The Stage Select

This week’s episode of The Stage Select was so out of pocket that I was surprised when I was editing it, and I was there when we recorded! Enjoy some new game talk, some fun discussions, and a strangely long talk about the WWE Forceable Entry album, for some reason. 00:00 Giant Bomb made us liars 19:08 Julian has another plan 23:04 Justin is mad at WWE 2K25, Wanderstop, Wreckfest 2 43:59 The Preci...

We were light on games this week, mainly because Justin’s been busy and Julian hasn’t been able to put Expedition 33 down. BUT THAT’S OKAY. We had the new GTA VI trailer, the seemingly end of Polygon and Giant Bomb, and a lot of listener questions to help us along! 00:00 Introduction, people who text a lot 11:58 Julian has a plan 17:23 More Expedition 33, even though Julian has more problems with...

After a month packed with incredible guests it’s time for Julian and Justin to take a breather and have a normal episode. Well, whatever “normal” equates to around The Stage Select studio, anyway. 00:00 Introduction 09:40 We have deeper thoughts on Expedition 33 54:34 The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Persona 4 Golden 01:05:29 Tennis Angels EX 01:12:57 Thunderbolts 01:26:57 What the Xbox pri...

We conclude this month-long block of guests for The Stage Select with Westen from Big Nerd Gaming! The last time we spoke with him was during the final week of Game of the Year deliberations, and we wanted to make sure there wasn’t any leftover beef from that contentious list. Plenty of games in this week’s episode, so let’s jump right in! 00:00 Introduction, muzak 06:23 Making sure Westen is okay...

We’re happy to finally have Eric Peacock from The Soundtracker podcast joining us! We last talked to him years ago when we were still doing Nerds Without Pants, so it was great to catch up with him after all this time. We hope you enjoy, and please check out Soundtracker! 00:00 Introduction, George Thoroughgood 13:18 Introducing Eric Peacock and Soundtracker for new listeners 29:32 5 Questions wit...

Unhinged. That’s probably a good way to describe this episode. Such will happen when James and JJ from RetroFits guest on the show. But things get even sillier when they get introduced to some of the more colorful members of The Stage Select staff. Enjoy! 00:00 Introduction, Nelly Furtado 13:00 RetroFits is back on the air! 22:03 Going deep on Suikoden HD Remaster 01:16:25 Space 01:44:33 South of...

Wow, it’s hard to believe that this is already the 50th episode of The Stage Select! It snuck up on us a bit, but we still went the extra mile for this milestone, including bringing fan favorite guest Mike Fallek back. We also had a ton to say about the Switch 2 presentation, and this episode has some surprises for you, as well! Next stop: episode 100! 00:00 Introduction, Ohio pizza 10:56 Random c...

Welcome back! We’ve got some hot new games this week, such as Inzoi and Mullett Madjack, plus Justin overshares for once! We also have some of your questions, and more, so GET INTO IT. Or don’t. That was a bit aggressive, sorry. 00:00 Introduction, trash food 11:13 A talk where we have about sports 17:38 Julian’s emulation journey 26:35 Myriad Death 32:45 Justin had a weird week 50:48 Inzoi 01:22:...

Welcome back! After a couple low energy shows, this edition of The Stage Select feels normal. And by “normal” I mean “the kind of chaos you’ve come to expect”. We’ve got new games, updates on old games, movies, and more! 00:00 Introduction, celebrating a year of The Stage Select 11:33 Wanderstop 34:36 Closing thoughts on Lost Records: Bloom & Rage (Tape 1) 48:00 Assassin’s Creed Shadows 01:18:...

Hello. It’s a pretty short (for us) show this week. Even shorter if you’re tired of hearing Julian talk about Persona 3. But it’s an episode. You can listen to it with your ears. 00:00 Introduction, WWE music, announcement 11:40 Julian beat Balatro, and you all suck at video games, Suikoden HD Remaster 30:42 Julian’s week (feel free to skip to the next bit) 52:55 Justin has turned the corner on WW...

Hello again. This week we only have a few games to talk about, but we had a lot to say about them. 00:00 Introduction, remembering Michelle Trachtenberg, big announcements 29:36 Lost Records: Bloom and Rage (Tape 1) 01:12:12 WWE 2K25 02:05:07 Balatro 02:20:01 CQC (Comments, Questions, Concerns) Theme song and interstitial music by Megan McDuffee: https://meganmcduffee.com Logo and artwork by John...

At last! You hear him announce our hosts each and every week, but finally, friend of the show John Gholson sits down to talk to us about…all sorts of things! You never know what you’re going to expect with The Stage Select, and this episode has everything from the woes of becoming a full-time actor, cold poutine, and Justin’s incredible restraint when it comes to the Shasta McNasty button! 00:00 I...

It’s a shorter show again this week, as life really got in the way for one of our hosts, and SOMEone can’t stop modding Skyrim! The show’s gonna be a little weird(er) for a few weeks, so please bear with us! 00:00 Introduction, announcements, big life change for Julian 21:55 EVEN MORE (but not that much) Skyrim modding, Avowed 57:38 Evaluating the Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering set 01:13:02 Tr...

I’m not gonna lie…this episode was almost a little over an hour. Thankfully, Sony had a State of Play this week, so we had plenty to talk about with that! Man, I can’t wait for some big games to drop… 00:00 When the internet goes out, obscure anime, shelving Banishers, Persona 3 Reload, Dragon Quest III HD 30:09 Justin’s Skyrim modding addiction persists 01:05:45 At least we have the Sony State of...

Well, we like to say that you never know what to expect each week on The Stage Select, because sometimes not even we know what to expect! This week, we mostly catch up on the games we played during the season break, and wrap up by answering some of your questions that built up while we were gone. Enjoy this very loose show! 00:00 Introduction 17:16 What Justin got up to over the break: Cyberpunk 2...

SEASON PREMIERE! It’s been six weeks since Julian and Justin got together to record The Stage Select, and we thought there was no better way to kick things off than to talk about our personal top ten lists from 2024. Sure, our game of the year deliberations had us put together a communal list, but our individual ones look quite different. It’s also time to check in on the staff at The Stage Select...

Hey there, folks. Well, it was a good run, but Julian and Justin have gone their separate ways, and it's time for something new. Julian is striking out on his own with a one man show. This surely won't be a terrible idea at all.

Now that the dust has settled on the 2024 game of the year deliberations, Julian thought it would be fun to take a look back at the silly bits and skits that ran during the first season of The Stage Select. Consider this a kind of behind the scenes look at how some of these dumb things were created. You may start to understand the workings of Julian’s addled brain! Theme song and interstitial musi...

And lo, the final seal was broken, and it was time to reveal the top ten games of 2024, as decreed by The Stage Select and their special guests: Westen from Big Nerd Gaming and Xavier Kreiger! But not before we spend hours deliberating on said list! 00:00 Introduction, game of the year nominations 11:21 Beginning the cutting process 01:51:49 Cutting the final 6 games to get to a list of 10 02:59:1...

It’s week 2 of The Stage Select’s Game of the Year deliberations! This week, James and JJ from RetroFits return to talk about some of the dumbest categories we have this year, as well as a massive talk about the best new characters of the year! 00:00 Introduction, what happened to RetroFits 27:20 Best New Character 02:39:47 The Character That Impresses Shania Twain Much Award 03:45:01 The Owen Wil...

Welcome to the first week of The Stage Select’s Game of the Year extravaganza! This week, we’re joined by friend and frequent guest Mike Fallek to go through a few categories, including one you’re not likely to see in the other video game podcasts you listen to. Enjoy! 00:00 Introduction (if you can call it that) 14:47 Best Game Not Released in 2024 01:29:26 We Played it For the Story (aka Best Po...

It’s the final episode of The Stage Select’s first season! It’s been a wild ride so far, so we wanted to close things out by taking a look back at the year in gaming, the status of the show, and what you can expect while we take a much-needed break, as well as next season. Enjoy, and thank you for being here! 00:00 Introduction, tires 06:51 Looking back at a catastrophic year for the video game in...

Our penultimate episode of our first season has our final guest for the year, and it’s a big one! We’ve got Jeff Eckman from No One Can Know About This, Julian’s favorite podcast (and a must-listen for RPG fans). Join us as we catch up with Jeff, talk about The Game Awards, and much more! 00:00 Introduction, catching up with Jeff Eckman 18:05 The state of the TV industry, Telltale Games 39:02 Five...

Hey there! Justin and Julian watch The Game Awards together every year, and we decided to record ourselves. What we have here is our isolated, clean audio tracks. Executive Producer tier Patrons have access to the video version, and other Patrons got the version with the audio from The Game Awards included, but this is just us talking, with me calling out where you can sync up to the presentation...

As we get dangerously close to the end of the first season of The Stage Select (and our Game of the Year episodes), it’s time to have some final thoughts on a couple games, such as Life is Strange: Double Exposure and 1000xRESIST. 00:00 Introduction, beverages, announcements 09:17 Final thoughts on Life is Strange: Double Exposure, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain (PS5) 23:49 Hitman: World of Assassinat...