Fire Escape Cast #87

Sorry, I just choked on so much water.

That's it. That's it. That's the start of the show. Go go into it. Be it, bro we didn't get Come on, hey, everybody, this is the start.

Welcome back to the fire Escape cast. It is who the fuck knows what day it is, it's episode eighty seven. That water went straight into my lungs.

I think, oh man, it'd be funny if it was like anything but water.

No, it's just water. I have tea here too, but that'd be funny. That would have hurt because this is hot.

Oh yeah.

We were trying to get room silence for Jake. This is all. This is all really nitty gritty stuff. And then I just choked on water.

And then it's fun to watch you like knock in a second, go though. This must be how the Olympians feel when they are competing and there's no redo and.

You just to go. I mean, I'm like stevens Netterosic. If I walked up to the pommel horse, did one spin and then crouched punched it and then fell off, do.

You get you'd get bronze.

No, I just lose. I would fall off the pommel horse completely, Okay.

Is he the guy who's a wiener hit the bar on the way down?

But that's that's that.

He didn't like get like, didn't like ruin his wiener or anything. Right, Like he's okay, like we could laugh at it.

No, Yeah, I think those poles are pretty flexible, Okay, And so is the thing he's jumping over. There's got a lot of good stuff. We we've uh, we were not super excited for the Olympics, but then the day one we started watching him, we've been they've been on all the time in our apartment.

Feels like I've just seen the wiener guy.

That makes sense. You've probably seen the Turkish air pistol guy with his hand in his pocket. You've seen him. He there's that event where they're using like the air pistol on the target. But a lot of people have like this these crazy metal your solid squei apparatuses. He just like basically had a hand in his pocket and regular glasses and like kind of just nonchalantly walked up and got what silver I think, oh wow, to the Korean.

I think the girl who had all this stuff also looked really cool with all of her goggles and glasses and do dads. I love watching the Olympics. It makes me. It's the most patriotic I get every four years. I basically like only stew about the things I don't like about America, and then during the Olympics, I put on my American flag cap and root for the gymnastics team because they always do so good. And again they got the gold, so I was really proud of the girls. They just killed it.

Are we generally good at Olympics as a country.

It depends, but we're known for getting up there on the metal counters, so like they usually compare how many medals each country gets, and I think we were up there, although I don't actually know where we fared, but we were stuck it last time.

I looked no no, no, no no. That's because track and field hadn't started yet. We're well ahead of China. China has I think more golds. Let me, yes, We're almost like always really good at the Olympics. So China has twenty one gold medals, we have twenty, but we have seventy eight. Totally have fifty three. Wow, France is doing pretty well. They're at forty eight medals.

What do we suck at?

Well? It's the first time men's gymnastics as a team got medal since two thousand and four. Mary, you would probably know more than me something like that. We're generally really good at swimming. This is the first time ever in Olympics history that the four by four individual or four by four medley relay we did not get the gold. That's when they do four guys or four women, but in this case is the men. Each person on the team does a different stroke, and that's the first time we've lost it ever.

Yeah, okay, the Olympics. Is Michael Phelps still doing the swimming thing?

No, not for a while. Oh he was there, he commentates. He's like a big pundit now he uh he his coach at Arizona State is now coaching like the fastest swimmer in the world, who is French Land Marshaan and Michael Felt. He broke Michael Phelps record for forget what stroke it was, breast there's a lot of sexual terms in swimming. Yeah, breaststroke, that's about it.

Stroke stroke I meant and stroke are both yeah. Yeah. Uh.

Basketball has been fun to watch because it's a ton of players I usually hate because they're on the other teams that are on team with Steph Curry now and Steve curR is coaching. He's a Warrior's coach. It's fun.

They like all NBA players.

Yeah, and they're playing a lot of NBA players on other teams. But it's it's a pretty scary lineup. It's always scary, but it's like Lebron, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Devin Booker, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis. It's a lot of good players.

If there was like a dude that was incredibly good at basketball but had no desire to play in the NBA, could he be on the team Technically with the NBA players.

I think, technically, yeah, there's nothing to stop because I don't I forget what year they started allowing NBA players. I think it was the Dream Team with Bird Jordan Johnson.

I like the idea of just getting one unbelievably tall person. Yeah, they're not really necessarily, but they stay really close to the net and then they put it in there.

There's a French player. He plays with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA, but he plays for France and the Olympics. He's a center, he's seven to four.

Remember that Billy Crystal movie My Giant. Yeah, who was that guy? Was he a real basketball player? I'm gonna look him up. He was really tall. Georgia and mort Sean he was seven but seven he's still alive.

Wow?

Seven? Seven's insane?

You say. Photo of Shaq and Simone Biles standing next to each other from a few.

Us, Yes, that's shocking.

She's four to eight, oh geez. Yeah, and he's he's seven to one or seven feet tall or something.

She's like not even to his waist. It just looks like a.

Small child yea, and a huge adult man, which is what he is.

Which is what he is. That is accurate.

We've got a couple of those photos of Bonk and professional wrestlers like The Big Show and No Moas who are like seven foot plus and she's five foot.

It's always fun. It's like, how are we the same species? It's crazy?

How tall was Andre the Giant.

Shoot or work height?

What?

In real life?

You're normally spared this because he wrestling pan ratio is not cross on this podcast, so I don't poison this one with wrestling doc uh, he was built at seven foot four or he might have been build at seven to six. Wikipedia has him listed as a shoot seven to four, which is real. Shoot is real. Yeah, let's see.

That's how it all women yama is It's it's crazy, but yeah. The Olympics have been super fun to watch. Paris has been like killing it it all everything I'm reading and like, uh seeing everybody seems excited. The crowds are packed. Beach volleyball has been super fun to watch. Tennis was fun. Djokovic got his first Olympic gold. I don't know, we weren't looking forward to them, and all of a sudden they started. We're like, oh, yeah, this

I've definitely seen more Mario and Sonic Olympics than real shoot Olympics. Yeah, it doesn't surprise me, but I think I think I would like it. I like competitions.

You know, there's some like fun stuff like there's break dancing, Oh, there's the table tennis is always just those are honestly the most impressive people at the entire Olympics. I don't understand how their brains work that quickly.

Skateboarding is fun to watch skateboards the Olympics, it is. They add them all the time, all the time. They'll be like, this is a new sport. Everyone's really stoked about it. What do you think? And then there's probably some kind of like secret elite process that we're not privy to, or they decide whether or not it's allowed in Still cool.

Yeah, I love competitions and I love the idea of like finding out like the objective best in the world at something, And it seems like that's what the whole point of the Olympics is.

That's why I feel like there should be more like best in the.

World for us to congratulate.

You know, I'm just realizing it as I talk it out in my head.

It's like, wow, you're getting there.

For Like, didn't they talk about sports?

Oh yeah, we talked about esports. I do remember that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we've talked about real sports too, But the sports on the Olympics. No, not yet, but there's it's been discussed. I'm sure. Actually, I'm not sure. I'm just saying that has it been Mary, you seem to think it has been.

Gold medal, Tetris finalist. I mean, I just think like, there's there's a world here where we can compete with who is best at Mario Party, and.

I bet it would be an event that Jeff Keeley owns and charges a lot of money for can broadcast.

No, I don't let them get his mits on that.

Hey, will guys welcome to No, that's JFK.

Hold on second, it's the same keep going.

Okay, guys, Hey, everybody, welcome to gaming's biggest night. No, it is not the Game Awards. It is the Olympics. For the first time ever, we are here. Also here my friend Hideo Kojima. That's all I've got. I think it was better the first time I ever tried it randomly covered in medals, and I'm.

Wearing it went all the The best game developer of gold, silver, and bronze A word.

Just keeps trying to give the gold today and I was like, I don't play overwatch.

Mike. You said something a second ago and then said you weren't actually sure of it, which reminded me You've got a little corrections I heard.

Yeah, apparently, what do you want to call it? Sparkling water hydrates you just as much. Which here's my question. Does that mean that if I had this cup filled to the brim with still and then the same exact size cup filled to the brim with sparkling drinking, each of those would hydrate me equally.

Yeah, if you just dumped a bunch of bubbles in there, it wouldn't suddenly make it not hydrate gas.

It takes up. It takes up. It's like that's going to change the volume.

Yeah, the volume. There we go.

So okay, So my question is how, and this is a genuine question because I don't fully understand it because the bubbles take up space.

I never thought of that.

So if you drank the same liquid volume of both, I can't. I don't understand how sparkling would hydrate you as much.

What if the bubble is like super What if the bubbles maybe.

It's that small it's like, yeah, maybe it's like an insequential amount of volume.

Or what if the bubbles have like a hydration multiplier, Like they take up a little bit of space, but they have a times two hydration factor.

I don't know maybe, but like I mean, I don't think that's the thing, but who knows that?

Yeah?

What if? What if it's not a bunch of little bubbles? What if it's one big bubble. You last episode for saying there was really wrong of me to call it the sphere?

I right, I remember talking about the orb or the sphere. I thought that was Mary's whole gimmick, though it was she came up with it.

I truly don't remember.

But I think the orb is Mary is doing also.

But people did support my claim that what do you want to call it? What's the water thing? You freak out about? Liquid death? Oh yeah, yeah, that has like non natural additives.

As a gave something in it.

A gave is natural, but it's also got.

Dan's like, listen, it's got chemicals. They saw a gove and.

That hang on, I'll look at me. Okay, carbon and water gave nectar, centric acid and natural flavors.

That's it, Okay, yeah, okay.

Yeah, and their iced tea has a small amount of natural caffeine from black Tea.

Okay, But I still will never take liquid advice from you because you drink prime.

I'm leaning more on liquid death. These days.

Liquid death is great. We went to we didn't on location project at a game studio in the summer and or sorry in the spring and they stock their fridges to the brim with liquid death. That was my first. Like we were at the studio for like a week, so I was just pounding them. Mango is awesome. We talked about me the best. Yeah, mega chan sounds great. I like, I like, is it just like mixed berry something. They're all puns grape berry something like that. Yeah, craefberry.

I have a coworker who strongly believes that the temperature of the water impacts how hydrating it is.

Now.

Their theory is that if you were to have you ever heard of like people who are like in a frozen tundra and they're eating snow for water, and it actually doesn't hydrate you because your body has to regulate the snow right, has to melt it in your tum tum turn it into water. And the amount of energy that it takes your body to melt the snow into water is more than the hydration you get from the snow. So eating snow doesn't replenish your hydration. It actually will make you more deep.

There's like survival books and stuff that I've read. Yeah, they put the snow in pots and stuff if they can make camp and boil it.

Correct, that's the max version. What my friend is saying is that you should always be drinking room temperature water if you get a cold drink.

Yeah, but we're not on the tundra. We're just sitting at desk writing about videos.

Know what we're talking about. We're talking about what hydrates you the most, and what hydrates you the most is room temperature liquid that your body doesn't have to alter.

Well, is this related to Apparently it was like, uh, it was debunked that the cub Scouts used to teach you if you are hot, overheated, like out in the wilderness, you drink something hot to cool you down because your body senses something hot going into you and then works to cool your entire body down. But then they debunked that. They're like, you know, you, guys, this is stupid.

The boy Scouts stupid.

I mean, thinking a lot of things right, but like they don't teach that anymore. I don't think. You know how often I you know, how seldom I talk about something without having all the evidence to back it up.

Are you a boy Scouts?

No, Jeff was not. Jeff grab was what what did he become an eagle Scout? Uh?

No, I think he just meant to boy scouts.

Oh that's like the blue Belt of boyscouts. So fun.

Yeah, just say his house for a weekend to make fire. I did. Yeah, it was awesome. I stayed in his basement, which is like kind of like my basement where it's just like nothing but like a game zone thing. It's just it's just game ship everywhere. And he had a pulled out couch and I just stayed down there and it was like a cool like it was like staying in a fun college apartment or something, and I had the floor to myself, he had a bathroom and everything.

Is it on a string?

No, it's like a big ass dartboard. It's like the biggest dartboard you ever saw it, and you're throwing rubber hoops at it.

Ring Toss.

No, No, that's what the bottles right, that's.

A carnival game.

Yeah, you're describing.

Ring tom No, hang on, I'm let me google ring toss here hoops. No, No, this is no. This is on the wall. The big dartboard on the wall. Ring Toss looks to be on the ground.

Jake Dan was just hammered and he was on the floor trying to play that's what.

Are you tossing rings? But it's goddamn, I don't know what to google.

So I love video games, but if you put like yard games in my vicinity, I will go to those ten times out of it.

Oh yeah, and so we did all. We did the fake ring toss thing. We did watch the ball. They had duck pin bowling or it's the like short like bowling alley with the pins on the strings that go back in. It had this tiny little cage where you could like put your legs in and play soccer on like a tiny soccer field in a cage. But then it also had like a billion arcade games and all on free play and everything, and brewery stuff everywhere and

What were you doing in Cleveland?

Uh?

SummerSlam? Wwe was there and it's like, well, you know, Manatti and Greb both lived near there, and not a lot of excuses to go to Cleveland. There's not really like game stuff out there, so it'sa liked, well, fuck, let's go to a wrestling thing with my friends. So I went after the weekend and it was just a blast, great time.

Did you go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

Did not?

No, we did number one claim to Fame.

We thought about it. We thought about it on one of those afternoons, but then we just watched Grub try to set an nes speed run record on Mario one, which is pretty much the same as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, right.

Yeah, the Olympics of rock and Roll.

Yeah, we literally were like sitting around and we had like several hours and it was like, should we go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Well, we have time before SummerSlam and it is right next door. But then we all just decided to sit around and watch Grub blay Mario, which was nice. It was very nice.

It is hard to justify it.

Nobody did much better than I did.

No, I've been to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. So I'm frying Columbus, which isn't too far away, and so we used to go to Cleveland for like a couple of things. Not often though, because there's not really a lot of good reasons to go to Cleveland, But I went once for a film festival and I remember doing rock and roll in Fame there.

Did you like it?

Yes, it was the coolest thing there.

I don't think I really was stoked about anything. But I was also probably like fifteen and not very wise to rock and roll then.

And my dad drove out there once just to go there, like from Kansas, and spent like two whole days at the Hall of Fame. Like he's the guy that like reads every plaque and just like takes his damn time at every museum. But he loved it.

It's a memorabilia place, right, So it's like if you want to see the scarf or like the boa that Jimmy Hendrix wore while he was at the Palooza, then that's the place that you go. But you know, you have to be really interested in artifacts from that era. Lots of guitars, lots of say they have like a hall of guitars, right, they do, and it does look nice. I just don't think I had the aware at the time that I went to a really appreciate it.

One thing I've learned is just boomer Cat nip argument is they love it when hip hop acts get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Right, yeah, that is something a lot like. You know, I think like EM and M's in there, Run DMC, and you know, Doctor Dray and Snoop. I think I think they're in there. But it's just I've seen many sixty plus year old men talk about, well, you wouldn't put led Zeppelin in the wrap Hall of Fame, and it's like they put

I wonder if those people who got inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame actually cared or wanted to be because there's a hip hop It's in New York. It's much smaller, but there's like a hip hop Hall of Fame too.

Oh sure, yeah, I want to go back there because I really did have a great time, and I would go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if I went back. But honestly, I was super impressed by Cleveland. It was just very much it was a Midwest city, and I've learned that I just between you know, Kansas City, Chicago, Minneapolis. There's just a certain vibe to a Midwest city that

Well, you grew up in Kansas with like Kansas City and like right sort of there, like aspiring to it for a bit and then going to college and Lawrence and like, I think Kansas City being there the whole time. I think it's kind of that's how I felt about Syracuse being five hours from New York City. We were always kind of looking up to New York City.

So yeah, we just never it was we were always just in the We were suburban as hell. It was Johnson County, Kansas. It was just like that's where all the you know, suburban kids went to school basically. So yeah, what until that extra life trip I did a couple weeks ago where I was like actually staying downtown and Kansas City has like come pretty far since I left in nine But yeah, yeah, Midwest cities good stuff.

They're not bad. There's a whole bunch of them over there. I don't think I have too many family left in Ohio. But man, the next time you do a trip to the ye old Ohio, I might come with you. I like that kind of stuff. It's been a while since I've been in. Yeah, I got some I got some family still left in the Columbus area, which isn't really that far away at all.

Nice. Yeah, I uh who was Somebody was telling me that, like, oh yeah, in Cleveland, like the one big city in Ohio. And I was like, well, there's Cleveland, there's Columbus. There's a Cincinnati. Like I always thought of it as like the three sea cities. We're the big ones.

That's right.

I think that's true, Big Columbus. I've heard good things about people were like flocking there ten years ago before like Denver became the new hotspot. I don't know what it is now, but I know Columbus for a while was attracting a lot of like young professionals.

I heard that too, because the I think the house prices skyrocketed one one general span of years where they were just like our houses that used to be like one hundred and twenty five k for like a really decent house, or all of a sudden, like two hundred and fifty three hundred K, and it changed the vibe right because the same thing happened to Portland, which is like,

Yeah, I know that feeling, like when a city is really cool and you almost wanted like, hey, don't tell anyone, like, let's keep it this way. Let's you know, we don't want a bunch of people moving in here and ruining it.

Nose Normy's ruining it. Shut up, tell them it sucks. Yeah, you gotta find the secret.

Sucks it fucking it's the worst. I hate Hoboken's a shithole. Minneapolis sucks too.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, Portland is Portland is dick.

For dick city. What they should call it.

That is what they call were board Lynn. Yeah, but yeah, no, it's the Midwest. Is it's great? What else did I do? I feel like I did a lot. So let's say you I had barbecue, speaking of Kansas City, I had barbecue on Friday in Red Hook at Hometown Barbecue.

Oh yeah, yeah, that's where you yeah, the proposal right.

Yeah, the around No, I mean that's where the wedding was. The proposal was on Cape Cod but yes, that's where I like one of our first days was.

Right, first date, That's what it was. Yeah, I remember referencing it in the speech. Yeah.

Yeah, and I for all times sake, it was our it was our engage aversary, though we didn't really realize until we were on our way over. So I did the whole pretended to Bee. Frid was a phone bit class. She still loved it just as much. Nice, but that barbecue's good. If you're in New York and you're looking for they've got those places in Midtown and flat Iron like a hill country.

I like that place was something.

Those are fine. I will say, if you're like from the mid West, or you're from like the Carolinas or Texas and you're looking for I'm not gonna claim it's on par with any of those, but I mean it's it's good. It's uh Billy Derney who also owns this place called Red Hook Tavern, which I will say, hands down is the best burger in all of New York, at least the places I've eaten burgers. So, I mean, you know, great of salt.

I'm obviously partial to Kansas City barbecue, but like barbecue is kind of like pizza in that way where it's like, look, yeah, it's going to be pizza. It's going to be good, you know, barbecue saying, which pretty much anywhere is going to be good, and like there's gonna be better options if you want to get very particular, but like, ye, it's gonna be good.

We've got to go to hometown next time you're it makes sense. It's kind of a trick to get to Red Hook, as you guys know. But like, uh, I'm curious what you think of it, because it's good barbecue.

We like it a lot nice. I'm not picky.

Joe's is really good when you mess it that one time, got a picky man.

I mean I don't think I don't look at you. Actually, I think you are very picky with your food. You're just not picky in terms of how high quality is. You're picking what you won't eat.

That's fair, Okay. I guess I am picky and that like, oh I don't want onions on this thing, or I won't have mustard or pickles or whatever. But likes to.

Be forty dollar uh slab of meat or if it's a three point fifty slab of rib.

I think I'm kind of like the way Mike is with like drinking, where it's like, yes, he likes very fine wines and very nice liquors and stuff like that and cocktails and stuff. But I've shotgunned but lights. With Mike, you know, he's not going to turn his nose atgun exactly. Yes, yeah, so he's like he's not going to be snobby about it.

Yeah, yeah, speaking of kind of a sharp left turn. But I taught you had a shotgun beer at a Halloween party when I was interning a Game Informer. Yes, which unfortunately I don't know if people saw the news, but game Stop finally pulled the plug, and know, it's kind of wondering when it would happen, and still absolutely sucks and a lot of super cool people lost their jobs. But yeah, that's where I met you, Dan, I met

So well, and look at everyone that was working there when you were there as an intern, and they have gone off to like pretty much everyone that was there when you were there left prior to game Stuff shutting it down and went out to Microsoft, went out to Sony, went out to like a million different places. They are all over, Yeah, they are all over the industry, and god, they really curated an incredible staff over the years. But before my time during after Man, that place was really

Yeah.

It's man. I I I had a lot of thoughts this weekend. You know, I was sitting in grubs basement and I got a text from from someone that, uh, former editor and let me know, and it was like, well, shit, there it is. It happened, and yeah, yeah, I don't know what else there is to say. It was kind of that last bashion of the games media that I grew up with that made me want to go into this line of work. You know, they were the last

So yeah, yeah, yeah, they survive for so long. There are a lot of good sites that struggle to survive under good owners or at least like maybe not good owners, but like more benevolent than Game Stop, I think you could argue. So it's absolutely just a testament to their flexibility and versatility over a game informer throughout many years.

Yeah. I don't envy the staff that I had to work there in recent years because when I was there from nine to fourteen, the cool thing was we never had to fucking talk to Game Stop at least, like you know McNamara, I think with like all of the communication with you know, Grapevine, Texas, and he kind of shielded us from that, you know, we you know, GameStop never got involved and told us to change review score, said some edict about like, oh, we need to do

Stop or a game Informer Lament, he had to throw that in.

And even now that I like Hollow Night. Yeah, but no, it's just they flailed. They they they published an Insomniac game at one point. I don't know if you remember Song of.

The Deep remember that.

Yeah, they were clearly flailing. And then the fucking memes talk ship shit happened, and clearly no one knew how to turn that into anything of note that would help the company. It just, if anything, got their name in headlines for a little bit. But yeah, yeah, they they never figured it out. They're not going to figure it out, like the company will stay on a death spiral and selling some shitty funko pops and they're you know, reduced amount of brick and mortar stores is not going to

Sober, But I think, like there's so much to be said for the impact they had on a whole generation of gamers and how we're enjoying now and the content that people like now is being created by the people who grew up a Game Informer. And I think back to, like tell God, like twelve years ago and I was

Yeah, And how long have we talked about how how much games media has changed with all the layoffs and stuff in the last five ten years. And you know, I used to always, you know, say like, oh, okay, how many places can you actually make a full time living doing games media, you know, like outside of the

I deserved it. There's sometimes like I'm just so they deserve to be here. They deserved to have that spot just because of the legacy, right, It's just like just leave them alone. Let them quietly have their little magazine that people don't read anymore, and enjoy their life because they've earned it. It's kind of like when you're like retired and you're like you don't want to do anything in your grumpy all the time, and they're like, whatever,

Do whatever he wants. Yeah, they can do it.

He can do whatever he wants. You leave you leave him alone. Whereas like there's Giant Corpse now making massive purchases and pivots. That's suck and are fucking people over Like well, I know we don't usually talk about the news, but if we're talking about this, like Zif Davis buying Humble Games and then just shuddering. It is such horseshit.

And several.

A bunch of people a few months ago, and yeah, yeah, a handful.

Do They made extremely successful games. Unpacking is a very successful game. Most people know what Unpacking is because it was so popular, and you still fumbled it and you still shuddered it without anything for any of these people, this game publisher that you purchased, even though you work in media. Who was there for the purchase, Who was there for the fumbling of the actual business, Who was there for shuttering it and leaving all these people for nothing?

Yeah.

And I mean you look at LinkedIn these days, if you're in the games industry, and every post is a I just lost my job, bungee, I just lost my job from Humble Games. I just like like every like.

I have two decades of experience, I have shipped fourteen titles.

And I applied for ten places in the last week and haven't heard back from many of them. And yeah, yeah, it's fucking rough.

The talent that we will lose from this type of situation is what should really scare everybody, because we all have the same north star, which is we love playing good games. And when you do not have consistent roles for people where they can provide for their families and

Yeah, it's a bad landscape right now. It's it really is rough. I mean, I guess all we can do is celebrate the work of those that have been shut down, and I guess more in the projects in future, things that are that are not going to see the light of day, And I don't know how long that's sustainable, you know.

I remember my first Gisu it was Champions of the Norath Realms of EverQuest. Not a good game, and.

I've got almost the full run out there. Is that like an three issue or something.

Yeah, it was still like long before the redesign. Oh yeah, it was still school like so much text on the cover, half naked elf woman.

Uh, never forget, I didn't.

I mean I kept the magazine in my nightstand for years and years because I loved reading about Champions the Norath. That's the only reason why. But yeah, it was it was fun. I And that was like it was so weird too because from the time I like, it dawned on me. Oh right, I've been reading these people for nine years, some of these people, and it's only just now occurring to me that like they do this for a living, Like I guess I could try to do that.

Of prime time via the Hurst Entertainment everywhere has been fucked since the Internet started. Basically they still haven't figured it out.

Even people, but the people that are, you know, like working for that Internet machine or this is not every place. And I've worked to some great places that are doing some awesome stuff.

You know.

I love Polygon, I love game Spot, but it's still just like it's crazy to think, you know, back in the day getting that physical magazine. Game Former is still like the one I'm nostalgic for, so it is. It's crazy it's gone. And I watched so much fucking replay. I didn't listen to podcast as much, but I watched a lot of replay and that was like a weekly ritual for me.

I mean, that was one hundred percent where I cut my teeth as far as like being a personality and doing videos and playing games while talking to a microphone like that. That was incredible for me. You talked about when you first realized you could do it for a job, and that's one hundred percent my how I based my entire life was I was nine and I wanted to

I started in nineteen ninety one as well. The magazine was as old as me. And I told you this story really quick before we move on. But have I told you where I was when I heard that I got the internship I applied for. I applied for the first, very first internship because that coincided. It could not have

Oh man, that's all.

Yeah, well, really have such a dream. You're like the luckiest kid in the world.

Oh it's a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It's the Golden ticket. Yeah, it's you were there during the office days, you know, obviously way pre COVID and everything. That office was fucking incredible, which reminds me as of today that we're recording Ben Hansen over at Minmax just put up a video where it's just a ton of footage from

Yeah, for sure. And Hanson, you know, is a friend of fire Escape. It comes on the show, I'm sure you know it won't be too long before he's submon in for somebody.

Yep, yep, Mary, when did you go there? I'm wondering if I if there's any chance I was there.

I might have an email hold on Oh wow, is that game for Australia.

Let's see all right, because yeah, we did have a game in Former Australia. It was like virtually identical, but they would like replace the Madden spread with like a soccer thing.

I think I was there twenty twelve.

I would have been there in Minneapolis.

I wonder. I don't think you were there.

I was working there in twenty twelve. What game was it?

Uh?

It was Sorry, I'm like looking for the email again.

Was it from mac namara?

No, this was back when I worked at Zoo Games. Remember the badso the Bad publisher. Oh sure, And we had a couple of indie games that we were trying to get coverage for.

Huh.

I don't think we didn't get anything, but we were trying, you know what I mean. Like we were like knocking on doors and being like, yeah, I like this, and then people were like, no, we don't want to read about Eminem's racing. So maybe you were like the one who like didn't let me in.

Probably yeah, I was the one who vetoed everything. Yeah.

Yeah, you were like these games are bad and she sucks and she can't come back here.

No.

I would have been like I like M and MS I love branding, right, and I love cart racing. Yeah, yeah, it's cool.

Essentially with a crap I was peddling back then. But yeah, I have like I have like a couple of emails from that era from like various people that I tried to keep in touch for it with. Yeah, just like a yeah, I'm like reading one about the Yeah, the Dust Force, a Game Informer has expressed interest twenty thirteen.

Yeah.

Yeah, I left in twenty fourteen, so oh my god. Weird.

We might have been in the same circles. But yeah, I don't remember meeting you. I feel like I would have remembered that.

Sure, I think I met you, and yeah, when I went to CBS.

But I mean I was a kind of a I think what's important to remember is like during that time as well, I was a pr person, so my name had no weight or value. I was like, I am here with a developer and I would love for you to talk to them about their video game, and so I was just getting things to you, so nobody really knew who I was.

That was kind of how it always went because it was like, you know, Minneapolis is where Targeting Best Buy are located, so it was always companies when like they would bring in some developers, or they would have people from the publisher doing their rounds at like Target and Best Buy to figure out like how many units they would buy or whatever, and then they would stop by

So yeah, stressful, Yeah, I feel like those are really wild times. Something that similar to your guys' big break was my ability to go on this journey to go to a couple places and pitch these games. And I went to San Francisco as well to like pitch them to IGN and game Spot, and I met people at game Spot as this agency, and I was like, yes, I really do love games, Like, let's keep in touch,

Yeah, And it's just incredible, Like you know these places that they just seems like, okay, first job in the industry whatever. Then you think about just the sliding doors. Why life is where? Oh, because I got this job that was just oh you know, I was twenty three, twenty four or whatever, got this job, and oh I met this person, I met this person. I met this person, and you just look at all the different ways that oh, just my first job or whatever just affects your entire

So I got my job at game Spot in in part because the person who recommended me was dating someone I met at the internship. Oh wow, it is just another weird roundabout like yeah, whatever.

Gets you there.

I'll never forget. When I got the job offer. I was working at the Garmin GPS tech support place in Kansas, just call center, you know, and they were so look, I love Game Informer. Game in Former never paid shit while I was there or before. I don't know what they're like more recently. But I was making thirty k year at the call center. I was a college graduate, and Game Informer offered me the job, and they did tell me like, hey, heads up, it doesn't pay that much.

You know. Yeah. Plus at that point, I correct me if I'm wrong, But did you think you'd ever even like at that point, You're like, all right, this, I'm going to be a game form of the rest of my life. I'm going to try to be eic and I'm not gonna You're not thinking about like that as a stepping.

Stone, No, absolutely not. I literally when I walked in there, I remember thinking like, I want to take over this place. I want to become editor in chief. I want this to be my life's you know, I want this to be the rest of my life. And I realized pretty quick I got there, and like a few months in, I remember going to Andy McNamara's fortieth birthday party and thinking like, hang on, he's not really that. I don't know he's retiring any times.

Yeah, it's not like the president is seventy one.

It's not like eighty year old dude.

I was like, I gotta get this old guy out of here. It's time for some new blood.

He did leave, I would just have to wait a little bit longer. But yes, I did go in there thinking like, yes, I want this to be And no way did I see it as like the stepping stone type thing. It's like I'm moving. I fucking love the city, loved everyone I worked with, I loved the work itself. Yeah, I would have stay there forever if it had continued

Yeah, everybody listening, When you get the chance, pour one out for Game Performer and say something good about them on social media, et cetera, we will remember them for a long time. And I have all my issues here in the closet as well. It's my bust those out soon.

And yep, I got almost a full run out there.

Yeah, Godspeed Game Informer, you were a good one.

We appreciate you, all.

Right, Do you guys want to talk about happy Yeah? Sure, Dan and Mary. You know how hard it is to get me to shut up about wine.

Oh you will not shut up about wine, that's true.

Well, guess what firstly is here to help me out even more Because it's getting toward the end of summer, it's still super hot. But no matter what the occasion is, I think there's always a good wine to fit it. Whether it's bringing some cabiny front to your barbecue, whether it's having a nice sauvignon blanc on a hot day, something crisp. There's always something. And firstly, you can help you out if you're new to wine or if you're experience Dan tell them.

How well, yeah, I know. Whenever I'm hosting my big barbecues and my happy hours and my family dinners, I off for First Leaves Fine Wine Upgrade and that gets me a really special bottle that's sure to impress. Plus find need a little help kicking out a wine that everyone will love. I can get free advice from First Leaves Wine Concierge. It's a foolproof way to know you're getting the right wine for any in every occasion.

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All right, before we move on to new stuff, I did play. Thank goodness you're here.

Ah, let's hear it.

I agree, it's very funny. Yeah, I think that it's paced well. I beat it in like a sitting on a Saturday morning, which is great. I there was a few times I dan the sexual on double Entendre is everywhere.

Look, okay, I'm willing to wave the flag that. Uh, it's probably that I've forgot them versus because like every time somebody brings something up, like what about the hot dog hole, it's like, oh right, yeah, ro what about the milk part? It's like, all right, yeah, it's I.

Think you also skipped over a very important facet of this game, which is that Matt Barry is a voice actor in it. I don't like know who that is from the IT crowd what we do in the Shadows. He's last Cravensworth, he's the guy, he's the gardener. And when you first meet him, he's got his back to the camera and he's just like doing something furiously to his crotch.

Oh that I did not notice at all.

And then he turns around and he's trying to fix a hose and he's like, oh hi, and it's just classic. Matt Berry is like something that clogged up the works. See if you can get down there and squeeze something out and then he puts it back in his pocket, and then you go under the tunnels and down the well in the w's.

Your little lemon head. I love how like last episode, Dan was like, oh, I didn't even think about that. It was a little sexual and it's just like there's something clogging up the pipe, so why don't she get in there and see if you can squeeze it.

Out for me?

Let me just do you know what I mean?

And Dan saw this is a nice little game for the children.

It's to show you the depths of how much things go over my head. Literally an hour before we started recording, I was making a microwave meal and I had a plastic film over the top and I've had I've been bit enough times where I go to grab it and the steam burns my hands, and so I put a fork in there to let the like lift the lid and let some steam out. And as I was doing that, literally a couple hours ago, I thought, oh, let off

Yes, but I think blow off and steam is from like coal engines, not microwave dinners.

Well, just I'm generally getting the steam out of something in general.

Right, Yeah, it's pent up energy.

Yeah, yeah, I never thought about there would be a literal connotation to it. I thought it was just like a saying or something in Commando. Yeah, did you think.

When somebody said they had to drain the lizard that they were going into the bathroom and a lizard and hurting it.

No, I know that's a peepe thing. I get some of it. I think that's just a lot of them can fly over my head very easily. The one with the hose and the whack and off that did not some of them. I forgot that one. I definitely didn't even register at all when I played it.

But it's still it's super fun. I found myself getting so caught up in the jokes that I often forgot what my objective was supposed to be. Yeah, that's not like it's not like an open world where you're going left and right. But there's definitely the kind of that item trading sequence vibe to most of the game. It's like, all right, I gotta go unclog the the pipes or the the what the hell's the word? Uh, what the hell's the word? I'd worked in restaurants. It's the line,

Yeah, And there's no quest log. There's like absolutely no like UI or anything. But luckily, like all these spaces are pretty small, and so you just got to walk around and slap things for a while and you'll figure out where you need to go and more often lap a couple more things, just slap things. You'll see funny stuff if you've been on your way to getting the thing.

So yeah, those faces in this game are just funny on their own. I remember one of the earliest things they panned to you're the protagonists, and it's just.

Yeah, and sometimes it takes up the whole screen. It's just kind of timing on so much stuff in the framing, like they understand comedy very well.

Also, I love the fucking the actual like live action quick recordings that are on loop for the pause menu and the loading screens. What does it say in the pause menu. It doesn't say quick to windows. It says like I've had enough of this shit or something.

Yeah, it's something very British.

Yeah, yeah, it's no that came super fun absolute like just quick one sitting gem that is just paced out really well. You might get like lost a few times, but there's so much there's so many jokes laden into the environment that I never like got frustrated because there

Like I never had any idea what I was supposed to do. Like at no time was I like, ah, yes, I need the key for the fence so that I can get the dish. It's just like the whole time, I'm like, I don't know, I'm gonna slap this guy, I'm gonna slap this girl, and I'm gonna slap this ham again because I gotta slap those hammy hams. I was always like starting chaos. It was very controlled experiment. I think, what's so great about this is like how rare it is. How often are there games that are

For three hours, And it's even rarer that it's successful at that. Yeah, that's actually funny, you know. They when you see a movie, there are certain movies where you know you're checking your watch, and there are certain ones where it just kind of flies by because you were super invested in it. I feel like there is kind of like an analog to that in games, where it's like, even good games, it's like, all right, I gotta get done this. This mission is a pain in the answer.

Yeah, it's super good. God I played it.

I'm glad we bullied you into finishing it. That's that was super worth it.

You bullowed me into playing it to begin with.

Yes, that's right, I did, and I do it again.

We kind of came away from last episode with some homework. Dungeons of Hinterberg. I have played quite a bit of that game, played a little bit of it very pleasantly surprised by that those who don't know. Just generally speaking, structurally, I guess it's a mix of Zelda and Persona and there are some loot esque elements but not much. It's

Now, now let me ask a question here, because I started that night of the tutorial dungeon, and yeah, you know, the combat is fairly simple, but I did just start out, and then I got back to the town, I got the magic spell the wrecking ball thing, and I was like, oh, that's that's kind of a fun unique item, and then I started kind of talking to people. So I feel like I saw just the beginning of that loop where

There's four there's four areas that you can go to, so it's it's not an open world. It's segmented like an old school Zelda, like an Ocarina whatever. There are four biomes basically you can go to, not counting the town, and in each of those, Mary correct me if I'm wrong,

And then when you're doing the kind of persona type stuff or whatever, like, I'm willing to give it a shot even if that type of stuff isn't normally my thing. But if I don't like it, that stuff in between. Is that skippable stuff or is that like critical?

It's pretty critical because it's not like you're just upping a number with a character. You're actually by spending more time with the Blacksmith, you are unlocking a whole mechanic by upgrading relationship.

Oh okay, that was my question.

Yeah, And I will say, as someone who I think all three of us have pretty low patients for like very extensive cut scenes and conversations. Mary, would you wouldn't you? Would you agree that those conversations with characters are always fairly brief, And then all of a sudden, you're like you unlock sword charms, which can do some pretty cool abilities and whatnot.

Yeah, I mean I think they are their brief I still found them too long. And then I did the fast forward. So there's a button and it just zips through all the conversation.

You can skip everything in this game if you want to.

Yeah, it's pretty nice because I don't. I don't actually give a shit about any of the people in this town, and they really want me to. There's I think four things that you can increase based on your amusement, renown, relaxation, Familiarity is the familiarity yeah, yeah, and so you're like

The right r.

Like I was surprised that journalist is such an asshole, and I just don't understand, like they want you to be friends with these people and like kind of get to know them. And a part of me was like, is this gonna be a romance thing? Because it was like odd the way they were setting us up to like have a drink at a bar together. But he just kept shitting on like the town and like the bar, and he was just like it's bar. It's just a little it's just a little like overdone for me, don't

They are environmental pulleys and.

And they're good. Sometimes I got stuck a couple of times and I was like, what are you wanting me to do?

Here?

There was this pulley system. If Mike, if you've done six, we've probably done the same ones by now because I've done all the easy ones and no, I'm on all the hearts finished medium.

Yeah, okay, basically the uh it was kind of the first dungeon from Twilight Princess, very okay of it with the monkeys.

You can see the inspiration behind it. There's one that I did in a cave system and it's a trolley system and you can see the line you need to pull the trolley. I got really stuck because I pulled the trolley all the way. But then I didn't know what else to do, And it turns out you had to pull you know, you had to return the trolley to the original position to keep going. I thought that was really smart, and it reminded me of of environmental

Yeah, it's not as crunchy as I would like, because even when you get like you start to get cool even outside of the because there's I agree wholeheartedly. I

Once you get and should be more like Nintendo, Yeah, yeah, just come on, what are you doing?

That's not the last for sure, that's an unfair comparison, but like there's something about the the art direction of the game that I can't always parse what is important to the environment and the puzzles and what's just environmental art, because it is it's like that sable cell shaded hand drawn kind of aesthetic.

Line vaguely like jets at radio type kind of Yeah.

No, it's absolutely unfair to compare it to Nintendo. It's just like, while I'm doing all this, I'm like a man now I want to play like Twilight Princess or something. But I really do enjoy these dungeons. I I also think it's a pretty like just fun setting to explore the Austrian Alps, and like the biomes are pretty detailed and cool and uh, there is there is some bloat this game, but I'm still finding the overall loop to be like, I want to go back and play it more tonight.

I agree, I'm not done with it. I don't think it's perfect. I think we've talked a lot about the things we don't love about it. I think the dungeons is where it's at. I think it has a great loop of like the day and night cycle. It's fun. I enjoy going in it, and I will also continue playing it. Like I think, I'm only eight hours in and I want to play more. I would like to continue eight hours.

How many dungeons would you say that is?

I don't know.

I'm in an area three, okay, I.

Just unlocked Area three, and it probably like a because you can you can spend a lot of time staying in one area and trying dungeons that are above your level. Again, I saw that and stuff. I again, I think at this point in the game, and I just unlocked a third biome. Keep in mind, I have not anywhere near completed the first two. They basically want you to unlock all four and do the first two in each area and then kind of go back and forth between them.

I am intrigued. Something I like about this from what I hear is that like it's just twenty five dungeons and then like I know, it's Zelda like in the dungeons, but Zelda also had a bunch of stuff between. You know, Zelda would have like, you know, six or seven dungeons, and in between there's two hours where you got to go play a song for some frogs or milk acaw or something, you know exactly. Yeah, there's like a bunch of shit, you which I love that shit some of

Uh, get in there, dungeon it up. That's what you do the dungeons. My job is dungeon.

Yeah, I'm actually curious because there is a difficulty called vacation mode, and I'm curious about that because if that removes the need to really worry about my item level and difficult combat, I might go down to that because these puzzles are definitely are intriguing me, because.

Yeah, because that's not going to change the puzzle solutions, it's just going to make it to the combat stuff. If that's weak, that sounds that I'm assuming.

I don't know for sure, but I'm gonna I kind of want to check that out because so far, the only difficulty Slider I can see is enemies, enemy health and variety, et cetera. And the combat's not why I'm going to this game, and it's not the draw. So yeah, I'm curious about that. But yeah, this game has been a very pleasant surprise for me.

Nice I'll keep going with it. It does run pretty well on Steam Deck and with all my flights and stuff. That's when I've been playing that also. Zelda we talked about a little bit here. Quick update. I have the tri Force and win Waker. I'm about to go. I forgot what the very end of that game is outside of the game and fight. I think you go under the castle and all that stuff. But again, that game, I'm playing the HD version. It is God damn it. It's so good. So yeah, almost done with it, and

The last time I replayed it, I've never owned my own and we you. And when I lived with Jake Decker in San Francisco for a year and Tim Turry and everybody, Jake and I both started Campaign or sorry restarted Twilight Princess and Win Waker. He had never played Twilight Princess before. I might be butchering this, sorry Jake, but I believe he was playing Twilight Princess for the first time. And then I was like kind of simultaneously

Yeah, I know, I wish it was on Twitch. I was tired of waiting. I was just like, so I got it working, you know, on a steam deck, and it works really well.

So yeah, I might have to pick your brain about that because I'm I'm also losing losing patients.

Yeah, yep, speaking of steam deck stuff. I boy, Steam World Heist two is what I started that this afternoon, and oh man, I don't know, did you guys play the first SteamWorld tyst.

I am a huge fan of all the SteamWorld games. I remember I sold you on Quest. Yeah, yeah, a different games like that.

It's cool about SteamWorld is that it's all these different genres and and some of them like I didn't love the city Builder, but like I love dig I loved Heist. I liked Quest a lot more than I expected to. I just think what they're doing is such a cool deal where it's like, Okay, we have this world in this name, and then we're just trying all this different shit and some of them get the sequels and some of them are one offs, and just what a cool thing. But I think this might be the top of what

Yeah, the I adored that first one because I mean the general pitch for the first one was you know, sci fi kind of steampunk two dimensional x com, at least for someone like me who you know swore by x com. Yeah, it sounds like they added to what you were saying, much more to that interstitial strategy layer between the tactical battles, which is exciting. Plus it's also not sci fi. It's more Pirates now right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah that's I can't wait. I saw like a lot

Yeah, this seems like a Mike Maherty game for sure.

They changed their name because it was motion. What the hell was their name?

Oh the studio. Yeah, they're like Thunderfold now right.

Yeah, it's thunder Motion.

Twin motion is that?

No? Yeah, your image and form. But now they're Thunderful.

Thunderfol is a better name. Yeah.

I I remember when Quest came out, I was like, because I like steam World Dig two. The new steam World dig is that city build. Steamware steam World Build is kind of dig meat city building.

But Dig a lot didn't love build.

Yeah, so it's good to see this do well because I didn't love Build either, but god yeah, Quest was great the fact that they could do a like Slay the Spire basically but on this like adventure game structure. There they nailed how many different genres at this point, so it's great to see that that's still doing well.

And I watched the like steam page trailer forard I think this one specifically said it's from the makers of steam World Heist and steam World Dig like, so I don't know if it's like one team handles those and the others through the others, but like if that's the case, then like this team kills it. I mean, all their stuff is really good, but like this is the top for me.

Yeah, I really really want to play that, especially all the submarine upgrade stuff sounds kind of what was the game where you're building up your ship and recruiting people on islands like like two years ago, and there's like relationships. No, but it's kind of like a ship that you're building up.

Thieves.

No, I remember we Assassin's Creed Black Flag that was an indie game.

Heart Drench, No, Dave the Diver.

No, You're it's two dimensional. You're going your your character is like a battleship, and you're going between islands and you're recruiting people and getting supplies and building, like putting your stacking like expedition. You're stacking lopside and stuff up on your boat as you go between islands. You must build a boat. There's listeners right now who want to what are you talking about? Keeping you know, what the hell is it called?

You have to describing things until we understand what the hell you're talking.

I remember Alex a giant bomb told recommended I play it on a beast cast and then I played it and it was great. There's something like characters go to Heaven at a certain point. What there's listeners right had a weird dream.

Oh wait, are you talking about the indie game Spiritfarer?

Yes, I got it forgot there. That's gonna be that's a bonus episode there and go to heaven.

What are you talking about? I thought you were talking about fighting people like on battle No. No, no, you got to get some crew and drop some crew off.

You're like making guards go to heaven. I did a very that's a bonus episode where we just job. We all just try to do the worst job possible. Describing a game, like a game we sort of forgot, like oh there's yeah there, Yeah, it was good, beautiful.

It's one of the most beautiful games it's ever been constructed. It's all about understanding loss and appreciating life and loved ones as you know it. I mean, it's it's like one of the number one games that will make you cry and like really appreciate those in your life.

It's yeah, oh it's Golden Bones. Okay, Flag change my life, Sid Myers Pirates.

That's how that's why I believe in God.

Shadows of the Damn, that's how I lost faith.

Yeah, so I'm sure I will touch base on this again after these flights and stuff. But so far, so very good. I would say, I gotta.

Get me that game I got. I got to get me that game that he says, I got to get Steam World going. Yeah, that's that's encouraging because I was really excited for that. Uh Mary, Oh, did both of you play a Ranger or Mary?

I briefly did Mary?

Probably curious because that's how I list either, you know, like I'm close to beating it. Oh, so what's good?

I'm like ten hours in. I feel like I'm in the final stretches, you know what I mean, Like where you have like a my character has like built up all these relationships, and now I'm saving my character as a different character that I saved earlier, and I just I feel like I'm I'm getting close. I think it's

Loop around to loop around and get them in there.

That reminds me heavily of something I mean, it reminds me of those like slide games when you slide puzzles, but there's a video game specific Yeah, it's probably like Zelda dungeons that it's reminding me of. Kind it's sort of like the ice blocks and the ice camera.

Okay, but yeah, anyway, it evolves slightly, but it's the same mechanic over and over and over again. Like they don't mix it up too much. I also just want to say it gives me Braid vibes because I believe I'm gonna muck this up. But the art director or whatever is the co founder of this studio, and you can tell that the Braid people are in this. It's just you know, Braid. Every character you were like, why do you have such a big fucking weird head.

Here's little guy, aren't you.

This is the same ship every character. I'm like, what the fuck is up with this guy's head?

They've made every character you're here can do it. But suddenly Jonathan Blow is involved and it sucks.

It's just so pretentious. No, it's really good. It's I just think it's an odd art style that's very distinctive, so it's not pro nor con Some people like, fuck up weird looking dookie characters.

I'm just saying, oh God, I did.

I'm not It's not for me, but I don't think it's necessarily bad or poorly made.

I'm god, this is such a derail. I'm trying to decide whether I'm far enough removed from an interview I did with Jonathan Blow to share it funny baby No no no, no, no no no no? Uh ship am I Well, I'll yeah, I'll tell a story and then maybe all okay, So the Witness I had. They gave that game out like two months before it came out, yes, And Pete Brown's like, Mike, do you want to review The Witness? Jonathan Blow? Like sure? And I love that game.

I thought you're gonna say he laaned back and then like the rolling chair whenever, like on his asked.

About that immediately, I would have mentioned that Indian the story. I would have mentioned that in the review for The Witness. Oh wow, No, I love The Witness, but he's not attached to this at all.

Jonathan Blower is not attached to a ranger.

Gotcha? Are you sure? Have you looked at the credits and made sure that none of the names are like an anagram of his Mary?

I played. I played a bit of it, and like, I feel like the way I hear people talk about this game is kind of how I felt about it, where it's just like, yeah, it's good, it's good, puzzles, good,

Yeah, I can see how a lot of people will feel that. And I will say this speaks to me because when I'm doing one of my favorite things in the whole world, which is watching TV kind of mindlessly and playing a video game casually, I like simple puzzles that I don't have to pay attention to. And I think this is that it is not super difficult. It's not super complex. I did get stuck a couple times, but you you just move shit around until you figure

I've been able to do this picture.

And you just to move things out of that.

Yes, okay, well those are stupid and they you there's no strategy, like maybe sure, but these aren't Rubik's cubes. You just move things around until it solves itself. And that's what this game is. If you really don't want to think about it, just keep moving around, just cleep sliding around, and you'll figure it out. You can ham fist your way through this game. In fact, there is a slide puzzle in this game if you keep playing

Was like, what the fuck.

I don't want to do this. I don't care for slide puzzles personally. I think a ranger is like a different thing, and I think it just scratches an itch for me. But I don't think it's for everybody. But I think it's simple and it functions well. Oh the characters names. Let's forget about how weird they look. Can I tell you some of these character names? Hold on, let me see if I can. Fine, dude, the character names are so Weirdlanathan.

Joe Arrange, Nathan Lebau, what.

The fuck is this game? And also the game name is really long. It's not just called a ranger.

Oh is it like a ranger like a slide puzzle adventure or something puzzling adventures.

You don't need it. I'm trying to.

Escort service.

Yes, I'm curious.

God damn it, I'm not keep laughing making I thought there's an article that's about all the names. But the names are like, you know, Zimbooble Bob and they'll just they'll tell me, like two characters fall in love and run off to get married, and they keep saying their stupid names, and I keeping like, I cannot take this seriously that two Star Clock Cross lovers ran away and are now missing and presumed dead because their names are

God, you just reminded me. My sister Kayla, who's probably listening right now, is playing through Middle Gear Solid the series for the first time on her Twitch, which that has been fascinating to watch. I've been watching all her VODs and everything. She was trying to name Zanzibar Land she was trying to say, like, oh, yeah, so he met a snake in gray Fox knew each other from it. She was trying to say zanzibar Land and she said, zin zinnaty. That's incredible.

Yeah.

Check out team Kayla on twitch. That has been very fun to watch. Yes, But yeah, Mary, I don't know. I don't know if I'm to keep going. I feel like there's a lot of games I've been playing lately where it's like, Okay, I get what they're doing here. I played an hour or two of them not really getting hooked yet. I throw Heinterberg in there, I throw a ranger in there, A ranger.

Yeah.

It's just like it reminded me of like a dumber Baba is you? Does that make any sense? I mean Boba's you was the whole like logic and words is very different, but like the moving things around, you know, kind of reminded me of how you're just moving things around here, and there are a lot of clever things here. I had the moments where I just beat my head against something for a while and then figured it out.

I don't think I can justify it. I think what I'm saying is is I think it's a really nice, like couch game that I think was good for me. I don't think it's gonna be for everyone, and I don't think it gets harder, although I will say they just unlocked a new concept of the very what I assume is the very end of the game, which is neat. I wish they introduced it earlier.

The rocket lutter, Yes, you can finally.

Kill so the idea like remember how you can like slide horizontally and vertically. So uh, if the row is broken, then you're you only complete one. They've given me this machine that completes the row.

Okay, huh.

I don't know if that makes sense, but it means that now I can I can travel a lot further than I did before, and it makes the puzzles a lot more complex, and I feel like they should have introduced it right away, so.

Yeah, there's something there. There's some there, and like you said, like there's always value to a game that's like good on Switch or steam Deck, and you can just like there's not a lot of like cut scenes that you have to pay attention to, and you can just play while you're watching something else, Like those are real bad about it.

I just don't think I agree with you. Like if I got really wicked stuck on a puzz I'd just be like, blow it's over. Like I wouldn't. I'm gonna fight to finish this. But sure, I think the other day I was playing, Oh my gosh, I was watching that shark under in Paris, Shark in Paris? What oh, Harris? And then there's a shark in this in this scene.

Documentary What.

Are you waiting? Is this a television show? Is this something that?

Okay, yes, it's a documentary about like an actual around And then they and.

Then a bunch of swimmers are swimming a competition, swimming with all.

The sharks, the Daisy Ridley one right? Is it good?

No? Why are you talking about it?

Because that's what I was watching. I was watching when I was playing Arranger, and I I could have played a different game. I could have played more Dungeons of Hinterberg or anything, and I played more Arranger because I was like, this game is simple that that was my point. I don't know why I brought up the Shark.

Dan. Yes, you played Kunitsugami Path of the Goddess. Is this the one that's sort of pickman esque over the Lord?

I could see it. Yeah, yeah, because you get all these villagers, you give them rolls and stuff, and you kind of like order them around a map to do things. So it's like, all right, you guys, go attack over here. You are more defensive and you're gonna protect the lady here.

I'm looking at game pass for August.

Yeah, yeah, okay, I don't know why I assume that.

Crash Bandicoot Insane Trilogy.

It seems pretty good.

Boor Keeper, that's a good game.

Actually actually started Crash four on the plane. Oh I need I'm goving to play more of that. Crash four. I played like two levels of it, and its seem pretty good.

I got a New York trip coming, so I'm gonna need some good games as well.

I played it. Actually, the Dan talking about Kunitsu Gami reminds me. Have you played Pickman four? No?

Not a Nintendo guy, really, but I thought you played the first three?

No.

I try to stay away from Nintendo, so I don't have a switch.

Have you played? Okay, I take it by your tone you played Pigman four.

I get you're doing. You're doing a joking version of the my actual brain thing. Okay, I see, yes, yes, I understand it.

Just bringing up old wounds from our argument at the end of the Game of the Year last year.

Oh oh, I thought you were making fun of me, not knowing you like Total War.

It was a combination. Oh wow, speaking of wow jokes, that's also a transition. What a pro I God, I'm so good at this. I'm getting really good at hosting. It just took eighty seven fucking episodes. I won't harpen's too long. I know you guys tune out when I talk about Total War. No, no, no, But for the people, but for the people listening who are interested any four x people. Total War Faraoh when it released last year kind of it kind of fizzled out right away. It

I had a couple of kind of brief ones I played at Tay. I'm sure I'm saying that right off of Mary's recommendation.

Uh.

Mary, you made the comparison to Powerwash Simulator, which I think is very apt, and I fucking love Powerwash Simulator. One thing I really like about this is that, as much as I love Powerwash, there's always that part of the end where it's just like, okay, I'm at ninety nine percent.

Were's some final thing.

I'm pad like, where's the fucking tire wad? It's going to pop up at some point, but like that's not fun for anyone. As much as I love that game, this one is pretty generous and loose with like, all right, there's a tree, I'm gonna like drag my paint thing over it, and like you.

Give me moderately most of it.

It's just like.

Boore, I went over the trunk a little bit, I got some leaves, Okay, boom, it's done. It's it's fantastic. Yeah, And it's like it's got that same feeling where it's like you know in Powerwaise should go into It's like, well, that van's fucking filthy. I'm gonna clean the shit out of that. Like this is like you walk into a new area and it's like, oh, it's all black and white. I'm gonna paint the shit out of this place white.

I can't wait to get in there.

It's going on the soundboard way too white.

Oh man, I'm gonna paint the ship out of this place. What is this a fucking bakery?

Oh oh, there's all this little ship I get to paint. This is gonna be awesome.

Oh my god, I'm I get the floor.

You don't have to like it's not like oh I need to pick green from my thing. I need to do this.

You just go in there.

You're just holding in RT and just look, you're just spraying everywhere.

It's just all color hose.

Yes, it's very sad. It's oh we got some Sparrow's boom.

There you go, boom, No problem girl, the Hulu.

It's such a simple dumb thing to bring that much pleasure. But like, seriously, every time I walk into an area, I'm like, oh, let's go here we go, Like it's it's very very nice, and I've played it on a plane. It's good for that. I haven't done enough to really know the full like loop yet. I did some Stuffhe's like, Okay, I made a painting and then I go to the cafe and I'm putting up for auction and stuff like that.

I think it's worth having in your in your docket, right because there's several things that it scratches in my brain, which is like also cow usual watching TV. Just need something like passively. You do not have to think about this. This is a very casual experience. It's very fun. The creativity is quite deep. I was amazed with how much my paintings are probably very different than you. I actually I would love could you send me some of your paintings, like to screenshot them or like your first.

One, because I can once i'm doing them, because like I am early on. So mine was just like I'm following the instructions. I'm like, there's a bird, like, okay, I flip the bird, I resize it. There's another bird, Okay, I paint in the background. Here you go, sell it well, minimalist are well. Once I get a little further in, then maybe I'll send you some.

I'd like to see what dan art looks like compared to my art. I have had a lot of fun with it. You'll also get when you talk to people, they will give you requests for paintings, and so someone will be like, I would really love it if you could have a bug and a bird and a cat to show like a little bit of the food chain type situation.

Okay.

And then I went harder and was like and here's a person and here's like you know, like it's just like we eat them and they eat them and it's all circle. And like I was like going crazy with like the con conceptualizing what my art was going to be and mean, and then it's just like a bunch of stamps, but I really enjoyed doing it.

I love things like that where it's like, you know, the game isn't recognizing what you're doing, it's not appreciating what you're doing, but like it's just fun for you to be like, Oh, I wonder how far I can take this concept for your own enjoyment.

I've made some real piles in that game as well, just to see if it did lower the cost, And every time I would hang up my art, they'd be like, oh, this is going to go quick, and I'm like, you, stupid bitch, go ahead, buy it. It's all brown. I didn't even put anything on there, but go for it.

But yeah, good recommendation any e. The Powerwash it's a very different style of game than Powerwash, but the same type of satisfaction.

So far from when I played, there's an abundance of like games lately, small games, double a sized stuff floweth over.

Yeah, I just for the second time didn't even mention like, I'm still playing a ton of ANYS World Championship. I'm playing retro stuff a lot. You know. It's just like there's a lot of stuff, but I feel like I've been waiting for that one that like, I'm really like, okay, I'm going all the way on this one. You know,

All Right, you guys want to do emails? Sure, Okay. As usual, you can run into firescape cast at gmail dot com with questions, comments, concerns. Send in your questions. I've been getting a bunch, but we can always have some more to keep the tank full. Dan, do you want to read this first one that was basically addressed to you from uh Andrew.

From yesxus hell y'all. Stray elderly jack Russell terrier followed me home in twenty nineteen. It has been with me since. I named him Humphrey because he likes to hump. His favorite targets are human body parts, including my wife's neck, my other dog, Toner, blankets, and absolutely nothing. He likes to hump the air. Just thought Dan would get a kick out of that. Oh and another thing. Shortly after I took him in, he was diagnosed with pulmonary hyphpertension

Dogs are awesome.

Yeah, dogs living a life good for him.

Andrew from San Antonio, Texas. First of all, thank you for rescuing an elderly Jack Russell Terrier. That's very cool of you. Rescuing older dogs is very rad and dogs are awesome.

They really are. Just every single day, just seeing Razor and Gizmu, I'm just doing something weird and cute and just like, God, damn it, I'm so glad you live here.

Dude.

Simon is becoming such a piece of shit in his old age. Today we have a hole in our fence and today I opened the back door to let him out. He has a very you know, strong system. It's I eat breakfast and then I go out and shit and then I'm ready to start my day. And he's very regular and I know it. I know at the back of my hand, and so I let him out. He sniffs around. He heads towards the fence, which we both know he's not allowed to go through, and I said hey,

I love the moments where you can tell your dog is like, no, I am choosing to not give a shit about what you're saying right now.

Yeah, you can see them like decide that they don't care for that brief moment.

Yeah, there's no consequence here, I'm just gonna do it.

Yeah, that's a cat thing very much. So that's funny. It's funny when dogs do it because dogs are so much more like uh, apparently cats. And I don't know any of this for a fact, but supposedly I was seeing that cats don't feel guilt. That's why they're very hard to say, like when they do something wrong, you can't then like shame them because they feel no shame. Yeah,

You could tell even if you don't yell at them. It's like every once in a while, like the dogs are our dogs are usually really well trained with stuff, but like we'll like see Gizmo AND's like, why are you behind that chair that I've never seen you behind? And you were like ducking your head down, and it's like, oh, you fucking did something. And then you'll like walk into a room and he's tipped over a trash can and there's shit everywhere. It's like, oh, okay, shit on the floor or something.

This one not only did he shit while looking at me knowing that he wasn't allowed to be over there. Afterwards, he walked up their stairs to their back patio and there's a privacy thing, so I couldn't see what he was doing, and I was calling his name and he wouldn't come over. And there's no way into my neighbor's yard. Their fence does not have an owl, so and the hole was too small for me to get through. Plus there was shit on the ground, so I had to

This is Daisy, like literally right now as we speak. Can you see that she's drinking out of like her face halfway in a glass? That? Yeah, our tongue is very long. All right, Well, thank you and Andrew. Uh Mary, do you want to read this one from our friend Wes who writes in often.

Sure, Hey, what's a TV show movie that you swear by? But it seems like you're the only person that has ever watched it. There was a TV show on Amazon years ago called red Oaks. It was set in a country club in New Jersey in the eighties. It was about kids in their late teens early twenties who worked over there this summer. The adults were played by Gina Gershon, Jennifer ray Gray, Richard Kind, and Paul Riser. It wasn't life changing, but it was really enjoyable. Thanks Wes from Baltimore.

I have one that I've never heard anyone talk about ever. It was from like the mid two thousands on Comedy Central. It was called dog Bites Man, and it was kind of that you know, does that sound familiar.

I I'm going to look it up.

I know what this is.

So it was like, you know how like you know, Ali and Borat and like that style of just like, okay, we're presenting ourselves as like this actual interviewer or whatever, like with people that don't know that it's like for a comedy show. It was that, but they were like a local news team. And it was Zach Galapanakis, like I think before he was super is way you know, several years pre Hangover and stuff like that, so he was just kind of like a comic at that point.

That's so funny because one of the things you showed me when I went over to your house was that YouTuber.

Who's basically like a the Channel five stuff.

Yeah, interviews people who are like really drunk all the time, and that's not too far off.

I guess it's similar.

Yeah.

He was definitely posing as like he called himself Channel five because it just sounded generic enough, and he was just kind of playing the straight man and just letting people in the parking lot of a fish concert or something like, Okay, the comedy is coming from what these insane people are saying and doing, So yeah, I guess this is on Comedy Central dog Bites, Dog Bites Man.

Yeah, classic Comedy Central fodder.

I loved it.

Yeah, I have two Neither of them are comedies, but first one. And I know now that i'm I was definitely not the only person to watch this, But I remember for years I would always be telling my friends who were into Star Wars, like, you gotta watch Gendy Tarkowski's Clone Wars animated series. Not mind you, the Clone Wars. I think most people associate now the long running series.

What's the genre?

Basically it was following the hype around The Departed and they were trying to make a TV show that was similar. It was one season, got discontinued in two thousand and seven, and if you're looking at the cast, you will notice, like I don't know, google The Black Donali's you could see the red and black like Olivia Wilde was in it. It's basically, these four brothers in Boston takeover like the Irish Mob, and one of them is played by a grown up Smalls from Samlot, which is very funny to me.

Some from my childhood that I actually do. Think people know what these are, but I don't give a shit. These are like my favorites when I was young. Garfield and Friends Ultimate Cartoon. Joy watch it again. It's still good.

It still holds up with the US Acres stuff, with the farm and the eggs are Yeah.

I never cared for the farm as much as I liked the Garfield bits, but I the egg yeah, of course they were. But just the Odie and normal. You can't have you heard of this guy, This Garfield guy, he's.

Hilarious me or whatever. But like Garfield, like genuinely, like liked the comic as a kid and like had the book. Its like Garfield, Parside, and Calvin and Hobbes were the ones I had so good.

Calvin Hobbs still what like to this day, I reread them every once in a while when I go back to my parents or I have several of them here still to this day. Some of the most like like what's the word I'm looking for? Just insightful storytelling even though it's about a kid an imaginary friend. They like Bill Waters or Bill Watterson just completely understands like what it's like to be a kid. But I also a father and stuff. Not that I'm a dad, but an adult.

We'll say, I feel like I'm cheating because I don't think these are hidden or unknown. They're just like really good things.

I like that.

I don't see people talk about anymore Batman beyond Batman, but he's in the future and he's a kid now, so like Batman's old and now, the new Batman is like a young kid that he's training, and it's kind of like set in a futuristic Gotham.

Huh so cartoon.

Yes, this was definitely like in the cartoon series World that I watched on the television. I was obsessed with this show. I think it's phenomenal. I don't really feel like anyone talks about it. I don't know if anybody watches it, because no one ever really brings it up anymore. But I think it was the most brilliant interpretation of Batman that I had seen in a really long time.

Huh.

It's neat indifferent nice. I don't think he's looking unknown, but I think it's good.

I was just looking for Bill Watterson's new book that he did his first in like twenty years.

I have it.

It's called The Mysteries. I thought I was on this bookshelf.

That's an actual book, like a comic thing.

Uh, it's an illus traded book. It's very hard to describe. Just look up The Mysteries Bill Watterson. It came out last year. It is weird. It's like creepy photographs and then he's writing like really archaic poetry to it. I really can't explain it. If it's nothing like Kevin Hobbs. If you had not told me it was Bill Waters, if his name was not on the cover, I would never know it's him. But right as usual, Thank you, Wes, I love you.

There are one more quick one. It's the Onion had a very brief period, like a decade ago when they wanted to do scripted stuff and they did a series called Sex House and you watch this.

We talked about that a game spot a lot.

Yes, you can watch the whole thing in like an hour. There's like I'm looking at it now, ten episodes and they're all like seven minutes long, So just sit down

I love when before they cut to the guy, the gay guy, saying like this is a huge oversight. You can see him like slowly in.

The role, like ting in the room.

He's like kind of feeling the people out. He's like, ah, so, who do you have your eyes on? And all of them said someone of the opposite sex, and that's it. And he's like, okay, there's six people in the house.

One of them is an old married guy. They're all clearly stressed. He's like, what the fuck are you thinking?

Yeah, I got it. Holds up if I remember, right, Whenever you get like two hours, watch sex House and the Clone Wars by Gandy Tarkouse.

They're basically the same show.

Yeah, all right, thank you, Wes. All right, I'll read this one from Jeff high Fire Gang. I'm very behind and catching up on your podcast, and I'm currently on episode seventy one, where Mary discussed at length how great the thing is and said that there's no way of telling who was infected at the end of the movie. In two thousand and two, a video game sequel came out that reveals that mcretty and Child's were not infected.

It might be like one of those Aliens Colonial Marines thing where they marketed it as like, oh, it's this is totally can but then it comes down man, not really you know.

Yeah, but bonus question, and this is super related to everything I just read. How many pigeons do you think you could reasonably hold on your person without the aid of boxes or bags?

Fuh six? How like like it's like, you know, when you're carrying a bunch of stuff, like one in each hand and then two I'm gonna say eight. I think I could do three under each like four arm pinch to the chest.

You know, I think you underestimate how wiley any birds are, but especially pigeons.

I assume they were like sedated or something No.

I I mean, if you sedate any animal, you could carry many of them.

So it's not just form factor, it's wiliness.

Is factory pigeons specifically, Now you got to hold them.

I assume it's like somebody opens up a like a crate and it's like here they are, grab them.

You've got to You've got to carry them a city block without them escaping.

Well, here's the thing. There's trained pigeons. I've seen trained pigeons, like the stuff that Mike Tyson does, and like if let's say they're pigeons that are trained to be pretty docile and they like being held. I think eight.

I think he would have I think Jeff would have specified that, let's these are just city street bird pigeons. And yes, let's assume you don't have to chase them down and catch them. Once you're holding them, though, how long could you hold? How many could you hold out to from for a city block?

Nine? Wait?

I think you guys have Yeah, how is that won? That amount in the middle hand in the mouth.

Three in each hand. Here's my sample pigeons.

Those are tiny pigeons.

You we never discussed whether or not they were baby pigeons, three baby pigeons in each hand, and then two underneath my arm pits.

I'm going more armpits and less like just one good grip on, one good pigeon in each.

Hand, and then one between my thighs.

So you're just doing it like a shimmy walk. Yeah, if you're getting your thighs involved, at least you can get more than one. Thighs are like femers are long walk. Once you walk, you can just go down to the knee, just go from crotch to knee filled with pigeons and then just shimmy walk.

I'm talking about you even't thought about this at.

All, No, I'm picturing this like that. It's pretty clear. Like if you're already using this space, if you're already using your femers to hold one pigeon, you can hold three pigeons.

No, because once you start shimming, they're gonna wiggle there out of there.

They're gonna be like, but one of them will say, but you.

Can you use your can you like stuff them in your underwear and your bra.

Umm, Mike, Mike, just lift the room. So I don't know. I think he's the officiator here. Have do you even do that, then it's like twenty five.

Get so many in there.

That's this is that's a controller. We've got the Patreon. We have numerous stuffed animals and a Xbox controller inside your shirt.

Now it's everything I need and there's all your.

Pigeon size accessor easiest.

I could absolutely do. I think so eight, no, question nine, questionably because I have to walk.

I think six to eight confidently. What is Mike doing since we started talking about this, he just put his head set down? This is unprecedented. What does he have? He has a book?

He has?

He hasn't answered the question either.

Sorry, my cat just found a big bug and I had to kill it and clean it up.

Okay, I thought he was getting evidence.

I was like, are you grabbing pigeons? What are you doing?

Blake?

My technique is sure felt as long as I get their heads in my hand, I can squeeze three pigeon heads.

But I think if you do that, I think they were using their little beaks and biting you a lot.

Sorry, that was a big one.

Don't kill them, No, No, I can't co sign on that.

Live.

They have to be alive when you reach the destiny.

It's not in the question. Jeff didn't say they had to be alive. Think about many dead pigeons I could hold.

Mike implied, right, Uh.

Let's just I don't disagree with the fact that you could hold a lot of dead pigeons. Let's say for the sake of the argument, they're alive and adult and sated. I I don't think I think I can hold one live pigeon before guys nine, because I want to be better than Are there not pigeons in Portland or Minneapolis Portland? I don't think you see enough pigeons to understand how wiley and served like. Those things are survivors. They will escape,

I think they're trained for the use purposes.

You said nine. You think you can hold nine pigeons concerned in each.

Hand, one in each armpit, that's eight, and then one between my legs.

I you're gonna zenda on the top of pigeon. I don't think he said you can kill them.

I'm not gonna kill it. I'm just gonna screw it.

That might be the stupidest thing I've heard on this podcast, and that's saying something.

And yet I'm strangely horny. Still, I genuinely think I can hold one max maybe two, one under each arm, like really, squeeze it.

I'll never be in the Olympics. No, that attitude. Have you seen cre pigeons minimum? Have you seen creed one guys are all losers minimum minimum?

You're the Simone Biles of pigeon killing holding squeezing. Imagine if they just added that as a fifth event to the all around gymnastics, Like Simone preps to hold, it's never been done before, your sixteen pigeons.

Yeah, you can't kill any otherwise you could be cute doing the floor routine.

Simone Biles doing her floor routine like vaulting twelve point seven feet in the air, and it just help they fly. They don't fly things coming out of her arms. Yeah, there's clearly a bunch of birds under her singlet.

Those are a budgie smuggler. The tops of pigeon holding. I want to be the Stephen Tommel horse guy.

Any of us can hold more than three tops, I'll say three is my max.

Well, if we ever do like a pack panel or something. Let's make this be the whole thing. Yeah.

Yeah, like, who's like bring pigeons?

Yeah, like for an hour, I was just trying to carry pigeons.

Hold on to it throughout the entire panel.

Oh, I still had one in here.

See it's so easy. Yeah.

I had a pigeon on me this whole time. You guys didn't even know.

If you've produced one right now, that would be incredible, A live one out of your shoes.

I would ship my pants purpose.

That would be in the greatest moment in podcast history.

I actually this is I had to pick up a dead pigeon that had flown into one of our windows like two years ago. And it makes sense they're birds, but I it's crazy how light they are for how big they are. Really, they're light, They're just they're very fluofy, feathery. Yeah, but aerodynamic. M Yeah, I don't know. I really don't think I could hold more than three pigeons, and three is pushing it.

Oh, some people are just more ambitious than others.

Without boxes or bags, without the aid of boxes or bags. Did just say some people are more ambitious than others.

That's what I said.

I can hold so many more pigeons than any man.

We believe in ourselves.

Yes quick, limitting yourself all.

Right, fair enough that you jeff uh yes, as usually you could write the fire skill never be on the p Yeah gmail dot com.

His dick's gonna get caught on the pole volt.

Oh dude, my dick's gonna get caught him a lot.

He's gonna get to three of his dick gets in.

The way.

In the like Olympics tree eyes because pigeons bit his dick too much.

Yeah. The way they talk about Soony Lee and her kidney diseases that she bounced back from. They're like, he had a horrifying accident when twelve pigeons flew directly as crotch and pecked it apart. It's just it's just jumbalaya down there now. But he still has to do the pommel horse.

One of them flew up his ass. We're doing a different sport.

There's a pigeon up his there's a pigeon up his ass right now, but he still needs to do the triple jump. What if that's Noah Lyle's secret is he puts a bird up his butt.

Before the pigeon, the full life pigeon, and that's why he's running so fast, Yeah, streaking out. Yeah, I would run really fast if there's a pigeon in my ass.

Yeah, that'd be just anything to like try to outpace it. What if it's flying in the same direction that you're running in from inside you?

Is that what's going on? When Mario gets the raccoon tail, is the rest of the raccoon inside him and that's why you can run and play.

Oh the tanuki, I don't Yeah, I think so. I think he just transforms into it.

Oh okay, okay, that makes more sense.

Well that was our episode. Thanks for joining everybody. It was. That's been a fun one. Dan. I think you may be out next episode.

I believe so. I've got Yeah, I'm going to be across the pond a couple of times, and I think that's going to get in the way of me being on. But I have faith in you two and finding someone fantastic.

Have funny games come.

Thank you?

It's your first.

Yeah, somebody I say.

That like I've done numerous, I've only done one. It was fun one. The only one is the So here's what you think it for some reason. I think maybe it's just the way the convention hall is laid out. It felt like more people than eat than old school E three.

Oh that's what I've heard. I've heard it's like easily the most like populous one.

It's E three, but for Europe, so jesus, there's a lot of people going to Cotton.

Yeah yeah, but.

Do you know, do you know which side of the river you're staying on?

I don't know.

Shit, Okay, I'm assuming you'll thaying on the the actual convention side. No, no, no, the other side, because the side with the convention center is a bit quieter. But if you stay on the other side, that's where all the different town squares are where people hang out, and it's a lot of it's a very German town. There's like a lot of people hanging out in these like Copplestone squares. Restaurants all have seating right in the courtyards.

I literally just drank it colsh. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you've had colsh before, But that's like Cologne food is great like for one night and then I it kills me. It's like I can't do it another night, but it's really good.

It's me in Japan where it's just like, Okay, I'm gonna be very adventurous for a few days and I need some fucking McDonald's or something. You know.

Oh I mean I yeah, I just mean like Cologne has a lot of really good restaurants that are not just like straight salted meat and kolsh, but you need to do that at least one night, because that's definitely the what it's known for.

I'll be open minded and I'm going with I'll know a bunch of people that have been there at a ballion times, so it should be good.

And then also I'm sure like Tam or Lucy will steer you toward get some like curry brought.

I've already heard some recommendations. Yes, absolutely, I think, yeah, Lucy's got some stuff in mind.

The one I went to was like right outside the convention center. I'm sure they know it better and uh, but yeah, it's that that's like what I look forward to when I think about German food is curry brought nice.

Yeah, it's like pretzels and beer and meat and stuff. It sounds like it's gonna agree with my palette pretty well. And cheese really good beer.

Yeah for sure. I mean even if you don't get like, get like a half of Eisner, get like like a restore Pilsner or something, a lot of good pillsners.

Yeah, that's I had a sculpture earlier. Now I'm having a pills So yeah, I like it.

It'll be fun. Okay, Well, what else do you have going on me?

I am on giant bomb dot com about to wrap up Blake. Actually, if you're listening to this, we might be done with that Katana, depending on how Greb does on this one. And we have selected Mike Manaate's next Blake club game, and Greb and I watched a lot of videos of it in Cleveland, and we are optimistic that he's it's going to be a bad time for him.

It's not public yet what it is.

No, it's not public. It'll be public when the first episode goes live and he will find out at the same time as the audience. And uh, I think it's going to be a good one. So yeah, try try and bomb look up Blake Club, BombCast, uh, personal Twitch stuff and everything. I hope after all this travel I can get back to it. But uh yeah, damn record on Instagram.

Mary, what do you have going on?

I'm going to New York to see you.

Hung out once this episode goes up. But that we'll I'll see you in what two days? Three days?

Yeah, going to New York to talk about DJs on Twitch, which is pretty fun, see some live djaying, and then uh, probably just the usual. I think I'm I'm just hanging out for a little bit. Uh, so I'll uh, I'll just be streaming on Twitch every Monday.

Sweet. And also you can go to as usual fire skate merch dot com to get some sick fucking frags and some threads. Get some fire escape rags, some fire escape Yeah, wear that stuff so when we see you in public, we can identify you. It's the only way we know a threat did not mean it to sound like a threat.

Quigh five you if you have is about the author on your back.

Oh I won't. I'll jump off whatever subway I'm on. And also if you are not yet a patron and you want either the ad free episodes or the video versions.

Video versions where it's at. You can see all the pigeons that are in our shirts.

Now now she's like investigating. I don't know if you could see. There's like I had like books and video game stuff on this bottom shelf and a big bug crawled out.

What kind house centipede?

It was a small cockroach. Yeah, we get like three cockroaches a year, I'd say maybe like two, and this was one. So this is about the second one this year and it's August. So that's a pretty good track record. But it was small, so I got it before it got big.

Nice.

Yeah, we'll be back in two weeks on August twenty sixth, Mary and I will, I'm sure have found a good replacement for Dan. While you are gallivanting across Europe, which you always do, might still be drinking wine.

I'm bringing my wine twocase, please do.

Bring back some of those electric mosal reslings.

Does liquid death mcwine in Europe highly doubted? Oh damn it.

But I'm wrong about liquids often, except especially one. Anyway, thank you everybody for joining. We'll be back in two weeks. We'll see you then, right Cop