Episode 35: Sometimes You Salt the Wound

Jesse rambles about WebTV and CueCats, and Josh forgets his sister’s birthday, but GJ comes from nowhere to save the show when he’s spontaneously summoned to regale us with stories of undertaking, including how to ignobly bury a horse while the owner isn’t watching.

We again manage to hold off shouting about video games until the end of the show; this time running far over the time we tried to allot for a super-deep, spoiler-filled, beer-fueled dive into a major game mechanic and narrative choice in Metal Gear Solid V.

Episode 34: Fapstar and Other Electromechanical Games

We open a wormhole between The Crapshoot and We Have Such Films to Show You, stealing Pastor Yakov to talk about lightsabers, rats, New York and Russia, snowclones, Twitter bots, loanwords, the complicated Tengen / Atari / Nintendo relationship, Russian electromechanical games, the grunge speak hoax, and some also-ran sci-fi shows from our youth. We almost go one whole episode without bringing up an esoteric Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, but then we do.

Episode 33: The Class of Earlike Things/Disneyverse/The Facts of Dogs

Josh returns from distant North Albertsons for our basement reunion episode, and we settle gradually into our normal, ridiculous routine. Topics include XOXO 2015, whether the ears are a part of the face, salt lakes, the gentle difference between flippies and their verbal equivalents, haircuts, emotional labor, effing dogs, appropriate scale within the hellish Disneyverse, A Brief(er) History Of Time, Philip K Dick, and Metal Gear Solid.

Episode 32: As If the One Rules Out the Other

ennuigiToday we weigh the merits of ‘a Yelp for Drivers’ against ‘an Omnipresent Police State’, discuss the mighty Barbed Carpoon, and chat about Pico 8. With those topics settled, we really tuck in for a deep dive into Josh’s Ennuigi, the underbelly of Reddit, and where the twain meet.

(PS: Luigi calling out for Mario: Luigi’s Mansion, Luigi’s Mansion 2)

Episode 31: I’m Pretty Good, You’re Pretty Good, Hope the Sun Doesn’t Explode

Jesse and Josh disagree: How good is pretty good? Was Rip Van Winkle metabolizing squirrel food, or was he in magic-stasis? But with these critical issues resolved, we allow ourselves to settle into a nice lengthy real-bro-time conversation about Josh’s new endeavor Out of the Blue, as well as the sometimes-prickly thicket of advertising.

Episode 30: The Jesse and Josh Teenage Episode

Calvin and MarkovAfter “Whatcha Gamin’, Bro?”, join us for a romp through our miserable teen years, largely boiling down to bullying and social dynamics, Calvin and Hobbes (see Josh’s new project Calvin and Markov (more info)), and video games. Games briefly referenced include The Last Of Us, Yo! Noid, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII and VIII, You Must Build A Boat, Lifeline, and Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, but mostly we complain about Fallout Shelter again.

The wonderful “Whatcha Gamin Bro” musical theme is “Reformat” by Kevin MacLeod, Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Episode 29: North Albertsons, Alaska

After game 3 of the 27th Annual Tic Tac Toe World Championships, Josh and Jesse shoot crap about the Skype dynamic, washing machines, free cocaine, road stories, dreams, the various purposes of human communication, and Fallout Shelter. Jesse goes on far too long about the Metal Gear Solid series, and Josh delivers the most complete monologue about quarters you’ll hear this week. We fail to settle the issue of how to pronounce “Mefite”.

Music is from Josh’s theremin-heavy lo-fi cover of Where Is My Mind?

Episode 28: They Took All Your Numbers

jess.wSurprise co-host Jessamyn joins Jesse to talk about birthdays, traveling, California, roller derby, audio editing, phone scams, tech support, meetups, weddings, Jessamyn’s most recent wedding ceremony (metatalk), Gilligan’s Island, your town being in a lake, elections, motivations, a NYTimes article and Jessamyn’s Medium post that came from it, and of course access to technology and the digital divide.

Music is two too-good-to-pass-up jingles from Jessamyn: 251 Towns and Hey Google My Town’s in the Lake.

Episode 27: Pay a Little Attention to Your Scenario

brutalistAfter a post-game interview with Darmok runs over a little into our time slot, join your hosts for a couple Modelos Especial and a chat about suddenly-appearing piles of foam, knee reversal surgery, body dysmorphia and horror, lucid dreaming, blood and skeletons, and, finally, sprint with us through a bunch of loose video game chatter, touching on Twenty, Quake, Unreal Tournament, Plants vs Zombies co-op, Guacamelee!, Lego game series, Sportsfriends, Mount Your Friends, QWOP, Nidhogg, Bedhogg, and Street Fighter.

Music courtesy of Josh, as always — this episode features his Golden Age cover and (I Don’t Know If I Love You But) I Like Like You A Lot.