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...

After back to back monster-sized episodes it was high time for a smaller show. This is just us having some closing thoughts on a couple games, sharing what we bought on sale, and making some predictions for The Game Awards. Enjoy! 00:00 Introduction, announcements 07:12 Final thoughts on Metaphor: ReFantazio, Star Wars Outlaws 43:24 Sale pickups, Pockedate 01:11:35 Life is Strange: Double Exposure...

Mike Fallek returns to talk about the Mass Effect series in depth. BECAUSE YOU (some of you) DEMANDED IT. We also talk about a few other things before that. But 75% of this episode is Mass Effect, spoilers and all. You have been warned. 00:00 Introduction, what IS a Shasta McNasty, anyway? 08:22 Announcements 20:12 Undisputed, NBA 2K25 34:10 Berserk 43:30 Final thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguar...

Welcome to either a super lengthy episode of The Stage Select, or a super short one, depending on how much you care about us talking about Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth! Julian finally finished it, and he has THOUGHTS. But we save the spoilers for the end, so if you don’t want those you can bounce early. Enjoy! 00:00 Introduction, movies shown at school, meet The Stage Select’s new Head of Security 1...

Welcome back to The Stage Select! This week we’re joined by Addie. She and Julian have been internet friends for a long time, and she’s a former podcaster and current OnlyFans creator. Enjoy getting to know her as we talk about her love of video games, get way too in the weeds with Magic: the Gathering, and much, much more! 00:00 A surprise pick-me-up from Abramo 04:03 Introduction, 5 Questions 17...

It’s a somber episode of The Stage Select this week. 00:00 Introduction, a sad week at The Stage Select 17:25 While We Wait Here, NBA 2K25 50:56 Dragon Age: The Veilguard 01:32:19 Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, Life is Strange: Double Exposure 01:51:06 Buttknight, Retrorealms: Ash vs The Evil Dead 02:19:57 Julian’s horror movie roundup (Mr. Crockett, Late Night With the Devil, Barbarian), Dan Da Dan,...

Welcome to a spooky, scary edition of The Stage Select! That’s because we have award-winning horror author Rob Ottone on the show! Julian and Rob go way, way back, and he was a co-founder of the previous podcast, Nerds Without Pants. He joins us to talk about getting back into video games, a lot of nitty-gritty info about Silent Hill, and much, much more. 00:00 Introduction, show announcements 16:...

It’s a super-special edition of The Stage Select this week! You hear Megan McDuffee’s amazing voice every week on this podcast, and this weekNwe sit down with her to talk about her work in the games industry, her newMalbum, her music process, and much, much more! 00:00 Introduction 03:43 Interview with Megan McDuffee! 01:01:44 Warhammer 40k: Space Marine II, some things to check out 01:21:45 Star...

After two weeks away, The Stage Select returns! It’s a massive episode that covers a ton of ground, so I won’t waste your time with this preamble. Enjoy! 00:00 Jewel, show announcements 07:20 Julian’s vacation, the perils of modern gaming as seen through a casual player 25:40 Final thoughts on Star Wars Outlaws, Metaphor: ReFantazio 01:04:25 1000xRESIST 01:21:41 Transformers One, Berserk 01:46:08...

Well hi there! This is Jacob Washington. You know those good ol' boys over at The Stage Select are still off this week, but they were nice enough to give their normal time slot to me and my best friend Craig. Who are we? Well, we're Sweet Tea Games, and we're making that there 22 Rifles Game. But we also like to shoot the breeze about this and that, and that's what the Sweet Tea Games Podcast is f...

Hello there! We're off this week, but we didn't want to leave you with nothing, so please enjoy this unlock of the first cutting room floor special from Patreon! Patrons got the second episode of this series this week, so if you liked this and want more you know what to do! Original notes: Heya! Here's a little something we threw together. Enjoy some of the stuff we get up to before and after reco...

Okay, listen up. We have noted spoilsport Westen from Big Nerd Gaming on this week, so there’s no time for shenanigans. No bits, no skits, no funny run-ins with the staff. This week we’re all about very serious conversations about video games. Got it? Good! 00:00 Introduction, show announcements, PIRATE YAKUZA 15:32 UFO 50 27:40 Crypt Custodian, Warhammer Space Marine II 54:26 ...

We’ve got a LOT of ground to cover this week on The Stage Select, with closing thoughts on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Astro Bot, meeting our new intern, aardvark facts, and also that PS5 Pro announcement. Enjoy! 00:00 Things you can buy at a farmer’s market, the next game selected for The Suffer Select 05:36 Justin’s closing thoughts on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth 09:36 Yars Rising, cha...

Well hello there! This week on The Stage Select we have a couple of the biggest game releases of the month, take a trip to space, check in with Sherwin Williams, and more. Enjoy! 00:00 Introduction, remembering Mason Diddy 09:52 Brief check in on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Persona 3 Reload 28:33 My Little Riding Champion, Star Wars Outlaws 01:01:35 Space 01:31:10 AstroBot (well, first the...

The Phantom of the Stage Select strikes again, but he will not deter us from talking about…*checks notes*…two games for a total of two hours? I guess that’s what we did! 00:00 Introduction, We still know that you know what we did two summers ago 10:52 Justin’s week, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (spoilers for Lost Judgment from 01:07:08-01:09:03 ) 01:14:17 Ranking Chinese dating sims, figuring ou...

Welcome back! We cover a lot of ground this week on The Stage Select, with an eclectic mix of games, more football talk than you’d expect, and we close with some Gamescom stuff. We hope you enjoy it! 00:00 Introduction, announcements 11:45 Final thoughts on Darksiders 26:20 Crime Scene Cleaner 49:38 EA Sports Madden 25™ 01:11:15 Project Tower, Inzoi 01:50:28 Doom I + II 02:04:11 Kunitsu-Gami: Path...

Well hello there! Not to brag, but I think this may be the best episode of The Stage Select so far. Plenty of fun, free-form discussions that flow into one another so well it was a little difficult to slot the music breaks in. We’ve got quite a few games, get mind broken by a Chinese dating sim, meet sexy Martin van Buren, and oh-so much more! 00:00 Introduction, life stuff 14:56 Julian’s final th...