Ep. 369 - Wednesday Difficulty, with Chris Remo

Composer, designer, and puzzler Chris Remo joins the panel to cover how specific instruments evoke moods in games, Mad Libs as branching path narrative, and VR’s Myst problem. Hosted by Alex Jaffe, with Frank Cifaldi, Ash Parrish, Brandon Sheffield, and Chris Remo. Edited by Esper Quinn, original music by Kurt Feldman.

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SHOW NOTES:

• Metroidvania
• Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins
• A Christmas Carol
• Charles Dickens
• Scrooged (1988)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
• Die Hard (1988)
• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)
• Vince Guaraldi
• Sesame Street
• A Christmas Story (1983)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
• Elf (2003)
• The Elf on the Shelf
• Will Ferrell
• Thurl Ravenscroft
• The Nutcracker
• English National Ballet
• San Francisco Ballet

1: What’s the right way to modulate crossword puzzle difficulty? (06:04)

• The New York Times crossword puzzle
• Will Shortz

2: What particular moods or vibes in video game soundtracks are most closely associated with specific instruments? (12:24)

• Vibrato
• Tubular bells
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Homer
• Fez
• Super Nintendo Entertainment System
• Sega Genesis
• New jack swing
• Roland Synthesizers
• John Carpenter
• Demonschool
• Danganronpa

3: Did any of those Wordle clones have any merit? (16:41)

• Wordle
• Tetris
• Simple and Clean
• Mad Libs
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Twenty Questions
• Spelling Bee
• Connections
• Wheel of Fortune

4: If I haven’t been convinced to get into VR by now, am I beyond reach? (22:53)

• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Half-Life: Alyx
• Beat Saber
• Oculus
• Myst
• Half-Life

Insert Credit Quick Break: Charles Greenberg (33:27)

5: Death Strandicoot asks, what are some interesting company interactions or rivalries in gaming? (34:41)

• Regular Show
• Funko
• Itch.io
• itch.io says it was taken down by Funko
• Pinkerton
• Magic publishers sent Pinkerton agents to a YouTuber’s house to retrieve leaked cards
• Rockstar Games
• Red Dead Redemption II
• The legal dispute between Take-Two, Rockstar, and Pinkerton has ended
• Tengen
• Mario “Super Powers Reach Exclusive Agreement” poster
• Tetris
• Atari
• Tommy Tallarico
• Intellivision

6: What is the TCM documentary about the making of The Day the Clown Cried of video games? (41:16)

• Citizen Kane (1941)
• The Day the Clown Cried
• From Darkness to Light (2024)
• The Tetris Movie (2023)
• Duke Nukem Forever
• Gearbox Software
• Half-Life: 25th Anniversary Documentary
• Peter Molyneux
• Project Milo
• Jay Benson
• Firewatch
• Jerry Lewis
• Playing Columbine (2008)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2

LIGHTNING ROUND: Burning Questions (47:51)

Recommendations and Outro (51:34):

• Brandon: Play Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams…
• Frank: Play Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit with curious kittens if you have the chance
• Ash: Mouthwashing
• Chris: youtube.com/chrisremo, The Brutalist (2024)

This week’s Insert Credit Show is brought to you by Charles Greenberg and patrons like you. Thank you.

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