Why You should check out Lucid’s Kickstarter and The Current State of Nintendo ft. Eric Manahan

what's up and welcome to the Single Player Experience Podcast. I'm your host, Sebastian Marton, and in this episode we're gonna be talking to the creator of Lucid Eric Manahan. Eric and I have spoken previously on an episode of the Single Player Experience where we let you know what Lucid is and why you should be excited about it. Well, this episode is an update to that one because Lucid is about to launch its Kickstarter. In this episode, Eric is gonna tell you why you should back this game on Kickstarter, and he and I are going to talk about the current state of Nintendo and why it's time for a Nintendo Switch Pro. We got all this and more come right at you right after the intro, dJ start the intro. Mine. Hey, everyone. Like I said in the intro, we have a very special guest joining us today. He is the solo dev extraordinaire. He is a creator of the Dope Game lucid, and he's just a rockstar. I'm so excited to have him on the show. Joining me today is Eric Manahan. Eric, how you doing

today? I'm doing well, Sebastian.

How are you? I'm doing good. I'm doing good. I, I probably said this like a million times over the course of last year, but I am so looking forward to your game, lucid. I really

am. That makes me so happy, dude. It like, it never gets, uh, it never loses. Its like sparkle when, when I hear that, that makes me. So very happy. Thank you.

You know, like I, it's, it's getting to a crazy point too, because in my life I have a hype anticipation meter and that hype anticipation meter, like at the very top, there's like M C U Marvel movies mm-hmm. and like the huge games that I'm waiting for. Mm-hmm. like, you're right there now. Like you're, you're right there. Like as a time of recording, like we're, um, we're nearing the ant man, um, quantum manian, like, it's about to come out in theaters and like, and me being a M C U kind of guy, I, I pretty much like go to the openings, uh, at least like the Thursday or Friday openings of all like M C U movies and like Uhhuh That level of anticipation is what I have for your game now. So I'm like, oh my God, you're right there. So I'm so excited to have you on the show. So excited for to play Lucid when it comes out. But before I do that, you know, you've been on the show before, but in case people haven't heard that episode, can you introduce yourself, your game and the Kickstarter, because Lucid has a Kickstarter that I really think people should go in support. Can you introduce all that to the.

I'll do my darnedest. Um, so yes. Um, my name is Eric Manahan. I am, uh, the developer behind the game. Lucid. It is a, uh, love letter to all the games I played growing up, uh, with an additional like modern sensibilities cuz you know, games have evolved. Um, it's, uh, I've been love, like affectionately calling it the World's first Celestia. Um, that would make more sense if, if you could see the trailer. So you guys should go see the trailer. Um, and the most important thing right now in my life is the, the, uh, the Lucid Kickstarter that you can go to at, uh, lucid kickstarter.com. You can go there and all you gotta do is just gotta, you just gotta press one little click and say, notify me. It would just make my day would mean the absolute world. I I would give you a million hugs and kisses. Just gotta press one button. Thank you so

much. So Eric, you know, uh, I'm sure people are gonna stream to that Kickstarter, but we were talking about this a little offline. You were, were going back and forth on what you were going to do regarding the, the demo. Can you give people a little taste of the demo?

Yes. Okay. So, um, I'm doing my darnedest to create like the most thorough vertical slice of the game for this demo and for, or anybody. The vertical slice is a really weird term. A vertical slice is kind of, um, think of like a game as like a, a layered cake. And you, you cut into the cake and it's a piece, and every layer is an aspect of the game. Like everything you're gonna do in that game is in that one slice, even if it's just a tiny sliver. Uh, so you got your like, uh, your full gameplay loop, so to speak. I'm really trying to get everything I, I can in this demo, um, to really get the point across of what lucid. Is cuz it's a pretty like, uh, what's it called? Like, uh, everything's designed holistically, so if one piece is missing, I, I feel like it's just not gonna hit as hard. So, um, that said, um, I'm full steam ahead on this demo. It's coming along really nicely. Um, and I would, I'm like leaning really, really heavily towards a simultaneous drop with the Kickstarter. I would love to hear your viewer's thoughts. I would like, uh, in your comments and if they don't, uh, at me, Sebastian please, you tell me what they say. Uh, but if you guys want to come to the Lucid Discord and tell me too, that'd be pretty cool. But, um, yeah. What are your guys opinions on like demos that drop with Kickstarters? Does it give too much away? Do you get your fill and say, I'm done. That was good. Yummy. Yum, I'm done. Uh, or would the alternative of, um, like if you pledge a baseline amount, you get access to the alpha at the end of the Kickstarter. Um, I feel like. It makes sense on paper, but it might feel just like, this feels bad, man. So I, I would love to get some more input from you, Sebastian, your fans, like everybody. Uh, so that's where my head's at right now. For sure.

For sure. Um, so everyone, the link to the Kickstarter and his Discord is gonna be in the show notes in the description of the episode. So give them all that sweet love and all the feedback because like, I, you know, like this is a hard choice and, you know, I know there's so much thought and so much like decision making, uh, this decision making that comes mm-hmm. into like, Kickstarters making a game and everything like that. Like how do you handle all these big decisions? Oof,

uh, uh, that's a really good question, man. Uh, I, I wish I had like a really thoughtful answer. It's really like what I, I think I, I steer a lot of the ship with my gut. Um, what I, as a like, outsider, like if I saw. Uh, if I saw the equivalent of me doing something, like what would that ship be doing that makes me feel like I, um, like respect what they're doing. I agree with how they're doing it. Um, like I, I like where their headset at. They seem to give a crap about their audience, um, engaged with the audience. They, they try to give their, their crew. It's due like I just had. I was hosting a, uh, an art contest, and everyone came out and just freaking crushed it, dude, they, every day I would wake up to like, that's dope. That, that's also dope. And, um, like an idiot, I, I said, there'll be a grand prize winner, and I forgot, you gotta choose a winner, Sebastian. You have no idea how hard it is to choose a winner when there was like a hundred winners. But, um, so what I tried to do as a thank you was, um, every single entry I either cut up into like a highlights reel and made it, it's its own post on my Instagram and socials and added everybody. I recently just did a few interview questions with all the art, uh, a handful of the artists that you can check out their interviews and the discord. I couldn't fit it all, but I just try to give back the love that I receive because like, it just seems right. Um, so there's a long-winded way of saying, uh, all these decisions, like try to go with my gut. I talked to my friends, I talked to the Lucid community, um, and they really helped me, I think so far, make the right decisions.

So all these people submitted like really cool art and, you know, you really had to make the tough decision there on like what was gonna win the grand prize. But what was it like seeing all the different, like art styles and like, everything that people submitted about your video game,

man. Yeah, man. Uh, I mean, first of all, baseline, always flattered, completely humbled. It's always like, I, I never expect to get like, I don't know, I'll get, I'll get a handful, but then it's just like so many and it's just like, it's bizarre cuz this project was just this little project in my room alone and seeing my characters in world just being interpreted in all these, like you said, different mediums is surreal, dude. Uh, but, uh, what's it like to see all that? I, uh, I can't. Describe it. Like I've seen, I've seen 3D renders of little characters that look like it's a Pixar movie. I've seen comic book, I've seen musical stuff. I've seen, uh, uh, tracks like based on a character. Uh, what did I see? I saw a video game, a push mo. They made like a pushup. Yeah. Yeah. Do you remember Push Mo? Yeah. Yeah. They made a push mo level based on like one of the characters in Pixel art. It was, it was insane. Um, I saw somebody did a, uh, a, a stained glass thing. Some other guy did a laser like etching that you could like light up the etching. It was crazy. So, um, I again, thank you to everybody that came out, but, uh, it, it sincerely made my day for as long as that, or for every day that that was going on. Waking up and seeing entries was just the

best. So did any of the entries make you want to change any, like, art style in your game?

Uh, I, I wouldn't say it made me want to change my art style. It's kind of like set in stone but, but it definitely gave me ideas for sure. Like, uh, there was a few little scenes, there's a few, there was a few interpretations of characters and, um, things that I have pixelated where that's what, see, I've always said that's the beauty about pixel art, you know, and even, um, old 64 era stuff, it leaves the br like the mind, there's some freedom to fill in the blanks, you know, like it's not mm-hmm. HD graphics. It's like you need to be interactive with the art and like fill in the gaps of what you think that is. And those artists did that. And, uh, it, it's so cool because it's stuff like I didn't think of and I'm like, oh, I'm stealing that I, I'm taking that for sure. So, yeah, it, uh, it definitely

influenced. So let me ask you, like, you know, you're a creative person and as a creative person, you'll always, like, you can't help it. Your brain always goes on to thinking about ideas and, and in game development, you're working on a project. Like how do you stay on that one particular idea of like, staying on track with this project versus like, Hey, oh my gosh, I just got an, a really cool idea for another game,

you know? Oh yeah. Another good question. Um, well, my, um, my misses, she will tell you that I suffer from a hardcore case of tunnel vision and, uh, I'm like a dog with a bone. I, I'll, I just won't let go until it's done. Um, so I, I don't, I don't really struggle with. Deviating from the path. Uh, it's kind of like anytime you're right though, like I'll be walking around and I feel bad sometimes. I think we may have talked about this last time, so forgive me. Mm-hmm. if I'm telling my story again. But, um, we'll be out and I'll just, we'll be talking and we'll be walking the dog and I'll be like, I'll see, uh, I saw a woodpecker the other day. We were on a, uh, we call it nature walks. We were on a nature walk with the dog in the little, the woods that are near us. And, uh, this woodpecker was going, it was so close and so loud, I'd never seen it before. And all of a sudden it sparked this idea or this memory of like those little woodpecker and mega man x's stinking chameleon le level. Yeah. Right. And, uh, then I was like, oh my God, I, I need to do that. I have to make an homage. I need to make, and then I thought about what the, what mechanics are in the game right now? What can I apply to this? And then I was like, oh, I, I know what I wanna do. I know I've been working on these new assets and I can incorporate it into a woodpecker. And there you go. New idea. So, uh, Yeah, man, I guess everything just kind of gets filtered through this, this what, this lucid filter everything.

So, hey, you know, like you, you're about to start on the Kickstarter journey. Like how nerve wracking is that to, to start on a platform? You're, you're, while you're familiar with it, you understand all the concepts, like you're barking on this journey for the first time yourself.

Yeah. It's, um, stress-inducing. It's definitely stress-inducing. I, uh, I would be lying and disingenuous if I said it wasn't nerve-wracking. Uh, had a, I've had a. A few stints of just waking up, like really stressed out and just like, oh my, why am I sweating? Uh, I've had a lot of weird, weird fever dreams that I can only attribute to either, uh, some repressed memories or just more likely stress. But, uh, yeah, it's definitely stressful, dude. Um, I mean, I did a Kickstarter, or I was a part of a team who did a Kickstarter before, and, uh, so I have like a shade, a taste of it, you know? Mm-hmm. But, um, I wasn't kind of the captain of that ship, so to speak. So now that it's like all on, for the most part, all on me, it's. It's a lot. There's a lot to think about. Like, we've kind of alluded to, you know, like, uh, rewards, uh, uh, price points, um, like, like incentives, uh, trailers demo, like reaching out to play, uh, streamers who want to play it. Uh, how do you create buzz around the release? Like it's, there's so many pots and pans on the stove. You gotta like be flipping all the time. It's like a, what are they called? A short order chef or something like that.

Yeah. For sure. For sure. So I gotta ask you, like you, you've been working so hard on game development. Have you had a lot of time to play games yourself lately?

Yes and no. Um, No, on my off time, however, it's a, a really good segue into, um, so, uh, my buddy and I, we had started doing like this sort of, uh, matte black studio stream. Mm-hmm. where we play games either, um, influencer for, for Lucid or games. We love old Metro vens. And it kind of got put on the back burner, keeping on the, the, the chef metaphors got put on the back burner cuz they're just taking too much away from actual death time. But fast forward to now, um, between the Discord community, kind of like, Hey, we're we kind of like those, bring bring those back, man. So between that and then Aaron and I kind of like figured out a good system like schedule, uh, they're back. So that's how I get my games in now every Thursday at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard time find us at, uh, twitch.tv. Uh, the Matt Black Studio. I, I think I, I don't know, but uh, maybe that'll. Whatever. Uh, if you ever wanna watch us stream, you hit us up. But, um, that's how I get our games. And we've just recently played, we played Dead Space. We played, uh, dead Space Remastered. We played, um, oh my God, we've just played Metro Prime, remastered, Uh, that was awesome. And then we also played, it Takes two, and then we played a few community like demos, um, edge of Allegria by average Joe. And, um, that was super fun. Like, it's really great to have friends who've been making games alongside you and your community and like, play it on stream with them in the chat and just like, like kick the piss out of them and they kick the piss out of us for sucking and it's just a good time. Uh, and then we also, he was just editing this episode. We played, um, deliver us Mars. Oh yeah. Mm-hmm. uh, have you

played

that game? I've only seen trailers, but I'm, I'm aware of the concept of the game. Cool.

Cool, cool, cool. Um, I was, I don't wanna. Shit on another dev, so I'm gonna not gonna do that. The game isn't for you then. Thank you. Thank you very much. Yes, yes, it is definitely. It's not, I am not, its target demographic. Let's

say that. That's for, that's understandable. Not every game is for everybody, so I'm like, exactly. There are plenty of games I play all the time to where I'm like, I like aspects, I like, I can understand what you were trying to go for here. It is just not for me personally on that personal

level. That's a thousand percent. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You see, I need, I need you for some pr man, man. Just let me know

I got your back.

Goddamn. That was so good. I would sit here and just bury myself. Be like, that guy's a dick.

No, man. It's, it is all good. Like they're, uh, like I've been playing tons of games recently, you know, um, and had several different developers and, and different, like, different people on the podcast where we talk about different games and like, while some aspects are like something that really speaks to me on a personal level, some aspects don't really hit to me personally, but like, The crazy thing about us as gamers is like we, you know, like, just like movies, there's so many different genres. There's so many things that spark each individual person's interest. So Yep. Different strikes for different

folks. A a thousand percent. I couldn't agree more. Like, not everything. I don't think any, I don't think everything should be made for everyone, like mm-hmm. there's ob, like that's what cult followings are, and that's how you get those crazy like, um, niche audiences that just like, that's the thing they love and you can't tell 'em otherwise, and that's awesome.

Yeah. Recently one, um, like a perfect example of this and just a side note here is like, there's a, a game you probably remember that was released in the late in the PS4 era of Days. Gone. Like I Oh yeah. You know, the zombie hoard game. Yeah. Survivor, zombie H Game. I like aspects of that game. And I also like, I don't like the game as a whole, like I think it is a real cool concept, just that it didn't speak to me. And this is coming from a person who really liked, like games like the Last of Us Dead Rising and, and other zombie games. Like didn't, like a, didn't like the game as a whole, but that game has a huge cult following. People would wear it like legitimately, like they will go to bat for that game. They are like, they are signing petitions, like, make a sequel, don't do anything else. Make a sequel of that game. Wow. And I'm like, I love that people are passionate about that, but it's not for me personally, you know? Yeah,

yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Like don't get mad at me for not liking it and I'm not gonna get mad at you for liking it. Exactly. Yeah. To each their own, my dudes.

Exactly. So tell me about the stream. What have y'all been streaming lately since you put it on pause, like before you put it on pause. That is Well, um,

Well, we've been streaming, uh, what have we, we played, uh, some community demos. We ju we're currently in the midst of finishing metro prime remastered. And, uh, man, that's just like sitting in like, uh, I don't know. I use the metaphor of like, um, you have like your first car and you sold it, right? Mm-hmm. But then somehow or another you stumble upon your old car and you just sit down, you rub your hands around the wheel and you're like, ah, this is nice. It felt great. Like I've been enjoying the fuck out of it. Um, I, uh, when the first one came out, I had torn my a c L, so I was kind of out for the count for like, the perfect time when it dropped, like the week of, so I played a lot of Metro Prime. So picking it up again was a treat that said, um, my buddy uh, who had never played it before and was sitting like, you know, Driver's seat or, uh, passenger seat rather. Um, I didn't, I, I play fast and I didn't realize I look over and he was like getting pale in the face and like the, between all the visors switching. Mm-hmm. And he is like, bro, I, I'm, I'm, I'm gonna throw up, I'm gonna throw up He's like, getting motion sickness from all, like the, the movement and moving around. I felt so bad. But, uh, yeah, I, uh, I'm really enjoying MedEd Prime and, we'll, we're gonna be finishing it up, uh, tomorrow.

Yeah. So let's talk a little bit bit about Metro Prime. Like what aspects do you enjoy about it? Like the nuances that you enjoy about this remaster versus playing the original. Oh, wow.

Okay. Um, I think it would be a shorter list to say what I don't like. Okay. Cuz then I can go into what I do like, cuz it's pretty much everything Um, yeah. It's, so the things that I, where it's not, I don't like, is. and it's not even a complete, don't like I do, like the, um, they added, um, like traditional like analog control where you move with left and aim with, right?

Yeah. It's a modern day shooter controls

now. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So that said, they had to like free up some stuff and how they rework the, the controls. I didn't, my muscle memory, like I kept hitting the wrong buttons, man. And when I went to the controls options and I looked at like the traditional controls, I'm like, yeah, see like where my thumb keeps going, that's where I want that button to be. And it wouldn't let me. You can change controls to four different, like pr load outs, but then you couldn't change individual buttons. And I was like, I just want to switch these two and they wouldn't let me. Um, so that's like my biggest gripe with the uh, the remaster. Um, like my fingers were just starting to hurt cuz I had to do this weird kind of cloth thing. I'm old, don't at me. My, my fa my hands hurt, whatever. Um, So, yeah, that's pretty much it on the negatives. Oh, oh, sorry. There's one more. Um, the thermal visor, I could have sworn it wasn't so fuzzy and it really, it, it's kind of a lot on the eyes and especially for my buddy who was about to up chuck his lunch. Uh, it's a lot like, I made it real fuzzy and hard to, I remember it being smoother and just kind of like, like, I don't know, low poly or something. But, uh, those are the only two things that stood out to me. Nearly everything el like the textures are fantastic. The lighting's fantastic. The graphics are great. I mean, the gameplays traditional metro prime. What more can you ask for? Uh, I, I, have you played Metro Prime? I

played the original back in the day. I've not played the Remasters. So I was wondering, you know, like the, the major differences in whether or not, like, do you feel like you felt satisfied and fulfilled dump and jumping back in after all this

time? I would say a, a big yes. I, uh, I, I was going for, we were streamed for like four and a half, five hours, and I could have gone for more, but I looked over and my friend was just pale as a ghost. I was like, all right, maybe we, maybe we take a breather. But, uh, yeah, I could have kept going. Um, yeah, I wholeheartedly, I, I'm a big metro fan if it wasn a wasn't a secret. So, uh, I highly recommend.

So do you think this is the best remastered that Nintendo has done recently? Ooh.

Okay, hold on. Now I gotta do a little. Memories

tallying up of all the remasters that

they've done. Yeah, dude. Yeah. Like I, the one I was talking with some buddies, and like, the last one I can remember that I played was, um, the 3D s Zeldas, you know, the Majors mask and the Arina. Mm-hmm. Um, and those are pretty phenomenal in their own right, like the whole, the two, um, the inventory on the touchscreen, like completely mitigated, all that, like pausing and stopping shenanigans of the original, the updated graphics were great. Um, I haven't finished Metroid Prime, so it would be unfair. I don't know if they added new content. I think by

this point though, you, you kind of like, you know, you get the gist of it to know like a lot of it's been unchanged other than like the upskilling you. Yeah.

Yeah. I, I, I don't, I think it, I don't, I don't think I can say it's the best. Okay. Because of, because of my set issues. If it didn't have those issues, I might've been able to say it. But, uh, considering we just played the Dead Space remaster mm-hmm. and then played the Metro Primary Master, like the both great games, great remasters, but the Dead Space remaster. Like, I, I had nothing. There was, I was just like a, a pick and shit, dude. It was It was so much fun. Um, truth be told, I got a little too, uh, we figured out on sh for the first time, I'm an old man and I don't know how Stream works and we just figured out, um, channel points. Okay. And, uh, we're like, wait, you can make people pay your channel points and we do stuff That's amazing. and I, I'm playing and my buddy who is, uh, he just, uh, uh, uh, He's got more, he can drink more than me. He, he's got more of a tolerance than you do. Uh, he, I used to have more, but then I, I went rock climbing and I, I just lost a. I, I look like this gaunt skeleton person out of nowhere, So I, I, I'm still acting like I'm not, so I'm like trying to keep up with, which I usually could, and I'm like, I forgot I lost 20 pounds. And it, oh my God. So he was in the control of like the, The, the, the, um, channel point rewards. Mm-hmm. or whatever. Mm-hmm. And he was like hotshot sauce, uh, shot, shots shot, hot shot hot sauce shots. It was just like one after another. And people were just, he also grossly underestimated how much channel points the, the crew had. And they were just like dropping those points like immediately. So it was just shot after shot after shot. I got pretty sauced on that stream. My, my dude. Um, that's so funny. I'm sure when that episode comes off, we're gonna have a little towel, like a guess. When Eric became belligerently drunk

it was like the 10 minute marker, right. 10. It's amazing. And at that point, you're still like flawlessly playing metro in private

Yeah. No, I, you could, you could tell. All of a sudden I was just, Sucking wind and he I was like aiming at the wall. It was bad. It was so bad. But that said, that remaster was amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed that dead space game. It was really, really, really, really good. Is

that, so that's good because the reason why I ask is because, like, I feel like the narrative around Nido is like, they either go super hard with it or like they barely put any effort into it. Yes. You know, like is, there's like the, the Zeldas, like the Skyward swords and, and like the, what was it, the Mario 3D collection where they just basically put out the same game and then like, then you have like Zelda's links awakening, which is like really good. It's like a yes. Rebuilt from the ground up with a really gorgeous art style. And then you have this, you know, metro prime remastered. And this seems like they actually put a lot, lot of effort into it. You

know, you're, you absolutely, you're hit the nail on the head. Um, it, it is peculiar as to like what. Why, why, why are some and why are some not? And, uh, I mean, I can only speculate and I can only speculate that it has to do with like bi like a business decision. I, the Skyward sword debacle, it felt like because Breath of the Wild got pushed back. They're like, we have to toss them like a, a piece of meat. Mm-hmm. like, just like gnaw on this for a while. And they just like, oh, what can we do? I don't know, up res skyward sword. Uh, 60 bucks, yay, Um, because like, they clearly can do it if they give a shit like I mm-hmm. But then that argument kind of, or that reasoning kind of falls short for the Mario one. They weren't trying to push anything out. Like I, I don't know. I don't know what that, that was so weird. And then it was also a limited release. Yeah,

yeah. Like it, like they were the Disney vault, so to speak, where they were just like, you can't have it before. I'm like, it's a digital good man. Just throw it to us.

It's a feels bad man. Why, why, why do that? Um, I, I, I, I couldn't tell you, I am perplexed. I will always, and always have been an Nintendo fanboy, but, uh, man, do they make some decisions where I'm like, what? Why?

Yeah, I think a lot of people have coined it weird Nintendo decisions. Like

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, okay, okay. Nintendo gonna, Nintendo, I guess.

Mm-hmm. Yeah. You know, like the crazy thing is, is like, you know, there's such a discrepancy in quality too, cuz like we get so many good games, like Breath of the Wild Mario Odyssey, you know, Metro Prime now and then like that's the creme de la creme. Like those games are like Game of the Year contenders. Every year they drop and then you also get like the Mario Sports games to where I'm like, This should not be a full title like this. They feel like all together you can charge $60 for 'em, but like separately, it feels like you are robbing people for $60. Absolutely.

Individually. Absolutely. And even, um, that Mario party, like it was, it was, it was good. It was very well constructed, but it was so, it was a so tiny, it was so tiny. Mm-hmm. Sebastian, what the fuck was that? There was only four boards. I, I don't, I don't

get it. I don't either. Give us a meat man. If you're gonna put some mouth feed us, you

know, or at the very least, D L c I mean, they've been pumping out Mario cart eight D l c for like 1,000 years. What? It's going up. I mean, I hope they do the same treatment, but they're not, they're not even doing that. Eric, I was about to say, I hope they do what they for Smash Bros. What they do for, um, Mario Card eight. But they've already said, they're like, they're done and they're never, oh my God. Don't get me started on Steve and Kazu. Ugh. Mm-hmm. Jesus Christ. Anyway, I don't want to get angry

I, you know, like I'm, I'm always an next generation kind of person. Like I, okay. While I don't like the quality of like, some of the Pokemon games recently, like, I like the fact that hey, let's push things to a new generation. Like, I'm that kind of person to where I'm like, don't give me the same game and like, just make me repay for it. At least gimme a new experience. Mm-hmm. sort of person. Som. I love the, I love it for the people who love, like, hey, we're getting new cart, like new carts and like a couple of new courses every couple months. Yeah. But I'm like, can I just have a Mario cart at nine at this point? Like, yes. I don't, I'm, I, I don't need eight deluxe for the last seven years. Like, I give me at least a new Mario cart, like with, uh, with some of the new characters y'all come out with. Like, give me some with like the arms people to where like maybe they can like, throw their arms.

Right. Throw their arms. That'd be a really cool, yeah, that'd be, well, I don't know if that'd be enough. That's a cool item idea. It was just like a giant, um, spring, yeah. Punch thing that looks really cool. Gimme

that. But I platoon, like, gimme, you can make, like, make their, the road like wet behind you using like some of the guns or something like

that. It, it's, it make rights itself. It's basically, it really does. It's like a, a long form banana chain, but like mm-hmm. it's this long streak of banana chain. That'd be super cool, man. I mean, I feel like we could have our cake and eat it too. Like all they got us to do is keep doing what they're doing, but also drop like a, a teaser, a teaser trailer for nine. Just let us know what's in development. I, that would make, uh, a lot of people happy me. Thanks. I,

I think so too. I think so too. Like, um, I, I'm looking at it and I'm thinking to myself, I'm like, surely they don't have that whole team just working on like, Mario party, uh, like Mario Cart, d l c, like that whole team is just tolling away on D D L C. They gotta be working on something else. You know that Gotti

Right? That'd be insane. Like,

don't way to just have that whole team just sitting there working on DLC for a game that's, that came out of the Weu, like, yeah.

Yeah. That is insane to me. That's so true. Plus like, all the assets that they are using, I feel like they're just, Kind of like assets in the vault somewhere, and they're just kind of moving them into the game. Oh, yeah.

Copying and pasting basically at that

point. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I, I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I know what goes on at the big end, but mm-hmm. come on guys. I mean, I recently, uh, speaking of trailers and stuff, um, I mean, what about, let me, I'll be the podcast person for a second. Um, how'd you, yeah, go ahead. How'd you feel about the, uh, the breath of the wild trailer?

Um, the tears of the Kingdom like that? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I am, uh, yeah. Okay. Like, I am so mixed on this game right now, because like, whereas I Thank you. I, whereas I am a person who liked Birth of the Wild, I'm not a person who was like, Hey, this is the greatest game of all time kind of person, like mm-hmm. that I wasn't that person to begin with. And like, that trailer to me just felt like more birth of the wild. And with a couple of like cars thrown in with a thank you. Thank you that that's all it felt like to me. And then like, it sours that a little bit to me where you're like, we still have the switch. We are giving you a new breath of the wild, like game tears of the kingdom in this case. And we're just, because like this is our premier title, this year we're gonna charge an extra $10 just because Yeah. Like now it's $70. I I, yeah. It didn't feel like a, it felt like Nintendo doing weird Nintendo decisions at that point, and they're also like doing bad consumer decisions. Yeah. So it felt tainted to me. Like I, I looked at that whole thing and I was like, oh, this, I, people are gonna be like, oh my God, this is the best thing ever. And meanwhile I'm over here being like, bro, this, yeah, this feels gross.

Uh, you, you, I, I was, if I'm being, I completely didn't see that we're on the exact same page. That is how I felt uh, during that stream. Um, we, we actually did a, a reaction stream to the stream. Mm-hmm. and, um, I was more hyped for the metro prime shadow drop at 40 bucks. I was like, so ecstatic. And then after that I was like, Ugh. Mm-hmm. what, what is there more? And they're like, eh, goodbye. And I was like, that was it. And everyone's like, brother the wild. And I was like, nah. But nah, I don't know. I, I agree. I had this such a mix, like I'm, I'm obviously gonna get it. Mm-hmm. I'm obviously hype, but for some reason I am not hyped about what just happened. Yeah.

I can understand that completely.

Yeah. Yeah. I, and again, I, I keep, every time I, I'm like in the Discord talking and they're like, what you think? I'm like, I don't know, man. And I just send, as long as we avoid this and I send a gif of, um, the banjo, kazu nuts and bolts mm-hmm. I, I'm just like, what? I don't know. I, I, maybe my age is showing, I get, I get the idea that there's like tech and ancient chika tech and that there could be some steam punk elements, but there's something weird. There's like this, um, dis dis um, mental, like this dissonance of seeing link on a car in my Zelda game. And I'm just, I'm just like, what is go? That's, that's, that's not right.

It's mixing too meme genres together.

Yeah. It just doesn't feel right. I, I don't know. I mean, I, it again, it might fall into that. Some kids are probably fucking ectatic for it, dude. Mm-hmm. and I'm happy, I'm so happy for them. And, uh, yeah, I'm old and maybe my Zelda is the older Zelda, but yeah, it just didn't, it didn't hit right. I really hope, uh, when they, if if they do a, a bigger in, uh, dive, I don't know. I, I would love to not feel this way cuz

I, I don't think they will. It seems like they're trying to keep all their cards close to the chest about this game. Hush hush. Yeah, it does. Uh, either that or they're gonna do like a whole Nintendo direct jest about this game. And I don't, that's,

that's it. That's my f yeah, that's my fingers crossed. I have all my digits crossed for that, but I, I think you're right. I don't think they are. I, I think they're gonna just drop it and be like, be surprised. Um, I don't know, man. And then I think Arlo our, our favorite blue puppet friend, uh mm-hmm. he, his, in his video, he also shared a se a sentiment that I have, which is, um, the whole ganor or presumably Gander's voice. He, he goes from this huge mysterious, like no words, no nothing, and all of a sudden he's just this voiceover, like generic anime voice guy. And it's just like, you're not, you're gonna drop it here. That should be a big moment. Like, what are you doing? I don't know. I thought it was a pretty, uh, it seems like it was a misfire from the $70 thing, and

Yeah, it does. I, I don't know, like. You know, this game seems like it would be hard to market, but it kind of writes itself to where I'm like, just show us like actual gameplay footage. Like show five minutes of footage of pe of just one random person in your office playing the game. Yes. And I guarantee you people are gonna be more hyped about it than this video

package. I, I agree. Yeah. Do like, um, a pseudo curated en encounter where it's in engine, it's a person playing, but like obviously it's set up to like highlight all the cool new shit you're gonna do in this game and like let you get give of the guy, uh, us of an experience. Like we're we, we're on the controls. Cuz right now it's just like you say, this is a bunch of little clips and all the clips not for nothing. It looks like it's from Breath of the Wild.

Yeah. I can't tell the difference, but I think like that's kind of a part of the problem too, is because. This is still on the switch, which is, which came out 2000, like 2017 and like Yeah. At this point is really starting to show its age, especially like with Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. That just ran like old serpent Ahop at this point. Dude,

dude, that's so perfect. Yeah. Uh, Pokemon is basically old syrup at ihop. Uh, holy crap. Yeah, I I I, it didn't really strike me until just now how old the switch is. Yeah, man, it's been a minute. I can't believe that they, oh, that's a holiday discussion. The whole switch pro. And where the hell is it? Um, that would've been a great thing to drop this holiday season with a new breath, uh, Skyward. Ah, what the fuck? Uh, tears of the kingdom.

Yeah, dude. Just do it now. Like, and I know. the game's coming out. What? I think the May 15th. May, May 15th. I wanna say something around there. Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. I'm like, I know the game's coming out real soon. I'm like, that seems like a misfire not to have a console around that time or Awesome. It just, it feels, it, it goes together. Why, why do you not have a new console

for that? Yeah, and, and I mean, I, correct me if I'm wrong, I, I'm wrong a lot, but, um, I doesn't Zelda feel like a, like a, a holiday end of year, kind of like, not. May event was the

old one in May. I, I can't remember when, um, breath of the Wild came out, but like, yeah, I can't either. It seems like Nintendo has always been a, like a big proponent of having a holiday game, like at least, yeah, a fall title, like of Mario Odyssey, like title to where you put it into the fall. They have their big game there, you know? Yep. Yep.

The more, the more I think about it, I took, I took a literal week off of work when that first breath of the wild dropped and I, I took off an entire week for a staycation. Woke up at nine, went to bed at 3:00 AM for seven days and played Breath of the Wild. It was glorious but now I think about it, when I got back to the office, it was very cold. I was wearing a scarf and a jacket was super duper cold, which hints to me that, I think it was around the holidays, maybe November even. But, uh, yeah, I don't know. Some

something. You're also on the east coast though, so I'm like, oh, truth, truth, truth. You're also on the East Coast, so I'm like, I think that you're 2017, it was like, um, one half of the year and I think the front half was Zda cuz the back half of that same year, Mario Odyssey was her fall game. Oh

shit. You know, you're right. Oh, there you go. There's me being wrong again,

No, no. And you know, like, the crazy thing is, it's like we were talking about Zelda and like the, the, the futuristic mechanics that kind of mix in with this genre. The, it seems very xeno to me more so than Zelda. Oh.

Yeah. Yay. You know what, you're right. They have been leaning in harder and harder into the sheika like aspect of Zelda. Mm-hmm. And, um, I get, I mean, you gotta do something new. I just, my, my warm spa, my comfy place, my kid in me is like Zelda's high fantasy. It's like horses and swords and bombs and boomerangs and slingshots and cutting bushes. It's, it's not so much riding propellers in the sky with a magic arm and steam punk and mm-hmm. It just doesn't feel like my, it's not Zelda, but, uh, you know what, maybe it's not, it's not being made for me. It is what it is. I

bet you're gonna play this, this game and just be, you know, even if, if it's not like a 10 outta 10, you're gonna be in love with this game

still. You're probably right at this point. It's, it's like, it's probably gonna be a, a banger of a game and all this, uh, naysay is gonna be fornot, but, uh, it is, I, I'm speaking my truth right now. Sebastian This is how I feels. It's how I

feel. I'm right there with you. I'm right there with you. So, you know, like y you're an old school Zelda fan. How would you like to see, like, mini cap done in the, the Link Awakens style to where like, they remaster or remake that game, but like, use that same link awakens, like art style with that game?

Bro, I've never even thought, uh, I mean, talking about the last stream, like another thing of the hype ness was that whole, all the Game Boy games that were coming with it. Mm-hmm. and Mini Cap was there. Yeah. And I've never played the mini cap, never played it as like a huge sell. The fan never got around to it. And I, I would love to play it so, The proposition of having like that new style that also was so, it was so good. I love that, uh, that re um, remaster of awakening. I would play that in a heartbeat.

I, um, I, I, I think Nintendo's like missing a like, uh, kind of like a golden marketing opportunity to where like the Mario has 2D Mario and then they have like the 3D Marios like Yep, yep, yep. That's the, that's the way it works. Like Zelda, you can remaster all the old retro Zelda games in that same kind of art style or a similar vibe to that. And you could still put out your breath of the wild types, you know, your big open

world game. I could not agree with you mar you, you're a hundred percent right. Um, like I remember there was speculation of when that first one came out and everyone's like, yo, does this mean we're gonna get maybe like oracles of, uh, Oracle ages and seasons in this style? Cuz that'd be dope. Um, but yeah, even like you just said, like even if they don't do the exact, like, take. What they have and like tweak it slightly if even if they want to, but yeah. Why are they not releasing those, uh, top-down Zeldas in a hd, uh, a high res like toy box, whatever. Uh, it is beyond me. Like I would buy those in a heartbeat.

Most people would. And I, you know, like, um, I was gonna do an episode about this and I think like, now speaking about it, I'm like, we basically are doing the episode that I'm kind of was thinking about doing, but like, I, you know, I was, you know, I was thinking about this while I was, you know, kind of rough drafting, like what the layouts for. Like some of my episodes were gonna be Uhhuh And I thought to myself, I'm like, what are the games that defined this era for the Nintendo Switch that are original games? Not remastered, Uhhuh not remakes, but like original games that you could say those are the Switch era

games. Hmm. And Switch era being the from 17 to now. Yeah.

Like, yeah, like, like is not Mario Car Cart Deluxe? Because that technically is just supported over game. Not Super Smash Brothers Ultimate poured over game. Like it's just amalgamation of all the Super Smash Brothers games put together. So I'm like,

yeah, smash Ultimate is definitely a, uh, what the hell's it called? Uh, super Semantic, cuz it's technically new, but they mm-hmm. It's very sim so, so very similar, just like models and. Like, it's definitely like they, how do you put this? It's like you, you made craft mac and cheese, but then like they threw in some like Tabasco sauce, it made some, like, made it like sp like much nicer. They they dressed it up in gourmet Yeah, yeah, yeah. They, they, they tweaked it pretty heavily to make it its own, but like the base is still Kram mac and cheese and Kram mac and cheese is delicious. Don't get me wrong, But uh, yeah, so se very semantics. But that's a good question. I mean, I mean Breath of the Wild Avi, uh, a Mario Odyssey

because think about it like this, like, uh, I can go back to the Game Cube era and say like, oh, those were the best, the Game Cube, um, Nintendo Games. I can go back to the Game Boy game like era. I can go back to the 64 era. And I'm like, those were the games that defined the defined Nintendo during that era of like these, and there were original. Original games. I can't, I'm having a hard time coming up with 10 that, like, that are original games that define the switch to where I'm like, going forward, we're gonna remember the Switch era by these 10 games. You

know?

So, so not only are they, um, like exclusive to the Switch, they're also got like, they're not fodder, they're, they've gotta be monumental and like Rene, like well Beloved kind of

status. Yeah, I mean like, yeah cuz I'm like, if you were equivalent, and I'm not trying to make this a console war here. Think like, if you were thinking about like, the PS4 games, like where their first party PS4 games. Oh yeah, you're gonna, you come, you have a hell of a list to work with. I'm like, oh yeah, I can think of 'em pretty quickly. Uh, exactly off the top of your head. I'm like, Uhhuh, you have like Ghost of Shaima just off the top of your head. Monster

Hunter. Well, I guess they eventually didn't they port it to the PC eventually? Yeah.

Yeah. But I mean like, if we're just talking about first parties though, you got like, um, You would have Ghost Shaima, God of War, you would have Spider-Man. Oh yeah. Horizon Zero, Dawn. Oh, oh yeah, You get what I mean? Like my point, like my point is I'm like, those were the Oh, uncharted four A thie in

Oh yeah, you're you're a right and you're right, you're right, you're right. I'm like, what are the games? Oh, devil wasn't, devil may cry. PS

it's third party, but still I'm like, it was, oh right. Yeah. I'm like, it was the third party game. But like if you look at like Persona five Royal, like Persona five Banger after Bloodborne Five, blood Born, the Last of Us Part two.

Oh my God. You're right. I forgot. Blood Born was on ps4. How did I forget that?

Exclusive to ps4, but I'm like, now, uh, go to the Switch era. And if you can think of 10 original games that are not just like remastered ports that. But I like that. I'm gonna try. I'm

gonna try. Yeah, I'm gonna try right now. It's

a challenge. Let, let's see what

you do. Yeah, we got breath of Wild Uhhuh We got Mar Mario. Ossey. Uhhuh. I'm gonna say smash, even though I can, we can argue about it. We'll count it. We'll count it. Oh we'll. We'll, I'll count. Smash. Um, uh oh. Um. Fucking platoon three, even though count it. Yeah. It's uh, platoon three, but again, it, it's essentially platoon two, but kind of better. It is kind of in the same smash world anyway. Um, so that's five Um, I know there's some people Yeah, like Pokemon with Shield was good and I'm like, you go sit in the corner and you rethink your life cuz you're living it wrong. No. Um, and we were just talking about how you can, like things that you like, what you like and don't bring that mess here. Uh,

I mean, but we're not, no one's gonna go back and remember and say like, oh, Pokemon sort of shield redefined like that, that is what we define as like the quota, central, central, like switch game, you know, switch.

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's sold like game. It's a tra whatever it's sold, but that's not the indication of a, like a game that'll last a lifetime. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Man, I, I'm trying to think, uh, shit. I got those five. I'm trying to think of my own library. Oh, I guess, oh no, it's a remaster. I was gonna say the, the, I can

throw you a bone here. Animal crossing New Horizon. Oh, thank you. It's gonna be on that

list. Yeah, that's definitely, that came at the, the, the beaning of the panda ruski at the mm-hmm. Just the right time. I played the metric crap ton of it. That was a great, yeah, that, that's definitely gonna be one. So there's six, uh, oh. Luigi's Mansion.

The Luigi's Mansion three. I don't know if that's necessarily what I, I'll I'll count it just so we can get to 10, but like Yeah.

what? That's like what My third bone? Um,

yeah. I was like, I, I don't necessarily know if like that's what people are going to be like, oh, that was the crim de la crim of like the sweet era, you know? Yeah. So I

guess, I mean, here's a good indicator of like, what, what really this question is asking. Like even if, if I went online and I was like, top 10 games or like, oh yeah, this, this, that. Oh, I'm sure somebody's gonna say fucking Xeno Blade or whatever. Um, But even then, the fact that we're struggling this hard is an indicator.

Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, and I think like, you know, like, I think there's one thing to be said about nostalgia, but I think there's another thing to be said by being crippled by nostalgia to where like, yeah. If that, and if nostalgia for you as a developer is a crutch, then I think that's a problem. Well, you know, like, because I, cuz when the switch first came out, there was innovation there. We did get like games, like arms. Oh,

arms. Oh. But yeah, back to the, is it a, like No, it's

not defining the generation though, you know? No.

Yeah. It's really not. I'm like, I, I liked it, but it's definitely

not, no, I'm a, it's not defining the generation. So I'm like, it's, it's one of those things to where I'm like, what was the original IP games that, that, not IP, but original games that defined this generation for the switch. Because a lot of it is just port, it's a port fest.

It really is. It, it, and I, I mean, it's probably due. A huge, I would say a large factor is probably the limitations of its hardware where they like, it's really, they probably saw how much freaking money they made with the, um, the Mario eight port. Mm-hmm. Cause that thing, that thing, I think

it's still the highest selling game, like

easily I was about to say. Yeah. I'm pretty sure it's sold way more on the switch than it did on the Weu and they're like, mm-hmm hold on a minute. Why spend all this money making a new game when we can just redo what we did and make just as much, if not more.

E Eric, I would be real with you. That game sold more than we use, were sold in the wild. It's like that game alone outsold the weu almost by like, I think quadruple of the number. That's same we we used in the wild. That's

dude. Holy crap man. The Weu was such a freaking bodge. I can't believe it. I got one, but I mean, Jesus. Um, wow dude. I mean there's still some time left. I mean, oh, I don't even, where the hell was Metro Prime in our last direct, that's what I wanted to see. They teased me. They cock teased the crap out of me. They dropped Prime the remaster. I'm like, oh man, they dropped. It means they're totally, and then it just went fade to black. And I'm like, what? What?

Uh, I have a theory they're going to do like Metro two and three and then give you four.

Damn dude by that time, like, alright, if that's really what they're doing, I think they're gonna play the long card. I think they're gonna do what they did. Breath of the wild and the weu and the switch where they're like,

they just switch. That'll be the, the game for the new console basically.

Yes, sir. I think, uh, it'll release for switch at a lower power and, um, but to sell it, they're like, Hey, you know that game that you've been wanting for like eight years, it's here with a shiny new console. Yeah. Sounds, that sounds like Nintendo

Yeah. They, they're like, we got that and then we got Mario Odyssey too for you that come back.

Yes. I, um, I, I thought that's what was, um, showing up when they were showing the Pickman four. Mm-hmm. which is, um, I mean, that might be a pretty huge game on the switch, but. That time will tell, but when they were showing the, the beginning of that, I, I thought it was Mario Odyssey too. Um, who start out in space and stuff. It

does kind of look like that. It gives that vibe. It's just, yeah. You, you mentioned Pigman, and I don't wanna like crap all over the Pigman fans, but like Pigman never has seemed like a, a tier like franchise for Nintendo. Like Yeah, it's always been that c or B tier where like, yeah. It,

it just never caught its footing as, as hard as the rest. No. Like, it, it seems to be a, a solid quality game. I've never played one and I want to, that's why I'm, I'm actually, I've pretty excited for it. I've heard only good things, um, but obviously like case in point, I've never been drawn so hard to be like, I need to go buy that and play that. It's been like, I'll get around.

Yeah. It's almost like, you know, like you go into like, um, I, I'm not big club person, but like, if you go into like a club, like, uh, it's allowed in the, the Nintendo Club, but it's not allowed in the v i p section, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

uh, like, Hey, you can have drinks over there. You gotta pay for your drinks. Yeah, exactly. You gotta pay for your drinks.

Exactly. And then all the Marios just walk in and they're, and they're like, Mario, you know? Yeah. They, he gets bottle service in the corner and such

like that. The velvet rope thing mm-hmm. Goes way up for him. Yoshi Peach. Oh yeah. Did you catch that? Um, the promo, the, the Mario Brothers promo thing for the movie. Oh. Where they actually had the

music for a Margo?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, dude, I played that on so like, so many times that it looks good. It looks good. I'm like, it looks good. I was a, I was a na, I'll admit it. I had very low hopes for the idea of Illumination doing a Mario movie, but it's so far. Everything I've seen, I'm just like, I'm sold. I'm, I'll watch this. I mean, you're, I'm pretty happy. Uh, I'm, I'm impressed. Uh, I something about that trailer and then like the lady like squinting and shaking her head as she read it. Read it in like a Brooklyn ish accent. I was like, hell yeah, that is, that's fricking Mario. So, uh, I'm pretty excited for that, but yeah. Yeah, it looks good. Good. About Mario Baldwin. I think that's how I got there.

What other games are you looking forward to this year? Um,

right now I am thinking, so I'm really looking forward to, in the indie sphere, I'm looking forward to Sea of Stars. Like that game looks amazing, looks really good. Um, I'm looking forward to. She's, I mean, of course, who isn't looking forward to Silk Song. I'm really looking forward to this little thing called Lucid. I hear that game's fucking awesome. I hear good things. I hear only I, I hear the pixel Art is next level I hear the world's really cool. I hear the movement, mobility options look pretty tight. I hear if you like world building and, uh, good art assets and a really cool story with a colorful cast of characters, you should really check out. That game seems pretty pretty. Hold

on, hold on, hold on. No, I asked about games coming this year. Are you trying to drop some inform information that Lucid might be coming out this

year? Oh my God, I, I walked right into that one. I'm gonna do a hard pivot and say I plead the fifth.

Exactly. Exactly, exactly. I just had to give you some shit there.

uh, games this year, um, I don't know if it's this year, but that, um, that Pinocchio Lizza,

Lizza p Yeah, that's, that's this year. Is that this

year? Mm-hmm. Dude, like, I mean, that looks really good. I mean, if it's even like, if it even does a shade of what, how much I like bloodborne, I'll be happy. Um, and so far it looks really good. So plus it's got like that Pinocchio darkness is mm-hmm. I, I just watched that Gimo del Toro, um, Pinocchio, and that was awesome. Um, so Pinocchio is completely capable of being dark and serious. And so I'm, I'm very much looking forward to that, to towards forward for, oh my God, I'm looking towards that world. Is that what I'm trying to say anyway? Mm-hmm. that on top of, um, it's kind of got some megaman X or megaman vibes in the sense that like, you're, you're an, an like, you're a robot thing with like looking for the doctor, like Dr. Light. I, I was. And then it looks like you, um, take pieces of your enemies. Like some of the attacks look like your arms would like change out. So I was speculating and May, I'm pretty sure others were speculating that you can like, take pieces of maybe the bosses, you get like different weapons that way. Kind of like secur in a weird way. Um, so another shade of mega man where like you get boss parts in your own arsenal. I don't know. I I'm looking forward to that

game. I am too. I am too. Um, it, yeah, it has like, um, like devil may cry meets like bloodborne meets, like Yeah, like you were saying, like mega man kind of vibes and Yeah. It's like this amalgamation of all these different like ips that, that all seem like they wouldn't kind of work together, but this trailer and the, what we've seen at the gameplay makes it look like this is actually gonna slap. So, totally. I'm looking forward to the last.

Mm-hmm. Um, what else is, and then kind of, uh, pretty much the other big ones are, uh, I'm looking forward to playing Pickman four. I'm looking forward to, you're actually gonna play it. Yeah, I think so. Cuz I've always been wanting to, and with the whole Thursday streams, we, I have an excuse to like, actually get to sit down and play some games, so, uh, I mean, uh, the question mark, I, I would love to play it. Um, and then also in that same slot is, uh, I want to play Minish Gap. I want to play, um, I've been trying to get my buddy to play old Kirby Superstar and the closest right now is, um, I think it's called Cursed Mirror. Mm-hmm. Shit, I can't remember. They, they did one on the game Boy, that was essentially superstar, like plus, so I'm looking forward to playing that with him. Oh. Um, I'm even looking forward to that, um, that Mickey Metroidvania, that it looks different. It

looks really good. Yeah.

It, it looks just like silly fun with four people playing. Like we, we would do a multiplayer stream with like other community members and stuff. It just looks like it'd be fun. Uh, so yeah, those are the things that I can think of off top of the dome.

It reminds me of, um, um, Rayman legends. Yes. Like the gameplay of it. That's what reminds me of,

yeah. Between the, um, the, the flow. It, I, I made the joke online. It looks like it's, uh, baby, uh, baby's first met. Yeah. That's what it looks like. Yeah. Yeah. But like, not in a derogatory sense. Like if it's done well, it's done well and I, I'll, I'll play it. It looks fun.

Yeah. So I'm gonna read out some titles and you tell me yay or nay based on like whether or not you're gonna play 'em. Okay. All right. So Tears to the Kingdom. I already note. That's a yay for you. That's a yay. All right. St. Wars Jedi survivor. Is that

the sequel?

Yeah, that's the, that's sequels the fallen

order. Okay. And that's the one where the, the Dark Souls?

Uh, star Wars. Yeah. With, um, Cal Kassis. The right, the redhead.

Got it, got it. Got it. Mm-hmm. uh, that's gonna be a Yay cuz I didn't play the first one. Oh, no, no, I know. Uh, my buddy who I've mentioned before, uh, Aaron, uh, my streaming partner, um, he's played it and he's a huge dark souls nut like I am. And, uh, he, like, he had critiques of it, but he's like, it was solid. Mm-hmm. and I'm sure they took all the critiques and hopefully they ironed it out. So I'm looking forward to testing out the polished version, you know. Okay. That's a yay. That's a yay for me.

All right. Starfield from Xbox

Starfield, uh, that's not ringing a bell. It's, oh. is that the No Man sky type thing? Yes.

That's what everyone's equate out to be. Got

it, got it, got it. I, I, I think I've seen some. I, I don't, I'm not familiar enough to give it a yay Renee, but just on the premise alone, I'll give

it

a yay. Okay. All right. All right. So, um, let's go with, um, Marles Spider. Spider-Man two. Oh, that's a yay. Easy. Yay for me too. No, that's a easy, easy. Yay. All right, so you already played The Dead Space remake. Are you going to play Resonate before remake? Oh, yeah. That's a

hard yay for sure. The older I've get, the more I realize I love, like, the horror, uh, horror games or like, good horror games, so that's a huge yay. All right,

so, um,

oh, on top of which I never played the first one. What Rein Evil, or, I've never played

Resi four. Okay. I haven't either. So this is my first entry into it. Mm mm mm-hmm. All right, so Final Fantasy 16.

That's, that's a yay. Okay. Uh, uh, I love Final Fantasy. I, I'm also, I'm a big fan of the, um, like the, the Sword and Shield kind of final fantasies. The medieval style. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Like, I, I definitely, I like that more. Not to say like, if, if Final Fantasy seven s s tier in that whole mid guard world is S tier. I, I just love fantasy so much. Uh, it's SS tier, like I'm not shitting on the other one at all. It is so good. I just like the fantastical nature kind of stuff.

I gotta understand that. All right. So we already know Hollow Night silk song is gonna be easy. Yess easy. Yes. Easy. Yes. Um, Diablo,

I think we might have, we may have stumbled on our first Nay for me dogs.

I

understand. I'm right there with you. I don't think I'm gonna jump into Diablo.

Yeah, I, um, I've been. I mean, are we looking for reasons why, or, I mean, you can

it's open forum. You can do, you can say why you don't like it.

All right. So yeah. Um, I feel less bad shitting on aaas, I'll put it that way. Um, so yeah, I'm between three being, I, I got into three and it was just, uh, there was such a fucking debacle on launch and it took forever to find their stride on top of just blizzard. I don't know, they've just have been unimpressive to me lately. And then, um, what they did show was just like, yeah, that looks sort of like, what di I would expect a diallo, nothing caught me as like, oh, wow. It was just like, oh, that looks like extended d l with prettier graphics, I suppose. I don't know. It's just, I'm right there with. nothing, nothing about it. Then, then that whole like, phone thing and it was just so Aw, that was rough. Mm-hmm. Yeah. It was just like, is that real? And I could go on, but, uh, everything they've been doing left the sour Tyson in my mouth. And then to come out with something that's so like, blah, like, all right, I can put Easy pass until my buddy who plays literally everything, uh, is like, yo, you got to play this. Uh, then I'll play it until then, I'm just like, ah, there's so many other things that you li literally just listed that I, I had can devote my time to. Okay.

Okay. Sing Saga Hail Blade two. Sing

Saga hell by two. Wait, is that, that a sequel to the

Yeah, the, um, singing sacrifice

Shit. Is that the, is that the game with the, the lady protagonist with like face paints? Yeah. The, yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay. I, I, I never played the first one. Uh, it is gonna be, that's gonna be a note only because I didn't play the first one. I know nothing about

it. I gotcha, I gotcha. And it, would it make you feel like it would be a yay if I told you it's coming day one, a game pass?

I don't have Z game pass. Oh, okay. It means, it means nothing to me. Absolutely nothing. Gotcha. But if it, if you're saying it was free freeze, freeze for me. Okay. So then it would be like a yes.

This was a long shot, cuz I, I have a feeling this one's not coming out in 2023, like proper, but Hades too.

God. Oh my God, my pants just got like an inch shorter. Two uh, that is such a, that is a billion yays dude. Uh, me And again, uh, we were just, oh, that's a game that we've been playing. Uh, we, what games have I been playing? We got into a Hades thing again, like, uh, we were, we were, like I mentioned, we were getting back in a stream. We're like, what do we play? I'm like, I don't know, wanna play Hades? We're like, okay. We played one day of Hades on stream, and then for the next week off stream, we were just like, yo, you wanna play some Hades that game? So, God dang good. It is a crime. It is so good. I, I'm so looking forward to the second. I can't wait to see what they've done. Uh, all right.

All right. So I got a challenge for you all the games we listed. Which one's the most anticipated game now? Ooh, all. Saying that all of them drops, Hades,

all of them, all of them drop on the same

day. What's the like, like no, like all of them guaranteed to come out this year. Like, let's go with that caveat and like no game is gonna fall outta this year. What would, which one you pick, is it gonna be Haes two? It's probably Hades two. I'm kind of right there with you, man. I'm kinda right there with, yeah. I love these babies, man. Yeah,

it's all, I can't believe like it's going up against some huge contenders and mm-hmm. Yeah. It's, it's

eighties too. It's so, the first one's so good. It's so good. It's so good.

Like, it's unbelievable how good, and like, it's in, I think it's technically an indie studio.

Yeah, it's super dry.

Super dry. It's, it's still indie, right?

Like there's, yeah. I, I mean they're hired here, indie, but yeah, they're, they're definitely indie still. Yeah. I, I

gue Yeah. Like, that's insane. They are so good. Like, uh, I'm not saying anything new like, oh my God. Super giant fucking rocks. Yeah. Like they're, uh, they're what? I aspire to be one day. Uh, I can't sing their praises enough. That game is a triumph on all levels. Storytelling, character art, game art, gameplay loop, um, holistic design, uh, music sound effects. So good. Why? Everything. Everything is so good. I'm

right there with you. Like I've been a fan of Super Giant since ba like Bastion. Bastion.

Yeah, dude. Oh, so good. Uh, uh, uh, what's it? Conductor, conductor con, uh,

transistor. Um, transistor. Yes. Higher was the number one. Higher.

Mm-hmm. Um, all of them, all of them were. So I feel like every single one of those games led them to the, to that mm-hmm. And it's a beautiful thing to see, like, you can see each one's influence. Like even if, even if small, you can, you can see a piece of each one in the next. It's, it's

so good. Yeah, I think they, they're just rolling on all cylinders right now, and like yeah, if, and, you know, there were some people who said like, I can't believe they're doing a sequel. And I'm like, I can't what I can. And I'm like,

yeah, I, I was, um, I agree with you, man. Like, I would, I would've been, been surprised that they didn't do a sequel. Uh, like they hit, they put so much, uh, dev time and polish, and like, they found an engine. They like perfected a machine. Like why wouldn't they go back and like, all right, can we polish this anymore? Like, people love this game. Of course, they do a sequel plus. Just imagine how much bank they're gonna make with the sequel, which will then fuel the next, the actual next project. It's just gonna make that next project unbelievably like, uh, the scope. I, I can't wait for that as well. Uh, anything. Yeah, they, they're like the, the Miyazaki of, um, indie devs. Like whatever they drop 'em. Like, gimme, gimme, gimme. No, no, no, no,

no, no. I'm the same way. I have the exact same way. So, but you know, I got a question for you and it, it's, you know, a little bit different than the questions we've been asking lately, but it's a simple question. Are you ready, Eric?

My

body is ready. All right. All right. I'm glad to hear it because it is time for, are you a pro nerd trivia section of the show where we ask our guest this time it's you, Eric. Five different questions based on five different areas of nerdy expertise. Ooh. So this is the way that you, like back when you were on the show, we haven't, like, we didn't have this, this portion of the show. So this is your first time at bat here. Mm-hmm. Since, uh, since you, like, you've been on the show, we've done tons of different guests and, you know, had several people on the show. Congrat, we've only had Congrat one person, congrat. Congrats, congrats, congrats. Thank you. Thank you. We've only had one person, though, in the history of the show. Get all five questions. Correct. Fuck one person. Okay. One person out of all the people we've had on the show so far. So

Sebastian, I, I, I'm picking up what you're putting down. You're, you're putting me on the spot. I

feel I, I am adding the pressure, but I feel like you're so diverse in nerdy culture that you're gonna rise to the occasion and join that one person in the pro nerd Hall of fame. Okay. All right. So, Here's how it's gonna work. Five different areas of fraternity expertise. I got a wheel right here, like right on this screen next to me, I'm gonna spin that wheel and whatever it lands on is what the, whatever category we're gonna roll with. Okay? Okay. And on the fifth question though, you get a question, you get a, uh, like a choice between category A or category B. Uh, whichever you so choose is what we'll go with. And if you want to, you can hear, you can hear the road not spoken after we conclude with our, our segment of the show. So, oh, I'm most

definitely gonna want to know Okay.

All right. So that sounds like a plan. All right, so here we go. The round and round the wheel goes. And I like how you made the wheel sound, I like how you made the wheel sound. That's so funny. Alright, so the wheel has officially landed on Harry Potter.

No. No. Okay. That's, uh, totally fine.

All right. All right. So Harry Potter trivia. All right, so here we go. in what city or what city or location was Harry Potter born in? What

city was he born in? I mean, I'm gonna say, uh, London, England. Oh,

that's a good guess. Damn it. That's a very good guess. It's incorrect though.

God damn. All right, well fuck me. Alright, where, where, where was he born?

Godrick Hollow. Gosh darn it. All right. Godrick Hollow. In, in the seventh book, they actually go back to where he was born to go visit his parents grave and such like that. See, I,

I remember the scene. Mm-hmm. I, I just, I didn't remember.

Yeah. Yep. That's also where, um, where the, he became the boy who lived. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yep. So, yeah. Now first question I feel like was a little bit of a hard one. I feel like was a little bit a hard one. Not

gonna lie, those, if, if they get as, if they are as hard or get harder, I'm in trouble.

I don't think you're gonna be as trouble as you think you are because nobody has not gotten one question. Correct. Everyone's always, uh, like always gotten one at least. Okay? Okay. All right. So, alright. So in the world of Marvel, specifically the M C U. Okay, who cut off Than's Head. Oh, Thor. All right. You got it. You got it. Easy peasy baby. Yeah. So you're one for one right now. Woo. Like doing pretty good all. So let's spin the wheel right here. All right. The will has landed on BC Okay. BC comics. All right. Name a villain for the superhero. Green Lantern.

Oh, um, uh, hold on, hold on. Sinestro, you got it? Yes.

You, you were trying to back yourself out of the right

answer. Yeah. For a second. I was like, wait, no, I, I thought I had said like Mr. Sinister. Mm-hmm. and I was like, no, wait. No, it's not. It's up. Yes. I, I was thinking like, who's that dude with the little pencil mustache and he is yellow and the Yeah, yeah, yeah,

it is definitely Sinestro. Yeah. You got that one correct. Sick All right, so, alright, here we go. All right, so two, two down that you actually got, you got one that you missed. You're, you're doing pretty good here. The next one though. Is in the realm of Middle Earth, specifically baby Lord of the Rings. Yes, sir.

Oh, you're confident. I mean, fuck. I dunno, I might have just stepped into something here, but, uh, I was just watching, uh, it, it popped up my Netflix and, you know, me, I, I have to watch 'em all, so, mm-hmm. uh, okay, let's see. Let's see it.

All right. In the War of the Rings, like, which forest does Soran? So Des Saman order the ORs to cut down. What was the name of the forest? Saman ordered the ORs to cut down. I wanna

say Merck Wood

Forest. Ooh, that was a really good guess. It's not right, but that was a really good guess. Damn

it. What is, oh, what is it? It's not, it's right by Eisen Guard. It's not Merck Wood because that's where Pippen and Mary go into and they meet tree beard, but I'm guessing it's a different forest. Fang Horn Forest. Fang Horn, forest. God damn it. Yeah, you're right.

Yep. Yeah, you're right. Fang Horn Forest. I think that was a really good guess though, cuz I didn't know none of the forest names I was thinking like I would've got that one at all.

Yeah, yeah, you're right. It's totally fang horn. All right,

so final question. You got a category of A or category B, which one you want to go with? You got two right? Two wrong.

Okay. Um, I'm going with a

All right. All right, let's go there. Uh, let's see what a was a was in video games. Okay.

I like video

games. Yeah, it's video games seem hard though. That's a super expansive category. Uh, when you put it that way, you're right. Yeah. I'm like, uh, it's okay. All right. It's okay cuz you got this, you got this. Okay. I got this. All right. So, All right. In the realm of video games, which developer released a two, uh, released a game in 2017 by the name of La Noir.

Oh, no. It's definitely in a blind spot.

La Noir is a 2017 game released by which game

developer. Fuck, man. I can picture it. I wanna say it's, I wanna say rockstar, but I'm almost certain it's not rockstar. Uh, I don't know, man. Eh, is it, oops. No, it's, is it? Oops. Song or Activision Fuck, I don't know. Uh, is it Naughty Dog? Damnit, you name it. All of them. I know. No, yeah, just I'm not looking at your face. I'm not looking at nothing cuz I don't want any hints. Um, I don't know man. It's a complete crap shoot. Uh, let's go with, it's not Activision. It's, I'm trying to think of the jo, like the, the engine and I can see the models and I can see the facial textures and can I see the choices? Who did mass effect? Is it it's not mass effect. It's not bungee Damn it. Uh, okay. Uh, I'm gonna say, uh, T HQ Nordic

B HQ Nordic. That is a throwback. I like that. Yeah man, I'm going with that. That is the throwback. Do you know how the crazy an, you know how the crazy thing is what. You're incorrect, but you actually, your first guess was right. Was it rockstar? It was rockstar. Get outta here. I it was rockstar. I, I,

my, I saw the rockstar in my head, but I'm like, I'm pretty sure they were not, they were folks.

You talked yourself out of the right answer. Mother Fudge

Okay. Damnit. Okay. Fair. That's totally a blind spot of mine for sure. That's just not a genre. I'm, uh, rockstar in general. Like I never played Red Dead and uh, all that stuff. Yeah, man, it's just a huge blind spot in my gaming, uh, sphere.

Oh my goodness. Yeah. That, that surprised me cuz like yeah, you had it right there on the tip of your tongue. You just let it go right there. I know.

I should have just stuck with my gut. Damnit. Oh, well. All right. Living your learn, live in your learn.

All right. Before we go to our last segment of the show though, would you like to take the road not taken and see what category you would've got for the other side of the fence? I do. I do. I do. All right. So that category would've been the realm of Pokemon. Oh, no, I

love, I love poke. Okay. Oh, I love the Pokemon. Oh, do I get

to hear the question? Yeah, you get to hear the poke, you get to hear the question and everything. All right. Alright. All right. So, alright. So in poke, in the realm of Pokemon. Yeah. All right. This poke name, this Pokemon specifically, we're doing a throwback to the old two old temp fishing show, evidently, is what the question was. If it was

anything past like black and white, I would be in trouble.

Okay. Yeah. Name this Pokemon. Yeah. All right. So my name is Bale Sprout. I am Pokemon number 69. What do I involve into?

Oh, oh, uh, bell Sprout turns into Be Blossom. No, no, no. My God. No. Um, oh my God. Um, oh, wait, I know this, I know this. I can picture it. Um, James had one. Um, oh my

God. I like how you said James, like Jesse and James.

Yeah. Didn't he? He had the final version, uh, of, wasn't it like a victory bell? But there's one in between. we

weeping Bell. Weeping Bell is the correct answer. Yeah. weeping Bell was. And so if you would've chose that path, you would've got three out of, out of five, right? Instead of the two.

Gosh darn it. I should have went with the Pokemons. Yeah, should

have went with the pokes. But it is, it's all good. You did really well though, because I'm like, some of those were real rough cuts.

Yo, that uh, that Harry Potter one was

rough. It started you off on a rough track and that was rough. And the crazy thing is, so like behind the scenes here, like I rolled the wheel and it pops up the category and then it pops up the question. Woo. So it just generates that automatically that question. So I'm like, got it. Ooh. You were like, oh no, Yeah, as soon as I heard that one was like, oh

yeah, rough, rough Go buddy. Um, and the fang horror for if I probably should have thought about it a little longer. I like just watched the two towers, but, uh, which is

the best movie

by the way? Yeah. Yeah. I, I think I agree with that, for sure. Don't, that's a whole other episode. That's a whole, yeah, it really is.

It really is. So Eric, you know, let's go to our next segment of the show, which is our wrap up. So Eric, before we go though, I got one question for you. What words of inspiration would you like to give to the people today? Words of inspiration? Yeah. And just general life advice.

Um, okay. Um, hi everybody. Hello. How are you doing? How's it going? I hope you're all having a good day. I hope you enjoyed me and Sebastian hanging out and talking. It's, it's always good. I kind of forgot you all were here to be honest. it just feels like we're just hanging out. I was just hanging out with Sebastian and then all of a sudden I gotta give all you some, some hard hitting advice. Um, okay. Uh, so let's see here. You guys want some, some real advice. I don't know. What are you doing right now? Are you doing what you love? are you doing what you have to, because both are respectful. You know what I mean? You gotta put food on the table. If you got a family to feed, sometimes you, you, you don't have the luxury to just quit and do what you love. You gotta do what you have to, to help the people you love. So to sit here and say, Hey, follow your dreams. Do what you love. You know, that's like, it's like shallow, hollow words. It's not times that, that said, if you, if you can, if you can find something that you love, don't stop doing it. Do what you love. Um, and don't let other anybody say tell you otherwise. Don't anybody, don't let anybody tell you what you love is dumb, stupid, not worth your time. Cuz if, if you're having fun doing it, it's time worth, uh, well worth, uh, spent. Well, um, yeah, I, I guess, I guess that's my advice. Do what you love and, uh, don't apologize for it unless it's. You know, I'm, unless it's something super bad, huh? Yeah. Unless it's like diddling, uh, like people that shouldn't be diddled, then don't do what you love. Definitely don't do that. Um, that's a good guitar for the

laugh real quick.

Anyway, my name's Eric

So, Eric, before we go though, where can the good people find you?

Well, uh, the good people can find [email protected].

that's, that's exactly what we're here to do. everyone go to www.lulucidkickstarter.com,

right? Please, please, please, please. Uh, it's just one click. It helps so much. Um, but for realsies, if, uh, if you love, um, if you just love video games, um, you're, you're gonna love Lucid. It's, I grew up loving video games. It's everything I love about video games. Smacked tab in. Smash together. I'm putting everything I got into it. Um, please, uh, show, show some love, some support. It really helps me get through the, the, the night sweats when I wake up at night and be like, can I do this? Am I, am I gonna fall on my F face flat? Um, just, uh, it would really mean the world. Uh, but on a serious note, uh, I guess you could find me on, uh, there's a lucid discord. There's a lucid Instagram, I'm sure. Delectable Links will be in the description of this video. Uh, but thank you for listening. My winded ass voice going on forever, but, uh, I should have let Sebastian talk more. His voice is just so much better than mine. I'm sorry. No, it is not No, it's not But, uh, yeah, thanks for coming out. Thanks for listening. And, uh, I hope to see you out there in the, uh, the internet spheres. For

sure. For sure. Eric, thank you so much for being on the show, man. Well, like you said, pleasure. Everything, uh, everything Lucid is gonna be in the description, and so be everyone. Be on the lookout for that. Click on the click starter. Um, all you have to do is just go to the click starter, hit notify me. So, so like, as soon as the Kickstarter goes, you can go support this man. Go support this amazing game. And trust me when I say this game is absolutely amazing, it's gonna blow people away. Um, just click notify me on launch. And as soon as that thing's ready to go, support this man because like you are going to be supporting what, um, what might be the Hades of that year, whatever year comes out. Oh my God, oh my God, every year this out comes out. I'm not gonna, you know, speculate, release, date or anything like that, But so whenever, whenever this man's finished with this glorious project, you are gonna get a absolute banger of a game. So support him on Kickstarter also, you know, follow him on the Twitter, the Twitter, the Instagram, go, go follow him at Discord. He is such a delight, such a great human being. And I always love having this guy on the.

Thanks, man. I love being here. Thanks again for having me, Anytime.

Fun as always. Anytime. Before we go though, um, I got one last thing I want to ask you. Okay. Just one last thing I was gonna ask you. All right, so we, we got the, we got the game Lucid coming out and coming out. We don't know when, but we know that there is a lot of dope work going into the game. Where can people check out the trailer?

Oh, uh, there's a, a steam page. Um mm-hmm. If you go to, uh, check out Lucid on Steam, there's another ding dang lucid there. But it, if it doesn't look awesome, it's not my lucid. Uh, so, uh, uh, you can, on all the socials, um, there's a, like, it's either pinned, but um, you can get to the steam there or you can just look on steam. Um, yeah, there's also a YouTube. I'll be sure to give you all those yummy, yummy links. But, uh, Yeah, the uh, uh, uh, another trailer is probably in the work soon, but definitely go check out the one I, I animated the intro and I'm pretty proud of it. It's all old assets. It's like a year old now, Anyway, anyway, um, yeah, everybody check it out. Tell me what you think. What do you like about it? What don't you like about it? Do you like the pixel art? Do you not like the pixel art? Do you think I'm a bad animator? Do you think the game's garbage? Do you think what we're saying is absolute insanity? Let me, Give

em all the feedback.

Yeah. Love all the feedback. I love it. I love it. Come talk to me. I'm lonely. I, I just, I de I develop alone. I'm all alone. Fashion's the only one I talk to.

man, thank you so much, dude. Uh, it is always a pleasure. We're gonna have you back on the show really soon and Woohoo, especially when this game's launched. We're gonna have to do a deep dive into deep dive episode into all things Lucid when you Yo Man comes out,

uh, uh, I'd be a thousand, a thousand percent down. Who closer to when the actual Kickstarter, you know, starts becoming a thing. Um, I'll let you know. We can maybe do something around there.

Yeah, sounds good. Sounds great. So everyone, thank you so much for listening to today's episode. Eric, thank you so much for being on the episode. This has been The Single Player Experience Podcast, and we're out. Peace so that's a wrap for today's episode. I wanna give a special shadow and thank you to Eric Manahan for being on this episode of the Single Player Experience Podcast. 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.