The Experience Points Podcast

This week we're enjoying a grab bag of games that are getting us through the dog days of summer. What better way to pass the time than watching a Pikachu viciously dunk on a Snorlax? Or how about experimenting with recreational drugs in a cyberpunk wasteland? Or if that's not your scene, could I interest you in some material that was "liberated" from Shinra's R&D facility? Maybe you could use it a...

The Olympics are bigger, more complicated, and more rules-heavy then ever. Is it almost time for esports to take the stage? OK, how about competitive tag at least? Show Notes: * Music by Brad Sucks

I have my issues with our particular dimension of reality and all its various...quirks...but games like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart prove that there is definitely fun to be had.  We've finished the game, so this week we're doing a full debrief on both the mechanics and the plot.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to converting my sprinkler system into an anti-robot security network.

Nintendo is back at it again with a confounding, exciting(?), and curious update to their Nintendo Switch hardware lineup. Stand aside Switch Lite! Out of the way Nintendo Pro! Let's give an exciting applause for the Nintendo Switch OLED Model. That's right it's... *checks notes* slightly bigger! Join us this week to have some jolly fun and discussing what we do find exciting about incremental upg...

Ghost of Tsushima, Sony goes on a buying spree, Magic loses its...magic? The long, protracted summer of game announcements continues! Who would have guessed that a severely altered and smaller E3 would actually succeed in scattering a bunch of game news spores across the entire month of June? Far be it from us to look a gift horse in the mouth. This week, we talk about everything from director's c...

This week on the EXP Podcast we jump into some early mini-debriefs on some new games, including Insomniac's gorgeous Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart , Resident Evil Village , and a couple more older and upcoming treats.

The multi-day fever dream that somewhat resembled E3 is over. This week we survey some of the notable announcements. These takes are so hot that you'd need the world's most powerful mini fridge to cool them down. Lucky for you: your friends at Microsoft have just the solution.

This week we hop onto the Pokémon Snap train... that slow, trudging train though a bizarro zoo, and report back with our findings. We also gush about some upcoming chill games that caught our interest ahead of the big E3 weekend!

This week we take a breath between Returnal runs and before what is most definitely going to be a very weird E3 to talk about some news stories. Lots of loose talk swirling around about everything from new Final Fantasy games to new Valve hardware, so join us in the rumor mill. Just know that if anyone releases a semi-portable console with the form factor of a standard computer keyboard, they stol...

Everywhere you look, Rogue-likes abound! What a time to be alive, then die, then be alive again. This week on the EXP Podcast, we review Returnal , discuss our favorite weapons, and tackle a challenging question: is Returnal too difficult?

Heads up: you might think we've been podcasting drunk for the past couple weeks, but you're wrong. We're just tired. Doing the late night shifts can make it tough to stay awake, but that's where we seize the opportunity to catch up on some games. But not all games perform equally well under the hazy darkness of the wee hours. This week, we dig into the games that keep us up and are as satisfying a...

We're back! And just in time to defend Earthrealm from Outworld. This week, we go to the movies (by way of our couches) and debrief on the newest Mortal Kombat movie. Blood, guts, and fan service abound!

This week on the EXP Podcast, we venture into the spooky Alps of Mundaun, get dizzy looping through Loop Hero, and mend a relationship in It Takes Two!

It's time to travel back to the far flung past to analyze a pseudo-future that never came to pass. But don't worry, you have expert guides at your disposal: Jorge and I came of age in this world of virtual insanity. Ah, yes: Y2K (and the adjacent years). Inspired by a recent article from Fanbyte, we don our cyber goggles and strap on our fish-eye lenses to examine the Y2K aesthetic, its legacy, an...

Out of the way Michael Jordan, we've got a new set of Hall of Famers! Today on the EXP Podcast, we celebrate the latest finalists vying for a spot in the Strong Museum's Video Game Hall of Fame. We also question the purpose for a Hall of Fame, veto some games off the list, and submit our own entries in the category. Show Notes: - Music by Brad Sucks

Hey, far be it from me to criticize someone for quitting. Walking away from something is a great feeling. But when that "something" is Journey, I just have scratch my head. This week, we talk about why people seemed to play through Ghosts of Tsushima all the way to the end while leaving other open world games unfinished. This quickly leads us down a rabbit hole of trophy stats and psychoanalysis t...

There is one fruit that reigns above all others. A fruit whose protective peel hides untold possibilities for play. Is there any other fruit that can play a pivotal role in the future of gaming? No, say I, and Sony agrees. This week on the EXP Podcast, we talk about patents, peripherals, and bananas. Show Notes: - Runtime: 38 min 38 sec - " Sony's latest patent application: a banana PlayStation co...

You hear that? It's the sound of a jet pack gone quiet. Last week BioWare announced it's intention to shut down Anthem's relaunch, leaving us to wonder "What if?" This week, we go down the "what if?" road not just for Anthem, but for other games that seemed to have potential. We can't help but think that somewhere there's an alternate universe where we're all playing 1 vs. 100 and reading all of t...

This week on the EXP Podcast, we discuss three new games we've been playing: Little Nightmares 2 , Bowser's Fury , and Valheim . From the dark terrifying woods, to Nintendo's new open world, and into the festive halls of Valhalla, we finally have some new and exciting games to review!   Show Notes: - Music by Brad Sucks

Please excuse all the cigar chomping noises on this week's show: we've become Hollywood producers and were told that cigars were a requirement. Video game movies and casting choices collide this week, as we cover quirky robots, furry animals, and fantasy directors' cuts. Just be glad that we didn't release the Snyder cut of this episode; it's 7 hours long.

  Like digital Robin-hoods, internet sleuths and criminals have patched together two pieces of video game history. The first is the unforgettable GoldenEye 007 which is alive again with some buttery-smooth frame rates. The second is the audio tracks for Super Mario World. This week on the podcast, we chat about salvaging history by means of unethical behavior. Oh, and E3 is back too. Sort of... Sh...

Jorge and I have apparently planned out our retirement: we're going to find a museum, set up shop with a little "artifacts you can touch" cart, and lure people in to talk about video games. We still have a ways to go before living that docent life, but we can at least imagine it. Thanks to Nicole Carpenter's recent article about the links between video games and museums, we had the chance to go th...

This week on the EXP Podcast, we go big - and I mean really big! Today we cover the latest trailer for Godzilla vs Kong, a new film in the "Monsterverse" film franchise and why we're so fascinated by massive beasts and the disasters they bring. We also identify some games that achieve an enormous sense of scale, or at least more enormous than most games.

Won't somebody please think of the children? This week, we heed Helen Lovejoy's plea and step into the fraught environment of parenting choices and children's screen time. Inspired by the continuing pandemic as well as a New York Times article on the subject, we dissect the increased screen time kids (along with everyone else) is getting. I suppose this is a good time to pat ourselves on the pack...

Allegedly it's 2021 but, looking around, I still have my doubts. This week on the EXP Podcast, we try hope the year ahead is brighter than the last and look forward to our most anticipated games of 2021, some of which might actually come out! From AAA to indies, there are a lot of games to be excited for. Show Notes: - Runtime: 37 min 32 sec - Music from Brad Sucks