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Speaker 1: Today's episode contains discussions of some of the biggest games

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Speaker 1: of the year, but we really won't be getting into

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Speaker 1: any spoilers.

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Speaker 2: Hello, my name's about and I'm Aaron, and welcome.

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Speaker 1: Back to X ray Vision, the podcast where we dive

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Speaker 1: deep into your favorite shows, movies, comics, and pop culture.

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Speaker 1: We're here at iHeart Podcasts, where we're bringing you three

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Speaker 1: episodes a week plus news on Saturdays at least three

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Speaker 1: episodes a week, sometimes more.

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Speaker 2: And in today's episode, we're getting into the twenty twenty

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Speaker 2: five Game Awards. We're going to start off talking about

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Speaker 2: the Game of the Year and we'll make our predictions

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Speaker 2: for what we think is going to take home the title.

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Speaker 2: Then we're going to get into a couple of the

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Speaker 2: other awards, the notable ones that we really want to

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Speaker 2: talk about, and finally we'll hit some snubs. You know,

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Speaker 2: what do we think didn't get nominated or didn't get

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Speaker 2: nominated enough.

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Speaker 1: But first, Aaron, let's just jump right in and talk

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Speaker 1: about the big award of the night, the Game of

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Speaker 1: the Year. Here are the nominees. In case you don't know,

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Speaker 1: dear listener, Clear Obscure Expedition thirty three, Death Stranding two

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Speaker 1: on the Beach, Donkey Kong, Bonanza, Hades two, Hollow Night,

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Speaker 1: Silk Song, and finally Kingdom Come Deliverance two. Those are

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Speaker 1: our nominees for Game of the Year twenty twenty five.

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Speaker 1: And I think between the two of us erin, we've played.

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Speaker 2: Most all of these, Yeah, almost all of them. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think the ones that stand out to me are

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Speaker 1: Dead Straining two. I haven't gotten around to playing yet.

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Speaker 1: I loved, loved, loved, loved Death Straining one, very excited

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Speaker 1: for two. And I haven't played Hollow Night Silk Song

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Speaker 1: because I'm bad at platforming games.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and those are also my blind spots. I played

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Speaker 2: the first Hollow Night, I did not finish it.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I love Soul's likes, but the platforming aspect of it.

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Speaker 2: I think there was one time I would just like

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Speaker 2: spent twenty minutes trying to down jump using the sword Mushrooms,

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Speaker 2: and I was just like, all right, I'm done. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: I can appreciate this is a beautiful game, and I

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Speaker 2: just don't I'm not gonna make it. So I have

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Speaker 2: not done Sulk's Song yet.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So despite that, given those two blind spots, we

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Speaker 1: have the rest on the list we have played, and

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Speaker 1: I'm curious looking back at your gaming year of twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty five, Aaron, do these feel like the right nominees

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Speaker 1: to you? Are you surprised to see any of these

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Speaker 1: make the list?

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Speaker 2: Well? I think you are surprised at Donkey Kong, whether

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Speaker 2: or not you will admit it, you hate Donkey Kong,

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Speaker 2: and I think famously in a previous episode about Nintendo

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Speaker 2: or something, you stated Donkey Kong cannot carry a franchise.

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Speaker 2: I said those words, yes, which I think we have

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Speaker 2: seen is not the case. Donkey Kong Bonanza is an

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Speaker 2: incredible game. But what am I surprised to see on

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Speaker 2: the list? I mean, I'm not surprised by any of these.

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Speaker 2: In fact, if anything, I'm more surprised by what didn't

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Speaker 2: make the list because this was just such an incredible

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Speaker 2: year of gaming. And if you had asked me in

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Speaker 2: June what I thought was going to be nominated, I

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Speaker 2: would have included very different games on here.

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Speaker 1: Oh okay, yeah, I mean I feel somewhat similarly to you,

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Speaker 1: But I think overall, just looking at this list and

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Speaker 1: thinking back on gaming in twenty twenty five, these feel

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Speaker 1: right to me, Like these feel like the biggest games

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Speaker 1: of the year that I feel like most people talked about.

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Speaker 1: There was lots of conversations about all of these games,

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Speaker 1: a lot of buzz both from fans and critics, a

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Speaker 1: lot of positive buzz generally speaking. And really the only

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Speaker 1: one that I'm maybe a teensy bit surprised about is

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Speaker 1: Kingdom Come Deliverance Too.

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Speaker 2: I was gonna say that was like the only one.

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Speaker 2: I don't feel like I saw a steady stream of

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Speaker 2: reactions and content and like people playing it. That was

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Speaker 2: the only one that seemed to escape me. And I

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Speaker 2: don't know that's just my algorithm is not serving me

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Speaker 2: Kingdom Come Deliverance Too stuff or if there wasn't as

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Speaker 2: much hype around it, but that, you know, game of

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Speaker 2: the year does not necessarily mean that most people are

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Speaker 2: streaming it. Yeah, so you know a different kind of

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Speaker 2: metric there.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, definitely. And I did fall into the hype cycle

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Speaker 1: around Kingdom Come and I bought it on a whim.

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Speaker 1: I had never played. This is clearly a sequel. I'd

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Speaker 1: never played the first one, and I put like fifty

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Speaker 1: almost sixty hours into this game this year. It's a

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Speaker 1: very long and dense and I will say difficult game,

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Speaker 1: and I have not made much progress, but what I played,

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Speaker 1: I enjoyed. It was fun to overcome the difficulties, and

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Speaker 1: ultimately it's really good as far as RG RPG games go.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, it feels a little inaccessible to your everyday

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Speaker 1: gamer and it feels a little bit more niche. So

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Speaker 1: unless you're like really in the game and conversations, you

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Speaker 1: maybe never even heard it.

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Speaker 2: And I do think this year had This year had

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Speaker 2: a lot, had a wide wide range of games that

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Speaker 2: were incredible, yes, but I wonder if it was like

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Speaker 2: missing the standout like in the previous few years. Like

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Speaker 2: obviously I am a Solisborne player through and through, elden

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Speaker 2: Ring came out and just consumed me and was so

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Speaker 2: far and away my pick for game of the year,

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Speaker 2: like nothing else competed a year after Balder's Gate came

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Speaker 2: out so good. I've sunk so many hours. It was

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Speaker 2: so clearly the game of the year. And I do

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Speaker 2: think there is a front runner this year, but I

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Speaker 2: don't think that that game Like I'm not sure if

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Speaker 2: I will continue to revisit this game year after year

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Speaker 2: the way that I have with a Balder's Gate and

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Speaker 2: elden Ring, Breath of the Wild. I mean, so many

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Speaker 2: of these kind of expansive games that felt like I

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Speaker 2: had to keep going back to them. I'm not sure

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Speaker 2: if I'll do the same with this one.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I think Expedition thirty three is an

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Speaker 1: incredible experience the first time you play it, and for

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Speaker 1: most people, for a majority of people, I think that

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Speaker 1: will be the only time they play it. Whereas Balder's

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Speaker 1: Gate three, I'm on like my fourth character and my

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Speaker 1: fourth play through.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and they've done so many new ups, classes, there's

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Speaker 2: mods and everything. Yeah, it's amazing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, there's always going to be a reason for me

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Speaker 1: personally to come back to a game like Brotherskate three.

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Speaker 1: Expedition thirty three definitely the best game I played this year.

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Speaker 1: I'll probably never have reason to play it again. Well,

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Speaker 1: we should move on from question one. We have like

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Speaker 1: a dozen questions in this document today. You mentioned earlier

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Speaker 1: that you're surprised there are some games this year that

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Speaker 1: didn't make the cut, that didn't end up on this

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Speaker 1: nomination's list for Game of the Year. What comes to

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Speaker 1: mind for you?

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Speaker 2: I think Blueprints in the You know, the first half

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Speaker 2: of the year was such a surprise. It consumed a

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Speaker 2: lot of gaming conversations. Yea, and I think people would

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Speaker 2: have thought, like I said in June, like wow, this

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Speaker 2: is a shoe in for at least a nomination. Yes,

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Speaker 2: it unfortunately ran into the buzzsaw of there were so

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Speaker 2: many other great indie games that it's hype kind of

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Speaker 2: faded by the end of the year, I think. But

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Speaker 2: I still think that is an absolutely incredible game. It

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Speaker 2: just came out a little too early in the air.

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Speaker 2: And you know, we had a Ghost of Yota segment

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Speaker 2: we did in a group chat. We had Erkayeshi, who's

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Speaker 2: the voice actor for Atsu. That game is incredible and beautiful,

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Speaker 2: and it almost feels like it came out at just

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Speaker 2: the wrong time where it didn't get a chance to breathe,

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Speaker 2: because it was like Silk Song into Ghost of Yota

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Speaker 2: into something else. I mean, like it is into Arc Raiders.

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Speaker 2: Like the gaming conversation didn't live with Ghosts of Yota

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Speaker 2: long enough, I think. Yeah, so those are the two

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Speaker 2: that I would I thought had a really good chance

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Speaker 2: of getting in and they didn't.

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Speaker 1: I agree. We were certainly a Blueprints household in my

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Speaker 1: home when that game came out, like to the point

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Speaker 1: where there are notebooks full of chicken scratch notes about

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Speaker 1: Blueprints as we're trying to solve the puzzles. Yes, it

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Speaker 1: is an incredible game, and really, on the surface, it

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Speaker 1: looks like a simple puzzle game, and then you keep

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Speaker 1: playing and it just gets deeper and more complex, to

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Speaker 1: the point where I can't even fathom how you come

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Speaker 1: up with the game like this. So if you haven't

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Speaker 1: tried it, definitely play it for me. I think the

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Speaker 1: game that I was surprised not to see on the

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Speaker 1: Game of the Year list was Split Fiction because I

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Speaker 1: think Split Fiction was a large part of the conversation

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Speaker 1: this year. It takes two one Game of the Year

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Speaker 1: in twenty twenty one, so I expected Split Fiction with

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Speaker 1: the amount of conversation and hype and really positive reviews

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Speaker 1: it got this year, I expected it to at least

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Speaker 1: get the nomination, if not legitimately be in the running

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Speaker 1: for Game of the Year. So I'm surprised that didn't

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Speaker 1: make the cut.

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Speaker 2: And you know, we also are We also are a

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Speaker 2: Blueprints household and it takes two household and we still

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Speaker 2: haven't played Split Fiction. I don't know what it is,

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Speaker 2: but it just hit, and we didn't play it, and

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Speaker 2: we will eventually. I know that we bought it, we

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Speaker 2: just haven't touched it yet.

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Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, we're recording this during the holidays, and

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Speaker 1: that feels like the kind of game where I'm almost

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Speaker 1: waiting to buy it so that i can like play

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Speaker 1: it with the niece and nephew, you know, like I

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Speaker 1: want to play it with someone who's gonna have a

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Speaker 1: ton of fun playing it with me.

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Speaker 2: Let's look back real quick at some of the previous

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Speaker 2: Game of the Year winners to see if there's a trend,

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Speaker 2: if there's anything that after we look at that, we're like,

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Speaker 2: this can't win. This definitely should win.

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Speaker 1: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So twenty fourteen, we had Dragon Age Inquisition twenty fifteen,

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Speaker 2: which are three, Wild Hunt twenty sixteen, Overwatch twenty seventeen,

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Speaker 2: Legend of is Ald, The Breath of the Wild twenty eighteen,

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Speaker 2: Got a War twenty nineteen, secor O Shadows Die Twice

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Speaker 2: twenty twenty, Last of Us Part two, twenty twenty one,

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Speaker 2: It Takes two, twenty twenty two, elden Ring twenty twenty three,

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Speaker 2: Baldersgate three, and twenty twenty four astro Astrobot beautiful game.

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Speaker 2: Is there anything you see from this list that impacts

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Speaker 2: what you think will or won't win.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, I'm actually kind of happy to see

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Speaker 1: where this list is going now now that I see

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Speaker 1: it here in the script, like you've laitered out, it's

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Speaker 1: clear that we're trending away from your typical triple A

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Speaker 1: third person action adventure game I'm always winning, right, Like,

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Speaker 1: you have your Last of Us is on here, you

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Speaker 1: have your God of War, you have Winter three, Breath

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Speaker 1: of the Wild. These are all like, if you're not

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Speaker 1: a gamer, these all maybe like look like the same

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Speaker 1: game to you. Yeah, but in the last couple of years, Astrobot,

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Speaker 1: well just Gate three, Like we're really breaking the mold

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Speaker 1: on the type of game that gets nominated and wins

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Speaker 1: Game of the Year. And so I think that makes

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty five in this year's awards pretty exciting. Yeah, Like,

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Speaker 1: I think we got a real race on our hands.

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Speaker 1: Even though I think it's gonna be Expedition thirty three,

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Speaker 1: I still think it's really exciting that we're seeing indie

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Speaker 1: games and platformers and just different genres represented in Game

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Speaker 1: of the Year.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we have just from that list thirty percent of

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Speaker 2: the winners in the past have been platform exclusives, like

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Speaker 2: Breath of the Wild got a War was exclusive when

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Speaker 2: it launched. Seventy percent of the winners were sequels or

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Speaker 2: part of a series. So there's no part of me

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Speaker 2: that things like oh, you know, Haities two can't win

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Speaker 2: because it's a sequel, or Death Straining two can't win. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: And I also don't think something like Donkey Kong Bonanza

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Speaker 2: can't win just because it's a Nintendo only game. Like,

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Speaker 2: I think anything truly feels like it could win, and

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Speaker 2: there's a good range of like Overwatch one that's a

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Speaker 2: multiplayer first person or a third person shooter. We've got

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Speaker 2: a Breath of the Wild, which is like a flagship

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Speaker 2: game for console year one turn based RPGs with balders Gate,

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Speaker 2: Like there's really anything in there. So technically I think

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Speaker 2: anything could win. Yes, I still think Expedition thirty three

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Speaker 2: will win. But of all these games in the list,

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Speaker 2: we've already both spoiled who we think will win. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: but what game are you rooting for and which one

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Speaker 2: do you think wins? Yeah?

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Speaker 1: Like I said, I think Expedition thirty three is gonna

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Speaker 1: take it. This year. But that's actually who I'm rooting

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Speaker 1: for too.

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Speaker 2: Oh.

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Speaker 1: I legitimately think Expedition thirty three is the best video

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Speaker 1: game that I personally have played this year. And if

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Speaker 1: you look into the development of the game, it's pretty inspiring.

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Speaker 1: You know. It was three Ubisoft developers who left and

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Speaker 1: started their own company and decided to like make this game,

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Speaker 1: and this is the first game they've ever released, and

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Speaker 1: they're just like really nerdy, passionate people who wanted to

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Speaker 1: make something. So it's really like a ragtag group came

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Speaker 1: together to make an absolutely beautiful game that has been

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Speaker 1: a runaway success for them, has really taken the gaming

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Speaker 1: conversation by storm. So I think just the narrative alone,

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Speaker 1: the story behind it makes it a clear front runner,

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Speaker 1: and it makes it the reason I'm reading for it.

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Speaker 2: I just want to make sure everyone remembers too. A

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Speaker 2: Boo did go to Paris this year. He did a

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Speaker 2: frank aphile. I think there's a little bias here with

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Speaker 2: what he's choosing. Claire Obscure is obviously a very French game.

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Speaker 2: Everyone's running around with bagettes, you know, So I don't

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Speaker 2: know if A Boo take his sitting with the grain

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Speaker 2: assaults here. But no, I mean, I think you're right.

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Speaker 2: I think that this game. I mean I was. I

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Speaker 2: initially bounced off this game. So when I first played it,

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Speaker 2: the character models were like in that weird on Candy Valley.

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Speaker 2: For me, I was like, Wow, the setting is beautiful.

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Speaker 2: The music. I'll talk about the music later, but like,

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Speaker 2: the visuals are great until I'm looking at them speaking

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Speaker 2: and I can't stand looking at their teeth, and I

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Speaker 2: was like this just can't do it. Yeah, And so

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Speaker 2: I just bounced off it really quickly, and I went

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Speaker 2: back to it pretty recently because I was like, you

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Speaker 2: know what we're going to do this game of the

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Speaker 2: year conversation, I should give this another shot. Like let's not,

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Speaker 2: as I was telling you beforehand, let's not just play

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Speaker 2: Bilatro for the fourteen hundred time and like, let's see,

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Speaker 2: let's do this again. And it is. It's a beautiful game.

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Speaker 2: It is great. Yeah again, I'm gonna play is it

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Speaker 2: who you're rooting for? I'm gonna play Hades two more

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Speaker 2: in my lifetime. Okay, I have had a similar number

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Speaker 2: of moments. I think playing Donkey Kong Bananza when I

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Speaker 2: just like had a big grin on my face, where

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Speaker 2: I was like, I can't believe I did that. I

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Speaker 2: can't believe, you know, there was this puzzle with all

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Speaker 2: these bombs rolling down at me, and I was able

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Speaker 2: to construct a funnel from the ground because I can

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Speaker 2: just shape the earth however I want, and I could

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Speaker 2: steer all these bombs in off a cliff and now

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Speaker 2: I'm safe. Like, there were so many fun creative things

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Speaker 2: I think I could do in Donkey Kong Bananza that

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Speaker 2: like felt new again. It just felt like this isn't

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Speaker 2: just me playing a video game. This is like me

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Speaker 2: actually thinking, which I'm sure you know was not on

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Speaker 2: anyone's Bengo card of saying a Donkey Kong game is

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Speaker 2: the thing allowing you to critically think and express You're creative, right, Yes, yeah,

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Speaker 2: Donkey Kong's not French, so you don't like him. But

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Speaker 2: I think I think Claire Obscurity is the game that

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Speaker 2: people will refer to this year, if people look back

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Speaker 2: at this year, that is the game they'll talk about. Therefore,

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Speaker 2: I think it should win. I would be thrilled if

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Speaker 2: Punk Kong one. It feels like a long shot, but

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Speaker 2: it's a long shot, you know. But I think Clare

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Speaker 2: obscure is the top banana thereeah, So yeah, I agree banana.

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Speaker 1: All right, folks, that's our conversation about Game of the Year,

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Speaker 1: and are many many thoughts on it. We'll see if

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Speaker 1: Expedition thirty three takes home the top prize. Aaron, let's

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Speaker 1: take a quick break to your listener, nuncle anywhere. When

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Speaker 1: we come back, we're gonna talk about some of the

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Speaker 1: other categories and some of the other nominations. Stick around.

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Speaker 1: We'll be back in a.

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Speaker 2: Minute, and we're back. I hope you enjoyed our Game

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Speaker 2: of the Year discussion, and we're not gonna go through

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Speaker 2: every single category, but instead, let's highlight a couple of

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Speaker 2: the other categories and a couple of the other games

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Speaker 2: from this year that we really like, and we just

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Speaker 2: want to, you know, talk through a little bit. So baboo.

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Speaker 2: First off, besides Game of the Year, or maybe it

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Speaker 2: is Game of the Year, but what category do you

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Speaker 2: think is most competitive and do you have any prediction

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Speaker 2: for how it'll shake out?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this is interesting looking through the list. I think

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Speaker 1: the tightest race here is best Art Direction, just because

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Speaker 1: I think the nominees here are so memorable. Each of

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Speaker 1: them is so unique and distinct. You could look at

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Speaker 1: a screenshot from any of these nominations and know exactly

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Speaker 1: what game it is.

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Speaker 2: And just for the record, the nominees for best art

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Speaker 2: direction Claire obscare A thirty three Death Stranding two on

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Speaker 2: the Beach goes to Jota Haitis two, hollw Night, Selk Song.

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Speaker 2: So five games, four of which were nominated for Game

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Speaker 2: of the Year, the fifth one probably could have been

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Speaker 2: could have.

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Speaker 1: Been exactly and all with really distinct yes art direction

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Speaker 1: and art styles. Right, So it's hard to pick one

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Speaker 1: that clearly stands above the rest because they're all so

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Speaker 1: high quality. But if I were to throw a shot

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Speaker 1: in the dark guess out there, I would think maybe

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Speaker 1: Hades two has a bit of an edge on the others,

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Speaker 1: just because I do think the interpretation of Greek myth

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Speaker 1: and the art direction that Super Giant Games always has

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Speaker 1: in their titles is incredibly unique, absolutely gorgeous, and very memorable. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we've all seen the horny tweets about the Greek gods

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Speaker 1: in these games, and so I think that's maybe what

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Speaker 1: gives it the edge.

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Speaker 2: I mean, we don't have to you just have to

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Speaker 2: play the game like the game itself is harning enough

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Speaker 2: for all these characters.

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Speaker 1: I feel like, yeah, the Internet doesn't have to do

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Speaker 1: a lot of words that much.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, not much imagination there, What about you? I think

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Speaker 2: that in terms of the best art direction, I actually

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Speaker 2: I think maybe goes to the ODA should take it

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Speaker 2: because I love the whole setting and I love the

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Speaker 2: difference in each biome basically like, yeah, first world is,

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Speaker 2: you know, you have all these grasslands and like desolate

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Speaker 2: like mountains with like a single ominous looking tree on it,

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Speaker 2: and then eventually you get to like a snowy area

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Speaker 2: where you have like, you know, very different looks of everything,

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Speaker 2: and I and the armor and hats and masks is

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Speaker 2: like top notch, so I think. And the photo mode

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Speaker 2: on that game is incredible. As someone who doesn't really

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Speaker 2: do photo mode ever, I enjoy looking at other people's

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Speaker 2: photo mods.

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Speaker 1: Yeah for me.

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Speaker 2: I think category that I think is most competitive is

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Speaker 2: Best Score in Music. And maybe this is just because

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Speaker 2: this is the one that, like I tune into no

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Speaker 2: pun intended the most. Yeah, but look so nominees for

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Speaker 2: Best Score in Music we have Christopher Larkin who did

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Speaker 2: Hollow Night Silk Song, Darren Korb who did Hades two.

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Speaker 2: He also did Hades one. He also did voice acting

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Speaker 2: in Hades one. We have Laurian Tastrard who did claireb'scur

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Speaker 2: Expedition thirty three. We have toma Atoa who did Ghost

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Speaker 2: to Yota, and we have wood Kid and Ludwig Forcel

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Speaker 2: who did Death Stranding two on the Beach, So a

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Speaker 2: lot of the same names. Quite literally the same nominee.

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Speaker 2: Game was nominated for Best Art Direction. I have a

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Speaker 2: huge soft spot for Darren. I think everything he did

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Speaker 2: in Hades one blew me away, and I remember being

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Speaker 2: it was the first time I was like, oh my god,

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Speaker 2: the music in this room has changed from when I

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Speaker 2: first started coming into this room and and the you know,

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Speaker 2: the Boss's music is so incredible and I absolutely loved it.

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Speaker 2: Hades two is I think an improvement upon it. I

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Speaker 2: don't want to spoil anything, but there's a particular boss

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Speaker 2: with the music plays a huge part. As certain things

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Speaker 2: happen in the Boss fight, the music changes to reflect

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Speaker 2: that incredible music. But I think that Claire Obscure Expision

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Speaker 2: thirty three, I actually think totally blown away by this.

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Speaker 2: I was not expecting the music in this to be

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Speaker 2: what it is. It is so well realized. Like the

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Speaker 2: opening scene where you are in the city, there's someone

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Speaker 2: play paying guitar on a like a stage and as

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Speaker 2: you walk by, you hear them playing, and it's very

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Speaker 2: feels like, you know, traditional guitar music, a soft finger picking.

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Speaker 2: Later on you get like very edm like electronic style,

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Speaker 2: pulsing moments in boss fights the you know, there are

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Speaker 2: certain bosses that have just positively incredible music. And he

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Speaker 2: made some ridiculous thing like seven and a half hours

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Speaker 2: of music just on the soundtrack itself, yes, which means

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Speaker 2: he made even more. It's so varied, and I just

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Speaker 2: think that it's beautiful, and I think that that should

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Speaker 2: win Best Sound in Music Score in Music, which is

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Speaker 2: a shame because I also love the music and Ghost

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Speaker 2: to Yota. I listened to the soundtrack for folk Song

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Speaker 2: and you know, very very beautiful. But I just think,

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Speaker 2: Claire obscure, it's gonna win a lot of awards, I think,

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Speaker 2: and I think this is what I should definitely win.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad you shared your thoughts on music because personally,

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Speaker 1: for me, like music goes in and goes out the

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Speaker 1: other like I Expedition thirty threes music did maybe stay

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Speaker 1: in one one year French before, so that's French. So

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Speaker 1: I was biased, But I will say like, I'm one

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Speaker 1: of those people that like music is utterly lost on me,

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Speaker 1: and so when it does stay with me, it means

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Speaker 1: like something pretty crazy must be happening, And Expedition thirty

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Speaker 1: threes music stayed with me this year. Well, moving on

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Speaker 1: from that, I'm curious looking at the list of nominees

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Speaker 1: across all of these categories, is there one that made

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Speaker 1: you kind of like pump your fist and go, hell yeah,

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Speaker 1: good to see that here. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: So there's the Games for Impact category for thought provoking

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Speaker 2: games with pro social meetings or message. The nominees are

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Speaker 2: Consume Me, Despelote, Lost Records, Bloom and Rage, South of Midnight,

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Speaker 2: and wander Stop. I have not played the majority of

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Speaker 2: these games, but I was thrilled to see Despolote nominated here.

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Speaker 2: This is a game made by one guy basically like

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Speaker 2: kind of recounting his childhood, and it's quote unquote a

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Speaker 2: soccer game, but it is a beautiful art style, and

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Speaker 2: it's the kind of voice and the kind of subject

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Speaker 2: for a game that you wouldn't typically see in a

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Speaker 2: video game. Yeah, and I think that's incredible and I

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Speaker 2: am thrilled that this game is getting more recognition.

432
00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:24,560
Speaker 1: Nice. What about you? I think for me, I'm a

433
00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:28,359
Speaker 1: big RPG gamer and looking at the best RPG nominees.

434
00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:33,080
Speaker 1: Here's the list, by the way, Avowed, Claire Obscure, Kingdom Come,

435
00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,359
Speaker 1: Deliverance Too, Monster Hunter, Wilds, and The Outer Worlds Too.

436
00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,280
Speaker 1: Two games stuck out to me on that. Avowed and

437
00:22:40,359 --> 00:22:43,479
Speaker 1: Outer Worlds Too are both by Obsidian Entertainment. So they

438
00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:46,080
Speaker 1: had two games not only come out this year but

439
00:22:46,160 --> 00:22:49,760
Speaker 1: get nominated for the same award. And I was just

440
00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,000
Speaker 1: really happy to see that because I love Obsidy in Entertainment.

441
00:22:53,040 --> 00:22:55,120
Speaker 1: I think they make some of the best RPGs out

442
00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:58,480
Speaker 1: there right now, and I'm glad to see their work

443
00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:01,880
Speaker 1: is recognized. Don't know that About and Outer Worlds Too

444
00:23:02,040 --> 00:23:04,119
Speaker 1: have the muscle to beat out what I think is

445
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:07,360
Speaker 1: their much stronger competition. I think Kingdom Come easily takes

446
00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:08,280
Speaker 1: this award.

447
00:23:08,480 --> 00:23:09,879
Speaker 2: Oh, even over Clacure.

448
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,560
Speaker 1: I think even over Claire Score. Yeah. I think clairef

449
00:23:12,640 --> 00:23:14,879
Speaker 1: Score is a great JRPG that harkens back to like

450
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:19,159
Speaker 1: Final Fantasy. But Kingdom Come. Deliverance too actually pushes the

451
00:23:19,200 --> 00:23:22,080
Speaker 1: bar forward for what RPGs do. The mechanics that are

452
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:24,600
Speaker 1: built into that game, I have never seen another game,

453
00:23:24,720 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 1: so I think that takes the cake here. But very

454
00:23:27,720 --> 00:23:30,760
Speaker 1: happy to see Obsidian recognized and I hope they continue

455
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,440
Speaker 1: to be recognized because I want to see more games

456
00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:33,040
Speaker 1: from the studio.

457
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:35,480
Speaker 2: I also just want to call out elden Ring Night

458
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,400
Speaker 2: Rain nominated for the Best Multiplayer, which I love. Again,

459
00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,000
Speaker 2: I'm a huge Frumsoft fan. I love that they took

460
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,160
Speaker 2: a chance and made something different and they are being

461
00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:45,960
Speaker 2: recognized for it. And also Balder's Gate three still get

462
00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:51,000
Speaker 2: nominated for Community support it won last year? Can it repeat?

463
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:54,080
Speaker 2: That would be pretty amazing And I think like that

464
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,040
Speaker 2: is a category that you should reward games that continue

465
00:23:57,080 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 2: to do work. And I agree they shouldn't stop after

466
00:23:59,600 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 2: one year. So I think it's great that they're nominated there.

467
00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:04,200
Speaker 2: I think it's great they're still doing good stuff and

468
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 2: that they're nominated.

469
00:24:05,160 --> 00:24:05,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree.

470
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:08,560
Speaker 2: All right, let's turn negative for a little bit. Yeah,

471
00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,640
Speaker 2: are there any nominations that you're annoyed to see?

472
00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,120
Speaker 1: Yes, there is one. I played a little known game

473
00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:19,920
Speaker 1: called The Alters that came out early this year, and

474
00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 1: looking at the nominations list, it is nominated for exactly

475
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:28,920
Speaker 1: one award, and that is the Best Strategy Game. And

476
00:24:29,280 --> 00:24:33,359
Speaker 1: I feel that is a miscategorization of what the Alters is,

477
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:38,919
Speaker 1: because The Alters is this incredible narrative survival adventure title,

478
00:24:39,760 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: and to cram it into the strategy category with other

479
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:49,800
Speaker 1: like traditional four x strategy games, I think doesn't give

480
00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,080
Speaker 1: it the recognition it deserves. If anything, I think Altars

481
00:24:53,119 --> 00:24:56,160
Speaker 1: should have been in the best sort of like Action Adventured.

482
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,760
Speaker 2: Ah Okay, that was my question. Where should it be instead?

483
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,000
Speaker 1: I think Action adventure. Again, it's not exactly action adventure.

484
00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:09,920
Speaker 1: It is like a hybrid genre game, but I wouldn't

485
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:11,879
Speaker 1: call it a strategy game. I would never think of

486
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:13,639
Speaker 1: it as a strategy game, and I think it's unfair

487
00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:15,960
Speaker 1: to put her in this category. I think this game

488
00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 1: deserved a lot more recognition. I'm gonna have more to

489
00:25:17,960 --> 00:25:21,280
Speaker 1: say about it later, but I think at the very least,

490
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,800
Speaker 1: the one nomination that did get should have been in

491
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:24,879
Speaker 1: the right category.

492
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,200
Speaker 2: Interesting all right, I have not played this game at all,

493
00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:30,080
Speaker 2: so I'm intrigued to see what you have to say

494
00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:30,800
Speaker 2: about it later on.

495
00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:32,760
Speaker 1: Too. Yeah, what about you, What are you annoyed about

496
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 1: on this.

497
00:25:34,000 --> 00:25:36,760
Speaker 2: I'm not really annoyed. I mean, that's that's way too strong.

498
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:42,399
Speaker 2: But I wrote down Charlie Cox for a player of s. Yeah,

499
00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:45,320
Speaker 2: and I love Charlie Cox. He does an incredible job

500
00:25:45,320 --> 00:25:48,479
Speaker 2: in this game. I remember the first time I heard him,

501
00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,880
Speaker 2: I was like, Wow, it's Charlie Cox, and then part

502
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:52,600
Speaker 2: way through I was like, oh my god, I feel

503
00:25:52,600 --> 00:25:56,080
Speaker 2: for this man so much. He's an incredible actor. I

504
00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,480
Speaker 2: obviously seen Charlie in Daredevil. I've seen him on stage

505
00:26:00,520 --> 00:26:04,320
Speaker 2: on Broadway. I have seen him in yoga class here

506
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:04,840
Speaker 2: in New York.

507
00:26:06,119 --> 00:26:09,920
Speaker 1: He is yes, that's what you said. Yeah.

508
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:11,440
Speaker 2: I was like, I don't know if that's Charlie Cox.

509
00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:13,359
Speaker 2: And he took a shirt off and I was like, yeah, no,

510
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,879
Speaker 2: that's that's the Marvel body. We can cut all that. No.

511
00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:22,000
Speaker 2: I think Charlie is an incredible, incredible performer, and I

512
00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:25,960
Speaker 2: love what he did in this game. Yeah. He has

513
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,520
Speaker 2: made a big point recently on the circuit. So he

514
00:26:28,800 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 2: was unable to do a lot of the press for

515
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:32,760
Speaker 2: the game because he was filming Daredevil. So a lot

516
00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 2: of the other voice actors were doing you know, making

517
00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 2: the rounds for promo and stuff, and he wasn't able

518
00:26:37,080 --> 00:26:39,520
Speaker 2: to be there, And recently he has been praising the

519
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,840
Speaker 2: work whenever he's asked about the game. I think he's

520
00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:43,919
Speaker 2: not a gamer by any means, but you do not

521
00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:45,800
Speaker 2: have to be a gamer to do voice acting for

522
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:48,520
Speaker 2: a game. But I think he was shocked at how

523
00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 2: many people were obsessed with this game and were asking

524
00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:54,879
Speaker 2: him about it. And recently, when asked about how he

525
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,520
Speaker 2: felt about being nominated for Best Performance, he's been specifically

526
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 2: praising the work of the French actor, Maxim's Cazorla, and

527
00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 2: Cazorla provided the motion capture not only for Gustav who

528
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,280
Speaker 2: Charlie Cox's character, that's sure, Charlie Cox's character, also Ben

529
00:27:09,320 --> 00:27:14,040
Speaker 2: starrs Verso and also Andy Serkis's Renois. So Cazorla did

530
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:16,360
Speaker 2: like so much of this motion capture work, and then

531
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:19,440
Speaker 2: also was the voice actor doing English and French voicing

532
00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:23,080
Speaker 2: for Ska incredible yes, which if you play the game,

533
00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:25,360
Speaker 2: Esk is an incredible character and that's.

534
00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:26,879
Speaker 1: So cool that he don't know that.

535
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:30,840
Speaker 2: And Charlie was just making the point of, like I

536
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:34,920
Speaker 2: am only a small portion of this performance. There's also

537
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,040
Speaker 2: this motion capture work that is so important and it's

538
00:27:38,160 --> 00:27:41,080
Speaker 2: unfair to just call me out and not call out

539
00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:44,399
Speaker 2: Cazorla as well, whereas like some of the other nominees

540
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 2: for Best Performance, I mean so quickly, it's Ben Star,

541
00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,959
Speaker 2: Charlie Cox, and Jennifer English all for Clare Obscure Expedition

542
00:27:51,080 --> 00:27:55,399
Speaker 2: thirty three. Ben Starr has done Final Fantasies, Jennifer English,

543
00:27:55,640 --> 00:27:58,840
Speaker 2: Jennifer was shadow Heart and Fathers Yah Jenny.

544
00:27:58,920 --> 00:28:01,560
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, yeah, the voice love of my life.

545
00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:04,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, Troy Baker who did Indiana Jones in the Great Circle.

546
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:05,560
Speaker 1: Ever heard of him?

547
00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:08,200
Speaker 2: Kanatsu Kato who did Silent Hill f and Erica Ishi

548
00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:11,160
Speaker 2: who did Ghost to Yota who I love. And Erica

549
00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:12,959
Speaker 2: did a lot of the mo cap and everything, and

550
00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:16,679
Speaker 2: you know, was like deep involved in the story that

551
00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:18,879
Speaker 2: we know from our interview with her. I'm not saying

552
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,560
Speaker 2: that Charlie should not be in consideration because he was

553
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,480
Speaker 2: only one part of it, but I I just didn't.

554
00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:28,320
Speaker 1: But He's goin say, yeah, I'm just using this as an.

555
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:30,920
Speaker 2: Opportunity to call out the other people all the great

556
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,879
Speaker 2: things they've done, even if they weren't nominated. Y.

557
00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:36,720
Speaker 1: I also I think Charlie Cox is maybe getting at

558
00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:40,280
Speaker 1: an interesting point here. This award is best performance. This

559
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:44,640
Speaker 1: award is not best voice acting, correct, And so there

560
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,640
Speaker 1: is an argument to be made that a lot of

561
00:28:47,920 --> 00:28:51,640
Speaker 1: game work is motion capture, and especially a lot of

562
00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:55,600
Speaker 1: narrative heavy games like for example, God of War or

563
00:28:56,000 --> 00:28:59,400
Speaker 1: Expedition thirty three, A lot of that acting is in

564
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:03,320
Speaker 1: the most is in the physical acting, the facial acting.

565
00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 1: A lot of those stories are not simply told through

566
00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:08,800
Speaker 1: the words these characters speak. And so if you're gonna

567
00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:12,320
Speaker 1: have a category named best performance, I am a little

568
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 1: annoyed to see that it's only voice actors here on

569
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:15,360
Speaker 1: the list.

570
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 2: Because I mean, if you think about something like Haities two,

571
00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:20,800
Speaker 2: which has incredible voice acting, or Dispatch, which has incredible

572
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:25,520
Speaker 2: voice acting, these are games that are animated in a

573
00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:27,960
Speaker 2: very different way. I mean Haities two, I don't think

574
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,680
Speaker 2: there was necessarily any motion capture. There might have been,

575
00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:32,800
Speaker 2: but if not, a game that would require it in

576
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,200
Speaker 2: the same way. Dispatch also doesn't feel like it necessarily

577
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:38,840
Speaker 2: needed any motion capture, right, Please correct me if I'm

578
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,840
Speaker 2: wrong someone, But those are still those voice actors are

579
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:44,479
Speaker 2: still putting in a ton of work, and so we're

580
00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:47,120
Speaker 2: the animators, and you know, it's just it's a tricky category.

581
00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:50,040
Speaker 2: I'm glad that voice actors are being recognized because it

582
00:29:50,120 --> 00:29:54,520
Speaker 2: is a huge part of it. I just it's an

583
00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:58,800
Speaker 2: imperfect category. I think is more of my annoyance. All Right,

584
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:02,720
Speaker 2: we've been talking about Claire quite a bit. Yeah, let's

585
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:08,000
Speaker 2: talk about indie games. So you know, it's no secret

586
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:12,360
Speaker 2: that Claire Obscure is nominated and it is an independent game.

587
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,760
Speaker 2: So if you looked at the nominees for Best Independent Game,

588
00:30:14,800 --> 00:30:18,760
Speaker 2: you have absolom Ballpit, Blueprints, Claire Obscure, Haitis two, and

589
00:30:18,880 --> 00:30:23,560
Speaker 2: Hollow Night Silks Song. There have been an incredible number

590
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:26,120
Speaker 2: of games that have been nominated and then the winner,

591
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,480
Speaker 2: I mean not just the winners, but the nominees for

592
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:31,440
Speaker 2: Best Independent Game over the years have been things like Celeste,

593
00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 2: which is an incredible platformer, cozy games like Starry Valley,

594
00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:38,800
Speaker 2: Action rogue lights like Dead Cells and billatro Have we

595
00:30:38,880 --> 00:30:41,640
Speaker 2: reached a point where indy is too broad? Like? Are

596
00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:46,000
Speaker 2: we really trying to judge Blueprints against hallow Knight selk Song?

597
00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:48,840
Speaker 2: That feels a little unfair at this point.

598
00:30:49,720 --> 00:30:51,280
Speaker 1: I think, you know, Aaron, I think this is a

599
00:30:51,320 --> 00:30:54,760
Speaker 1: matter of perspective, I don't think this category is trying

600
00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,000
Speaker 1: to pit blueprints the game against silk song of the game.

601
00:30:58,520 --> 00:31:00,960
Speaker 1: I think this is a category that's more about the industry,

602
00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:05,400
Speaker 1: because what is an indiegame is like obviously such a

603
00:31:05,400 --> 00:31:10,000
Speaker 1: hotly debated topic, and people fall on different sides of

604
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:13,640
Speaker 1: that debate, and all of it is somewhat subjective. But

605
00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:18,440
Speaker 1: my personal bar for an indiegame is something that was

606
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,720
Speaker 1: developed by a small team. So we're talking like maybe

607
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:25,200
Speaker 1: a few dozen people versus a few thousand people like

608
00:31:25,240 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 1: a Veeste game. It's something that had a very small budget. Again,

609
00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,280
Speaker 1: we're speaking relative to major Triple A title budgets, like

610
00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:36,920
Speaker 1: instead of tens of millions or hundreds of millions of

611
00:31:36,960 --> 00:31:41,160
Speaker 1: dollars like GTA, we're talking like a couple million dollars,

612
00:31:41,200 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: maybe a dozen million dollars as a budget for the

613
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:47,120
Speaker 1: entire game start to finish. And then finally, I think

614
00:31:47,120 --> 00:31:50,720
Speaker 1: the third sort of requirement for me to call something

615
00:31:50,760 --> 00:31:56,080
Speaker 1: an indiegame is that it didn't receive any major support

616
00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:59,880
Speaker 1: like funding or staffing from one of these big developers.

617
00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,880
Speaker 1: But that's to Ubisoft, to Microsoft, whatever. If one of

618
00:32:03,880 --> 00:32:07,120
Speaker 1: those bigger companies is involved directly in the making of

619
00:32:07,160 --> 00:32:10,400
Speaker 1: the game. Then I'm like, Okay, maybe we're bleeding a

620
00:32:10,480 --> 00:32:13,040
Speaker 1: little bit away from Indie, maybe into maybe not Triple

621
00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: A all the way, but maybe we're getting into double

622
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: A category there. That's my personal sort of like bar

623
00:32:18,640 --> 00:32:20,320
Speaker 1: where I draw the line in the sand for a

624
00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,239
Speaker 1: game like that. But I think when it comes to

625
00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,120
Speaker 1: this award, ultimately we're celebrating the fact that there are

626
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:28,760
Speaker 1: games that are made outside of the traditional system. Outside

627
00:32:28,920 --> 00:32:33,200
Speaker 1: of these big corporations with hundreds of millions of dollars

628
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 1: of cash making huge, triple A big budget games, there

629
00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:40,440
Speaker 1: is still a way to make a game, have people

630
00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,240
Speaker 1: support it, and make that your career outside of that system.

631
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:47,880
Speaker 1: So when I look at this list of games, what

632
00:32:47,960 --> 00:32:50,719
Speaker 1: I'm seeing is not is Blueprint better than Silksong. What

633
00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:54,760
Speaker 1: I'm seeing is which game made outside of the traditional

634
00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,760
Speaker 1: system really broke through the most, really surprised us the most,

635
00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:02,880
Speaker 1: and I think more importantly inspired us the most. Which

636
00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,120
Speaker 1: one of these games made us go, hell, yeah, I

637
00:33:06,160 --> 00:33:09,040
Speaker 1: could make a game. Look look with this one person,

638
00:33:09,120 --> 00:33:12,520
Speaker 1: or look what this team of twelve people did in

639
00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:16,720
Speaker 1: a garage and now it's beautiful. It's art, And I

640
00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:19,200
Speaker 1: love it so much and I'm inspired, so that that's

641
00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:21,120
Speaker 1: kind of my perspective on this category.

642
00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:23,800
Speaker 2: How do you feel that, Yeah, I mean I'll push

643
00:33:23,800 --> 00:33:26,240
Speaker 2: back a little bit. Like let's remember we've mentioned it

644
00:33:26,320 --> 00:33:28,800
Speaker 2: a bunch. Balders Gate three is considered an indie game

645
00:33:29,240 --> 00:33:32,600
Speaker 2: because it is it's created by Larian, who is an

646
00:33:32,640 --> 00:33:36,360
Speaker 2: independent company that self published this game. It is also

647
00:33:36,360 --> 00:33:39,600
Speaker 2: technically a triple A game, like it is not it

648
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:42,200
Speaker 2: is so not made by a group of twelve people

649
00:33:42,200 --> 00:33:48,080
Speaker 2: in their garage. Like Baldersgate had an enormous like script side,

650
00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 2: they had all these animators, they had all these composers,

651
00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:53,680
Speaker 2: voice actors, like that is an enormous game and it's yeah,

652
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 2: technically indie.

653
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:56,120
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, that's true.

654
00:33:56,200 --> 00:33:58,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know last not last year. Two years ago,

655
00:33:58,840 --> 00:34:01,520
Speaker 2: Dave the Diver sparked some controversy because it was nominated

656
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,880
Speaker 2: for Best Indie Game and it was developed by Mint Rocket,

657
00:34:05,880 --> 00:34:09,920
Speaker 2: who's a subsidiary of the large publisher Nexon, so like,

658
00:34:10,520 --> 00:34:12,799
Speaker 2: and the director of the game was like, we're not

659
00:34:12,840 --> 00:34:15,200
Speaker 2: an indie game, like, don't consider us that, but the

660
00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:18,560
Speaker 2: awards show considered them an indie game. They didn't win,

661
00:34:18,680 --> 00:34:22,520
Speaker 2: so it was it was purely controversy over the nomination itself.

662
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,719
Speaker 2: Cocoon won that year for Best Indie Game. But I

663
00:34:26,160 --> 00:34:30,359
Speaker 2: think that we've gotten a little too wide with the

664
00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:33,520
Speaker 2: indie category. So I think of this very similarly to like,

665
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:38,000
Speaker 2: quote unquote indie music in the late twenty's, early twenty tens. Okay,

666
00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:40,600
Speaker 2: this may go in one ear out the other for

667
00:34:40,760 --> 00:34:42,680
Speaker 2: you because you're not a huge music fan, but just like,

668
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:44,359
Speaker 2: sit with.

669
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 1: Me for having to ask me how many of these

670
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:49,040
Speaker 1: are you've listed? I actually know.

671
00:34:49,200 --> 00:34:54,279
Speaker 2: So in particular, you know, Bonie ver is considered an

672
00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:56,400
Speaker 2: indie artist, but if Boni Verre were to put out

673
00:34:56,400 --> 00:34:59,880
Speaker 2: an album this year or next year, it would have

674
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 2: so much hype and so many people are looking forward

675
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:04,319
Speaker 2: to it. Boniver has worked with Taylor Swift. He has

676
00:35:04,400 --> 00:35:06,719
Speaker 2: been on Taylor Swift albums. Taylor Swift has been on

677
00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,120
Speaker 2: projects of his, not a Boneiver album, but on like

678
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,680
Speaker 2: his side projects and stuff. So that to me is

679
00:35:13,719 --> 00:35:16,520
Speaker 2: not the same as some artists who you know, let's

680
00:35:16,520 --> 00:35:20,880
Speaker 2: just say, like Jensen McCrae, a singer songwriter who's like

681
00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:24,680
Speaker 2: still coming up independent and I actually don't even know

682
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:26,239
Speaker 2: if Jensen is on a major label.

683
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:26,520
Speaker 1: Or not.

684
00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:28,399
Speaker 2: But like some artists maybe who I'm just seeing their

685
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:31,440
Speaker 2: reels on Instagram of them in their bedroom playing a song,

686
00:35:31,480 --> 00:35:36,080
Speaker 2: those are so different. Boniver has the backing of a

687
00:35:36,200 --> 00:35:39,040
Speaker 2: huge fandom, and this artist who's trying to break through

688
00:35:39,080 --> 00:35:41,279
Speaker 2: is very different. And maybe they're recording it like on

689
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:45,160
Speaker 2: different equipment, and you know they're They're not someone who

690
00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:49,080
Speaker 2: has written with some of the biggest artists in the world,

691
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,719
Speaker 2: and so I kind of feel like a similar thing here,

692
00:35:52,760 --> 00:35:56,239
Speaker 2: like Silk Song and Hades two. These are highly anticipated

693
00:35:56,239 --> 00:35:59,879
Speaker 2: sequels that people had been waiting for. I mean, it's

694
00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:03,919
Speaker 2: Silk Song people. Yes, there were memes about when will

695
00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:07,640
Speaker 2: Silk Song come out? So to blue Prints, one guy

696
00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,960
Speaker 2: who was just like, Hey, I'm gonna invite all my

697
00:36:09,960 --> 00:36:12,880
Speaker 2: friends over to this house and make a puzzle for

698
00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:15,319
Speaker 2: them in the house. And then from that he was like, oh, well,

699
00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:18,600
Speaker 2: you know what, maybe I could turn this into some

700
00:36:18,680 --> 00:36:21,160
Speaker 2: kind of like a video game. He played the Messenger

701
00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:23,160
Speaker 2: and was really inspired by it, and it was just like,

702
00:36:23,600 --> 00:36:27,960
Speaker 2: that is such a different thing than Larry and creating

703
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:30,920
Speaker 2: balder skates and they're not and I know, different years,

704
00:36:31,000 --> 00:36:37,000
Speaker 2: but I kind of wish we had more breakdown in

705
00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:40,239
Speaker 2: terms of the awards, like you're saying with Altars, like

706
00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:44,319
Speaker 2: do we need a more category, some more games can

707
00:36:44,320 --> 00:36:46,759
Speaker 2: get nominated, so that Blueprints can be nominated as a

708
00:36:46,800 --> 00:36:50,799
Speaker 2: puzzle game instead of indie game where it's competing with

709
00:36:50,960 --> 00:36:54,839
Speaker 2: Claire Obscure Song and he needs too, Like, yeah, you know,

710
00:36:54,880 --> 00:36:57,520
Speaker 2: I think that that would be a really great thing.

711
00:36:58,120 --> 00:37:01,239
Speaker 2: And this is no shade to Haities two, Silk Song,

712
00:37:01,360 --> 00:37:03,719
Speaker 2: baalves Gate, three Claibs here any of these games that

713
00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,080
Speaker 2: had even David Diver. I love David the Diver, Like,

714
00:37:06,120 --> 00:37:08,360
Speaker 2: no shade to any of those. It is amazing what

715
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:10,400
Speaker 2: they've been able to do, but it is such a

716
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:14,640
Speaker 2: different thing when it's one person or two people versus

717
00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:18,880
Speaker 2: ten people, versus one hundred people versus twelve hundred people.

718
00:37:19,160 --> 00:37:23,040
Speaker 2: So I wish there was a little bit more room.

719
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 2: The indie title is too vague, I think at.

720
00:37:25,560 --> 00:37:27,920
Speaker 1: This Okay, Yeah, I think that's a good argument, Aaron,

721
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,279
Speaker 1: and I think it's fair. Maybe there does need to

722
00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:34,000
Speaker 1: be more delineation when it comes to how we categorize

723
00:37:34,040 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 1: indie games and how we celebrate them. And ultimately we're

724
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,680
Speaker 1: trying to celebrate as many games, as many games as

725
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:42,239
Speaker 1: we can. But in particular, games that are really made

726
00:37:42,320 --> 00:37:45,279
Speaker 1: from the salts of the earth, you know, like in

727
00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:48,680
Speaker 1: garages made out of blood, sweat and tears, are just

728
00:37:48,719 --> 00:37:49,280
Speaker 1: pure passion.

729
00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,000
Speaker 2: I want someone who made this game in a cave

730
00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:57,880
Speaker 2: with a box. So just kind of the logical conclusion

731
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:00,480
Speaker 2: to this question, do we consider claib scare ex thirty

732
00:38:00,520 --> 00:38:01,239
Speaker 2: three and indie game?

733
00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:04,200
Speaker 1: I think by my metrics, the metrics that I laid

734
00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:08,359
Speaker 1: out earlier, I would say yes. Yeah. Sandfall Interactive very

735
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:10,920
Speaker 1: small studio. It was founded in twenty twenty, like I

736
00:38:10,920 --> 00:38:13,680
Speaker 1: said earlier, by three Ubi self developers who left ub

737
00:38:13,760 --> 00:38:18,400
Speaker 1: self deform it, and ultimately I think the core team. Obviously,

738
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: you have marketing, you have you know, you have broader

739
00:38:20,520 --> 00:38:22,960
Speaker 1: support staff once a game is published and to get

740
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,240
Speaker 1: it out there in the market. But the core team

741
00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:27,840
Speaker 1: that worked and on and made the game, I believe

742
00:38:27,960 --> 00:38:31,920
Speaker 1: was around literally thirty three people, which is tiny when

743
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:34,960
Speaker 1: you compare it to big publishers that make your Call

744
00:38:35,000 --> 00:38:36,920
Speaker 1: of Duties, your Assassin Creeds.

745
00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:39,040
Speaker 2: Your NBA two K yeah, whatever.

746
00:38:38,719 --> 00:38:41,279
Speaker 1: You literally have like anywhere from a few hundred to

747
00:38:41,320 --> 00:38:44,120
Speaker 1: a few thousand people working on games of that scale.

748
00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:46,360
Speaker 1: So for thirty three people to make a game like this,

749
00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:50,759
Speaker 1: I think I would categorize it as indy. I'm looking

750
00:38:50,800 --> 00:38:51,839
Speaker 1: at your face and I'm like.

751
00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,239
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't like I don't want it to

752
00:38:55,239 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 2: be considered indy simply because I want I want blueprints

753
00:38:58,520 --> 00:39:01,040
Speaker 2: to win something I want belowtated to. You know, I

754
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:03,600
Speaker 2: just think it's gonna steamroll over these other games. I

755
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 2: think by you are correct that by the definition of

756
00:39:06,719 --> 00:39:09,239
Speaker 2: an indie game, it is an indie game, and so like, yes,

757
00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,160
Speaker 2: I just I don't want it to hog all the awards.

758
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:12,000
Speaker 2: That's that's really it.

759
00:39:12,040 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 1: That's fair. Yeah, I think that's also a valid, valid feeling. Okay,

760
00:39:16,480 --> 00:39:19,480
Speaker 1: to wrap up this section here before we take another break.

761
00:39:20,320 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 1: Looking at all of these categories, are you sensing any upsets?

762
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,320
Speaker 2: So I don't know if this will truly be an upset,

763
00:39:27,320 --> 00:39:31,880
Speaker 2: but I was looking at most Anticipated game, and this

764
00:39:31,960 --> 00:39:36,279
Speaker 2: category is ridiculous. Yes, and we mentioned community support where

765
00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,480
Speaker 2: Balder's Gate three won last year. It's nominated again. Well

766
00:39:39,600 --> 00:39:42,640
Speaker 2: last year Grand Theft Auto six one, and it's nominated again.

767
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:46,279
Speaker 2: The nominees for most Anticipated Game are Double seven first

768
00:39:46,360 --> 00:39:49,840
Speaker 2: like Grand Theft Ato six, Marvel's Wolverine Resident Evil Requiem

769
00:39:49,880 --> 00:39:52,279
Speaker 2: and The Witcher four. Now, look, there are some amazing

770
00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 2: game well we don't know what they are, they're not

771
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:57,319
Speaker 2: out yet. We think some of these games are going

772
00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:01,440
Speaker 2: to be incredible. GTA six has already been pushed back again,

773
00:40:01,760 --> 00:40:05,080
Speaker 2: so realistically, is it gonna win last year, this year,

774
00:40:05,120 --> 00:40:09,279
Speaker 2: and next year? That seems uh, that seems like a

775
00:40:09,320 --> 00:40:11,359
Speaker 2: failure on all of our parts if we just keep

776
00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:15,840
Speaker 2: voting it to win, like, you know, let's give it

777
00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:18,239
Speaker 2: to which You're four or Wolverine or you know. I

778
00:40:18,239 --> 00:40:20,319
Speaker 2: don't know if Double seven First Light is gonna win,

779
00:40:20,400 --> 00:40:23,920
Speaker 2: but I truly think Whatcher four deserves to be in

780
00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:26,520
Speaker 2: this category like it should get.

781
00:40:27,640 --> 00:40:29,600
Speaker 1: I don't think Whatcher four is coming out next year though.

782
00:40:29,880 --> 00:40:33,000
Speaker 1: That's our question is like, are we is this most

783
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,680
Speaker 1: anticipated for next year or just like most anticipated whenever

784
00:40:37,400 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 1: you know, in general, because Which or four not coming

785
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:43,160
Speaker 1: out this year, there's no release date for that at all.

786
00:40:43,239 --> 00:40:45,280
Speaker 1: Yet all we got was like a tech demo trailer.

787
00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:47,400
Speaker 2: Yeah, GTA six.

788
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:50,359
Speaker 1: Has been delayed and pushed back. Yeah, and we'll likely

789
00:40:50,400 --> 00:40:53,960
Speaker 1: be delayed and pushed back again, and so unclear whether

790
00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:56,600
Speaker 1: we'll see GTA six next year. The only games that

791
00:40:56,640 --> 00:40:58,600
Speaker 1: we know for sure are coming next year from this list,

792
00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:03,000
Speaker 1: I think are Wolverine and Double O seven. So yeah,

793
00:41:03,040 --> 00:41:05,200
Speaker 1: this is such a funny and elusive category to me

794
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:09,759
Speaker 1: because it's very unclear what the criteria are outside of

795
00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:11,400
Speaker 1: just like hype.

796
00:41:11,840 --> 00:41:13,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean Resident Evil Requiem is supposed to come

797
00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:14,640
Speaker 2: out in February.

798
00:41:14,719 --> 00:41:16,319
Speaker 1: Okay, Okay, so we got those three.

799
00:41:16,640 --> 00:41:20,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, but god, that's a good point, like, how do

800
00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:25,880
Speaker 2: you what is the what is the requirements for being nominated?

801
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,160
Speaker 1: Yeah? And you know what's missing here? Fable. I don't

802
00:41:28,160 --> 00:41:31,400
Speaker 1: know if you ever played Fable growing up. I love

803
00:41:32,239 --> 00:41:35,160
Speaker 1: the Fable games. As messy as the sequels are, Fable

804
00:41:35,200 --> 00:41:37,239
Speaker 1: one is a masterpiece. I think two and three are

805
00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:41,200
Speaker 1: fine and okay and somewhat bad. I love them so much.

806
00:41:41,200 --> 00:41:43,960
Speaker 1: I have a deep attachment to them. And it's been

807
00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:46,600
Speaker 1: a long time since we've seen a Fable project, and

808
00:41:46,640 --> 00:41:49,479
Speaker 1: we're finally getting one in twenty twenty six, and I'm

809
00:41:49,560 --> 00:41:52,520
Speaker 1: so excited for it. Shocked that it wasn't on this list,

810
00:41:52,560 --> 00:41:53,680
Speaker 1: because again, I'm like, what's the.

811
00:41:53,560 --> 00:41:56,160
Speaker 2: Fucking criteria to get on this list? All right, Well,

812
00:41:56,280 --> 00:41:58,479
Speaker 2: let's just well write in our own games. You're gonna

813
00:41:58,480 --> 00:42:00,480
Speaker 2: write in Fable. Fable is not gonna write it Blatro

814
00:42:00,560 --> 00:42:03,320
Speaker 2: two and we'll just go for there. All right, what

815
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:05,400
Speaker 2: do you what do you think the biggest upset is

816
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:05,799
Speaker 2: gonna be?

817
00:42:07,520 --> 00:42:10,399
Speaker 1: Okay, I'm not a multiplayer gamer. I gave up that life.

818
00:42:10,440 --> 00:42:12,480
Speaker 1: I put up my hat many many years ago. I'm

819
00:42:12,480 --> 00:42:13,239
Speaker 1: too old for that now.

820
00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:14,800
Speaker 2: Your headset, Mike, Yeah.

821
00:42:14,640 --> 00:42:19,000
Speaker 1: Exactly, My headset, Mike is gone for good? Am I

822
00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:21,080
Speaker 1: making fun of other people's mom's days are over?

823
00:42:21,920 --> 00:42:23,000
Speaker 2: Uh?

824
00:42:23,120 --> 00:42:26,319
Speaker 1: But looking at the best Multiplayer category, I think what's

825
00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:29,319
Speaker 1: interesting is to see arc Raiders on the list here.

826
00:42:30,080 --> 00:42:32,640
Speaker 1: This is a late comer that has really taken the

827
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:36,560
Speaker 1: gaming conversation at Zeitgeist by storm, kind of an unexpected

828
00:42:36,600 --> 00:42:39,600
Speaker 1: title that has come in and really honestly taken the

829
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:42,960
Speaker 1: shine away from Battlefield six because they came out within

830
00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:43,799
Speaker 1: weeks of each other.

831
00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:46,800
Speaker 2: And just for the record, the nominees for Best Multiplayer

832
00:42:46,920 --> 00:42:52,120
Speaker 2: Arc Raiders, Battlefield six, Elden Ring, Night Rain Peak, a glorious,

833
00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:54,200
Speaker 2: incredibly cute game, and split Fiction.

834
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:57,880
Speaker 1: That's right, And I think all of these titles actually

835
00:42:58,600 --> 00:43:01,040
Speaker 1: would have had a solid shot the throne to take

836
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:04,880
Speaker 1: home Best Multiplayer until our graders showed up, and so

837
00:43:04,920 --> 00:43:06,600
Speaker 1: I think that's where we're going to see the upset

838
00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,520
Speaker 1: out of put money down on any of those other

839
00:43:09,560 --> 00:43:13,759
Speaker 1: games had arc Graders not just gobbled up the conversation

840
00:43:13,960 --> 00:43:15,719
Speaker 1: so recently, and so I think we're going to see

841
00:43:15,719 --> 00:43:16,640
Speaker 1: our graders take it home.

842
00:43:16,840 --> 00:43:20,240
Speaker 2: Interesting. I think it's wild because these are such different

843
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:24,040
Speaker 2: multiplayer games. Like when I think of split Fiction, I

844
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:28,240
Speaker 2: think of sitting on the couch y co playing this game. Yeah,

845
00:43:28,360 --> 00:43:31,080
Speaker 2: Peak is another co op game, but you know, not

846
00:43:31,120 --> 00:43:33,800
Speaker 2: necessarily like we would all be in our separate homes

847
00:43:33,840 --> 00:43:36,680
Speaker 2: or wherever we play games and we have voice chat

848
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:39,960
Speaker 2: and it it is a very fun co op game.

849
00:43:40,360 --> 00:43:44,000
Speaker 2: Night Rain I have played a ton of but a

850
00:43:44,080 --> 00:43:46,560
Speaker 2: famous thing about elden Ring Night Rain there is no

851
00:43:46,680 --> 00:43:49,520
Speaker 2: voice chat. So you are working, you are working with

852
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:52,840
Speaker 2: other people, oftentimes strangers, and you have no way of

853
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:56,720
Speaker 2: communicating other than like one simple way to mark things.

854
00:43:57,080 --> 00:43:59,520
Speaker 2: Not what I it is a multiplayer game, but there's

855
00:43:59,520 --> 00:44:02,480
Speaker 2: so little communication. Ark Raiders in Battlefield six, I mean

856
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:05,719
Speaker 2: arc Raders. The proximity chat I think is an incredibly

857
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:10,279
Speaker 2: fun thing. But I also think Arc Raiders like you

858
00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,920
Speaker 2: can play that there are certain play styles that are

859
00:44:13,000 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 2: very solo oriented and it is about not seeing anyone

860
00:44:17,000 --> 00:44:21,120
Speaker 2: and never making noise. And this is just a very

861
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:24,200
Speaker 2: strange collection of games that are considering multiplayer games here.

862
00:44:24,200 --> 00:44:26,319
Speaker 1: I think you can make the argument that multiplayer could

863
00:44:26,360 --> 00:44:29,960
Speaker 1: also be split into multiple categories because it.

864
00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:31,800
Speaker 2: Is so broad, right me at some point.

865
00:44:32,840 --> 00:44:36,239
Speaker 1: And shooter games and survival games all at the one here.

866
00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:38,680
Speaker 2: So I would like split fiction to win this, just

867
00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:40,440
Speaker 2: because I would like there to be more couch co

868
00:44:40,560 --> 00:44:43,000
Speaker 2: op games, like I think we we have lost that

869
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,239
Speaker 2: in the Internet, and I would love more.

870
00:44:46,320 --> 00:44:48,239
Speaker 1: Yeah. Honestly, if you don't have a switch, like you

871
00:44:48,280 --> 00:44:51,000
Speaker 1: basically have nothing to like, yeah, play with your family, or.

872
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,240
Speaker 2: You're like passing the control back and forth.

873
00:44:53,280 --> 00:44:56,719
Speaker 1: That's that's not the same thing. All right. Well, that

874
00:44:56,760 --> 00:44:59,160
Speaker 1: wraps up our segment segment here, just to look at

875
00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:00,799
Speaker 1: some of the things that we were keeping our eyes

876
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:03,560
Speaker 1: on and some of the interesting conversations around the other

877
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:06,920
Speaker 1: categories that aren't Game of the Year. Let's take another break.

878
00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:09,879
Speaker 1: When we come back, Aaron, you and I are going

879
00:45:09,880 --> 00:45:13,920
Speaker 1: to continue a long held Award show tradition and gripe

880
00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:16,439
Speaker 1: about some snubs things we thought we should have seen

881
00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:17,080
Speaker 1: at the awards.

882
00:45:17,480 --> 00:45:31,920
Speaker 2: Will we decon thement that, and we're back and to

883
00:45:31,920 --> 00:45:34,360
Speaker 2: wrap it up, we're gonna celebrate some of the games

884
00:45:34,400 --> 00:45:38,200
Speaker 2: that didn't get nominated or didn't get nominated enough, and

885
00:45:38,280 --> 00:45:40,520
Speaker 2: just games that we really had a blast playing this year.

886
00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:43,520
Speaker 2: So aboo, what is something that didn't get nominated? Either

887
00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:46,120
Speaker 2: a game that wasn't nominated in the category you thought,

888
00:45:46,280 --> 00:45:48,560
Speaker 2: or just something that was totally snubbed entirely.

889
00:45:49,239 --> 00:45:53,759
Speaker 1: So I think there was a major, major crime to

890
00:45:53,880 --> 00:45:56,439
Speaker 1: report in the Best Performance category. Beyond what we talked

891
00:45:56,440 --> 00:46:00,200
Speaker 1: about earlier with our boy Charlie Cox. I think think

892
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:05,200
Speaker 1: Alex Jordan, who voiced the main character in The Altars.

893
00:46:05,880 --> 00:46:08,360
Speaker 1: I talked about this game earlier. The Altars. The basic

894
00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:11,040
Speaker 1: premise is that you you've crash landed on a hostile planet.

895
00:46:11,239 --> 00:46:14,160
Speaker 1: You're a sole survivor, and in order to survive and

896
00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:18,200
Speaker 1: get off this planet, you clone yourself because you can't

897
00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:23,160
Speaker 1: keep the ship running and the life support systems operating. Elope,

898
00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:31,040
Speaker 1: and so Alex Jordan voices all eleven iterations of Jan Dolski,

899
00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:35,960
Speaker 1: the main character, all of which come from alternate timelines,

900
00:46:36,000 --> 00:46:40,520
Speaker 1: hence the name The Altars. These are not clones per se.

901
00:46:40,800 --> 00:46:44,719
Speaker 1: These are alternate reality versions plucked from different timelines brought

902
00:46:44,760 --> 00:46:46,320
Speaker 1: to this one, and.

903
00:46:46,200 --> 00:46:47,839
Speaker 2: So so they don't all work in a church.

904
00:46:47,880 --> 00:46:53,279
Speaker 1: I thought that's what, no, no different wrong alter So

905
00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:56,000
Speaker 1: I really do think Alex Jordan has been snubbed here

906
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:59,080
Speaker 1: on Best Performance because he didn't just voice one character,

907
00:46:59,080 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 1: one main character. He voiced eleven main characters, all of

908
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:08,320
Speaker 1: whom have different backgrounds, different accents, different affectations and ways

909
00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:12,279
Speaker 1: of speaking, different personalities that very much come through in

910
00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:16,840
Speaker 1: the voice delivery. And that, to me is incredible. I

911
00:47:16,880 --> 00:47:19,840
Speaker 1: can barely do one accent that isn't just my normal

912
00:47:19,840 --> 00:47:23,080
Speaker 1: speaking voice, and Alex Jordan is out here doing eleven

913
00:47:23,160 --> 00:47:28,280
Speaker 1: different variations of his voice to characterize eleven different characters

914
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:30,160
Speaker 1: who are all technically the clone of the same.

915
00:47:29,960 --> 00:47:31,680
Speaker 2: Game, right, And so this isn't even like a nutty

916
00:47:31,719 --> 00:47:34,480
Speaker 2: professor kind of thing or Christmas with the clumps, Like,

917
00:47:34,520 --> 00:47:38,400
Speaker 2: He's not different characters. It's the same character, but different versions.

918
00:47:38,000 --> 00:47:42,080
Speaker 1: Different versions, and the and the game is just full

919
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:46,360
Speaker 1: of these deeply emotional interactions where Jan Dolski, the main character,

920
00:47:46,920 --> 00:47:49,719
Speaker 1: is like having these heartfelt discussions with himself from an

921
00:47:49,719 --> 00:47:52,520
Speaker 1: alternate timeline, and so Alex Jordan has to be in

922
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:56,960
Speaker 1: the booth like talking to himself like Loki. It's really

923
00:47:57,400 --> 00:48:00,160
Speaker 1: mind blowing stuff when you think about it. And I

924
00:48:00,480 --> 00:48:03,920
Speaker 1: really am shocked that Alex is named and show up

925
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:04,640
Speaker 1: on the Best Performance.

926
00:48:05,040 --> 00:48:06,719
Speaker 2: Well it was a stacked group.

927
00:48:06,800 --> 00:48:11,000
Speaker 1: Yes, for such a stack here. Yeah. Anything that stood

928
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:13,000
Speaker 1: out to you that you think should have been nominated?

929
00:48:13,280 --> 00:48:15,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we just talked about Indie Game of

930
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:18,920
Speaker 2: the Year, Best Debut Indie Game. I mean Peak was

931
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:21,520
Speaker 2: nominated for Best multiplayer Game. I would have loved to

932
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:23,719
Speaker 2: have seen it under Indie Game. Yeah, if you haven't

933
00:48:23,719 --> 00:48:26,719
Speaker 2: played Peak, you and you could do it solo. But

934
00:48:26,719 --> 00:48:28,960
Speaker 2: you and a group of friends try to scale a

935
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:33,120
Speaker 2: mountain and you can carry little things and you run

936
00:48:33,160 --> 00:48:36,680
Speaker 2: out of stamina. It's kind of like amonga. It's kind

937
00:48:36,680 --> 00:48:37,920
Speaker 2: of like fall guys.

938
00:48:37,719 --> 00:48:42,040
Speaker 1: Really key Yeah, meets like really wild character.

939
00:48:41,800 --> 00:48:44,880
Speaker 2: And proximity chat, and so there's so many like if

940
00:48:44,920 --> 00:48:47,279
Speaker 2: you just are interested, go look up clips and you'll

941
00:48:47,320 --> 00:48:51,200
Speaker 2: find a clip of someone like encouraging their friend to

942
00:48:51,239 --> 00:48:53,239
Speaker 2: make the jump and climb up, and then their friend

943
00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:58,040
Speaker 2: misses and you just hear them go no as they fall,

944
00:48:58,120 --> 00:49:00,120
Speaker 2: and then everyone else is like, h all right, well

945
00:49:00,160 --> 00:49:03,439
Speaker 2: I guess we keep going. So I thought that game

946
00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:06,440
Speaker 2: was a really cool moment to see people playing that.

947
00:49:06,760 --> 00:49:09,480
Speaker 2: I also loved, loved, loved Dispatch.

948
00:49:09,680 --> 00:49:11,239
Speaker 1: Yeah, surprise, you haven't brought this up.

949
00:49:11,360 --> 00:49:14,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was nominated for Best Debut Indie Game,

950
00:49:14,239 --> 00:49:18,240
Speaker 2: which feels weird. I think it shouldn't be nominated there.

951
00:49:18,719 --> 00:49:21,920
Speaker 2: It is technically the debut game for ad Hoc, but

952
00:49:22,440 --> 00:49:25,120
Speaker 2: ad Hoc is just the remnants of Telltale, So really,

953
00:49:25,200 --> 00:49:27,520
Speaker 2: I think Dispatch should have been nominated for a Best

954
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:31,200
Speaker 2: Indie Game of the Year. It had a huge conversation online,

955
00:49:31,239 --> 00:49:36,080
Speaker 2: continues to have a huge conversation online. I'm sure it will.

956
00:49:36,239 --> 00:49:39,960
Speaker 2: It will hopefully get more iterations and more things going on,

957
00:49:40,200 --> 00:49:42,560
Speaker 2: and hopefully this brings back this kind of storytelling game.

958
00:49:42,800 --> 00:49:43,040
Speaker 1: Yeah.

959
00:49:43,040 --> 00:49:45,399
Speaker 2: A lot of great voice acting in there too, But

960
00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:47,759
Speaker 2: those are the two that I really wish had made

961
00:49:47,800 --> 00:49:50,600
Speaker 2: it into Indie Game of the Year. Again, really crowded category,

962
00:49:50,640 --> 00:49:51,719
Speaker 2: hard to get everything in there.

963
00:49:51,800 --> 00:49:54,359
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm a sucker for a Telltale game. I'm excited to.

964
00:49:55,400 --> 00:49:57,239
Speaker 2: You're gonna have so You're gonna have so much fun.

965
00:49:57,400 --> 00:49:59,680
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be my next game. Okay, to

966
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:03,240
Speaker 1: wrap a aaron one final question as we say goodbye,

967
00:50:03,320 --> 00:50:05,279
Speaker 1: looking back at twenty twenty five, looking back at the

968
00:50:05,320 --> 00:50:08,120
Speaker 1: games we played this year, is there one that you

969
00:50:08,160 --> 00:50:09,719
Speaker 1: just want to shout out, one that you feel is

970
00:50:09,719 --> 00:50:13,640
Speaker 1: maybe underrated or that more people listening should give a shot.

971
00:50:14,400 --> 00:50:17,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean in addition to the ones I just mentioned,

972
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:21,080
Speaker 2: you know, especially Dispatch, I think in particular a game

973
00:50:21,080 --> 00:50:24,759
Speaker 2: that's underrated in this room is Donkey Kong Banana and

974
00:50:25,000 --> 00:50:28,160
Speaker 2: I really wish that you would stop this slander.

975
00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:31,840
Speaker 1: I I don't think he's gonna save the det.

976
00:50:31,800 --> 00:50:35,239
Speaker 2: He's the original IP. He is the original Nintendo IP

977
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:40,040
Speaker 2: Donkey Kong. You know this rags to riches story. He

978
00:50:40,840 --> 00:50:43,640
Speaker 2: is minding all these bananas and then gets stuck in

979
00:50:43,719 --> 00:50:45,640
Speaker 2: the middle of the world and has to dig his

980
00:50:45,719 --> 00:50:48,800
Speaker 2: way through. Now, I love that game. I do think people,

981
00:50:49,400 --> 00:50:53,560
Speaker 2: not everyone, loves the Mario Odyssey type play style for

982
00:50:53,880 --> 00:50:56,840
Speaker 2: Nintendo games, and I think a lot of people you

983
00:50:57,400 --> 00:51:01,399
Speaker 2: members of our of the show similarly feel this way

984
00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:04,719
Speaker 2: that like, Wow, I really wish switched to launched with

985
00:51:04,760 --> 00:51:06,880
Speaker 2: a Mario or a Zelda game, and instead it was

986
00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:09,560
Speaker 2: donc Y Kong Bonanza. It is a great game. I

987
00:51:09,920 --> 00:51:12,759
Speaker 2: hope more people play it. I also think Haites two

988
00:51:13,360 --> 00:51:17,399
Speaker 2: somehow is maybe a little underrated, Like the first one

989
00:51:18,000 --> 00:51:21,000
Speaker 2: was nominated for nine things in the year it came out,

990
00:51:21,400 --> 00:51:25,839
Speaker 2: and this one has six, I believe nominees. I think

991
00:51:25,920 --> 00:51:29,960
Speaker 2: that it would be it doesn't have to just grow

992
00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:33,719
Speaker 2: the number of nominations. But I do wonder if the

993
00:51:34,040 --> 00:51:37,720
Speaker 2: open beta took some of the luster and mystique away

994
00:51:37,719 --> 00:51:39,560
Speaker 2: from it because people have been playing it for like

995
00:51:39,600 --> 00:51:41,560
Speaker 2: a year. I mean, yeah, like it's been in your

996
00:51:41,560 --> 00:51:44,520
Speaker 2: household for a year, right, yep. And so I wonder

997
00:51:44,560 --> 00:51:47,600
Speaker 2: if that changed kind of the hype for it in

998
00:51:47,640 --> 00:51:51,160
Speaker 2: a way that when it did drop, half the player

999
00:51:51,200 --> 00:51:52,680
Speaker 2: base had already been playing it or something like I

1000
00:51:52,719 --> 00:51:55,160
Speaker 2: hadn't played it, and I was so excited about it.

1001
00:51:55,200 --> 00:51:58,200
Speaker 2: But I also, you know, I would I want to

1002
00:51:58,200 --> 00:51:59,880
Speaker 2: try out a new weapon or a new build, and

1003
00:52:00,040 --> 00:52:02,160
Speaker 2: I'd go on YouTube and there'd be someone talking about

1004
00:52:02,239 --> 00:52:04,080
Speaker 2: that build from six months ago, and I was like,

1005
00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:06,239
Speaker 2: this game came out two weeks ago, yeah, And it

1006
00:52:06,800 --> 00:52:10,759
Speaker 2: felt weird to see that that time difference of other

1007
00:52:10,760 --> 00:52:14,919
Speaker 2: people had already experienced this in a much different state too.

1008
00:52:15,520 --> 00:52:17,520
Speaker 2: So I do I do kind of feel like maybe

1009
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:20,239
Speaker 2: that took away some of the hype around Haiti Sou

1010
00:52:20,480 --> 00:52:22,520
Speaker 2: even though it still has an incredible amount of hype

1011
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:24,359
Speaker 2: and people are still playing it and loving it. I mean,

1012
00:52:24,440 --> 00:52:26,400
Speaker 2: Carmen on our team is still playing it, you know,

1013
00:52:26,440 --> 00:52:30,960
Speaker 2: like every morning. So yeah, I loved those games, but

1014
00:52:31,000 --> 00:52:33,799
Speaker 2: I think yours is probably a better answer to this

1015
00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:36,439
Speaker 2: question in the purest sense of like what's underrated that

1016
00:52:36,560 --> 00:52:38,520
Speaker 2: we haven't even mentioned on this show yet?

1017
00:52:38,560 --> 00:52:41,799
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, So Citizens Sleeper two hasn't once come up

1018
00:52:41,840 --> 00:52:45,839
Speaker 1: today because I believe this came out in February. So

1019
00:52:46,040 --> 00:52:48,920
Speaker 1: this came out really really early this year, and I

1020
00:52:48,960 --> 00:52:50,719
Speaker 1: really didn't get around to playing it until I think

1021
00:52:50,840 --> 00:52:55,480
Speaker 1: the summer, maybe late summer, and I really really love it.

1022
00:52:55,560 --> 00:52:58,440
Speaker 1: I remember playing Citizen Sleeper one because I was intrigued,

1023
00:52:58,480 --> 00:53:00,640
Speaker 1: but I bounced off of it. I think Citizens Lieber

1024
00:53:00,680 --> 00:53:04,799
Speaker 1: two has refined some of the rough edges this is.

1025
00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,040
Speaker 1: I think I would categorize this as an indie game.

1026
00:53:07,280 --> 00:53:10,600
Speaker 1: A relatively small studio made this, but it's a very

1027
00:53:10,680 --> 00:53:12,799
Speaker 1: narrative focused game. You're doing a lot of reading, it's

1028
00:53:12,800 --> 00:53:15,240
Speaker 1: a lot of text on screen. It's a choice based

1029
00:53:15,320 --> 00:53:17,960
Speaker 1: narrative games, so you're making decisions that affects the story,

1030
00:53:18,520 --> 00:53:22,200
Speaker 1: it affects the characters you meet, a really lovely cast

1031
00:53:22,239 --> 00:53:26,279
Speaker 1: of characters who join your crew. It's set in a

1032
00:53:27,040 --> 00:53:29,400
Speaker 1: sci fi setting out in deep space that has nothing

1033
00:53:29,400 --> 00:53:32,600
Speaker 1: to do with Earth and almost nothing to do with humans,

1034
00:53:32,640 --> 00:53:35,440
Speaker 1: even you play a sort of this like hybrid android

1035
00:53:35,480 --> 00:53:38,640
Speaker 1: human character. And so if you're a sucker for sci fi,

1036
00:53:39,520 --> 00:53:42,279
Speaker 1: if you are a fan of beautiful art design, which

1037
00:53:42,280 --> 00:53:45,400
Speaker 1: I think this game certainly has beautiful art direction.

1038
00:53:45,239 --> 00:53:47,239
Speaker 2: If you're not scared away by seeing a lot of

1039
00:53:47,239 --> 00:53:49,640
Speaker 2: text on a lot of text, I mean your text. Well,

1040
00:53:49,760 --> 00:53:51,920
Speaker 2: mostly what you're doing in this game is reading text,

1041
00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:54,479
Speaker 2: and most of it is not voiced over, to be clear,

1042
00:53:54,480 --> 00:53:57,400
Speaker 2: because it's an indie studio. So it's a lot of reading,

1043
00:53:57,640 --> 00:53:59,480
Speaker 2: it's a lot of making choices and text.

1044
00:54:00,320 --> 00:54:03,840
Speaker 1: And the quote unquote game part of it is just

1045
00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:07,080
Speaker 1: like these dice roll segments where you come to critical

1046
00:54:07,120 --> 00:54:11,640
Speaker 1: points in the story and you have certain attributes of

1047
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:14,520
Speaker 1: your character that you level up or spend ability points

1048
00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:16,440
Speaker 1: in and that affects the dice roll outcomes.

1049
00:54:16,440 --> 00:54:18,959
Speaker 2: So, if I were interested in trying this game, what

1050
00:54:19,320 --> 00:54:21,160
Speaker 2: is the mood that I should be in?

1051
00:54:21,200 --> 00:54:21,279
Speaker 1: Like?

1052
00:54:21,400 --> 00:54:23,560
Speaker 2: Is this a game on a rainy day? Is this

1053
00:54:23,640 --> 00:54:24,040
Speaker 2: a game?

1054
00:54:24,960 --> 00:54:25,200
Speaker 1: You know?

1055
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:29,560
Speaker 2: Like, if I'm what what is the right mood for

1056
00:54:29,600 --> 00:54:30,560
Speaker 2: me to get into this game.

1057
00:54:33,000 --> 00:54:35,360
Speaker 1: The right mood is if you're hold at the library

1058
00:54:35,480 --> 00:54:38,200
Speaker 1: is not here yet and you really want to read

1059
00:54:38,239 --> 00:54:46,200
Speaker 1: a book, or if you love comic books, Well I.

1060
00:54:46,200 --> 00:54:48,120
Speaker 2: Think that's that's that's a good one. Yeah, So, like

1061
00:54:48,560 --> 00:54:53,200
Speaker 2: this is not something for as I'm falling asleep, not necessarily.

1062
00:54:53,239 --> 00:54:56,000
Speaker 1: I think the narrative is engaging, and like, if you're

1063
00:54:56,080 --> 00:54:58,400
Speaker 1: the type of person who like likes reading books, this

1064
00:54:58,480 --> 00:55:00,680
Speaker 1: is the perfect like play on your Steam Steam deck.

1065
00:55:00,520 --> 00:55:01,680
Speaker 2: In bed before you get to bed.

1066
00:55:02,160 --> 00:55:05,040
Speaker 1: Cause yeah, I think the narrative is incredibly engaging. The

1067
00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:08,520
Speaker 1: music is very zen and chill. It's got this sort

1068
00:55:08,560 --> 00:55:11,319
Speaker 1: of sci fi eedm.

1069
00:55:10,320 --> 00:55:13,480
Speaker 2: Music track that everyone Aboo just said he doesn't pay

1070
00:55:13,480 --> 00:55:15,680
Speaker 2: attention to the music. So if he's saying something about

1071
00:55:15,719 --> 00:55:17,560
Speaker 2: the music, he it meant something.

1072
00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:20,480
Speaker 1: Yes, absolutely, I think it's very honestly, like, you could

1073
00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:22,480
Speaker 1: probably just leave this game on in the background and

1074
00:55:22,520 --> 00:55:25,359
Speaker 1: it could be your like low five study beats. That's

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00:55:25,400 --> 00:55:26,359
Speaker 1: the vibe of the music.

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00:55:26,400 --> 00:55:30,440
Speaker 2: And it's out for It's on Steam, it's on everything, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox,

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00:55:30,600 --> 00:55:30,839
Speaker 2: you know.

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00:55:31,040 --> 00:55:32,560
Speaker 1: It's on game Pass. If you have game Pass, you

1079
00:55:32,560 --> 00:55:35,200
Speaker 1: can just download Ice play it so Citizen Sleeper two.

1080
00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:39,520
Speaker 1: That is my underrated and underplayed game that I really

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00:55:39,560 --> 00:55:41,839
Speaker 1: think from twenty twenty five people should check out and

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00:55:42,040 --> 00:55:43,640
Speaker 1: give it a chance if it sounds like your type

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00:55:43,640 --> 00:55:48,600
Speaker 1: of thing. All right, folks, that's it for our twenty

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00:55:48,680 --> 00:55:51,680
Speaker 1: twenty five Game Award preview. We'll see how things shake

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00:55:51,719 --> 00:55:56,000
Speaker 1: out at the awards show. That's it for today's conversation.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much for listening. Coming up this week, Jason

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00:55:59,160 --> 00:56:01,920
Speaker 1: and Rosie will be act on Mike to talk about

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00:56:01,920 --> 00:56:05,320
Speaker 1: Stranger Things, the first two episodes of the final season

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00:56:05,320 --> 00:56:08,560
Speaker 1: of Stranger Things, and then of course this weekend the

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00:56:08,719 --> 00:56:14,040
Speaker 1: Laurabis News Clara, there's actually too much going on. Yeah,

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00:56:14,080 --> 00:56:15,799
Speaker 1: so I hope you're looking forward to all of that.

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00:56:15,800 --> 00:56:17,360
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for tuning in today.

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00:56:17,120 --> 00:56:19,239
Speaker 2: And please, you know, leave us a comment if you

1094
00:56:19,239 --> 00:56:21,480
Speaker 2: want to hear a Boo do a solo episode just

1095
00:56:21,880 --> 00:56:25,840
Speaker 2: on his experiences in Paris and Baguettes, just let us know,

1096
00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:27,920
Speaker 2: or Donkey Kong Bonanza, what are the other you know?

1097
00:56:28,840 --> 00:56:29,400
Speaker 2: Or music?

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00:56:30,360 --> 00:56:31,200
Speaker 1: Please not music.

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00:56:38,360 --> 00:56:40,560
Speaker 2: X ray Vision is hosted by Jason SEPs Young and

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00:56:40,719 --> 00:56:43,640
Speaker 2: Rosie Night and is a production of iHeart Podcast. Our

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00:56:43,680 --> 00:56:47,040
Speaker 2: executive producers are Joel Monique and Aaron Koulefman.

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00:56:47,280 --> 00:56:49,680
Speaker 1: Our supervising producer is Abusa part.

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00:56:49,719 --> 00:56:53,680
Speaker 2: All produces are Common, Laurent Dean Jonathan and Fey Wack.

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00:56:53,800 --> 00:56:56,560
Speaker 2: A theme song is by Brian Vasquez, with alternate theme

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00:56:56,640 --> 00:57:00,239
Speaker 2: songs by Aaron Kaufman. Special thanks to Soul Rubin, Chris Lord,

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00:57:00,520 --> 00:57:03,320
Speaker 2: Kenny Goodman and Heidi Are Discord moderator

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Speaker 1: H m hm