Fire Escape Cast #85

Hello, everyone, Welcome back to the Fire Escape Pass. It is episode eighty five. I'm Mike Maharty, your host as always. Guess what all three of us whoa Dan Reicher, Mary Kish were a flesh well on a zoom call. But yeah, first time in two three episodes. Yeah, they're only Benny and Ben and we did one with Minati. Yes, yes, we all all three of us had an episode off. Yep, nice and evenly distributed there. Look at us A look at nice vacation structure at

a corporate company. Yes, and we haven't been busy. Nothing has happened to any of us in that time. Yes, what a relaxing vacation. Yes, I'll start with you Dan, how I talked about apparently you and for me that I got details of your surgery wrong. Let me let me let me be claire A. I don't care. B. I was. I was talking to Vinnie and Ben and here's what I told them. I told them you were a doing a deviated septim surgery, which I can relate

to, but that's part of it. And then B you're also getting like sixteen different sinus spots. Okay, you're you're close ish because it's more that it was sinus stuff. And then also while they were in there, they're like, oh, you have a minor deviated septum. We'll just going to

you know, pick that a little bit. That was like the most technically the surgery was sinus endoscopy, bilateral maxillary antrust to me, bilateral anterior ethmoid ectomy, nasal septoplasty that's the deviated septum, and bilateral submucous resection of my inferior turbinates. Oh, I said, nasal septorrhinoplasty. That's where I got

it wrong. There's your problem. Yes, no, sorry, no, they knocked me out and they put a bunch of knives and cameras up my nose into my mouth and just cut up the whole inside of my head. And yeah, that uh, that was I'd say the worst four days of my life are the ones following that in terms of just physical discomfort. And that was really really bad. I'm I'm not one hundred percent right now, but I think obviously I'm up moving around talking again. I got headphones on

my face comfortably here you don't have. Yes, what I've headphones on on your face is a weird way to phrase phrase. They're on the sides of my face. For audio listeners, they're on his ears. He's not just putting headphones over by that. Yeah, I would have loved if the EMTs e nts rather saw like a miniature version of you in a Wallawigi costume conducting your brain when they went up there was running around, or it's just got

symbols like the homewern monkey. Yeah, that'd be great. So, Okay, what is the recovery time overall, like two weeks for something like that? I think accept thems like a week or two. I'm over two weeks in right now, and so like that's like, okay, you should be able to go back to work. I just did my first five K again today, so I wasn't able to run for a long time, so trying to get back into that. I still can't swim, still can't, but

most things I can do now. It was just the first couple of weeks. You just got to make sure you don't sneez, or if you sneeze, you got to sneeze at your mouth, which that is a concept I'd never considered before. Was like, how the fuck do you do that? Do that. But then like I sneezed a bunch because I got a bunch of bullshit in my nose, and you just it just comes out of your mouth and that works. Otherwise it's like I don't know, your head just

explodes in blood or something. But there's you can't blow your nose. The main thing they tell you is you can't blow your nose, which all you want to Well, that's the thing is. The mental aspect of this was crazy to me because I expected to be uncomfortable, not being able, like I literally cannot breathe through my nose because like all that inflammation inside your sinus

is they just got cut up, so they're all puppy and inflamed. No air is coming through the nose period, So I expected that, but you can't. Like when you feel stuffed up up there, all you want to do is blow your norse and like even though logically you know there's it's not mucus, it's not snot, it's not that's not what it's up there. It's just closed off. It's literally just laying around like for hours to being like I wish I coul blow my nose. I wish I could brethe out

my nose. I wish I could bring out my nose. I wish I could breathe out my nose. And like, swallowing is really weird because he breathed it through your nose. When you're swallowing, like you're so stay hydrated. So every time I took a swallow water, all these clots would get loose, and like just evil black goo was just coming out of a bunch of holes. And it was a boy. It sucked so much shit.

I am. Well, we'll get too the game section later, but I did have some good options on the steam deck, just laying in bed, playing a bunch of games on the steam deck, sleeping as much as I could. I didn't like the way the I think it was vicoing. That was the pain meds they gave me took her for the first two or three days, you know, I do. I did not like the way this. Okay, this all sounds bad enough. Whose idea was it to add Paul Riker in your vicinity onto this? All? Right? I got to

give him some credit. He is not historically maybe the most empathetic dude in the world. Uh, you know, he very much has love for his family and in me as kids obviously, but you know he sometimes his way is more give me a shit, is kind of how he talks to his kids and stuff like that. He really, he really did help out, and that Bonk had a trip overseas she was she was here for the first

several days, which is the most important part. So she was here during a like red alert, like hey, just make sure you know I'm not bleeding profusely. But then it's like I was looking at it like, oh man, it's gonna be like a week she's gone, and you know, like just I don't. I get very anxious about a lot of things, obviously, but health stuff like oh I throw kind of close up, I'm

gonna have a bad reaction to something. And my dad did offer to drive up and just kind of like be here for a week, so and he was, and there were times that it was a huge help. There was one night where I was, uh, I was watching wrestling downstairs here, and all of a sudden, I just felt like a bubble pop in my

nose and then just profuse blood like just pouring out of my face. And this is like a weekend, and I was told like, oh, it's kind of concerning if it's bright red blood that far out, and I've just got bright red blood, so prop just all over me. I hold my hands out. It's his blood all over my hands. I ran upstairs and like you know, I go right into kind of panic mode with something like that it's ten o'clock at night or something like that, and I'm trying to

get to hold the doctor. And my dad was very helpful at like, you know, while I was on the phone with the doctor, he was getting cleanexes and all this stuff, and you know, he was so he is Paul Record, he is himself and you know, but he was. He was definitely a good help to have around here. And we had a good time. And then you went to Vegas? That's correct. What was

what was the for what? So that was the thing we had planned prior to the surgery where it kind of aligned with like, you know, it was my fortieth birthday last month, and it was also like our wedding anniverse for last month's so blank planned a trip to Vegas and I just got back yesterday, and so that was a concern with the surgery. Was I asked the doctor, like, am I going to be okay to fly and he's like, well, it's two weeks out from surgery. You should be okay.

He usually recommends two weeks. So he had me come in a week later after the surgery and look at everything and he's like, yeah, thing is healing pretty good. You should be good to fly. But man, you talk about anxiety again, and like, you know, I have a lot of pressure and ear pain and stuff on flights and just normal flight anxiety anyway, So holy shit, Like the flight out there, just constantly just worrying about my ears popping, and just like it was very very uncomfortable,

very uncomfortable. But we were able to go and we had a lot of fun there. So she bunk planned out a bunch of really fun stuff for us. So I heard you went to a place that I've been to that I I'm the free Store area fifteen thirteen Male Wolf. It's like eight different things. But the Omega Mart just the super weird David Lynn's supermarket portal to Hell surreal thing. Yeah, that was That's an interesting thing. It's like

off the strip. It's just this weird little complex. You know. We talked about the bit, you know, it was several episodes ago, but Yeah, it's just a very surreal thing. I don't want to spoil too much of it, but yeah, you go into a really weird, like meta grocery store. It's like just a really big art exhibit or when they're putting together the word immersive was brought up a billion times because it's a lot.

I'm just like, you can grab the things on the shelf, you can buy some of this stuff, and then there's just like, oh, you walk into the freezer, or you go into this back little door here, and suddenly you're in a fucking tool you know, album cover or something.

It's just like weird mirrors and and optical effects and just rooms filled with like it very much felt like just like one of those games that has very detailed environments where you're just looking at stuff on the shelf and you're just reading things and like all this weird stuff on the on the walls. And it's a very hard thing to explain. And also I wonder how the hell they were able to pitch it because it is a wild and expensive thing that I've

never seen anything quite like. Yeah, I think like when I did it and I talked to you about it before, Bunk message mean was like, I think, is this like the thing we should do? And I was like, this is the thing if you're in Vegas, this is what I recommend. And unfortunately I can't tell you why. I can't describe it, because I think the joy is the discovery of what's in the freezer, like go and see it, and I think that is what's so interesting about it.

I have one question that I don't think is too invasive, which is like, did you play the game? Like there's like a meta game back there? No, is it one of the things on the screens? Yes? Did you know? No? I saw there were people at a lot of the screens, and I didn't know if they were just you know, pressing things. I didn't know there was like an objective or anything. There is there's actually like a game back there, and there's actors as well.

Oh really, I saw the lab coats and stuff like, I did not know that. Okay, that's hm, that'd be a really interesting thing. I would love to go in there, like if you could just solo and just go around and really take your time and figure it out, Like there's there's clearly a lot going on there that you wouldn't be able to see all of it in one visit by any means. Yeah, I don't think you

can see all of it. And I didn't actually partake in the story, but my friend did and I watched her solve it, and you get a lot of context of why the space exists. And it's obviously like all made up, like they've constructed this really elaborate. I don't know it's lord to it, and unfortunately I can't get into it because I think that's part of the charm of it. But yeah, the lore, the backstory, the actors walking around, it's all to help feel immersive that you are like in

this experience, and so I think it's really neat. I'm really glad you experienced it, because it was like the main thing that I was trying to pitch you after I went, which is like, I think you should see it. I think you should go. Yeah, I really do appreciate that. I was the thing I kept saying like during the trip was like I love a good gimmick, and like Omega mar definitely has a gimmick to it, and I liked that a lot, and Bonk knows that I like a

good gimmick, and so one of the dinners. It was a couple of nights ago. She booked at a place called Blackout. Have you heard of this? No? Oh wait, the one where there's no visual at all and so it increases your other senses. But literally it's pitch black, one hundred percent pitch black, or you can entire meal. It's like a seven course meal. And I expected to be like, oh, it's dark, or like, oh, it's the thing. We're halfway through the meal.

Oh there was a hurricane or whatever, and now the lights are off. It's like no, dudes in fucking night vision goggles come and get you and bring you into like a red room to start your eyes adjusting. And then

they bring you into a fucking room. You're grabbing like each other's shoulders and stuff and walking in and they have to like step by step explain to you where your actual like glass is, which I don't know how they're not constantly breaking stuff, but like, okay, your knife is over here, You're okay to slide your left hand forward, forward, forward, there's your glass, and they're just bringing out like seven courses. The lights are never on.

You're there for like we're there for over an hour and it's so weird.

Like I knew I was going to try things that I normally wouldn't because if you told me what something was, or if I saw it and it wasn't something I normally have, I'd probably be like, I don't know, but I'm literally just uh So for the second course, they were just like, Okay, you're gonna reach in front of you and there's gonna be a crispy square and on top of it, it's going to be a spongy circle, like, uh, okay, I don't know what the hell that is.

And I put it in my mouth and I'm like, okay, that's definitely like a cracker. It's on it's like an appetizer thing. There's I think there's like rice happening here, but there's a flavor. I don't know what this is. There's like a weird flavor. I didn't dislike it by any means, but it was like some sort of like Mayo based thing or something that like if I saw that on a menu, I never would have ordered it. If I saw what it looked like, I never would have

eaten it. But when I'm literally just grabbing shapes and eating them, you know, I'm much more prone to be open minded. And uh yeah, there was like you know, mushroom, gravy and stuff. There were things that I probably would not have tried, and I was like, oh shit, okay, that was really good. So really, how you find out that you like all sorts of condiments? Yeah? Yeah, in an elaborate gimmick restaurant to get me to try a basic food. Yeah, but yeah,

it was cool. Like we the whole time, it's just like, what does this place look like? Like we're sitting at a table, we hear people walking around and stuff with night vision, Like, I have no idea what this space I'm in looks like. You know, I don't know what my plate looks like, what this food looks like. It's a really really odd feeling. But it was a good gimmick for sure. I'd like to do that. I've heard of this as well, and I like the

idea of having this fully immersive experience where all you do is taste. You probably don't see anything. I suppose you do you touch it? Or yeah, touch it? Like are you touching the food? Let me ask you this, Like when they serve you a plate, do they put the fork in your hand or is it like always in your hand. I fucked up with the first one. So the very first course, we're like, okay, we're gonna give you a bowl and it is gonna be uh, it's

going to be wet inside. So there is a spoon if you want to use the spoon to the right and put it in the bowl. And I was like, I don't know. So I was picturing like a buffalo wing. I don't know, and so just put my hand in the bowl. Turned out later they tell you afterwards what it is. You can look at the menu. This fucking carrot soup PLoP with my hand. Yeah, sir, please don't grab the soup. Yeah, I tried to get a fistful of soup. I just use a spoon. Once I realized it was a

liquid, I'd switched to spoon. How do you know where they have to direct you to the napkin? They tell you, you know, they they give you the napkin the beginning, and then they say like, okay, you're your fork and your knife are over here, your spoon is over here. And then they they guide you kind of step by step to the glass and then they tell you like okay, now scoot it boward scoot a board and they make it so you're you clink glasses with the person you're eating with.

So that'd be funny if like you, you were using what you thought was a knapkin the whole night, and then afterward they finally told us, like that was your wife's hair. That'd be really weird if I'd be weird. Napkin wasn't. Her hair was just fine with it because the just comes in one clothee sheet, Yes, just to wash your hair every night. And well, I mean, I guess a lot of people wash their hair often, but like put it in a washing machine and close the door,

just her hair, Yeah, and then play on the switch. It's on a close, closed line. Now back this bit rules Mary, Where have you been? Was it is? It? Was? It less gross than most of Dan's vacation, generally speaking, vacation. I went to Netherlands for twitch Con, which was in Rotterdam, but I went to Paris before and I got to give a shout out to Mike who gave me a really cool recommendation. I was in Paris just for two days just to essentially it helps.

I have really bad jet lag and so like, the idea of going two extra days lets me acclamate a little bit more before working a convention. But also, who doesn't want to just hop, skip and jump to Paris real quick for two days. So I went with a girlfriend and while I was there posting cute little picks, Mike was like, are you in fucking Paris? And I was like, I am in fucking Paris and he was like, you gotta go to this bar and gave me a recommendation and it

was a really cool place. It was a speakeasy, because I guess I wasn't really paying attention when he sent it to me. I googled it and we arrived and there's nothing there, like it doesn't exist, and I think it's a pizza shop, but this is a bar. So we walked past it and we're like, oh, this is a pizza shop. Keep going, there's nothing at the end of the street. We turn around, we

keep going, there's nothing on the end of the street. And then two guys were like, you're looking for the speakeasy, aren't you, And I was like yes, and they were like, going to the pizza shop and just go through like the working door verbatim what I told her to do. For the record, I wasn't paying attention and then I walked through and we just like ignored. There was a dude like make a pizza, and I just opened the door and there was a little hidden speakeasy back there, a

really nice bar, well decorated, amazing drinks. The bartender was super knowledgeable. The drinks were weird. They all had like foam or one of them was served with a sweet cookie. They all had like a It was kind of gimmicky, but very well done. I loved it, and so did my friend Alyssa, who went with me. You also like a good gimmick. I love a good gimmick. I like it. So it's so this place is called Moonshiner. If you're in Paris, it's in the eleventh because

Mary, you told me where you were staying. I was like, oh, you're one neighborhood away. You got a DeVito pizza and then when you walk in there's just a padded leather It looks like a walk in freezer door and you just open it and you're there. It just doesn't seem like something you should be walking into. Like it got wrong. But that was literally what to do. Uh, it was a great little hidden thing. Had

a good time. But that'd be a really good prank to do everything, to just tell someone exactly that and then make the walk and then walk says employees. Only walk to the back and give the finger to the cook. He'll know what you mean. Yeah. Then they'll let you in. Then call the police, and that's when you gotta like take the tomato sauce and rub it all body show I'm the fucking lizard king, and then dive into the toilet. But Moonshiner's drinks are actually I thought were really good. They.

I think speakeasies can be overly gimmicky these days, but I like moon Chiner. It's been there a bit. I'm glad you went, Glad you had fun. But then you went to Rotterdam. Went to Rotterdam for twitch Con. Had a good twitch Con. Nothing amazing. It was just a really good con. Two days of essentially like streaming and hanging out with people. And then as soon as that finished, I went to Majorca, which is an island Spain, so Spanish island. It was really really pretty.

I was so tired. Usually we all understand this, it's like it's like having a vacation. After e three you're just so damn tired. You're ready to be home. Yeah, the first day or two is kind of a wash. All I really wanted to do was sit at the pool and like be fed crackers or whatever it is I could consume at the time. But my Orca is known for having really beautiful beaches. I was pushed into a

car several times where we got to see these stunning beaches. But my one of my favorite memories is is we were with a group of five and the ring leader, the person who did most of the organizing of the event, was like, do you want to do a boat tour or a cave tour? And we all were like, let's do the cave tour. That sounds interesting, you know. You know, you pick one, and she's really excited about it. She's kind of been hyping it up, and she's like,

it's a really cool cave tour. These caves have been around for a really long time. I got these reservations long in advance, and I'm so glad I did because it seems like they really book up and this seems like a really amazing experience. We're all really stoked, and we're on the highway and everyone kind of like sees this crazy thing in the distance. It looks like a giant lizard butt and we're just like, what the fuck is that?

And as we get closer and closer, it's a giant dinosaur a long neck, not real giant, fake like huge huge, like probably like to make bonus dinosaurs are still here, so we're all like kind of laughing about it. You don't usually see a giant dinosaur off the highway. And then our turn is coming up and we're recognizing that the turn is really close to the brontosaurs, and we're like, oh, what's going on here? And as we turn in, it says, welcome to the Jurassic Park Experience.

Whoa wait, is it licensed? No, it's a fucking bootleg Jurassic Park experience in my Orca, in Spain, in Myorca. There's like a weird off brand. Get hands in there. Yeah. I immediately put on the theme song for Jurassic Park as we go into this parking lot and recognize that

this is a dual experience. One half is like a dinosaur themed park for kids, I think, and the other half is a Cave tour and it's a real it's a real cave, Like it's a real cave with real stalagtites and slagmites, but it's it's in the same park as this fucking Jurassic Park tour. Are there dinosaurs in the cave? They did not put fake dinosaurs in the cave. They should just merge at that point. It's seriously, at that point, I was so sold because we were we were dying at

the idea that this is happen. This had happened, right, Like, how did we get here? Why are we thought? We were like going on this like really nice, incredible cave tour and they're selling Bronto burgers and all these like it's essentially like a fried chicken sandwich, but they're like it's a copy. Uh you know, like they're they're doing like all this language of Jurassic Park themed items to eat raptor burgers. Yeah, it was fucking

hilarious. Anyway, the cave tour was actually more normal and there weren't any dinosaurs at all in there. They didn't put in one of those rollie balls from a Jurassic World. I wish once you once you go down that path. They even had the doors, you know, I'm talking about the oh really Jurassic Park. I want to say it was called Jurassic Experience like they al, Okay, very slightly. I'm guessing the font was the same though

it was literally the same pot ect just dinosaur Land. It looks like Jurassic Adventure Park, cave in Jurassic Adventure Park, Jurassic Majorca. Okay, oh wait, it's part of Royal Caribbean Cruises or is this just to stop where they stop? I mean, I don't know. I wasn't on a cruise, but I mean actual for global audiences. But the actual theme park that's

showing up a mappage is called dinosaur Land. Did Royal Caribbean co opt it as a knockoff Jurassic I'm just looking up Jurassic Spain Island and I'm not getting anywhere. It's just a dinosaur, a dinosaur like dancing Jurassic Adventure Park, cave in beach. That's the one that's it. Okay, that's on the Royal Caribbean Cruise website for some reason. And I think what's also really interesting about this is that there was nothing about Jurassic Dinosaur anything on the cave tour

that we booked. The cave tour was come see an ancient cave that was discovered hundreds of years ago and learn a bit about the history of my Arca, which we were all like, that sounds great, but it was in the fucking Jurassic Park. These are just full on animatronic, big ass dinosaurs that is just straight up the one from Jurassic Park. I think they wow copied Jurassic Park and then they were like, oh, actually, I think

the caves came first. I think somebody was like, oh my god, there's some fucking caves down here, and they started with that, and then they were like, our cave numbers are dwindling, and someone was like, I've got it. We're going to make Jurassic Park around it. They have jeeps with the fucking Jurassic logo on the side, just like in the movie. It is ripped. Wow, I respect it. The the Bronto Burgers, the Raptor Burgers, and like the Compi chicken sandwich was really it was

like the icing on top of it. It was just so funny to like have like a dinosaur themed sandwich. Do you go to the Raptor cafe. They have dinos for coffee. Oh, here's I got the menu for the dino burger. Oh okay, so we got chicken rocks with barbecue, but fries, I looked, okay, so I got overy the ear. We had the dino bravas fries. What is that? Potatoes mayonnaise and Brava sauce. What the fuck? Bronosaurus fries fries? Yeah, Jurassic salad. I

don't know what drasque about that. The burgers, it's just yeah, this is bread and chicken and lettuce grass. It has alfalfa, you know, the most dinosaur of whatever that is. You got a raptor burger, a Titano burger, a t rex burger, a Gali mimas burger, triseratops berger, Pompey, the little guys. Oh, the galamimuses are compies. Okay, got it. There's raptor sauce. Oh what is that? Baby? The barbecue chili mao serachimeo and raptor. Oh, Raptor sauce equals mustard and

honey. Oh that sounds good. Actually everyone knows that. What I know it now? Damn this one looks awesome. I know it was it was just a really I have a video of it. There's a really funny uh I should post it. There's a really funny video of all of us slowly coming to the realization that we are turning into Jurassic theme park instead of this

cave tour that we thought. And as I play the Jurassic Theme Park music, we go from like weary and a little like we felt like we had been like tricked or something like that, and everyone was like, oh, what's going on to let's fucking get up at Burger. We basically like converted from like I'm not sure if this experience is gonna work to let's let's fucking enjoy this. Like so we're doing like Game of the Year and the Raptor

Den there right. Yeah, I think we should all go to Majorca and in the Raptor Den talking about infinite wealth next to a bunch of raptors. I think all get killed. That's that's the that's our dundoko dundoko. Yes, that's awesome. That's another good gimmick. Sounds like we're all back now. Have some great travel stories. You guys have Spain and France and everything, And tomorrow I'm going to Oklahoma. So next episode, I'll have some

great, wonderful exotic travel stories for you from Oklahoma. I'm saying I had a farm Airbnb. Any wine tastings, No, I don't think wine will be allowed at this wedding. Oh really No. The groom only eats chicken tenders and my dad will be present. So yeah, I don't think it's gonna be a very wine type of wedding. Okay. Oh alcohol, Oh there will be alcohol, yeah, but heavy wine. There might be wine, I don't know. There might be types there, fermented beer with grapes.

It's a pizza buffet for the food, which I'm excited about. Is it really? Yes, on a farm, pizza buffet on a farm, Yeah, in Oklahoma. Yeah, next to a rodeo. Okay, this keeps getting better. It sounds like a very Oklahoma wedding. Sounds can I come? Do you have a plus one? Come on by? My dad will love it. I'm sure he would. Anything you post from France and send it to my dad and he hates it. I know. I'm sure

I'm just like specifically trying to annoy him with my posts. Good good, yes, Oh yeah, I already told people about my trip last episode. I'm trying to think if there's anything like Dan and Mary that I need to convey about the clip. Goddamn of Venny's so funny. The clip I saw where you asked about the cheese cart stuff, like how many times have you had that? How many times do you think? Like just say, Hanson space, just like what the fuck are you talking about? Did you watch

the rest of the clip. I also said that was my first cheese cart ever. That's why I asked, okay, okay, no, was that my first cheese cart? Wheel? Up Dan at the Partner Lounge, we had a cheese girl. A cheese girl, not two thousand and five anymore, Mary, We can't really she was made of cheese. She was made of cheese. She was cheese and whatever whatever you wanted, she procured the

cheese. And was it like the old e three Nintendo DS girls where the cheese was like handcuffed to her and you had to like weirdly eat it in front of her. I don't think that we were torturing this girl. I think that she was a cheese enthusiast that had several types of cheeses, and her knowledge of cheese was really good. So she told cheese cheese, mongrel, mongril, mong GIRLNGL girls crashes through the wall at your Oklahoma wedding Rodeo

pizza buffet. So was it like a like a whole like assortment of like a bunch of different plates of cheeses and stuff that the girl had. She had cheeses behind her and then when you were like, I want like a bouncer for the cheese. When you say behind her picture she was guarding the cheese and then she could bring down the cheese and slice the cheese. Okay, she's carrying the cheese with uh sticks. I don't know. I don't know if I can, don't make me lie, I don't. I don't

remember all the facets of the cheese girl. It was like a board of cheese, and then she would pick out the cheese and slice it and give it to you. She's cutting the cheese, like do you have a moment to talk about Jesus? While she was not a religious cheesemong girl, cheese girl talking about Jesus's man Girl, my favorite comic superhero. Cheese man Girl. You're talking to you about the Saviors. She's her superpower is Jesus Christ. She's actually not special at all. It was in the partner lounge.

I just thought it was interesting because it was like it's like kind of exclusive thing that only partners could getese. You could go upstairs and get some cheese from the cheesemong Girl, Wow, you guys have good snacks. I went went to your game awards where you guys had that Twitch party and you had some robic sliders and stuff going on there. Every once in a while, I feel like we'll pull out the stops and it's cool. Is your that

sounds good? Depends on her cheese. I would judge her based on the selection. Well, I don't know if they like were her cheeses. I feel like she had rented the cheeses from the cheese. You're gonna rent well to return it. It's like a block. I've exhausted all my knowledge about the cheese. Girl. Wow, Mike your fucking face when he said so proud was very fucking excited about it. Oh boy. Well, with the sphere, that thing was cool. What was a big expensive orb with the

outside looked like when you got there? What was it? It looks different when you're up closed, especially during the day because we went around like noon and like you can see kind of the mesh aspect of it, like you can tell it from anywhere kind of far away, especially night, it just looks like it's this unbroken screen, but we get closer to it, like there is a mesh element to it, which it was a fucking nightmare. This was yesterday or two days ago. We went there and it was like

noon. It was one hundred and eighteen degrees and not heat index one hundred and eighteen straight up degrees and you look like noonish sun straight down on you. And it said that the things started like eleven thirty or something like that. So we show up and there's a huge line and it's the fucking thing costs two billion dollars or whatever for the spear. They couldn't have a tarp in Las Vegas to protect the people in line from the sun. You have

to wait outside. They had Bianca throw away her water, right, it is like was it? I think it's just like, yeah, you can't bring it in, like you couldn't bring it into a theater or something like that. It was weird about open water because they're afraid it's like acid. Yeah, yeah, sometimes they weren't performers. It was a screen and so oh god, it was uh we heard on the walkie TALKI someone like passed out. They were like elderly people there and stuff. It was just like

a nightmare getting in. But once you're in, like every aspect of even just like kind of the design of the place, and it's like, cause I've been in a million arenas for like wrestling stuff and everything, it was just like this, everything was so much more considered than like a standard arena. Every arena it looks like concrete pillars, concrete floors, you know,

the same concession stands and everything. Here the floor has this weird reflective quality to it, so it almost looks like you're looking at, you know, an ac arena time when you go to fight dark Link and it's like that water kind of everything's kind of reflective. It looked like that in there, but like dark and like kind of purplely and stuff. And then I didn't realize that it did like wind and vibration and smells and all that, and

that could sync up with the presentation. We saw the Aeronofski movie thing, but the grate Poul Dead was playing like at night and so god knows what smells or whatever they're shooting through there, but it is it's the craziest shit I've ever seen as far as like a screen and technology. It's sixteen K

screens that are just completely surrounding you. Crazy speakers you've ever I heard that, Like they're doing UFC there, and they can do things where it's like they could directionally have like the English announcers going towards one section of the audience and the Spanish going to the others with no headphones or anything. It's just directional audio. Like It's it's wild shit there, but very very impressive.

Yeah, can I ask you, like, as someone who likes concerts but really is not well with flashy strobe light things, sure was their refuge if the dome were to be flashy, Like what would you do? Uh, It's hard to say because like, yeah, the thing I saw was just like a forty minute movie. It's basically a nature movie and so it wasn't

a lot of that. And like I've seen footage of like the YouTube concerts and some of the Grateful Dead stuff, it kind of looks like it's just a bunch of stuff on the screens, but like I'm sure, I'm sure they're doing lights and stuff because they set up a stage down there. I don't know if it'd be much more than normal concert because otherwise it's just like it's like a big ass imagine like the biggest Imax screen you've ever seen. You know, it's not like that is flashing in your face like crazy.

It's a lot though. I mean, like my ears were still pretty sensitive to you know, sound is just vibrations, and so there were parts where things were just like booming sound and I was like, oh, fucking like you can't really escape that. So but that's a specific case, but it very very impressive. I'm not a big concert guy in general, so like

I don't really know who I would see or want to see there. But like I was talking to Yank about like, you know, she likes Tool a lot, and Tool that's a ton of like visual stuff and everything. Like I'm sure I would love to see Tool. She said she was in the sphere. In the sphere, I would believable they would do such a good job. Yeah, to you, there's something I would see there, But it's just a marvel of technology, Like no doubt about it so Antara

in the sphere. Oh my god, any metal show in the sphere. So people are always like you gotta see you two in the sphere, and it's like fucking why so I can like hear Bono like cry from above. I don't really want that experience. And I wish I Prince and David Bowie were alive for a bunch of reasons. Of one of them is I bet they would put on a good spear show. I agree that would be a good spear show. The Beatles. I saw their sole show while we were

there. That was my Firstle show and that was incredibly impressive. I know, we just did like the Beatles. The Beatles show, it's amazing. I saw doing flips the whole time. Yeah, Ringo, he doesn't do anything. Ringo literally doesn't do any tricks. No, no, Ringo. When they bring in the ramps for the inline skaters, that's all Ringo. Yeah, he's got a fetish. Just let the man be. I'm a ramp, That's what he says. Many fingers. Oh no, not my

feet, my bunny button, stop tickling it. My balls with the skates, the bottles of the skates. Just a little ramp boy, you forgot your breaks? Are you gonna stop something stuffed too? It wasn't me, It wasn't This is a stupid so dumb impressions. But I just like the idea of Ringo, Like Ringo's cank is like being rolled over a ramp at a circasilatio. Help people watch you. It's a good show, like,

especially for people who like Beatles music. You get to hear a lot of the good class and they're flipping and throwing each other up in the air. I think it's it's entertaining. I think I saw it when I was my for my twenty first birthday present, my dad uh took a trip with me to Vegas, and I saw The Beatles Show when I was twenty one, and I loved it. Yeah, it's going it's about to close, like very very soon and so but it's been going since like the late nineties basically,

so apparently. Yeah. Yeah, I went saw like over a decade ago. It's crazy. Yeah yeah, And they've got a bunch of different So they got a Mike Michael Jackson certain sole show. They got like a water one that we want to check out. But yeah, we went to saw the Water one. He did not care for it. Oh really, Oh our like picky about stuff like that. He likes the one critic where there's like a giant board and the entire board does like three sixty degrees.

They climb up the board. I saw it's up turning. That was the one time I've seen search disay. They were at Ah, that's cool. Huh. The problem with like water based sports is like you can't I't really see what's in there. I also, this is so odd that this is happening. But I also realized so when we went to Paris for the two days, I went to the Moulin Rouge show. You know, it just

seems like you're there. It's a bit gimmicky, but why not. And yes, there's like nudy booby girls everywhere, which is very entertaining, and I loved it. But then out of nowhere they raised a giant water tank from the fucking ground up, and they had this whole gimmick of like this girl running on different sides of the stage and getting blocked by guards, and we were all like, she's good at job in the water. We all know she gonna fuck jump the water. And she eventually jumps into the water.

Everyone in the audience is freaking out because it's really neat. She goes to the bottom of the tank, she pushes up. She does have nudy booby, so that like that was cool and that was going on. But then she like just kind of did the same move where she like floated from one side of the tank to the others side of the tank. Besides the fact it was like a lovely water rack, I didn't see any really interesting things under the water that you know, you can't see your average person,

you know, circling and flipping and pushing off of the bottom. She just did everything everybody else. You can float in water, you can float and not water no, I mean, I mean like it was just something anybody could do in water. Like she was just bouncing around under there. She wasn't doing anything really difficult. I guess, yeah, water makes a kind of Water's kind of an equalizer. Like I can do a flip in the

water. Anyone can. Anyone can do a flip in the water, right like you were seeing you see really, I would say not athletic people in the water. They're just like incredible. They're they're flipping around, they're spinning. We're all, we're all, we all float down here in the water. It's just a move. You're just turning anyway. I didn't think it was great. To me. That was like the clincher where I was like that O show underwater. That can't be good because this lady had boobs out

and I wasn't impressed. Yeah, I don't think they do boobs out in search of l a. I don't think so. I don't think that's their thing. I went to a comedy pet show. I saw a dog ride a horse. Now that I got to see very similar vacation. Watched a bunch of naked girls underwater, and you watched a dog ride a horse. I went. I went to a mentalist show. What's that I need someone to like cross stitch the footage of me talking about my vacation in France last

week and you talking about your Vegas. A dog ride a horse? Saw Rico Sergon was nuts rolled over. I had some really good cat I ate in the dark. I going to the market in the morning for some local produce. I thought sixteen boobies perfectly uh very in sint listen sacronize boobies counterclockwise, just wait to Loklahoma. That's gonna be the real wild chip. Yeah. We're having very different summers. It's a weird summer. Yeah. I've

enjoyed mine, Yeah for the most part. Yeah yeah, minus the surgery. Yeah yeah, but I feel like I'm getting past that. So uh, I got I have a couple overseas trips coming up to coming up soon. So yeah, can you through my mouth? Okay, so you can't seize right now? Hold on a second, like, okay, I've sneezed through my mouth my whole life. What like, Like, I don't I don't involve, Like I don't go through Where do you feel the air come out my mouth? Oh? Then you're that's weird. That's not how you

do it. But I don't think that's I think that's kind of normal. It feels better having sneeze out of my mouth for the last two weeks. It feels better coming out of your nose. Next time to sneeze, just cover your mouth, Okay, I'll try. What if he dies, can we be arrested? No, because the first time someone's oh my god, jail. I do feel like even when you sneeze through your nose, your mouth is involved. Like I'm picturing sneezing while holding my mouth shut now and

I think my head might explode. Yeah, my whole life, I've sneezed. Most of the forces come out of my mouth, like my throat. It's so much more interesting out the nose because you're not just doing something, but there's stuff there, like you got to do this, and then it just shoves out. It's nuts. I sneeze out of my mouth and then like it's run so like, and then I just blow my nose afterward, if I can blow the whole load. Oh, actually, we're on the

topic of weird things much better since you guys took a vacation. Let me ask you this. If you're around the house and you don't have socks on, and then you discover you have to leave the house, so you have to put shoes on. Yeah, obviously you have to first put socks on if you sit down. Okay, okay, okay, say it's a situation. No, no, I'm saying, if I need to go to the mailbox, I've got some like sketter slip ons, I'm socks on them. You have to go to like the grocery store, I mean slip onsh.

It's not a sketcher slip on. Whatever situation you need to get bread, damn, whatever situation you would need to put socks on and then your sneakers. Just imagine this is that situation. I don't done that many times? Yes, okay, Oh, what I have to go to, uh the theatre? Put on socks. I mean, like I went for a run today, I put socks and then shoes on. But like I need to go get a prime at the gas station, I'll fucking just slip my feet

in there. Guy goes to one blind Taste and then a Beetle show and suddenly he's hoity toy. Gas stations are four no, because primes have treasure maps now, and I'm one piece away from one in a million dollars, So I gotta sometimes go to the gas station and find some prime. X. If you're sitting down and you have to wear socks with your shoes, and you're going straight from bare feet to sneakers, but what do you do do you I'm trying to figure out how to question this, so I don't

lead you as witnesses. So you're saying, if you are barefoot and you're going into sneakers. Yes, but you're also going to be wearing socks. What is the order of operations when you sit down with the socks on before the shoes. They were bit over the shoes. No, no, no, no, no, that's a good see. That's why it's weird. This is a stupid question. Do you go sock shoes? Do you go put it one sock, bow socks, bow shoes. Okay, thank you, Mary. What is sock soxs shoe, shoe, sock, sock,

shoe, shoe, okay, thank you. Because we're all normal people, I discovered that one of my brothers goes sock and then that shoe, and then the other sock and then that shoe. No, what you do is you put one pant leg on, one sock, one shoe, pant leg. Then I realized as soon as I got into it, was like, this is not a fun bit. It's not even a bit. I just actually discovered my brother goes sock right, sock right, shoe left, sock

left. Is what we actually discovered through this bit is that Dan goes to gas stations to buy prime to get a puzzle piece, but he can get a million dollars list. It's not just me. Me and two of my friends are doing this and we're coordinating. If I am the keeper of the Man, I am the Keeper of the America. We have all the pieces but one. We're close to a million dollars trying to get this one puzzle piece that doesn't exist. We're going to rob Logan Paul of a million dollars.

I love how. Oh my gosh, if anyone has the number eleven piece of the prime ex treasurer map, let me know and I'll split the money with you. I love how. Like a month ago, Dan was Logan Paul's biggest fan, because probably then they get one lawsuit and he's like, oh, I didn't never like that. This was a bit. I'm just trying to rob him. That's it. I don't don't you see my maps. We haven't up for a glitch elixir right now. You get points, so even if you don't win the million, you get all sorts of

fun. You get a cyber tech, you get all these uh it's it's very fun. And then we're gonna win a million dollars. Oh, it's in the Treasure Verse. You go into the Treasure Verse and you have to log in at the beginning. Uh uh, Now it's a website. I signed to add for this on wrestling, and I was like, I want to win a million website. But weirdly it brings up something else when you get to go to the website, it brings something out of the app store.

I don't know. It's really weird. You guys when I was gone, when Mark Manatti stepped in for me, you guys us the app don't look at my map. Look at my map. I'm just missing the middle. That real estate in the middle is the Star Wars Jedi Survivor Hologram mask map. Yeah, what are you missing? Eleven? It's the number eleven puzzle piece or the find these pieces under the caps of Prime x so like it could be anything. You got enough points for a tech te and a

pixel cap. What are those? That's theme hat? Yeah, and then rare Prime bottles itself for like three hundred dollars on eBay. I like, in your quest to rob nursery at a Prime warehouse distribution, it won't be around, but they like in your quest to be arrested for something in your mission to rob Lorgan Paul, you're not only spending a lot of giving him a lot of money. You and two friends. You said, right, you're also talking about it on a podcast that gets a decent listenership. Yeah.

Yeah, so your mate also there. We're drinking it a lot. And also he's now denied. One of my friends is now denying his child to flavors he wants. He sent me a picture of an end cap of Prime and he's like, I didn't expect to have to explain to my son that we can't get all these other fun flavors because they don't have treasure maps on them. Is this someone I know? Yeah? Is it someone? Is it someone every we all know? H one is industry that you worked

with, and the other is a friend of the group. Yes, interesting, okay, yeah, yeah, it's good. It's good. We're gonna win a million dollars to split it unless someone out there has the number eleven piece and then we'll split it four ways. What would you spend your three hundred and thirty million on three hundred and thirty three million? No, no, no, not very exciting. I just put it into the mortgage.

Yeah, yeah, that's boring from logan, Paul. I'm gonna I'm gonna pay off my House from Logan Paul's money, Paul gonna help you, But yeah, it doesn't help here. You guys, you guys, you guys went at it. Mary came out guns blazing rather for just annihilated people. Mary wacious the episode. I wasn't here. Oh oh, Mary was on one that night. Jesus Christ, it was. I still think about that insult. I think it's one of the best off the cup insults I've ever

heard of my entire life. I think about that, that you're not important enough to be this in Wing is just incredible, fantastic list I was listening. I think I was in France when I was listening to that, and I laughed very hard. It's funny because I think I was trying to be like, especially diplomatic in that episode, and that's what you decided to bite my head off. Yeah, I didn't realize. I didn't realize I was such a meat shield for both of you to not go at each other's throats.

No, this had been building up for a long time, and even Dan's like diplomacy is honestly targeted harassment. Yeah, you can't not break balls even when you're being diplomatic. Oh no, my bulls. Those wheels are so hot. Something else it's about a hot I get it. Guys. Do you want to talk about video games? Sure, Mikey Dan, I've been traveling a lot, and between the travel, gaming, working, and this podcast, there's a lot to juggle, and I've needed something that helps

me keep my focus. And I've really enjoyed Magic Mind. It's basically like a mental performance shot, which allows me to stay mentally clear, motivated, and productive in times of stress or there's just a lot going on. It has been really helpful. I've been drinking it all week, Dan, What do you think about it? I like it a lot because you know, a lot of times, not all the podcasts I do are at night like

this one. Sometimes I got to get up and first thing in the morning be on a show or a stream or something, and I like being focused and awake. But sometimes, you know, I'm anxious guy. I don't want to get too much caffeine in my system. So having something like Magic Mind, which will give me that focus but also not kind of like overstimulate or overcaffeinate me, is very helpful. And Fireescape listeners good news. You

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blowout weekend we have every year. And contrary to what some people might tell you, wine goes really good at barbecues. I got some cabiny Fronc going, I had some Surrah. Everybody had a great time. I love sharing wines with my family, particularly new ones they might not have had. That's why First Leaf came in super handy. A lot of stuff pairs really well with barbecue or if you just want some like Vimeo very day to crush in the hot heat. It's great. There's something for everybody. And Dan,

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first Leaf. Go to try first leaf dot com slash fire Escape to sign up and you'll get your first six hand pick bottles for just forty four ninety five. That's try farsleef dot com slash fire Escape. Try first leaf dot com slash fire Escape. All right, Dan, I'm gonna start with you because you said you were playing a lot of Steam Deck Mobile games while you're out of commission. I also am curious. I believe he talked about Hollow

Night when huh I was out. Sounds like you're sort of coming around on that. Well, I'll start with that because that's probably the main well it's been that inerd Tree and I beat Hollow Night. I am doing postgame stuff now. I'm got the completion ticker and all that stuff, so I'm like seventy eight percent technically, but I'm doing the kind of like arena stuff, trying to find all the lost charms. And things like that. Arena's really

fun. Yeah, it's been cool. So it's also it's such a fucking perfect Steam deck game, and it's I've heard it runs great on the switch to It is up there among the think I said this last time, all time Metroidvanias. It's it's like that list is you know, Symphony the Night, It's Super Metroid, It's this, it's I think the New Prince of Persia. I mean this belongs in that conversation I think of, like that top top tier and it is. I was fifteen hours in and I suddenly

got a new item we play. Are we recording? Is this a part of are we in? Yes? Yeah? Oh sorry the podcast we do? Oh good? Yeah? I thought I don't really talk about new games. We're not recording? Yeah, yeah, cursor Oh no, no, no, this is we're doing it. Yeah I thought you were. You were teasing us. Oh no, that'd be a lot, Mike. We

don't talk off Mike. Yeah. So at one point I got a thing fifteen hours in that it said you got the Monarch Wings and I'm reading the description like what wait, this is the double Jump And somehow I was like fifteen hours into a metroid Vania like I normally am like in every Metroidvaniam, like when do I get the double jump? When do I get the double

jump? You know? And this one, like there was so much other stuff going on and other cool abilities and stuff I was playing with and everything that I somehow that part of my brain turned off, and then I was like, wait, I just got a fucking double jump. And then I'm just thinking about the entire map and all these times that I was like I couldn't get to that, I couldn't get to that, and I'm waiting to get something. I don't know why. I just totally blanked on that,

but that opened up the game like crazy. And then one of the things that had frustrated me the whole game that turned into be a plus for the game is, you know, the backtracking and things like that that I was like frustrated by at first. But then as I did find myself kind of like backtracking a lot and just looking for like, oh, where do I

go next? I don't know where to go, I got to know this map better and I felt like it was becoming my own journey more than if there's just a blinking dot on the map that is like, oh, now I go there. You know, like I really do feel like I was learning that space in a really cool way, and that made every shortcut and everything more meaningful. And then you get the fucking dreamgate thing where you can just like make your own fast travel point and it's like, well, that

fucking changes everything. Now I don't have to worry about oh, that's pretty far from the stag station or whatever. It's really tremendous. I think the really cool thing about Hollow Night is how it really taught us all on this podcast about how, you know, even if somebody could be stubborn, and even if somebody could uh you know, dig their heels in, you know, some people can overcome that and become bigger people and better people and really,

uh deserve a lot of praise. And here I'll use the word hero. I'll use the word hero. And and people that come around on games that they were once stubborn about, I think are the real winners and the real heroes in this situation. And if you want to go ahead and tell me that, I would, I appreciate that. I think I am a hero for digging my I talked about myself, myself I'm not listening to you. I absolutely was so stubborn that this game was tremendous, and how wrong

you are and how stupid you. I've never disagreed, how much you embarrassed yourself episode after episode after episode. Also such a good streak. I also we're doing very well that I am a hero for just pushing this game on you. I don't think you it is a good game, and I agree, and so I'm so glad that we had this conversation. I actually feel really vindicated by this, and I agree, hero me, thank you. This was great. I feel really good. I don't think you can prove

you've said anything on this podcast about it. I believe you that you liked the game. But I did this in my own volition, So yeah, get back. I will let me admit something here. My fucking thing about it looking like a flash game, I realized why that is, and I think it was stupid on my part, because there was a game called Alien Hominid on the PlayStation two and I think the game Cube, and it was based on a flash game, and you're like a little bug alien looking dude,

and it's got these really thick lines and stuff like that. And I think when I saw Hollow Night, it made me think of Alien Hominid, which was based on a flash game, and so that became the talking point, like like fave k Max. But then it's like, no, wait, it just looked kind of vaguely like Alien Hominid's art style. Uh, And it was a very reductive view of that. So I am a big

person for seeing past I past me mistakes. You are really stupid with that judgment call, and it's just been so validating to hear you say both that you are stupid and that the person who dug their heels in aggressively about this game was a hero. I think that's super true. No, I dug my heels in when I say it was bad, but then I was the

hero for seeing it's good. Listen, I'm a gaming professional and I can see quality when I see Yeah. Next, do you think given your reversal both of us had the reversal on Death Stranding, now you've had the reversal on Hollow Night. Do you think I know where this is going? I know. Do you think you'll give Renda a chancead? No? I think I'm a big person for being able to look at past opinions and maybe I should try to again and reconsider this, and maybe it's not always gonna interview.

He's just gonna change his mind in six months and then say that he's smarter because of that. You didn't know. It's a win win thing for me. It's great ship he's always been. You just couldn't deny it anymore anyway. Red Dead or not, you piece of shit, it is Red Dead and like, look, honestly, no bit here. I think I

played it under not great circumstances and trying to rest through that game. That was a review Death Stranding and uh a review Read Dead too, but it was like an early It was a review Courage prior to release, so it was deciding it was for content and embargo. I was trying to finish it so I could be part of the conversation on the podcast. Do you think you'll you might say, if you get like a month where things are light, you might take I just can't fathom having a light month, Like I

just can't imagine having that much time for a game that long. But I am open to the idea that my negative opinions on Red Dead Redemption two were largely due to the circumstances waiting for it. I love that game with all my heart, but I don't have a ship. If you like it or not, I'm not. I don't need you to validate my opinions like Mary does. So I just, yeah, choose the villain in the story. But basically that's right. But I'm also right about games. The moral of

this story is that I am really stubborn and I was fucking right. Oh one other thing, Red Dead isn't that good, So I don't think you have one other thing. Too long. It's very long and slow. Mary. I love that you wait until I was gone. It was the episode with the Minati where you admitted that sometimes you argue just to argue, even

if you don't even care about your stance. I was like, you waited until I was gone to admit this, finally, when I've been saying this on Knievel and the fire Escape and game Spot for years, I have morals. I argue vehemently for things I believe in. Thank you. I just want to watch the world burst. Yeah, that can happen too, I believe eMate Lean Hollow Night. I remember, I remember distinctly being at Twitch

headquarters in San Francisco years and years and years ago. I think I was there were Abby, I think it was there like a Game of the Year thing, and you were showing us around. I remember you were in the midst of your Hollow Night addiction and just going off about how much you loved it. And that's when I tried it afterwards. But I had a lot of people tell me, like a lot of people, the way they talked

about it. I remember rus fresh Tick was huge on and like lots of people being like, oh, it's on switching now, you gotta try it, and like, man, I I don't know. I guess I just

didn't give it enough time. I got too frustrated by the backtracking, by you know, losing progress in kind of like the map areas and things like that, or getting into a dark area, and you know, the marker system was a little weird, but it was trying new things that other metroidvanias had not done, and I think I wasn't ready for it at the time.

And as I played more like the Souls Born games and stuff like that and more different types of you know, metro Vanias and stuff, I was more open to it this time, and I very much appreciated repertoire of like games that you respect and understand. I agree. I mean playing a Soul's game changes you, and it gives you a fondness and appreciation for losing. I don't actually think. I think before I was playing Souls games, I would quit a game if I lost everything, because I'd be like, what

do you mean I lost all my money? Yep, I earned that took a long time, it's gone. Like that would make me quit a game. Souls games have changed my perception of losing everything. Rogue Lights have changed my perception of losing everything. It's just life. You'll get another one. Like the massive changes in just how we view things. And I'd say in the last like ten years between, like I guess more than that now, but you know, roughly, let's say a decade of like Rogue Lights and

Souls Born games becoming such a force in the industry and those progress. Yeah, and those concepts, A lot of those concepts, even like in a Hollow Night, like to heal, there is that animation you have to like charge it up, but to get your health whatever, it's not just like in you know, yeah, it's the risk reward stuff. And everything and major risk and like losing all of your your what's it called, your geo

and your currency and this it adds a lot to it. And like those boss fights are fucking awesome, and like there were times where it's like, I know I'm about to walk into a boss fight, but I've got you know, three thousand GEO and I'm like, ah, I gotta go find someplace to spend this. I don't want to risk this, and you like, walk into the boss fight was zero GEO and I got nothing to lose

and fucking do this. Yeah, I love that it was geo. I have a I have a vivid memory when I was in the midst of my Hollow Night craze, playing it with UH on a plane and I was sitting next to a coworker and my coworker was like, can I can I try

it? And I had, you know, I had like nine hundred GEO and I was like, yeah, so this was early, right when nine hundred was like a shit ton, And he's like, yeah, I mean I guess you could give it, give it a try, and he immediately dies and he's like, well, I'll just go back to your body. And then I'll hand it back. And I was like, yeah right, I'm watching him with bated breath. He fucking gets killed again and loses all my geo and he's just like, ah, say lovey and gives you my

little steam, like gives me my little rock. And I'm like twitching a little bit to Rob Handley. It was I guess, oh okay, it's really funny that you would assume it was Rob Hanley Robbie funny, Like god, damn it. Rob would do it and then it would be a comedy, be like, whoops, you're dead, and then he would get it back to you. Whoops. Sorry Dan. Did you also did you try a case of the Golden Idol? Oh? Yeah, yeah, I beat that a few weeks ago. That was That's awesome. Now I'm super fucking

excited for the new one. Like a new one, so I'd be excited for anyway, but like with a setting that I find more interesting, like you know, it's seventies detective instead of like satchel times, you know, like you described doubloons and poky swords. I don't know whatever time, the medieval for sure, old, yeah, yeah, pre trains. You know. Glad you played it have been pre trains. I'm glad I didn't waste any breath telling you play it in twenty twenty two. That would have been

annoying. Did you did you really? Are you serious? Dam We just I do not remember you ever talking about this game. You have probably told you to play it. No, you're thinking of grub Oh my god, No, I'm not doing this, Dan. You actually if you don't remember this, you I don't remember this. You have a problem. Are doing too many podcasts? No, my memory is bad. I understand that. I legit. Don't remember you ever saying this when you had we gotten email.

We gotten email specifically saying have you ever recommended something to someone and then they didn't play it? Or whatever? It's like, Yes, Case of the Golden Now twenty twenty two, I said it was one of the best games that year. I must not have been on that episode. Oh my god, Mike. If somebody put a gun to my head before this recording and said already ever said the phrase Case the gold Nidol, I would have been like, I don't know. He pushed it really hard on Dan.

When you Dan, what you say, you did a bad job. You have a problem. Listen. I've taken so many recommendations from you. You mustn't done a bed. This is on you, no, Dan. When I first pitched it to you two years ago, I said, it's kind of like logic Problems and murder misters. Oh You're like, oh shit, I love logic problems. Then you never played it, and then Game of

the Year came around. You're like, oh, I never got the chance to play it, and I was pushing it, and then like two episodes ago, that email came in and I said it and you're like, oh, this is perfect. I'm going on a bunch of flights soon. This sounds like a perfect scene. Oh wait, wait. The reason I fucking cause a lot of times we'll talk about games on this show, and in my little notes document at the top, I will write down, like,

download this game, download that thing. And I remember typing in case of the Golden Idol because I heard about it on this show. But I'm pretty sure it was Mary. So in our last recording when it was just you, me and Manati, you said who recommended this? Was it you? Mary? And I said, oh yeah, as a joke, Oh no, I thought it was you. And then you believed me. I've been in my head just thinking like, oh Man, good recommendation for Mary. You do too many podcasts. Yes, I know it's a problem. Wow.

Well no, Mary, it was a great recommendation. I really enjoyed that game. Thank you, Hollow Night Case the Goldennil. You're just nailing it two for two. Mary. What have you been playing. I've been playing a dungeon crawler that uses a claw machine and it's called Dungeon Claller. I don't pissed me off. I love claw machines and this game is delightful.

I don't know if you remember me telling you about a little game called Peglin which was a Pegglan because you recommended it and said it was good and about it too. Yeah, that's right. This is my new fucking crack. It is an RPG where you're going through a dungeon and you get enemies turn based the claw you control. But we all know with claw machines sometimes you try and pick up stuff and the claw does what the claw wants.

If you pick up knives, you throw the knives at the enemy. You can also pick up shields that gives you defense, and then as you continue to play, you build your deck, and the things in the claw Machine are your deck. You can have giant swords that do like fifteen damage or twenty damage. There's some really cool stuff in there, Like there was a sword that does ten damage, but if you only pick up that sword,

it does twenty damage, which is really rad. They have like armor, they have just really weird stuff that alters the entire concept of how you could pick stuff up. There's metal objects, and there's sorry i'm thinking about it, a magnet, and the magnet picks up things that are metal, but all the shields are wooden, so the magnet won't pick up the shields, and so you have to be very strategic how you pick things up. They do a water thing where they can fill the tank with water. Then you

can alter the water and you can turn water into lava. Crazy shit. All of that just now on Steam Deck. It's super rad. Now this game is an early access. This is very important. When I played it, it's not polished yet. It's phenomenal, like the bones are there. It's a good game, but it doesn't have all of the cool sound effects yet. And I don't think this is out on anything except for the demo

on PC. The demo is extremely replayable. I think I played as four different protagonists and they all have completely different skill sets, kind of like when you do a run in Bilatro. It fundamentally changes the game forever. Yes, when you play as a different character, you have to completely change your play style. The game rams up in difficulty quickly. I have yet to beat it. I've gotten really far, but the difficulty late game is no joke, and so I have I keep dying, but it's it's so lovely.

The mini games too, which Dan, I think you get a kick out of some of these mini games. There's like lots of little things. There's one that's pegl ish. I was gonna ask. I'm looking at images and like that looks like PEG. That looks like a gumball machine. That looks like a claw game. Yeah. Yeah, it's just super enjoyable. You guys like this this game is uh, it's candy. It's candy for me. Like it's super addictive. It's all the stuff that I love.

I love Claw machines. I I swear We've talked about this, but like I go out of my way to play call machines. I keep quarters on me at all times to play claw machines produce a quarter right now, I'm a freak. Well I have not I have a Okay, you think there's gonna be a claw machine. You gotta be prepared for anything. This kind of looks like a flash game. M this does sound fun. Here's my Pikachu butt purse. Any quarters in there? Okay, Okay, that looks

like Spain money. Yeah, they don't have holes in Yeah that was Spain money. That was Jurassic Park Spain money. Yeah. This is the Bano buck. Those Raptor Nichols has a queen on it. These are Raptor bucks. You got me? Those are stegat times. Anyway, I think this game, oh I do have quarters? Fuck you too late, too late, no way to prove it. Lost my capacity for being impressed well after

me lying to you guys. Anyway, going back to Dungeon Caller, I'm very much looking forward to it. This game is supposed to come out Q four of this year. I think it's going to be. It's on my list. Is like a game I can't wait to come out now and I didn't even know it existed. You can play the the demo for frizzle and

I played it for several hours and loved it nice, thank you. So, yeah, that sounds like something like remind me when you see it come out, like the full game, because that sounds like something I'd probably like to check out. I'll let you know. Mikey, you've been playing the Elden Ring. What are you crazy? Yeah? Nothing that no one else has said to add there? How are you not far into the DLC?

Okay? I I think I Back in eight April March, I told you I had restarted with a new character just because, oh sure, just to play through more of the game. I've done one boss in the DLC. That's about it. I switched over to some other stuff that I could talk more about. But yeah, how far are you? I've done like everything. I'm just at the last boss now and beat my head against it. Difficulty wise. Are you having a tough time with the DLC? Are you

finding it like what you expected? I'm fine, But I also like every time I get to a boss, I do one play, you know, one session, just trying it out myself. I die immediately, and then I summoned dudes and I just played super cowardly, So like I don't know, I don't have any like like I'm gonna knock at the help or whatever, Like I will fucking summon people like crazy, Like it's like a player

multiplier. Yeah, two players to like do the work for me basically, and I'll sit back and I'll admire the patterns and the tacks and everything, and but I'm just total coward back there. So it's just for me. It's a fun game just to play for the sif me in the world. Yeah, I know, it's it's it's fucking awesome, Like I I love that. That is it's the most important. I normally don't play DLCs at

all. This one it was clear that the scope of it was going to be beyond most like DLC, and sure enough, Yeah, it feels like a full fucking game. It was. It was great. It's probably the best delC I've ever played. Yeah, it's I mean, I'm not far enough into it. I think for me, my favorite is Blood and Wine for Witcher three, although there's some fallout ones I liked a lot. I liked I loved Witcher's DLC. It was so the story was so enjoyable.

Yeah, also, like the Witcher three, most of the world was that like war torn wilderness, and then you get to blood and wine and there's these like poppy fields and flowers and it's colorful as heck. I loved it. What was the Fallout three DLC? They three like five great ones, like the Alien one. It had the pit, it had comration anchorage, okay, and then there's the big one, the actual new open world, which was like Maryland, the lighthouse, five a harbor, fairly substantia substantial

ones Fallout three DLC. It was the operation, anchorage, the pit right broken steel point, leathership is Zeta. My lookout was the one I was talking about the lighthouse and then and whatnot. No, but I actually another game I'm playing a lot is let me turn this off? Uh, Diablo four, I went back to, Oh, why, what's your motivation? I just want to know. I only got here. So it came out last year. I only played three hours or so with a druid lost interest.

I didn't feel like the loot. I felt similar to how I felt when Diablo three first came out, which I still kept playing Diablo three to be clear, but I didn't feel like the loot was actually impactful. I never felt like my character was getting those noticeable jumps where I went from it was having a semi difficult time. All of a sudden, okay, I'm overpower for this area. Feels great. The game's satisfying, it's crunchy, it's you know, I got these abilities. The synergy between them is really

rolling. Now I got a lot of loot that was not meant for my Druid. I got, you know, like the the open world wasn't the rewards weren't great. But they're in season four now, loot reborn. They've added a bunch more options to actually manage your loot and add modifiers to it

that can feat that can fit your character more. It just generally they kind of it's been going through the same evolution that Diablo three did in its early years, and I'm frequently getting to points where I pick up all of a sudden, they get a legendary scythe for my necromancer, and all of a sudden, I'm just wrecking people left and right. Where I was kind of not a slog It was still fun. But before that, you know,

me and my skeleton army were kind of whittling away at dudes. All of a sudden Now with that scythe I had that power jump that I missed from Diablo threes like Prime, I'm level thirty five the Necromancer. I think I put six hours in this character. Maybe not that many, but I'm already loving liking it a lot more. I'm playing a PS five, which I think is also I thought I would just go back to PC, but I

have it on PS five. I'm getting ready. They're adding a new class and they're adding like a whole postgame new area Jungle DLC in October, so that was kind of part of it. I was like, well, that sounds fun. I've like some siblings asked me to play with them, so I'll go back. And it's just night and day. Like the loot system feels way more focused, honed in. I'm frequently getting a ton of stuff that is just you know, like helping that power fantasy, and it's liking

it a bunch man. That's that's making me want to try it, because like every time I hear about that game, I know it wasn't like super highly regarded when it came out. I know there are a lot of complaints about it, but I still like that was the game I was looking forward to trying, and it came out like right when I was in the middle of moving, so I didn't have like any of my like gaming PC type

stuff at already, so it's like I'll get to it autterwards. But like that was it was like street Fighter six, Diablo four was during that time where it's just like I didn't really have a chance to play. Like now, hearing that they've improved some of that stuff and that you're enjoying it, that that does make me want to try that. Yeah, and that stuff has gotten me through those early hours. And now I'm to the point where you know, I have mounts, I have pets, I have like that

are actually gathering stuff for me. I have a system. Whenever I log in, I checked to see what, like what has gone, what happened since I was away. I've again, I'm getting more and more of these weapon modifiers that they added with season four that you can use to tweak weapons

you already really like, which like these temperaments. I believe you go to the Blacksmith and you basically are picking up these scrolls in the open world just randomly, and one of them is like, hey, apply this to your weapon, and you have a chance to get like life on kill or whatever, and there's like eight tiers that you could get. It's basically RNG. And then all of a sudden, this scythe I have that has two diamond two topaz is in it, that's already ranking my damage up twenty percent more.

And plus the scythe is making this one ability that I summon a bone gollum with, and then another ability that have blood spears with. It's making both those abilities better. Suddenly that scythe has also giving me like three hundred health on kill. It's much more of a I think the pacing feels much more like the steadily increasing power fantasy at Diablo three. I like it a whole bunch. And then once you beat the campaign with a character, you

can do basically I think it was adventure mode in Diablo three. When you start a new character, if you want to try another class you can go in. You just it drops you literally right into the open world. Oh. You just start exploring towns, getting the way points unlocked, finding side quests. It like I meant to play it just kind of as a palate cleanser from elden Ring just to get my mind off Elden Rings. I'm playing that straight for the last few weeks, and again a sibling wanted me to

play. I was like, oh, I haven't tried it on console. Let's see how they integrated it. And I all like, flash forward to my character's level thirty five and I'm pretty hooked. And also like, I'm not. I don't want to get too deep into the season pass stuff. The addition of the game on PS five I got gave me like access to

a premium battle pass. I hate interacting with that kind of stuff, but I will say that some of the free tier of the battle Pass, some of the cosmetics it's giving me are really cool looking Like Season fours right now has a very Mortal Kombat feel to the cosmetic theme. It looks a lot like I forget which character it was, I might have been riding from Mortal Kombat Won. The most recent was that the most recent Mortal Kombat. H He has a skin in that game that looks a lot like what they're going

forward this season of cosmetics. Yeah, overall, it's just it feels like they really turn that game around. Not to say that there are still some annoyances like I still wish it was easier to compare certain items. Most items you get and I'll say, oh, yes, a green plus twelve damage, I know I'm going to equip this, or plus one hundred and forty nine armor. I get that when you pick up jewels I have not.

Maybe this is just a PS five problem I haven't played on PC. There's no easy way to compare what these jewels are going to do because the jewelry, the amulets, and the two rings you can equip have such more specific stat base changes than the weapons and the armor, which is like x more armor or resistance or x more damage or life on kill. I wish there was an easier way to compare jewel because I do spend a decent amount of time back in town, granted after things have cooled off, but like,

okay, now, okay, swap this ring out for that one. Oh my damage went down twelve. Okay, remember that seven hundred and ninety eight damage. Now swap this one out again. Maybe on PC, I'm sure that's way easier because you have a mouse. But outside of that that, it feels great on PS five. It's nice to sit on my in like a comfortable chair. It's like I associate Diabo three with like borderline carpal tunnel

syndrome on PC and whatnot. See, I didn't have in until like Diablo three had that PS four version, and it was like, ooh, they really did a good job with like these radio menus and like rolling with the right stick and all that felt great with controllers. They the workaround they found for same screen co op where you pick something up and you can use the

dpad to go back. It'll just have a little the widget at the bottom that cycles through without actually going to the pause menu, and it'll tell you, oh, nice, that was great. That's not here. As far as I know, Diablo four does not have same screen co op, but into like jumping into games with my brother has been super easy. It feels great on PS five, which is a weird thing to say, but like it's just the right amount of screenshake. There's a lot of good feedback.

When I'm a necromancer, blowing corpse explode is the iconic necromancer ability I think from all the diablows, like it's it's just so satisfying. Okay, I killed them, Now I have another corpse to blow up, and that's going to a chain reaction. It's I love such a satisfying game in the current state, and I'm already I'm already kind of looking forward to the new class they have coming out in October. I'm glad. I want the new class.

Uh so jungle something. Let me look it up. It's like, uh, the spirit Born, so funnily enough, you just shoot Brono Burgers out, all right, So basically they're making it so I think the it's called Vessel of Hatred is the the big expansion, and it's once you beat the campaign you go into this. People are already hoping it's gonna be like the Reaper of Soul's moment for Diablo four, where it just makes it the ideal version. Maybe not the ideal, but you know, an even bigger

jump. But so far, the spirit Born gives me heavy witch doctor vibes from Diablo three, which they definitely took pains to distance themselves from, because a lot of people call it out as stereotypical of voodoo and you know, like shrunken heads and whatnot. Spirit Born looks like it's tied to it's got a jungle theme. I don't know how much they're going into that, but it's just after, you know, reading so much about these five classes and

different builds you could do with them. I'm just excited for any six class to be added see how they actually do with it. But yeah, yeah, if I mean, that'd also be a fun game just for if you guys wanted to casually jump in and play with new characters, it'd be super fun. I would like it's been a while. I loved Job and got mega into it. Diablo four I played and then I felt like I was done really quickly. Would love the ability to the excuse to get into it

again. Yeah. Yeah, it's super fun. I'd recommend it if people want to check it out before it gets the big expansion in October. I think it's in a good state. There's so many more my new show that I didn't get into with the loot, specifically because I don't fully understand it, but a lot of people are saying like, oh, yeah, this weapon modifier helps a lot, and managing loot is so much easier now.

But just in general, the stuff I'm getting my character is constantly. I'm really frequently equipping new stuff that a looks cool as shit for the necromancer, but also b is just making me steadily feel powerful. So when I get those skill points to up grade, I'm really excited to see what that's going to do with the next one I spend. Now, if I give it a shot now and I really get into it, is it okay? If I credit Mary for recommending it, Yeah, go for it. I don't

know, okay, okay, cool? Yeah right, I agree. Cool. Have you guys played anything else? Nope? I was traveling good monkey Ball the monkey Ball, Yeah haven't. I've just done the single player stuff. It's just straight up monkey Ball the way I like it, the way I remember it. I haven't done the multiplayer stuff yet, but I think we're gonna do a giant bomb stream at some point of that. So uh yeah, thumbs up from a monkey Ball guy here. All right, do

you guys want to do emails? Yeah? Hi, folks, it's me Dan. During the break, Mike informed me of something I was not aware of. Apparently, when I discovered of my own accord, how good case the Golden Idol was a few weeks ago, I got very excited about it and wanted to introduce my good friends to this great game I found, and so I asked for codes, and I got a bunch of codes for a case of the Golden Idol, and I decked Mike and Mary and Discord being

like, you gotta check this out. Mike thought I was fucking with him. I think Jake did too, but Jake was like, yeah, take a code. No. I thought I was being a good friend and being like, hey, try out the school game. Oh my god, I cannot believe. I want. I wish somebody had enough time in their hands to do a super cut of all the times I vehemently recommended it via me. I don't know if it's happened. I think you guys are fucking with

me. Now. Who was a Hanson? Hanson messaged me that the first episode where you actually kind of you told me you don't know what kind of game? Total War? Oh sure? Three was Hanson's like, dude, this is infuriating to listen to. He's gonna love this episode. He's gonna really like this one. Oh boy. Cool, all right, anyway, I'm gonna read uh wait, no, I'll read the second one because that's more specifically geared toward me. Dan or No, Mary, you want to

do the first one here from Ryan. Sure, Hey friends, Ryan from Minneapolis. Here. In the last few episodes, there's been some banana discourse, so I just wanted to contribute my small part. How nice in the hit roguelike video game Bilatro I have heard so sorry, Actually this is crucial. I just realized you two weren't here last episode. Yeah, I assumed I forgot banana discourse. No, no, sorry, Mary, I'm not. I'm not doing the bit where I interrupt you on purpose really quick.

When you guys were here, When you guys were here with banana, I thought they met the tweets where I always say when someone's playing banana yellow that they look hot. That's not what's Oh, I could see the confusion there. When Manati was here, you guys talked about how banana candy tastes nothing

like real bananas. Everybody agreed. Several people emailed in saying that candy was create that flavor was created based on a kind of banana that more of the world used to eat before a bunch of it got hit by a fungus and a lot of it died. Something along those lines. So the kind of bananas we eat now today that candy was not based on someone emailed in last episode. That's useful foundation for this email. Sorry man, got it? Okay, yeah, what the banana discourse? Okay, thank you for the

lore. In the Rogue Hit Rogue Light video game Bilatro, there's a common joker that's unlocked from the beginning called gross Michael. This particular shohow is it? It's gross? I think it's Michael. It means Michael in French. Yeah, Michelle Michelle, Gross Michael. And this particular joker gives you a plus fifteen molt, but also has a one sixth chance of being destroyed at the end of the round. Obviously, this is a reference to banana cultivar

god that went extinct in the nineteen fifties. Obviously, But did you know that having Gross Michelle destroyed unlocks access to a rare joker called Cavendish, named after the current cultivar of banana. This joker is much stronger, giving you a three times molt, but it still has a one in one thousand chance of being destroyed at the end of the round. No idea. If there's

a third joke, if you would destroy that one. Also, Wikipedia tells me that gross Michael is French for Big Mic, So do with that information what you will. Thank you, that's all, Ryan, Ryan, thank you for so many knowledge bombs. I am blown away. Well now you tell me Big Mic. That is very I learned that at SGF because Bonk is obsessively into Bolatro and she has not been able to get the Cavendish one.

And so when she saw that we had about the PR guy for Blatro on the couch, she's like, ask him how do I get the Cavendish? And I just recorded him and he basically explained all of this stuff in this history of bananas and stuff. It's like, goddamn, that's a good PR guy knows, probably because apparently there's just a little banana jokes in Palatro. They know the bananas. There's a lot of a lot of bits in that game. Thank you, Ryan, very good lore, Thank you Ryan.

My god. All right, Mike, everyone was stepping on each other. And I don't think Vinny or Ben caught your joke, but I want you to know that I heard it and I laughed aloud. Uh. The subject for this email was July eleventh. I wrote it. I'll explain it, trust me. I wrote this just for you, but if you want to prompt for the podcast, what's the coolest or funniest thing y'all ever?

Did that? Nobody else notice from? Brad Hanson was talking about his recent trip to Quebec City and he went to he saw the hotel, which is kind of their main landmark. Apparently Fdr Churchill Eisenhower planned the invasion of Europe there before they even knew that they were going to go to invade through Normandy. Apparently the cafe across the street where a bunch of them like went to

get drinks often was called Cafe Normandy. And then so Me, Vinnie and Hanson went off on a bit about how Churchill and Eisenhower just stumped one night and Churchill walked up to the window the cigar and saw Cafe Normandy's like, I've got it. And and then I continued the bit by saying that he turned to look the other direction. He's like, and we'll invade on July eleventh. That was the bit, being that he saw seven eleven and it's

good. Yeah, it was very good seven eleven and saving private Ryan times. I don't think so. Actually, wait, now I'm curious when was seven eleven, founded July eleventh, nineteen twenty seven, in Dallas, Texas. Oh that was that was okay? So Private Ryan could have gone there, okay, yeah the one five Private Ryans six. Oh yeah, well that was the famous one. Yeah, the Matt Demon one. Yeah,

what is something super cool that you've done that no one has noticed? I do really cool stuff all the time by myself, trying to pick which one though is coolest or funny, funniest thing y'all ever did that nobody else? I mean, if no one noticed, I would have. I think I would have called it out to bring attention, to make sure nuts. Yeah, it's it's Giant sixteen anniversary. And I saw that Dan was posting old memories of Giant Bomb that are really really special or meaningful. This is not

me, but I think it is worth saying. One of my favorite memories of Giant Bomb is when we were playing I actually don't know if I remember what this game is. Drew Scanlon was on the couch next to me. Brad was playing a game and in this game, the shield is a fence. You're holding a fence, and I say on the show, oh, the shield is a fence and you can watch Drew's face come up with the idea that it's that it's a defense. It's defense, and it's really funny

and it's a really cool idea, and he's holding on to it. He's literally like you can watch it. You can watch his face be like, I have a good one and I need the right time to say it. And then he says it and no one fucking pays attention and we just move on and he just kind of like looks down and it's a very delightful moment. And I've gotten until this exact moment, but if you were to like put me on that, I would bring up this moment. It's very funny.

Oh and he deserves more accolades for that. It was just very funny. That was Drew, though, is because Drew was just you know, he picks the spots and he's very funny and very smart. I honestly, my favorite Giant Bull memory with you, Mary, I think is the one where you guys were playing some indiegame on Steam and it was like you Gershman

and Rory Uh were on the couch. I camera for anyone else was Uh and he there's this you spent minutes, many minutes going through this recipe book and it was just like, you know, there's a menu item, it's like recipe book and you're just looking at all these recipes and stuff like that. Is this ringing a bell? Mary, I need Oh my god, you need to see this. It's OK. Rory is off and Rory Land I don't I would look at pictures of on his laptop or Rory, God

bless him, is just off on another island mentally. And you guys are just looking at recipes for like five minutes and then you're closing out the show. It's like upf for something. And Gershman starts wrapping it up. And then Rory looks up from his laptop for a second and sees recipe book on the menu and he goes, oh, wait, we should check out. We should check out the recipe book. And Mary, you don't say to you just kind of look over and you're kind of smiling. And Gersman's like,

yeah, maybe we'll check that out next time. Murray, I'll take a look at the recipe buck. But you're always like this motherfucker just said, where has he been for the last five minutes? That's incredible. So funny. Uh, some of the best moments on that couch. I think they're just so normal. They're not planned, there's nothing, there's no spectacular finish. It's just a bunch of people on a couch being stupid and like

it just naturally organically has some of the most funny moments of reactions. And I don't know humanity honestly that I've ever seen first of all, can guys, She's on sixteen years, But like what those are such good memories, like such good moments. It's been a very fun place to work, real good. It's been over ten years. It was over ten years ago I

started. I saw Lucy tweeted her ten year anniversary at GameSpot and I thought, you know what an incredible achievement for her, and for anyone to make it ten years at any job in this gen I think is worth commending. But in games media, with all of the fucking layoffs and all the problems and the turnover and the churn and the burnout, like yep, I mean,

you're a superhero, it's crazy. I think anyone who's been who is employed in games media in twenty twenty four and has worked there for a long time has to be very aware of how lucky they are to have had a career in it, because it's it was hard to get into fucking twenty years ago when I started, and to still have a job in it. I am very aware every day of like, wow, okay, I'm gonna gonna enjoy this, enjoy it. Yeah, yep, giant bomb Wise, I

think I don't know. My favorite thing would have been. I love all of hits. Miss it's really good. What do I think about with you? Mike? That is just a stupid little thing and I can never even find it because it's it's just one of the burgle My Banana's episodes, and it's during the DK rap and you were just making dumb ass donkey Kong noises at the end of each version jokes. It's hard to always get them all really good. Didn't you almost pass out once? Well, yeah, that

was the slide Golden Banana. I had to we had to get a pass the controller and then we were coming up on the end of the hour, two hours or whatever it was, and yeah, I cheered, We all cheered loudly, cheered so loudly, and like lost. You can see if you watch it, back. It's one of the later episodes, and it's we spend the entire episode trying to get that banana because you have to not a finished the slide like think Mario sixty four slide. Yah, you also

have to do it in under x seconds or whatever it is. And I finally got lucky at some point and did it, and then I cheered so loud that I actually, like you could see the blood like rush to my head. I think there's a moment where you can just tell you, well, where am I? Oh? Yeah, that was I. I almost passed out and hit my head on the microphone and I caught myself stid it was it was close. U. I like hits miss a lot. But uh, in terms of just like something cool or funny I've done, then,

no one has noticed. I do a lot of dumb jokes that I think these days, I don't call attention to it as much unless I'm reading an email explaining a joke from my last episode, which is what. Yeah. I think we make sure we get our shit in. If we've got something we think is funny, we're going to getting it in yep. But

outside of that, I don't think I have anything most people. Most most of my stuff is really like so funny that it's impossible you put the really sad ones in the vault, you know, like if you tell a funny you tell a funny joke and no one laughs. I usually don't remember that memory because I'm like, I thought that was a funny joke, but maybe

I'm stupid. I actually, do you think it was? No? Just this morning in the shower, a shampoo fell off the shelf, and I not only did I catch it perfectly by the base, I caught it like behind me like this, and I audibly said to myself nice and then put it back. I thought to myself, I wish someone was watching me do that right now? That been sick. I must have been in a good mood because I actually, like, eh, got it and then put it back up. That never happens. Usually I juggle it for a while.

All right, Thank you, Brad, Thank you. Do you want to read this one from our frequent writer Wes. Hello there. I was born in nineteen ninety one, but never had an N sixty four as a child, so I missed out. I'm playing a bunch of games. People my age tend to remember fondly. I played Ocarina of Time for the first time last year, the three DS version. I couldn't stand it. I slogged

through the Spirit Temple before I put it down. I have to assume a lot of a left for this game is nostlid base because it has not aged well. What is an older game that everybody loves but you don't because you didn't play it as a child that's west from Baltimore. I it's hard to disagree because obviously I have like deep nostalgia for Acarina, but I don't know. I've played that game a lot, and even like fairly recently I've been

doing the randomizer and stuff. I guess I could see how it's not the flashiest Zelda. It's pretty by the book as far as like it's what you would expect from like you know, turn Link to the Past into a three D game, but like just at the time, turning Link to the Past into a three D experience was insane and like there was a reason it was

so highly regarded back then. I can't speak to what to be like playing it for the first time now, I still love the game, but yeah, I mean, look, if you're playing it for the first time now, and you've played others old game since and ones with the kind of more modern quality life type stuff and everything, like I get it, Like it's just you know, you don't have to like it. My answer might I

think this is a judicious, judicial way of saying it. I didn't play the mel of your solid games when I was young, one and two. I came in you're wearing a shirt right now. I came in a few years. My first game I played when it had like recently released was four. I went back to the previous games after I had played that, and I absolutely saw why people love them, and I do love them there. I absolutely adore them, especially three, but I remember one and two being

really hard to get through control wise. And I'm not the first person to say this, but I remember thinking, like I think I was aware enough to know that if I had played that, and if I had had a PS one when that those came out, that I would absolutely have like spent every day playing them. But maybe because it felt more out of obligation, because I loved four, and then you know, really wanted from what I knew about three, I wanted to get to three. So I just wanted

to get through one and two, and I still love one. Sometimes I think I look back and one is my favorite of all them. But those struck me as why why are the controls so so rough? But again I was like, oh, well, I was on the PS one controller, so I get it. Yeah. I mean there's this little quirks and stuff like whenever I've tried to introduce people to Middle Year after nineteen ninety eight, you know, people are always like the snapping necks, like that's such a

big part of the game. But it's a explained like, all right, you got to run close to the guards, but then don't hit Square while you're moving, because if you do that, you're gonna plip them over. So you need to run close to them, stop, and then jame on Square a bunch, and it's like all right, like back then, funny because Eldon Ring brings that back. You can't backstab if you're still moving.

You got to kind of stop briefly before you stab them. Yeah, oh sure, okay, Yeah, it's just a funny, like we've come full circle. But yeah, no, it's there's a lot of like intricacies with that control scheme that I remember, and like slipping flipping through items. That's also elden ring to me, is Zaki just play a lot of Metal Gear Solid while he was designing. That's the thing is like back then it was more about like how many things you could do, Like I remember playing that

demo of Metal Gear solidud. It's like, okay, so you can hold your So if you go into first person and you hold up a guard and then you aim down and you point at their walkie talkie, they'll shake and you can basically hold them up for stuff. But then if you don't want to shoot him, it's pressure sensitive face button, so you have to like

slowly let up on square and not shoot him. And it's like when you're upsessed with that, you do it because you're so enamored with the fact that you can do all these things that you're you're patient about learning it all. But if you're going back to it, especially now, I'm sure it's like what the fuck? And also like playing those I remember thinking or playing four even which is you know, like still relatively more indoors or urban areas.

I'm like, man, before I even knew about the rest of the series, I'm like, I wish there was one that was just strictly an outdoor and my cousin's like, well, get get this the game right before this. Yeah no, I still absolutely love those games. It's not like I don't think the early ones have aged all that well, but I still am, like I love them. But yeah, Okarina, I legitimately cannot imagine what it would be like to play that for the first time in twenty twenty

four. Probably just kind of clunky, I'm sure, just awkward. Yeah, yeah, it feels like it takes forever. I'm sure to walk across the field. I'm sure there's some logic things that probably seem dated. Yeah, I get it. Yeah, because the field initially was like, hey check out three D. Look how big the space fields. It had, the fucking sun that would go across the sky and then it would get dark and the fucking enemies would come out at night, and it was like it

was fucking revolutionary back then. But I'm sure now it's just a big empty thing. Yeah, here wolf how the drawbridge would rise and the torch is light and like, yeah, it's awesome. Yeah, yeah, I still love that game. My I had plenty that I tried and didn't like, you know, like the adventure game genre, RPG, JENY, Final Fantasy, all that stuff. Of those I tried, as far as one that

I just never even played. Back then, it was pretty much all PC stuff because I you know, at any house I was at it was a stepdad or my dad or something like, I was not allowed to put games on it because it probably had a virus. And so like Diablo Quake, you know, and I still don't think I've ever played Quake. I've never played the original, like Diablo or Diablo two for some reason. Command and

Conquer I was well because that would actually play on my computer. I got like an E machine's computer in the late nineties, and Command of Conker would play on it in general, not what do you mean would conquer? What's that? So are you saying you never really liked the earlier games? No, no, No, I loved him because like those on my shitty two hundred dollars computer or whatever I thought you were, the early Command of Conquers

could play, and so that was like one of the few. So I probably got that in nineteen ninety eight or something, and so it's like that was the game. The new game that could run in my thing, but once they went to polygons with general, it's like, oh my my, my computer can't play that. Oh I see, I thought you were including those earlier games in this the answer to this question, I'm like, I thought you liked those. No, I'm saying that is like the exception as

far as PC games, like any like First Person Shooter. I mean, it's why I like, I loved every gaming magazine, but I didn't want to get Next Gen magazine because they always covered PC games and I would just get pissed off at like, God, this Kingpin game looks so realistic, I'll never get to play what is Half Life? If I can't remember?

I bought Half Life because everybody was raving about it so fucking much, and I tried to install it on my E machines and it's like I could get to the menu, but then it wouldn't load up the game and stuff, and you can't return it. So I'm just being like, I just spent fifty dollars on this fucking game. I can't return it. It's like I

just swore off PC gaming, you know. So I guess my last answer is I look back and I sometimes I wish I played Final Fantasy when it like the earlier games, when it was more kind of just this dominant part of the zeitgeist. But again, I didn't have a PlayStation, so I wasn't really playing. I had a PS two, I didn't have a PS one. But I know people have this reverence for that storyline. I know people love those characters. I think that's my Acarina. I'm like, I

can't put myself in a headspace where I absolutely love that. But again, that doesn't mean I can't see why other people like it. And I guess that's why rebirth and remake are great, because I can at least sort of see the characters through a more modern lens. But yeah, Final Fantasy is kind of my I don't get it, but I can get why other people are. I respect it, but I'm not gonna play it. Yeah, I think that would be mine as well, Mike. The other one I

recognized was this is a weird one. But I never played a Doctor Mario growing up, and everybody raves about Doctor Mario. I don't know if you've noticed that, but nobody is a bad fucking thing to say about Doctor Mario, and I finally played it, Like when I was working at GameSpot and I was like, this game's stupid, this game sucks, it's boring, I'm flipping pills. I hated it, and I don't understand why everybody loved Doctor Mario. Like there must have been some era when we were kids everybody

thought Doctor Mario was genius. I lost my SNUS Classic with roommates in San Francisco, and that was the first game they wanted to play with me. Like, what is this reference? I like to yeah, yeah, I get okay. I like Doctor Mario a lot. I have very fun memories of Doctor Mario. But Mary, everything you said is right in that, like, it's not as far as puzzle games. There's way more interesting and involved in better ones. I think it's the fact that, look, doctor

Mario has fucking awesome music. It's great music. Uh, you got Mario in a fun little doctor thing like the whole, the whole. It's Mario and a doctor thing with a little thing on his head and he's throwing like these little virus guys, little asshole virus dudes with good music, good sounds. It's like it was a good puzzle game on Andy has also two players fun, but it's it's out Even back then it was outclassed by you know, any number of obviously like Tetris and stuff is way better. So I

get it. I get if you're coming to it now, just being like there were so many better puzzle games out there, but I have fond memories of it. Yeah, there's probably a bunch of like Super Nintendo Era, although I had Super Nintendo so I played a lot of those. But yeah, outside of that, there are other series and whatnot in games where I'm like, I don't get why people love this but like it, But those are games I've played, and I just it didn't connect with in terms of

like things I missed out on. I think it's Final Fantasy. It's metal Gear solid when they were new, stuff like that. I don't think I realized how anti Final Fantasy this entire podcast is. Like when a new Final Fantasy comes out, do we even talk about it? Like, did we

talk about sixteen or fifteen or Mike? Not the new not the brand new ones, but we you were really, uh, generally the remakes seven the seven stuff is pretty good, but like I feel like of us talking about sixteen, I didn't played it was that thirteen fifteen was the car trip thing. Sixteen was more like Games Thrones, and that was Yeah, did any of us touch it? No, never been a second thinking about that game last summer. There was stuff going on. It also had the unfortunate thing

we're at a distance. It reminded me a lot of Forespokens aesthetic. Oh and I just didn't want to get into that sure, But also I feel like people who love Final Fantasy also sixteen came and went. That's the thing. It's always weirded me out, Like whenever they announced a new numbered Final Fantasy and everyone freaks out about it, I think, like, wait a minute, I feel like I haven't heard anyone love like a numbered Final Fantasy since like twelve, Like, and so why is it always a big deal

when announced sixteen fifteen? Seems like people didn't like sixteen. They're gonnamales for this fourteen. That's a whole different thing. I think thirteen was a thirteen. I hated at thirteen. That was the trilogy where her clothes affected her abilities, right, like the Lightning one and the Guy's got to burden his hair twelve twelve twelve was old that like loves that one. So I've seen that that's the one with the Gambit system and all that, Yeah, which

is super cool. You can program them the game to play itself if you just want to see grind through some shit. And then one had some cool ideas like twelve. Yeah, Zodiac Age was the re release on PS four and switch and stuff. Yeah, yeah, I liked it. I didn't beat it. I played half of it. That's a game I frequently think about maybe going back to. But ten and twelve were I mean, hell, all the old ones basically like all the old ones, and then seven

eight nine. Obviously ten and twelve were kind of like massive things that even as someone who didn't care about the genre, you would hear about all the time. I feel like since twelve, which I was in college for that, I haven't heard anyone be like, oh, this new numbered Final Fantasy is fucking awesome. Outside of the remix, yeah, sixteen, I'm trying to think what else was coming out around that. That was summer last year.

People really like the Open World one U, the MMO one Yeah, yeah, I don't even like I kind of don't count that because that just seems like a whole different product, you know, Yeah, that got a number like retroactively almost in development, but like, yeah, fourteen from what I played. And I'm not the biggest MM person, I'm like, oh, I totally get this. I I was like, I gotta stop playing this. I could play it a lot. Sixteen that like what that was?

I think it was June last year. Let me look that up. It feels like last year and twenty second, twenty twenty three? What else? Something else came? Like, uh, I just don't want to ust I were talking about it. I feel as if there were other things coming out around then that took my attention more. I mean, I can't possibly scan the recesses of my brain from more final fantasy memories. I have so few. It's just a jar with flies in it. Yep, yep.

There's a k like like tactics. I fucking love tactics, but that's a different genre basically. I like like six. When I finally went back to it today, Yeah all right, let me look so fine, Okay, June twenty second? What else was out around then? Uh? It could be nothing. I just didn't play it because play it. I feel like there's gotta be a reason I didn't because I was kind of curious about Oh, Diablo four was June sixth, Super Megan Baseball four, Street Fighter six

was earlier than real games. Okay, yeah, there was anything else June Layers of your f one. I wouldn't have played that Rogue Legacy two on PS four PS five, Oh pick him in one and two? Okay, Uh, there was stuff going on. There was stuff going on, stuff going on. I also probably look, you could give me a paddle with a ball on it that you can hit back and forth, and I that's that's better than Final Fantasy for me. That would have distracted me. Yeah,

I maybe it's good. That's the best thing I could say about it. Maybe it's good. There's no way to know. Do you have any others any other games for Wes old PC stuff, Doctor Mario? Yeah, like strategy games in general. Civilization is yours, I could probably say for both of you. I tried Civilization back then. I hated it. Yeah. Yeah, we had that in school and it was like, why aren't I seeing these enemies or these characters attack each other? I did not like

it. I well, thank you Wes, and thank you Dan and Mary. First episode back together for being on the podcast. You're welcome than you for I agree. This has been a huge ask and I'm I'm glad that you agree. And I've got an ask for my homework assignment play case the Golden Idol before the next one. All right, what platform? Do you have a code? I got? I'll set you up? Yeah, all right? Didn't I ask for a code and you didn't give me one?

That's not just making I would have given you one too, because I gotta have you not cashed. And you asked me for code recently and I gave you one. I've been waiting for you to respond. Uh wait, what you asked for a code like two weeks ago and I gave it to you. I've been waiting for your response. Oh my god, are you talking about for still wakes the d for something? Yeah? Did you give me to respond? Did not cash that end? No? I realized it's on

game pass. Oh oh okay, I should have. I probably I forgot to say something. Sorry, that's probably still pissed about the Golden Idol thing. Okay, it's actually code for something. In one of these days, Mike's gonna give you the merry treatment and he's gonna tell you what a piece of shit you are, and then you're gonna get it from both sides. Nice. I don't know the code was for pogo Stick Champion. It's like when I gave you the number of the Hemorrhoid Facility. Yeah, well,

yeah, exactly like that. Yep, dare threatened my life every week? Got me? I haven't threatened you in a very long time. And also, yeah, use the code because it was on game Pass. Okay, okay, well if you want, if you want pogo Stick Champion, you've got a code for that. That would have been a good bit Hemorrhoids plus yes on game Pass. God, that was still such a good joke that got away. I got so deep into the conversation with that receptionist. Oh

sure at the Hemoroid Facility. You could tell she knew right away something was up. Yes, I don't think he knew he was calling a butt place. That's episode eighty five. Thank you everybody for joining. You can go to our patreon if you want ad free episodes, if you want video versions if you don't already, or if you just want to treat a tip jar because you appreciate what we do. That is fire Escape cast dot com or go to Patreon dot com, slash fires gape Mary tell people what they can

get at fire Escape merch dot com. I tossed the U R L T U so you don't have to remember it this time. What a pal you can get our merch line, Our summer merch is still available. I don't think the code. The discounts are over, but summer is still. Yeah. I missed out. You fucked up, so you can get them. Still. You can still get bathing, so give us more money. Yeah, a banana yellow bathing suit for uh, everybody, you're gonna want that.

Cabin tops, crop tops, crop bottoms, bottom tops, you love bottom tops, two tops, crop tubes, muffin tops, they're all words, loob tubesube. Oh we got we have fire escape scent. What would fire escape if you if we were a candle or a loube, what would we smell like bananas? Bananas? And it would come and banana yellow. It would smell like bananas, and there would be a code on the cap that if you collected all one hundred, we would give you a million dollars.

Oh, now we're talking. We have a million. But it's a gimmick. And no one will ever actually win it, and only stupid people will play. Oh you just wait till I get that eleven piece, I will, Dan, what do you have going on outside of Firescape Giant Bomb stuff? Check that out. We've got a lot of fun stuff going on there. I had the entire run of Metal Gear Scanling put up on YouTube

for those who enjoy. It's been behind a paywall for all these years, and with all the hype going around about middle year, I wanted more people to be able to see it. So search for Metal Gear Scanlon on YouTube if you want to see one of the best things we've ever done it. Giant Bomb were talked about Drew earlier. He's just a killer throughout that entire series, so check that out. Also on a podcast called Firescape Personal Stuff. Dan record on Instagram and Twitch. I hope to be streaming in now

post Sard and get some of this travel behind me. I hope to go to the stream again because it's been quite a while and I like doing it, so I want to get back out there. Melica Stanlin's appropriate for the conversation we were having earlier. If you don't necessarily want to be playing through those games. It is just as fun to watch Dan guide Drew. Technically, they stole the idea from marrying me because we did Theresident. You were

the first ones to the internet. Yeah, yeah, it's true, and everybody else stole that from us. So just know that going in it probably would move up to the expectations. Credit you in every episode. Yeah, yeah, you do. I think I think for some reason that got cut from the YouTube versions though. If people are curious, I have weird I've got the backup somewhere. Mary. What are you have going on on Sati fire Escape. I'm back at work, which is nice. Uh, probably

just trying to play games, finish my backlog. I basically took two weeks off of playing games, so I'd like to get back into it. Let me know your recommendations. Hollow Case of the Golden Knife and Hollow Night. Yes, both of those are great. Play Diablo, play them together. Dungeon Claller. It's just a demo to early access, but it's very good. You know, it's crazy like Terminal obviously just a terrible, horrible, nasty little troll. But I think because of your experiences of having no memory

whatsoever, you're just not entirely sure. If you're just being stupid again, I can't tell anymore. I don't know half the time. I don't know. If you're working with me, you could be this dumb. It's all to live. Yeah, it's an interesting way to just go about and experience the world. Who knows what's going in in that dusty old cabasa of yours, Dan, I don't know. Mary. You should play Platypus Adopted by a Fox, really fun India Indie game. India game. It's a Bollywood

game. You love it. It's a boy. There was a long walk the second game game. Dan, you should play Dinosaur on roller skates. That sounds great. I think I printed it on Super Nintendo. You just you ride around in an arena knocking ringos off their feet and yeah, I gotta collect all his balls. Yeah, you gotta collect all his seamen. Yeah. Yeah, it was episode. I'm just here at fire Escape. That's what I That's that's what I'm together. Probably Flue Mike Maharty. Yeah,

I'm the glue. Glow grow Michelle Big mic Ah Michelle, Dan the wild card, and I'm here. You're the muscle, You're the You're the soldier. Yeah, the muscle I picked up by my mic I hope it's on the Audacity recording. But when you said I was the wild card, I farted like I heard that you did. Okay, all right, please go back and check that I did. That's my answer to the email.

That's something funny. I did that no one noticed, and Dan, I love that, Like I knew you would have no answer to that because you have this, you have this impulse that everybody needs to know everything you did. Yeah, you gotta alone. Every time I heart I text Miyanka. Her phone just just constantly vibrated. Oh man, I've been doing some long far lately. Oh cool, They're fun early morning and I'm up. Something about my Tosh is just not not ready to let him go. It's like

no, it's like a string of a part of the clip. Don't go. I will just stay inside me, stay inside me. No inside, it says ringo. First, somebody get it back in me, push it back, push it back, push it back in. I'll spread it for get it back in me. Stop stopp with the roos gates, stop the circus. It inn't It's like tube, does it go back in the tube let's hope not. Knock on wood, knock on the bar. We're back. Fire Escapes back all right, see you next episode. Bye bye, m H.