. Like right now there's a
• 24:17
  big um kind of like chud driven movement
• 24:20
  I would say that is um panicked about
• 24:23
  marathon that is like
• 24:25
  >> there so there's a few things about this
• 24:27
  because I think the reason this happens
• 24:28
  is there's three reasons one is because
• 24:30
  we've decided that video game studios
• 24:32
  are actually sports teams and if your
• 24:35
  video game studio fails then your sports
• 24:36
  team has lost and you are embarrassed
• 24:38
  right and so so with Marathon like
• 24:40
  that's a huge thing everyone's like oh
• 24:41
  my gosh I'm worried about Marathon I'm
• 24:42
  worried about marathon I'm worried about
• 24:44
  marathon And like I think a part of that
• 24:47
  is sort of the second reason for this
• 24:48
  and it's because people uh is when it's
• 24:50
  like a live service game like Marathon
• 24:52
  or like you know multiplayer game like
• 24:54
  Marathon um people are worried like oh
• 24:56
  this is going to go away because we've
• 24:58
  seen this happen before. But I think
• 24:59
  that's such a small percentage of what
• 25:00
  people are actually worried about. I
• 25:02
  think people are really worried about it
• 25:03
  being a sports team. Um and and I think
• 25:05
  the third reason is because of you it is
• 25:07
  easy for um content creators to just
• 25:10
  like talk about this instead of actually
• 25:11
  playing the game. But like yes it is
• 25:12
  interesting that there is this anxiety
• 25:14
  surrounding marathon that I think is
• 25:16
  largely not to do with the fact that hey
• 25:17
  I enjoy marathon and I want to continue
• 25:20
  for a long time and is more surrounding
• 25:21
  the fact that of just like like this
• 25:24
  idea of I just want to be afraid for
• 25:26
  this thing because I can make content
• 25:27
  around it or we can talk about it like
• 25:29
  this. And I think it would really
• 25:30
  behoove the gaming space to divest
• 25:34
  themselves from um talk from the
• 25:39
  permanence of games because frankly I
• 25:41
  just don't think it's uh I personally
• 25:44
  don't feel that this is like a battle or
• 25:46
  a war worth waging. And I think that
• 25:48
  like so for example these the kind of
• 25:50
  anxiety that surrounds live service
• 25:52
  games marathon included. Yeah. Um, I
• 25:54
  really liked multiveres. The WB Smash
• 25:58
  Brothers like I was the number one
• 26:00
  biggest multiver fan I've ever
• 26:02
  >> number one multiveres fan. A Smash
• 26:04
  Brothers like in which I could play as
• 26:06
  Superman. They wrote that love letter to
• 26:08
  me specifically. And I love that game. I
• 26:11
  thought it was really fun. There were
• 26:12
  there were haters. I didn't care about
• 26:13
  the haters at all. Didn't bother me at
• 26:15
  all because I was having fun playing the
• 26:16
  game. And guess what? You can't play
• 26:18
  that game online anymore. Does that
• 26:20
  affect
• 26:22
  all of the fun I had, everything I want
• 26:24
  to say about multiveres, my
• 26:26
  understanding of that game, those
• 26:27
  experiences I had? If I go to a
• 26:32
  a play
• 26:33
  >> Yeah.
• 26:34
  >> and that play is no longer on Broadway,
• 26:36
  what happens to my relationship with
• 26:38
  having seen that play? What happens?
• 26:40
  What I find interesting about this is um
• 26:44
  it it is it is so interesting the way
• 26:46
  that we as like a culture sort of like
• 26:49
  um appreciate video games because you're
• 26:50
  right like no one would expect the play
• 26:52
  to be playing in to be running in your
• 26:55
  city. I had my experience, right?
• 26:57
  >> It's it's Is it gone because I can't
• 27:00
  have it again? Is this this weird gamer
• 27:02
  nostalgia fueled? I need to be as I need
• 27:05
  to be permanently attached to these
• 27:07
  things that I'm like just let it go.
• 27:09
  Die.
• 27:09
  >> I think it's a lot about the the idea
• 27:11
  that like oh our count is so huge for um
• 27:14
  >> wow
• 27:15
  >> for people for enjoying their video
• 27:17
  games, right? There was this like post
• 27:18
  that kind of went not like viral, but
• 27:19
  like was being shared a lot about
• 27:21
  Marathon where someone in the Steam
• 27:22
  review said like um yeah, there's like
• 27:25
  kind of nothing to do as soon as you
• 27:26
  finish all of the contracts and
• 27:28
  whatever. Um and they had like 250 hours
• 27:31
  locked in it. It's like yeah, nothing to
• 27:32
  do, huh? You know what I And it's this
• 27:33
  thing where it's like that is such a a I
• 27:36
  think uh
• 27:39
  like salient point about this like topic
• 27:42
  here where it's just like so many people
• 27:43
  are interested in just I want to play
• 27:45
  and play and play and play in perpetuity
• 27:48
  without the understanding that like no
• 27:49
  like sometimes there are there's like a
• 27:51
  limit to what is actually in this video
• 27:52
  game
• 27:54
  >> and the game is not as stable as people
• 27:56
  think it is. Um when you look at a live
• 27:59
  service game I think this is very
• 28:00
  obvious. You can't go back to Fortnite
• 28:02
  season 1. You can't go back.
• 28:03
  >> I want to go back to Fortnite.
• 28:05
  >> You can't go back to Simpsons Fortnite.
• 28:06
  You can't go back. It's It's gone.
• 28:08
  >> In my waking dreams, I see I see it.
• 28:10
  >> And then if you zoom out a little bit
• 28:12
  more, you can't go back to um that
• 28:17
  whatever game you played before it was
• 28:18
  patched.
• 28:19
  >> You can't go back. It was It's It's
• 28:21
  different now. And then if you zoom out
• 28:22
  a little bit more, you can't go back to
• 28:25
  playing Pokemon on your Game Boy Color
• 28:28
  in the height of Pok Mania. You can't go
• 28:30
  back. You can't go back to being a kid.
• 28:32
  You can't go back to your life being
• 28:34
  different.
• 28:34
  >> This is I think what it really is,
• 28:35
  right? Because it's like uh obviously I
• 28:38
  think people wish that they could re
• 28:40
  revisit I do think that people do wish
• 28:41
  that they could revisit certain games,
• 28:43
  right? Like 100% in the way that they
• 28:44
  were
• 28:45
  >> and you and you can and you can.
• 28:47
  >> Yes. But not always, right? So like
• 28:49
  >> and and even when you do, it is
• 28:51
  fundamentally different because you are
• 28:52
  fundamentally different.
• 28:53
  >> No, but this is the thing, right? Cuz I
• 28:54
  think about like Simpsons Fortnite and
• 28:55
  like dude, I had a [ __ ] blast playing
• 28:57
  that in what, December of last year.
• 28:59
  Mhm.
• 29:00
  >> But it's also like if it were to come
• 29:01
  out right now and I were to play it, I
• 29:03
  do think it would probably hit different
• 29:04
  because I'm just in a different place.
• 29:05
  And what that game was to me in that
• 29:07
  moment was
• 29:09
  >> uh a weird little goofy thing while I
• 29:12
  was dealing with the stress of like that
• 29:14
  moment in time. And so like playing it
• 29:17
  now, I think I think we probably have
• 29:18
  some some good laughs, some good goofs
• 29:20
  and gaffs, but you know, dropping hot at
• 29:21
  the Simpson house or the power plant or
• 29:23
  whatever. But it's like what I think it
• 29:26
  is not is it's not able to be that thing
• 29:28
  that it was to me in that moment.
• 29:30
  >> There is a fundamental misunderstanding
• 29:32
  that I think people have with um gaming
• 29:34
  and nostalgia because the I think the
• 29:36
  premise of nostalgia assumes you liked
• 29:38
  this thing because you were a stupid
• 29:40
  baby. And now if you go back to it
• 29:42
  without nostalgia you wouldn't like it.
• 29:44
  But that's not entirely what it is. It
• 29:45
  is simply that your perspective and your
• 29:47
  relationship to a thing is different.
• 29:48
  There are many modern games, many modern
• 29:51
  games that like Simpsons Fortnite that
• 29:53
  because of what is the the conversation
• 29:55
  because meaning is created between the
• 29:57
  text and yourself because of what you
• 29:59
  need at that time, it is going to hit
• 30:01
  you differently than in that moment than
• 30:03
  it would otherwise. I think another
• 30:05
  example, the inverse of this is I
• 30:07
  remember last year you did not have you
• 30:10
  did not like blueprints. You bounced off
• 30:11
  of blueprints. And I bet you there are
• 30:13
  other times in your life, maybe in the
• 30:15
  past, maybe in the future, that if you
• 30:17
  tried to play Blueprints, you would find
• 30:18
  yourself more engaged with it. And it's
• 30:21
  not that blueprints change.
• 30:22
  >> Yeah. We play with this all the time. I
• 30:25
  uh I started Pathologic 3, a very, very
• 30:28
  dense video game.
• 30:30
  >> Um
• 30:31
  >> and I remember sitting down with it. I
• 30:32
  played for probably 45 minutes. And I
• 30:35
  was like, "This is a game that I think I
• 30:37
  would really like
• 30:38
  >> and I'm allergic to it right now." like
• 30:40
  the idea of sitting and playing it. I
• 30:41
  was like, "Nah,
• 30:43
  >> that happens to me sometimes, too." I
• 30:44
  Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.
• 30:46
  Yeah. It's like um you said something to
• 30:48
  me on the bonus podcast available on
• 30:49
  patreon.com/critical error where you
• 30:52
  were talking about like, "Oh, I had this
• 30:54
  game on my Switch 2 and I was going to
• 30:55
  start it on a flight, but it wasn't the
• 30:59
  right setting. It wasn't the right
• 31:00
  time." And it's like, yeah, that's that
• 31:02
  happens all of the time um in a much
• 31:04
  more zoomed out way than I think people
• 31:06
  um really can can
• 31:09
  interface with sometimes. And we we tend
• 31:12
  to put all of that stuff in a in a
• 31:13
  bucket that's and I think we often refer
• 31:15
  to that bucket as nostalgia. Yes.
• 31:17
  >> So, um
• 31:18
  >> yeah, it's just it's just a weird thing.
• 31:19
  Uh also on our bonus podcast,
• 31:21
  patreon.com/critical error, you and I
• 31:23
  both had the experience of at the same
• 31:24
  time opening our Nintendo 3DS's. Dude,
• 31:27
  no, that's that I was when I when you
• 31:29
  were talking about nostalgia and
• 31:29
  whatever, opening my original DS, which
• 31:32
  is, you know, like right here.
• 31:33
  >> Uh, there there it is. Um,
• 31:37
  opening that and like the Picto Chat
• 31:39
  thing. I I went into it, I was like, "Oh
• 31:40
  my gosh." You know, and and it's but
• 31:42
  it's this thing where like, "Okay, if
• 31:43
  you gave this to me now, I'm not having
• 31:46
  sleepovers anymore." I mean, I'm
• 31:49
  married, so I guess one every night, but
• 31:50
  you know what I mean? Like I'm not I'm
• 31:52
  not like
• 31:54
  having sleepovers with my with my
• 31:56
  buddies where we're all just jumping on
• 31:57
  picto chat. So even if you give me that
• 31:59
  same like thing to like mess around
• 32:00
  with. I think it is just going to be
• 32:01
  different and it's just going to like
• 32:03
  feel a little bit different because like
• 32:05
  it's just not what it was, you know?
• 32:06
  >> Dude, an an underemphasized thing about
• 32:09
  video games I think is always going to
• 32:10
  be that games are not just the games.
• 32:12
  The fact that I can take this this new
• 32:15
  3DS small one and put it in my pocket
• 32:18
  creates a fundamentally different
• 32:19
  relationship I have with this machine
• 32:21
  than I do with maybe my Nintendo Switch
• 32:23
  2.
• 32:24
  >> Yeah. No, exactly. You know,
• 32:25
  >> it's about it's about like how it fills
• 32:26
  in in your life and how it fits in that
• 32:28
  space. You talked about um Look at that.
• 32:30
  Look at that. Yeah.
• 32:31
  >> Oh my god.
• 32:33
  >> No, dude. Playing Pokemon Leaf Green on
• 32:35
  that little like uh brick whatever
• 32:38
  >> literally flying to go see you. I put it
• 32:41
  in my pocket. my front pocket and that's
• 32:42
  what I had in my hands the entire flight
• 32:44
  and that was it. It was the best. It was
• 32:46
  the best but it's like that is so
• 32:48
  intrinsically tied to that experience
• 32:49
  and it just like playing it on the
• 32:50
  Switch 2 or whatever would be a little
• 32:52
  bit different just cuz it is a you know
• 32:54
  functionally different experience.
• 32:55
  >> Speaking of our ever transforming
• 32:57
  relationship to games and because you
• 33:00
  brought up Pokemon, we have now crossed
• 33:02
  into a new threshold of a new era of
• 33:05
  Pokemon with the uh launch of Pokemon
• 33:08
  Champions. This is a freeto-play game
• 33:11
  available on Switch and Switch 2 coming
• 33:12
  to mobile later. And uh for those that
• 33:14
  don't know, it is primarily what people
• 33:16
  refer to as a battle simulator. You
• 33:18
  bring in your Pokemon from whatever else
• 33:20
  game other games and you do uh
• 33:23
  competitive battles in the app in the
• 33:26
  game itself. That's funny. I even called
• 33:27
  it in an app in the in the game itself.
• 33:29
  Yeah. Um, and I think something that I
• 33:32
  have kind of in in relationship to kind
• 33:35
  of price discourse and monetization,
• 33:37
  something that I've been kind of wary of
• 33:39
  in this game is how it I feel like
• 33:43
  Pokemon has been translated into a
• 33:45
  store.
• 33:46
  >> And this is this is huge. This is huge.
• 33:49
  We're like I think this has crept up on
• 33:52
  us. This idea that like, hey, what's up
• 33:55
  with video games just being digital
• 33:57
  storefronts now? And I I want to make
• 33:59
  something clear here too because as I
• 34:01
  kind of said at the beginning, I'm not
• 34:02
  trying to pocketwatch anybody. I'm not
• 34:04
  really concerned about the overall price
• 34:06
  that we're spending on things. The
• 34:08
  that's like that's like up to everybody
• 34:10
  else. I'm not trying to say that there's
• 34:12
  like a hard and fast rule over how many
• 34:15
  dollars one should spend in Pokemon
• 34:17
  Champions. I don't think that's a very
• 34:18
  relevant conversation. What I am more
• 34:20
  interested in is is there a point in
• 34:24
  these service games in whatever it is in
• 34:26
  these marketplaces, subscriptions, all
• 34:29
  of the is there a point where we simply
• 34:31
  have to draw a line and say this is too
• 34:34
  much not because you are trying to
• 34:36
  extract too much money from me but
• 34:38
  because too many game elements have been
• 34:43
  um removed or extracted in favor of
• 34:48
  translating them into monetization. What
• 34:50
  do I mean by this? So, this hit me like
• 34:53
  a bus last night when I turned on
• 34:55
  Pokemon Champions for the first time.
• 34:57
  There is a menu in the game called
• 34:59
  training.
• 35:00
  >> And Pokemon training is a thing that,
• 35:03
  you know, for the entire history of
• 35:05
  Pokemon, we've been doing this for 30
• 35:06
  years now. And it is, you know, you go
• 35:08
  out into the wild, you go to other
• 35:10
  trainers, and it is a training is an act
• 35:12
  of not just building up stats, but
• 35:15
  getting to know your Pokemon. It is
• 35:16
  experimentation. It is discovery. The
• 35:19
  the the adventure unto the mystery of
• 35:22
  the Pokemon themselves, not just the
• 35:23
  adventure of the environment. We have in
• 35:25
  in in this battle simulator to kind of
• 35:27
  fit what its goals are, we have
• 35:29
  discarded what training is, we have um
• 35:34
  hollowed out the verb and instead what
• 35:37
  you do to train your Pokemon in this
• 35:39
  game is you pull them up in a menu. You
• 35:41
  have your giant list of Pokemon in your
• 35:43
  box. You pick one and you have the
• 35:45
  moves. You can change out those moves
• 35:48
  for a cost and you can increase and disc
• 35:51
  decrease its stats for a cost and you
• 35:53
  can change its nature for a cost. Now,
• 35:56
  do I care about the dollar amount or how
• 35:59
  much you pay or how much of the in-game
• 36:01
  currency you have to earn to change all
• 36:03
  of those things? No. What I am saying is
• 36:06
  mechanically, is there an issue here? Is
• 36:09
  there something we should push back on
• 36:10
  at all? that the verb, the thing I am
• 36:13
  doing to train my Pokemon is
• 36:16
  functionally the same as when I go into
• 36:19
  the store and buy a hat for my
• 36:21
  character. It is an exchanging. It is an
• 36:23
  adding and subtracting of numbers.
• 36:25
  >> Yeah. So, it's this interesting thing
• 36:27
  where like this used to be a
• 36:28
  controversy. Do you remember?
• 36:30
  >> Yes.
• 36:30
  >> Uh Middleear Shadow of War. That was the
• 36:33
  second of those Middleear Assassin's
• 36:35
  Creed type games. You know what I'm
• 36:36
  talking about?
• 36:37
  >> Oh, yeah. I actually I actually liked
• 36:39
  those games. I like the first one. I
• 36:41
  like the first one. The second one, I
• 36:42
  don't know why it didn't. Yeah.
• 36:44
  >> Well, what might have happened with the
• 36:45
  second one is you, like me, and like
• 36:47
  many other people, might have gotten to
• 36:48
  the point about halfway through the game
• 36:50
  where it says,
• 36:52
  >> "Hey, do you want to grind for the next
• 36:54
  15 hours or
• 36:55
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
• 36:55
  >> You just want to pay up a little bit.
• 36:57
  >> Dang, I like that first game so much.
• 36:58
  >> It's so good. They're really good.
• 36:59
  They're really, really good. But like I
• 37:02
  remember the moment when you hit this
• 37:03
  like wall where it's like hey you can
• 37:05
  either pay like real money to have these
• 37:07
  things happen or you can you don't have
• 37:10
  to but it's like it will be a tedious
• 37:13
  tedious slog and this was so
• 37:16
  controversial at the time. You think
• 37:18
  about loot boxes and something like
• 37:19
  Overwatch. So and and that um
• 37:22
  >> that Star Wars Battlefront game
• 37:26
  Battlefront 2 was crazy with this. It
• 37:28
  was like people were saying like, "Oh my
• 37:30
  gosh, the industry is over because of
• 37:32
  Star Wars Battlefront 2."
• 37:34
  >> And everyone was so mad and then
• 37:35
  Overwatch comes and does it I think a
• 37:37
  year later or whatever and everyone is
• 37:39
  like this is fine and normal now, right?
• 37:41
  I I think like there are so many
• 37:43
  controversies regarding monetization and
• 37:45
  price of video games that everyone is
• 37:47
  outraged over, but it works and then we
• 37:51
  it's just an accepted part of of video
• 37:54
  games, right? You look at horse armor in
• 37:56
  Oblivion. What was it? $10 for a
• 37:58
  cosmetic thing and everyone was like,
• 37:59
  "What the [ __ ] $10 for a cosmetic." And
• 38:02
  now it's what, 25 pushing $30 with
• 38:05
  whatever they've however they've
• 38:06
  inflated V-Bucks in Fortnite. And and
• 38:09
  like there's so many moments where you
• 38:10
  have these big controversies. Um Valve,
• 38:14
  I think, was going to give away uh like
• 38:16
  maps and characters, I think, in Left 4
• 38:18
  Dead 1 for free on Xbox, but Microsoft
• 38:21
  made them change it because they're
• 38:22
  like, "No, no, we don't want to set this
• 38:23
  precedent." Now monet monetized like DLC
• 38:26
  stuff is like the norm and it's it's
• 38:29
  it's this thing that like you see there
• 38:31
  was push back for this one thing and
• 38:33
  then now when it's happening again later
• 38:36
  people are fine with it. Shadow of War
• 38:38
  to Pokemon Champions here and like I I I
• 38:41
  see the path, right?
• 38:42
  >> Yeah. And I and I really hope people
• 38:44
  don't misunderstand me here because I
• 38:46
  can already imagine a comment that's
• 38:47
  like, "But Jake, you can just move in
• 38:49
  your Pokemon via a Pokemon Home
• 38:50
  subscription." and uh and then you don't
• 38:54
  have to do this training thing that
• 38:55
  you're talking about. And it's like I
• 38:57
  understand that, but I think I'm more
• 38:58
  looking at like the the soul of this and
• 39:00
  the principle of this and the philosophy
• 39:02
  of this and the fact that like when I
• 39:04
  hit a train button and it's just stop
• 39:06
  buying stat points. I think what's
• 39:08
  happening there is that a store is
• 39:10
  pretending to be a mechanic. There is a
• 39:12
  mechanic that you and I are familiar
• 39:14
  with called training. And now that
• 39:16
  mechanic is now um shifting from play to
• 39:21
  exchange. And at what point is that do
• 39:25
  we you know is there ever going to be a
• 39:27
  line in the sand? Because the fact of
• 39:28
  the matter is is that I'm I said this to
• 39:30
  you before we started recording. I'm
• 39:32
  playing Pokemon Champions right now and
• 39:34
  I'm actually enjoying it quite a bit
• 39:35
  because I really like Pokemon battles. I
• 39:37
  like I just like them and
• 39:39
  >> I kind of knew a lot of the negative
• 39:42
  stuff that was going to come out of this
• 39:43
  game in advance. I've talked about it a
• 39:44
  lot beforehand and now it feels like a
• 39:46
  lot of people online are discovering
• 39:47
  that for the first time and I would say
• 39:48
  the first impression of this game is
• 39:50
  quite bad for a lot of people. But I'm
• 39:52
  enjoying it. I'm having a good time. But
• 39:54
  this is this is important. Does my
• 39:57
  liking Pokemon battles is is this dude
• 40:00
  this is just like our conversation about
• 40:01
  Super Mario Galaxy. Does is Yoshi being
• 40:04
  in that movie a compliment to the movie?
• 40:06
  Is my enjoying Pokemon battles a
• 40:08
  compliment to Pokemon champions or
• 40:10
  >> or do you like this and it just exists
• 40:12
  in this space in this way?
• 40:14
  >> Right? So, if I can divorce myself from
• 40:17
  the thing that already exists existed
• 40:19
  and enjoying that, what is the
• 40:20
  construction of this game revealing to
• 40:22
  me? What is it saying? Man, it's too
• 40:24
  early. There aren't reviews for it
• 40:26
  because of the nature of what the game
• 40:27
  is. But I really hope that the game's
• 40:30
  media space does not drop the ball with
• 40:31
  this game. I hope people really look at
• 40:33
  the construction of it, what it's asking
• 40:35
  us to do and what it is kind of uh
• 40:37
  encouraging in its player base. And I
• 40:39
  hope that there's a serious conversation
• 40:41
  to be had there and people do not rest
• 40:42
  on the laurels of
• 40:45
  man, do I like selecting my commands and
• 40:47
  watching the Pokemon fight each other.
• 40:49
  Godamn.
• 40:50
  >> Well, you know, if if uh the reaction to
• 40:52
  the Mario movie 2, the Super Mario
• 40:54
  Galaxy movie has been uh has been any
• 40:57
  indicator, I think we're in good hands.
• 41:00
  Peter, I just feel like there's this
• 41:02
  thing. I think a lot of people are going
• 41:04
  to have friction with with me saying
• 41:05
  this right now. So, so I I I say that
• 41:07
  knowing that I'm I'm coming from a place
• 41:08
  of vulnerability, but like if I can if
• 41:10
  if I can look at these Pokemon
• 41:12
  >> and I can optimize everything through
• 41:15
  menus and through currencies
• 41:16
  immediately, then you are eliminating
• 41:19
  uncertainty. And once uncertainty is
• 41:21
  gone, you are not playing a game
• 41:22
  anymore. You are managing. Well, and we
• 41:25
  we talked about I think was this in your
• 41:26
  written piece or was this one of our bon
• 41:28
  I think this was one of our bonus
• 41:29
  episodes at patreon.com/critical error
• 41:31
  uh where we discussed fire red leaf free
• 41:33
  sort of like really extensively. This
• 41:35
  idea though of like the random element
• 41:37
  like the random element of Pokemon is
• 41:40
  such a huge part of what makes that
• 41:42
  journey and those games unique and
• 41:44
  really resonate and land with people.
• 41:46
  And the second that you try to like
• 41:47
  shave that out and like like buff buff
• 41:50
  those like rough edges out of it in the
• 41:52
  name of certainty,
• 41:55
  you start to lose sort of the heart of
• 41:57
  what makes these games special. Well,
• 42:00
  and it's and it's funny because I
• 42:01
  completely understand the person that's
• 42:03
  like, Jake, that's just not what
• 42:04
  Champions is about. It's a battle
• 42:05
  simulator. It's focusing on the play of
• 42:07
  in the battle and those momentto moment
• 42:09
  decisions. I completely agree with you
• 42:11
  and I really like that stuff. But then
• 42:12
  the conversation needs to shift into, so
• 42:16
  let's compare it to the battle simulator
• 42:18
  that is available in other Pokemon games
• 42:20
  and then maybe the battle simulator
• 42:21
  that's available to us on
• 42:23
  pokemondown.com. Yeah.
• 42:24
  >> And and it's like, okay, now compared to
• 42:26
  the con how those things are
• 42:28
  constructed, what is the construction of
• 42:30
  champions doing to offer me something
• 42:32
  valuable? And I and I just it's tough,
• 42:35
  man. Yeah, it's tough.
• 42:36
  >> Well, because then I mean central to
• 42:37
  that conversation though is like what
• 42:39
  we're talking about here with this whole
• 42:40
  episode. like central to the
• 42:42
  construction of that video game is a
• 42:43
  storefront
• 42:44
  >> and man
• 42:46
  >> how do we feel about that
• 42:47
  >> right that's the question that's the
• 42:49
  question and and when does
• 42:51
  >> there can be storefronts that I think
• 42:53
  people find agreeable and then there can
• 42:55
  be storefronts that people find less
• 42:57
  agreeable I think we can agree we can
• 42:58
  agree to that okay so if that is the
• 43:00
  case is there a way of assessing what is
• 43:04
  available here there's a Pokemon home
• 43:06
  subscription there is a Pokemon
• 43:07
  championship champions membership there
• 43:10
  is a monthly battle pass. There is like
• 43:13
  there's all is there a way of assessing
• 43:15
  this that is not pocket watching but is
• 43:18
  more spiritually just kind of
• 43:21
  interrogating that construction and what
• 43:22
  that game is doing and is there a point
• 43:25
  where somebody could say this is too
• 43:27
  far. This is crossing the line.
• 43:30
  >> I don't think I don't think we have that
• 43:31
  in us.
• 43:32
  >> I don't think we have it in us either. I
• 43:33
  I haven't seen it with anything. I' I've
• 43:35
  never seen it before. We haven't done it
• 43:36
  yet. And for something
• 43:37
  >> we won't be doing it with Pokemon.
• 43:39
  >> Like for something as simple as just
• 43:41
  like, hey, maybe don't buy Xbox games
• 43:43
  right now.
• 43:44
  >> The furthest we've got, the closest
• 43:45
  we've gotten is I do think we killed
• 43:48
  loot boxes.
• 43:49
  >> Oh, that wasn't even us though. That was
• 43:51
  the law. The law killed loot boxes.
• 43:53
  >> I don't Did it.
• 43:54
  >> Yeah, there was legisl There was
• 43:55
  European legislation that I think killed
• 43:56
  loot box.
• 43:57
  >> Oh, that's what I was going to say. In
• 43:58
  the US certainly not, but it was like
• 44:00
  with FIFA. I think
• 44:01
  >> it was. Yeah, but it just it went all
• 44:03
  across the board, which it's the same
• 44:04
  thing why like um eventually we're going
• 44:06
  to see the Switch 2 that has the
• 44:07
  replaceable battery because the European
• 44:09
  said the right repair stuff. Yeah.
• 44:11
  >> Why all iPhones now have the USBC cable
• 44:14
  >> because And what a W.
• 44:16
  >> It's legislation. Yes. Honestly,
• 44:18
  >> what what an incredible W. You're you're
• 44:20
  you're welcome, world. They should be
• 44:21
  saying they should have put out ads
• 44:23
  about that. They should have put out
• 44:25
  just just like patriot patriotic
• 44:28
  >> like leaned into or like Apple should
• 44:30
  have leaned into like hey just so you
• 44:31
  know all of our products are about to
• 44:33
  get 100 times better 100 times better
• 44:36
  and more simple and your life is going
• 44:37
  to be better as a result of this.
• 44:38
  >> But but it's like it's like when you see
• 44:40
  commercials for like come to Las Vegas.
• 44:42
  There should have been like pro- Europe
• 44:44
  commercials that were like that were
• 44:46
  like we did this
• 44:47
  >> you have you have us today.
• 44:49
  >> You have us. Yeah. No, that's good.
• 44:50
  That's good. Wow. Uh well, you know, you
• 44:53
  know who I want to thank, Jake? Tell me.
• 44:55
  >> I would love to thank members of the
• 44:57
  Critical Error Nation. These are people
• 44:58
  who've joined us on patreon.com/critical
• 45:02
  error where they can hear all sorts of
• 45:03
  additional bonus content. Every single
• 45:05
  week, we do a bonus episode. This week's
• 45:07
  was kind of long, kind of beefy. We did
• 45:08
  a Patreon Q&A. And to be entirely honest
• 45:11
  with you, I think some of the questions
• 45:12
  that were asked, um this is my been my
• 45:14
  favorite Q&A we've done. We haven't done
• 45:15
  a ton of them yet, but like
• 45:16
  >> oh my god,
• 45:17
  >> I had I had a lot of fun talking about
• 45:18
  this with you. And also uh very
• 45:20
  revealing about our Patreon community.
• 45:21
  Um the Critical Artation craves
• 45:25
  craves Fire Emblem Fortunes Weave
• 45:28
  >> in a way that was that was like it was
• 45:30
  like the only game that people said. It
• 45:32
  was literally asked like yeah like what
• 45:34
  is the most anticipated game of the
• 45:35
  year? Which you're welcome to tell us in
• 45:36
  the comments of this video uh on on
• 45:38
  YouTube. But it was like like truly
• 45:41
  >> Yeah. Yeah, I I had not heard anyone
• 45:43
  talk about this game and it was the only
• 45:44
  game anyone in the in the nation wanted
• 45:46
  to talk about. Um, which it put it on my
• 45:49
  literally put it on my radar cuz I was
• 45:50
  like, "Oh, damn. I forgot this is even
• 45:51
  coming out. I got to I got to pay
• 45:52
  attention to this thing if it seems like
• 45:53
  it's going to be big." Um, but I would
• 45:55
  like to give a special shout out to the
• 45:57
  members of the Jake and Peter tier on
• 45:58
  our Patreon. These are the people paying
• 46:00
  $20 uh a month for our content, truly
• 46:04
  supporting us financially in a way that
• 46:06
  um is meaningful and makes a material
• 46:07
  difference in our lives. I would like to
• 46:09
  say thank you to one Andrew Bolcar, to
• 46:12
  Evan Snee, and to Robert Casada. Thank
• 46:14
  you so much for all of the support that
• 46:17
  you've given us. Um, but that's not all,
• 46:19
  is it? We want to say thank you to the
• 46:22
  members of the Critical Error royalty.
• 46:24
  Um, we had someone new this past week,
• 46:26
  which I'm I'm very excited to see. Um,
• 46:28
  I'm forgetting their name in this exact
• 46:29
  moment.
• 46:30
  >> Alex, I put him I put him on the the
• 46:31
  Critical Era Discord. I was like, "Alex,
• 46:34
  welcome to the niche.
• 46:35
  >> Welcome to the niche." Um, and every
• 46:38
  week we we prepare a sound for that.
• 46:40
  You've got that for us, don't you, Jay?
• 46:41
  >> Yeah, but how how could I monetize this?
• 46:43
  How could I make this like a
• 46:45
  >> Oh, man. Maybe we actually maybe we
• 46:46
  start charging more. You That's what
• 46:48
  we're going to do. We're going to start
• 46:49
  charging more for the Critical Era
• 46:52
  royalty spots.
• 46:54
  >> We'll be like Netflix and we're just
• 46:55
  going to increase the price over and
• 46:56
  over and over again. Which speaking of
• 46:58
  the European like European government's
• 47:00
  like taking on tech companies, did you
• 47:02
  see this about Netflix? I think it was
• 47:04
  like Italy was like this is like
• 47:05
  unlawful. You have to like give a bunch
• 47:06
  of money back to people.
• 47:07
  >> Awesome.
• 47:08
  >> Yeah. No, it's good.
• 47:09
  >> Yeah.
• 47:09
  >> Oh man, I love this.
• 47:11
  >> Let's hear this week's sound. I'm
• 47:12
  curious to hear what I come up with
• 47:14
  later.
• 47:14
  >> Ooh, Shin, thank you for your purchase.
• 47:16
  Jacob Richtor, that'll be $10. Andrew
• 47:18
  Vulkar, $20. Moving up in the world. Vic
• 47:21
  Dick Mystic. Oh, a premium customer.
• 47:23
  Connor, true love. Your loyalty card is
• 47:25
  stamped. Evans, come again. Mitch Dyer.
• 47:28
  Ooh, exact change. We like that. Cole in
• 47:31
  and out. Efficient. Danny, disaster.
• 47:33
  Okay. Chaos at the checkout line. Pinky.
• 47:35
  Oats. What a gentle transaction. Anel
• 47:37
  trade. We're going to have to apply
• 47:38
  those international fees. Sam Woods with
• 47:40
  a steady hand. Jared Kuseno returning
• 47:42
  customer James Pier Reed. Currency
• 47:44
  conversion complete. Kochow. Consider
• 47:45
  yourself processed. Robert Quesada a big
• 47:47
  spender. Mo apply that overseas
• 47:50
  shipping. And of course, last in line,
• 47:52
  Alex Sams. That's right, baby. Everybody
• 47:54
  has a price, including you.
• 47:55
  >> What if uh what if you did us all a
• 47:57
  favor here, Jake? What if you read that
• 47:59
  written piece you've been sitting on?
• 48:01
  >> Yeah, let's do it. Every single week,
• 48:03
  one of us reads a pre-prepared written
• 48:06
  piece, and uh it's always a delight when
• 48:08
  when it's your turn, so I'm excited to
• 48:09
  hear it.
• 48:09
  >> Oh, that's so sweet. Okay. Um and if
• 48:13
  people are if people are really just
• 48:15
  having a hunger for some extra content,
• 48:19
  um I want to remind people that over on
• 48:22
  your YouTube channel, uh YouTube.com
• 48:24
  Peterspite, you actually just uh posted
• 48:27
  a new video essay about on
• 48:30
  >> I think it's one of your bests.
• 48:32
  Thank
• 48:34
  you.
• 48:34
  >> Thank you. That means so much to me. I
• 48:36
  think it's one of your best. I still um
• 48:38
  I still think I'm a little mad about
• 48:40
  some of yours that have not gone wide
• 48:42
  that I think are quite good, but
• 48:44
  >> I appreciate it.
• 48:45
  >> It is what it is.
• 48:46
  >> I I appreciate it. Thank you very much.
• 48:47
  >> Of course. Okay, let's get to the piece.
• 48:49
  Okay,
• 48:50
  here we go.
• 48:53
  >> Hi, Jake.
• 48:55
  You have been scientifically selected to
• 48:58
  share your views on a 12minute national
• 49:01
  survey and you will be rewarded $30 for
• 49:04
  your participation.
• 49:07
  I open a new tab and start searching.
• 49:10
  The message includes a university name,
• 49:12
  a researcher, and a phone number. Enough
• 49:13
  to check. So, I find the department
• 49:15
  page. I find the study listed and a
• 49:17
  contact email matches the one in the
• 49:19
  text. It all lines up pretty quickly.
• 49:22
  Outside, families are getting out of
• 49:25
  their cars. Kids in pastel shirts that
• 49:27
  still have the fold lines in them.
• 49:30
  Dresses that look like they were picked
• 49:31
  this morning. Somebody is carrying a big
• 49:34
  tray covered in foil. Someone else is
• 49:36
  calling back into the house for
• 49:37
  something they forgot. Oh yeah, it's
• 49:41
  Easter Sunday. I go back to the message
• 49:44
  and I click the link. The survey starts
• 49:46
  easy. Age, location, a few baseline
• 49:48
  questions, and then it narrows. It
• 49:52
  closes in on me tightly.
• 49:55
  Israel Jewishness.
• 49:58
  Does public criticism change how I feel
• 50:00
  about being Jewish? The questions arrive
• 50:03
  grouped. They're moving me in a
• 50:05
  direction. I keep going, but I'm slowing
• 50:09
  down.
• 50:11
  Do you feel more connected, less
• 50:13
  connected, or about the same to your
• 50:14
  Jewish identity when you encounter
• 50:15
  criticism of Israel in the media? In the
• 50:18
  past few years, have you become more
• 50:19
  involved, less involved, or stayed the
• 50:21
  same in your participation with Jewish
• 50:23
  organizations or community events? To
• 50:25
  what extent do you agree criticism of
• 50:27
  Israel makes me feel personally targeted
• 50:29
  as a Jewish person? Have recent events
• 50:31
  made you more likely or less likely to
• 50:33
  express your Jewish identity publicly?
• 50:37
  It's clear what the survey is trying to
• 50:39
  measure, or at least what it is hoping
• 50:41
  to sort out. I finish the page. I click
• 50:44
  through to the next. I answer what I
• 50:45
  can. I try not to overthink it. It ends
• 50:49
  and I'm looking at the text.
• 50:52
  Scientifically selected.
• 50:56
  I call the number.
• 50:58
  A researcher I think answers. I tell him
• 51:01
  I just completed the survey and I just
• 51:04
  wanted to know, I was curious how
• 51:05
  exactly participants were chosen. He
• 51:08
  gives me what sounds like the standard
• 51:09
  version first. He says something about
• 51:11
  methodology, something about outreach.
• 51:14
  I just kind of wait him out and then I
• 51:16
  ask him again more directly
• 51:19
  and he tells me it was a keyword search,
• 51:22
  a list of names in front of him.
• 51:25
  Something was entered and something came
• 51:26
  back.
• 51:28
  Listener, let me make this as clear to
• 51:30
  you as possible.
• 51:32
  They typed in Steinberg.
• 51:35
  I picture it not because I want to, but
• 51:38
  because I have to. A long document,
• 51:40
  maybe some kind of database, maybe
• 51:41
  something pulled together from somewhere
• 51:43
  else. My name sitting inside it until
• 51:45
  somebody goes looking. Command F. A
• 51:49
  quick scan. There I am. Command F to
• 51:53
  prof to profile, I guess. Outside, a kid
• 51:57
  is adjusting the collar of his shirt
• 51:59
  while someone, his mom maybe, uh, pulls
• 52:01
  it straight for him. Another kid uh,
• 52:03
  running ahead. Shoes not quite broken in
• 52:06
  yet. You can tell the clothes don't fit
• 52:08
  quite right. Maybe they will by the end
• 52:11
  of the day.
• 52:13
  You know, over the course of the last
• 52:15
  week, I did a post online about Hassan
• 52:17
  [ __ ] about the accusations of
• 52:19
  anti-semitism around him. And my post
• 52:21
  ended up somewhere else on major news
• 52:24
  outlets clipped cited. People said my
• 52:27
  name out loud, people that I've never
• 52:28
  met. Did you know that this week a
• 52:30
  library emailed me asking if I'd like to
• 52:33
  come speak? They told me they're looking
• 52:34
  for Jewish authors,
• 52:39
  you know. So, I said yes to the survey
• 52:41
  and I answered the questions. I say that
• 52:44
  uh criticism of Israel does not make me
• 52:46
  feel less Jewish. I say that what does
• 52:48
  affect me is the sense that I'm already
• 52:50
  standing somewhere. I'm already in
• 52:52
  conversation with someone before I
• 52:55
  noticed, before I decided to be.
• 53:00
  I told the guy this on the phone.
• 53:02
  There's a pause. I can hear him typing.
• 53:05
  He's typing out what I'm saying. He
• 53:07
  thanks me for my time. And the call
• 53:10
  ends. I'm looking back at my phone.
• 53:12
  Scientifically selected.
• 53:15
  Why do I keep turning this over? What
• 53:17
  does it take to be selected
• 53:19
  scientifically? A method, a process,
• 53:21
  something that works because it has
• 53:23
  already worked. Something that returns
• 53:25
  the same results when you run it again.
• 53:27
  scientifically, which means I have to be
• 53:29
  the kind of thing that can be returned.
• 53:31
  Not chosen, returned. A name, something
• 53:34
  that resolves, a set of parts that hold
• 53:36
  together well enough to be recognized,
• 53:38
  pulled forward, and used. Was it the
• 53:40
  Stein? Was it the Berg? Was it them
• 53:41
  together? It sits there differently now
• 53:43
  for me. The way that it splits, the way
• 53:45
  it recombines, less like a name, more
• 53:47
  like something assembled out of pieces
• 53:49
  that predate me. Scientifically
• 53:52
  selected, scientifically assembled.
• 53:54
  Outside the families are still moving
• 53:57
  through the day. Kids in clothes chosen
• 54:00
  for them, adjusted, straightened, sent
• 54:02
  forward.
• 54:04
  Was it scientifically? They are growing
• 54:06
  into those clothes as the hours pass. By
• 54:08
  the end of the day, it all fits.
• 54:12
  The sentence does not change. It does
• 54:14
  not need to. It already knows what I am
• 54:17
  in it. Scientifically chosen. I am
• 54:20
  Frankenstein.
• 54:22
  It was always there in the name. The
• 54:25
  children outside are celebrating Easter.
• 54:28
  He is risen.
• 54:30
  Thank you. Dang. Wow. you know, Jake,
• 54:35
  uh, one of the things that I,
• 54:37
  uh, have really really
• 54:42
  not come to appreciate about you, but
• 54:44
  because it's it's not something that
• 54:45
  I've like didn't appreciate about you at
• 54:46
  all, but I guess just one of the things
• 54:48
  I appreciate about you greatly um, is
• 54:49
  your willingness to talk about this
• 54:50
  experience and willing to talk about
• 54:52
  like, hey, like,
• 54:55
  and you know, if if this is off base
• 54:58
  from what you're trying to say in when
• 55:00
  you not just with this piece, but in
• 55:01
  like all of the pieces of yours that
• 55:02
  I've read that are about a similar
• 55:03
  topic, you're like, "Hey, being Jewish
• 55:04
  right now is weird."
• 55:06
  >> Like, it's weird because of like all of
• 55:08
  the
• 55:09
  um assumptions and all of the sort of
• 55:13
  like boxes you're put in and and all of
• 55:16
  that sort of stuff. And and like it's
• 55:18
  just so interesting because like
• 55:22
  you'd think that
• 55:24
  would you call would you call the idea
• 55:25
  of being like again scientifically
• 55:28
  chosen for this a a sort of a work of
• 55:30
  anti-semitism?
• 55:33
  >> It's tough, right? Because I think I
• 55:35
  think that like
• 55:37
  >> there is something about
• 55:39
  >> I like I know how I was chosen. I know
• 55:42
  how it
• 55:43
  >> and it was somebody
• 55:46
  like using the simplest most broaded
• 55:50
  broad thing to put me in a box and it is
• 55:53
  it is um something that is used against
• 55:56
  me constantly. It is something that
• 55:57
  people hateful people see online and use
• 56:01
  against me. And I think like, you know,
• 56:04
  using my name to get me into this group
• 56:07
  to fill out this survey, I think it's an
• 56:09
  easy thing to be like, well, there's
• 56:10
  nothing inherently wrong with that. But
• 56:12
  the way that they got there was um I did
• 56:15
  not volunteer that
• 56:16
  >> and the same method that people used to
• 56:19
  attack me.
• 56:20
  >> Yeah. And I think the obfuscation of it
• 56:22
  as well because it sounds like if they
• 56:24
  were probably just honest like hey like
• 56:26
  we found your name and we thought that
• 56:28
  you we want you to to take the survey
• 56:30
  right like like is different than being
• 56:32
  like like yeah you know just sort of the
• 56:34
  scientific method. You know what I mean?
• 56:37
  Well, and it's really tough because I I
• 56:38
  think I cannot I cannot no matter what
• 56:41
  there's this thing I have to interface
• 56:42
  with all the time where it's like um
• 56:44
  whether it be my name or whether it be
• 56:46
  how I look, I I cannot divorce myself
• 56:49
  from the identity of Jewishness. Yeah.
• 56:52
  And which is which is tough for me
• 56:53
  because like the the the Jewish
• 56:56
  community would tell you that because of
• 56:57
  my mother not being Jewish, I'm actually
• 56:59
  not Jewish,
• 57:00
  >> right? And it's this thing where it's
• 57:02
  like I I just have to face the facts
• 57:04
  that the reputation is reality and I am
• 57:08
  a representative of this thing whether I
• 57:10
  like it or not. And there's a degree to
• 57:12
  which
• 57:13
  >> by treating me this way by treating me
• 57:15
  as somebody who is recognized constantly
• 57:18
  as Jewish
• 57:19
  >> that is my Jewish experience. I they
• 57:22
  that that has actually cultivated an
• 57:23
  experience for me my existence that is
• 57:26
  profoundly Jewish. So just completely
• 57:29
  out of my control. I have led a my my
• 57:32
  wife said this to me the other day. She
• 57:33
  was like you're just the way that you
• 57:35
  are perceived and the way that you exist
• 57:36
  is fundamentally different from most
• 57:38
  people. And it's like and that's that's
• 57:40
  just
• 57:41
  >> I just have to deal with that. Yeah. And
• 57:42
  I've talked about this before. I don't
• 57:43
  know if I'm the the main podcast, but
• 57:45
  I've talked about it certainly
• 57:46
  elsewhere. It's like when I met you, um
• 57:49
  you were explaining to me your
• 57:51
  experience of just being Jewish and uh
• 57:54
  it was so like obviously this comes from
• 57:57
  a place of privilege for me uh but it
• 57:59
  was so like shocking to me cuz I was
• 58:00
  like wait that still happens. Do you
• 58:03
  know what I mean in the sense and it's
• 58:04
  it's like silly and in like like not
• 58:06
  silly is the right word but like I'm
• 58:08
  like embarrassed about the thought now
• 58:10
  because in the same way that people like
• 58:12
  you know well we had a black president.
• 58:14
  Isn't racism over? I'm like, "Well,
• 58:16
  dude, like isn't isn't like
• 58:17
  anti-semitism over? Wasn't that like a
• 58:19
  hundred [ __ ] years ago?" And it's
• 58:21
  like, "No, like not even a not even a
• 58:24
  little bit is it over?" And then now you
• 58:27
  tie in just the the nation of Israel to
• 58:30
  this whole thing. And the way that um
• 58:33
  people conflate criticism of a of a
• 58:35
  nation to criticism and hatred towards a
• 58:39
  religious group, religious and um
• 58:42
  cultural group of people. And it's it's
• 58:43
  like, hey, these are like
• 58:47
  the whole thing just gets so messy and
• 58:48
  muddy, you know?
• 58:50
  >> Of course. And I and I think the thing
• 58:51
  that I always emphasize when I talk
• 58:53
  about this stuff is that I think it
• 58:54
  would be really easy for me to be like,
• 58:56
  look at all of this anti-Semitic stuff
• 58:58
  that has happened to me isn't that bad.
• 58:59
  And that's and I I actually try to
• 59:01
  de-emphasize that because I think like
• 59:03
  the thing that I am more interested in
• 59:05
  is the categorization and the readiness
• 59:09
  through people see me through a filter.
• 59:12
  It's like, you know, I'm I'm Steyberg
• 59:14
  before I'm Jake. Yeah.
• 59:15
  >> And that's just and I have to kind of
• 59:18
  >> reckon with that constantly all of the
• 59:20
  time. And the anxiety, the wondering of
• 59:23
  who is perceiving me that way that I
• 59:25
  don't know, who is doing that without my
• 59:27
  knowledge? And that is I think what I'm
• 59:29
  more interested in. And that's why I
• 59:31
  think something fascinating happens here
• 59:33
  where I am scientifically chosen for the
• 59:35
  survey. Um, I am reached out to as a
• 59:39
  Jewish author and I am used in prominent
• 59:43
  developing mainstream national news
• 59:46
  stories as a Jewish voice.
• 59:50
  >> Yeah. Cuz it's just like look at what
• 59:51
  this Jewish guy is just saying. It's
• 59:52
  like what? Like I don't even
• 59:53
  >> there is there is an act of recognition
• 59:55
  that happens with me where they go he's
• 59:57
  the Jew, right?
• 59:58
  >> And they don't and there's no
• 1:00:00
  questioning of that and there's no
• 1:00:01
  investigation into that. It is just he
• 1:00:04
  we can use him as a standin for this
• 1:00:08
  entire thing that people just just go
• 1:00:11
  for it. And it's funny because I am just
• 1:00:14
  as much
• 1:00:15
  >> Latino as I am Jewish.
• 1:00:17
  >> Right. And so this is something
• 1:00:18
  >> and that and I would I would never get
• 1:00:19
  pitched in that crowd obviously
• 1:00:21
  >> cuz you mentioned you mentioned the fact
• 1:00:22
  that like you know you are univorceable
• 1:00:24
  from Jewishness based on you know the
• 1:00:26
  way you look and your name and all this
• 1:00:27
  sort of stuff. But then it's so funny.
• 1:00:28
  Not funny, but like there's an irony to
• 1:00:30
  it because it's like exactly what you
• 1:00:32
  said. No one would look at you and be
• 1:00:33
  like, "Well, Jake, we got to get the
• 1:00:35
  Cuban guy in here to win on this stuff."
• 1:00:38
  >> You know what I mean? even though even
• 1:00:39
  though you were just as qualified and
• 1:00:41
  just as obviously, you know, culturally
• 1:00:42
  Cuban and whatever, but it's it's just
• 1:00:44
  so like
• 1:00:46
  >> um it's such an interesting intersection
• 1:00:50
  um and such a unique uh perspective I
• 1:00:52
  think um that that I really appreciate
• 1:00:56
  and and I imagine it must be very very
• 1:00:58
  challenging um in moments like that.
• 1:01:01
  >> Yeah. And it really is just this like um
• 1:01:04
  I don't know. I kind of just sneak it in
• 1:01:05
  at the end there. But like I I have
• 1:01:07
  always felt this like you know I am
• 1:01:09
  Frankenstein's monster. I've I have
• 1:01:11
  always like
• 1:01:12
  >> I thought that was really I that was
• 1:01:15
  such an interesting bit there. I I have
• 1:01:17
  a question for you. Is Frank Sorry and I
• 1:01:18
  don't mean to interfere but is like
• 1:01:20
  Frankenstein is that like a bit of
• 1:01:22
  Jewish panic by calling it Frankenstein?
• 1:01:25
  >> I don't I don't I don't think so because
• 1:01:28
  he's the scientist and it's just that
• 1:01:30
  that like part of Europe where the story
• 1:01:32
  is. It's all that, you know, like so
• 1:01:33
  like underneath it is yes, but is it
• 1:01:36
  like a intentional thing meant to stoke
• 1:01:39
  some kind of I don't think so. And
• 1:01:41
  knowing knowing what I know of uh Mary
• 1:01:43
  Shel or whatever, it's like I'm like,
• 1:01:45
  you know, I don't think so. But um but I
• 1:01:47
  would have to look into it. But the the
• 1:01:49
  I just think that there is something
• 1:01:50
  there of like um
• 1:01:54
  >> I don't know. I really and I understand
• 1:01:56
  if people don't get this, but I really
• 1:01:57
  feel this. I'm like I am not
• 1:01:59
  Frankenstein. I am Frankenstein's
• 1:02:01
  monster. I am the product of the I
• 1:02:04
  inherited this.
• 1:02:05
  >> I am the I am the parts. I am the and
• 1:02:09
  people.
• 1:02:10
  >> But like what do people know
• 1:02:12
  Frankenstein's monster as? They know him
• 1:02:14
  as Frankenstein. They know him as the
• 1:02:15
  name.
• 1:02:16
  >> Yeah.
• 1:02:16
  >> And there's just something to that that
• 1:02:18
  I'm just like dear God. Like that's just
• 1:02:20
  that's what it is. And then at in the
• 1:02:22
  same in the same breath I have to wonder
• 1:02:25
  um
• 1:02:27
  when will they come for me? When will
• 1:02:29
  they come for me? like they come for the
• 1:02:30
  monster. And I think this all happening
• 1:02:32
  on the same day as um Easter Sunday and
• 1:02:35
  being able to, you know, I don't know.
• 1:02:37
  There was something I I I realize it it
• 1:02:39
  doesn't quite maybe work as well as I
• 1:02:41
  wanted it to, but it it hits for me that
• 1:02:44
  last sentence being he is risen. I'm
• 1:02:46
  just like that's that's
• 1:02:48
  >> No, I'm Yeah.
• 1:02:49
  >> No, it's good because because it is the
• 1:02:51
  juxosition, right, of like
• 1:02:52
  >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like I even
• 1:02:55
  >> in our group chat, I like wished you
• 1:02:56
  guys a happy Easter. I said like it was
• 1:02:58
  like Friday. I was like, "Happy Easter
• 1:02:59
  weekend." And you were like, "Dog." And
• 1:03:01
  I was like, "I like cuz there's like uh
• 1:03:04
  uh
• 1:03:06
  >> first of all, it was just me not
• 1:03:07
  thinking about it, right? But then
• 1:03:08
  second of all, um
• 1:03:12
  it's it's this thing where it's like uh
• 1:03:14
  to my understanding, you celebrate
• 1:03:16
  Christmas to a certain extent. Is that
• 1:03:17
  correct?"
• 1:03:17
  >> I do with Sarah's family. Of course.
• 1:03:19
  >> Yeah. And like uh
• 1:03:22
  so so like if I said like merry
• 1:03:24
  Christmas to you of like you're still
• 1:03:26
  you're celebrating it, right? But like
• 1:03:28
  again to a certain extent and even just
• 1:03:29
  like culturally like being out in the
• 1:03:31
  world like you know Christmas season
• 1:03:32
  holiday season is like
• 1:03:34
  you know happening for everyone.
• 1:03:36
  >> No. And to be to be clear I like taking
• 1:03:37
  on the character of like a Scrooge that
• 1:03:40
  when when I hear somebody do like a like
• 1:03:42
  a like a happy Easter.
• 1:03:43
  >> No. It was [ __ ] so funny. It was so
• 1:03:45
  funny.
• 1:03:45
  >> I'M LIKE HOW DARE YOU? HOW DARE YOU like
• 1:03:49
  But uh uh to to sort of to your point
• 1:03:51
  here though, like um
• 1:03:56
  >> I don't know hearing like you're in your
• 1:03:57
  office and you're working or whatever
• 1:03:58
  and like outside there's kids doing this
• 1:03:59
  thing and it's like oh yeah that like
• 1:04:01
  >> this thing you're just like not a part
• 1:04:03
  of that feels like such a large part of
• 1:04:05
  culture, right? And you're just on the
• 1:04:06
  other side of the glass basically. Not
• 1:04:07
  that you necessarily want to be there,
• 1:04:09
  but like you are just having a very
• 1:04:10
  different day than these kids and this
• 1:04:12
  family, you know?
• 1:04:14
  >> Yeah. Yeah. And I think like, you know,
• 1:04:16
  there is a there is a Jewish holiday
• 1:04:17
  that happens over Easter
• 1:04:19
  >> and and it is this thing where like
• 1:04:22
  >> it is not I don't want to be a baby
• 1:04:23
  about this cuz it's not a big deal. I
• 1:04:25
  really don't care. But it is an
• 1:04:27
  interesting experience. Um just kind of
• 1:04:30
  like living your life and then
• 1:04:32
  everything stops because it's because
• 1:04:35
  they're
• 1:04:36
  >> other people. Yeah. Yeah.
• 1:04:38
  >> And there's there's something about that
• 1:04:39
  man. the fact that it's um indelible
• 1:04:41
  that it like you are out in the world
• 1:04:44
  and you're like, "Oh, there's not as
• 1:04:45
  many people out today." And just like
• 1:04:47
  seeing the families all together doing
• 1:04:48
  their things and going to church or
• 1:04:50
  whatever it is, it's like
• 1:04:52
  >> it's um it is impossible to kind of live
• 1:04:55
  your life and not notice it.
• 1:04:57
  >> Yeah.
• 1:04:57
  >> And I there's just something about that
• 1:04:58
  that is um Yeah. And then I think the
• 1:05:01
  the
• 1:05:04
  how easy it is for the world that we
• 1:05:07
  live in to serve you. Even if you're not
• 1:05:10
  religious, even if you don't care about
• 1:05:12
  any of it, you can have a relationship
• 1:05:14
  to the stuff that your family does at
• 1:05:16
  Easter because the world around you is
• 1:05:18
  cultivating an environment that allows
• 1:05:20
  you to have that relationship. Like
• 1:05:22
  people people often times don't work and
• 1:05:25
  there's kind of like an excuse to spend
• 1:05:26
  time to each other. and you can be
• 1:05:27
  connected to all of those things and
• 1:05:29
  that kind of stuff the way that the
• 1:05:31
  world is kind of accommodating that I
• 1:05:33
  don't I don't have that privilege so I
• 1:05:35
  have to kind of make it myself if I'm
• 1:05:37
  going to have a relationship to things
• 1:05:38
  like that. Yeah.
• 1:05:39
  >> Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's that's I don't
• 1:05:42
  want to say fascinating because it's
• 1:05:44
  it's not like
• 1:05:48
  it's just very interesting to hear from
• 1:05:49
  from that outside perspective on it
• 1:05:52
  because it's something that I think um
• 1:05:54
  unless pushed to think about it, I don't
• 1:05:56
  think about, you know, and and it's I'm
• 1:05:57
  I'm happy to be pushed to think about it
• 1:05:59
  because it is um an experience for a lot
• 1:06:01
  of people, right? I mean, even being
• 1:06:03
  like if you know just not Christian or
• 1:06:05
  not celebrating Christian holidays,
• 1:06:06
  whatever, if you are like Muslim, right?
• 1:06:09
  >> Yeah. same thing, right? Like I remember
• 1:06:10
  because now I'm not super uh in tune
• 1:06:14
  with uh when certain Muslim holidays
• 1:06:16
  are, but I know there's one that takes a
• 1:06:18
  while and I remember being in school and
• 1:06:20
  like someone talking about like what's
• 1:06:21
  so frustrating cuz like I I don't get
• 1:06:22
  this time off in the way that like
• 1:06:24
  everyone gets either's Christmas
• 1:06:25
  vacation, you know what I mean? When
• 1:06:26
  it's two full weeks and it's like okay,
• 1:06:28
  but like
• 1:06:29
  >> my like school does not line up with my
• 1:06:32
  life and like that's so frustrating
• 1:06:34
  because it's exactly what you're saying
• 1:06:35
  like it accommodates all of these people
• 1:06:37
  but not me, you know?
• 1:06:38
  >> Yes. Correct. Correct. And um and it's a
• 1:06:41
  bummer because I I you know, a lot of
• 1:06:42
  like religious stuff and cultural stuff
• 1:06:44
  I I can kind of take or leave, but there
• 1:06:45
  are um uh some like Jewish ideas that I
• 1:06:49
  really like just as ideas. And I think
• 1:06:51
  it's like, you know, I I I don't often
• 1:06:54
  really get the space to be like, you
• 1:06:56
  know, I really like how
• 1:06:59
  Passover is,
• 1:07:02
  you know, it's this kind of like at it
• 1:07:04
  at the most basic level, it is
• 1:07:06
  commemorating the story in the book of
• 1:07:08
  Exodus about the Israelites kind of
• 1:07:10
  like, you know, the liberation from
• 1:07:12
  slavery in Egypt and all of that stuff.
• 1:07:14
  And but I think like the way the
• 1:07:15
  Passover treats it I've always really
• 1:07:17
  liked because it's not just like a like
• 1:07:19
  a never forget. It's not like a 911
• 1:07:21
  remember this happened situation. It is
• 1:07:23
  a every generation of of Jewish person a
• 1:07:26
  modern Jewish person a person you must
• 1:07:28
  see that yourself
• 1:07:30
  >> as if you personally left Egypt. And
• 1:07:34
  there is um so Egypt in Hebrew it's kind
• 1:07:36
  of this cool word because it's a mitra
• 1:07:38
  and it has this root word with
• 1:07:41
  narrowness um or constraint. Yeah.
• 1:07:43
  >> And the idea is like the exodus from
• 1:07:45
  from literal slavery. It's not just
• 1:07:48
  limited to that. It is an escape from
• 1:07:50
  being trapped or limited um in your ways
• 1:07:53
  of thinking from systems that define
• 1:07:55
  your worth, which is kind of like the
• 1:07:57
  experience that I'm writing about and
• 1:07:59
  thinking about now. And so the idea of
• 1:08:01
  Passover is that it's an ongoing
• 1:08:03
  process. You are always leaving some
• 1:08:06
  version of Egypt, whatever that is.
• 1:08:08
  >> And I like I like like that idea. I I
• 1:08:11
  just think that that's like a cool
• 1:08:12
  that's like helpful to me. Yeah. But
• 1:08:14
  it's but it's one of those things, man,
• 1:08:15
  where it's like the the way that
• 1:08:16
  Jewishness exists out there and the way
• 1:08:18
  that it's allowed to exist for me,
• 1:08:20
  there's no there's nothing there.
• 1:08:22
  There's nothing that's that's I just
• 1:08:23
  have to keep that over here.
• 1:08:25
  >> So, you know,
• 1:08:26
  >> well, I think this was a fantastic
• 1:08:28
  written piece. Um yeah,
• 1:08:30
  >> so yeah, thank you for sharing and I
• 1:08:31
  think it,
• 1:08:32
  >> you know,
• 1:08:34
  just phenomenal work by you as always.
• 1:08:36
  Uh, listen,
• 1:08:38
  if people are interested in more, they
• 1:08:41
  should head over to patreon.com/critical
• 1:08:44
  error. There is a juicy bonus episode up
• 1:08:47
  right now. A long one. And we get into
• 1:08:49
  it all. There's a there's a layer of
• 1:08:51
  transparency on the bonus pod that
• 1:08:53
  you'll never get on the
• 1:08:56
  I'm too I'm too afraid.
• 1:08:58
  >> We're buttoned up right now. We're
• 1:08:59
  buttoned up. But as soon as as soon as
• 1:09:00
  it's like we're with the niche, it's
• 1:09:02
  like, "All right, time to
• 1:09:03
  >> the niche." It's like, "Let me tell you
• 1:09:04
  how I really feel about the tie off a
• 1:09:06
  little bit."
• 1:09:06
  >> Let me tell Yeah, dude. We're going to
• 1:09:09
  get into it about Fire Emblem Fortune's
• 1:09:10
  Weave. Fortunes weave. That's fun. All
• 1:09:13
  right. Thank you everybody for
• 1:09:14
  listening. We'll see you next week. Bye
• 1:09:15
  bye.