The Experience Points Podcast

We are back this week catching up on Sony's latest State of Play, which featured not one but TWO Hideo Kojima announcements. 2024 really is starting strong! Join as we discuss  Judas ,  Sonic , and Kojima's amazing fashion-sense. Show Notes: - Music by  Brad Sucks

Watch out, that pikachu is driving a tank and it looks disgruntled!  But perhaps not as disgruntled as Nintendo and the Pokemon Company's lawyers must be right about now.  Yes, it's time to talk about Palworld.  Part catching monsters and putting them in your pocket, part hitting trees and crafting gear, and all the rage on the Internet - Palworld has clearly tapped into something that both Pokemo...

It feels like we just caught our breath from the game release whirlwind of 2023, but there's no time to delay.  2024 is here and it's bringing a pretty unique list of games with it.  This week, we talk about some of our most anticipated games and make some predictions about the unknown unknowns lurking out there.

Our GOTY-cast is out, but before we leave 2023 behind we need to spotlight some of the great games that almost made our lists. It was a fantastic year for games, so be sure to try some of these games soon before you move on to the hot new thing! Show Notes: - Music by  Brad Sucks

We made it!  2023 is over, which means it's time to talk about our top games of the year.  Every year we challenge ourselves to embrace brevity and pick our top three.  2023's landslide of great games made this an even more fun challenge than usual, as did the ongoing meta game of trying to predict if our picks will overlap.  Next week we'll talk about some of the other great games that we didn't...

The most prestigious and important video game awards ceremony is back again. From the best doofus', to awards in elegance, to the best waifu/husbandu, we are once again celebrating the end of the year with the Gamey Awards! Show Notes: Music by  Brad Sucks

Just in time for the end of the year, we reach the end of another story: Alan Wake II!  This week we debrief on a game created by and for humanities nerds.  Nothing like contemplating the death of the author while rocking out to Norse mythology inspired heavy metal!

We're head to Vice City, where the sun is shining, drugs are plentiful, and you might get eaten by an alligator. Also, we retroactively predict the Game Awards winners.   Show Notes: Intro from the  Grand Theft Auto VI trailer Outro by Brad Sucks

This week we emerge from our holiday haze and talk about the ways in which some large publishers are trying to foster a fuzzy feeling by appealing to a sense "the good old days" of established games and franchises.  This kind of packaged nostalgia is clearly popular; just ask the people paying actual currency to play the original version of World of Warcraft.  But what does it mean that we're draw...

Do you feel that  tingle  of excitement? No, not that weird green dude. It's Nintendo's latest announcement that  Legend of Zelda  is getting a big screen adaptation and it's... live action!? This week on the podcast, we foretell both the bright and dark future this announcement portends. Also, what storyline should the Zelda movie focus on? Who knows, they're all weird! Show Notes: -  Feel It Now...

2023's absolute deluge of games continues this week and we hanging on for dear life!  This week we web sling our way around Spider-Man 2, piece together the mystery of Alan Wake 2, welcome a special end-credit guest in Lies of P, and conclude our trip in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

We also knew all the mushrooms would catch up to Mario. This week on the podcast, we take a wonder seed trip into  Super Mario Bros. Wonder ! Show Notes: Intro from the  Super Mario Bros. Wonder launch trailer Music by Brad Sucks

This week we talk about a game all about language and a game completely devoid of the written word!  Chants of Sennaar and Cocoon are in the rotation this week and both games have impressed us.  While they're quite different, both of them drop you right into a world without much explicit hand holding, so we have a good time unpacking the various mysteries contained within.  Plus: a little extra Li...

This week on the podcast, we leap into Sony's cloud gaming news and marvel at the lengths  Baldur's Gate 3  players will go for the perfect run. Show Notes: - Music by By Brad Sucks

Rumors abound this week as we all collectively start to piece together clues about the Switch's successor.  I'm going to out on a limb and say that there will be a Mario game and a convoluted friend request system - maybe together?!  On top of that, Jorge and I do some strategizing about how to introduce turn-based RPGs to the next generation.  Suffice to say it's a high pressure situation.

It's a debacle at Unity, some surprising DLC news, the high cost of games, and a step into the closet with Hideo Kojima! Show Notes: - Music by Brad Sucks

Even after a busy spring and summer, video games refuse to take a break and just chill.  There's just so much to play and it can get distracting.  Maybe that's what happened over there at Microsoft - someone was so distracted trying to master their mech in Armored Core that they forgot to properly secure all the links in their public court filings.  This week it's a gaming grab bag and a rare look...

This week on the EXP Podcast, we ask whether great games like  Baldur's Gate 3 or Tears of the Kingdom should raise the standards for what we expect out of games or if doing so sets the bar too high.   Show Notes: Music by Brad Sucks

After several months of traversing the gloom, scarfing down endura carrots, and harvesting dragon scales, both Jorge and I have seen credits in Tears of the Kingdom.  I won't even pretend to say we've "finished" it, as there are more korok seeds in this game than there are grains of sand of beach.  Regardless, we do a deep dive on both the late game mechanics as well as the time-bending plot.

Mer-people, a strange dog (?), and more on this week's games discussion!

Pop quiz: do you know the various subscription tiers for your game platforms?  And more importantly: do you know which ones you're automatically being charged for every month?  Well here's a hint: it's not Xbox Live Gold, that one's riding off into the sunset.  This week, we play that exact game and quiz each other about what each major console platform is pitching and which ones we've bought into...

This week on the EXP Podcast, we revisit some of video games' best, and worst, endings - from the multicolored conclusion to  Mass Effect 3  (and  Elding Ring ) to the touching conclusion to some great narrative games like  Life is Strange .  Show Notes: - " The Video Game Endings We'll Never Forget, For Better Or Worse ," from Kotaku and Music by  Brad Sucks

Hello!  Remove that gloom effect, because we're back from the depths after a few weeks.  Well it's not really the depths, it's just that Jorge and his family acquired a new little korok and were doing some much needed bonding.  We ease back in by catching up on what's been going on in Hyrule and what's been going on over at Nintendo.  Apparently Mario is getting bigger than ever.  And I truly mean...

It's time to hit the street with Street Fighter 6!

This week we talk about the recent PlayStation Showcase.  But first, stick with me for second here, gang: what if I took a dual sense and chopped it in half...wait, no let me finish...and then stuck a big screen in the middle and then Tears of the Kingdom Ultra Hand-style just mashed all of it together!  We call it Project Q and it's going to revolutionize toilet-based gaming in the home.  What's...