The Video Game Backlog of A Best Selling Author Ft. Dustin Brady (Trapped in a Video Game Series)

what's up and welcome to the Single Player Experience. As always, I'm your host, Sebastian Malden, and today we're talking video games with renowned bestselling author Dustin Brady. Dustin is the author of the Trapped in a Video Game series and the Escape from a Video Game series. In this episode, Dustin is gonna tell us about his video game origin story. We're gonna talk about his amazing books. We're gonna talk about video games and Dustin's video game backlog list. And Dustin is gonna take on the pro nerd trivia challenge. We got all this and more coming right at you right after the intro. DJ start the tramaine. Hey everyone. Like I said in the intro, we have a very special guest joining us today. He is the writer of the escaped from a video game series and the trapped in a video game series. He is the one, the only Dustin, the Golden Pen Brady. Dustin, how you doing today?

Hey, what's up Sebastian? Thanks

for having me. This is cool, man. No, thank you so much for being on the show. Big fan. And I, you know, like whenever you said yes to coming on the show, I'm legitimately fist pumped. I'm so excited to have you here today,

That's huge. I, I really appreciate, I've never, never been on a gaming podcast. I'm a couple writing ones and things like that, but this will, this is really fun. I'm excited to.

Oh man, I'm glad to have you here. So, you know, I always ask my guests a couple of icebreaker questions so I gotta ask you the hardest question any gamer ever gets asked, and that is, what are your top five games of all time, Justin?

Top five games of all time. Well, that's a good one, um, for me. So I'm gonna go for me, probably most memorable, so, okay. Um, most of the ones I played probably the most, and, and they're gonna come mostly from growing up, cuz those were the ones that, um, I don't know, for me, like the books you read, the movies you watch, the, the video games you play are always. The, the ones you play growing up are the ones most memorable. So for me, um, number one of all time, no question. Uh, it's the first video game I ever got. I got it when I was six years old. It was Super Mario Brothers, three for the, uh, n e s. So that one, um, I think it still holds up. Um, I'm playing through it. I have a, a four year old son, uh, right now. So I'm actually, I, we just got done playing through, uh, we we're on, we got to World Four, which is a huge Oh, that's cool. Deal for us. Yeah, So anyways, it's cool to replay that and that one. So, That one's number one for me. Um, and then the others, uh, I'll go, um, Mario 64. Mm-hmm. um, I remember. When that came out, and, and it took me a few years to get, get my parents to get me an N 64. Um, but I remember going to Walmart, like riding my bike to Walmart with my cousin and playing the, the demo of the N 64, like the first, the first level of Mario. And, and seeing that in 3D just blew my mind. Um, so, so that's number two. Um, and then, uh, probably, um, super Smash Brothers. Mm-hmm. Um, the one I played the most growing up was the N 64 1. Um, so I've played all the other ones since then, but that's the one that sticks, um, most in my mind. I played that, um, a lot with my brothers and, uh, my buddies across the street. Um, so that's three we're up to now. Um, I'm gonna go with, uh, again, a wild card. Not necessarily the best, but the one that's most memorable. I put, probably put the most hours in, um, N F L Blitz 2002 Let's

go. I love it. Love

it. as, as very little to do with actual football. Um, but man, I, I've played that one so much. Um, and then, uh, I also like, uh, I'll throw one in. Um, just maybe a, a little bit more recent, although it's, it's probably 20 years old now, um, is I, I like playing, you know, single player, um, triple A games. I'll, I'll play a couple of those a year. And my favorite of all time is, uh, halflife too. Um, okay. Is, is awesome. So, uh, it's, you know, a little bit different from the, uh, the Nintendo ones, but, um, that's probably my personal top five most memor.

Okay, Dustin, I got a couple of follow up questions based on your based on your list there. My first one is, how many people did you tackle after the play was over in

Blis? Oh, I mean, you could get, you could get so many people. Like that would be my goal. You know, you, you could, you, you get the guy and you twirl 'em around, throw 'em out, and then, uh, you pile on people. Um, but yeah, that was, that was so fun.

Man. And my second question is you're playing a game that you experienced from your childhood with your Yeah. With your son right now. what is that?

It's awesome. Like usually I, I found that that stuff doesn't work out. you know, they get bored of stuff or, you know, it just doesn't hold up for them. Um, so it was really cool. Like we played, uh, uh, like a standup arcade and so he was playing the, the first Mario Brothers on there, um, by himself and, you know, the level one dash one and, um, dying over and over again. But he really liked it. He was sticking with them. Hey, do you wanna see my favorite Mario game? He's like, yeah, And so, uh, I fired it up on the switch and I mean, he was all in. Uh, and it's cool. So, um, we started that probably, uh, last week and, and it's, uh, it feel like it's, it feels nice to be impressive to somebody like, uh, knowing all the extra little secrets you have, the warp whistles or whatever, just blows his mind. So, um, that is, is really, really fun. And, and I, again, it's something I wasn't expecting, cuz those games are hard, you know? Yeah. Especially for. For a four year old. Um, but he likes trying it, he likes like, watching me beat the levels.

Um, and it's been really cool. Oh, that's amazing. That's amazing. So my second icebreaker question, if Kirby absorbed you, what kind of power did

he get? that's a, that's hilarious question. Um, so I, I, I guess I don't have a great answer. Um, but for me, I think probably like, just persistence. Okay. Um, so I, I'm gonna keep going at something again and again and again. Uh, I really like. Um, you know, the, I grew up playing those old n e s games and, and I've never been amazing at video games, but like, I beat 'em because I'm just gonna keep going and going at it. Um, another game that maybe lands outside my top five, um, but is a Cuphead, which is another one where, oh, really fun. It's just like a, a brutal game. And, and, um, you know, and so like I've found that that serves me well with my writing or with, with my, with other things where, um, you know, I'm not gonna give up at it. I'm just gonna keep going at it. Um, and, you know, might not be the best, but it's gonna get done. Uh, and so that's probably what Kirby would get from me. Oh, that's, he's gonna die a lot, but, uh, he'll, he'll make it to the

end eventually. That's amazing. That's amazing. I like that. That's a really good power to have, especially in life. Um, Dustin, I gotta ask you though, like, For the people who may not know you, you want to introduce yourself to the audience?

Yeah, sure. So, um, I'm Dustin Bray. I, I write, um, like I said, that the traps in a video game, a series and escape from a video game series are the ones that I'm best known for. Um, and so I started writing because I loved reading as a kid. Um, I liked books that, you know, had lots of adventure in it and or funny. And I always kinda wanted to write one of those, uh, when I grew up. Um, so I grew up and I, I realized that, uh, writing a book, um, is not something that generally pays the bills So I got a job, um, at a newspaper. Um, I worked at a, a magazine for high school athletes and, and all that stuff was really cool, but, you know, this was the thing I always wanted to do. Um, and so, you know, one day I sat down, made a list of all the things that I was really into, uh, when I was a kid. One of those was video games. And, uh, specifically I was trying to think of things like I thought about all the time. Um, and, and there was one thing that kept coming to my mind and it was, uh, the game. Um, it was from the, the, the early nineties. Um, it's called Nickelodeon Arcade. Okay. Um, uh, and so I, I, uh, we didn't have cable growing up, but my friend on the street, Anthony Laporta, had cable. So Anthony was cool, Um, I remember, uh, I went to his. And, and he had this, this show on Cody Aade. And I, I watched it and, and I remember like, I don't remember the first part at all. It was a trivia Que game. And they would ask kids, uh, questions about video games. Um, but I do remember is that they would come back from commercials for the last commercial, and then the team that won the kids would have helmets on and elbow pads and knee pads, like something big was gonna go down And then, uh, these big Mel doors would open up, smoke a pour out, doors close, um, the kids go through, and then a TV turns on. Real kids are inside of a real video game. Mm-hmm. and, and like that is stuck in my mind where they're, you know, they're using green screens or whatever, but the kids, like, in my mind, they're in this video game. They're on this magic carpet. They're fighting the boss. And I thought about that every day since then. How I could. Go on that show. I could go on a video game, um, and all that. So, so really for me, like it was, you know, it was a combination of playing those games growing up and, and seeing that show, um, that, that led me to write that game, that, uh, book tracked in the video game. Um, and so that was, that was the first book I wrote. And, um, I, uh, I self-published it, uh, which is, you know, a little bit, it is become more, um, popular idea thing to do now. Um, but I, I self-published. I wanted to, to put it out there, um, you know, as my first book, see how it's received and, and go from there. Um, and so, you know, I wrote the book. I needed a cover for it. Um, so I call the best artist I know. I call my brother Jesse. Um, so, so Jesse's, uh, I grew up playing video games with him. He is, he is, uh, two years younger than me. Um, he's awesome. And he is a, he's a great artist. He's actually an, uh, a professional illustrator. So I call him, I'm like, Hey, can you make a cover for me? He's like, well, do you have any money? I'm that much. He's like, fine, I'll do it. Um, and so I, I put it up on. And I waited for someone to buy it and nobody bought it. Uh, like that whole first day, I would just refresh all day, refresh, refresh, refresh, refresh. Mm-hmm. Um, zero sales. Zero sales, zero sales until the end of the day. Click refresh. One more time. That zero turned into a one. I'm like, I'm an author. This is amazing. I was marching around. The house is so cool. Uh, until the next day I got a call from my mom and she said she bought the book. It was on Amazon. Oh no, that doesn't count. It's my mom. But, um, eventually someone bought it for real. Someone else bought for real. And it turns out like there's a lot of kids out there who don't think that they like reading, but do like video games. Um, and so like, since I wrote to be my favorite book as growing up, it's, it's, you know, basically nonstop action. Um, and, uh, throughout the whole book. And, and, and it, and so a lot of kids found that they liked reading. And so, um, you know, parents would tell their parents about it. And, uh, you know, eventually, um, it, it started sewing really well. And then it got the attention of, uh, an um, uh, editor of Andrews McNeil Publishing. Um, they publish, uh, peanuts and, and Calvin Hobbs and a lot of that stuff. And, um, she called like, Hey, we really like your book. Could we, uh, republish it? I'm like, yeah, that would be cool Um, and so they did, so they, they republished the trap series and, and since then, um, it's sold over 2 million copies, which is crazy. It's, it's really cool. It's, um, so that's been really fun. Uh, and so there, there's five books in that series, and again, that's like a straightforward, um, series where they, they go in in different types of video games. Um, and so the first one is, Full blast. Um, he, he gets a blaster on his arm. Um, like Megaman, Megaman Man is the real Jesse's favorite video game. Um, there. The second one is, uh, like an augmented reality. It's, it's kind of like, uh, Pokemon Go. And so they're, they're, they're sneaking around. Um, now they're invisible unless somebody's looking at it with a phone, right? So they're, they're sneaking into this video game company, see what's going on. And the third one, um, the robots come out from the video game into the real world, start building their, their levels in the real world. Um, and the fourth one is, is, uh, like a retro game. And the fifth one is, um, like a, uh, you know, like a, a, a multiverse, uh, thing kind of deal. Like, uh, about like the metaverses, like that kind of deal. Mm-hmm. Um, so anyways, that was really fun to write. Um, and then the escape series. Is, uh, like a choose your own adventure. Um, so now you're the hero of the book and, uh, you're trying to figure out what to do, um, how to, how to solve things. A funny thing with that one, the second book in the series, I wrote it and I came, I came up with this idea. I'm like, man, this is an amazing idea for a game. No one's ever thought of this idea for a game. It's incredible. And, and I, and, um, And so I turned it in and, and, and the game, um, like you go on board a spaceship and there's, there's people in your crew, and it turns out one person on the crew is the traitor, Um, and then they're trying to kill somebody and you're trying to, to, to, to figure out who it is. And as soon as I turned to the manuscript among us became really popular, I'm like, oh, that's crazy. I just invented among us. Um, but anyways, it's, it's fun riffing on different video games and, uh, You know, and, and, um, picking up, um, some stuff, and again, trying to come up with some new things. But, um, to me, like the most rewarding part is, is hearing from kids who's like, listen, I, I, I never liked reading, um, before, but I picked up your books, um, and it got me into it. Or, or parents of, of kids that maybe have some learning disabilities or reading disabilities. Um, like, hey, this is the first book my kid actually has read front to back and is asking for and is, is reading the rest of this series. Um, so it's just been all a really, really cool journey. Uh, and, and I'm thankful for it. So, anyways, that was a long answer to your question, but hopefully that that gives you a little bit of background of, uh, where I'm coming from.

No, no, that's, that's a great answer, man. That must be super sweet. I mean, not only, have you reached this plateau where you're sold 2 million copies, but like to hear all those, testimonies and all the feedback from people who love your books and that must feel so good. What was it like holding that, like holding your first book in your hand for the first time?

it was cool. It was, it was really fun to me. Like, it was like, I knew it was self-published, right? And so I'm like, this is, this is awesome. Like, I, for one thing, like I'd never written anything that long before. It's, you know, 140 pages or whatever. So it feels good to have that, but, oh, to me, I, I remember what sticks out is, Like a couple weeks, a couple months, I guess, after I sold that and, and I was walking the dog and I was, you know, again, refresh, refresh, refresh. So you bought my book and, um, it was like, it was, I don't know, 15 books for the day. And, and to me, I, I did some, uh, you know, quick math in my head. Um, some very optimistic math. I'm like, I can do this. Like I can be an author and, um, to me, like, you know, like jumping up and doing the rocky jump up and down and walking the dog and stuff like that. Like, to me, that was the moment where, you know, it's like, well, this doesn't have to be just a one-off thing, this thing that I always wanted to do and I did it. Um, you know, like I did it. People are reading it and I can keep doing it, you know? Um, and so, uh, obviously now if I sell 15 books in a day like I need to need to kind of reevaluate things. But for me then it was, it was really cool. And that was, that was a moment that sticks out to me

for sure. So I gotta ask you, like you've been a longtime gamer. You've obviously been a longtime author. with the way gaming has changed now, do you feel like the direction that you have to like, think about a game or think about writing a book is gonna change in the future as well? Like, because like the industry's so different now. Like, we have firms oft who have produced like these harder, sort of like the dark souls genres, so to speak, the souls genres. You have like, The, the battle royal genres that are like taking off like the Fortnite of the world. Sure. Like there's so many different genres now that one kind of around whenever you started doing

this. Yeah, no, for sure. Um, so yeah, and to me it's, it's really fun. Uh, a couple, well, for one, um, like I write kids books, right? and so I, I'm trying to keep them, um, as like, as unobjectionable as possible. Um, and so like, I, I'm mostly focused on, on games that kids can play, you know? Mm-hmm. um, and so, so things like that. So that narrows it down a little bit. Um, but for me, like I really like, um, you know, getting into new games, I really like. buying a new game and being able to write it off on my taxes as research Um, but, uh, you know, and, and so for me, like I, I love the, the possibilities that different things open up. Um, so like that, that, um, augmented reality one, like I wrote that as soon as Pokemon Go came out, cause I'm like, this is a cool idea for a game for that kid to go into. You know, you get to be invisible and, and there's monsters everywhere in, in the real world. And then that's cool. So, To me, like I love learning about the, the new different twists and turns that things take. I love talking to kids, seeing what they're into. Um, cuz it just gives me different ideas for, for different directions

stuff could go. Yeah. So outside of your research, what have you been playing lately?

Yeah, so, um, I don't play, uh, as much as I did, um, when I was a kid, but I, for me, um, like I like playing, uh, with my son and with my kids. So Mario Kart is a staple. Mm-hmm. obviously. And then, uh, you know, some of those little games, uh, for me with I, and then actually after the kids go to bed, my wife and I for years, um, we've played, uh, Tetris against each other. just like wind down after the kids go to bed. So I'm pretty good at Tetris. Um, so those two for me, personal time, like I like to play, um, games. That usually are a couple years old that like, everybody's like, yeah, this is a great game. And, and so I didn't get to play it and so I, I go back and play it. So I'm working through the uncharted series right now. Um, yeah. Make and break. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So, um, I'm on the third one now. That's, that's awesome. Um, I finished the, uh, the two, uh, new Spider-Man games for the PlayStation. Mm-hmm. Um, so those, those are really cool too. Um, so I'll probably go through, you know, 1, 2, 3 games, uh, of those kind of games a year, um, on my own time in addition to, to some other stuff that I do. And then again, like I'll pick up a game, a couple games, uh, in a genre I'm thinking about writing and, um, probably won't finish the whole thing, but just play it, see what's up with it, and, uh, try to get some ideas that way.

You know, like from all the games you've mentioned in your top five, um, some of the games you've been playing lately are more story centric to where they lean more towards their, their narrative adventures. Like, how does it feel as a, a author to actually play like some of these story centric games like Uncharted and Spider-Man? Yeah,

it is cool to see how, how they work stuff in. Um, you know, for me, I, again, like I'm not great at video games, and so for me the, the fun part is, is those cut scenes is the, you know, the interactive ways they figure out how to tell the story. Um, y growing up, you know, it, it's always like you're playing cut scene, playing cut scene playing, cut scene. Um, so it's cool seeing that the newer games, how they're able to incorporate that story. Into the gameplay. Um, and that's, that's really inspiring for me for.

So what is your backlog? Like, I know you gotta be like, I'll never get to these games, but like what, what's some of the games that you're like, oh man, one day if I got time, these are the

games I'm gonna play. Man, I, that's funny. My brother, um, is, is always like, give it, my brother Jesse's a much bigger gamer than me. Mm-hmm. And so he's always like, Hey, you need to play this, you need to play this. Um, so he's playing, uh, Celeste right now, which is another game. Oh. So good. Dead. So good. I know that's, that's up my alley. And he's like, I, he was like, tell me. Well, he is like, are you gonna play this anytime soon? I'm like, if I get like a dili, if, if I break my legs or something, Jesse, I might get to that in the next year or two. But I mean, games like that, um, you know, again, like. the last of us. You know, stuff like that. Uh, like those kinds of games where it's like, man, I know this is either God of war, like all those games that everybody's like, this is an amazing game, and all that stuff is, is up my alley. Um, and I'm sure I'll get to it someday if I break my legs or in several years from now. So we'll see.

So, um, as the time we're recording this, like, um, the last of us TV show just had a debut episode. Have you checked that out yet? No, but I want to, it looks cool. It it, it really is. It really is so good. Yeah. But yeah. Um, going back to this, like you, you told us about your video game, origin story, so to speak, your you're writing origin story. what started like that journey for you? What was the moment that you were like, I'm going to do this? Like you, the moment you picked up the.

Yeah, no, that's a good question. Um, for me it was finding out my, that my daughter was gonna be born and I was just kinda like, oh, this is a thing I've always wanted to do and like, maybe I should do this before I have kids. I dunno, like I, I, um, at the time I ran my own business selling stuff on Amazon and, uh, it was going well, but I'm like, okay, maybe it's look a kick in the. To, to really crank that up a notch. And for me it was, it was a little bit like, this gave me a kick to, um, to do this, to try writing. Um, and so like, it was, again, it was a thing I always wanted to do. Um, when I do school visits, I talk to the kids about the process, cuz for me it took like a couple tries to sit down and do it. it was, you'd sit down and, and get a, get a paragraph written and then, you know, check out Twitter or, uh, do, you know, watch YouTube or whatever and, and waste the, the day and, and stuff like that. So, um, for me it was, uh, figuring out how to get the self-discipline to. To figure out a way to turn off the internet. I, I literally at, in those early days, would unplug the internet from my wall and throw my phone across the room, you know, and so, and then sit down and write. And I would, I would get my, uh, two hours a day in, get a chapter written. Um, and pretty soon I had the book done. And so once I was able to do it and, and kind of prove myself I can do this, um, it was, it was a lot easier. And then again, obviously once they started selling, it was a lot easier to keep going, um, and, and to keep, and to make it a habit that that stuck. Um, so, so, you know, It was my daughter being, finding out that we were gonna have a baby. Um, that kind of got it started and then figuring out a way to, to have the self-discipline to keep going, um, you know, was, was what kept me

finishing the book. Man, it is so funny to hear that you basically had to turn off the wifi to kind of get, get into themselves, so to speak. Yeah, but I, you know, the, I. in the back of my mind, I could just imagine like your wife's on the couch just monitoring her own business, watching Netflix, and all of a sudden the internet just

goes out, just randomly. No, it was funny. Yeah. I, yeah, like I would do it in the morning too, so she'd still be in bed. But I remember like the third or fourth day, she, she's like, yelled down from stairs. Why are you answering your phone? Cuz she always texts me instead of talk to me even though we live in the same house. And uh, I was like, oh, cause I threw it across the room. She's like, what? Well, our internet's not working again, Cause I keep unplugging it. It's like, just turn it off on your computer. But you know, it worked and you gotta do what you gotta

do. Yeah. That's pretty funny. That's pretty funny. So what was it like going to, going to a school for the first time and like talking to the kids, you know, as a, as a successful author, man, that's the greatest

thing. Oh, it's so fun. It's, it's my favorite part of the job. Like you're a, you're a celebrity for, for the day, for sure. You know, like, they don't, they don't know that you're not really famous And so they're like, this guy is the best guy. This is the most famous person I'll ever meet. Um, so, you know, it feels good. And then, you know, again, There's kids there that have read the book, um, when you get feedback from them, and that's cool. But that, that is my favorite part of the job. Like it's the dessert, um, where you get to, to have fun with the kids for a day. Um, and, uh, you know, you're, you're sitting there writing by yourself all day and you don't see anybody, um, you're kind of locked in a room all day. And so to, to kind of get out there, see the kids, see who you're writing for, um, you know, get some feedback, get notes from them and stuff like that. Like there's nothing

better. Yeah. That's amazing. What the first time you did that was, was, did you have like that Eminem reaction to where like, your palms are sweaty and everything like that? It was a

nervousness kinda there. Yeah. You know what I, um, I actually, uh, leave the kids church at my church every week. Oh, okay. Um, so there's like, there's like a hundred kids there. Um, so I'm pretty used to it. I, I'm, you know, pretty good at, at talking to kids and things like that. Um, so, you know, I like the skillset of writing a book is not quite the same as, as talking to a group of kids. Um, but I've been doing it for long enough where you feel pretty comfortable with it. Um, and again, like you have the headstart of these kids are on your side from the get go. Mm-hmm. Um, so if you don't, and you write about video games, so they're pretty. Pretty, I'm bored with that too. Um, so anyways, yeah, it's, uh, it's a, it's a good time for sure.

That sounds like fun. So I gotta ask what would you imagine your, like books as video games right now? Like how would you imagine that?

Yeah, you know, I mean, a lot of kids I get get those from kids. Like why is this gonna be a video game So when somebody makes it a video game. Um, so, you know, I write, uh, they're all different. Um, Like I said, I, there's a, there's a version of, uh, among us out there. Mm-hmm. somebody turning it up. But, um, you know, the first one is, uh, is full blast. And that, that is like a, um, it, it, so in the game it is kinda like a first person shooter. You have a blaster and there's these aliens around and it's. It's really over the top, and you're going to different locations in the United States. Um, so like there's a level where the statue of the, the, the sta the Statue of Liberty takes off like a rocket ship and you're in there and, and the, the, um, the, the aliens all chase you in there. And there's like a, you're, there's a platform and you're jumping to the top of the Statue of Liberty. You have to jump up. Get out, and then it takes off like a rocket ship and the aliens go up to the moon and you destroy the aliens in New York City. So um, for me, like that's always the game where I'm like, man, that would be cool to, to see that. Where just, you know, it's really over the top. It's kind of, it's very silly over the top. Um, but, uh, you know, again, they're, they're all different. Um, there's, uh, but that one is one that I'd love to see, you know, in a perfect world, turn into a video game sometime. I think that'd be

fun. That'd be, that'd be really cool. So which one of your main characters would you wanna see in some Smash Brothers?

Oh, which one of my main characters in Super Smash Brothers. That's funny. Um, in the book, uh, so the main characters are Jesse. Mm-hmm. and Eric. Those are the two main characters. And again, they're, they're based on my brother Jesse, my friend. I grew up playing video games. His name is Eric. So in the book, Eric is, uh, the gamer. He is, he is really good at, um, he is not really good at everything, but he's very enthusiastic about everything. Um, so I'm gonna be, I'm going with Eric, uh, from the books. Um, you know, if he's, if he's going down, he's gonna have a good time doing it.

I like that. I like that. What, what's his move set gonna be like, the blaster. What else is it gonna have at his focus? Yeah, you know,

he's got the blaster, um, in one of the books, he kind of cobbles together a rocket powered sledgehammer, um, where he takes a, a rocket thing and, and, uh, you know, attaches it to his sledgehammer. So, um, he's pretty resourceful and, and he is got a lot of stuff. So, uh, you know, anything you can cobble together like that. Um, he's got the blaster from the first book Um, but yeah, he's up for anything, so he'll try anything.

I like that. I like that. So I bet you'd lose your mind to see a mid smash just, just beating new Kirby down a little bit. That'd be cool. That's hilarious. I like that. So, Dustin, you know, like, I, I, we, I loved hearing about your origin story. I loved hearing about like all the things Yeah. You've been through, um, to get to this point. What words of inspiration would you give to aspiring writers right

now? Yeah. So I, for me, like I always tell spine writers, I always tell kids, um, just finish it, finish A lot of people like, Hey, I always wanted to write a book. Um, and a lot of people won't get to the point of starting the book and a lot of those people like don't get to the point of finishing it. And, um, that's a shame because for me, Like I was saying before, like it's really cool to be able to make a living office. It's really cool to, to sell a lot of books, but for me, the best part is giving it to a kid and, and, and seeing their eyes light up hearing, you know, how they, they laugh through the book or, or you know, they wanna keep reading and things like that. And anybody can have that feeling. um, you just gotta finish it and you gotta give it to somebody who's gonna connect with it. Um, and, and for me, like that's what keeps me going is, you know, is hearing from those kids is just getting that reaction. And it's the best part of being an author. Like, I don't write books, um, you know, to keep to myself. Uh, like my favorite part of writing book is, is, is giving it out. Is, is how people did and, and, and so anyways, what I would say is this, like, You know, don't worry. A lot of people get in their heads about, well, what's gonna happen with this? How, how do I copyright stuff? How will I get the, you know, and just get it out there. Just put it out there. Do your best. You'll learn so much more by finishing something than just by starting it. Um, and once you put it out there, like you don't know what's gonna happen, you know, it, it might sell 2 million copies. Um, you know, more likely like, it, it's not gonna reach a huge audience, but if it just reaches an audience of one. That gets something out of it like that makes such a huge difference. Um, it's really rewarding for you as an author and again, like you learn so much more by just doing.

Oh, that's good advice. So, Dustin, I gotta ask, if you were just approached by a AAA studio and they were like, Hey, we want you to write a video game, whatever comes to your mind and it's not your ips, so to speak. Yeah. Yeah. What, what would you wanna write? Wow,

that's hard, man. I'd have to think about that a little bit. uh, it was, I'll tell you this, when I was a kid, I had, um, I'll tell you about my idea when I was a kid, if you had asked me this when I was 10, I had it all sketched out the next, um, console. And it was a terrible idea. One of the worst ideas I've ever had, But it was like a, for, I thought it was a thing that is connected. Like you had a headset on and it was back before games had headsets and things like that. Um, but it was controlled by your voice. And so I had an idea for a baseball game, where you, where you say the word swing, any he swings and like, and so I think I had some other peripherals, um, that you could use. Uh, but I, I guess that's my idea when I was a kid where instead of pressing a button, which is very easy, um, you have to say words, uh, to. To accomplish those actions. Like you in my, in my concept, like I never even dreamed that you would talk to somebody through your headset. I just thought you'd be shouting out commands So that, that's my idea when I was 10. I'm glad nobody asked me that when I was 10. I'm gonna have to give some more thought to it now. I

got, that's a great question. I gotcha, I gotcha. So, Dustin, it's been fun, um, talking to you a little bit, but now I gotta ask you, uh, just a major question. It's probably one of the hardest questions I normally have to ask guests. Okay. And that is, are you ready? And the reason I ask that is because it is pro nerd trivia time. it is one of the hardest things anybody has ever had to endure in the face of the planet because you are gonna have to answer five questions from five different types of nerded categories. If you get all five, right, you will earned the title of Pro Nerd. are

you ready? All right, I'm ready. Let's do it. All right. So

let's spin the wheel. All right. So spinning the wheel here. Our first category is in the realm of the M C U Marvel Cinematic Universe. Okay. All right. All. So, have you seen a lot of these movies? I

have seen, yeah. It's been after Endgame, I trailed off a little bit, but, um Oh, okay. I I've seen most of 'em. I've seen

most of 'em. Okay. Okay. Which Avenger does Loki enslaved to do his bidding in the Avengers movie?

Oh, uh, that's, is that Hulk?

Is that Hulk? What? Well, one more time. The Hulk. I'm sorry, that was incorrect.

No, who is

it? Yes, which Avenger? Oh, it's been while, was Loki enslaved to do his bidding in the Avengers. It was

Hawkey. Oh, you're right. It's been a while for that first one, man. Oh, all right. Oh, that was my camera. I'm like, okay, I'm, see you. At least I have it. Oh, This is hard. Now have the pressure got to me. Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, that was a good guess because he did, in the movie, he did Trick the Hulk. Like he sort of like planned around and tricked the Hulk into a transforming, but no. Right. We actually, um, mind wiped. Clint Bardon on that one. Oh, so

boy, this is disappointing to myself.

All right, so this one is a little bit of a challenging one, at least in my opinion, but okay, it's in the realm of Nintendo. All right, in Nintendo, which was Nintendo's second three-dimensional game, and we'll, was the first game to use Polygonal graphic.

Oh, uh, I feel like, okay, so I remember there was, there's March 64 and I'm gonna say Pilot Wings. Is it Pilot Wings? Oh

my goodness. that is really close, Al that is really close. Unfortunately, the answer. Is not Pilot Wings, but it is a character that uses Pilot wings. It is Starfox.

Starfox. Oh, okay. Well that, okay, so the question was this, what was the question again?

which was Nintendo's second three-dimensional game and was the first game to use. Poll, Donald. Oh,

your head was stuck. I would, if I was thinking through, my head, was stuck on N 64 games, and so I feel like Pilot Wings was like the second N 64 game. But you're right. Star Fox was on the, uh, superinten was 3d. Yeah. Oh, man. Sebastian. All right. Three three's gonna be tough. All right. Keep going. I think,

I think you got it. I think you got it. You're gonna turn this around, but, so our next question is in the realm of Disney. What was the name of the little human girl from Monstrous Inc.

Oh, uh, do I boo? Yeah, you got it right. Oh man. That's one of my fav Boo. Of

course. Was it

one of your favorites? Rural. That's one. The Monsters, Inc. Is probably my favorite. Pixar. I really like Monster.

I like that one too. So the next one though, our next category, the wheel has stopped on Harry Potter. Ooh, this is

not my category. This is not my category. I, I think I read, I read the first three and a half books. If this comes from one of those, I might be able to like answer it, but probably not.

Okay. Okay. I hope so. I hope so. in Harry Potter. What was the name of the character who betrays Lily and James Potter? so that's his, is that his parents? Yeah, that's his parents. What was the name of the character who betrayed Harry Potter's? Parents? Lily and James Potter. Um, excluding, and this is excluding, you know, like. It was one of the marauders, but, so this is excluding everyone else. This is specifically talking about one of the marauders, and that was Moony pad, uh, pad, foot worm till, and James were the four marauders.

Is that a multiple choice center or It's not the marauders. It

is the marauders. What I'm saying is, I'm, I've giving you a hint. It's mul. It's like one of the marauders. But thanks. I

appreciate it. It's

one of

the, the war was gonna be my first guest, so I'm gonna go with, I'm gonna throw Dar against the wall and say, Worm Tale. It's gotta be Worm Tale.

It was Worm Tale. All Really? Yeah. You got that one. Thanks. so just for your information, worm Tale's name is Peter Pedigree.

Yes. I feel like I remember that.

Okay. Okay, so we got, so our fifth question and I, our fifth question, you get to choose between category A or category B. I can't tell you what the categories are, but you get to choose between a or. I'll

go a but you gotta tell me what both categories are. Once. Once. All right.

Okay. Once, once we're done. You can go through like travel the road not seen, so

to speak. Sure. The choose your own adventure wherever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So in the realm of actual Pixar. What was Pixar's first fully computer animated feature film.

So a feature film? Yeah. So

what was

Pixar's first? So Toy Story, right? Yeah,

that's exactly right. Yeah.

Okay. That's exactly, I thought you're gonna ask about the shorts or something like that. Yeah. Nah, you got that. Okay. All right. You got three? Yeah. Yeah. What was the other, what was the other? Another category.

B would've been in the realm of DC comics.

Oh, I'm not as strong in

DC so, okay. Okay. All right. If you want to hear the question and see if you, yeah, let's do it. Let's try it. Okay. All right. So in the realm of dc, All right, so what was the name of the character? Like the full A, like the full government name of the character, poison Ivy.

Oh. No idea. No idea. Uh, I Does it start with a p? Is that right or no? Yeah, it does. It does, does it? Okay. I feel like that was in my head. Um, if I could is I'm gonna say a P name. I'm gonna say Penelope. Is Penelope one of the I feel like

that's kind of close. Um, close. It was Pamela Isley. What's her name? Okay. Mm-hmm. All

right. When I got that, I'm glad I picked

a Yeah, for sure, for sure. All right,

well, cool. Hey, I got three. That's what I was aiming for. I am mad at myself because the other two were gettable. The, the, the Hulk one. I had it in my head where it's like they have 'em caged up. Mm-hmm. and uh, and there was something going on there. So that was, but the Hulk one is Starfox. I'm gonna need kicking myself. The pressure got to me, Sebastian, and, uh, but at least I got to three. So, have you, have you played, um, Starfox, be. Yeah. Um, I mean, I haven't, I, I didn't finish it, but yeah, I'm familiar with that one. We didn't have a Super Nintendo, again, Anthony Laport had at Super Nintendo play. You set up to Anthony would've played an shout out to Anthony Laport and my brother, uh, Jesse has played through that probably multiple times. Um, but I, I haven't played through it, but I'm, I'm familiar with and I have played it.

Okay. So my, my follow up question to that would be what's your favorite M C U movie that you've seen so far?

Yeah, um, good question. I like, for me, uh, I did really like Endgame. Um, that was like, it brought it all together. Um, and, uh, it just, I, I liked how that, that, uh, wrapped up. So I like done game. Um, the, uh, the last Spider-Man was really fun. No way home. It was a good one. Mm-hmm. Um, and, uh, let's see. I liked, I liked Ant Man. I'm a big Ant man guy, just, ah, it's silly and it's fun. Uh, so that's, that's more my speed. Um, so those three and then, uh, oh, um, winter Soldier, they filmed it in Cleveland Winter Soldier, where they filmed in Cleveland. I was, I was working, uh, downtown there, so I remember like in, in the, in my building, I went down to the lobby while they were doing it. Um, and there was like a car chase filming by the office. Mm-hmm. So maybe if you freeze frame real quick, you see me on my pretending to be on my laptop, but really watching the.

So, man, you actually got to see them, like do the car chase from Winter Soldier with Samuel Jackson and such. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. Yeah. That's

funny. You know what a funny story with that? Um, if we have a second, but No, go ahead. It was like, there was a casting call, um, and it was, uh, it was like for, for extras or for whatever, um, and, and that you had to go down to the library and, and there was one that fit the bill like perfectly for me. It was, um, I think it was called, Thin man, and it was like a scrawny guy who was, who was, you know, like under, under five 10, under five 10 or something like that. Mm-hmm. and um, And so I think it's who they used as like the body double, um, for, for Steve when he's like, it's a flashback or whatever. Um, so I had to be shirtless, which, which wouldn't have gone great for me, And so anyways, I remember like, it, they, they like lined us all up on the lawn of the library and, and like, and it was just like a line of the, of the saddest scraw AST guys. He. Scene. It was so good. And like I was trying to like, kind of shrink down a little bit cause I was a little bit too tall what they were looking for. And, and, and like, I just remember the lady like going down the line, she's like, too tall, too tall, too tall. And, and, and she's like, okay, you, you, you. And she gets to me and she looks at me and she's like, you have too much of a bill. Like, and I'm like, this is the first time in my life anybody has told me I have a bill. Like this is way better than being in the movie Thank you.

It was so good. Steve typecast you as being too muscular to play, like, too muscular to, to be in, and

it was truly a great compliment.

That's amazing. Amazing. It was one of the best moments of my life. That is amazing. You were almost at the Winter Soldier, but nevertheless, uh, like a real film person told you, you were too muscular to be strong. You That's amazing.

Yeah, it sounds great. Never, never before since then and, and never since. So, um, but I got that one.

Honestly, that should be in the list of your accomplishments right next to selling to copies of a book.

I know. I know. When you, when you asked me for a rundown at the beginning, like I should just said that story. Yeah, and that's all

we would've gone off of. For sure. For sure. Dustin, I, you know, it's been great having you on the show. Before we go though, I got a couple of last questions and these are just, yeah. One is like a multifier edition of the show, and then the after one is the easiest question you get asked all throughout the show. So, The rapid fire one. Okay, so as an author, like, do you ever see something on, like ever see something, whether it be a video game or a movie, and you're like, man, I would've wrote

that a little differently. Yeah. Um, you know, for me, like I don't focus on that as much. Like I just focus. If it's stuff, it's like, eh, that wasn't for me. You know? Or like I, I know how editing process goes with this stuff, where it's like, this is the vision you have in your head. And then like, stuff happens and, and people, other people put their stuff into it. So for me, I'm not that way for. More like, man, I wish I would've written that. Like, I, I really wish I would've written that. That is, you know, and so for me, that's the stuff that like, I kind of think about a little bit more. Um, you know, obviously there's, there's points where it's like, I, I would've done this a little bit differently. Mm-hmm. But, um, for me it's, it's more like, I wish I would've written that

I feel you. I feel you. So, um, follow up question to that then. What is the, the entry point into the book that you think is like the best entry point for

newcomers? Yeah. Um, book one of the chapter in the series. Um, it, it is kind of, um, uh, you know, they, they follow each other, so it's great to read that one first. Mm-hmm. um, if you're like more of a, a choose your own adventure kind of person, those are standalone. Um, so, so the first book in that series is great too. That one's called The Secret of Phantom Mile, and that one does draw inspiration from, um, uncharted and Indiana Jones and that kind of thing, like it's a treasure hunting thing. So both of those are, are good. You can start with either one. Um, but that first trap book is, is the most popular.

Okay. Sounds good. Sounds good. My, my rapid, rapid questions. Here we go. Yes. All right. Who's the best?

Uh, Donna tell,

okay. Okay, gotcha, gotcha. If you put Mario and Nathan Drake in a room and told them they had to fight, fight like fist, fight each other to leave, who you got?

Um, I, I mean, it depends on if Mario has a power up. I'm Mario. You can't, you can't dodge fire for that long. So, um, I'm gonna say if there's a flower in there, Mario's. Um, obviously Nathan Drake is, is pretty great at his fighting and, and Mario is not I don't think he's, he's trained in the martial arts, but I'm gonna go with Mario cause I'm, I'm saying he gets a power up. I gotcha.

I gotcha. So are y'all going to go see the upcoming Mario movie? Yeah, for

sure. My son is, is pumped for it.

That's exciting. That's exciting. Yeah. That's cool. All right. Does pineapples belong on pizza?

No, that's silly.

Oh my God, you just bluntly said Nah, that's silly, man.

keep going. This is rapid fires. Just keep going. obviously. Very silly, very

silly suggestion. Alright. Alright. Alright. Best m c u character,

m c u character. Ooh. Um, I mean, spider-Man is, is my default. Just you guys. That was, he was always my favorite growing up. Uh, and, and again, my son's a big Spider-Man guy, so we got, we're a Spider-Man household all the way. All right. Best video game. Best video game character. Um, oh, good one. Um, I don't know, uh, I, for, I, I guess I'm gonna give a, a silly answer and say, Mario, not that he's a great character, but that, you know, his game kind of started e everything and it's, uh, like the most recognizable kind of early character. Um, so I'm gonna go Mario, just, just because

our best video game movie, adapt.

Video game, movie adaptation. I, I'm gonna be honest, I haven't seen the Sonic Games at the Sonic Ones. Oh. And that's probably the first, you know? Mm-hmm. So I probably the Sonic one, I, I'm trying to think the last one that I saw. Um, and, and I'm drawing up blank, hopefully. Yeah. I know it's not a movie, but hopefully the last of us lives up to it. Yeah. Okay. Um, because I understand that that's pretty good. Um, and, and so I'm, I'm looking forward to that.

Okay. All right. All right. So last one. Where can the good people.

Um, well, I'm not, uh, huge on social media, um, but I have a, a Facebook, um, page for my books. Dustin brady books.com. Dustin brady books, uh, dot com is is my website. And then, you know, you can find me on, on anywhere on that. Um, and then my books are all on Amazon or wherever. Find books are sold.

Okay, I lied. This one's the real last one. Yes. When you, when, if you inevitably like accidentally unfortunately hurt yourself and you know, accidentally break legs, what game, what game are you gonna be playing, you know, as you recover

That's really funny. Um, let's see. Uh, I guess, I guess I have to do Celeste cuz I told my brother and I would do it and it is up my alley. Like it's a hard 2D platform or game. So that one probably, um, Like I, this one, I, I got ratchet and clank wrist apart a year ago. Paid full price for it and I've yet to touch it, and um, cause I was gonna play with my son and I turned it on and, and for whatever reason he was, he's like, this is too scary. So, so I'm gonna get to ratchet and clank wrist apart if for no other reason, I paid full price for it

a year ago. So that's amazing. That's amazing. you gotta let us know when you come back on the show, what you think about Ratchet and Klink, what your son thought about it when, because like he's gonna love it. He's a vi. I know he will. I know he will. That'll be cool. I'm excited about it. Yeah. So, Dustin, it is been great having you on the show. Any last things you'd like to say to the audience before we leave?

No, I appreciate you guys, uh, you know, sticking with me and, um, hopefully this kind of encourage you if you, if you have a project in your head, whether it's writing a book, um, starting a YouTube channel, working on an indie game, something, hopefully it's encouraged you to, to either start it or to pick it back up and finish it. Um, you know, you never know what's gonna happen and, uh, you can, um, you know, you can, you can change a lot of lives and, uh, your own and, and other people, even if it's just a little bit, um, it's, it's really cool to be

able to. For sure, for sure. Dustin, I mean it from the bottom of my heart. Thank you so much for being on the show. Like, you've been great. I, anytime you're available, I'd love to have you back. Like I absolutely loved having

you on the show. Oh, thanks for having me. It was so much fun. It was really, really

cool. Um, I, I had a blast. I did too. I did too. So, Dustin, we're all at a time for this episode. Thank you so much again for being on the show. See you next time. Peace. So that's a rep for today's show. I wanted to give a special shout out, and thank you to Dustin Brady for being on the show today. I also wanna let you know about the single player experience Discord server. It's the perfect place for single player gamers to talk about the good single player games they've been playing lately, and to get video game recommendations. Think of it kind of like a book club for single player gamers. The link to join will be in the description. Once you're in, feel free to share your video game backlog list. Talk about the good games you've been playing, or give your feedback on the show if you have a game that you think should be recommended or that you think I should talk about. Let me know in the single Player Experience Discord server. I'll see you there. Before we go, I just want to thank you so much for listening to today's episode. Stay safe, stay gamming, and I hope to catch you in the next one. Peace.