Ep. 284 - Let Me Be Frank, with Simone de Rochefort

What starts as a lively episode with Polygon editor and podcaster Simone de Rochefort becomes something far more interesting when one panelist’s audio goes missing. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Tim Rogers, Brandon Sheffield, and Simone de Rochefort. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

Questions this week:

1. From Frank Cifaldi: What is the Criterion Channel of video games? (10:48)
2. Sega just bought Rovio. Why? (25:29)
3. Simone, please convince the panel board games are good. (32:26)
4. What’s the deal with those TikTok videos that all have Minecraft or Subway Surfer footage playing at the bottom? (38:48)
5. Improv Zone - Video Game Pawn Shop (42:20)
6. Zara asks: Have you ever recognized something deeply personal from your real life inside of a video game? (48:29)
7. From Ash Parrish: Who is the American Mario? (55:24)

LIGHTNING ROUND: VIOLENCE ISLAND (01:02:24)

Recommendations and Outro (01:25:26)

A SMALL SELECTION OF THINGS REFERENCED:

• Elden Ring
• The Sun Also Rises
• Charles Leclerc
• Max Verstappen
• decimate
• The Criterion Channel
• The Criterion Collection
• Mega Man: Legacy Collection
• Tubi
• Letterboxd
• Rocket
• Legend of Zelda series
• DF Retro
• Shadow of the Colossus
• GameTap
• GameFly
• Yoshio Sakamoto
• Esper Boukentai
• Super Metroid
• Hollow Knight
• Koji Igarashi
• Sega is officially buying Angry Birds developer Rovio for $775 million
• Angry Birds
• Yakuza / Ryū ga Gotoku series
• Persona series
• Sonic the Hedgehog games
• Bonk series
• Square Enix launches its first NFT project
• “It’s not Hitman without IO”: Why Square Enix set the franchise free
• Small Town Murders
• Sugar Blast
• Sonic the Hedgehog: Spinball
• Proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard by Microsoft
• Puzzle & Dragons
• Forbidden City
• Sleep No More
• Among Us
• Ticket to Ride
• Minecraft
• Subway Surfers
• Fontanelle
• Contra series
• Gordon Freeman
• Dragon Quest series
• Shining Force series
• Battle Chess
• Coquí
• Bloodsport 4: The Dark Kumite (1999)
• The Bear
• Diego E. Garcia
• Casual Birder
• Sons of the Forest
• Oh, Deer!
• Bubsy series
• Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel
• Wild Woody
• Sifu
• Kao the Kangaroo games
• Ty the Tasmanian Tiger
• Vanquish
• Ezio Auditore da Firenze
• Grand Theft Auto series
• Ray Liotta
• Kratos
• Diana, Princess of Wales
• Depeche Mode - New Dress
• Quiet
• Shigeru Miyamoto
• Toad
• No One Can Stop Mr. Domino
• Wild Woody
• Dynamite Headdy
• Miles “Tails” Prower
• Penitent One
• Satan

Recommendations: Brandon: Echo Image, Spirit Posession, make more things like game stores and video stores so people can be paid to get baseline experience in a field they care about Simone: Murder, She Wrote Tim: Decision to Leave (2022), The Little Drummer Girl, Interview with the Vampire

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