Fall Guys Frustrations, Xbox Woes, Dealing with a Cryptmaster and a Charming Cat Adventure

Welcome to another episode of The Gamerheads Podcast. We start this episode with an icebreaker: What video game character would you want to have dinner with, and what would you talk about? Of course, the cast comes up with some silly answers.

But when the laughter subsides, we shift gears to some serious gaming gab. The latest Fall Guys update that's been driving us up a digital wall with its new three-round ordeal and underwhelming player-made levels.  We also discuss the closure of studios by Xbox/Microsoft and the impact that will have for years to come. 

Wrapping up, our game reviews take you on a trip from the pun-laden depths of 'Cryptmaster' to the charming streets of 'Little Kitty, Big City,' where you help an adorable feline find its way home. We're handing out high-fives for creativity, storytelling, and all-around entertaining gameplay that will leave you purring for more.
 And for a dash of contrast, we share our lukewarm take on 'Animal Well,' a game that, despite the buzz, hasn't quite captured our gamers' hearts. 

So, slap on those headphones and get ready for a rollercoaster ride through the latest in gaming – from frustration to fascination, it's all here on The Gamerheads Podcast.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

This episode of Gamer Heads is brought to you by Magic Mind, the healthy energy drink that will help you take your creativity to a new level. Hi, I'm Celia Schilling from Yacht Club Games.

Speaker 2: 0:11

Hey, this is James from Mega Cat Studios. Hey, this is Matt aka Stormageddon from Reignite Screen Snark and the Fun and Games podcast.

Speaker 1: 0:19

This is Stephanie from the Boss Rush podcast and the Boss Rush Network. Hey, this is Mark and Kion from Bonta Affold. Hey, this is Sebastian with the PronerdReportcom and the Single Player Experience Podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:32

Hi, this is Chris.

Speaker 3: 0:33

Mike and Garrett from Daylight Basement Studio. Hey, this is BaronJ67 from Level One Gaming. Hey, this is Todd Mitchell from Code Right Play.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Salutations. This is Mike Carroll from Stroll Art.

Speaker 1: 0:44

Hey, this is Jeff Moonen from Fun and Games Podcast.

Speaker 3: 0:47

Hey, this is Patrick from the Backlog Odyssey.

Speaker 2: 0:50

Hey, this is Rune from Runic Codes.

Speaker 1: 0:52

Hi, this is Andrew from Spalada Birds. Hi everyone, Jill Grote here from the Indie. Informer.

Speaker 3: 0:58

Hey, this is Brimstone and you're listening to Roger Reichardt on the Gamer Heads Podcast. And you're listening to Roger Reichardt on the Gamer Heads Podcast.

Speaker 1: 1:08

And welcome to another episode of the Gamer Heads Podcast. My name is Roger. Along with me are my good friends and co-hosts. We have the CEO and president of Gamer Heads.

Speaker 2: 1:18

Phil, what You're interrupting puzzle time.

Speaker 1: 1:22

Puzzle time Is that what we do now? Just have puzzles. Sometimes I I gotta turn off my fan.

Speaker 2: 1:29

uh, welcome phil hey, thanks, thanks for having me. I'm super stoked yeah, uh.

Speaker 1: 1:34

And of course we have our good friend and co-host, we have mike I too enjoy puzzles puzzles are fun. So I hear uh, welcome to the show everybody. Welcome to our patrons. We have welcome our patrons matt, jill and sarah. Thank you so much for supporting the gamer heads podcast gamer heads.

Speaker 2: 1:56

I thought we were on puzzle heads well, that's next week, damn it.

Speaker 1: 2:00

That's our, that's our bonus show puzzle heads. Where we just sit around, we have npr voices.

Speaker 3: 2:04

I wouldn't mind doing a puzzle episode.

Speaker 1: 2:06

I think that would be fun it's like puzzle games I got dibs on a peggle oh hey, that's not a bad idea. We can do an episode called puzzle heads, you see, but we have to talk in and npr voices.

Speaker 2: 2:18

Welcome to puzzle heads dude, I'd blow my throat out so hard if I attempted to do that for very long. This nasally voiced is not do npr voices you don't.

Speaker 1: 2:26

You don't do npr.

Speaker 2: 2:27

Voices I mean I can try, but I'm telling you I'm not gonna be able to talk for the next week after that yeah and my default is wacky morning radio voice my default is, uh, npr.

Speaker 1: 2:39

So I don't know, man, I guess. I guess maybe I'll just do the npr voice. But listeners, if you want to join the Gamer Heads Nation, you can as well. For as low as $3 a month, you can join the Gamer Heads Nation. You can do so by signing up at patreoncom slash gamerheads and we would greatly appreciate your support. And I'll leave a note, a link, in the show notes as well. So, okay, are you ready? Here we go icebreaker. If you could this is actually the worst icebreaker I ever came up with. If you could have dinner with any video game character, who would it be and what would you talk about?

Speaker 2: 3:21

that's a pretty good one, right how inappropriate do you want my answer?

Speaker 1: 3:24

oh wow. I mean, this isn't a g show, it's not even pg, so I guess I don't know if it's even pg-13, it's probably r at this point. It's definitely not pg-13. If I'm on it, roger, that's true, that's a good point yeah, you're probably you're opening up a can of worms here.

Speaker 2: 3:43

I'd probably be like more dark stalkers and we talk about how I'd get them digits let me tell you about the date that I have with lady damatsu oh my god, oh yes, lady yes oh my god, why did I ask?

Speaker 3: 3:57

why did I? Ask this question but yeah, I'm sure, like I'm sure, with her being like nine and a half feet tall, she probably, it's probably a very expensive dinner. So you gotta be careful. Like that she probably takes like in that scene in the Great Outdoors with the big 64-ounce steak. She probably takes two of those. She probably kills you, that's fine. She'll kill you. I wasn't doing much this week anyway.

Speaker 1: 4:21

Your dinner for her.

Speaker 2: 4:22

That's fine. Is that your answer? I'd have her grab all of the tall stuff from up high that I can't reach, even though I'm six, two, that's true. That would be helpful have her come over and be like here's the deal. I know you think this is gonna be something romantic, but I can't reach the corners in my landing. If you get dust up there, I'll buy you steak dinner. See, you guys, all thought I was gonna go dirty with it. I just want a clean ceiling yeah, no, I appreciate that.

Speaker 1: 4:52

Is that really your answer, though, lady damasu?

Speaker 2: 4:54

yeah, no, I don't can. Can I have dinner with racial ghoul?

Speaker 1: 4:58

he wasn't about he was in a video game. I'd like to talk.

Speaker 2: 5:01

Yeah, he was sure, sure, yeah, there you go maybe he and I can sit there and connive and scheme and come up with something even better than every other plan that he's had. That's failed, except now he's dead, so I guess I can't, but that's fine well you're wow.

Speaker 1: 5:14

You ruined it for everybody I didn't ruin it mike, who would you have to parap?

Speaker 3: 5:21

Parappa the Rapper oh that's a good one.

Speaker 1: 5:24

That is a good one.

Speaker 3: 5:25

Because then we could just freestyle.

Speaker 1: 5:30

I can get on board with that. Yes, Nice. For me it would be Donkey Kong and I would plot Mario's demise. You think my date's?

Speaker 2: 5:39

going to be expensive. How much do?

Speaker 1: 5:41

you think you have to feed a gorilla. That's true, that is going to be pretty expensive, but we would plot Mario's demise. That would be pretty fun.

Speaker 2: 5:51

Who's going to fix your plumbing?

Speaker 1: 5:53

Luigi.

Speaker 3: 5:56

Good point. I thought the two of them hatched all that stuff out.

Speaker 1: 6:01

What.

Speaker 3: 6:02

Mario and Donkey Kong. I thought they're. I thought they're, uh, that they're cool with each other now I don't think so I don't know.

Speaker 1: 6:10

I think you should do some more research on that, because I think they're cool with each other really, what about donkey kong versus mario, the mario versus donkey kong, the game that the remake that just came out? I don't think they're cool with each other it's a friendly jostle no, I don't think so.

Speaker 1: 6:24

I think mario is a jerk and donkey kong just wanted some mario toys and mario's like no, you can't have any, and he's just a big jerk. So yeah, I'm not. I'm not a big fan of mario, I'm a big fan of donkey I want to change my answer to j Valentin. Okay, and what would you talk about?

Speaker 3: 6:48

Jill Valentin Okay. Because then I could take her out for a sandwich and it would be really on the nose, jesus, that's a Resident Evil reference.

Speaker 1: 7:01

Yeah, I'm sure I didn't get it, but Maybe you should play Resident Evil. What's it going to say? Uh-huh. Anyway, listeners, if you're listening and you want to, let us know who you would take out to dinner.

Speaker 1: 7:16

No, that's true. That's true. They logged off already. You can let us know by letting us know on our Twitter account at GamerHeadsPod. You can also send us email at info at gamerheadspodcastcom. Uh, or you can go to our website and leave us a message there as well, at gamerheadspodcastcom. So, uh, this is probably gonna be a shorter episode, but I have quitea few games that I'm playing, so I do want to talk about games that we're currently playing, but I don't want to start, so I'm going to start with mike. Start with you. What games are you currently playing?

Speaker 3: 7:46

jill valentine oh my god oh, we already went over that. Um okay, so I haven't been playing a whole heck of a lot. Um, I have been extremely busy um getting all my stuff ready for the big convention.

Speaker 1: 8:02

Yeah I see that. Is that all that stuff that you're boxing up there are going to be going to the convention? Is that what's going on?

Speaker 3: 8:10

that, no, not not that stuff, it's mostly that stuff.

Speaker 1: 8:16

Wow, that's a lot of stuff.

Speaker 3: 8:18

So yeah, um, I went out and bought over five. It was like 500 labels to price the prices on it and I had to go out and buy more.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Oh, my God Jesus.

Speaker 3: 8:33

So, yeah, I, I, yeah. So that's what I've been doing a lot of, but I will. I will say this I have been playing fall guys and this, this is, uh, this is where you're going to get Mike's weekly anger rant. They updated Fall Guys and it sucks.

Speaker 1: 8:49

I just saw a tweet about it how people are not happy with the new updates.

Speaker 3: 8:52

I'm a people and I'm not happy.

Speaker 1: 8:54

Yeah, I'm a people.

Speaker 3: 8:56

It's horrible, like they had a great system. You play a round and however many people got eliminated or whatever, then it goes on to the next round and they keep doing rounds until there's eight people, maybe nine, then that's the final round. Now they had it. Nope, we are only doing three rounds exactly, and it doesn't matter, you know, or there's x amount of people being eliminated, and not only that, they're like oh, we're also going to add a lot of user-created levels.

Speaker 2: 9:31

Oh, dude, that sucks, sorry.

Speaker 3: 9:34

And a lot of these user-created levels are just thrown together with not a whole lot of QA testing and they're not good. They're not good also, these three levels, 90 of the time.

Speaker 3: 9:51

All three levels are the ones where you're where you're on the the platforms that disappear when you touch them and then they you know they're, they're horrible horror, it's just, it's, it's it. I really don't like what, where they've gone with this and then they also added this thing called where all you're doing is playing user-created levels. You still earn XP and stuff like that, but Fall Guys has been just bad, just bad.

Speaker 1: 10:18

Well, here's some good news, Mike, if I may. They just tweeted out at like this morning. They said uh, hey, beans. So apparently you're not, that's me, I'm a bean. Yeah, you're being. We've been listening to a lot of your feedback and understand the recent fall forever update needs some changes to be a great experience. As such, we'll be rolling out some changes this week, which will address the following. Number one we're looking to increase the length of the show to four rounds to reduce the elimination rate for each round. We'll also we've also made some tweaks to allow for more level variety for each game. The round up or the round pool will be the same. I guess the round pool will be the same. I don't know. Does that make sense?

Speaker 1: 11:01

uh sure the different levels we will be making changes to which levels you will see appear as finals, to ensure a better experience overall. Good, there will be levels and squads and duels which are not working as intended tail tag and leading light. We'll be reviewing these rounds and we'll be making changes. We will not decrease the overall number of levels in these. We will be bringing back metal rewards for frame, addressing the issue with survival levels ending early in squads and duels and various other small quality of life fixes, and that's pretty much it.

Speaker 3: 11:40

All right Well. I mean it's a step in the right direction. I didn't see what the problem was with the setup. They have now.

Speaker 1: 11:47

Why fix if it's not broken?

Speaker 3: 11:50

Right, exactly, fall Guys. Not very happy with Fall Guys. The other game I'm playing I can't. I'm under embargo on that one so I won't talk about it, but I am having a lot of fun with it.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Yeah, I'm happy for you.

Speaker 3: 12:06

you yelled at me, but I'm happy for you yes, I did uh well, you, you sent it to you, send me a message. You're like hey, mike, would you like to review this game? And like yeah you.

Speaker 1: 12:18

You conveniently didn't put the name of the game in there no, I just gave you the code because it was a surprise all you did was put a code in there, and I'm like yeah, surprise, surprise means it's a surprise game it was I sure.

Speaker 2: 12:30

It's like surprise, surprise mechanics you never know what I'm going to do. Don't get me started on that. I was just thinking about surprise mechanics tonight, because what the hell was I listening to? Oh, I was listening to a baseball game. I don't remember what was being advertised. No, I don't listen to my own voice.

Speaker 3: 12:47

I don't listen when I talk.

Speaker 2: 12:48

I don't listen when other people talk. That's why I'm doing a fucking jigs.

Speaker 3: 12:50

I was listening to that show. It was actually pretty good, Phil.

Speaker 2: 12:53

The Gamer Heads podcast.

Speaker 3: 12:54

No on my pod.

Speaker 1: 12:56

Yeah, on my pod, that's pretty good.

Speaker 2: 12:59

Nah, it's me talking. It's not that good. No, but they said something about if you go to the mechanic and you're expecting a surprise. And I went god damn it. I missed loot boxes in Overwatch and then it made me really sad and then I got angry and then I started doing a jigsaw puzzle and we're back to where we are.

Speaker 1: 13:19

Yeah, then you started recording this podcast. And here we are at this moment.

Speaker 2: 13:24

Well, I started doing the jigsaw puzzle to kill time before we started recording, and now I'm full disclosure. Listeners, I'm doing a jigsaw puzzle while I'm recording this. I'm very focused this is what happens when you're a 75, 80 year old president. You just kind of sit around and do jigsaw puzzles where important shit happens around wow, yeah, the world's burned, wow wow, that sounds so on the nose, I don't know, but anyway, uh, phil yeah what have you been playing? Microsoft jigsaw for the last time.

Speaker 3: 13:55

I like the dailies We've been recording.

Speaker 2: 13:57

Are there dailies in that?

Speaker 3: 13:59

Yeah, you could do daily. There's daily challenges.

Speaker 1: 14:02

Wow, really.

Speaker 3: 14:03

And those are fun.

Speaker 1: 14:07

That's not a joke, I'm being legit, that's yeah, what makes them different than any other one? They're daily challenges.

Speaker 2: 14:12

Roger, that's all you need to know.

Speaker 1: 14:14

Give me a daily challenge, give me an example. Is it just a different puzzle?

Speaker 3: 14:21

No. So there's one that's like Bug Catcher and you have to. So there's the Jigsaw puzzle and some of the pieces are already placed and there's a bug, and every time you place a piece the bug will move in one of eight directions, if it's on hard, but if it's on easy it'll move only one of four directions. And your job is to trap the bug by placing pieces down, because if you place a piece to the left of the bug, it can't move to the left, so it will only go up to the right or down, and then so you need stretch it and you only have X amount of moves to complete the level. So you have to trap the bug so it can't make any more moves.

Speaker 1: 15:03

That sounds pretty cool.

Speaker 3: 15:04

Yeah, it's really interesting. It's a really interesting take on it, okay.

Speaker 1: 15:08

I stand corrected.

Speaker 3: 15:09

Yeah, and then they have one. That's a time limit. You have to complete the puzzle with an X amount of time, but it gives you individual pieces, one by one and so you have to find where it goes.

Speaker 2: 15:24

Do you have to do the piece before you get the next piece?

Speaker 3: 15:27

Yes.

Speaker 2: 15:30

Listeners. I just want to point out this is the most attention I've ever paid while recording this podcast Unbelievable.

Speaker 3: 15:35

That's a lot of fun too.

Speaker 2: 15:36

so, yeah, I mean I, I, I like all the the stuff in microsoft jigsaw, it's, it's, and plus it gets me my uh uh rewards points yeah, you get a bump for it yeah uh, I was halfway saying that in jest, but I seriously am playing microsoft jigsaw I know but the other, the other game that I've been playing, uh, a little bit of, not a ton, I'd say. I probably put about an hour and a half to in two hours into it is have a nice death oh yeah, is that?

Speaker 2: 16:04

that's a roguelike right yeah, which is the one downfall of it, because if it wasn't, it might be one of my favorite games I've played in quite some time. Uh, it reminds me as me a lot of oh hell, how did I just lose the name of it? That pixelated one, dead Cells? Yeah, dead Cells. It reminds me a lot of Dead Cells because you know it's also a roguelike the animation of Mike. As soon as it started playing, as soon as I started playing and I saw the animation, I was like, oh, mike's not going to dig the hell out of this. Yeah, I don't really know what I'm supposed to be doing in the game, except for the fact that I'm playing as death and I think I'm taking control of the office. Again is what's happening. And so you're working your way through different levels of death's headquarters and having to take out employees and things like that. You get different powers as you progress and obviously, each time you reroll, unlock things.

Speaker 2: 16:58

Standard fare, just the gameplay, and it's just really, really tight. The animation, like I said, is gorgeous and silky, smooth, which is part of one of the draws to it, and there is some humor involved in it as well. You've got your I'm going to call them underlings that fill you in on what's happening around you and things that you have to do and kind of give you tips and tricks. But if you enjoy dead cells, definitely go check out. Have a Nice Death. It's fun, it's difficult, it's challenging, which is where part of the problem is, and I don't seem to be. I haven't progressed enough that my powers are doing a lot to keep me alive for longer and I tend to play stupid and there's not a lot of health. Alive for longer and I tend to play stupid and there's not a lot of health. So I I die a lot, but it's. It's well worth checking out. If for nothing else, for the animation style and the graphics alone. It's.

Speaker 2: 17:40

It's gorgeous nice cool very cool, see uh pay attention and contribute um yeah, you do no, but now I'm mad about overwatch again, since surprise mechanics have started back up and that game is just keep falling further and further to the poops For myself.

Speaker 1: 18:02

So did I talk about Crypt Master last time? I don't think so Did I.

Speaker 3: 18:06

Which one?

Speaker 1: 18:08

Crypt Master.

Speaker 2: 18:09

I think you did, because I think I made a gang joke about it.

Speaker 1: 18:13

Oh, maybe, maybe I did, but my review is up on the site for that.

Speaker 3: 18:17

What site would that be? On Roger, GamerHeadsPodcastcom.

Speaker 1: 18:22

That game is so unique and so smart. It is so good.

Speaker 1: 18:28

Yeah so if you want to play a different type of RPG where you have to frantically try to remember dictionary words and and then also try to come up with words that they're trying to spell out, like it's so unique and so different, and the crypt master is so funny and he's he, he makes fun of you when he put in dumb words because he's like, what does it even mean? Like sometimes I was just guessing, like I don't know, I don't, I don't know if that's a word, but maybe roger if you just want somebody to make fun of you and you say dumb things.

Speaker 2: 18:59

You can just call me every once in a while and I'll well, I mean, that's why I do this podcast actually.

Speaker 1: 19:03

So, uh, but no, crypt master is very good. Uh, I give it an a plus. I love, I really love that game a lot, so what's it on?

Speaker 3: 19:11

because I love a good word game it's on steam oh and I don't know how else.

Speaker 1: 19:16

Well, that's the thing. I don't know how else it could be played, because you need a keyboard. You need a keyboard to be able to play you can plug a keyboard in the xbox well, you could, you could um do people maybe yes they do, okay, okay.

Speaker 1: 19:32

Well, I'm gonna tell you you need a keyboard for this game. I mean, I guess, I guess there is, there is, I didn't try this. There is voice commands. You can try voice commands and, like, say the words. I didn't try that, but, um, it is really fantastic. The art is so good in that game too. It looks like all it's all hand-drawn, it looks like the ink tash, you know type art. It's really really good, so good, um, so, anyway, that's crypt master. Uh, another game that I've been playing that I absolutely adore is little kitty, big city I meant to start that up and I haven't gotten to it yet oh, it's so good.

Speaker 1: 20:06

It is so good, it is so funny. The writing is really well, uh, done and uh and you just do stupid things like it's better. Remember we played untitled goose game, or I tried and I didn't like that game. But this game I really like because there are objectives and like there's a story to it. You're, you fell out of your window and you're trying to get back up to your apartment, to get back to your house, um, and you're way on the bottom, uh, on the roads and you have to figure a way back up. You run into really funny characters. Uh, it's really cute and uh. But one of the funny things is I wanted to test to see what would happen. So one of the early uh quests that you go on, you run into this cat that's sitting at this grocery store. It's like a outdoor market type thing Like a bodega, Sure and he.

Speaker 1: 21:02

that's a word I never thought we'd say on this podcast.

Speaker 1: 21:04

by the way, the word you probably don't think I knew either I'm not sure if I knew that word and he tells you that he's the mayor and he's very upset about the jam jars that are all along the walls and the shelvings and they're the way of humans to tell you that they are more powerful, or something along the line. You have to show them who's boss, basically. But he's the mayor, so he can't do it, he's not gonna knock those jars off. So then you, as a cat, you're the vice mayor, you have to go up there and knock those off. So he's up there, and it's cute, the trigger buttons are the paws.

Speaker 3: 21:50

you can knock the jars off it's like one of those physics games like I am bread or doctor or uh spaghetti spaghetti?

Speaker 1: 22:01

no, I wouldn't say it's. I mean there's some physics stuff to it, but it's not like that not wacky um.

Speaker 1: 22:07

No, it's not wacky, um. But I knocked all the jars off and of course she cleans it all up the the the grocery lady. And then I thought she had this bowl of fruit and I thought what would happen if I take all that fruit and I hide it on her? So I take you can pick up things with your mouth. So I picked up a piece of fruit and I took off running and she found it where I hid it and she picked it up and moved it back into the bowl. And then I was like, okay, once I move it to an area that she can't get to, that only I can like, because there's areas where you can crawl underneath holes and like it's in a construction area. And I did, I grabbed all the fruit and I put it into this area and she just walked there and she just she went like they don't talk, none of the characters talk so just went. Oh, it was so funny and she couldn't get it back.

Speaker 1: 22:52

And then I thought what would happen if I put a donut in that bowl, and how? Instead, so I did, I put it. I made a person trip. They dropped their donut. I grabbed the donut, put in the bowl and then a bunch of birds came down and started eating the donut. And then I thought well, what happens if I put that donut there and I pounce on one of those birds? And sure enough I did I caught one of the birds. That an achievement. There's lots of achievements in this game. And that was an achievement. And I got a blue feather, which turns out I needed for a different quest. So good, it's so good, it's so fun. Just silly things like I made people trip and grab their cell phone and took off running and now I have a stockpile cell phones that nobody so you're just hoarding cell phones, yeah, just hoarding self yeah, exactly nice.

Speaker 1: 23:41

Um, yeah, it's really fun. And then there's garbage and I can clean up garbage and you get uh, you get little shiny pieces and the shiny pieces are like a piece of uh currency that a crow needs or he wants.

Speaker 2: 23:53

I wonder if there were crows involved in their shiny pieces yep, yep, um, yeah, it's very good, it's really good.

Speaker 1: 24:00

and and then the other thing I'll just say is, um, I'm not too far in the game but, uh, like, you'll get fish the food that you need to survive and if you eat a piece of fish, it gives you a paw print which acts like a circle, like in um legend of zelda, like your stanimo circle, but their paws and then you can start climbing up ivy branches, which then starts helping you get higher and higher up into, uh, the back to your home. But you need a lot of them to get up there because, like, one little thing is not going to get you very much. So, that is little kitty big city. I'm really enjoying that. And then I picked up another game that is getting a lot of really good reviews. Everybody's really loving it. It was saying this is so great, oh, so good, so good. I am not really getting into it. It's animal.

Speaker 3: 24:53

Well, have am not really getting into it. It's Animal. Well, have you guys seen anything about this game? It's on PlayStation Plus and it's a. Metroidvania, so that piqued my interest.

Speaker 1: 25:02

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 25:03

It's not that good, you say.

Speaker 1: 25:05

Well, here's the thing. It is actually really good From a Metroidvania. I just it doesn't hold your hand at all. It does not tell you what you're supposed to do at all. Like there is. There's very, very, very few clues. Like I came across this area and there is like this statue with a little diamond in it. I was like, oh, what happens if I grab that? And also this ghost cat comes to life and starts chasing me everywhere and kills me and I was like, well, what am I supposed to do there? Okay, well, I'm gonna put that back because I don't want to get killed. Uh, so I put that back and uh, and then there's other areas. I was like, well, what am I supposed to do here? And then other things kill you. It's, if you like really challenging games and you like metroidvanias that don't hold your hand. I will say this it plays. It plays phenomenal. Like it super tight, the controls are super tight.

Speaker 3: 25:56

Well that's okay.

Speaker 1: 25:57

Sorry, Go ahead. There's no. I was just going to say there's very little you can do for damage. Wise, you can pick up fireworks and throw them.

Speaker 3: 26:03

Okay, that's what I was going to ask Is there even a shooting mechanic, or is it all just platforming?

Speaker 1: 26:12

Um, um, well, right now it's just all like the shooting. I will say shooting mechanics. It's not really even shooting, it's just you throw a firework and it just either scares off the animal or it distracts them okay, so it's like friday the 13th yeah, I guess there's fireworks on the friday 13th game yeah, yeah, yeah, there is um.

Speaker 1: 26:34

I would say, mike, this is probably right up your alley like I think you would like this game a lot. Um, and maybe I mean again, I'm not that far, but I just I don't know what I'm doing, it's yeah I like sometimes, when there's metroidvania, is there at least a map or something that you can there is. You do find a map and you do, and you can that's maybe it's right away in the beginning.

Speaker 3: 26:55

I'm not sure that's usually what happens to me with metroid mania is I, I'm playing, I'm going, I'm doing, I'm going, great, great, and then I hit us. I hit a wall, and I'm like I have no idea what to do next and I will run around for hours. And then it's something stupid, like oh, there is a, here's a spot where you can like, know, shoot the wall. And now you can make your way through it Like, oh, seriously.

Speaker 1: 27:15

Yeah, yeah, it's one of those things. I mean people, I mean here's the thing If, if you like challenging games and you like really, really, really tight platformers, yeah, this is, this is right up your alley and I just, I don't know, I'm just not, I'm not digging it, but you know, but that's the great thing about video games, right, because video games are not for every like, not every game is for everybody.

Speaker 2: 27:41

There's something for everybody, but not everything's for everyone.

Speaker 1: 27:44

That's right, didn't I? Did you guys? Did you guys just say this on your podcast?

Speaker 2: 27:48

the other like Absolutely we did, because it pertains to a lot of things it does. It does, and pro wrestling and video games are two of those things where there's something for everybody, but not everything's for everyone.

Speaker 1: 27:59

That's right. That's right. Um, seriously, t-shirt material, man, it does, it does. Uh, I will say this like it's been also, like the last couple of weeks have been really busy, um, and thank goodness for magic mind, because it does get me through my day and allow me to, uh, actually sit down and, like that, just go to sleep but then actually like focus on like creating content and doing podcasting and playing games. But there's no amount of magic mind, that's going to help me with that.

Speaker 1: 28:34

That's beyond, that's beyond my abilities. But but, listeners, you can actually get your own magic mind at our link, in our show notes. Just click on a link and you can actually get a discount on your purchase. So that's magic mind. I've been. I've been using magic mind for I don't know a while now and a couple months, yeah, it's, it's really been a game changer for me. You're starting to look like the leader yeah, I get it, I get it um yeah, it's late.

Speaker 3: 29:12

That's all I got you're. That's all you got my c material now roger, sorry, that's right.

Speaker 1: 29:17

That's right, uh, but those are the games that I've been playing. I think the well. The other thing I have been playing, a little bit of the teenage mutant ninja turtles, shredders, revenge, just because oh, you had to get that taste out of your mouth you had to get the taste of the mouth of the other.

Speaker 1: 29:29

The turtles game um, I did try to jump back into redfall. Uh, it's, it's, it's rough and bad. Yeah, it's, I mean, I played worse games, it's just, it's one of those games that you really need to have a bunch of people to play and you can't really like. Didn't you try that solo, phil? Didn't you try playing? Uh, red red fall solo. You're on mute.

Speaker 2: 29:57

That's what I get for sneezing. Yeah, I played a bunch solo and I played a bunch with other people, and it doesn't get any more exciting, even when you're with other people, just because the city is so sparsely populated that it just feels flat the entire time. And I wanted so much from that game.

Speaker 1: 30:16

They changed that, though they did change that. Yeah, there is much more going on, random stuff that can kill you. But yeah, and the sad thing is and we talked about this off air, so I guess I'll just mention this a little bit here Xbox closed two studios, one of them being the studio that made Redfall, and I think the thing that really bothered me I mean there's a lot of things that bothered me about it the fact that Xbox they also closed the studio that created Hi-Fi Rush, the fact that they came out and said, when Redfall came out, they said, hey, we're going to stand by it and we're going to, you know that's okay, we're going to stand by it and we're going to, you know that's okay, we're going to weather this and we'll get through it and we'll make a better game, better experience. They didn't stand by it. And then they talked up Hi-Fi Rush, and they should, because that won some game awards, not just game awards, it won a bunch of awards actually.

Speaker 3: 31:17

It's a good game and awards actually it's a good game. It's a good game, uh, and they closed that studio down and good press for microsoft right now it just seems like no, what's going on? That's like they're having trouble, like they don't have their eyes on the prize or something.

Speaker 1: 31:31

I don't know well, and the weird thing is like their executives are seem to not have any kind of talking points around this at all. No, matt Booty was at a town hall and he made a comment. I suspect that the speech was written prior to all this, but he made a comment about how Microsoft need to focus on smaller games that win awards. Oh yeah, that's awards. Oh yeah, it's very strange. That's very strange.

Speaker 1: 32:05

Uh, when sarah bond was asked specifically about the closure, she kind of just danced around it, um, didn't really give any specifics or anything. And it's weird because it's just, I don't know, it's just weird messaging. It's just like what's going on? Like well, how can you not all be on the same page?

Speaker 1: 32:21

But I think, think, like all that, and it's awful, obviously, that these people just lost their jobs it's like crazy, like that this keeps happening and nothing's safe. You're not safe, like if you're acquired by a big company. That doesn't mean anything. I mean it might seem exciting at the time, right time, right, like cool, we have a like strong future ahead of us, and then this happens. But I think the thing that really bothered me the most about all this I mean I shouldn't say the most, but it was bothersome to see people lose their jobs. Obviously, that was very it was very hard, um, but the part that bothered me a lot was the reaction on twitter and people like ripping on uh, arcane austin, right, it was in the studio. Yeah, arcane austin, um, and that they didn't deserve that. Like that's bs.

Speaker 2: 33:10

Come on people no, and what people realize don't realize a lot of the times is when a game doesn't live up to your expectations or the expectations have been put forth, it's not necessarily the developer's fault or the publisher's fault, like sometimes. It's just like, yeah, it's rushing it, or being or putting things out yep, too fast, or like somebody way up top being like no, no, let's do it this way instead, and this way isn't the good way, but it's the way that the boss tells you to, and sadly, the boss isn't always right and it's not like they haven't produced good games, because they have, I mean, pray, dishonored like some really fantastic games.

Speaker 1: 33:51

And it's what's the scary part to me is what, what like really, we're in a world right now of what have you done for me now, right, and and if you haven't done anything right now, and like fact that a game that won awards gets canceled, like that studio gets shut down, like that is bizarre.

Speaker 2: 34:09

Didn't that game get ported over to in the big, massive?

Speaker 1: 34:12

X boxes failing. Yeah, dude.

Speaker 2: 34:16

Yeah, that one doesn't make any sense to me. I mean, I wasn't the biggest fan of hi-fi rush, just because it was too difficult for my old hands yeah but I could see that the quality was there and the concept was spot on. So I mean that one was.

Speaker 1: 34:28

It was shocking to me the thing, the thing that I don't know if I don't know if it's just short-sightedness or what, but you know, with redfall, for instance, they sold a bunch of dlc. Like, hey, we going to continue to build this game and build on this game and we're going to sell a bunch of DLC Like they, they eroded the trust of their, of their players. Like nobody is going to trust whether or not that's the case anymore. I mean, even when it's a good game, it may not like oh, we decided to close it down. Sorry about that. But the other thing that I feel like is really short-sighted and maybe it's hubris on the executives parts whoa, whoa, whoa.

Speaker 3: 35:10

All right, let's use less than 10 point words. Let's go. Yeah, that's right, that's right, that's right.

Speaker 2: 35:15

Destroyed him and was combined with the crypt master, and now all of a sudden, roger's a walking fucking thesaurus. Sorry about the that's right, that's right.

Speaker 1: 35:22

uh, um, there you know, obviously you're losing talent that may not end up again in the in in the industry, which is awful, but you're also scaring away future talent, like people are not going to want to get into this industry. And when you don't have new ideas, uh, working for you, you because, yeah, exactly, start remaking like old movies or you know things like that, and it's just, I don't know it's, it's heartbreaking to see this happen over and over and over and over and over and over and over again, didn't it? Wasn't there just news today to that Square Enix?

Speaker 3: 36:04

There's rumors that they might be no they made an announcement that they're placing a much stronger focus on multi-platform games and less exclusives. Ok, which is a good thing.

Speaker 1: 36:17

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 36:18

Which you know, which is interesting, because the reason they're saying that is because these Final Fantasy games are not selling as much as they wanted, so they're like whoops. We probably should have put them on other systems.

Speaker 2: 36:31

Was that really? Final Fantasy games don't sell anymore. I'm not just being stupid when I say that.

Speaker 3: 36:37

No, I don't think they sell very well.

Speaker 1: 36:41

I'm thinking yeah um, so anyway, yeah, it's just been heartbreaking to see all this happening and, uh, and I, I don't know if, if, again, if it's just the arrogance that people want to work for us, of course they will like, eventually it's going to be, they're going to find themselves like why, why, why does nobody want to, why doesn't nobody want to work here? Or where is the talent?

Speaker 3: 37:08

um, I gotta tell you I'm not really. I am not. Look, I usually I'm getting full-on hype mode. At this time, you know, with, uh, the june presentations and I don't know that's I, the expectations are going to be pretty low.

Speaker 2: 37:25

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 37:26

Especially so with Xbox. You know, with this stuff going out with Xbox, I hope they I don't know, They've got a lot, they have to do a lot to win a lot of people back. And then not only that, but Nintendo also announced that their June Direct and Phil, I hope you're listening because I know this- I am.

Speaker 3: 37:46

Their June Direct is only going to be games coming out through the end of the year, because they're not saying anything about the next Switch system, because the next Switch system is supposed to to, I think, come out by the end of next fiscal year, which is by the end of march but that's never been officially announced, has it?

Speaker 3: 38:08

no, I think they well, they didn't officially announce a release date, but they said they were going to share more information on the next uh switch system at a later date. But they're basically saying no switch to info whatsoever during, um, you know, june e3 time so they're essentially just telling people to curb their enthusiasm yes, temper their expectations, that works too um, some exciting.

Speaker 1: 38:38

I mean, phil, you don't care about this, but Mike some exciting news about switch, though they're like close to surpassing. Uh, I don't know how close they are to the PlayStation two, but they're pretty close. They're within striking distance of the PlayStation two, I think.

Speaker 3: 38:54

They're getting there.

Speaker 1: 38:55

So it'll be interesting to see if they're able to surpass that Um, but yeah, it's, it's, it's weird, it's gonna be a weird, I think. The one thing that I will say, though, like, yeah, like the, the big triple a studios and stuff, like there's not a lot there right now, but man, indie games, whoo may, may, has been busy we all just wanted to have our listeners tune in for a new episode of indie heads. That's right, that's right, I just make stuff up and just throw heads puzzle heads, wrestle heads, indie heads.

Speaker 1: 39:32

I mean it goes, it goes well with anything. Yeah, yeah, horror heads, horror heads rpg heads yep filing your tax deductions heads yeah that was that's it yeah, that didn't, that didn't go over very well, like that one didn't, that one didn't test very well, but the rest of them are, you know, that's it pretty well so al snow heads appreciation that's right, there we go. That's right, um, all right. Well, that's all I have um what I think. Well, yeah, that's the end of the show already but I'm not done with my puzzle yet.

Speaker 1: 40:04

It's only been 40 minutes well, uh, before I head out, why don't we tell people how they can find us and phil? How can people find you online?

Speaker 2: 40:12

not physically, because that'd be weird well, I think I've already given everybody my home address. So there's that. I think I've given everybody my phone number. You can find me on Twitter at BeNow23.

Speaker 1: 40:25

And Mike, how can people find you on social media?

Speaker 3: 40:27

I'm also on Twitter at PezGuyMike.

Speaker 2: 40:31

More importantly, Mike if I can ask a question, where can people meet you in person and buy some of your wares?

Speaker 1: 40:36

Oh, yeah, when is that? When and where? Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 3: 40:40

yeah, if you're ever in the uh central illinois area, uh at um on a certain date. Yeah, on a certain date okay, so I'm gonna call this out.

Speaker 3: 40:50

Okay, okay, fine because you said if you're ever in this area on this date, if you're ever on this area, on this certain date, at this time and the sun is shining, yes, three clouds that's right, that's right, you can find me get the indiana jones style to hold it up on the yeah that's right, that's in the uh, and then you have to break the stick so nobody else can find it.

Speaker 3: 41:10

Yes, um, so anyways. No, um, bloomington, illinois, at, uh, the blooming, I don't know the name of the place, I forget. It's Bloomington, illinois, illinois Game Con is the name of the convention. June 1st, all day, saturday, june 1st, take a look for me I will be selling pretty much my entire collection of video games which I have amassed over a long period of time. So, yep, if you're in the market for Crazy Taxi on the GameCube, I'm your guy. Yep, if you're in the market for crazy taxi on the gamecube, I'm your guy.

Speaker 1: 41:45

Uh, and phil, before we head out, your podcast. We kind of alluded to this, but your new podcast, your new wrestling podcast yeah, I've got a podcast.

Speaker 2: 41:52

It's currently only on spotify and, uh, what the hell's the name of the thing? Buzzsprout, buzzfeed, buzzsprout, buzzsprout. Yeah, it's there. Uh, it's called the oh, my podcast with cast in. We're gonna call those parentheses for my lack of english, and actually that's what they are. Uh, where myself and my friend lucio, and we'll be joined by guests throughout the course of time. Uh, we sit down and talk about the week's events of wrestling. Give our take on things. We're both just a couple of knuckleheads that are just having a conversation. It all just started with dude. We talk wrestling seven days a week. Why are we not just recording this and throwing it out there and seeing if we can get three people to listen?

Speaker 2: 42:28

yeah, and I may have edited one of your episodes, which is pretty fun did, and it sounded much better than when my stupid ass edits an episode because I don't know how to do things, except for I don't know what. I do things on a computer.

Speaker 1: 42:41

Let's be real uh, no, it's a good episode, it's a good podcast, so appreciate it. Yeah, uh, listeners, you can follow us on twitter at gamer heads pod. You can follow me on twitter at nintendoraj. You can also go to our website at gamer has podcastcom where you can hear this show. Uh, phil, I'm going to actually ask for your embed codes so we can put your show onto the gamer has podcast you think I have any idea how to get an embed code I'll teach you.

Speaker 1: 43:09

I'll teach you uh, and you can read reviews as well. So, uh, so go check that out. Well, phil, thank you so much for joining us this week wow, puberty. Uh, thanks for having me and mike, thank you so much for joining us this week happy to be here listeners.

Speaker 1: 43:30

Thank you so much for giving us a listen. If you like what you hear, leave us a review. We want to hear what you have to say about the show. Also, there's a new feature. Phil, I could teach you about this feature too, because it's on. It's on buzzsprout. But there's a new feature. You, bill, I could teach you about this feature too, because it's on Buzzsprout. But there's a new feature you can click. It says send us a text, and you can send us a text and let us know what you think about the show. It's simple Just click on the link Open up your text. It opens up a text for you and you just can send us a text. And we want to hear what you have say about the show, uh, and we'll read your comments on the air.

Speaker 3: 44:05

So with that, everyone stay safe and game on and we'll talk to you next week.

Speaker 2: 44:08

Bye so long, take care.