PixlBit

STAGE SELECT:

What is something you’ve been missing the most in this pandemic life?

I have not been to a movie theater in forever, and I’m hoping places like Alamo Drafthouse that offer dinner in the same space are still in business when I decide to start going to indoor venues again.  

What is a movie or book you can’t live without?

Not a huge fan of that phrasing, cause I can live without a lot of media, but I love Kurt Vonnegut books (true-to-form for my nihilistic outlook and aesthetic; I’m basically a 90s teen who’s been transported here) and my favorite movies are Cinderella Man and Chasing Amy, in that order.

What got you into video games?

The NES and SNES just kinda being there when I was a kid, thanks to my parents needing to distract my older brother while tending to my baby self. I also had to stay in the computer lab where my mom worked pretty often and played a lot of Gizmos and Gadgets, Oregon Trail, and this vector-based tank game I always forget the name of after school. Actually, those games got really old, which is why I was itching to go outside and shoot some basketball when I got home. I was a pretty good shot for a while there. Anyway, I think I got into games simply cause they were so ubiquitous for me.

What is your favorite album?

I really don’t have one. I’ve had a few I’ve kept in my car for a too-long period of time, including “Blooddrunk” by Children of Bodom currently (that’s for like three really good songs and nostalgia but I *really* like those songs), “Stadium Arcadium” by RHCP, the Green Day best of (forget its name), several Metallica albums, “Chuck” by Sum 41, AWOLNATION self-titled, “Torches” by Foster the People, “My Head Is An Animal” by Of Monsters and Men, several Slipknot albums, “First impressions of Earth” by The Strokes, “Hypnotize/Mezmerize” by System of a Down, “10,000 Days” by Tool, etc. etc.  

What would your Transformers name be, and what would you transform into?

My Transformer name would be Lil’ Biscuit and I’d turn into a Ford Pinto.

How often do you buy shoes?

Not often at all. You’re supposed to replace running shoes every year, and I’d say I’m a few months behind that target every time (and the wear and tear is pretty apparent) since I have to go to Dallas to find a running shoes store and I'm real lackadaisical about road trippin'. I think my dress shoes last me plenty long enough without anyone noticing.

CAGE MATCH:

Well, I own FF6 via SNES Mini, but Chrono Trigger looks more interesting for my tastes. But I don't know that having not really played either for very long. 

I never really had time to ... Chrono Trigger wins. Time travels all over the mat, steel chairing FF6. 

I'm gonna tell people my favorite NWP episode is the one where they talk about horse earthquakes for a looooooooooooooooong time. 

There are a lot of claims to different psychological effects for different drinks, but I think there's more evidence it's probably just a trick of the mind. 

Who knows, though? Psychology is a hard thing to study, unless you've got someone's brain hooked up, cause otherwise you're just relying on self-report data. 

Happy belated. Hope you had a relaxing holiday. 

I disagree with Cary; my reaction to all of this was "that was just last year?!" lol 

I still need to watch that vampire flick.

That cocktail book sounds dangerous. 

I know it's flawed, but Sunshine is definitely my favorite 3D Mario game. 

I'm really looking forward to playing CB4. 

I thought SoR 4 was just ok. It just couldn't live up to the magic of SoR 2 for me, and I'm saying that as someone who never played on Genesis until I bought my mini console, so it's not nostalgia speaking. 

I played a demo of the 2D Yooka Laylee game and had fun with it. 

I've never played a DQ game, but apparently the Yakuza 7 (Like a Dragon) game I'm playing is really similar. 

Miles Morales is definitely a purchase with my PS5 when I get one. It could be a while though. 

I like the uniforms you come up with. Stylish. I really like those Oregon unis that inspired your Rams team look, too. 

I get that, but it's usually that a) the games are in a genre I just don't find appealing and I don't feel like skipping around to find the one or two out of eight that do interest me (obviously it depends on where they get talked about in the podcast) or b) they really interest me and I'm paranoid about spoilers. I'd probably skip fewer Consumption Junctions if there were time stamps for each little section of it, but that's a tall order. 

I definitely don't always skip CJ though. If y'all are talking about a game I've already played, listening to people talk about media I've already consumed is like half of what I use the Internet for. It's nothing you're doing wrong, I just realized a while ago that I do tend to let reviews color my engagement with media I consume after reading/listening/watching reviews, so I try to stay away until after I've had time to form my own thoughts. 

I'll be honest, I often skip a decent bit of Consumption Junction (cause what's listed is often games I have not played or have not heard of) but this was one of the more interesting ones for me. A lot of it has to do with themes outside of video games (what skills to focus on in your life, the nuances of boycotting diverse teams of people and/or their nations, whether the Firewatch guy ever settled down and had a family with a good doggo). Very interesting stuff. 

I'm also mixed on Y7's combat for many of the same reasons as Justin, but I hate how hard it's been to make money. I haven't paid that much attention to leveling, cause it seems to happen pretty often, but I always miss Yakuza 0's deep character pockets. I know Japan does too and that's kinda the point, but still. 

Also, I really hope the current combat system doesn't stick with Asura ... I don't think I dislike it enough to skip Asura, but ... I might not be as excited for it. 

I find Letterkenny funny but almost never understand it completely ... at times, it confuses me as much as Cage Match votes confuse Mike.