PixlBit

I rented it from red box once and could see how it could get addicting, but as you said combat wasn't interesting and I didn't really like the graphics.

I'm actually playing a Dishonored 2 demo ( never played either game) and it honestly hasn't appealed to me. Might be cause I suck at it though. Seems I have to climb a windmill to get past some wall of light electric trap, but ...where the f can i climb the windmill? Also, I suck at most stealth games except MGS ( which is the only stealth franchise that has also allowed me to get away with guns blazing when I felt like it), so ...

I liked DK64 so I'll like it. ONLY issue it looks like  might have is somewhat empty worlds.

My mom teaches middle school and it's insane how the Pokemon craze has just started all over again. I wonder if her kids have those Easter eggs.

I was wondering about that. 

I'd honestly love just a text playlist of the songs mentioned. 

Stage Select
For top 3 developers, I'm just going to go with the first three that pop in my head.

Nintendo is my #1 favorite developer and also a company that makes me want to hate them on a regular basis. 

They DO rehash titles too often, but get nowhere near enough credit for the many times they've Swithced ... up the formula. You can argue they rely too heavily on Zelda/Mario, but you can't objectively tell me every mainline game in those franchises has the same mechanics/aesthetic etc. If they did, there wouldn't be such heated opinions around Zelda II, Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, my preference for Sunshine over 64 etc. Plus, what genre HAVEN'T they touched with an original title? Even their JRPGs like Paper Mario and Pokemon tend to be the ones I'm able to tolerate more as someone who probably needs the hand-holding. 

A big part of me wishes they would just get out of the console market already, BUT that's because I so badly want to play their first-party titles without having to pay for an all-new system. Plus, this may be more on the publishing side of things, but they are an innovative company (see: rumble, Switch, Wii, N64 joystick) even if they get a bit too cute with it sometimes. So I begrudgingly admit that maybe they should stay in the hardware game ... even if I'd really like the whole exclusivity thing to be done with already. 

I really hate some of their business practices, especially when it comes to "whitelisting" only certain people who play nice with them to have increased access to their games as far as YouTube/reviews. Still, half the time even the blacklisted people admit there's something to like. 

TL;DR Say what you will, but Nintendo IS the Disney of the video game world. Not everything they put out is gold, and some people aren't into it, but you expect a certain quality from them that the whole family can enjoy, and they create classics on a consistent basis. 

Arc System Works may really only have two major franchises, but those franchises have everything I love about 2D fighters, which is one of my favorite genres. The animation and speed is ridiculous, the heavy metal guitar-driven music is cheesily on point, and to me they are the king of the niche they cater to. 

They COULD pull way back on the convoluted story modes and have a more straightforward lore, but I still love the characters and have lots of fun learning each one's moveset. I really appreciate the deep tutorial modes in their newer games and have been a fan of the over-the-top stuff they produce since renting GGX2 for my older brother's PS2. 

TL;DR I realize this is a bit of a wild card and by no means is this objectively one of the greatest companies of all time, but the metric I'm using here is what company pops in my head when I think of MY favorite games? Since 2D fighter is one of my favorite genres, it's this 2D fighting game-centric company.

On that note, Capcom has not only mastered some of my favorite genres, from the aformentioned 2D fighting with Street Fighter, side-scrolling action-platforming with Mega Man, and even a quirky detective game called Ghost Trick that is one of my favorites and why I still really need to play my Ace Attorney game, but they pop in my head first partly because their music pops in my head first. 

If last episode's Stage Select had been "stage" themes, as opposed to "town/village," there would have been some Capcom on my list. I can remember just about every SFII: Turbo theme off the top of my head, we all know exactly why Mega Man is referred to as Rock Man in Japan, and even beyond music their games have such excellent style to them that always draws me in. 

Plus, they are partly responsible for developing a game called Viewtiful Joe, so ... y'know, given my real name and affinity for movies and cel-shading, not to mention the game's unique mechanics and of course, music.  

TL;DR This company has some innovative titles to complement the classics, and it has always made games with some of my favorite style visually and especially musically. Let's ignore certain business practices on the publishing end here ...

A couple runner-ups I want to mention are Insomnicac Games, because I've actually sat down and had lunch with the marketing team in 2014 at their Burbank studio when they were gearing up toward E3 and Sunset Overdrive's release (I also know that game was an XBOX exclusive because, while they liked how Sony treated them, Sony wanted the rights to the games they made on Sony platforms and XBOX let them have the rights to SO). 

As proof, here's video of ... well, my friend Robbie introducing Ryan Schnieder to our Meet the Media class: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1d9fI7opH4&feature=youtu.be

Also, I really wish Double FIne could better develop the actual game mechanics behind their incredibly (or maybe just Schafer's incredibly) creative ideas, but because Psychonauts has some issues and Brutal Legend should NOT have included an RTS focus, I can't bring myself to make them tops. 

Chrono Cross 1996

Twisted Metal 2 is a game the neighbors had, which is why I was able to play the M-rated titles I did. We played the hell out of this darkly humorous battle car arena classic, making sure to take the Statue of Liberty's clothes off, laughing way too hard at the dinousaur-time-traveling Amanda Watts ending and Calypso's sick sense of humor, and pummeling each other in multiplayer while a metal soundtrack played in the background. 

It was an immature, Mature-rated good time.

Honorable mention for me is Killer Instinct: Gold, which made my older brother break one of my N64 controllers, whether or not he'll deny it to this day. 

Gamer groupthink isn't specific to gamers. I honestly believe consensus among reviewers is a lot like a concept I cover in my classes called "consensus journalism," where everyone in the (non cable news/Internet editorial) reporting game comes to similar conclusions based on established viewpoints they don't really try to challenge too much. This ties in with Noelle-Nuemann's "Spiral of Silence" theory, where because one idea is so widely accepted, it makes people who disagree reluctant to speak up. 

While I respect the importance of Jimi Hendrix and Citizen Kane, I think you see this in the way everyone will point to the former being the greatest guitarist of all time and the latter being the greatest movie of all time, and many established critics would agree. But how many people who came after the era of Woodstock or B&W 30s films actually know WHY they're saying that beyond the fact everyone else says it? How many Transformers-loving millennials do you honestly believe would cite Citizen Kane as their favorite movie if they actually watched it? Sure, that's a bias on my part toward people who love Transformers movies, and it's not like you can't enjoy both that and high art. But you know who I'm talking about. Do you really think they believe Citizen Kane is the greatest movie of all time because they know the impact it had on the medium or are they just regurgitating what perceived authorities on the matter have been repeating to them?

Personally, I respect Citizen Kane for all it did for cinema, but I LIKE How Green Was My Valley, the movie it lost the Oscar to, better. I can say this because I've actually seen these movies, know some cursory film history, and am willing to form my own opinion beyond what I'm SUPPOSED to think. 

For more information, see this Psychology study: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDDyT1lDhA

Having said that, the expectation gap is definitely a thing as well, so you're right to say Andromeda had higher expectations compared to Nier. There was another concept you guys brought up that I remembered some academia-related stuff for, but now I don't remember. 

My point is, none of this is specific to Internet/gaming culture, although maybe it gets amplified. 

I still need to play Beyond Good & Evil as well. Don't you play a reporter?

The lufia song angelo picked sounded like mega man on vacation. I dig it. I listened to the MUSHA OST though and wasn't feeling the lead synth. Guess Angelo and I will have to have a Fighters Destiny tournament to settle this. :)

This episode reminded me that I so wish i could tolerate turn based combat enough to enjoy the excellent presentation in RPGs for myself. Think I'll get that Final Fantasy rythm action game Cary always talks up on DS.

Actually, any plans to give us the playlist for this episode? 

As for my picks, if I'd have included fighting game stages in the town/village scenario, I'd have a much different list. And I agree Clock Town on its own doesn't work; I made my choices on their context in the games. Truthfully, Gerudo Valley is the only pick I made I'd listen to in my free time. If I used that metric, I'd likely have picked Dragon Roost as well, or something else.

I wasn't expecting you to put so much of these songs in. I was thinking you'd find the highlights/hooks and have them quickly fade in/out during discussion. That's almost what I did when I was thinking about providing audio feedback for this one.

Cool podcast half, y'all!

If I may echo Xtrian's sentiments, fuck iTunes. That's honestly the only reason I haven't rated you guys yet. Every time I try to log in, I can't even remember what email I used and some dumb security question pops up that doesn't feel like one I'd set. I understand why they've upped security after FapGate or whatever that was called, but ugh. 

Actually, Patrick, I'll get back to you. I forgot. I teach 6 classes and a lot of shit happened with student video projects (3/6 of my classes are project-based), but there might be a couple classes I could still have you Skype to. Right now, I'm having to write some scholarship recommendation letters before day's end and I have some grading I'd like to get done before our Easter Break begins tomorrow (at a public university! Easter Bunny bless Texas!).  

I'm just starting Julian's Fable II song, and I'll be back to comment on the rest later. Think I told someone to come by my office later.

That's actually part of the problem still. Sometimes i have no challenge from visiting friends and have to hold way back to let them compete.

I miss having a middle ground.